a musician's life on the road: rhumba.com

FEATURING:

the stories

a few places

the vortex

sounds

thanks

what's this
site about?

PLUS:

Mark Twain
quotations

the hacking
cat(s)

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rhumba.com: a professional
musicians stories of life on the road

f e a t u r i n g:

Weekendz with Bernie
Musicians are pretty independent people. For some, the freedom from day gigs and bosses is one of the reasons they do it. But music pros are not always their own boss, and in some cases the bosses—let's call them Band Leaders—behave in ways that rival even the scariest day-gig boss. Join your narrator as he shuts his eyes and hits the road with one such cat. In retrospect, the absurdities and laughs made it worth the tantrums and troubles. Or, did they?

PLUS: Original illustrations by one of Washington D.C.'s most gifted, witty cartoonists, the one and only Scott Bennett. Check it out!

Remembering New Orleans
Set aside the "birthplace of Jazz" moniker; the music and culture of this unique city go way beyond that. This essay portrays a magical first visit to Crescent City during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and includes a plethora of links to sites devoted to the city's unique artists, events and places. See some wildly original street art and a link to a mardi gras site that gives new meaning to the words amazing spectacle.

The Concert Tour is...
the day-to-day journal detailing a concert tour with one of the world's greatest guitarists, the late Danny Gatton. Set in 1991, the journal takes you across the American South, from Maryland to the Texas/Mexico border and back, with stops at Austin City Limits and Elvis Presley's Tour Bus along the way.
WORTH A QUICK LOOK: The feedback page now boasts a couple of reader-submitted, heartwarming anecdotes about the unique guitar hero.

Pathos and heroism...
wisdom and stupidity, and above all, the foolishness of the inexperienced youth. It's all here folks, in this collection of vignettes, images and sound clips from my first years as a professional musician.

Of particular interest is the episode involving legendary jazz saxophonist George 'Big Nick' Nicholas.

ALSO PLAYING on rhumba.com:
A variety of other tales relating the life of the professional musician, including They Raided the Joint, a peek into the process of a young band breaking into the big city (and what happens when you "break into" the wrong joint), The Fundraiser, the bizarre episode of The Assassins backing up the one and only Lee Atwater, AND, the highly-rated essay describing the musician's involuntary dance with drug addiction: Working With Drug Addicts.

PLUS, more stories...

[ e n t e r t h e s t o r i e s ]

	A Few Places A smattering of worthwhile links, with commentary. Affectionate favorites, most from the golden age of the birth of websites (1995-6). Devotees rest assured, the famous hacking cat still resides—you may still choose from three hacking cats!
	The Vortex A selection of choice musician-related sites, ranging from others who are putting their own noble road-tales on the web, some first-class drum-specific and some great music sites. Why "The Vortex"? Find out!
	Sounds A few digitized sound clips accompanied by perspective and A-B comparisons. Not a large archive, but a bit of a different approach than most 'sounds' sections.
	Thanks A good group of nice people have done an awful lot in the way of sharing help and knowledge to help me create this site. They know who they are, but so you know who they are, please feel free to explore the links from this acknowledgements page.

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