{"id":443,"date":"2020-10-05T09:34:11","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T06:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.bluesdernegi.org\/?p=443"},"modified":"2020-10-05T09:34:11","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T06:34:11","slug":"jeff-shucards-practice-tape-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluesdernegi.org\/en\/jeff-shucards-practice-tape-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Shucard\u2019s Practice Tape Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear Friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until the pandemic hit, it never occurred to me to listen to the practice audio cassette tapes made at my kitchen table in Connemara, Ireland, forty or more years ago. But then, again, I never imagined I\u2019d be in a lockdown for months with endless time to fill either. All this free time on my hands has led to much reading and writing and the opening of boxes and files long ago stored away and forgotten.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such box I opened contained dozens of homemade audio tapes that I\u2019d accumulated over the years, some of the tapes titled, some not. I decided to sit down and listen to these tapes and see if there was anything there worth saving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While listening to one of the untitled tapes, I heard someone playing a Scott Joplin rag on guitar. This was a very old tape and I had no idea who it was playing this difficult piece, but as I listened on, I eventually realized it was me, when the musician suddenly stopped playing and said, \u201cOh, shit,\u201d having just made a mistake. After forty years, I had forgotten I had ever played that piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This discovery of many songs forgotten and lost, consigned to the bottom of a cardboard box in storage captivated me. I felt like I was rediscovering an old friend, someone I was once close to  but had lost touch with over the years. The pandemic was a nightmare, but I was glad it afforded me the opportunity to meet up with this young man again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I loved my life in Ireland, worked hard every day on my music, sometimes playing as often as seven nights a week in bars all over the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jeff Shucard performing\u2013 Galway, Ireland, 1980<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jeff Shucard performing on street with his Pignose battery amp\u2013 Sligo, Ireland, 1978<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Going through these tapes now I find they have a certain youthful charm, energy and lack of modern sound quality that is perhaps a welcome change in this super high tech age. I can still picture myself at my kitchen table in Cleggan, with a cup of Nescafe and a pack of Camels trying to master Police Dog Blues and the Maple Leaf Rag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jeff Shucard at his kitchen table \u2013 Galway, Ireland- 1980<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I hope you find this nostalgic indulgence an enjoyable experience. These practice tapes were made for my ears only. I never imagined that anyone else would ever hear them and as such the performances are not polished or my best. This is where I began my journey in music and where, in many ways I still live. Huge thanks to my buddy Bruce Gerish for editing\/mastering these very poor recordings, and to Connemara for all the many gifts it bestowed upon me. Stay well, please, and engaged and hope to see you again before long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The practice tape songs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n