Jake Cohan's Blog Archive
Archive for the ‘General’ Category
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Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Last friday the Sailing to Denver Sextet played 2 sets at the Old Crow Tavern. Andrew Haynes of Athens, GA videotaped much of the show and put it on youtube. We had a great time playing and thank everyone for their support. The videos as well as all things STD can be found on our website, sailingtodenver.com
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Good times at Matilda’s
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
Last Saturday night at Matilda’s was a fun time had by all. We joked about it being our “Last Waltz,” alluding to The Bands show with a guest on every song. It was not The Band but it was a session with tasteful musicians that have played many years and shows with each other in one way or another. With some musicians coming all the way from Asheville to play, it was great having the gig at Matilda’s which is by far the best place to see or play music in Alpharetta, maybe anywhere when the weather is nice. No hassle, bring your own food and drink, bring your kids and dogs and relax. Hopefully will be doing it again soon, it will be an abbreviated list of musicians compared to Saturday, but brevity has it’s place as well.
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My Gear!
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
When I read about other plectrum players out there I am interested in knowing how they get “their” sound. So here is a list of the current gear I am using to get my live tone as well as recorded sounds.
I play a Taylor 310ce guitar that my father handed down to me. It is sounding better than ever after hours of him playing it as well as me, and giving the wood time to open up.
Top: Sitka Spruce. Back/Sides: Sapele. Cutaway & old Fishman Pickup system. The current models come with Taylor’s own Expression electronics, I prefer Fishman’s.
I use a real tortoiseshell pick, although there is some controversy around this issue in my experience it is the only way to get the volume and tone I am trying to produce. The pick was actually sanded as a mandolin pick making it even fatter and fuller on the 6 string guitar. I currently use it on both instruments. Eventually I will experiment with other picks, either tortoiseshell or something similar in material.
I play Medium gauge Elixer Phospher Bronze strings, and occasionally John Pearse Mediums for recording. I do find Elixers last longer and cost more.
To record at my humble home studio I use a Eurorack UB802 6 track with Shure microphones, sm56, and sm57. I only plug straight in when playing live. I use a Peterson clip on strobe tuner with sweeteners, so I can tune my guitar and mandolin even with background noise.
I play an Alvarez F3ANT Traditional F-Style mandolin. I had it scooped to avoid pick noise on the “sweet spot.” I also had a Fishman Nasheville series archtop mandolin bridge pickup installed. I play low action with Thomastik Strings: plain steel and flatwound chrome, medium gauge, 009 014w 020w 031w, 127.2 pounds tension, ball end, 34cm scale length. These strings are not cheap, but the flat-wound “a” strings seem to really keep my mandolin in tune and with the correct intonation. Other companies are starting to make flat-wound sets that are more affordable, I just haven’t tried them yet. I play through a Fender Acoustasonic amp.
Having listed all my toys as well as the ones my father so kindly lets me abuse, I do try to remember less seems to be more in most great art. I play completely acoustic whenever possible, and tastefully when my fingers oblige.
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Happy St.Paddy’s Day
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Tomorrow night at the Crabapple Tavern I am lucky enough to play the music I love with musicians who share my passion. Brent Sandel a multi-instrumentalist from “The Tips,” has been one of my biggest musical influences since we met almost 10 years ago. Brent is an accomplished and tasteful musician. Besides Brent, my father would be my largest musical influence. Teaching me how to play fiddle tunes with a flatpick, a craft he had passed on to him from friends years before I was born. Maybe he will sit in and play the tunes, “the way they are meant to be played.” Music from every generation and genre can be found in the inspiration for our playing, while we will focus on some of our mutual favorites. From Irish traditions to brand new originals, and something for everyone somewhere in mix.
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David Byrne, before his time or just an alien?
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
When I am feeling cautious, or having trouble finding inspiration, or getting out of bed, or going to work, or pretending not to see what is so obviously right in front of my face, somehow the music of David Byrne helps me cope. “I work, and I sleep, and I dance I’m dead,” is sung with such innocent conviction over a back bone of world dance beats driving instrumentation and melody lines reminiscent of the baroque period.
This is an example of a moment, where David Byrne’s genius touches me. I am trying to share this with you. I would attach a link to the song cited above, aptly titled “Like Humans Do,” but if you care you will find it. It’s easy enough, and maybe you’ll delve even deeper on your own???
His work with Brian Eno is on “Everything That Will Happen Will Happen Today” is my current favorite, but I still listen to the Talking Heads. His songs and his other works (film, photography, dance) paint a vividly real yet blurry picture of the paradigm of life as we know it while also focusing on the individual in his art. At his best he seamlessly connects one to what is and will always be.
The individual and everything else are not at odds, or different, they are one and the same. David Byrne’s lyrics have become timeless in scope, as the writings in the Bhagavad-Gita or the Dhammapada, or the Koran, or of Tao Te Ching, or of the Holy Bible. Byrne’s unique tone and playful sense of humor are more accessible to the younger generations. Here are the lyrics to the song “My Big Nurse” off of the album “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today”. If you don’t have the time to read the sacred texts above mentioned, read the lyrics to this album and you will understand much of the best they have to say.
When the lake’s on fire
With all the world’s desires
When he shakes the stars above
When we lose the ones we love
When the seasons lose their grip
When the tightrope walker slips
I’m counting all the possibilities
When the past becomes the now
When the lost becomes the found
When we fall in love with war
When the angel fucks the whore
When the road we travel on
Takes us back where we came from
I’m counting all the possibilities
For dancing on this lazy afternoon
In the comfort of the world
In the arms of my big nurse
From the science of the heart
To each animal and plant
Compact, relaxed- intact, give thanks
I’m counting all the possibilities
For dancing on this lazy afternoon
P.S. I am not trying to find the meaning of David’s words; I interpret them in a way that helps me. I believe he designed it that way, multiple interpretations. If we do not treat all sacred writings in the context of inevitable, changing interpretations, we are not doing them justice. Uncertainty is not a symptom, it is the cause of all life’s infinite beauty and inseparable suffering.
I must thank my sister Sarah Cohan for introducing me to his music years ago before I could fully appreciate it. Then following up and taking me to see him live! One of the best gifts I have ever received.
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Onwards and Backwards
Monday, February 28th, 2011
I would like to share a musical secret with all of you…Your ears will be thanking me later. Bach rules and pop music sucks! Bands that are popular right now that I find pleasing to my ear include Mumford and Sons. Many others, but I will use them as my example. Mumford and Sons music is passionate, melodic, rhythmic, and uses harmony, counterpoint, and chromaticism to convey their music’s power. I wish more contemporary artists did this.
So What? No pun intended, although Miles and the Jazz greats owe more to Bach than the vast majority of contemporary musicians. Not using Classical Music’s influence is one reason why I feel popular music can feel soul-less or spineless in comparison to something like Keith Jarrett in Koln or Clarence White in Sweden. I am trying to examine this now in my listening and my playing. I have found that musicians who are playful with melodies and time can create more suspense, or beauty in their music. Theory knowledge is a great tool for composing and playing, although it is not necessary, and in some extreme cases can even hinder the composer’s creativity.
I am currently learning Bach pieces to better understand my instrument and music in general. Starting with a simple melody then making it move, changing tonal centers, using secondary dominants, ii-V changes, chord substitutions as well as altered scales and diminished arpeggios makes songs more colorful and interesting. Giving them a timeless appeal. It is the icing on the cake, the drama between the first act and the curtain call. Every note or chord wants to resolve, (V-I) all music really is how a composer or band gets the notes to play with each other before resolving/ or not.
Well you gotta start somewhere. I will later upload a piece I wrote this morning. I was trying to compose a jazz piece somewhere in the thread of a Thelonious Monk song with Jethro Burns influence I guess? The title of the song is “Picky”. The title of this post is referring to my journey back in time to find inspiration in music that has always been here and always will be.
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Fat Bottom Girls
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
Yet another song from the same Heel Toe Express late night recording session. This is a cover of an AC/DC song, needless to say, arranged in a different style than the popular arena rock band performed it. Not just any song can be played in a “bluegrass” style but AC/DC songs translate well. We got this idea from a cover band named Hayseed Dixie. Fun song to play! Hope you like it.
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Sam Bush Band tonight!
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
I am very excited to be seeing a living legend tonight at the Variety Playhouse here in Atlanta. Sam Bush has been the single largest influence on my playing. The day my parents purchased me my first mandolin in 2000 he also bought me “Bluegrass Mandolin Taught by Sam Bush,” made in 1984, ironically the year I was born. It is actually in my VCR today. That’s right I still watch VHS’s, mostly old Homespun videos that provide a lifetime worth of practice material. Sam Bush’s versatility and musicianship is what keeps me going back to his playing for inspiration.
I am part of a new generation of pickers who look to Sam and Dawg first then later come to study the father, Bill Monroe, Jesse McReynolds, Doyle Laswson, John Duffy, and all the pioneers who made mandolin playing what it is today. I had the opportunity to play with Matthew Mundy at a jam at Sawnee Mountain Music. Matt is an incredible mandolin player! Matt spoke very highly of Sam and helped me see that Sam’s playing is unique in that he can play anything, traditional bluegrass, jazz, or reggae paying homage to the masters that came before him while still putting his own stamp on the song.
I have included a video here where I do my best Sam Bush impression. My father and I came up with this arrangement of Red-Haired Boy, it starts out with a slow intro, but then gets goin!
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Musicians Unite
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
There seems to be endless places for musicians to network on the web.
The obvious places are Face Book, Myspace, and Twitter. I happen to like more specialized sites that are made specifically for musicians. I subscribe to Flatpicking Guitar magazine which also has a great social networking website where acoustic guitar players share information and music. Check this site out if you play acoustic music, plan on learning, or simply enjoy listening. Here is a link to my page, it is as good of a place as any to get started. Enjoy!
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New Videos!
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
So as you may have noticed I posted two new videos of me and my father playing traditional fiddle tunes we arranged for guitar. Check them out, and stay posted because more videos as well as audio and pictures will be posted on the site soon. I would like to take this time to thank my father, Jeff Cohan, of nSiteful Web Builders for all of his help. He has been a great resource for me to learn new things about web design and music. Any of you out there that need a website or just need some web questions answered, nSiteful is the place to go.
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