Played this weekend with the band I'm subbing for occasionally. Their regular guitarist was there as well and we had a lot of fun playing together. Our styles are a bit different and we compliment each other pretty well. We know how to lay back, give nods and play different timbers and patterns to augment what the other guy is doing. He is a monster Tele player and has his Nashville Deluxe Tele autographed by Willie Nelson. He's a great guy too.

I bring more rock to their repertoire but this weekend I lost my voice. There is some bug going around and I got it. I feel fine but my voice quit. It didn't help much that I did the first 2 sets Friday without any monitors. By the third set I was cooked and stupidly tried one more song. Massive fail! No sound would come out when it was supposed to. I was sweating profusely after that fiasco. Thankfully we went into another song right away.

I hung with only one guitar both nights, the Squier Deluxe Strat. He even complimented me on the sound and asked what pickups were in it because it sounded great. (it really did) I played through the H&K Edition Tube 20th Anniversary amph. I was not put through the PA so I turned the clean channel up just past noon and ripped away with the M13 and Thomas Organ Crybaby wah. Most of the time I used a Tube Screamer patch with a spring reverb or analog or digital delay. I would also kick in a Tube Driver for a little more push or hair. Then to go completely over the top I also had a Rat type patch that I would stack with the Tube Driver or Screamer. Sweet feedback! I also used the Tron Up patch for an envelope follower or auto wah sound. Pretty funky.

All in all it was a good weekend playing and I'm looking forward to next week when I have my voice back. I'll even try to have some pictures taken. I wasn't expecting to get paid but at the end of the night I was discretely passed some paper. Nice! It feels good to be playing live again.