“Chiots de la lave” was behind us -- that is, translated -- when Paul came to the Doghouse. Time for a lesson. The student had not been doing his homework. Inattentive? On vacation to do day job things? The ocean turquoise Jazzmaster had sat on a guitar stand for two weeks.Paul brought PipeLine Instrumental Review with him. No. 86. Summer 2011 issue. Duane Eddy on the cover. Bill: “Did they review us?” Paul: “Yes. It’s encouraging.”
And the instrumental review magazine is in English. It should be. PipeLine is published in the UK.
Interviews of Duane Eddy and Johnny Farina and requiems for Jet Harris and John Barry were up front. Then came reviews, which were in alphabetical order by performer. No stars. No thumbs up or down. No smiley or other faces. Just reviews. “Lava Pups” was between Dan Lambert and Brian Locking & Gus Lemmen.
Our review was mixed but right on the money.
“Paul Beatie of The Pyronauts plays second guitar on this side-project for his student Bill . . . takes the lead. They share compositional duties and, along with tasty reverb guitar sounds, the arrangements are one of this album’s strengths. Underpinned by the solid bass of Don Bazinet, spirited drumming from Glenn Kohlmeister is another plus. He drives things along nicely while Paul’s strong rhythms and tasty fills add useful embellishment. Sea Witch and Lava Tube are good, stirring pieces of surf beat and Pacifica Blue a neat ballad. The lead guitar lacks a bit of authority in places, but this is a promising debut and I hope Bill will gain confidence from it.”
Yes, I am the weak link. My inexperience showed in the CD and, at times, in our performances. Did PipeLine read Phil Dirt’s review or see the first 2-1/2 songs of our gigs? But Paul and I wrote and arranged some good songs. That has been unanimous in the reviews and encouraging.
Maybe I should follow PipeLine’s advice, take the Jazzmaster off of the guitar stand, sweep some of the dust off of it, and start playing more. Let’s strengthen that weak link.