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Complete
Road Journal Download
Chapter 1- REHEARSAL
Well, after a very, very long travel day I finally
made it to my hotel. All the band member's flights arrived at
approximately the same time and although we had all worked together
on many previous tours with Dan, this was a relatively new line-up.
Long time Fogelberg veteran, Robert McEntee was doing guitar
& keyboard parts as well as adding his vocal talents to
the ensemble once again. Jim Photoglo, an extremely accomplished
singer/songwriter in his own right, was taking over on electric
bass and background vocals with that beautiful high tenor voice
of his. And of course, the inimitable Michael "Zoot"
Hanna was on keyboards, which meant he would be covering everything
from Grand piano and Hammond organ to complete orchestral string
parts. As I mentioned earlier, we had all worked individually
with Dan at various times in his career but not in this particular
configuration of players. I was very anxious to see what kind
of musical chemistry we would create together. I had no doubt
that it would be a great touring band but I also knew we had
some serious work ahead of us if we were going to reach our
full potential.
Of course, individual preparation for the tour began weeks before
when we all received a tentative set list. And believe me, it's
not just about memorizing a bunch of parts and stringing them
together into songs! If that were the case, it would be easier
just to read sheet music. In some ways it's similar to an actor
preparing for a role, sure you have to learn your lines but
then you have to get in to the character and breathe some life
into it. It's the same way with a well crafted song. Hopefully,
you eventually reach a tipping point where you're no longer
consciously concerned with what note or musical figure to play
but how you play it. How does it work with the songs dynamics
and harmonic colors? How does it work with the theme and how
does it work with the vocal phrasing? Dan Fogelberg has written
some brilliant songs over the years and they require as much
from the heart as from the head. Compositions like these deserve
a 110% effort in preparation and performance and I've always
welcomed the opportunity to rise to the challenge.
By
the end of our first few days of rehearsals, things started
to come together pretty well. With Dan's songs and arrangements
to guide us and his vocals as the glue to hold it all together,
a real band began to take shape. We didn't think about the
songs anymore as much as flow with them. Everything you needed
to know was constantly being telegraphed by Dan and the other
members of the group. All you really had to do was open up
your mind and LISTEN! And no matter how many times you've
performed the songs, each time you played them, they would
be slightly different. I'm sure that many of the hard core
"Dan fans", who have attended multiple concerts,
will know what I'm talking about. It's those little nuances,
that personal signature by the artists, that really gives
the music life. Although we were getting tighter by the day,
the rehearsal time, that seemed, at first, more than enough,
now seemed terribly inadequate. With just a few days left
until our production rehearsal at the first venue, you can
bet we were feeling the pressure. Of course, with a group
of musicians like these the confidence level was pretty high
and I knew we would be ready when we hit the stage for the
first show.
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