The Sweet Spot
Nooch's Macaroni Moment for 11/14/2008
Top 10 on my mind:
1. Drums, drumming and drumbeats.
2. Death of John "Mitch" Mitchell, Hendrix's drummer and maybe my biggest drumming hero of all time. Now I'll never be able to ask him what he was on when they played the Forum in '69.
3. First pictures of extrasolar planets taken by HST & Gemini observatory.
4. Boobs.
5. Pizza (or pasta? always a tough call).
6. Obama and all that. Hope he's got a musician health & dental plan to put into action while he tries to save our country from itself. It's all about the hope, people.
7. New day jobs and how much they can suck vs. paychecks and how cool extra dough is.
8. Whatever's on your mind and if any of it is the same as what's on mine.
9. Boobs again. They're just freakin' awesome.
10. Our upcoming live CD, there's gonna be some real sweet s#!t on there (no pun intended)
Aron Holt's posting for 11/13/2008
We may be the second most racist. . .er. . .Red state in the
Dan Walker from an undisclosed location - 11/4/08
There are a lot of stories, mostly apocryphal, about how I joined up with the Sweet. Anything you hear regarding curfew violations, or three-legged Rhodes pianos are clearly too preposterous to be believed. I'm here to tell you the real low-down. I was at the McFarlin United Methodist Church, turning in one of my usual spectacular turns at the pipe organ at this performance (Listen) of Handel's Messiah, and Boyd and Orebaugh came up to me afterwards, raving about how my "advanced harmonic techniques" would be just the thing for the Sweet. It was a good thing, as I was having some artistic differences with the musical director anyway. One door closes, etc. etc.
If you're reading this on Tuesday and haven't voted - go do it!
Whitney Weingartner's posting for 11/3/2008
In light of the Tulsa World's poll that found that Oklahoman believe Sarah Palin to be a more qualified presidential candidate than Barrack Obama, I submit the following.
Nooch's Macaroni Moment for 10/23/2008
So... Saturday was fun! Props, kudos, sex and pizza to everyone that was there; freakin' live cd man!!!! That’s hella good. Also turned out to be quite the homecoming. Got to briefly catch up with lots of dearly missed family and friends. Like, we're talkin old school, yo! Norman Ardmore
Alan Orebaugh's posting for 10/21/2008
A case of the Mondays with Alan Orebaugh 10/13/2008
David Lee Roth's RAW vocal track. Awesome!
Click here!
Nooch's Macaroni Moment for 10/10/2008
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
US author & physician (1809 - 1894)
Greetings Minions: (Boyd's posting for 10/9/2008)
Greetings minions. Wanted: Unbelievably hot psycho bitch for passionate but otherwise unhealthy relationship. Must have some type of drinking problem, preferably with uncharacteristic negative and uncivilized behavior while under the influence. Breath that reminds me of my father is a plus! Must have at least 2 years experience with unfaithful boyfriend(s). Not so that I can be one, but so that I can be treated like one. Must provide mind-blowing unbelievable sex, twice daily, to distract me from the problems listed and any others such as owning a stupid dog, stalking, or bi-polarity. Realistic and well-centered "keepers" need not apply.
Aron Holt's posting for 10/6/2008
A shining testament of the free market OR proof of a fear based culture out of control? Decide for yourself. . .
http://www.brickhouse-childsafety.com/bulletproof-backpack-page.html
Whitney Weingartner's posting for 10/3/2008
I thought you all might enjoy this. The link below tells you what your name would have been if you had been born a Palin. Here's what the Sweet would be (if you enter their full names):
Aron = Wrangler Tractor Palin
Boyd = Smoke Strapon Palin
Alan = Stepper Choke Palin
Nooch = Churn Scorpion Palin.
Just click the link below, scroll down a little and enter your name in the box.
http://politsk.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah_13.html
Greetings Minions: (Boyd's posting for 10/2/2008)
You get up in the morning, drink you coffee, catch the train to work. 9 to 5 all day and for what is it worth? Makes you hands hurt. 40 hours of the jobbyjob, 16 hours of classes. But when the weekend comes, there is a band that is playing that is so much fun. Makes you move your asses. No way to know what we’ll see tonight, nobody knows how far we’ll go. Sweet little thing makes me feel alright. We can dance and sing along to all the songs we know. We got to get ready, get set, and away we go. Get up on time to get in line for the Mama Sweet show. It’s finally Friday on the corner, time to hit the party. The whole club’s jumpin’ as they play “Caution”. Girls are dancing, fights are starting. The only problem is that tonight is the final Sweet show. That’s why we’ve got to get ready. Cuz 10:30 is when they start. That’s the only thing you need to know. . .
This song is on the “Tincture” myspace site. Lyrics by myself and Aron. All instruments by yours truly.
Nooch's Macaroni Moment for 9/30/2008
Some thoughts and remarks from me for the recently deceased Blues Saloon (Danny's, Odie's, Rick's, whatever) and its Sunday Jam:
Proud home to legends, mentors, students, aficionados, degenerates, lovers, memories, family. And the BLUES. Its stage has seen the brilliant careers of many a soul begin, flourish and pass on. Sundays there forever changed my life; if only church sermons had half as much truth and meaning as almost any one set on the Sundays I remember... If only every venue had half as much heart and history or half as good a house band... R.I.P.
I missed out on the last
"If you can't play the fuckin' blues,
get off the fuckin' stage."
"Not all that tempts your wandering eyes
And heedless hearts, is lawful prize;
Nor all that glisters gold."
We lost Moody 9/29/2008
Well, he wasn't kidding when he said he was killing time working for Mama Sweet and hoping to hear from someone else. He didn't get the Avril job, but Moody (our road manager) has left us to be Joe Bonamassa's assistant road manager. He is currently traveling around in a prevost and will soon be traveling into Budapest and other exotic places. So, when or if you ever see him again, tell him congratulations and then kick him in the balls for leaving The Sweet! No, seriously, we wish him all the best and will miss his humor and ipod in the van.
Greetings Minions: (Boyd's posting for 9/24/2008)
Greetings minions. Through meditation I program my heart to breakbeats and hum basslines upon exhalations. Burning seven day candles that melt into 12 inch circles on my mantle and spin funk, like murr. And I can fade worlds in and out with my mixing patterns, letting the Earth spin as I mix in Saturn. My brothers spin windmills, braiding hair, lockin, poppin as the sonic force of the soul keeps the planets rockin. . . Blowing tunes through lunar wombs, impregnating stars, giving birth to suns that darkens the skies that skin our drums. And we beat infinity over sacred hums, spinning funk like murr until Jesus comes. But Jesus comes every time we drum. The moon drips blood and eclipses the sun, and out of the darkness comes a BOOM!
Nooch's Macaroni Moment for 9/23/2008
Aron Holt's posting for 9/22/2008
Just don't. . .
Greetings Minions: (Boyd's posting for 9/19/2008)
Greeting Minions. Some rhymes I wrote like 10 years ago – an attack to the senses, my sound waves show no mercy. Like Jacob Fred my dissonant melodies are whispering “shut up, Percy”. Disturbing to the ear but somehow pleasant and enhances, you step in hesitant dances. Fat chances you’ll have attempting to duplicate the sound of the Stereo Crew! You here the mix tape and before you get your pants off, you defecate. Shitting vile emotions induced by diminished chord structures. The beauty of jazz, the ugly of pop. Like it or not, I’m the silver platter hot snot. I got no time for your cold booger rhymes, paper plate can’t support my crushing weight.
Nooch's macaroni moments for 9/18/2008
Here's a little something for the intellectuals:
http://www.ted.com/
I'm posting today, because Nooch is exhausted from his adventures yesterday. You see, for the last two years, I get Aron (a Cowboys fan) and Nooch (an Eagles fan) tickets to the match up in Dallas for their Christmas/Birthday presents. Here is a taste of what they experienced:
IRVING, Texas. - Lead change after lead change, spectacular play, after spectacular play, head-splapper after head-slapper, the Dallad Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles played a game Monday night that was more gripping than many movies. (Click the link below to see highlights)
http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80adb2ed
Dan Walker's posting for 9/12/2008
After time away for his real job, Dan rejoined us last night at the fair. He even drove the van home! As we decompressed, he introduced us to this piece of hilarity. So, I am giving him credit where credit is due.
Greetings Minions: (Boyd's posting for 9/11/2008)
Greetings minions. For those who don't know I'd like to bring your attention to an up and coming red dirt artist by the name of John Fulbright. John is From Okeemah and has been doing duet shows with Gabriel Marshall as well as solo. He's one of those assholes that can play an instrument (like me, but better). I would kinda compare him to Travis Linville, nowhere near the guitarist but a better singer. He covers this Don McLean song that just about chokes me up every time.... Also, wanna give some props to Jeremy Watkins, mad fiddler currently playing for Stoney Larue. After his set in Newkirk on Saturday, he hightailed it all the way to OKC to catch the end of our show.
Nooch's macaroni moments for 9/9/2008
Best keyboard ever. Some guy figured out how to tune giant Tesla coils. Gotta get one for Dan.
Whitney Weingartner's posting for 9/8/2008
I started working for Mama Sweet about 3 years ago. First, I updated their myspace page, then I built them a website and took over merch. Before I knew it, I was their manager. Two years ago, Aron, Alan and Nooch all shared a house together. We would often gather at the Sweet Spot (see the connection?) to hang out, eat, and watch TV. About that time, we discovered Metalocalypse. I still remember the day when Aron turned to me, dead serious, and said, "That's what I want you to be for us." So, the character (the man dressed in the suit and tie), simply named "The Manager" has been a source of inspiration for me. As you can see from my previous post, I think the guys may take some inspiration from the show as well. Here is the clip Aron was referring to:
http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=fb90c1ad86039093dd2903150590810a
Greetings Minions: (Boyd's posting for9/5/2008)
Greetings Minions. Can't make up my mind what to write about. Should I write about the terrible night I had when my psycho ex showed up completely shitfaced at the show Saturday night and made a total fool of herself or about the awesome time I had Wednesday night sitting in with Mike Dillon's GoGo Jungle? How frustrating it is to be so in love with somebody that doesn't know how to act in public or how awesome GoGo Ray's drum soloing was, even causing Dillion's jaw to drop after 15 years of playing together?
This is Mike Dillon, people.
Motherfucker plays with like Les Claypool and Edie Brickell.
I spent the ages of 13 to 15 trying to BE Les Claypool.
Nooch's macaroni moments for 9/4/2008
Howdy, friends. Wanted to turn y'all on to the work of a couple good friends of ours that are way into band photography. Jake Morrison lives in
Also our friend Keltie from right here in Nompton has spent much of the last year chronicling the lives of the Sweet and many of our best friends via her camera at the Deli, our homebase. She's got a passion for capturing the moments that make a life and with over 72,000 of these moments posted online she has produced an expansive Deli scrapbook for the world to see. Take a peek at www.flickr.com/photos/ksparger or at her myspace, also conveniently linked to our own (kbspics).
Have a great week and try to catch us at the Wormy or MoMo's this weekend. Viva!
Alan Orebaugh's posting for 9/3/2008
On Tuesday November second our country lost an under-appreciated national treasure, actor and musician Jerry Reed passed away. I have many memories of Jerry Reed growing up, I watched Smokey and the bandit repeatedly and my dad listened to his music regularly. Being a child I was naturally entertained by the humor in his music and was imprinted by the sound of his guitar virtuosity. Also let us not forget that he was arguably the best guest star on ANY episode of Scooby Doo, but I digress. Anywho, if your only familiar with him as the evil football coach in The Waterboy then check out his music, as the favorite student of Chet Atkins he was truly an instrumental genius. Just ask Mike Hosty.
-Alan.
Good Moody/Bad Moody? (8/28/2008)
Allow myself to introduce...myself. The name's Colin Moody, a.k.a. Moody Booty, Colleen, Landlady, Moody, and Pep Streebeck. Once a landlord for three insomniac musicians, now I must only be labeled their 'Tour Manager'.
Right now, I'm just killing time working for Mama Sweet. I'm hoping to hear from Motorhead, Ween or Kenny Loggins for a possible job opening. Deep down, though, I'd really like to work for Avril Lavigne. I bet she doesn't break g-strings, she just wears them.
A little more about me and my duties as Mama Sweet Techie; Like my first posting said, I sweat a lot. Do I enjoy plugging in amps and pedalboards, setting up drums and bass amps, tuning guitars and changing strings? Yes. Best 5 words in the freakin' world: Free Food and Draw Beer. I have this strange ability to never have any working monitors on my stage and I think it's making Mama Sweet a better band. They disagree. I love Peavy sound equipment and the smell of a Subway Sandwich left in the van overnight.
Drink orders:
Aron – Crown / Crown & Coke / Miller Light / Kerosene
Alan - Double Jager
Boyd - A Microbrew (Sierra Nevade, Blue Moon)
Nooch – WATER / Miller Light / Scotch / Whiskey
Me - I'll drink whatever wrong drink is brought to these guys. It's cool.
Until we meet again, Colin
Greetings Minions: (Boyd's posting for 8/27/2008)
Greetings minions. Some thoughts of the week. I wanna get some 700c disc wheel conversions for my killer track frame. Some Nitto drop bars and a jaguar stem too. I also need to dial in my tone with a graphic EQ to help get that more vintage sound. I've also been having trouble with my pressure foot not getting enough grip on the vinyl weave. It makes adding the half inch double fold particularly hard when you need it to be smooth. I don't want to have to find another CR885 but I don't be limed to just using Cordura either. You know what I mean?
Nooch's macaroni moments for 8/26/2008
Top 10 Hottest Female Athletes from Da Lympics:
10. My plan to make a top 10 hottest female athletes list was thwarted when Alan & I watched the visually stunning and super tripped out closing ceremonies on Sunday after we got home from TX. Apparently today's female world-class athlete cleans up rather well. There was a cornucopia of hotties running around the ol' bird's nest from lots of different countries, and it smashed my poor top-10 list to smithereens. I didn't know where to start, so I searched the web on a country to country basis to maybe do like the top 10 sexiest countries or 10 girls from each country or something, but there were 203 nations that participated and that's a huge undertaking that I'm not prepared to undertake. So at this time I'm forced to conclude that there's hotties everywhere in the world and a lot of them play sports good. And potentially the hottest of the international hotties, the Chinese Cheerleaders, got pretty much a fat goose-egg of tv time throughout the games. Damn you prude-ass NBC, and your negative dork sportscasters. But Viva da Lympics!!! Date a world class athlete today. Listen to Mama Sweet. And may God have mercy on your soul.
Aron's posting for 8/22/2008
this shit's hilarious
Nooch's macaroni moments for 8/21/2008
Y'all been wachin da lympics? I have. I wanna take this opportunity to give props to USA Gymnastics from right in our own back yard. Dig. This dude Johnathan Horton scored silver tonight (or last night or something) on the high bar. Dude did it representing Texans (where he's from) Normanites (where he's at) and the Crimson & Cream (where he'll never pay a penny for his degree). Boomer Sooner, Johnathan Horton, you done us all proud back home.
Now also on my mind is this girl Nastia Liukin. My comrades have been giving me hell for my fascination of late with this Russian-born
Anyway watch da Lympics. Good stuff.
Greetings Minions: (Boyd's posting for 8/20/2008)
Greeting minions. Some random thoughts of the week - just got cable first time in years. Sweet, sweet, cable. Most shocking police chases and a bowl of cereal. Anybody ever seen the Olympic bicycle racing where they ride futuristic space bikes side by side on a tight high banked oval all nascar style? Me neither! Every 4 years, I pray ans search to catch a fleeting glimpse of track cycling highlights. God forbid we interrupt a gymnastics award ceremony for live coverage of easily the most dangerous of summer Olympic events. I have a prediction that the Sooner gymnast dude will attend a Mama Sweet show before the end of the semester. Maybe he can pull some strings for me. Suck it, Costas.
A case of the Mondays with Alan Orebaugh (8/18/2008)
Hello all! I tend to obsess about music, i.e. I find something I like and absorb everything I can from it. My most recent life soundtrack is STAY POSITIVE by The Hold Steady. They are a band from
Next week,
Alan
Aron Holt's posting for 8/15/2008
Today we're doing Duck. . .
and developing more "actionable intelligence".
Boyd's posting for 8/13/2008
Greeting minions. Only two chances and I can now no longer give the call "Hello children" in light of the passing of my beloved grandfather, Isaac Hayes. Grandpa was an extremely talented man. Most know him, obviously, for his funk and soundtrack material but he could play anything! He once taught me a bass line with his dirty socks in my face so that I could make the proper facial expressions one needs to make while playing funk bass. He was so kine. He never raised his hand or voice to anyone. Never treated grandma poorly. And never once put his salty balls in my rectum.
Nooch's Macaroni Moments (8/12/2008)
Drum kits were first developed due to financial and space considerations in theaters where drummers were encouraged to cover as many percussion parts as possible. Up until then, drums and cymbals were played separately in military and orchestral music settings. Initially, drummers played the bass and snare drums by hand, then in the 1890s they started experimenting with footpedals to play the bass drum. William F. Ludwig made the bass drum pedal system workable in 1909, paving the way for the modern drum kit.
By World War I drum kits were characterized by very large marching bass drums and many percussion items suspended on and around it, and they became a central part of jazz music. Hi-hat stands appeared around 1926. Metal consoles were developed to hold Chinese tom-toms, with swing out stands for snare drums and cymbals. On top of the console was a "contraptions" (shortened to "trap") tray used to hold whistles, klaxons, and cowbells, thus drum kits were dubbed "trap kits."
By the 1930s, Gene Krupa and others popularized streamlined trap kits leading to a basic four piece drum set standard: bass, snare, tom-tom, and floor tom. In time legs were fitted to larger floor toms, and "consolettes" were devised to hold smaller tom-toms on the bass drum. In the 1940s, Louie Bellson pioneered use of two bass drums, or the double bass drum kit. With the ascendancy of rock and roll, the role of the drum kit player became more visible, accessible, and visceral. The watershed moment occurred in 1964, when Ringo Starr of The Beatles played his Ludwig kit on American television; an event that motivated legions to take up the drums.
The trend toward bigger drum kits in Rock music began in the 1960s and gained momentum in the 1970s. By the 1980s, widely popular drummers like Billy Cobham, Carl Palmer, Bill Bruford, Phil Collins and Neil Peart were using large numbers of drums and cymbals and had also begun using electronic drums. Double bass pedals were developed to play on one bass drum, eliminating the need for a second bass drum. In the 1990s and 2000s, many drummers in popular music and indie music have reverted back to basic four piece drum set standard.
In the present, it is not uncommon for drummers to use a variety of auxiliary percussion instruments, found objects, and electronics as part of their "drum" kits. Popular electronics include: electronic sound modules; laptop computers used to activate loops, sequences and samples; metronomes and tempo meters; recording devices; and personal sound reinforcement equipment.
-from Wikipedia
Dan Walker's posting for 8/11/2008
Sorry for the late posting. We are busy preparing for our big show on Wednesday (see the home page). Today's blog is by the one and only Dan Walker! For those of you who don't know, Dan is the man on the keys who sometimes graces us with his presences. He's been with us since day one. In fact, during the days of our first band, Blue Collar Cartel, Alan and I used to sneak Dan out of his house so he could come play gigs with us (he was a mere 16 years old). We beg him to become a regular member of Mama Sweet (see Boyd's last posting) but he has a real job (he's an engineer) and a wonderful wife. So, spending all his time with us is less than appealing. But, he is coming around and I think we are going to start seeing and hearing a lot more of him.
"YOU CAN GET ANYTHING YOU WANT AT THE MUSKOGEE SHELL STATION"
Women, Coffee, and Fountain Drinks!
Whitney Weingartner's posting for (8/8/2008)
Aron's computer is still sickly (hence the delay in blogs) and he has been out of town visiting family. So, I'm posting once again. Sometimes after a spat, the boys come t