1) elixir [iˈliks ə] noun
a liquid that would supposedly make people able to go on living forever, or a substance that would turn the cheaper metals into gold. Example: the elixir of life
2) Also a group of middle-aged musicians that drank something cheap to keep 'em rocking into their golden years.
3) Elixir is the name of my most recent band.
4) I've been with them about 3 months. (Update: Been with them since March '08)
5) It was started in '06 by a doctor and a pharmacist.
6) The pharmacist had some neurological thing happen and can't play guitar anymore.
7) The doctor, Keith, is our drummer.
8) He also does most of the male lead vocals.
9) He also built our new studio at the end of the driveway at his house.
10) His house in on 15 acres, so the neighbors don't mind the noise that they can't hear.
11) As a studio-warming gift, I had a decal of our logo professionally made to stick on the bass drum. Like it?
12) The next "oldest" member is our saxophone/rhythm guitarist, Doug. (not age-old, just seniority-old)
13) He's an engineer.
14) While they were looking for a bass player, Doug also filled in on bass sometimes.
15) This is Doug's second band to play in since his high school marching band.
16) His previous band was a 50's rock band that he played with for a few months before the doctor swooped in and stole him away.
16a) I LOVE giving Doug grief. About anything and everything and nothing at all
16b) He gives it back in spades!
17) Doug's wife, Michele, is our keyboard player.
18) She joined Elixir shortly after Doug.
19) She also sings most of the female lead vocals.
20) This is Michele's first band ever.
21) She taught school before becoming a stay-home mom.
22) She's also teaches piano.
22a) She thinks it's funny that I give Doug so much grief.
23) Jerry, lead guitar, came on the scene after Doug and Michele;
24) The previous guitar player rocked in rehearsals, but choked at performances. That didn't work out too well.
25) Jerry will kill me for telling this, but he has shared a stage with Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lynyrd Skynyrd and others that he won't tell me about.
26) His wife promises she will tell me everything if he doesn't fess up soon.
27) He is truly amazing on guitar!
28) The rest of us don't feel worthy to be playing with him.
29) Even though he's the most accomplished guitar player I've ever been in a band with, he's also the most humble.
30) And the most encouraging.
30b) And the slowest to set up his gear. We're talking s-l-o-w!!
31) Jerry and the doctor are the same age.
32) Which is older than I am.
33) I'm so happy to not be the oldest one in the band!!
34) I'm the newest member.
35) Jerry brought me in.
36) (He owes me for this one!)
37) I had just quit two of the three bands I was in at the time I joined Elixir..
37b) So I needed a new project and wanted a classic rock band.
38) We have no swag.
39) I spell Elixir wrong a lot; I tend to spell it Elixer. Which is, of course, wrong.
40) Our photographer, Kathy, also spells it wrong.
41) She was the regional spelling bee champ in the 6th grade or something.
42) She took all the photos for our promo pack.
43) Our sound tech's name is Billy Batts.
44) I don't call him Billy. I always say, "Billy Batts." I think it sounds cool.
45) Billy Batts recently returned from the war in Iraq.
45b) Our sound truly doth succoth when Billy Batts is on vacation; he's just that good.
46) We do have a demo.
47) It was recorded with former members and pretty much succoth, too.
48) We'll record a new one some time this summer.
49) Elixir is a classic rock cover band.
50) We cover classic rock from the 60's & 70's.
51) We also cover some stuff from the 80's, which I believe was predominantly a musical cesspool.
52) We also do a few things from the 90's and 00's, some of which is okay.
53) The doctor is a Bob Seger fan-a-holic.
54) Which means we cover way too many Seger tunes.
55) And we give the doc a hard time about it on a regular basis.
56) We're only half joking.
57) But it's his band, so...
58) We also do a lot of Skynyrd.
59) And we're a bit heavy on the Doobie Brothers and Allman Brothers, if you ask me.
60) We do some Sheryl Crow and Hootie & the Blowfish - that's okay.
61) And some Kenny Wayne Shepherd. That's good, too.
62) Ditto Stevie Ray Vaughan, Arc Angels and Fabulous Thunderbirds, all of whom I met when I lived in Austin, so that's all good.
63) There are some other songs that I'd like the band to do, but what we have is working for now.
64) At least we don't do sissy stuff like ABBA or Bread. (No offense to their fans, but....)
65) Since I've been with Elixir, we've mostly played restaurants and private parties.
66) We're playing for our local Alzheimer's Memory Walk in Sept.
67) The doctor and I are rather hyper, so our gigs are pretty high-energy.
68) We're pushing for a stable core set list, but meeting with a little resistance from behind the drums.
69) He makes the set lists.
70) He likes to change it up a lot.
71) We have way more gear than we need.
72) Doug just bought a trailer to haul it all around in.
73) Now that they doctor's back from his 2 week Alaskan cruise, we'll be booking more gigs we've got a couple more gigs booked.
74) We do love a good gig!
75) We also love our fans!
76) A lot of our fans are the doctor's medical colleagues...
78) And his patients...
79) And his family....
80) And his friends....
81) That's actually a bigger crowd than you'd think.
82) Then there are family, friends and colleagues of the rest of the band.
83) Considering our fan base is predominantly middle-aged professionals, they're an awfully rowdy bunch!
84) Besides too much Seger, we do have a few other warts.
85) We don't have a fabulous frontman/singer.
86) Michele and Keith hold the vocal end down pretty well, though.
87) We all agree we'd rather keep things as they are than bring in some prima donna who doesn't know squat about music, doesn't contribute gear or work, but basically wants the rest of us to serve as his/her live karaoke machine.
88) Several of us have been there/done that and don't ever want to go back there again.
89) All band members are parents.
90) The doc also has a 3 y/o granddaughter.
91) Everyone in the band is really nice.
92) And very easy to work with. (Whew!)
93) It would be great if we had a few more original songs.
94) Right now, we have one. O-N-E.
95) It's called "Old Man Blues."
96) The doctor wrote it.
97) It might be time for me to blow the dust off my old lyrics notebook and see what melodies Jerry can lay on 'em.
98) We'll play private parties & receptions, restaurants, festivals, country clubs, corporate events, charity benefits...but no smoky bars. The doc has asthma. And Doug turns into a pumpkin at 10PM.
99) We do have a MySpace. It features our suck-ish demo sampler.
100) If you have a MySpace, please send us a friend request!
101) We'd love for you to be our friend. 'Cause y'all rock!
UPDATE: Due to health concerns, Jerry left Elixir in October and was replaced by Pat. Who is like a stinkin' guitar savant or something. He hears a song once, then plays it.
"Pat, do you know this song?"
"No, not really. But I'll try to play along."
Then he just nails the screaming guitar leads. And he 's written a seemingly bottomless supply of original songs for us to do. Some people have way too much talent!
Cool!
Posted by: Susan Helene Gottfried | June 24, 2008 at 08:56 PM
What no Bachman Turner Overdrive, or Trooper, or Stampeders or April Wine? You gotta put some Canadian classic in the list! LOL. I enjoyed reading down your list and it interesting finding out more about your band. You so have to post an actual song so we can hear you.
Posted by: Susanne | July 12, 2008 at 12:05 AM