Tell Me What, With Trevor

Well, after all these years after having heard Trevor's composition (immediately after his having gone to music camp for the first time), Trevor and I got a chance to perform this song.

Let me give you a little history on it. The second year that Trevor went to music camp he had thus far only composed one verse of lyrics for this melody. That week at music camp was a very rainy one. For some illogical reason, Trevor insisted on playing his bass out on one of the porches. The rainwater was just pouring down the gutters all over the place. Trev's amp was cracking constantly. Every time I passed him I would hear him muttering and yelling at his amp. I just quietly suggested, "Why don't you go and practice inside, rather than out here with all the rain splattering all over your equipment?" Which he eventually did. Inside he chose the hall which connected the community dining room and the men's and women's bathrooms (somehow those possessive nouns sound wrong). So, here he is between the two bathrooms and in the entrance hall to the dining room and to the outside. Every time I entered the building, there he was. Inevitably he and I would get into some squabble. So that all the other campers who came into the building through those same doors would be privy to our bickering. Our bickering was usually over something very stupid and insignificant (of course). But obviously, we found it very important to argue over whatever it was.

Trevor travels very light when he goes places. A little gym bag, and that's about it. He didn't have any toothpaste. He kept asking me for mine and then I would have to hunt him down so that I could use it myself. He also had no alarm clock. So, I had to continually barge into the men's bunkhouse, while averting my eyes lest one of the men were walking around naked, in order to wake Trevor up. Or else, it's quite conceivable that he might have slept away the entire week. I finally devised a system for the toothpaste. I set my toothpaste tube inside the ladies' room on a table. This was right alongside the hall where Trevor was always playing his bass. Trevor would prance into the ladies' room, back toward the stalls, grab the toothpaste, use it, then replace it on the table in the same manner.

It must have been Monday or Tuesday (the beginning of the music week) . Trevor decided that we both should perform the Tell Me What song as a roast each other. He decided that each of us should compose his own song and roast the other. I started making some suggestions for my verse, but Trevor only responded with, "No, mom! It has to be creative and intelligent." HOI DAH???? Nothing I suggested was any good as far as he was concerned. I finally got annoyed and told him, "Look, if you want to perform this on campers' night (which was Wednesday night) then you be responsible for signing us up." He said, "Ok."

So, the days went by, and I took whatever instructional classes I wanted to. Then Wednesday finally rolls around and it's dinner time (just before campers' night is scheduled to run). I ran into Trevor in the dining room during dinner and asked if he had signed us up (probably expecting, more than likely, that he had not). But NO!!! He surprised me and said that he had.

CRAP, CRAP, CARP!!!! I didn't have my verse created. I had been at classes all day. I told him I had to miss dinner and work on it. I went out on the porch by myself for one hour and worked on it. Finished it. Came in to find Trevor and read it to him with much trepidation. Fully expecting him to crap totally on it. He surprised me again and said that he liked it.

Everyone at camp loved it. I think mostly the families, because they could relate to the bickering they had seen going on throughout the week. Also, the women at this point talked about their confusion as to why Trevor was always barging into the ladies' room for the toothpaste.

Before we performed it again at Wonderland, for their 10th Anniversary Music and Wine party, I had to visit and rehearse with Trevor for about two weeks prior to it. My guitar playing is pretty mediocre and needed a lot of tweaking (well, more than tweaking). So, the date arrived, and we did it.

Well, here we are in all our glory. Joel was good enough to record it. Although the recording is not a good one (it's from her phone), but sort of gives an idea of how it went. Although, I'm tearing it apart. Terrible to be so critical sometimes.

http://qik.com/video/10026230

I definitely have to continue to practice my guitar. I'm not sure what my hand is doing, but it certainly looks spastic to me.

Oh, here's another recording by Sam that is better quality of the same performance.

http://www.vimeo.com/13832852

Next I have to practice a new song that is sort of a co-ownership. I happened to find Trevor's description of how I make coffee on his blog. He described it very accurately and down to the finest detail. I found it so very amusing that I created a chorus and melody for it. Have to learn a good strum for that one.