Another Friday night and I ain't got no singer

T-2 days

Gibson Les Paul Custom, May 2012

I'm beat. I didn't get into bed until 2:00am.

Labyrinth was at it again last night. At least this time we knew in advance who was coming and who wasn't. Or at least a little in advance; we found out last week that our male singer couldn't make it. But we have our regular bassist, and our drummer is mobile again although he needed to stand up and stretch periodically through practice the other night.

Of course, the big problem is: no male singer. So we divided up the songs at rehearsal and tried to cover the gap. I picked up a couple of assignments for songs I kind of know but obviously have never sung in performance. And given my limited range and general vocal abilities, I thought my best strategy might be to mumble a lot and not try and project too much. Oh yeah, I don't really know the words. Well, enough to sing along with the radio in the car, but not well enough to sing.

On the other hand, it was great having the rhythm section back. And we only had to split the fee five ways, increasing my take by $10. Plus - and get this - we got a $20 tip for playing Gimme Shelter - which I sang!

So Labyrinth is off the road for the next month or so, while I'm on the road. And while the Voice, our our female singer, will be visiting friends and family in Romania. She plans to spend some time at the Black Sea, which she promised me beats the Jersey Shore by a mile.