Rag Rug Eclectic

The String Cheese Incident performing on Austin City Limits, I do believe. That was a good show to watch when you were a musician and got up late the morning after a gig. The video is 18 years old. The performance might be even older, who knows? Useful information is in short supply on ToYoube, generally.

That’s some fonkee whathaveyou. There’s some fun George Bensoning about four minutes in. The guy is a terrific player, and nice, relaxed singer, ain’t he? Audiences are unduly impressed when guitarists scat sing along with their solos. I was never much of a guitar player, but I’ve always found it harder not to grunt along with solos than to shut the hell up. I’ve found that it’s deuced difficult to sing scat while playing the trombone, though. Almost as difficult as playing cello in a marching band.

Dude’s got a beautiful guitar, too. I can’t pinpoint the maker. It’s koa wood, semi-hollowbody, and looks like it’s a short scale. Such questions vex me. The drummer is lefty, which also always freaks me out to watch. If you really need some disorienting drumming, you can watch old Fabulous Thunderbirds videos. Fran Christina is left-handed, but plays what’s called open grip, I think. He plays a right-handed set, but hits the hi-hat with his left hand, and the snare with his right. He was one of several Rhode Island guys that ended up in Austin.

The String Cheese Incident is still touring around, if you’re interested. I gather many people are. They’re from a genre I call Rag Rug Eclectic. Whenever I see bare feet and grandma’s carpets on the stage, I know I’m gonna get Jazz Odyssey or Groove Thang Omnibus or Whipping Post Deluxe or Grateful Dead Gloss, only longer. It’s generally just good time music for leisure spots like ski areas, beaches, festivoos, and multi-level marketing conventions. I’ve played all those places back when I was a musician. We were never that successful, however, because our grandma had tile floors, and we had to wear shoes.