Worst Review/Best Review

[James Bolek]

I've been playing music for many, many years. I've had some great gigs, lots of good gigs and a few bad gigs. Does anyone care to share their best and worst reviews from their careers?

My worst was when I was in high school, a local Shakespeare company put on Twelfth Night, updated to Colonial America (it was 1976, the BiCentennial). I was asked to provide music with my banjo (for some of you I realize that is an oxymoron.) I am not an actor, which my debut night would show clearly. I had two lines, which were, "Feste the Jester, you honor. A fool widow Olivia took much delight in." I played fine throughout the show, but when my line came up I said, "Feste the Jester, your honor. A fool-awillawaw.... A fool-awillawah..... A.....Fool.....Widow.....Olivia.....Took.....Much.....Delight.....In."

A review in the next day's paper include "Stay home on these nights." and "There were several actors in this production who should have had the benefit of cue cards. The most blatant offender of the evening was Jim Bolek, who played Curio the musician. When he wasn't picking bluegrass on a banjo (bluegrass? Banjo? At Shakespeare:) he was mumbling what lines he could remember and forgetting the rest." The play ran its full two weeks. No more, thank God.

My best review was a few years ago in a bar with a pickup band. We just finished ripping through a version of the Allman Bros. "One Way Out." My boss, who had been out drinking saki bombers before making to our show, stood up (sort of), and very loudly said, "You know what?! You guys are f.......ing AWESOME!"

And you know what? That night we were.

[Mike Perlowin]

My best review, if you can call it that, was when Buddy Emmons came up to me at the convention, and told me he loved my recording of Claude Debussy's tone poem "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun."

My worst one was from a reader review in SGW of the original cassette of my Firebird Suite album, (which contains the Debussy piece,) which began with the words "WARNING; Stay away from this tape. It's as far from country as you can get."

Another reviewer said that the music was very beautiful, but also that it "didn't serve the needs of the steel guitar community" and ended with the words, "Michael go back to playing country."

Here's link to the recording, for those who have not already heard it. Warning: it's 12 minutes long.

http://www.mikeperlowin.com/DebussyAfternoonofaFaun.mp3

[James Bolek]

Thanks, Mike

[James Bolek]

Mike

Sorry it took so long to respond, but I just got a chance to listen to this piece. Beautiful. It is a shame some folks can't go beyond preconceived notions of how or what an instrument, and its player, should play. Do you have any other pieces where you explore the steel guitar? I'd love to hear them.
Jim

[Mike Perlowin]

Thank you James. I'm glad you like my work. BTW, the track was done on E9, or rather the E9 side of my U-12, with its extended bass range.

I have recorded 3 CDs. There is about an hour of music on my web site, and another 30 minutes on my sound cloud page. The links are in my signature.

The CDs are on a classical music label, (http://www.laurelrecord.com) and are being marketed to the classical music community. The selling point is "Here's a new instrument you've never heard before." So far this year I have given 3 concerts in classical music venues, to audiences who for the most part had never seen a steel before. I'm happy to say that the feedback I've received from all three has been very positive.