Humoresque (Dvorak) country-style

[Mike Neer]

I had a lot of fun arranging and playing this over the past two nights. I wasn’t even aware that so many others had recorded their own versions of it in other contexts (Chet Atkins, Joe Venuti, etc.)

Recorded over the course of two nights, I had no idea about the 3rd section when I recorded the first 2. It was only last night that once I opened my DAW it hit me to use a Western style for that theme.

Anyway, I played all the stuff and very carefully put together a pretty cool drum track. Oh, and I use a Tonex (through an amp for the first time) using a capture by Joe Rogers of a Standel XV. You are hearing my aluminum Clinesmith tuned to C6.

The video is pure AI weirdness. I had another vid where I found some clogging footage that worked so unbelievably well, but the filmmaker wanted a hefty licensing fee.

https://youtu.be/ZFOpxAcG3QM?si=SCWzTOXHx3H-2YZ2

[David Irving]

Didn't ever know that was Dvorak. That's grand.

[Mike Neer]

I released this as a single and it’s available on all streaming platforms.
https://youtu.be/ZFOpxAcG3QM?si=SCWzTOXHx3H-2YZ2

[Rich Arnold]

I think this is just about 50 years ahead of it's time. Some musicians are playing for an audience in the future.
I hope you live long enough to see its popularity Mike.
R.

[Andy Volk]

That is really great, Mike. A textbook example of seeing beyond the cliches of genre to something totally new.

[Mike Neer]

I think this is just about 50 years ahead of it's time. Some musicians are playing for an audience in the future.
I hope you live long enough to see its popularity Mike.
R.

Thanks David, Rich and Andy.

Like many musicians (and I’m sure you can relate), I start off playing for an audience of one: me. It’s when I start doing things to please others that I find it to be less successful. That is why I just keep doing things the way I like and hope that someday people will discover and dig it. Not much I can do about that.

I always say this: I’ve listened to and studied so much music in my life, even down to what all the other instruments are doing and what makes the music work, that I have a solid foundation to work from. All of the music that was beyond my reach, like classical, even some jazz, I have adapted to where I think it comes together into a cohesive platform for my steel playing. I’m still learning and I hope that the process gets better with each new piece. I’ve got about a dozen pieces I am working on now that are truly some of my favorites of my lifetime. That’s the thing that keeps me going. Arranging is my greatest passion, and I can thank Oliver Nelson, Clare Fischer, Maurice Ravel, Duke Ellington, Nelson Riddle, etc. for helping me realize this. I do a very simplified version of it.

So all the studying I’ve done, it turns out, was just to become a better, more interesting rock and roller. I have been reunited with my earliest passion for music, which was born from my parents’ 45s (Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, the Platters, etc.).

Way more info than anyone needed.