Middle of the Night Report.

Actually, it's the middle of the morning. I couldn't sleep because a song I've written for Coleman & Shack, the little concert series we've been asked to perform, has taken possession of me and I must rewrite again.



WHY SHACK

(I guess I'm now Shack. But I should probably spell it with a number. Well, we did it because Amy wants to step away from her "Flamin' Amy" past; like a legit actress hiding her porno days. And my last name is impossible. People have called me "Shack" all my life, anyway. Usually Steve, but I like Shack. It's great on a basketball court. "Hey, Shack! You the kid who likes giving massages to the team?" And it's friendly sounding, and kinda country, which, at heart, is really what I am.).

Problem is that everyone in my family gets called Shack at some point or other by friends. So, I cannot claim it exclusively. One of my brothers sings, so he can be Shack too, if he wants.



WHY I AM AWAKE

This song was just too long, and also has some unearned sentiment. So, after I woke up from falling asleep after Big Bang and partway thru Project Runway -- about 1:30am -- these two verses going over and over in my mind -- I realized I could combine the information in the verses into a single verse.  Condense. Condense. Condense.

 And then I realized, Oh wait. This song isn't about what I thought it was about. It's about this, this new thing I just added. That's why songs are not so much written as discovered. That's why it wasn't "landing" in rehearsal. It wasn't finished. But I'm not troubled.

Even though the change didn't completely fix it, and now it looks like a mess on the page, I feel like I know where I'm headed, and I like the new direction very much, because it accomplishes what I had set out to do from the beginning.



COLEMAN & SHACK DATES:

NOV. 1, 2 and 3. ROCHESTER, NY at the Downstairs Cabaret Theatre. (Does anyone there even remember us? We did The Last Session there, together, twice).

NOV. 6. NEW YORK CITY
 Benefit concert for New Yiddish Rep of New York with very special guests, Rich Bloch and Piper Laurie. Location and Details to be announced soon. $18 suggested. No one turned away.

Nov. 11, 2011 NEW YORK CITY
9:00 PM
DON'T TELL MAMA on 46th St.
$10 plus two drink minimum. (The drinks will help immensely.)