In the Music Room

We were loading into the 2010 Deep Ellum Arts Fest and some guy with wild red hair came running up. "Hey, I'm Randy," he said. "We're friends on Facebook."

I had no idea who he was.

"I can't stay, but I want to invite you to play on my show."

He explained that he and his wife Helen have an internet radio show called In the Music Room, it was kinda like a house concert, but over the internet, and was mostly acoustic, but interested in all original music, and he had to go, had to pick up his son, and we would talk later.

Then he was gone.

I started to nose around. Over Facebook page threads, phone calls with Randy and surreptitious conversations with people who knew him, I concluded he was legit.

I've learned that Randy is passionate about what he does, passionate about music to the extent that he has built an excellent listening-and-recording room at his home, which he opens to music lovers every single weekend. All guests on his show play original music.

Even though most of the performers on the show play folk, country and indie acoustic, he was willing to open his doors to the Mood Swings. I warned him we were NOT like his other guests -- we were loud, we were rock, and we were sometimes inexplicable. He wanted us anyway.

As the recording date drew near, he emphasized that we needed to bring the volume down so we wouldn't overwhelm the room (it's about the size of your den), and we needed to arrive ready to play 7 songs. We gathered up as many soft songs as we could (five), tacked on two of our weirder ones, and crossed our fingers we wouldn't peg the meters on the sound board.

Five days before our recording date, he threw a curve ball: he was going to record us without stage monitors. This was heresy! We griped among ourselves, asked him again if he was sure he wanted to risk that, and he responded with a phrase that always makes my flags go up: "Trust me." But we figured what the heck, it's his show, he must know what he is doing because he's been doing it for a long time now, it's his room, so....we pushed out into new territory. We put Martha (drummer) on bundles and brushes, Diane (lead guitar) on acoustic guitar, and launched into the mellower side of the Mood Swings.

We had a lovely time. Randy and Helen did the interview with the band members, and it was surprisingly laid back and relaxing. Sweet love songs and a jazzy number and a mostly-instrumental; we even invited his dad, Harold, to sit in and play sax on one of the songs.

It was their 100th show, and we can't wait to hear the results. It'll take a month or so before the songs are mixed down, and a bit longer before they can be heard on the show site: www.inthemusicroom.com

In the Music Room is located in Waxahachie, Texas, which is about a 45 minute drive south of Dallas. I can tell you it is worth going to -- you will hear excellent music in a small, intimate setting, and will enjoy the company of music lovers and even some good food, if you go on a Potluck night. The room is small, though, so be sure to RSVP before you go. I hear Bugs Henderson is playing there in December, and in the spring, Cary Cooper & Tom Prasado-Rao will be in the house.

Mood Swings will be back In the Music Room in Fall 2011.