Life of Meaning: Part 2

Last summer I finally got to see a live Beck show (thanks to a generous gift from two of my students) at U.C. Berkeley’s Greek Theatre.  The opening band, The Black Keys were very energetic and put out a two man blues convulsion.  Joining them on stage was none other than Ralph Carney, who gained fame as Tom Waits reeds and special effects man on most notably Waits’ 1992 Bone Machine.

It so happens that the  Black Keys drummer was Carney’s
nephew.  Carney came on stage with a bizarre homeade
clarinet/recorder/pipe cleaner thing and squeeled.  I don’t think
the crowd knew who he was, but they appreciated his spectacle
nontheless (no need to mention, but Beck rocked and shuffled (as
expected) with guest bass player Steven McDonald of Redd Kross).  A few days after the show I was at the very fine Aquarius Records in SF looking for some Pram
on vinyl and who was there across from me leafing through the
international CD’s but Ralph himself.  I took the opportunity to
tell him I enjoyed his cameo and he let me know of upcoming shows where
he would feature an assortment of his latest instrument
inventions.  I missed the show, but here are some of his
recordings via his own site:

Ralph Carney : Fluids.mp3
Ralph Carney : Solstice Song.mp3
Ralph Carney : President’s Song.mp3