First One Home (written by Paul Novak and Corey Weber)
Recorded by Curtis Grubb in Omaha, NE.
The Pendrakes:
Paul Novak: Vocals and bass
Corey Weber: Guitars and vocals
Chris Weber: Vocals
Eric Ebers: Snare drum and tambourine
When I lived in Minneapolis I had a band that shared a practice space with Slim. I also had the good fortune to play bass with his band for a number of wedding receptions. During that time I learned a lot from Slim about music, including:
- Don’t kill a song in practice. Play once for all to learn, twice to get it down, and a third time to polish.
- Don’t kill a song in practice (continued). Most of the time, you can skip the second and third go round. Occasionally, skip the first.
- If you have a lot of parts in a song, what you might have there is another song.
- You cannot rock in flip-flops.
When it came time for my own wedding in Omaha, Slim was kind enough to grab an all-star crew (Lilja, Eller, Lynch, Newman) and come on down to play the reception. I’ve been away from Minneapolis for a while now and haven’t seen a lot of Slim in the last ten years, but I’ve never forgotten how great he was to hang around, how quick he was with a compliment, and how cool it was to play music with him. Thanks Bob! Here’s a wedding song (sort of) for you.
– Paul
