Bradley Minnigan

Author: Bradley Minnigan

Golfing with Papa

So I wrote before about my new not-so-cheap-but-it-helps-to-have-free-clubs hobby. In case you missed it, my new hobby is golf. I have enjoyed the last few weeks getting to spend time with my dad, my grandfather, and sport.

Speaking of my grandfather, I played 9 holes with him the other day. I had tried to describe to my wife what it is like watching Papa play golf. To help her understand, I took a couple short videos.

First of all, you have to realize that though Papa doesn’t hit it far, he is almost always hitting it straight. Secondly, he rarely takes a practice swing. If he hits a bad shot, he will take a practice swing AFTER he hits the ball to correct himself. He then returns to the golf cart, grabs the club he will use next, and wait for me to take my shot. He only carries 5 clubs in his bag, so he doesn’t have much from which to choose for his next shot. It is all quite funny if you are not expecting all of this.

Here is the first video I was able to capture. This was on the first hole, and I was able to pull my phone out to catch a glimpse of his iron shot in the middle of the fairway. Keep in mind he rarely takes a practice swing, so I had to be quick on the draw.

The second video here came about hole 6, when I had the opportunity to catch Papa hitting off the tee box. Notice no practice swing – he just steps up and takes a hack at it.

The man knows how he plays golf. Even having a terrible last hole, he still beat me by one stroke. I was so determined to beat the old man, but it just wasn’t my day. I think I was worn out from trying to beat my father the two days previous.

Oh well. Such is my curse.

September 2, 2014
It Just Feels Right

I hope you experience times like I experienced yesterday – it was a day where I felt I was doing something I was created to do. Yesterday, I was in the studio playing and recording music.

Growing up in Nashville, I never thought I would be any good at playing guitar. There were too many stellar players around. However, I later came to the realization that every guitar player starts out the same way – not knowing what he is doing. At that point, I started thinking I could do this for a living…

Yesterday was the day my wife would go into the studio to record 3 new songs that will be released as singles in the coming months. She had done a fabulous job writing these songs. Now it was time to bring them to life.

With the help of our new producer, Neilson Hubbard, and his talented friends (Evan Hutchings – drums, Dean Marold – upright bass, Will Kimbrough – electric guitar and mandolin, Josh Britt – assistant engineer), we got some really great stuff recorded. In a short 6 hours that just flew by, we got pretty much everything except background vocals for the three tracks. The whole time, I was thinking just how lucky I was to be playing guitar all day.

There’s something special with music, and it becomes almost magical when you play music with friends. Here is just a little snippet of one of the tunes we recorded yesterday.

August 28, 2014
Time to Ramble

It’s 5:15 am.

I can’t sleep.

So it is time to ramble.

Golf has become my latest hobby. Dad told me long ago, “Business is done either over a meal or on the golf course.” He chose over meals because he wasn’t very good at golf.

Here we are, he’s making a conscious effort to be healthier, taking up golf, getting pretty good, and now I have a coach down the street. He knows just enough to get me pointed in the right direction, and I love sports too much to look back.

I have always loved sports. Baseball was, is, and will continue to be my first love. Football is way up there too. Golf never appealed to me until now. It’s an opportunity to get outside and once again swing a stick at a little white ball.

At the same time, my wife and I are expecting!

Expecting to go back into the studio, that is. Later this month, we go in to record 3 new songs that will be released as singles. We can’t wait!

After a tumultuous first EP recording experience, we have found a producer we like, admire, and most of all trust. We are very excited about what is coming down the pike!

Finally, I’ll say that a lake is heaven for me. I love going on the weekends to a place where time doesn’t matter. Wake up when you wake up. Eat when you’re hungry. Do what you want. Little to no Internet and connectivity to the outside world. Heaven.

August 6, 2014
All It Takes Is a Little Progress

Sometimes music gets hard. It gets frustrating. It feels like it is going nowhere. Fast.

That’s when a little progress can help.

This last week, we found a little progress. My wife has written some new songs and found one by a fantastic and well-decorated songwriter here in town, and we are itching to get them recorded. This week, we made progress on finding a producer/engineer to help us make those songs come to life. There is still much to do, but every little bit helps.

On top of that, several shows are coming together. A show here, a show there. Each one means another $1 in tips (really, that’s what we average – Nashville apparently doesn’t believe in tipping for music), more exposure, and if we are lucky, one CD sale. Riveting stuff here, folks.

One day at a time. One show at a time. One song at a time. It all starts with a song, and then that song must be sung. That song must be heard. That song must be loved. Then that song can be sung back. I can’t wait for that last one.

Can’t wait.

July 27, 2014
No Two Shows Are the Same

But sometimes, you’ll play the same show twice.

That’s what happened to us last week. My wife and I were on vacation, and she was smart enough to book a show while we were on vacation to give us some exposure while we were out of town. She’s a smart one!

Well, here’s how it went down: my wife booked the gig via email, and in the last email she sent, she asked how long we needed to play. That email went unanswered. We didn’t think about it again.

Until we finished our set.

One of the guys we had met that week had gone inside to the bar to get another drink, and they said there would be music until 11. The current time was approximately 9. We had just played every song we had prepared.

Luckily, we had a good crowd – family and some new best (tipsy) friends! So we played the same set we just finished all over again!

Yes – we played the same set twice. That took us to about 10 or just after, and then we conversed with our small crowd. One guy even bought us a round of my wife’s favorite liquor! Fireball!

Then he proceeded to buy another. Oh boy!

All in all, it was a great time. We really enjoyed ourselves, and we even tried out our new PA system – a Bose L1 Compact. Man, it did the trick! We even had one lady ask the waitress if we could turn it down (to which she replied in the negative).

This one goes to all those audiences that have been great to us!

July 14, 2014
Wading Through the Weeds

Hunting for scallops – it’s one of my new favorite hobbies. You get a snorkle, get a mesh bag, and search through the bay weeds for these little things. The first time I jumped in the water, I wasn’t really sure for what I was looking. “Look for the Shell Oil sign.” “Look for neon blue eye.” That neon blue eyes thing was a little unnerving – that’s just downright creepy! But it was true. Just look for hundreds of beady blue eyes looking up at the sky.

Most of the time, when you get close, the scallops will simply close, and you have an easy time grabbing the little booger and collecting him in your treasure sack. Other times, they take off swimming by chomping – yes, chomping – through the water. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. When this happens, I simply wait for the scallop to wear itself out and catch it as it falls to the bay floor again. Easy as pie. The best places to catch the scallops, though, are in the muddy, mirky reeds found in the shalllows. Here the water is only 18″-36″ deep. You have to swim through the reeds, trying to see these shells that blend in with the sandy floor. You get muddy and nasty, but at the end of the day, it’s quite worth it. Cleaning the scallops is a whole different story. Really, I’ll do a blog later on that. Until then, here are more pictures of the prepared scallops we ate.

July 11, 2014
Hunters and Gatherers

I am now a scalloper. I hunt scallops. It’s actually quite fun! For those who don’t know, scallops are little seafood delights. They are found in shells that look like the Shell Oil logo, but without the “Shell” name. My in-laws have introduced me to the extraveganza.

July is quite early in the season – this means the scallops are smaller but more plentiful than later in the year. We spent the first day out on the pontoon boat going from spot to spot, with my brother-in-law, Andrew, and I being the “scouts” (keep in mind – I’ve never done this before).

The daily limit is 2 gallons of scallops per person per day, or 10 gallons per boat. Day one saw about one gallon of scallops found between the 7 of us. Not good. Scallops in the shells become much less once they are cleaned.

Day two we spent at the beach. Andrew and I got the itch to go hunting for more scallops down the road, and a short two hours later, we each had 2 gallons! Four gallons of scallops! Now we’re talking!

Day three, we were back out on the boat. Where did we go? Straight to our honey pot spot from day 2, of course! This time, we had a few helpers, and only a half-day rental of the pontoon. In a short two hours, Andrew and I each collected another 2 gallons, the others found another gallon, and we went back to the marina with 5 gallons of scallops!

To put this in perspective, this 10 gallons of scallops that we had collected over a 3 day period “shucked” down to about a gallon of edibles. We took our shucked and cleaned scallops to the restaurant where they fried half and blackened the other half. They were delicious! And as a little dessert, they also said the cooks were quite impressed – our scallops were surprisingly large! Go us!

Now I have the scalloping bug – I can’t wait to go agian. Next time, I’ll tell you all about how we actually catch the little boogers.

July 9, 2014
July + Parking Lot + Middle Georgia = Sweaty

Well, that was…hot.

We played an hour set for the City of Centerville Fourth of July celebration last night. Our set started between 6 and 6:30 (I still don’t know what time we were supposed to start). It was fun, but boy, was it hot!

My wife said, “Why don’t you play in shorts?” I come from the school of thought that musicians always perform in pants unless the specific dress code calls for shorts. My wife had a good idea – playing in shorts was so much better than playing in jeans would have been last night.

We were up on a big trailer in an asphalt parking lot, playing in front of a crowd of people who were in line for face painting, corn dogs, and cold sodie-waters. I think they liked the music – Jessie signed hundreds of autographs (or at least 9), and they all had such nice things to say!

We made sure to dress festivally, wearing our red, white, and blue! Even Nana showed up in the cutest outfit!

I’m sure I drank 3 gallons of water, but nothing seemed like enough. I think we survived, though, and it was a fun event. Hopefully we get to do it again next year! It’s alway fun playing any chance we get, especially when there’s a crowd willing to listen!

July 2, 2014
Pictures, Please

So I got some advice from my fellow co-workers today – MORE PICTURES!

I’ll give you pictures. I made another quesadilla for myself tonight. This time, I added pulled rotisserie chicken to my cheese and jalapeño quesadilla. The end result was marvelous. Let’s take a look:

Are you hungry yet? I know I sure am! Bone app a teet!

June 30, 2014
Bachelor Food

Sometimes my wife goes out for a girls night or gets hired to sing an out of town gig without me. I miss her on those nights. It also seems that I get really lazy at night when baseball is on TV and no dinner is prepared. I have since discovered how easy dinner can be.

I’ve always, ALWAYS been a big fan of the ol’ PB&J, or peanut butter and jelly, for those of you who may be too civilized for such delicacies. I also have been known to down an entire bag of pita chips with a tub of my favorite humus. However, I have recently stumbled upon the amazingness that is homemade quesadillas.

I have done several varieties, but my favorites are the cheese quesadilla and the cheese and jalapeño quesadilla. I have also thought of throwing in some bacon and diced potatoes for a breakfast quesadilla. That takes a little more work, but after all, we ARE talking about BACON!

So here’s how I do it:

Take a tortilla and place it in a non-stick frying pan.

Lightly cover the tortilla with shredded cheese (Mexican blend is most appropriate).

Turn the burner on medium.

Add whatever toppings you want.

Once the cheese begins to melt, use a spatula to fold the quesadilla in half.

The underside will just begin to turn golden brown, and this is when you flip it.

The other side will then begin to golden, and this is when you’re ready to eat!

So easy! Just slice it (if you wish), let it cool briefly so as not to glue hot cheese to the roof of your mouth, and enjoy! Feel free to let the quesadilla brown to your liking – I like mine “rare,” but you may be more of a “well done” guy yourself.

Don’t forget to turn the burner off on the stove either.

June 29, 2014