Saturday, August 11, 2007

Eric Herman and the Injurable Hand

It hasn't been the best year for personal safety...

First, the broken arm, and then last week I cut a nice chunk out of the tip of my middle finger with a shaving razor.

I know what you're probably thinking... Eric, you're not supposed to shave your fingers. But it's just that every night when the moon comes out, they get really hairy, and... Well, actually I was rummaging through a bin on the top shelf of our bathroom closet in the RV and there was a razor in there with the safety cap missing. That'll teach me to leave safety caps off and to go rummaging through uncharted bins.

Fortunately, the gouge is over on the side of the fingertip and shouldn't affect my long-term guitar-playing. It's healing well and should be okay before too long, but it has made it difficult to play guitar at my recent shows. "The Elephant Song" just doesn't sound quite right with two-finger power chords. And there's a gesture that is created now when my hand is playing the guitar neck that, well... it's not the nicest thing for family shows, if you know what I mean.

So anyway, with the arm brace still on my right forearm and the finger splint on my left hand, I've decided not to sing any "safety" songs this year, for fear of looking hypocritical.

8 comments:

Idaho Dad said...

And there's a gesture that is created now when my hand is playing the guitar neck

Oh man, we almost made it to your Tuesday show at the Bitterlake Community Center. We spent the morning at the Seattle Aquarium, then went for lunch and shopping at Pike Place Market, but it all took too long and we didn't get out of there until 3:30.

You know I would've had a picture of that finger waving about. :)

Eric Herman said...

Sorry I missed you guys, Phil. Hope you had fun in the city. We were hoping to get to the Aquarium this summer, but only had one free day for the Science Center, which was really cool.

But the finger injury actually happened Tuesday night, so I wouldn't have had to make any Cease & Desist orders on your pictures. :o)

Anonymous said...

Ouch. I hope it heals well and isn't painful!

And I hope you end up touring our neck of the woods (Kentucky) at some point. I keep checking your site - hope springs eternal . . .

Eric Herman said...

Thanks so much, Jill. I really appreciate that. I'll be fine and ready to record some guitar by the fall when I'm back home again. At this point, I'm mostly just hoping that nothing else happens! :o)

I'm planning to get to a lot more of the states over the next couple years to promote my next new album when that's out, and I definitely want to get to Kentucky at some point. Of course, in the meantime, if you have any schools/libraries/events nearby, you can always pass on a flyer from my website, which can be a good way to get something going.

Take care,
Eric

GBK Gwyneth said...

Sorry to hear of your injury, Eric! Georgia's not too far from Kentucky, of course ...

Saints and Spinners said...

I'm sorry about your finger, Eric! However, I think you have a safety song in the making. It would be something along the lines of the Monty Python scene with the knight fighting, losing his limbs one by one, and protesting, "It's only a scratch!" By the end of the song, you'd be in a full-body cast.

Barring the safety songs, you can just do the Safety Dance instead. And yeah, I just couldn't resist...

Anonymous said...

Thank you. I will print that and take it to the next PTA meeting. My daughter would be thrilled beyond speech if one of her favorite musicians actually came to her school.

Eric Herman said...

Ah yes, Gwyneth, we definitely want to come to the land of the Gooney Birds...

Alkelda, I should never do "The Safety Dance"... mostly because I shouldn't do any dancing at all! It's not a pretty sight. :o)