We always have the greatest plans. But of course, all plans are subject to adjustment. We found ourselves needing to record an episode and in SHORT order. When last you left your fearless hosts, we had literally no idea what we were going to do next. Previous episodes we could at least tease about what was coming up- Will you hear our take on Cornell Dupree? Maybe it will be another tone? Maybe we'll find another amazing guest? Who knows. This go round, it was t-minus one week to air time and we were out of ideas. And then, like action heroes who need an escape vehicle to jump a gully, slowly turning their heads to see the junker of a vehicle left to their disposal - we turned to modes and were like..."well, yeah, good enough."

I have always been frustrated by modes, as you may have heard in our previous dalliances with them on the show. It's a lot to absorb. And it's not because I don't enjoy music theory. We can fist fight anytime about whether it's a circle of 5ths or a circle of 4ths. I'm down to talk about relative major and minor keys, scales, multipart harmony. You name it. But modes always stopped me cold. So, like action heroes who strap into the dune buggy and head for the gorge, we decided to attack. In psychology this is called "exposure therapy." The rules of engagement: 10 minutes on the clock and go. Empty your heads on modes! Knowing full well we'd go over the allotted time.

The resulting episode was quite fun. Kalimar professored, I protested. I think a lot of info was out there and most, if not all, of it was accurate. Most importantly, we got all the Carlton's correct. Am I any smarter on modes? Debatable. Is my anxiety about them lower? Nominally. But I feel like we exercised the old gray matter and it was a good experiment in evolving an episode on the fly. You bring the Cesium, I'll bring the water - meet you in the studio. What's the worst that could happen?

Did it work? Did we make it across the gully? You be the judge - Let us know if we're on to something here. Suggest future ideas for our next showcase showdown!