Hey, All. It's been a while....I've been having a great season working on all kinds of interesting projects.

I'm nearing the home stretch on James Durst's CD of his show, Hue Manatee's Quest, a huge project which has taken the better part of 2 years to produce and record.

I've been continuing to play live with Jill Stevenson and our 5 song EP which sounds amazing is just about ready to mix. Peter Peter Denenberg (Spin Doctors,etc,etc, etc,...) will do the honors. Also been producing/recording a very interesting contemporary bluegrass project by vocalist/actor Rachel Jones. Mixing this month and next.

A couple of months back I did keyboards for an EP by vocalist Kailin Garrity and a full length CD for songwriter/engineer/producer Roman Klun. You can check out some of their music on my page here. Roman's got CD release shows next month that feature some of my favorite musicians, Aaron Comess, Andrew Carillo and Tony Levin. Looking forward to that.

Currently doing keyboard work for producer/guitarist Billy Masters for a brand new artist that he's producing named, Bri, as well as keys for a new album by country pop vocalist Sarah LaMantia, produced by Steve Mac.

Last and definitely not least I've been doing some great gigs with Cassidy, formerly of Antigone Rising. She's a remarkable vocalist, writes great songs and the band, Rich Mercurio, Whynot Jansveld, Matt Beck and Duke Mushroom, kick serious butt.

That's all for now. I wish everyone a great holiday season (already, jeeeze..) -Dan

Jeffrey appeared in his black leather jacket (love it!) and black popcorn knit hat (not so much) but I gotta give him big props for bringing along the best accessory ever – the new band! Dan Weiss on keys (awesome!) and Ryan Vaughn on drums (yes!). I guess the stars were all aligned when these three guys got together because there was magic happening up on that stage. I swear that was Billy Preston groovin' on Together and by some miracle of tech wizardry that keyboard produced a mean bass guitar on Over and Over.



photo by J. Johnson
I have seen many - and I do mean many - JG shows in recent years and each one is different . This wasn't your typical singer-songwriter café performance. This was a big stage performance – and Jeff was a rock star. Looking totally comfortable in his skin, he was just so cool and relaxed up there like every living creature in its element. By mid-show he owned that stage. Even the hat was working for him. I have heard Jeffrey perform with a band on several occasions - and they rocked - but this time I could feel the love. They were so giving and supportive and seemed genuinely happy to be there. It just felt right. Jeff was really digging the vibe as was the crowd who started out politely sipping their wine and coffee but ended up on their feet demanding an encore. Jeff returned to the stage but sat at the drums and began to play! [It's on youtube if you want to check it out...visuals aren't great due to low lights]. He invited anyone who played guitar to come up and sit in but there were no takers so he just kicked it with our new friend Dan.
Jeff closed the show with Simple Prayer during which Ryan skillfully transformed the plea into a march, underscoring the lyrics. Wow! I hope these guys stick around for a while. There was some really good energy there. I know they've only played together a few times but they're ready to take this act on the road.

I'm pleased to be playing keys on two songs for Mike Visceglia's autism awarenes album project. The songs will feature Dar Williams and Jonatha Brooke.

I'm extremely happy to have been invited to play some shows in mid-July with one of my all time favorite vocalists, Joan Osborne. The dates are on the West Coast and listed on my schedule. Looking forward to it.

A lot of my time lately has been spent rehearsing and performing in an Off-B'way show called 10 Million Miles. It's a very cool show that features a great band and music by Patty Griffin, which is just a joy to play. I'm playing guitars and dobro. The great writer/singer Ina May Wool is in the band on background vocals and playing guitar as well. The show is performed by Irene Molloy, Matthew Morrison, Skipp Sudduth and Mare Winningham, all excellent singers and actors.

Just did a very cool keyboard session for a new album by Roman Klun. Roman's an excellent producer/engineer and a fine singer/songwriter as well. The album is expected to be done sometime this winter and Jerry Marotta, Tony Levin and Jim Keltner are just a few of the great musicians involved in the project.

I've also been doing some gigs with Jill Stevenson and Kailin Garrity, both wonderful new artists. There's a video down below of me playing with Jill.

A couple of months ago I finished up singer/songwriter Joe Ferrere's debut EP and we're talking about a full length CD sometime in the near future. Still in the midst of producing folk artist James Durst's new CD and I've started co-writing with a very interesting new artist named Imani Athena.

Guess that's about it. No wonder I'm tired. -DW