My dream is to support myself playing music. It is to play, write, perform and share my music. Right now my income in generated in three equal ways. The first is my favorite, performing music. The second manner by which I make money is teaching private percussion lessons. I enjoy this and would continue to teach lessons even if I didn't have to. The third source of income is my gardening company CJW Gardening. I also enjoy gardening and would continue doing this even if the music performance stream was elevated to a level I would be satisfied with.
     So what would I be satisfied with in music? I have always wanted a bus. A big ass Tour bus. On this bus there would be a crew or even a family of people all working together to make each show, each tour a success. I would love to finally have our own sound man who knows our music right down to each thirty second note triplet. Make that two sound men, one for front of house and one for monitors. Our own light man who knows the set and all the changes in the music. Stage hands, merchandise people and one bad ass driver that can get us to the next town through rain, sleet or snow. At that level a band can really focus like a laser beem on creating music and performing it on an inspired plane. I don't need fame maybe a small fortune. What we need is one top ten single that we can milk for twenty years, while we tour endlessly sharing our gift with the world. It takes a multi-million dollar promotional budget to get a song to that level. However, in some rare cases it happens by freak accident. I believe this can happen to me by never quitting and maybe being in the right place at the right time. That is why I will play music till the day I die. Am I crazy for thinking my dream will come true? I do have better odds here than with the lottery.

Wow! What a great weekend. It's always nice when your expectations are exceeded. The Friday night show at Bayside in Excelsior started off a little slow. I was bummed because I figured the warm weather would drive people out to the bars but it did not. Then Scott, Jim, Kim and a bunch of her hot girlfriends came walking in. They had a big enough group to take up three tables. Five minutes later, Bob, Shelly, Pam, Wiki, Dave, Tami, Sara and Alison and a bunch of other folks started showing up and filling the room. Saved by the Mac fans once again: instant crowd. Of course, a crowd draws a crowd. People danced all night long. In fact, the dance floor was packed several times. We played a lot of originals and we were really connecting on the solos and jam sections of the songs. Senior Mac graced us with a guest appearence on the Harmonica. It was such a good night that I was certain that Saturday night was gonna suck. Usually that's how it works if one of the weekend nights is way better than you thought it would be, the other night will be much worst than you hoped it would be.
       Not the case at the Club New Yorker. This is a great little bar out in Green Isle, MN. They have a decent stage, lights, a good load in area and really cool owners. The stage acually sits right up next to the bar. I don't even have to get off of my drums to order a beer (dangerous). Once again, we had a good crowd and plenty of dancers all night long. They have a stripper pole in the middle of the dance floor so we were being entertained while we were entertaining. Not a bad weekend and I feel pretty good.

I have walked a million miles in this lifetime, solitary power, I've learned to spend my hours, recollecting the words of the pilots of the craft, scientists from another world learned to bend the universe in half and escape the forces that have the light that we see trapped. Trying to reverse the destruction coarse that the human race has engaged in, I've rehearsed a verse here that will have your asses star gaze n trace n a line through the sky, no longer wondering why the pyramids of Egypt are aligned with Orion. Cosmic Funky Love Power bestowed on me I am free to step out of my own identity. C to the H to the RIS J supernatural MC so listen what I say.
      These are some of the Lyrics from Space Factory, the lost Eddie Mac Album. You can still get it on I tunes. Something I suppose I'll have to do considering the fact that I don't have a copy. What happened that I will have to buy a copy of my own CD and not profit from it?       

I wish I had a million dollars. Sometimes I feels like that is the only way to promote a song to a successful level. I have to believe that if the world could hear "The Mayan Calendar" (maybe 3 times) the song would catch on. I know there are anomalies where a song breaks without a huge promotional budget.
       The way I sing the song sounds kinda sad. I was actually trying to capture the feel of someone who has nothing left to lose, however may become the champion of his world when, by mistake, a powerful yet disillusioned person in the music industry falls in love with the song. Take these words and pass them on:
      "I don't know just where you're going or where you're coming from. You seem to spin around faster than the Moon does Sun and when you get to where it is you're goin' Lord knows you get to where you're goin'. I don't Know just where I'll be come Monday but One day You and I can lie there in the Sun babe, and when we get to where it is we're goin, West coast destination flowin' And you all best be Knowin' (recognize that from "Lotta love to Give" on Space Factory CD). I don't know just where you're comin' from my dear, but I get filled with inspiration everytime that you are near. Sympathitic Vibrations in the sand. Waitin', Waitin' Waitin' for the Mayan Calendar to End. There was ancient civilization called the Mayans. They had a calendar that was acturate for thousands of years in the past and years in the future and it ended in 2012. I don't know just what this means to us today, stop prayin' for a future that we throw away. These calendars can be interlocked and synconized in many ways combining to give rise to futher cycled days."

     Jimmy has been in France for two weeks and I have been training for a marathon for, what seemed like, forever. Long story short, it's been a while since we've been able to jam. I'm looking forward to our first Wednesday night reearsal in two weeks. Andy and I did get together once to go through some of the business stuff, but I find myself missing my bandmates. I'm going to really listen, relax into a groove and enjoy this rehearsal. We have a lot of work to do. Equally important, however, is the musical healing that jammin' with my buds will bring. This weekend we have a couple of decent gigs. I love playing out and it'll be fun to return for round two at both Harvey's in Carver and The Parkside Tavern in Hamburg.
     OH YAH, I had an exciting phone call this week. Mike G the tour manager for the band DADA (and others) called to ask about the Mayan Calander CD. Appearently he thinks we came up with a clever and timely name for our latest CD. It was great to get such a call from a respected industry pro right out of the blue. He asked when Eddie Mac was coming back to L.A. I thought about the long Minnesota winter ahead and replied "Januray". I then told him we have nothing on the books out there yet. Mike wasted no time setting us up with 2 awesomes shows both in Hollywood. Friday Januray 8th we'll be at The Pig and Whistle. You walk on the front door and your on the walk of fame. I think Jimi Hendrix's Satr is right there. On Friday January 15th you can catch us at the world famous Rainbow Room. This place is a frequent hang out for glam rock stars of the 80's and 90's you never know who you're gonna see there. It's located right on the sunset strip. Well, that's where you'll find me this January. Maybe you should join us for a real Rock'n'Roll vacation! 

Last Saturday night Eddie Mac Redeemed It's self at the Boulevard Bar and Grill in Dresser, WI. You see back in April, Mike and I played there to a "crowd" of twenty people. The Boulevard is a big venue and you need at least 100 people to make it feel like a happening night. Well, it wasn't entirely our fault. The place is under new management (really new back then), It's kinda far from any big cities and i think people just don't know about it yet , but I could be wrong. So Jimmy, Andy and I worked our asses off to make sure we didn't have a repeat of the last time. With the help of Andrea, Kristine and Chrissy (the Eddie Mac Hotties) we handed out 1000 2 for 1 drink tickets at Osseola Days, a fest just 3 miles down the road from the club. I also booked a block of hotel rooms at the hotel next door to the club so our friends could make the road trip, party like rock stars and not have to drive home drunk. And make the road trip they did. big thanks to Jim, Nick, Kelly, Zach, Dan and Jessi who came from Eau Claire (Jessi fromCali.), Steve, Ben, Nate, Lisa, Shelly, Rob, Mandy, Tami, Ross and Tina who came from the Cities and Todd Walker (who did a superb job on lead and back-up guitar on "Dark Side") and his whole crew who road tripped from Luck, WI. We also had the womens football team "THE MACHINE' in the house, Justin Torgeson on leave from Iraq and his party of friends (thanks for your service JT) and Nick Nelson my life inspiration and his family there to fill up the house. All told we had over 300 bodies in the room that night and that made it feel like the concert it was.
      Of course this inspired us to play a great show and Tear the roof off the mother.  We played two sets of mostly Eddie Mac originals and some covers then we finished the night off with "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd the entire album start to finish complete with smoke and lasers. The guys have done a great job learning up the Eddie Mac originals. We have also written five new songs and can't wait to premire them for you.
       Big thanks going out to Brian Motaz, Terresa, Greg the sound man and the whole crew there at the Boulevard. Once people start to learn about this awesome venue it will become a premire concert spot in this region.
     

So now it's 7pm. We have been awake since 6am (Andy with 2 hrs of sleep), we've been in a car for 10 hrs. and we still have to wait 5 hrs. before we play. Fortunately, there was 4 great bands to listen to before we played. The Crossband, The Culprits, Blotter (winner of most improved band award and now with a drummer, put on a great show) and the Experts. They were all very entertaining. Finally it was time for Eddie Mac to play. Where did we find the energy: Washington Apple shots.
Being that we were outside, we knew the smoke from our smoke machines would not stay put. so what did we do? We turned our lasers on the Mountains: brilliant! it worked great. After a rough start we had a great show. Andy and Jimmy really did their homework. We played our first mostly original music show. It was three hours of raw energy. Throughout the whole show there was 50-100 people in the front row singing along with our original music (people singing along with my original music is a big part of my dream if you recall). Here is what Brent Silha had to say about our show:"Hey, hope you guys had a good time in Glendive. The new Eddie Mac lineup is really great. The covers were great, the originals were great, and the lasers bouncing off the badlands were cool. Jimmy is a phenomenal guitar player and Andy really rounds out the sound. Everyone I talked to had a really good time. I had a great time except I had the worst hangover I think I've ever had on Saturday. My girlfriend said that the last thing I mumbled before I passed out was "Purple fucking Rain." Hahaha. That's awesome. Later, Brent (Silha)" Jimmy does an excellent version of Purple Rain. It was the second of our three encores.
After the show we all partied until the sun came up (which mean we've been up for 27hrs and Andy with 2 hrs of sleep) and then couldn't sleep because the sun was beating down on our tents. So we skipped tubing on the Yellowstone river, drove to Bismark, ND and watched HBO in the AC. I really like the Glendive crew and I'm hoping we can get them to road trip this way next year for The Synonym Toast IV.
Now I'm feelin' pretty good.
 

....and home again.
Wow what a blast! Man did I need this gig. Sure, it was a lot of work but well worth it.
It all started out on Friday morning. At 8am Andy and Jimmy arrived at the shreadquarters and we started transferring gear from their truck to the Pathfinder. Andy had a gig that lasted until 2:30am the night before so when I finish this story you'll be just as impressed with his fortitude as I am or more. By 8:30 we were on the road. The drive was uneventful and Jimmy kept us quite entertained with stories of the Crazed Individuals, his childhood and gross stuff he has seen on the internet. That guy is very funny. Driving through the Badlands was awesome. We arrived at the Conoco gas station to find our buddy Harry behind the counter. "welcome to Motana" he said with a smile, I was getting more ready to rock. Brent Silha met us there and lead us off to Makysiskaw (sp) State Park. When we got there The Crossband was already jammin'. They sounded great. I was happy to see that Blake (the event organizer) had succured a big PA a couple of technitions and lights. There was also a stage. In fact, the whole event was very well done. They had a food vender, plenty of camping, a full service bar, port-a-johns and the whole thing was set right amoung these beautiful rolling hills and rock formations. Now it's 7pm our camp is all set up and people are buying us shots left and right. I take a few to cure to road jitters but I have to stay straight because we don't play until 12 midnight. Five great bands later and it's time for Eddie Mac to take the stage.
More to come later tonight.....

I just finished loading the Pathfinder. The Matrax double bass hi-hat pedal combo, The Eddie Mac leinenkugels banner, the famous silver hat and my cymbals. I brought a lot of CDs because The boys and I are off to play The Rhythm and Blooze fest hosted by Blake Fohl and Blotter. The last time I was in Glendive was May 30th 2008 Brent Silha's birthday party (great time). That was six months before the release of, The Mayan Calendar, our third full length CD. Since then a lot has happened. I know Mike really loved our trip to Glendive last year and he'd be going back with me if he could.
     Andy and Jimmy are gonna have a great time. The Glendive crew knows how to make a band on the road feel like rock stars. There is sure to be plenty of good times on the road. We plan on doing some band bonding during the trip, writing songs, brainstorming on band names, projecting our course for the next six months, twelve months, five years. I hope we're all of the same mindset on that. So here we go on our first long road trip, this is what being in a band is all about. The unknown is sexy, overt optimism dangerous, realizing a dream is understanding truth and freedom is a Pathfinder full of friends, gear, and music.