Holy smokes. The midwest tour was great. True, I did get snowed in and couldn't leave Laramie, WY for a couple of days resulting in a canceled show, and I got a speeding ticket in a tiny little town in Iowa, but for the most part the tour was a success. Since I've been back I've been sort of obsessed with learning more about engineering and producing records. I've spent a ton of time browsing the forums on sites like TapeOp and Gearslutz and I am continually amazed at the amount of information that is so readily available. It's awesome. In addition to all of the nerdy tech stuff on the forums there are occasionally posts of things like this:



Perhaps the coolest thing I have ever seen on the internet. Check out his Youtube page...I love #3 too.

I can't believe it's been so many weeks since my last entry.  Time is flying.  For those of you whose lives and happiness depend on reading my updates, please accept my sincere apology.

So, I'm in Buffalo, Wyoming.  You learn something new every day...like, there is such a place as Buffalo, Wyoming.  I haven't actually seen anything here.  I got to town late last night and went straight to the Motel 6.  I woke up this morning and looked out the window to get a sense for what the place is like, but there's a Holiday Inn blocking all of the view.  I guess I'll have to leave the lap of luxury to explore Buffalo further.  One thing I know for sure is that it is windy.  Seriously windy.  From the time I arrived last night until now the wind has been blowing hard like when you're driving on the freeway with the window down.

Anyway, since my last entry I have been busy.  The California tour ended well.  Zac Rae sat in with me at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles (the show was recorded and I'm giving away a couple of mp3s here).  Anna, Louis and I made the 800 mile drive home in one long day.

The following day I resumed work on a record with Patrick Kavaney.  His record is coming along well and the finish line is in sight.   A week or so later I left for Seattle where I worked on a record with Reily.  They booked some studio time at Orbit Audio in Pioneer Square and I had the pleasure of working on the very same console that Guns and Roses used to record Appetite for Destruction.  At least that's what Joe the owner told me.  He may have just wanted to see me giggle.  Reily's record has been long in the making...we started the project a year and a half ago.  It's fun to hear side by side comparisons of stuff I engineered at different times.  I heard some progress in my skills, which felt nice.  On a side note, Tat's Deli around the block from the studio makes a great cheese steak.

I left Seattle a couple of days ago...wow...seems like weeks.  I drove 815 miles directly to Billings, Montana to play for the students at Montana State.  Christine and the rest of the Student Activities Board were gracious hosts and bought me lunch, dinner, and a mango smoothie for the road.  I left Billings at around 8 last night and drove a couple of hours down I-90, stopped at the Motel 6 here in Buffalo, and that brings us up to date.  Now, I'll find some bfast, a large coffee, and continue on to Laramie where I will play for some more college students.

Oh...check out Slaid Cleaves.

Hey Folks, 

The California tour was a big success!  I'd like to thank all who came to a show and those of you I met along the way.  I'll do another West Coast tour this year...I can't wait!

Special thanks to Zac Rae...he joined me for the Los Angeles show at Hotel Cafe after playing an excellent set with his band Pedestrian.  I recorded the show, and I'm giving away an mp3!  You can download it here:
I'm Not Sorry (live) mp3

I hope you're all well!

We've been kicking around the Bay Area for a few days, seeing friends and family, hiking in the Berkeley hills and eating some terrific things. Highlights:

-Pizza at the Cheeseboard with feta, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and lemon zest
-Dinner at Ajanta on Solano, especially the naan stuffed with cheese and mint
-Coffee at Cole Coffee on College Ave
-Inspiration Point in Tilden Park
-The Starving Musician on Shattuck...wish I could afford that Ampeg
-More coffee at Cole Coffee
-Bfast at Rick and Anne's...going back today

The show on Friday was fantastic. The Uptown is a great Oakland venue...the sound is good, the staff know what they're doing, and the beers don't cost a fortune. I played on a bill with some of my childhood friends...we grew up playing baseball in Oakland and dreaming of playing in the big leagues. Now we're all musicians. Their band is called The Real Tom Thunder, and their live show was pretty rocking. It was a bit like Zep with Sublime with Tower of Power, except not like any of them. Fun music, good songs, played with all of the enthusiasm of guys trying to stretch an up-the-line grounder into a double and diving head-first into second base.

I played a short set, just the hits...it felt pretty strong and the audience was full of friends and family so they were cheering at all of the right moments. It was a bit overwhelming to have so many of them show up...I saw everyone but didn't have a chance to really talk to any of them.

At the end of the night Anna left with her cousin and I stayed to pack up and hang out with my old buddies. Of course, I put my car keys in Anna's purse and forgot to get them out before she left, so I had to leave my car full of gear in downtown Oakland overnight. Dumb. RTT drummer Leon gave me a ride home and we finally had a chance to catch up. We sat in the car and talked for an hour about gear, signal chains, mix techniques, etc. Leon was probably the first friend I ever had who shared my interest in music and performing...as fifth graders we used to arrange performances for our class...it was great to reconnect with him and find that we still have a lot in common.

The last couple of days have been spent with family...Anna and I both have a ton in the area and we've been running from place to place to get a little time in with all of them. We still have more to go. Today's schedule:

Bfast in Berkeley with friend and former manager Elliot
A visit to the Italian consulate in San Francisco
Early dinner with Anna's grandparents
Late dinner with my uncle in Castro Valley

Somehow in the middle of this I need to wrap up booking the last couple of shows for the midwest tour in April.

Yesterday felt like vacation. Woke up, lazed around a bit, went for a run, layed in the grass, wrote a blog, looked for gear on craigslist, went downtown for some excellent tacos...I didn't have to be at the University of the Pacific until 7pm, and it was a mere 25 miles away (we drove almost 1ooo miles over the two days prior). For the past two months I have been frantically booking two tours, making records with folks, planning a wedding, etc., etc. I haven't had any real opportunity to decompress. It's funny to think that this tour might actually provide me with a chance to relax.
The show was fine...college shows can be so hit or miss. The student production staff was great, the campus was beautiful, but the show itself was a little bit underwhelming. The students were kinda half listening and more interested in the March Madness ballgame on tv, I guess. Just one of those gigs where it takes a little extra effort to get into the tunes and play with enthusiasm. They invited me back and I'll happily do it, but I might need to bring a box of fireworks or a clown or something.
It's probably for the best. I got some fun news yesterday and if the gig had been any better my head may have swelled up. My friend Jenny Queen released her record this month. She's based in Sydney, Australia and is signed to ABC Records. I co-wrote the majority of the tunes with her and I've been eagerly awaiting the release. Well, it's out and she's getting some press. Jenny tells me that The Australian is 'one of the two big newspapers, like a smart USA Today'...they reviewed the record and interviewed her, and she talked a bit about our writing process. You can go to any newstand in Australia and get a paper, or you can read the article online HERE.
Congrats, Jenny, and thanks for the shout out!
Tonight I play in Oakland at a cool club called the Uptown with some of my oldest friends.

Speaking of shows, I'm playing a free one at University of the Pacific in Stockton tonight!

I met Andrew Fickes a number of years ago when I was a member of John Shipe's band.  Andrew booked shows at Central Washington University in Ellensburg...John and I played there and made friends with Andrew.  Years later, he's writing for various local and regional publications and has a blog dedicated to independent musicians and industry stuff.  He wrote a review of 'Ten Cent Souvenir' and we did a follow-up phone interview.  The review is posted here:

Northwest Indie Music review

The interview will be posted sometime soon.

Thanks Andrew!

I was going to write a little note about the benefit show tomorrow. I
decided that Ryan Wines' post, on www.petmarmoset.net/blog says it
perfectly. Here is the post in its entirety:

This Saturday night
at Holocene in downtown Portland, Team Marmoset will be “using our
power for good”, as we present, “Writer’s Block” - a benefit show, with
all proceeds going to the Oregon Food Bank.

Writer’s Block is a
little idea we came up with to accomplish a couple of things in the
community. First off, we are all quite aware of the unfortunate and
challenging economic situation the world has quickly fallen victim to.
This new Writer’s Block series will be a vehicle for raising awareness
of our community’s needs and raising both funds and food for one of the
better community service organizations in town.

The second
objective for this event is to bring together a diverse number of
singer-songwriters from the Portland community and feature the core of
their talent - songwriting - in a simplified, stripped-down
presentation. As you can see, many of the artists participating in this
first edition of the Writer’s Block series are songwriters and leads
for successful Northwest-based bands. Others are some lesser-known, but
equally talented artists, which we’ve chosen to highlight and introduce
to an appreciative audience. Ideally, Writer’s Block might weave a new
thread in the Portland music community, bringing artists and people
together in community, while removing some of the barriers, clubs, and
cliques that naturally prevail in an music scene such as Portland.

Writer’s
Block is this Saturday night at Holocene in Portland and only costs $5,
along with at least two cans of food. All proceeds and food will be
donated directly to the Oregon Food Bank. The show will feature an
intimate candle light setting, with non-stop music rotating between two
stages throughout the evening. All of the performances will be
stripped-down, acoustic solo, duo and trio performances and, hopefully,
will all combine for a very special evening. Additionally, it will be a
great time to meet new people and build some relationships in the PDX
music community. There will also be a Motown-themed dance party to
follow, with our dear friend, Karizma, working the turn tables. The
doors open at 8pm - get there early! More info at www.holocene.org

Wow...I just discovered that, as part of my digital distribution agreement with CD Baby, Ten Cent Souvenir has been made available on Amie Street.  If you've never seen the site, you should take a look.   They price music according to its popularity...new music starts out being free and as more people download it the price goes up.  Well, I haven't done a lick of work to promote my page on Aime Street, so all but one song are available for free.  I thought I'd spread the word to the folks in my little corner of the web first.  So, for a limited time, you can download 'Ten Cent Souvenir' in high-quality mp3 format for free.  Here's the link.  Pass it around!

Ten Cent Souvenir on Amie Street