http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW6Bw9e_Yhs

Check out this interview in the Huffington Post discussing the Cumberland Loft Sessions, and what its like being an independent artist.   It also features a sneak peak of the season finale of the Cumberland Loft Sessions!

Lights On is out today!!!

Check out the brand new re-designed website here.  Album drops in 4 days!

The new album, Lights On will be released on August 18th! Come join me on August 28th at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC for the cd release party.  Expect special guests and the most fun you will ever have. 

hey all, just a quick note. i wanted to apologize to everyone that made an effort to head out to iota last night to see me. i'm really sorry that the gig was cancelled. unfortunately, the trusty steed broke down and after spending $500 to get it back on the road, it broke right down again and there was no mechanic that could look at in time. it was a pretty hellish day (and the adventure continues)

i'll make it up to you guys soon. i promise.

jonah

hey all, if you are happening to read these posts i just wanted to let you know that i’ve started a blog page here:

http://jonahsmith.typepad.com/the_compass_and_the_cage/

please check it out.

js

I'm still in Barcelona, just taking a couple of days to hang out and see friends. It's David's birthday today so we're going out on the town tonight. The shows were great. We played a warm up gig at a club called Sputnik in Solsona and then our big show was a headlining spot in the Barcelona Accion Musica festival. We played in a beautiful square called the Plaza del Rei to a packed house. I recently bought a video camera and had someone shoot bits of the concert. I've posted some clips on youtube so check them out and them me know what you think.....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7E8i1Jut7MQ

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HL0jnxXNql0

also, i posted a clip of the tune up gig in Solsona. something for the musicians out there...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yJdWuChNWYY

Anyway, i'm off. See you soon.

Jonah

You know thinking about the tour coming up out west makes me think about the inevitable rental van that we will be using instead of my long suffering Dodge tour van that has for years gotten us to our shows here on the East Coast. Gone will be the dings and dents, the plush carpeting, the stories…the personality.

I was pretty down on my van for a while. As we crept into 2007, I was even sure that I was going to have to sell it. I went as far as looking at blue book prices on the Internet and found out that the van's resale value was in the price bracket that's low end is $0. Not good.

But in these pages, I want to state for the record that my white Dodge Van with the green racing stripes is the best vehicle I have ever owned. It teetered towards the scrap yard this past December. It had developed a problem where it stalled pretty much anytime it was idling. This problem came into light at the most unfortunate time while driving to Hoboken, NJ with my manager, Kevin, to a solo gig. It happened to be rush hour and we were stuck in what is commonly referred to as a parking lot. I can't be sure of the exact number, but the van stalled approximately 40 times. When you are in traffic on 7th Ave. trying to get into the Holland Tunnel, this is not a fun scenario. It took close to two hours to drive a little more than a mile. Kevin looked on with much trepidation and worry.

Eventually, we made it to New Jersey and the show on time. Kevin, all shifty eyed, made some excuse about why he needed to leave early and took a cab back to the city. I knew he didn't want to get back in the van. I didn't think it would be as bad going back since the traffic would be done and I figured out to ride the van into neutral when coming up to a stop.

After the show I headed back to the van. It's going to be all right, I told myself. Don't even think about the stalling, I thought. As I stepped up to get into the driver's seat, the running board snapped loose making me lose my balance and drop what I was carrying. CD's and sheets of paper splayed on the ground of the parking lot.

I got down on my knees and looked at the running board. It was hanging about two inches from the ground in the back. Maybe it'll be okay, I though to myself. I got into the van and started backing up…..SCREECH! I look into my side view and see sparks flying and the metal strip grinded against the pavement. Okay, I said to myself, maybe it won't do that once I take it out of reverse. I put the van in drive. SCREECH! For the love of ……I got out and looked at it again. It was dark, but I could see that it was still firmly attached in the middle and I was going to need tools to get the thing off. I decided to slowly proceed to a gas station nearby. I stopped at a Mobil station. No tools, no luck. I went across the street to a Shell – also no luck. I thought to myself, am I really going to have to drive this freaking thing like this through the Holland Tunnel? With sparks flying? Would the cops even let me through?

That was definitely a low point in my relationship with my van.

I ended up driving by a fire station and getting rescued by a fireman with a ratchet set. Good people, those firemen.

The next day I took the van in to get looked at. My mechanic, Tariq, scratched his head….He said he would try to raise the idle….Didn't work. I went back and they tried some other things…still stalled. I was learning to live with riding the van into neutral every time I slowed down. It was annoying, but not the end of the world. Months passed.

But then I had to get it inspected….I knew when I took it in that it wasn't going to pass…and it didn't. I tried to bribe the technician (it is Brooklyn after all), but to no avail. He told me, "I will reset the computer system in the van. Drive it for 150 miles and come back. If it hasn't stalled and the engine light is not back on, it could pass". Well, it hadn't gone five miles in past three months without stalling so I didn't have the most positive outlook. I had a show that night in Troy, NY about 100 miles away. On that trip, the van didn't stall once – it was a miracle. I showed up the next day at the garage and the van passed inspection. Oh glorious day!

Not only that, but the stalling problem fixed itself! The van is running as good as ever and my love for it has increased ten fold. Is this van magical? Did it know that I had insufficient funds to replace it and so brought itself back from the dead? These are questions for the ages. East Coasters – salute when we pull up in our glorious beast. West Coasters – I'll post a photo on my Myspace page. You may revel in its glory online.