NEXT SHOW:
12/11
8pm
Room 5 Lounge
w/ Concord Records Recording artist, Erin Boheme
143 N. La Brea (upstairs 2nd floor)
LA, CA

BACK IN THE USA!

I must say, it's great to be back in the states.  My trip to London was inspiring and artistically awakening but i still was excited to get back to sunny LA.  I flew back on Thanksgiving day--a 20 hour ordeal where i was doing that strange 'airplane sleeping/twitching crazy looking drooling guy' thing.  See below at by amazing Thanksgiving Day airplane feast:



DE-LISH!

I held up for hours a day at Kensal Town studios in this white room--does the door not look like an insane asylum?  yes.  i agree, it does.



but it felt like home in there.  for some reason that piano, beanbag and couch really vibed with me and i wrote something like 12 songs in 10 days.  it was pretty special.  the cold, rainy london happening outside in the courtyard, endless coffee and an upright piano inside.   it worked.  It was a blast.

i made a lot of great friends at the studio and in London proper.  I was constantly amazed at how international a city London is.  I would find myself (frequently) at the pub after a session with the guys and gals from the studio.  we'd be drinking pints together in a cozy, old corner and i'd notice where everyone was from:  London, Sweden, America (me--token american), Scotland, Holland, Norway, Italy...it was amazing.  I love accents too so i was soaking it all in.

I'm planning to record the songs i wrote there either in Boston or back in London in january.  i promise i'm gonna (finally) get y'all a record.  I'm more confident and inspired musically than i've ever been.  can't wait for you to hear the stuff.  For those of you in LA area i will be playing new songs at my LA shows so come check it out!

I made sure to swing by Abbey Road recording studios (where the Beatles recorded) and i took one (read: 1) picture.  please note the actions of the desk worker in my single shot of Abbey Road.  I'll remember it always.  yikes.



I'm ready to go back to London soon.  gotta take care of a few things back in the states.  I have a number of shows and appearances before the year ends, gotta plan when and where i'm making the record, then there's, well, CHRISTMAS (going to mexico!  feliz navidad.) which will be here before we even know what hit us.

What are you Christmas plans?  What is the #1 gift people are asking for?

I was in the holiday sprit last night and was messing around with one of my favorite songs, O Come O Come Emmanuel.  i experimented with using the looping pedal to create vocals etc.  anyways, here's the result.  enjoy.



..

Thanks for your patience on Monday.  My computer, i thought, crashed but, thankfully, it was just confused.  i'll explain.  my computer thought it wanted to boot up from the CD drive and this isn't possible.  so it was flashing a big question mark on the screen.  maybe it was a metaphor for life, itself.  maybe so, but i don't want a big question mark on my computer's hard drive.  hell no.

the Genius Bar at the Mac store helped set the computer straight, though, which was a huge relief.  i hadn't backed up my computer since london and i was afraid all my songs and lyrics were lost to the universe.  not this time, universe.  not this time.

C

Wow--where to begin?

so i've been having the most amazing time in London this week.  I've made it into the studio everyday to write and record with some amazing people and have, also, been writing a lot on my own.  i'm realizing i have no time in LA to just be alone and write--always distractions like cell phone and tv and the fridge.  but here i have my own studio, REAL piano, brisk London fall days and lots of coffee.  its heavenly.  i've been very inspired here and am writing 2-3 songs a day.  that's pretty nuts in my book.

So when i needed some fresh air i walked down towards Notting Hill and came upon this gem:  Mutate London.  I have no idea what the hell it is but it is crazy town, for sure.  Note the severed baby's head and devil skull horse in the background.   way to keep it classy, London!



Upon returning to the studio i took the olde lap top down to the pub--where the whole studio goes multiple times a day.  the Europeans have it right, folks.  you wanna break?  take a break.  you wanna go to the pub?  go to the pub!  you can then drink pints of beer that are both flat and not-so-cold--its the british way!  and i'm digging it.  i'm also eating bucket loads of 'Frae' which i would call London's 'Pink Berry' on pink berry is way better.  but this lovely lady has been fixing the Frae all week.



So after long days of writing i've been hanging out with some friends over here.  I have 2 epic nights to detail for you.  get ready.

Epic Night 1:  hitting the town with Jamie Cullum and his band

There's an amazing venue here called Cargo where I went to see one of the more interesting show's i've seen in a while.  I went with my buddy, Jamie and his band, who were awesome.  This jazz show we saw was something--i was either laughing or yelling at any given moment.  was this the most cracked out music ever?  or was it brilliant?  i'm not sure.  either way i was feeling something so i'm gonna just say it was AWESOME.  these people looked the part.  so hippied out and 'cool' and 'jazzy'.  the music was kinda like 'are they just playing random notes and yelling' but you knew they knew what time it was.  it was hilarious.



we then ventured on to a different venue to hear another band only to find that the band was done and it was now techno dance party time.  when's the last time i've done this?  so long ago i can't remember.  but the 4 of us went right into the middle of that floor and didn't emerge for hours.  gyrating with London's finest til the wee hours.  isn't that just stereotypical?--techno dancing in an under ground British club?  yes.  and it gets more so--it was time for grub.  Cullum suggested i get a 'salt beef bagel' as that's the most british option open this late.  i didn't even know what 'salt beef' was--but i'm glad i found out.  it was amazing.  beef roasted in salt water, with mustard, pickles and a bagel bun.  please sir, may i have some more.



but we weren't done.  we hit up one more club for some chill late night night caps.  it was definitely a blast.

Epic Night 2:  the Russian Accordion Vodka Incident:  what Expats do in London

This night takes the cake, i'm pretty sure.  So i met up with some American friends here at this sick under ground Russian restaurant called Nikita.  its like a KJB bunker (you have to be buzzed in the front door) filled with massive quantities of wodka!  the food smells amazing and the vodka is flowing.  but then enters the best part of the night:  RAMON the accordion playing opera singer.  Ramon is to provide ambience for the room etc--but he took it to the next (10) levels. Ramon loved our table so much he didn't want to/wouldn't leave!  ha.  he knew the most random songs ever and kept playing....and we kept singing.  see for yourself.



My Mega Tourist 'self pic taking' Weekend

So all weekend i had off so i wanted to get to know London (a lot) better.  i did one of those bus tours where you can jump on and off throughout the day.  definitely the way to go here so you can see everything.  the funniest part of traveling alone is you become the master of the 'self pic'.  its the worst angle of all time and you usually end up looking like a fat martian but its still amusing.  plus everyone stares at you.  amazing.  i need that new camera that has the screen on front to help you not look like a total dumbass in the pic.  until then, dumbassness.



i've spent a lot of time in churches--some of you know i've done a LOT of classical choir work over the years and its incredible to hear it sung in the spaces from which it originated.  its so moving and awe-inspiring.  these churches have been here for 1000 years.  1000!  insanitoid.  of course, you're not allowed to take pics in there but i snuck a few by pretending to be on the phone.  they still caught me (They're like the CIA!) but i still got em.  the buildings are so tall its nuts but you'll have to imagine....here's Westminster Abbey (R) and St. Paul's Cathedral (L).



Then you have your 'self timer' pics-of which i am now an expert.  most of the time you cut out half your body by accident but eventually it works.  here's some from the Tower of London today and tonight.  so artistic....so artistic.  i saw the spot where Anne Boleyn was executed, which was creepy.  i didn't know the Tower was actually the King's palace and residence.  it wasn't a prison til way later.  hmmm.  fun fact.  it was also the place of the first zoo in England.  random.



i could go on but i won't.  soooo much to talk about.  if you wanna see more pics visit my facebook page and click on my London album. i'll keep you in the loop there.  I'm back to work writing tomorrow and fly back on Thanksgiving day.  Hope they serve turkey on the plane!

Lastly, while i'm running around having a blast in London, one of my friends, Anissa, needs lots of thoughts and prayers sent her way.  she had a massive stroke over the weekend and is in critical condition.  she is 35.  its so sad and shows how short life is and how things can change on a dime.  please send her recovering thoughts and take a minute to be thankful for all you have.  i sure am.

c

hi, from London--



So i'm very happy to report my arrival in London.  it was quite a long day of traveling but i survived.  i had a long flight from LA to Washington, DC followed by DC to London.  Luckily there was a ton of movies to watch ie- Harry Potter so the flight wasn't toooo bad.  Harry Potter, Jim Beam and an Excedrin PM, total time zone mind screw later i was looking at Big Ben from a top of the London Eye.

While heading to the tube (subway) to meet my friend Michael i saw tons of posters for Jamie Cullum's new record that just came out.  the poster's hyping his new (awesome) single 'I'm all over it'---which I sang backgrounds on!  it was pretty cool to see.  Jamie, and his new record, are awesome and you should pick it up when it comes out in your hood.



My buddy Michael met me at the tube stop by his house and we headed straight to get coffee.  it was only 8am here.  he lives in this great area that has lots of side streets with shops and restaurants.  we ended up at this place called The Breakfast Club.  I had very mushy eggs, and sausage and 'black pudding.'  i tried it.  michael tried it.  it tasted like coal.  hated it.  then, today, while out eating AMAZING Thai food in Notting Hill we discovered that 'black pudding' is BLOOD pudding.  yes, dried cow blood that's shaped into a biscuit.  disgusting.



(see the black circle lump on the left of the plate?  that's the Black Pudding)

So after trying to get that taste out my mouth we made it to the London Eye to see London from the Sky.  The Eye is the largest ferris wheel sky observation deck in the world.  it was cold and rainy so the view was a little messed up but it was still amazing.  you can see all of london from up there....Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the financial district, the river, etc.

we then took the afternoon and went to Borough Market,  an amazing outdoor food market where we ate a million samples of incredible edibles.  cheeses from france & switzerland, jams from England, Beet Horseradish from Finland.  its insane!  Indian food and so many other things.  all fresh and beautiful.  it was something else, for sure.



Keep in mind i've been up WAY over 24 hours (pushing 48) but i'm fighting jet lag like a champ.  after a few beers at some pubs, including The Globe Pub, i had to call it quits.  soooo tired.  muusssst sleep.  so after one last beer at one more amazingly British pub (think olde wood, low ceilings, darkly lit and strangely warm, flat British beer--how they brew and drink it) and a bowl of cottage Pie (ground beef and mashed potatoes) it was finally off to sleep.  claude, i needed it.

Today i woke, somewhat refreshed, and went for a run by the canal Michael lives by.  There's all these house boats people live on the canal.  it makes for a great run.  lots to see.  have to run under a ton of low, olde bridges.  do you like how i spell 'old' with an 'e' to make it super 'olde' and British?  yeah, me too.



Tomorrow is my first day at Kensal Town Studios--oh yeah, i have to actually WORK while i'm here.  i'm writing and recording with a bunch of amazing guys this week.  they've worked with some of the best including Jason Mraz, KT Tunstal and James Morrison.  Should be a great time.  Can't wait to report more next week.  Check in with my Twitter and Facebook for updates and more pics.  A bunch more pics are up on my facebook so fan/friend me and check them out.

I'll let you know what more trouble Mike and i get into this week.  hope for some good 'olde' stories.



talk soon.

oh and here's a video of my new song "I Never Meant to Make You Cry' live from my Room 5 show a while back in LA.  enjoy.

c

JAMIE CULLUM AND I JAM OUT

So a while back I was at my friend and producer, Greg Wells, birthday party in LA.  Greg is an insanely talented producer who's made some of the best records in the past few years.  so it would be expected that his party had some pretty great music right?  correct.  Greg's a drummer and he wanted to have a jam session for his bday with some special guests.  i was so honored to have been asked to sing at the party.  the assignment was to bring a song to sing.  this seemed like quite a challenge to me since the pressure was on!  who knew who would show up, people were gonna bring the heat and i didn't want to suck ass.  when i found out my buddy, Jamie Cullum, would be playing i knew i wanted to do something bluesy.  i thought Pride and Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughn would be perfect.  Here's the live video from the jam.  there's a small cameo (during a camera swing) by Grammy award-winning producer, Walter Afanasiff, who produced my Sony record.  Good times were had.  this performance was followed by an incredibly competitive game of shuffle board. enjoy.



NEXT SHOW:  CHRIS AND CONCORD RECORDIND ARTIST, ERIN BOHEME:




Come catch a special 'One Night Only' double bill concert with Chris Mann and new Concord Records recording artist, Erin Boheme.  The show will be both original music from Erin and I as well as some holiday tunes (tis the season) and the duet "First Love" from Erin's upcoming record.  i'm so excited to be joining her on her record and can't wait to perform with her live for you.  mark your calendars
12/11
Room 5 Lounge
8pm

YOU A MANNVILLE RESIDENT YET?



I'm so pleased to have seen a bunch of you getting your profiles set up in MANNville--my new fan forum on chrismannmusic.com.  i've loved reading your posts introducing yourselves and telling your stories about how we met.  it really makes my day.  if you haven't set up your profile i have one question for you--"what's wrong with you?!"  go set it up and show some MANNlove!

i see user sodasantiago has posted a cool pic of us after my show at Elbo Room in Chicago.  Sarah05 has been chatting it up in the General Discussion forum about Law and Order SVU.  LiviNZ says their favorite song of mine is "when the lights fade--silky smooth!"

Go to the forum to chime in and join the fun, post your pics, art work and tell your story.  can't wait to see you there.  MANNville is your town!

NEW VIDEO FROM ROOM 5 SHOW

i'm gonna start posting a video a week from my live shows for you all (that is til the footage runs out!) so you can see what i'm doing live.  we had a blast



NEW SONY COMMERCIAL IS AMAZING

So i'm a big fan of the new Sony Cybershot commercial.  here's why.  1- my buddy, Nigel Barker, is in it.  2- JT and Peyton Manning are in it and are hilarious.  3- i know the girl in the green shirt in the commercial!  check it out on youtube and leave comments!



GO SEE 2012--OUT THIS FRIDAY!




so 2012 is opening this friday!  woo hoo!  i'm very excited to see this film because 1- it looks bad ass 2- the graphics are insane and 3- i sang on the soundtrack.  you won't be able to pick me out or anything but i'm in there for sure.  i'll be in London when it comes out so i'll have to catch it when i get back.  go see it and let me know what you think while i'm overseas!

LONDON HERE I COME

so next time you hear from me i'll be in London!  i can't quite believe it and have no idea what to expect.  BUT you know me, i'll make it fun as hell.  for those of you who don't know i'll be writing and recording with Jason Mraz and James Morrison's producer and writing teams.  should be a blast.  i'm going to also be drinking lots of ale, eating bangers and mash, using the tele and throwing things away in the 'bin'.  its gonna be awesome.  so check my twitter and facebook and blog for my BLOKEblog MANNblog monday!

c

NEW CHRISMANNMUSIC.COM NOW UP!



i'm very happy to announce the arrival of the new ChrisMannMusic.com.  Its been a long time coming but its finally here!  Want to chat it up with other MANNfans about all things MANN?  yes, you know you do.  Well there's a place for you:  the MANNville community fan forum!  MANNville is designed just for you to have fun and stay in touch with other fans.  Talk about stuff, songs, food, music, post pics and links, vent, etc.  Its gonna be fun.  Got a pic of you with me at one of my shows?   post that ish on the forum!  Sound too good to be true?  its not!  this is real, people.  Just go to MANNville and surf around on your own personal profile!  Click the pic below and get going!  see you in MANNville--where the coolest of the cool live.  (what?  yes.  true story).



Browse the Gallery on CMM.com too for show pics and behind the scene studio shots.  It's crazy to see those pics.  fun times.  fun times indeed.  Here's a shot of Josh Groban, Walter Afanasieff and I in the studio.  Go see who else i'm with in the Gallery....



The Video tab is full of performance vids and some of my random youtube favorites.  Are you subscribing to me on youtube?  what?  you are?  shweet?  wait...you're not?  crap.  click here and get to it. chop chop!



Naturally there's a MANNblogMonday tab right there on CMM.com for your easy access.  You know i'm thinking bout ya.  makin it all easy and stuff!  You're very welcome.   Thanks for checking out the site on the regular.

ROOM 5 SHOW RECAP




Thanks to all y'all who came to my show at Room 5 in LA last weekend.  The crowd was awesome and the vibe was right.  (isn't that cliche?  very, in fact).  The band (Frank Haggerty, Anna Stafford & Jay Terrien) were killing it on the new tunes.  Some new fan favorites are my new songs "Pieces," "I Never Meant to Make you Cry" and "Love Lied".  A fun highlight of the night was my mash up between my new song, "Pieces," and Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA".  Check out this video and you'll see what i mean.  I was really excited to see the crowd reaction--would they know the song?  would the joke be there?  would they hate me for doing Miley Cyrus?  well, yes, yes and NO are the answers!

Sorry those of you far away couldn't be there!  i'm workin on getting out there more to see you all.  do the 'demand it' tab on my myspace page and let me know where you are and that you want me to come see ya.  then i'll know!  simple as dat.



THE IDINA MENZEL TOUR: 1 YEAR LATER




Can you freakin' believe its been a year since my tour with Idina Menzel?  i can't, seriously.  Last Halloween i was in KY at the show and looking out to a million Elphabas!  ha.  it was something, for sure.  That tour was where i met a lot of you all and its been so amazing keeping in touch with you on facebook and, now, in MANNville! My buddy Matt and I drove all over the North East following Idina's tour bus.  We had a blast in Boston, CT, NY, NJ, WI and so many other places.  You all made me feel so welcome and i'll never forget that.  Thanks.  Below are a few fan pics from that tour.  Insane!  Please go post your favorites from the tour in MANNville so i can see em!  Miss y'all.  thanks for staying in touch and i know i'll be playing for you live soon!







Good times.  Good times.

HOW WAS YOUR HALLOWEEN??




what were you?  what'd you do?  clearly, i was Peter Pan.  Funny story--i was telling my mom, via text, that i was being peter pan for Halloween and i made a typo--it said "Peter Pam".  needless to say she called panicked thinking that LA had forever changed me and i was, in fact, going out as a cross dressing Peter Pam!  ha.  not so much.  but it is Hollywood--everything goes.  I did have a rather lovely tinker bell on my arm as well, if i do say so myself.



talk soon.

c

KANYE CALLED!

so last weeks blog mentioned i ran into Kanye West at Whole Foods and I gave him a copy of my version of Heartless.  well he called and flipped out over it!  he loved it so much he offered me 10 zillion dollars to sign with him and make a record.  we also went to St. Barts on a private jet this weekend and saved baby dolphins and drank drinks out of coconuts.  he mentioned that we, together, can change the world through music.  we sang songs with our heads towards the sky it began to rain non-perishable foods from the heavens to help end world hunger.  it also rained can openers so you could get the cans open!   amazing, i know.  the world works in mysterious ways.  i'd like to thank fate for brining me and Kanye together.  our duets album will drop in early 2010.  mark your calendars!

(correction:  Kanye didn't call.  but hey, we can all dream, right?)

COFFEE GETS ME OFF LIKE PORN



Hi from my heavily caffeinated kitchen.  I'm a recent daddy of a new Breville espresso machine and i'm trying hard to perfect my skills.  i'm pretty much shaking around the house at all times.  but perfections has its costs.  i'm pretty sure my coffee grinder (or bean cruncher as an old friend of mine would put it.  he also refers to football uniforms as 'costumes.'  i'm aware at the unacceptableness of this) isn't grinding/crunching fine enough because my espresso are weak.  i like a dry cappuccino with espresso dark like Satan with a few droplets of milk like crying angel's tears.  (WTF am i talking about?!  i told you i'm way too caffeinated). as of now i haven't perfected this yet in my own kitchen.  i'm also really bad at making coffee in a coffee machine.  this seems ridiculous to love coffee this much and be such a failure at creating it yourself but that's my life.  i'm working on it.

I'M A LONDON BLOKE?

so i'm excited to say i might be heading to London to do some music and work.  this excites me beyond measure as i haven't been to London town since i was 17.  that was a good trip for a number of reasons.  remember when you were under aged and you went to Europe and you could drink?  you felt like such a bad ass and grown up.  funny how something so small can make such a big difference.  (what what?  ha).  i didn't get to do the london tower while i was there either which was a bummer.  I was there singing through Europe with a choir.  it was pretty awesome.

anywho, there's some amazing music that gets made in the UK and i'd love to take a crack at it.  i put the trash in Eurotrash, don't you think?  i'll keep you in the loop re those developments.  not sure if it would be this year or first of next but its in the pipe line.  any MANNblog readers out there in London?  lemme know!

VANDERBILT'S HOMECOMING

so i've been in Nashville, again, this past weekend to attend my alma mater's homecoming.  it was crazy and awesome.  Y'all know i heart Nashville and this was no exception.  there was lots of eating, drinking and catching up that happened, to the point of exhaustion.  there's only so many times you can tell someone you haven't seen in years what you've been doing in said years away from said person.  but i was down to do it.  i love my friends and i was happy to see them.  we went, also, to the vandy/Georgia game where UGA kicked the shit out of Vandy, per usual.  ah, just like the glory days!

it was chilly weather there as well.  the report said it was to be 55 but, in fact, it was 45, which is about 30 degrees too cold for my spoiled Southern California ass.  but it was perfect football weather.  life was good.  remember when, in college (or when you were young), the hardest decision you had to make was where you wanted to go for spring break?  i miss this time in my life.  shit.  what happened?!  we're old balls.  old balls.



here's me and my buddy, mark, at the old sigma nu fraternity house where we use to be cool and stuff.  never felt more old then when i walked back through those doors.

i'm back at work in LA now.  working on some new songs.  playing a small set at the AFTRA singer's union convention tomorrow in LA which is an honor.  have NO idea what i'm going to sing but i'll figure it out, i suppose.  hope y'all have great weeks!

what do you miss most about being young with no worries?

c

KANYE WEST AND I LIKE WHOLE FOODS ... CAUSE WE'RE HEALTHY, AND SUCH




So if you saw my tweet yesterday you would know that i had an interesting run in at whole foods by my home in LA.  i'm, honestly, a Trader Joes kinda guy but i was looking for this particular type of tea that only comes at Whole Foods.  actually lets talk about this tea.

I was at dinner the other night and my friend Emily started talking about Organic, Raw Kombucha tea.  its a fermented tea that's supposed to basically be the fountain of youth.  i thought i'd give it a try.  i like antioxidants.  they're yummy.  she failed to tell me it tasted like vinegar and would make me wanna vomit.  small detail left out.  oh well.  point being, i was curious and had to go to whole foods.

so i'm making my way out of whole foods and who walks by?  Kanye West and his lovely girlfriend, Amber Rose.  They looked like a million bucks and i thought it was so funny that i was running into them there.  I dont know, i guess i expected Kanye to A- not shop for his own groceries or B- have an enormous entourage with him, but i was wrong.

If you've kept up with my blog for a while you know that i'm not really that shy.  I'll talk to anyone or do most anything.  But i was nervous here.  i didn't wanna geek out but i also wanted to take this rare opportunity to introduce myself to Kanye.  I have, after all, been covering Heartless all last year on tour and made the video with the help of amazing MANNfans.  He should know about it!  So i rushed to my car to see if i had a copy of it there.  i thought i could also just have it playing in my car when he walked out.  but that would be supppper lame.  no.  or i could invite him into the car to listen.  pedophile stalker town.  no.  luck!  i have a copy!

so i now stalked waited for them to finish shopping and to come out into the parking lot.  they were thorough shoppers cause i waited for like half an hour at least.  did i mention i had just come from the gym, was sweaty and wearing gym shorts?  i didn't.  well i looked AWESOME!  finally they emerged from the depths of Whole Foods organicness.

I approached slowly, as to not scare the prey (when did this become all Animal Planet?).  i was welcomed by a willing listener.  i was surprised.  i introduced myself and told him about my year at sony and tour with India.Arie where i sang Heartless.  He thought that was really cool.  I said i made an awesome video (with amazing fans) and i'd love for him to hear it.  He then retracted a little and mentioned he's not supposed to take CDs cause he can get sued.  this is true and i totally understand.  i said well your song is first on the CD so you don't have to listen past it.  i then told him i was going to sue the SHIT out of him.  haha.  he.  muahhahahaha.  (i'm hilarious.  (by hilarious i mean totally awkward and nervous)).  after that we parted ways.  he and Amber were completely nice and gracious and, honestly, not what i was expecting.  pleasant surprise.

So now what, you may be asking?  well, nothing.  ha.  lets be honest--he may or may not listen to the CD.  this wasn't about me getting 'discovered' by Kanye in a grocery store parking lot.  ok, so maybe it was a little, but not really.  it was more about how i would have kicked myself for ever asking 'what if'.  i don't roll like that.  life is about being proactive.  going out and getting what you want.  its not about your dreams coming to you.  what if Kanye listened?!  what if he didn't?  at least i put that opportunity into the universe.  i did my job.

i then returned home, thankful, with my tea that brought me to whole foods.  i cracked it open, took a sip, and spit that nasty shit right out into the sink.  WTF?  at least my attempts to be healthy brought me a good story.  whew.


But check this out!  why don't we all go to Kanye's Blog and leave comments about the MANNfan's Heartless video?  just click 'leave a comment' below the first available pic and go to town!  you can say he should put Chris Mann's Heartless video on his blog--www.youtube.com/chrismannmusic.  go go go!  and thank you.

have you seen the Heartless video of which i speak?  well, my butterflies, here you go.

 

ME + VERTICAL HORIZON ON CBS.COM

So many of you might know my song 'Someone to Love You.' click here to listen on Myspace.  (its a few songs down on play list).  Well i wrote this song a while back with Richard Marx and Matt Scannell, lead singer of Vertical Horizon.  We had a blast writing it and will most likely write more together.  Well matt and Vertical Horizon have just released a new album and were featured on The Early Show on CBS recently.  Well nothing gets past MANNfans.  my boo Melissa Jerreld noticed that Matt had given me a shout out during the written interview on cbs.com.  Thanks for sending it to me.  its really cool.  the link is below.  check it out.  also, take a listen to 'someone to love you' on my myspace page.  are we friends on myspace???



CONVERT YOUR FRIENDS TO MANNFANS!!!

so how about this.  you are a loyal MANNfan and rock and i lurve ya and stuff.  but here's a challenge--get 5 of your friends who aren't already MANNfans, get them signed up for my mailing list on chrismannmusic.com and to friend/fan me on facebook.  get up in the loop!  there's amazing stuff in the pipeline right now.  i wanna be able to share the news with you and yours.  thanks for being part of the movement.  lemme know that you've got them signed up!!!  the more the merrier!

c

I'M ON NIGEL BARKER'S BLOG THIS WEEK



as i wrote the subject of this weeks MANNblog i mistakenly typo'd and wrote 'nigel barker tastes great'....um....way different statement than what i intended to say.  Nigel barker has GREAT TASTE.  that's right.  yes.  ok.

if you check out Nigel's blog this week you'll see that he's posted one of the pics he took of me.  very cool of him.  i was quite surprised and honored actually cause i'm pretty sure the guy takes a million pictures a day so the fact i made the list was pretty awesome.  for those of you who didn't know, i was lucky enough to do a photo shoot with Nigel (of America's Next Top Model w/ Tyra Banks) in New York earlier in the year.  it was one of the most nerve wracking things i've ever done.  i'm not a model, nor do i claim to be one, so doing a photo shoot with a guy who takes piures of world famous models was a lot of pressure.  i'm pretty sure i did my Zoolander face the whole time and he probably made fun of me as soon as i left but i had fun.

2 classic stories from this shoot.  1- we were shooting in the Meatpacking District in lower manhattan under a bridge.  he's telling me to inch over to my left...a little more....little more.  perfect!  *then a pigeon, roosting overhead, took a giant shit on my shoulder.  nigel laughs histerically and claims this wasn't planned.  i'm still not convinced.  2- nigel DID, in fact, ask me to smile with my eyes.  ha.  for those of you who watch ANTM you'd know that tyra and nigel ask the models to do that a lot and its funny as shit.   well, he says it in real life too.  amazing.  nonetheless, nigel was an incredible guy and it was a blast.  you can see him now in the new sony electronics commercials with justin timberlake and the amazingly talented, Laura Perloe.  take note and keep a look out for the commerical for the sony cyber shot where 2 young girls are asking for camera help.

click on the pic below to see his blog posting.



NEW SONG ALERT!  'ALWAYS'

check out one of my new songs, 'always'.  i was just noodling around at the pieanr (that's piano spelled like it would sound in ol' timey western movies.  you know?  why don't yer play a lil sowng on dat therr pieanrr youngen...  follow me?  no?  ok.  fine.)  hope you like.  thanks for passing this video on (or any of my others) to all your friends so the word can spread.  also please friend me on myspace, facebook and subscribe to my youtube page.  that would be freakin' sweet and awesome like a sweet potato pie.  yum.



GIT WIT IT.COM INTERVIEW...





be sure to check out my new interview on gitwitit.com.  i love doing these interviews cause i never remember what i actually said.  this can be really good or really bad.  i tend to put my foot in my mouth so when it comes to print this is bad.  i do remember talking to gitwitit about the P90X fitness dvds.  clearly, by seeing any picture of me, you can tell that i am an obvious ask re anything fitness.  ha....not so much.  but if you really wanna know my advice on said subject please click the links above.  should be entertaining for you, at least.  thanks to gitwitit.com for the love.

LA SHOWS COMING UP....

so i've got some new show dates coming up.  will let you know asap re what they are.  they'll be in LA so sorry for those of you who aren't in the El Lay but i'll make it to you eventually.

HEAVY SHIT

so this week has been pretty trying for me.  you know how sometimes it can all just feel like to damn much?  yeah.  that's my week last week.  but when i play music and sing and talk to y'all and read your comments etc it reminds me why i love doing this.  it aint easy, that's for sure.  but knowing y'all are out there really makes a huge difference.  so thanks.  that's what i'm trying to say.

thanks for your love and support and for spreading the MANNlove around to your friends family and enemies.  just send it on.  thanks for subscribing to my youtube page and facebook and myspace.  let all your people know.

ok enough.  what's new with y'all?  tell me a story.

i'm waiting for my new latte machine to arrive.  literally haven't been this excited in forever.  what's your favorite drink at starbucks?

c

Hola my friends.  how's your monday treatin' ya?  mine started off kinda wonky but, thanks to your encouraging tweets, its getting better.  i especially enjoyed my uber sarcastic tweets from @IlanaMG87 who constantly keeps me in check.  thank you?  hmmm.  ha.



*NY WRITER'S CIRCLE*

so i had a really cool event last monday in LA.  and it was MUSIC related!  for those of you keeping up to date with the MANNblog you'd know i've basically been in Vegas for the past 3 months and haven't proven to anyone that i'm still, in fact, a musician.  well, put all doubts to rest.  I was asked to perform in a writer's round with other New York writers...but in LA.  there's a couple things i enjoy about this statement and opportunity.  1- i'm now considered, it seems, to be a NEW YORK song writer!  how awesome/hilarious, or awesomely hilarious, is that?  the kid from Kansas, who learned how to write songs in Nashville, is playing a writers round in Los Angeles...as a NEW YORK songwriter?!  yes.  that's correct.  i'll take it.  2- many people out west, here, don't know what a writer's round is.  in nashville, the best city on earth (can't wait to see the comments on that one), writer's rounds are part of daily life.  you practically can't take a poo without, somehow, a writer's round being involved somehow.  well, that's a stretch, but not poo far...i mean, TOO far.  ahem.



(Lucy Woodward and I)

a writer's round is where a small group of songwriters do a show together where each writer performs his/her song acoustically then the hat is passed to the next writer then the next etc....you each do around 4 songs and that's the round.  make sense?  its especially cool when you see, or play, a round with writers who's songs are famous!  its always awesome to hear the song from the person who wrote it.  my rounds in Nashville are some of my fondest memories (thanks deanna, rick, dave, and lrrrrrsa) but i always stuck out--the POP kid in the COUNTRY writer's round.  my round for the NY Songwriters Circle was, believe it or not, my first POP writers round!  it was amazing!

The other writers in the round set the bar high.  My friend, and Verve recording artist, Lucy Woodward (amazing artist, wrote 'More to Life' recorded by Stacie Orrico) brought the heat, Michelle Lewis (Shaun Colvin, Cher, Amy Grant, etc) was hilarious with ridic vocals, Scott Simons jammed it up on the piano and me.  I was very honored to be in such talented company and really enjoyed watching these writer/artists do their thing.  Thanks to many of you West Coasties who made it in person....but for most of you....i've got a video montage recap thingy for you to get a taste.

I was actually pretty nervous about playing this gig.  2 reasons--1- i was flying in 2 hours before the show and i wasn't sure i was going to make it.  i made it...barely.  and 2- i wanted to try out some new songs and i'd NEVER played them all the way through yet on the piano...alone in my apartment, let alone in front of a freakin' audience.  smart, chris.  smart.  but it went well.  the new songs were well received.

One of my new songs kicks major ass, if i do say so myself.  its called Love Lied and its got major vibe up on it.  i did it acoustic on the piano so you'll have to use your imagination for the production.  another newbie is a ballad (of course) called 'I Never Meant to Make You Cry.'  its really close to my heart and might be a new fav.  check out this video for the full picture.



*GLEE*

have you been watching?  pretty funny eh?  i think that music sounds pretty cool too.  be sure to get 'somebody to love' from itunes (hint hint).  i'm excited to see where the show goes.  i can't believe some of the shit they say on there!  its pretty edgy and hilarious.  Here's a pic of me and Lea from Glee.



*ELLEN SHOW CAMPAIGN*

so i'm the luckiest guy ever to have such amazing MANNfans.  i wanted to give you a little inside scoop on something thats cooking up right now.  there's some fans that are really wanting to do Operation 'Get Chris on Ellen' by using the power of MANNfans to make it happen.  i was flattered by the suggestion and i fully support this shit!  sounds like a lot of fun actually.  the plans of attack are in the works and as soon as i know more i'll let you know.  just prepare yourself to do some serious emailing and promotion.  this is street team baby!  sign up for my street team at chrismannmusic.com and sign up.  i'll keep you in the lizoop.

*FLOOD VICTIMS*

my thoughts are going out to the flood victims here in Atlanta, other southern states and in the Philippians .  Its so scary what happening right now.  my sister was in New Orleans during Katrina and it seems like it hasn't stopped since.  click here to make a donation to the Philippians and click here to make a donation closer to home here in America.  every bit helps.

that about wraps it up.  what did you do this past weekend? watch any football games?  i went to the USC game again and was floored by Farve's  hail mary yesterday for MN.  insane.

see ya next week.--C

NEXT SHOW:

Monday 9.21, 7pm

The Mint, NY Writers Round

So i write you from my home state of KS where i've been in town for a mini family reunion at the Kansas Football game.  My family has had a fairly legendary tailgate since 1967 in the same spot and it was only fitting to do a little reunion there.  It was for the cousins to try to meet up and have a good time.  indeed a good time was had.
I was feeling a little worthless as i'm also fresh off my most recent vegas trip.  ouch.  i'm officially over vegas for a while now.  i THINK i've been 7 times this year?  and twice this month.  WTF.  this is not normal or healthy or financially intelligent.  it must stop.  Granted, i had a blast per usual so i can't complain.  my liver can.  but i wont.
We drove from LA (on a tues this time as opposed to last where i attempted to drive back from Vegas to LA on a sunday.  read:  NEVER DO THIS.  your 3.5 hr trip WILL become a 7-9 hour experience as there's only one way in and out).  we stopped to get gas somewhere in the middle of nowhere and i must show you the bathroom and the other gems that were within this class establishment.
First off, i needed to pee.  I went to the mens room looking for the urinal.  I saw, first, a nice looking fountain in the mens room.  i thought it was completely random and confusing yet, somehow, calming and kind of nice.  but where the hell was the urinal?  after scratching my head for a while i realized this fountain WAS the urinal!  are you kidding?  who has one of these?  i was also concerned at the waxy substance that was either oozing out of the top of the fountain--was it mimicking a water fall?  it wasn't working.  the smell permeating from the fountain confirmed it was, in fact, a urinal.  nasty.  see pic below of said fountain/urinal:


Second, there was a Zoltar machine by the exit.  amazing!  a pee fountain AND a zoltar?!  heaven?  maybe.  I didn't take the time for Zoltar to tell me if i would win my fortune in Vegas (though i later found out that the answer was NO) but i did pose for a quick snap shot with my buddy from the movie, Big.  classique.



Thirdly, why is my mouth hanging open in both of my self pics so far?  this is strange and concerning.

moving on.

We make it to  Ve-has and are staying on the 60th floor of the Encore (the newer of the Wynn hotels).  it is beautiful.  ridic actually.  the Encore is on the tip of the strip so the view was breathtaking.  please allow this pic to attempt to take your breath now.  this may or may not be successful:



I spent my days lounging at the pool, which was amazing, and had a funny day at the european bathing pool.  many of you may have seen my tweet about this incident.  i have a photo to back it up now.  MANNblog gets XXX!  yeah!

So you can be topless at a Euro style pool.  there were 3 blonde girls that came up and sat right in front of me.  i was reading my book i talked about last week (Drink , Play, F&ck (finished it....hilarious)) and MAYBE my eyes wondered up.  as if from a soft core porn film these 3 ladies simultaneously remove their shirts, whilst giggling like school girls, and proceed to prance around the pool ALL Day topless.  i'm not a total goober and am, somewhat, mature so this wasn't a big deal necessarily.  the big deal occurred when Encore security came over to tell the ladies that they weren't allowed to prance around nakie but could, rather, sunbathe topless on a chair.  this wasn't the Spearmint Rhino or something!  The ladies had been drinking and were pissed off about this distinction.  here were a few things that they said to security:

blonde 1:  psha!  we want something comp'd for this!  we came here because we wanted to be naked!

blonde 2:  i mean, we're from Michigan and we don't get to do this kind of stuff!  come on!

blonde 3:  yeah, we're from Michigan!  come on!

everyone at the pool besides the blondes:  laughing hysterically.

i'm not sure what being from Michigan has to do with anything in this situation but these girls kept harping on that fact hoping that would get them by.  could you imagine?

security:  holy shit!  Michigan?  why didn't you say that before!  by all means get naked.  i'll go get the whipped cream!



naturally (or obviously not so in this young ladies case) i snapped a photo on my phone during this altercation.  the lady, clothed, in a black shirt is security and the girl not pictured is whining about michigan.  the girl pictured just continued to drink.

So besides playing craps, where i won won and then lost it all, we went to see the Love show.  the beatles cirque show.  its amazing.  seen it before.  still awesome.  I also went to down town vegas for the first time which was awesome.  the old strip.  golden nugget etc!  i was feeling the sinatra vibe from the moment we got there.  we briefly went into a gaming hall called mermaids Slot House.  it was just slot machines.  how can you NOT go into that place, though, with that name?  i also ate at McDonald's, late night, with elvis.  because, in Vegas, that shit happens.



So off to Kansas for the tailgate.  it was a blast, per usual.  Here's my cousin Tommy making the first batch of Lunch Box punch.  its beer, pineapple juice and amaretto.  its like fizzy juice.  it was delicious.  it was 8:30am.



We went to the game, which KU won, and then went out in Lawrence.  Lawrence is an amazing college town.  very liberal and fun.  my entire family went there (except me.  shit) so we have a big legacy there.  here's me and the cousins and my sister at The Wheel--an iconic bar that's been in business for over 50 years.  don't ask me what happened in there.



So this week was pretty much just vacation.  I was approving song mixes from the road and the songs are almost done.  i'm really excited about them.  Sorry i haven't been reporting that much interesting 'hollywood' stuff like i use to.  i'm in that recording zone where i'm kinda keeping it slow.  actually that's a lie--read this blog!  there's nothing 'slow' about it....ha.   my website is almost done.  i'll let you know when its all up and shiny and stuff.

what's new with y'all?  i need to post another video of my singing soon.  lord.  remember i'm a singer?  ha.  i forget sometimes.  i'll do some acoustic stuff on the piano and post next week.  i'm playing a small writers round tomorrow in LA if you're around.  The Mint 8pm monday 9/21.

What's your funniest football tailgate story?  who is your team?  post answers in comments.  werd!

c