http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTLwOF0ZE-c

So the day finally arrived, on a beautiful day in downtown Fredericksburg, where the autumn leaves were in peak color and the holiday lighting and decor was in effect.

The master class with Greg Howard and Bill Burke at Picker's Supply had 14 people in total attendance, and included a variety of instruments - Stick, Warr Guitar, Harpejji, guitar and bass. Bill and Greg presented useful concepts on hammer-on/pull-off techniques and hand independence in a way that was applicable to all the instruments for the most part.

That evening, it was a great honor to "open" for such a talented group of musicians. There were perhaps 60 people in attendance, a good crowd for that size venue. Everyone brought a different approach which I think added to the appeal of the event. In addition to the scheduled performers we had a short but crowd pleasing "cameo" performance from Dave Brosky!

Paul Walters is so fluid with his playing and singing style, a pleasure to watch as always. He also shared a couple duets with Greg on his new SG-12 (short scale Stick guitar).

Cliff Art mesmerized with their complex and highly original instrumental interplay (combined with Stuart's great dry humor in between tunes) and as their song titles indicated, is the auditory equivalent of watching elephants wearing sarongs or a cat being thrown in a bathtub. Great stuff!

This was my first time meeting and watching Bill Burke play and he was phenomenal, using loops, ebow and other effects to build up some compelling, impressive music on his 8 string Warr. He was a totally class act in the master class, on stage and in person. His hammer-on/pull off concepts immediately inspired all kinds of ideas one could explore on their instruments.

Greg was amazing as always- you truly get the sense that he is not so much "playing an instrument" as much as spontaneously expressing musical thought via the Stick. It just comes out of his mind and soul and the instrument is the "transmitter". Greg also effectively communicated his "whole body" approach to music making and hand independence during the master class.

The day went by so fast... I wish there was more time to hang out with everyone!

Pete Mealy, the manager from Picker's Supply (and well known musician in town) remarked that the master class, with the assortment of strange instruments, resembled the bar scene from Star Wars.

Stuart's wife Lea Ann posted some photos from the concert which I've linked to from the main FredTap page:

http://fredtap.com

Overall I think the event was a success and I think we can look forward to FredTap II !

Thank you to everyone who took part!

You'd think I was a pro musician now, what with the new business cards I give out at open mics, networking with people in town, and now, streamlining my website:

http://robmartino.com

In actuality I have no plans to leave my day job(s), just trying to open up more doors for gig opportunities in the area (or anywhere in the world if you want to fly me there! :-)

Open to suggestions and feedback! And I hope your stay at the new robmartino.com is a pleasant one.

I'm in the process of organizing a tap guitar event in my hometown of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The focus will be solo (or duo) performers who use two handed tapping as their primary means of music making. Here are the details so far:

The concert in the evening at the Loft will feature these players:

Greg Howard
Bill Burke
Cliff Art
Paul Walters
Rob Martino

For those so inclined, earlier in the day Greg and Bill will provide instruction at at a master class, including topics such as two handed independence training and creative hammer-on/pull-off techniques. Tapping guitarists of all levels are invited.

For more info please visit the FredTap Website

Ciao!

Despite juggling two day jobs I've been trying to keep busy musically as well. (Hmmm, playing Stick and juggling at the same time, maybe I can work that into my "act"...)

Apart from the weekly open mics I had a nice time opening for the Ben Titus Quartet in April then playing this past weekend at Artomatic in D.C. Each time out, live performance gets more fun!

I put up some new videos on my YouTube channel and thanks to Susan (gorikuri) for coming up from Richmond to see me play and video my open mic performance a couple weeks ago. I have links to those videos on my YouTube profile page.

I was also honored to have an article and video demonstration on my Stick tuning (a particular version of mirrored 4ths) featured on the Stick Enterprises website. I stopped by "Greg Howard Studios" to record some short video clips. The tuning is now one of their standard offerings, the article itself is here.

I've been going through some equipment changes to facilitate the recording of a CD, it's slow going but I hope to have more news on that in the near future.

Cheers,
Rob

So this has been a productive month in terms of my Stick performing progress, I've decided to jump right in and have performed at three open mics, as well as two sets at an art exhibit and an instrumental showcase put on by Cliff Art (whose music was incredibly impressive by the way).

I've issued forth an inconsistent blend of relatively solid performances and musical train wrecks during this time, as I grapple with the psychological challenges of the solo tight rope act. I think I've gotten past the moments of sheer panic when all manner of harmony and melody escape my mind (perhaps to check out what's on tap at the bar) leaving me frantically searching for the next note. But the audiences have been small and informal, so it's likely that playing to larger groups will bring a new level of terror.

Part of the challenge continues to be less than ideal conditions for hearing myself, I've tried the minimal "Stick plus small amp" setup as well as dragging my rack of effects out, neither of which was particularly satisfying. But through the house PAs people claim that it sounds good, so for now I will believe their lies! I will also be friendly with sound guys and hopefully they will let me try some experiments with various pieces of gear.

It's been encouraging to get nice feedback overall, possibly leading to other performance opportunities. A couple open mics have turned into informal "jams" in which I try to fumble my way though improvised scale patterns or chords in an effort to fit in but I admit group playing is hardly my strength (didn't I pick this instrument because I'm a musical recluse and don't like other people??? Or an ego driven desire to "be the whole band"??? I'm sure it was something evil like that)

So there it is, my gig report for February.

As I was preparing myself a snack of cheese and crackers today, I was contemplating what a crazy year of highs and lows 2007 was. So I figured, perhaps one of my 3 or 4 subscribers would be interested in a recap!

The "bad news first":

I had a gigantic tumor, half my liver and my gallbladder removed in May. My wife lost her mother to colorectal cancer, after she had been living with us for a few years. So indeed there has been physical and emotional pain to deal with, and we have been on the mend.

But some cool stuff has also happened:

Perhaps my favorite musical discovery of the past several years, a man by the name of Phideaux, released an amazing album this year called Doomsday Afternoon. Even cooler, I'm on it! Those are my dusty old flutes you hear in "Candybrain". I met up with him in LA during last years NAMM show to do the recording, and was thrilled that his band was able to come out to Virginia for their first ever gig before heading off to a festival in France. The album has received several honors in the progressive rock community this year and here's hoping more people will become as captivated by his music as I have.

Shockingly, I seem to have the highest viewed Chapman Stick video on YouTube, closing in on 200,000 hits, despite several mistakes and having very little visual appeal (hey look at me playing in my messy office with no video editing techniques). This led me to expect great things of myself, so I recorded a higher quality audio version of the song and put it on sale at Snocap, where I have earned a cool $8!!! I can buy one of those "fancy" beers for that kind of dough.

After a decade of futility in the 90s, my Boston sports teams are powerhouses! The Red Sox won the World Series (again) and the Patriots just finished a perfect 16-0 regular season for the first time in NFL history. The Celtics aren't just relevant again but have matched the best start in NBA history. Sometimes I think I spend too much time following sports but for whatever reason, growing up in the Boston area, this kind of stuff is deep rooted as you grow up. I reassure myself by going to those websites where hundreds of Boston fans post in real time during every game, analyzing every play, and think "well at least I'm not THAT obsessed". By the way, I got at least three Red Sox related articles of clothing for Christmas presents this year.

I'm grateful for friends and family, including the many folks I've met here on MySpace... your kind messages and comments are most appreciated!

I still have two cool jobs where I work from home, helping develop software in the music technology industry (Wave Arts and Camel Audio).

Anyways, speaking of jobs I should probably get back to work now, but there you have my 2007 in review. New for 2008... more recordings and gigs hopefully!

My mother-in-law Christine, who lived with us most of the time my wife and I have been married the past 6 years, passed away Nov. 2 after a battle with colorectal cancer. She lived a life of many struggles and my wife in particular invested a tremendous amount of herself in supporting her mom on many levels. We remember her as a creative, funny, compassionate person and have a hope that she is experiencing a fullness of peace and joy she wasn't quite able to attain here in the physical realm. We take peace in the fact that there was some stability in all our lives since moving here to Virginia about 3 years ago.

We were by her side as she left us... it's a profound thing to witness someone's last moments. But we have a faith that she is with her Creator now.

The house is certainly more empty. My wife, having been a best friend and primary support to her mom, understandably is having a hard time of it, particularly during the holidays. But each day seems to be a little better.

If you take anything from this, perhaps I should mention the importance of getting a colonoscopy as a preventative measure in avoiding colorectal cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. It is recommended that 50 is the age to start getting this procedure, although symptoms or family history might lead one to start earlier. It's a preventable and/or treatable cancer if found in time.

Thank you for any thoughts and prayers you wish to send our way...

On a more musical note, I'm still in the process of re-recording higher quality versions of my songs as well as working on new ones, and soon I'd like to start braving some live solo Stick performances. I figure I will start small like open mic nights here in town. Keep an eye on my page for dates if you happen to be nearby!

I'm extremely proud to have a little part on Phideaux's new art rock album Doomsday Afternoon... I dusted off the flute and played on the third track "Candybrain".

I've listened to the album a few times now, and once again Phideaux has outdone himself. I think his music is perhaps the most compelling and exciting new art/progressive rock around these days. Think of a combination of Pink Floyd, early Genesis, 70s Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, and David Bowie, with an original character all it's own ... "melodic space-folk gothic psychadelic art rock". Profound and fun music at the same time, I've been incredibly inspired by it these days.

It's an honor to be a part of this latest work!

Phideaux MySpace page

Things are starting to feel normal again, I'm off all my medication and the discomfort of my 12 inch abdmonimal incision is greatly reduced. I've lost 15 lbs since surgery, 7 of which was the liver tumor, but I can't complain about that... I had a few extra pounds I needed to lose anyways!

I went to the hospital finding myself quite calm, not very nervous in fact, even as I got my gown on and they started to set up my anesthesia IV. Of course once they give you the first sedative and start wheeling you to the operating room, the hospital could be on fire and collapsing and I still would have been happy as a clam. As I shifted onto the operating table from the stretcher, and they gave me some oxygen, I quickly started to fade, and in an instant it was all over and I was in recovery.

Apart from a fever for a couple days and a rapid heart rate right after surgery, everything went as planned and the surgeon felt it went very well. It's a little strange to wake up and have all kinds of tubes and IVs attached to you (the most uncomfortable of which is the stomach drain going down your esophogas, because of the sore throat it causes), making getting out of bed and walking around a bit tricky, but over the course of the following few days everything was taken out and I was walking around as much as possible. I was in the hospital 5 days.

I certainly have a new appreciation for medical staff- nurses, residents, fellows, head doctors... they all seem to put in long hours and were always helpful.

I was on enough meds that the pain was manageable most of the time, but the worst part was the sleep deprivation... I could not sleep more than a few minutes at a time and by Sunday night was an emotional mess. Basically when I shut my eyes I would immediately enter a vivid dream state (I was quite conscious of the transition) and immediate jolt back awake, this would happen every couple minutes during the night and eventually get so frustrating that I'd get up and walk around for a while, then try to sleep again. This problem went away as soon as I got home.

Thanks to everyone who was thinking of me and sent messages of encouragement! It was also very nice to have family around and also get visits from my lifelong friend Bill Roeder (drove up from North Carolina) and Stick master Greg Howard! Stick Enterprises also sent along some flowers. :)

On to musical thoughts... I LOVE the new Rush album Snakes and Arrows. Vapor Trails didn't stick with me too much (it's grown on me a bit more recently), in large part because of the unfortunate production (clipped and distorted to the point of being painful to listen to) but the songwriting and production on the new album is quite refreshing and exciting. I find myself going back to it quite a lot, maybe the most excited about a new Rush album I've been since I first discovered the band (around the time Presto came out).