Hey folks,

  Haven't blogged in forever so will give it a stab...

I went back to SXSW this year, for the third time, can't tell if I'm a glutten for punishment or just like the party scene down there...or the warm weather. It certainly isn't a place to go and "get signed" who ever started that rumour should be shot. It's really more like the place to go to be surrounded by thousands of other bands and musicians and hipsters and scenesters such that heavy doses of humble reality pie are force fed to you by the picture of perfect madness...Highlights from this year would be seeing Dinasour Jr., Tricky (from Massive Attack), Ra Ra Riot, and M. Ward play. Also saw countless unkonwn acts. Notable ones would be Entrance, Takka Takka, and a bunch of other bands I can't remember the name of now. The good news is that of my three shows one actually went well this year! as in people came and seemed to respond very positively, there were even a few A&R folks and managers of bigger bands, although i was not swept off my feet to the higher levels of this thankless industry...I did however enjoy myself and see lots of old friends and made a few new ones. I found what seemed like endless supplies of free food and alcohol which kept me going for the four full days I was in the midst of it. I also made some valuable connections with some folks who I'm working with now for licensing my music, in part because I'm helping a Belgian band book their tour here this summer, so I even wore a hat as and "industry person" on a few occasions this year at SXSW. But it seems to me that 90% of "industry people" really just are other musicians...who need a real job to pay the bills...

The tour down and back went okay. I had a few good gigs and a few blah ones but made it down and back in one piece. The oddest day was on the Sunday at the end of SXSW when I woke up early cause I couldn't sleep even though I'd been up since 5am...I tried as hard as a could go back to bed in my sterile hotel room...but sleep wouldn't come. When it was time to check out of the hotel I had two choices, try and find some friends who were still in Austin to hang out with and find a place to sleep OR get on the road. With only about an hour of sleep in my pocket I chose to drive and got in the car and drove all the way to Little Rock, Arkansas. I had hoped I might take a look at the town and pay homage to Bill Clinton, but instead I found a cheap hotel and completely collapsed. It was a weird seedy pink motel that had old boothes for phones with ashtrays built in. It looked like something out of the 1960's, like a "Madmen" prop. They had done little to keep the place up...but when you need sleep who cares. The next day I woke up and drove all the way to North Carolina and hung out with an old college friend and her family for a few days for some well needed rest and some comfort time with real people, real food, and lots of kids. Basically I left the polar opposite world of SXSW and entered the world of my friend who is raising a toddler and a newborn and her sister who was visiting with five (yes 5!) kids, all of which are girls...It was complete culture shock to the rock star hipsters and wannabe cool kids of Austin and SXSW, but it was just what I needed and I've never felt so relieved to be in a new environment ever. We went on walks and hikes and read books to the kids and made meals for mass quantities of kids. It was again a very humbling experience to be around people who are raising families and are completey focused on that task. The last thing on their mind is finding a record deal. I sat on the couch and read books to a gaggle of little girls and felt pretty good, better then I had in days.

And then I got back in my car and played a handful more shows on my way back home...and that is about that...

SPRING tour was another dejavu moment as I realized it is my fifth year going out to the Midwest in April...I also hit some old towns (Chicago, Madison, Cleveland), and some new ones (Columbus, Jamestown NY...). This time I had no car problems or notably bad shows, it was pretty smoothe sailing and lots of good audiences and folks buying CDs and making me feel welcome. If all tours were like that one I'd never come off the road, but alas this is not the case, it's hit and miss a lot of the time. But in my adventures I met a dude who bought an old bank that is the size of a small town for only $65,000 and plans to make it into a science experiement/music venue. He already gave me a gig there when I want it. In Ohio I played at Milo Arts which is an old middle school that has been converted into a bunch of artist live/work spaces. It was quite impressive really. They had worked with the local community as an artist collective to try and shape up the neighborhood. So I guess this was the tour of cool unconventional spaces and seeing how people in different parts of the country can really utilize old buildings that are more or less abandon to create little art empires...I only wish Boston was cheap enough to do such things, but not only are there no abandon schools or banks that I know of, but if there were they would still be a small fortune...makes you want to move to the middle of America where stuff is still cheap..

So I'm back in town for now, I'll head to Maine for as much of the summer months as time will allow. As for news I have a show in June opening for "They Might be Giants" that I'm pretty excited about. In August I also hope to do a tour with Jesse Harris (The dude who wrote that song "Don't Know Why" that made Norah Jones famous).

As for my new record "I Know, I Know" plans for release will follow soon I hope. The record exists, I'm just trying to figure out how to release it properly. I did post a song or two on here for you guys to listen to, and I hope you enjoy my new "one-man-band" material.

Til next time I get the motivation to write one of these...