Hi all! Just a few quick notes for you:

I've got a brand new radio show, and *tonight* is the inaugural broadcast! It's called "The Real Congregation", and it airs every Monday night/Tuesday morning on 91.5 WPRK FM in Orlando, FL from 3 AM to 6 AM EST. You can stream it online live from anywhere in the world at wprkdj.org! I'll be playing all of my favorite stuff, and since it falls under the FCC's "safe harbor" timeslots, there's practically no limit to what I can get away with saying/playing. Why not tune in and be a part of the show? We've got a chat room, and you'll hear everything from twee pop to shoegaze to obscure classic rock to psych to nerd music to lo-fi pop and back again!

Don't forget that I'll also be opening for the Rich Weirdoes annual presentation of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" on 10/30, 10/31 and 11/01 at Universal Citywalk in Orlando, FL. Tickets are about nine bucks, and you shouldn't sleep on getting yourself one, as these shows always sell out. More information can be found at www.richweirdoes.com!

I'd be remiss if I didn't remind you of the upcoming Nerd Invasion festival thats going down 11/6-11/7 in Pensacola, FL. I'm performing alongside acts like Shael Riley, Schaffer The Darklord, Krondor Krew, Scrub Club, Benjamin Bear and Dual Core. There will be game tournaments, a panel hosted by the guy that invented gaming dice, a nerdy girl competition... seriously. You need to go to www.nerdinvasion.com and book your reservation, pronto.

That's about it for now. Please don't forget that you can always download all of the Marc With a C albums at www.marcwithac.com. Do so guilt free, please.Soon I'll announce the annual holiday show!

Ah, October 2009: when the hearts of young boys and girls turns to that of making lists of the "best albums of the decade". However, if your list doesn't include Kirsty MacColl's Tropical Brainstorm or Casper & The Cookie's Modern Silence, I simply can't take it seriously. No offense. (I'm looking at you, Pitchfork).

It's been a busy few weeks for me, and it won't be slowing down anytime soon. I'm pretty thankful for that. It helps keep my playing (somewhat) in shape, because unless I'm preparing for a show, I don't exactly sit around in my garage playing "Nerdy Girls" for fun anymore.

Before my train of thought runs wild, I simply have to talk about the Shock Treatment shows. For the uninitiated, Orlando theater group The Rich Weirdoes took on the unenviable task of shadowcasting the complicated and oft-overlooked sequel to Rocky Horror Picture Show. If you've ever seen the film, you'll have noticed that this would seem like an impossible task, but our favorite Weirdoes pulled it off with aplomb. I was especially impressed with Jamie Lyn Woods and David Mcarty's respective turns as Janet and Brad. Unbelievable amounts of fun. And, being the good sports that they are, the group allowed me to come in and open each show! I changed up the setlist every night, and happen to have a really good recording of the third night... details below. I can't thank you all enough for letting me be a part of it, as well as each member of the audience. Everyone treated me really nicely. Except for Joey Fatone, but that's fine... I'm not impressed with him either.

On Saturday, October 10th, I'll be playing at the WPRK-palooza festival with folks like Emily Reo, Dark Sea Of Awareness, Pattern Is Movement, Cryptacize and Destroyer. It's an outdoor event, and I'm playing at the crack of 1:30 PM, but I'm pretty excited for it. Planning on playing some newer gems I haven't got to do for awhile at this gig. If I ever shake this cold, I'll be even more excited!

And of course, I'd be absolutely remiss if I didn't mention the event of the season: NERD INVASION! Seriously. I get to play alongside Schaffer The Darklord, Shael Riley, Krondor Krew, Scrub Club, Zealous1, Dual Core, Benjamin Bear and Dr. Awkward. There will be a "nerdy girl" competition, a showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show at dawn, and so much more that it's kind of insane to comprehend how this is all gonna take place in one overnight festival. Regardless, you can get all of the info you'll need at www.nerdinvasion.com. The fest is taking place November 6-7, so don't sleep on making arrangements, eh? It'll also likely be my only tour date until early 2010.

Now, for some ramblings:

- I've been listening to Clutch a lot lately. They're a hard rock group that I was pretty insane about back in high school. Their new album is ridiculously good, and I'm gonna go see them for the first time in about ten years on Tuesday. Just spun their Live At The Googolplex LP album last night to get myself pumped, and... holy hell. That thing just destroys any space that it happens to occupy. Natural disasters should be named after it.
- Over the last year, I've become increasingly convinced that Billy Corgan is a member of the Source Family cult, if not the active head. Thanks to all of my late-night internet research, I've found myself combing his newer music for clues. Before I knew it, I found myself liking the post-Zeitgeist songs that he was trying out on tour despite myself. I've never been very sympathetic towards the guy, and now I'm finding that I'm enjoying music by The Smashing Pumpkins. I know, I'm as surprised as you are.

Say, while I've got your attention... how about treating yourself to yet another "official Marc With a C bootleg"? This one is short and sweet, but I think you'll like it quite a bit...

Official Bootleg Series #13: 10/02/09 Universal Studios, Orlando:

01. I Will Repossess Your Heart
02. I'm In love With Everyone I Know
03. Nerdy Girls
04. Breaking Out
05. Happy To Be Alive

(Yes, it includes the infamous Joey Fatone moment).
Download link: http://retrolowfi.com/marcwithac/mp3/OBS100209.zip

There's tons of other free albums for you to download for absolutely free at marcwithac.com. Like, as in my entire discography. Go nuts. :)

And finally, please don't forget that I've got a weekly radio show with my buddy Josh called "Serious Business". It airs every Wednesday morning on 91.5 WPRK in Orlando, FL at 8 AM EST, but you can listen from anywhere in the world by streaming the show at wprkdj.org. Who knows what early morning havoc we'll wreak and then claim not remember later?

Hope you're all well!

Love on ya,
Marc

Some scattered things.

Ack. I think it’s safe to say I’m catching a summer cold. I’d woke up the last few days feeling a little stuffy, with a tinge of a sore throat. Today my head is a little swirly, my throat actively hurts, and I feel like being nice to everyone – no, seriously, my mom used to be able to tell if I was getting sick by my disposition. On top of this, my right ankle has been inexplicably swollen since Saturday night. I’m a mess, but I’m a mess in a good mood. I mean, c’mon… how bad can life be when I’ve just finished eating some of my wife’s amazing fried chicken? She’s the bestest person on the planet, yes, but she’s also the finest cook I know. Boy did I luck out.

Speaking of lucky, that’s exactly how I feel to have been a part of the Rich Weirdoes production of “Shock Treatment”. It’s a seemingly impossible movie to shadowcast, but the Weirdoes made it look like they weren’t even trying, just effortless. Had just as much fun watching the shows as I did opening for them. I played two totally different sets on the opening nights, which were as follows:

1st night: Nerdy Girls / I Will Repossess Your Heart / All My Drug Use Is Accidental / Denton USA / Happy To Be Alive

2nd Night: Drunk Classic Rock Fans / Chicken Pox & Star Wars Guys / Bounce Bounce Bounce / Bitchin’ In the Kitchen / The Problem Is Me

I attempted to record the sets in order to show everyone else how awesome the RHPS audiences can be, but it turns out that it’s next to impossible to properly mic a movie theater with my limited equipment. Oh well, there’s always next time. (October 2nd and 3rd, if you’re keeping score.)

Here’s some sweaty, sweaty footage from the first night: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=129584916655&ref=mf

Oh, and I’m gonna be opening this years Rocky Horror shows again, brought to you by the same cast. Six years running, now! More info to come on that one.

I’m seriously loving this new computer. It’s like a friggin’ nuclear terminal. I’m slowly digitizing all of my record collection so that I might have some uber-bitchin’ ultra-jukebox in the living room. Of course, with all of the extra drive space, I’m downloading things that I’ll likely never get around to hearing… like that eight night run of Hanukkah shows that Yo La Tengo did in New Jersey last year. On paper, it looks like an awesome thing to have, but in reality, I know I’ll never find the time to play right through them. Even though they’re like my indie Grateful Dead.

Behind the scenes, I’m inching my way towards a new album. Right now I have roughly ten songs for it, and if I put my nose to the grindstone, I could likely have one done for a Halloween release. Then again, I dunno. I almost want to hang back a bit, write some more songs and make something really solid… timelines be damned. Besides, that’s more my style. I just keep writing, and the one day the songs smack me in the face and say “I am a cohesive whole”. That hasn’t happened with this batch of material yet, although I mostly like the individual songs. And besides, I’ve got a slightly thicker sound in my head for this record, and I’m simply not ready to dive into the techniques that it’ll take to achieve it yet.

I really want it to cool down so that I can go on a bike ride. I’m so friggin’ susceptible to heat exhaustion. Man… I must be getting sick. I’m speaking fondly of being outdoors. Whatever, I’m still going record shopping in a few hours. There’s some Yo La Tengo and They Might Be Giants vinyl with my name on it. Not to mention tickets for Neko Case and Os Mutantes. Must get motivated.

I’ll be announcing some out of town shows very soon. I hope that you’re all doing well, and that I’ll see you soon!

Love on ya,
Marc

Well, hello! It's been a busy few weeks for me, and I'm only now getting to take a little breather. Seemed like a good time to stop and tell you all about what it's been like to be Marc With a C recently.

Now, as many of you know, I was lucky enough to have numerous songs of mine integrated into a play titled Sex Times Three. The show was put on by a group known as the Wallflower Theater who were absolutely wonderful to me. I performed as part of the show every night, and it was a really neat learning experience for me. I certainly got a good lesson in discipline. You see, I'm used to playing at sweaty rock and roll clubs. Someone will come up to you before show time and say "Hey man, you wanna go on in like 10 or 15 minutes?", and you'll say "Sure". Then you go outside, hang out, smoke cigarettes, drink beer, and wander onstage whenever you get around to it, mostly. But... that's not how it goes in a theater environment. Nope. About a half an hour prior to stage time, I was sequestered backstage, and that's where I sat quietly, waiting for a cue to go elsewhere. Every five minutes, a stage manager drops in to tell you "ten minutes" or what have you. It's like a doomsday countdown, because all I could do was sit and think, counting down the seconds. It was one of the first times I've ever experienced stage fright. For this reason, I would almost always bungle the lyrics to my opening song, "Anything But Plain", without fail. Luckily, when I explained this to the very gracious stage manager, she offered to do a little dance every time she walked backstage to announce the time to us. She mostly made good on the promise.

I also wasn't used to playing almost the same set with the same stage banter each night, but I fell into the habit pretty quickly. And now I kinda hope we get to stage the show again sometime. Also, can you believe that there wasn't a single prima donna in the cast or crew? Turns out that most of what I feared about drama folks was unfounded. I can't thank those Wallflower folks enough.

For the occasion of the shows, we'd pressed up a *very* limited run of a soundtrack to the play which featured lots of older Marc With a C songs, all newly recorded in relatively quiet incarnations. There was also a brand new song on the CD called "Fighting For Love Is Like Fucking For Virginity", and even though I currently have no plans to reprint the soundtrack, folks that want to hear the new song shouldn't fret. It will likely show up on the next album, but..... shhh.

Speaking of said new album, I'll probably start recording it in the fall. I prefer recording when it's cooler outside. Mostly because the tapes are a-rollin' in my garage, and I tend to sweat like a pig during spring and summer.

Other than that, let's see... there was the AntiBabe 13th anniversary show that I performed at, which was weird. Half the crowd was there for me, half just wanted to see girls wearing nothing but nipple tape. The two halves didn't see eye to eye, leading to a very strange vibe. So I played some offbeat stuff, like a medley of "Terror Song" and "Duel Duet".

Last night's show, though? Man, that was a winner. I was able to play with two really great bands: a video game rock band called Random Encounter, as well as the superb video game *orchestra* known as Select Start. Both were lots of fun, but man, Select Start especially blew my mind. You haven't lived until you've seen a string section attack the music from Dr. Mario. I was especially happy with my own set, and I really wish that I'd recorded it. Here's the setlist:

Anything But Plain
We're All Gonna Die
Ammonia
I Will Repossess Your Heart
Chicken Pox & Star Wars Guys
Town In Flames
Freezing In Florida (request)
Charles In Charge (request)
I'm In Love With Everyone I Know
Nerdy Girls
Pinball Wizard
Happy To Be Alive

encore:
No London In Brazil (request)
Stairway To Rudolph

And while we're on the subject of shows... I've been asked quite a bit lately why I'm not leaving Orlando to do a ton of road shows. There are numerous reasons for this, and I'd happily list a few of them for you, but it'd all just seem like excuses. So instead, I'll say the following: I'd like to come to your town and play a show, I really would. If I can, I'll do it. Just contact me with an idea for a suitable venue in your region, and if I can make it happen, I'll try to do some road shows in 2010. Probably not a ton of them, but at least a few. I'm excited at the prospect, I assure you. So please, don't be shy... tell me where you want me to go. Within reason.

Also, the deluxe edition of my Linda Lovelace For President CD/DVD is now totally sold out. However, I'll be repressing the audio portion of the album in mere weeks... as well as some physical copies of my last album Losing Salt due to popular demand. Dontcha worry, I'll make a big honkin' deal out of it once they are available. You know me. :)

With that, I think I'm gonna go and rewatch some old episodes of The State. Maybe get writing done in other forms. Hope that you're all meeting your goals. You're the bestest.

Love on ya,
Marc

Hello everyone!

1. First off, I have to send a sincere and warm "thank you" to all that came to or took part in our play, Sex Times Three. It's certainly not like anything I'd ever been a part of before, and it was a really cool experience. Muchas gracias especially goes to the Wallflower Theater for making my songs such a huge part of the event. Now, if I could have only kept the roadie... :)

2. There's a Marc With a C show happening this Saturday night (08/15/09) in Orlando. It's going down at Natura, where I'll be playing with two great video game rock bands: Select Start and Random Encounter. Doors are at 8 PM, and I'll be going on first, so please get there early, eh? It's all ages... and admission is free. Natura is located at 12078 Collegiate Way, Orlando, FL 32817-2157.

3. By the way, if you want a Marc With a C shirt, email me directly. I don't have enough of them to set up a space on my site for them, but I do have enough to sell this way!

4. As of late, I've been co-hosting the "Serious Business" radio show at wprkdj.org from 8-10 AM EST every Wednesday Morning. (91.5 on your radio dial if you live in Orlando). Tune in... stroke my record geek ego!

5. Please don't forget that you have the ability to download any and all Marc With a C albums for absolutely no money whatsoever at www.marcwithac.com. They are sitting there, waiting for you as we speak. Or rather, as I type.

6. Say, are you on Facebook? Great! So am I! Why not "become a fan" of Marc With a C there? You'd make my day, seriously. Here's the page, hoss: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marc-With-a-C/47115919497

7. It's with great sadness that I report that our bunny, Donna Lynn, passed away at the age of two this week. I've dedicated "Ex-Neanderthal" to her many times onstage, and she was one of my very best friends. She will be greatly missed.

I hope that you are all doing well, and that I'll get to see you at the show tomorrow night!

Boy howdy, do I have a lot to talk about! It's been an eventful few weeks for me, and it doesn't look as if things will be slowing down until early November. Let's start at the top, shall we?

1. Nerdapalooza:

I had the honor of playing the main stage of Nerdapalooza for the second year in a row, and that entire weekend was a blast beyond my wildest expectations. I got to meet so many new people, as well as fans that I'd only spoken to on the internet. The crowd seemed to really enjoy our set, which included Chris Zabriskie playing a magical, candy-making version of his wuckarnn. There are numerous pictures up at the Marc With a C MySpace page, most of which were taken by our friend Julie Cotter.

If I tried to list all of the highlights of the weekend, I'd probably just leave us both disappointed, so I'm gonna refrain. Just know that from Friday to Monday morning, there was rarely a time where you'd have caught me without a smile on my face. A special thanks to Hex and the rest of the Nerdapalooza guys for making it happen, as well as for having me along yet again.

In case you're curious, our setlist for the show was:

We're All Gonna Die
I'm In Love With Everyone I Know
Nerdy Girls
I Will Repossess Your Heart
Chicken Pox & Star Wars Guys
All My Drug Use Is Accidental
Laura, I Need Medicine
Pinball Wizard
Life's So Hard (watch it here!)

2. Sex Times Three – a play featuring Marc With a C?

You may have heard/read some things here and there about an exciting upcoming play that utilizes some Marc With a C songs. Well, it's definitely happening, and it's just around the corner. The play is called Sex Times Three. It's directed by writer Larry Stallings, and is being presented by the Wallflower Theater in Orlando. The show stars Kimberly Luffman and Alex Carroll and is a really fun set of sketches. I'll not only be opening the show with a short set of tunes, but I'm also making a few appearances during the play itself. And here's the really unexpected news. Ready?

There will be a soundtrack album of the play. It will only be made available at the shows, and contains 13 *newly recorded* songs: a new tune (“Fighting For Love”), relative obscurities (“Anything But Plain”), and some stripped down oldies. The soundtrack CD has a simple live-to-two-track feel, containing only guitar and vocals... and the occasional handclap. I'm pretty proud of it, and by all accounts, it's gonna be a record you'll really want to hear. And you only have five chances to purchase it. They are as follows:

Wallflower Theater’s Sex Times Three @ G.O.A.T.:
Friday, July 31st / Saturday, August 1st / Thursday, August 6th / Friday, August 7th / Saturday, August 8th.
669 Cherry Street
Winter Park, Florida 32789
8 PM, All Ages, $12 at the door (cash only)

I cannot stress this enough: this soundtrack will not be made available again in any form after these shows.


3. Shock Treatment? Live? OMFG!!

Longtime Marc With a C aficionados are well aware that I've spent the last six or so Halloweens playing at Universal Studios in Orlando opening for the Rich Weirdoes presentation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Other folks will be aware that I'm well known in some circles for my covers of songs from the sequel to said movie, Shock Treatment. Well... after years of planning, our favorites Weirdoes are gonna shadow cast Shock Treatment for a few special limited engagements, and yours truly will have the honor of opening those shows with a short set of originals and favorites from the movie! And also... if you haven't seen Shock Treatment, really, it's a fabulous and very, very ahead of its time piece of cinema that may actually change your life for the better. Here's the details:

The Rich Weirdoes presentation of Shock Treatment @ Universal Citywalk, AMC Theaters
Friday, September 4th / Saturday, September 5th / Friday, October 2nd / Friday, October 3rd / Friday, October 30th
1000 Universal Studios Plaza
Orlando, FL 32819
All ages, times/price TBA

And that, my friends mostly brings us up to speed. Please don't forget that I'm co-hosting the “Serious Business” show as of late on 91.5 WPRK in Winter Park, FL. The show airs from 8-10 AM EST every Wednesday morning, and you can stream it online from anywhere in the world at www.wprkdj.org. Why not make a habit out of it?

Everybody Wang Chung tonight,
Marc

Oh gosh folks. There is so much Marc With a C action going on this week, and I can't wait to tell you all about it.

As many of you may know, I'm playing at Nerdapalooza for the second year in a row. To promote my set (as well as the event), I'm doing two radio appearances in one week... on the same station. And you'll be able to listen to them from *anywhere* in the world online! The schedule looks like this:

Tuesday morning, 7/7/09, 1:00 - 3:00 AM EST on 91.5 WPRK's "Freaking Geek" show. I'll be appearing alongside John "Hex" Carter, founder of Nerdapalooza! I may even bring my guiat along and play a few tunes... who knows?

Wednesday morning, 7/8/09, 8:00 - 10:00 AM EST on 91.5 WPRK's "Serious Business" show. I'll definitely be bringing my geetar along to play some songs, as well as bringing along some music to spin from past, present and future Nerdapalooza artists! (And... as of the following week, I'll be the new co-host of said show. Just sayin'.)

You can hear both of these shows by logging onto http://www.wprkdj.org at the appropriate times. If you're in the Orlando area, you can always listen on the radio, the good old fashioned way!

All of this of course is leading up to the main event: Nerdapalooza, named "the worlds geekiest music festival" by Blender magazine! Here's that info:

NERDAPALOOZA 2009, Day One!!!
Saturday, July 11 @ Holiday Inn - Orlando International Drive Resort
6515 International Dr
Orlando, Florida 32819
All ages, $20, 12 PM - NOON!

I AM PLAYING THE FIRST DAY OF THE FESTIVAL AT ROUGHLY 3 PM IN THE AFTERNOON, BUT TIMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE!

Anyone that saw last year’s show (or heard about it) knows that this is a gig that will be talked about for years to come. Confirmed acts so far: MC Chris, The Protomen, YTCracker, Schaffer The Darklord, The Megas, Beefy, Devo Spice (formerly Sudden Death), Dual Core, MC Frontalot, Uncle Monsterface, Emergency Pizza Party, I Fight Dragons, Krondor Krew, mCRT, The Great Luke Ski, Grammar Club, My Parents Favorite Music, Rocket Propelled Geeks, Scrub Club and many more soon to be named! Buy your tickets at: http://nerdapalooza09.even..tbrite.com

And of course, later this month/early August, I'll be appearing in a play that incorporates some Marc With a C songs called "Sex Times Three". It's being produced by Orlando's wonderful Wallflower Theater, and the dates for the show are: Friday, July 31st / Saturday, August 1st / Thursday, August 6th / Friday, August 7th / Saturday, August 8th. I'll offer more details to you as the shows get closer.

But for now... get pumped for Nerdapalooza! And also, don't forget that you can currently download all Marc With a C albums for absolutely no money whatsoever at http://www.marcwithac.com!

Love on ya,
Marc

Oh man. Last night was such a fun show. Not only did Little Insects do a really fun set opening up the night, but Chris Zabriskie showed up midway through the Marc With a C portion to play songs on our makeshift drumkit - the "wuckarnnn".

Omar Delarosa of Little Insects fame wrote a really nice blog about the night with some videos, which I'm simply going to repost here. Take it away, Omar!

"So there were indeed too many glasses at last night's show. If I remember it correctly even people in the audience seemed to be glasses-bearers. Oddly enough, a few people in the audience recognized me from high school, which is funny because out of all the things I do and have done, going to Edgewater High School was what I last expected people to remember me for.


Anyway, it was great to play a show with Marc with a C, since he's seriously one of the local musicians that I saw live a few years back (2003? 2004? -ish) and motivated to me to get out of my room and play music live. Although, it took me 2 more years to really shed all (or most of) my cowardliness and I didn't really play music live until 2006, I would say it was seeing him play nerdy pop songs like "I'm in Love With Everyone I Know" and not get shot at or thrown tomatoes at or pulled off the stage with a giant cane in a place like Orlando that did the trick.


Alright, well enough mushy stuff. This ain't Oprah. ...yet...?


Okay, so here are some video highlights of last night's show at Stardust Video and Coffee:




This was my second time ever playing it live, so there's obviously some variation from the recorded version (in reality, these were mistakes, but let's just refer to them as "edits")



This used to be two songs that we played as a band that kind of segued into one another, but it's basically becoming one, multi-part song.



And this is just a great song by Adam Green. Even though it's in E Major, you can actually sing the entire thing over Pachelbel's Canon in D major, because the harmonic structure of the original song is practically identical. Maybe at a future show I will just play Canon in D from a boom box and karaoke Adam Green's lyrics over it and transpose the vocal melody down a whole step. Or not.



This is one of my favorite songs from Marc's new, free-download album, Losing Salt.It's written from like a kid's perspective, a kid that just wants to go outside and play with his Star Wars guys. Impossible not to smile at this song.



And this is just one of the best "re-imaginings" of an old song I've ever heard. Enjoy."

And, for those so inclined, here was the setlist for the show:

I Will Repossess Your Heart /
Broken Record Player /
Chicken Pox & Star Wars Guys /
Ammonia /
If These Walls Could Talk /
I Need A Hug* /
You've Got This Curse /
San Diego Doorways* /
Jessica, I Heard You Like The Who* /
Stuck With Me* /
Happy To Be Alive* /
Nerdy Girls /
RetroLowFi

*encore*

Famous Painter /
Ex Neanderthal* /
Every Single Friend* /
Mr. Roboto* /
There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis* /
Pinball Wizard*

(* - denotes Chris's participation)

Thank you all so much for such a fun evening. I'll be around, but I won't be doing any "typical" shows for a few months. I'll be at Nerdapalooza of course, and also appearing in the Sex Times Three play with some of my songs... and another really fun surprise that I can't tell you about just yet. See you soon!

Love on ya,
Marc

Am I seriously neglecting the whole "blogging" notion? Probably. I'm all spoiled with this Twitter fad that says I can just update once a day with 140 characters of bullshit and pretend that I'm "keeping in touch". But for you, the devoted twenty that follow my web presence as if it were Jacob's touch, I give you a few notes from my life. I hope that you'll enjoy them.

As many of you know, I have a bunny named Donna Lynn that I adore to pieces. Bunnies are super fragile, and I dote on her much like one would a newborn, albeit a really fuzzy newborn with tons of energy that has an unquenchable thirst for cilantro, timothy hay and parsley. She's pretty communicative, in more ways than you'd expect. If she wants for something, she just sort of gnaws on the bars of her cage until your heart is broken enough to cave into her bunny whims. Sometimes it's just attention that she's after, and those times she'll often put her paws on the ceiling of her little house and stretch, making the most gigantic bunny yawn you've ever seen. Bunny tongues are more adorable than they could ever be in your imagination. Tonight, she was especially fidgety, and this was because she wanted me to take her out into the garage so she could hop around and go crazy-go-nuts. She kept flipping and shaking her ears in expressions of joy, more than I'd seen in a super long time. I was sitting in my garage chair writing some lyrics, but she kept hopping into my lap, licking my face, and then hopping off again. It turns out that what she was trying to do was get me up to play with her. Now, playing with her consists of letting her hop around and between your feet, (their way of saying "I love you"), and then I run away. She then chases me down and does the same thing until I flee once more, then she flicks her ears and charges at me again. She did this for like ten minutes straight tonight. This is an every night occurrence for me, folks.

In other news, I'm feeling incredibly old lately. I know, I'm only thirty-one. Shouldn't be feeling all that ancient, right? And it's not as if I don't mostly act my age. I don't really hang out in bars unless I'm playing a show inside of them, I'm married, I'm trying everyday to be more of a family man. The source of me feeling like an old man with a cane wasn't the result of trying to fit in with a younger crowd or whatever the demise of so many men my age tend to go through right before a midlife crisis. Nope. My downfall is actually a streaming internet radio station. Specifically the "vintage" channel from woxy.com. I was very excited when I found it, because I love the so-called "classic alternative". Heck, I grew up on it to a large extent. I can get behind them playing some Ramones, some Talking Heads, some Sex Pistols, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello... you know what I'm talking about. The troubling thing is that I have been hearing songs from albums that I'd bought on the day of release, and these things are now considered "vintage". I'm not sure I can get behind Built To Spill, The Lemonheads, Juliana Hatfield, Pizzicato Five and Sleater Kinney being "old". Tonight alone I heard Crystal Method and The Killers. Now, I'm not a huge fan of either group, but... seriously. I feel like I should be applying for medicare if these bands are "vintage".

Oh, and then my daughter got her own MySpace page. Double the feeling old quotient by about one thousand now, thank you.

In actual Marc With a C related news, I heartily appreciate everyone that took a few moments to pick up a free downloadable copy of my newest album, Losing Salt. It still feels like a pretty experimental album for me. Not like I was dressed in a lab coat while I made it, surrounded by bunsen burners, but more like... well, I've always been very concerned about how well I can translate whatever I've released from a record to a stage and back again. I'm comfortable at this stage telling you that I threw caution to the wind while putting this one together. I can never do a show that will please everyone anyways. There's not enough time to play the songs every single person came to hear, so why try to make yet *another* album full of songs that were destined for the stage? Why not have an eight-minute nightmare like "Magazines" that I couldn't possibly pull off in a teensy club? Let's finally put "He Left You For A Punk Rock Girl" on an album knowing fully well that those backing vocals would be murder in a live setting!

But yes, I've received a lot of great feedback about the record and I thank you mightily for it. I hope that you'll continue to enjoy it. I'm working on a follow-up already here and there. I've got two zygotes of songs right now that I like a lot. One is a love song that seriously needs a bridge and a melody tweak. One is a set of lyrics about ammonia that's waiting for the right music to back it up. More songs will be available to you before you know it. Heck, probably before I'm even ready for it, at this pace.

Hope you are doing well, whatever you're doing. Talk soon?

Love on ya,
Marc