essex lights

well hello there! i again haven't been good about keeping up with this thing but i think i'll be better going from here. also sorry about the tester posts...we were trying to get my blog linked up to the essex lights website, which is a new group i'm in. pretty excited about that. the essex lights was started by a guy named michael brower in essex county new jersey. he works in la now, you can read more about him on the official essex lights website essexlights.com where he also has a blog. i met brower at one of the very first coffee shop places i played here in santa monica...he played first that night and talked about a record he was working on...i remember him playing a song about postcards from rio, which i thought was a pretty interesting song...anyway, we met that night and exchanged cds and talked a while, as any good musicians trying to make good contacts would. we happen to stay in touch for one reason or another- i went to his house one time to borrow an audio recorder to record my first full set here in la. of course as things go i didn't hit record properly before i played, which is typical but also makes me mad because i think i did a pretty good version of "strawberry fields forever"...i think it was john lennon's birthday that day. anyway...a few months had passed and we ended up on the same bill again at a coffee shop...this is actually the night the alice cooper guy busted his guitar 15 seconds into his first song-i believe i have a blog about that so you should go back and read some more about that. so a little while after that michael sent me an email about needing a guitar player to join his band to hit the road on the east coast, promote the album, tour etc...So!!! i'm in this new band now and am really excited! i will be needing to update this thing a little more often so get ready for that! along with mike brower and myself we have a really cool drummer in ben nelson or benzo...'cause he kinda plays like bonzo bonham of the great led zeppelin. and last but not least is dedrick the bassist...he's the newest so he still has some hazing to go through. i'm still playing shows on my own but this has quickly become a priority. it's nice to be in a band of dudes as opposed to the lonely road of being a solo guy. we have played our first show, got a permanent rehearsal space, cds came in last night, press kits going out soon, t-shirts in...we will, we will...rock you! i believe we even have a photo shoot coming up soon-so maybe that'll be something good to tell ya bout soon! until then...check out the essex lights!!!

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little people show

I've got a bit of catching up to do. A number of story worthy events have occurred recently-and I figure I should write about them now that I've got a day off, a pot of coffee on the brew and Godfather two on the tube. Let's start with the little people show. I met Rebecca Curran at a friends birthday party at a Cuban cigar and rum bar in Hollywood a few months ago. She is a little person or midget, dwarf...I'm not exactly sure the politically correct term but you get the point. More important though is she is an amazing gal! Very cool, funny, caring, does charity work and volunteering etc etc etc...we ended up talking, smoking fine cigars and drinking rum that night. She even came out to a gig or two over the next weeks and months. She then sent me an email about playing a national little people convention at the hyatt in long beach , which I was pretty honored. Of course I would play!
Come to find out I was playing on the last night of a week long extravaganza. I guess the big ceremony was the night before so the festivities had died down a little. I played in a pretty big ball room but like I said the festivities had died down so it was a lot of me playing to the sound man. There was quite a bit of in and outs-people coming in and hanging out for a while, dancing a little. It was really a pretty funny scene. I don't think the irony was lost on anyone that I am surely the tallest singer they could have had play. What's funny though is I had so many people say things like, “you played at a little people convention?? did you like tower over everyone?” ummm....yes. Not unlike every other day of my life. Anyway it was definitely a unique night. I saw little people families and couples hooking up at the bar...it was wonderfully odd! It was like getting a glimpse into a different world.
Well...I'm gonna start reading the Italian subtitles in the godfather. I still need to write about the whiskey show and my recent street performing...all good stuff!

a quick one

Happy 4th of July! I've been pretty busy as of late...before going on a vacation to Texas and Oklahoma I moved from Culver City to Santa Monica while trying to work, make music etc... Anyway I'm back now and trying to readjust to LA. I met a friend in Venice and saw what looked like an aboriginal fellow with face paint and spear/walking stick and nothing but a loin cloth but...he also had brand new Nike running shoes...which was odd. Then a homeless lady asked me for about three dollars so she could get a sandwich outside a KFC...she then got mad at me when I gave her only two dollars...also odd. It was about that time I knew I was not in Texas anymore. I mean other than it wasn't 111 degrees which shoulda been a dead giveaway. I'm also back playing at the whisky a go-go at the end of July with a full band, I just bought a battery powered pa system so I can be a street performer, and today I'm playing for a little people's convention in long beach. I'm definitely thrilled to play the little people's convention but it is slightly ironic. I'm not sure they could have hired any taller musician if they had tried-but I'm very excited to play it!! I guess what I'm saying is there should be some good blogs to come. For now i'm gonna go over a few tunes for tonight!

Bollywood and the Beatles

There have been some interesting things going on out here in sunny LA in terms of music but I may wait to write about em-just to make sure things come about like I think they might. Until I write about those I'll tell you about my two nights in Hollywood. My friend Farrah invited me to a Bollywood/Indian festival in Hollywood where they would be showing the highest budgeted Bollywood movie ever. So Bollywood is pretty much a Hindi film...combining the name Hollywood and Bombay...(which is odd-isn't it Mumbai now? It should be called Mollywood)....anyway- according to Farrah these films are usually much longer than Hollywood movies and has a lot of dancing and singing in it...sometimes very randomly. Outside the theater were small carts and trucks serving Indian food...i had a lamb frankie, which to my knowledge was some sort of a curry and lamb burrito looking thing. There were also two fellas Dj-ing and rapping over tabla type grooves which made for an interesting sound scape as our group made our way into the theater to grab a drink and our seats before the viewing of “Robot!”. At this point I would like to describe the plot but there were so many strange things about it! I guess a scientist creates a robot and can program him to do whatever he wants and learn things beyond what a human could do...and the scientist has a girlfriend, the robot learns human emotions and falls in love with the girl, and there is an evil bad guy that wants the robot for destruction and yada yada yada its the craziest thing I've ever seen! So in the midst of this partially comical terminator-ish plot there are in fact a lot of very random song and dance scenes...like a bizarre music video in the middle of a scene. And the music videos aren't always in the same spot as the original scene from which they decided to start singing and dancing. At one point, after the two main characters reunite after having a long fight there is a song and dance scene in Machu Picchu...with no reference at all of Peru or south America at all...i figure they had such a big budget that they all agreed they should just go travel to a ridiculously random spot on the other side of the world. I can't really blame em though...if someone gave me a bunch of money to go sing and dance somewhere, Machu Picchu would be at the top of my list. And after the song they were magically whisked back to India. Its hard to describe the 4 hour movie but it was definitely a unique viewing experience!
So, I had also been invited to a Beatles tribute band called Rain a few nights later by my friend Svetlanna. It was kindof a last minute decision to go but I am very glad I went! Quite a few years ago my Dad took me to see a Beatles tribute band called 1964 on my birthday in Norman, Oklahoma. They were really good but I remember thinking I wish they had done stuff from their later years. 1964 was pretty much a show of the Ed Sullivan Beatles...and I understand now that performing songs from their later years would be difficult to actually perform live. That's what made Sgt. Peppers and a lot of the other great Beatles albums really unique was they were not written to be played live rather just a piece of work done in the studio...which I think really revolutionized how you could make music etc...(the Beatles are awsome!!!!!) so the show starts with an announcer saying there are no pre-recorded parts...everything is done live. Then a tv screen shows different clips of the music and news reels of that time...Rock around the Clock, JFK being sworn in, Little Richard etc...then news clips of Beatlemania and them landing in America...then the actual reel of Ed Sullivan introducing them-and it starts with the stage set up exactly how the Ed Sullivan theater was set up. It even had the applause sign flashing when they ended a song. The screens on either side of the stage showed the footage of the girls screaming and going nuts which was pretty funny. After a set of the old Beatles songs the curtains came down and they showed an actual full set of commercials from the 60's including Barney and Fred Flintstone taking a Winston smoke break, and two women discussing how to keep their pantyhose from stretching. Then we get the Shea stadium Beatles and some newer songs and wardrobe change with different clips of news reels and beatle interviews along the way. Intermission allowed them to get into their Sgt. Pepper outfits set up a psychedelic stage with fog machines...we get more news clips of Vietnam and moon landing etc...and the show I guess added a Billy Preston character on keyboard to help out with all the strange noises the Beatles throw into the mix of the music. Anyway, it was a really great show! Chronicled their whole music career. My only problem was that the only song they played from the white album was revolution...i guess that's just my favorite Beatles album. It was really really good though! So those are my two stories from Hollywood. Hope everyone out there is doing well! it is tuesday which means i'll be playing some tunes in Venice at the Whaler! I might have to play a Beatles song!

going home

Just back to California after two weeks going to see family in Oklahoma and Texas. Good to see everybody but also good to be back! I feel like its kinda chapter two in LA. Pretty wild first one so we'll see how this next one goes. When I left I picked up two of my managers who live together and took them to breakfast since I was going to be leaving my car in their parking spot. Breakfast consisted of pancakes, eggs, bacon, coffee...and this pretty much started two weeks of good eats! At the Dallas airport a BBQ joint called Dickey's greeted me to Texas-which was nice because California, as far as I can tell, does not have the best BBQ....something with a limited ability to smoke things. Anyway, the rest of the time was full of chicken fried steak, chicken fried venison, t-bones, backstrap venison, tacos, pumpkin bread, poppy seed cake, home made biscuits, waffles...and plenty of gravy. Apparently everyone got my memo to fatten me up when I came home. Well done!
An unexpected highlight in the trip came from a one club golfing venture to the quartz mountains in Altus, Oklahoma. It was the first full day at my grandparents house and my uncle jeff and aunt kay and I were going to be waiting on the rest of the family to come hang out for the weekend. And seeing as the California weather followed me to Oklahoma we thought we'd take advantage with a golf trip....now in the past I have not exactly been an enormous fan of golf. I seem to always end up with an overwhelming desire to throw metal sticks as far as I can into the nearest woods or ponds. I really just went to walk off the pound of pumpkin bread, eggs and sausage that had just been consumed. And like I said it was a great day and its in the mountains...so-count me in! I think I was playing with a borrowed 4 iron from my granddad's golf bag. One club golf is sorta self explanatory...you just take one club, which makes putting and your short game a little more interesting but it does speed up the walking. I think Mark Twain said that “golf is a good walk spoiled” I used to think he meant it made the walk spoiled rotten-like it made a good walk just awful...not spoiled like grandparents spoiling their grand kids. I still don't know which way he meant it but I agree with the later on this particular trip. Needless to say I had a good time! I hit the ball well and I only lost two balls-but in the process of looking for those balls I found three totally different ones...so in my book I shot a -1 YES!! Other highlights were sitting on the front porch on our farm in Nacogdoches, Texas watching a thunderstorm roll in, walking through a soon to be vineyard on the same farm, getting to participate in my dad's wine club, seeing my cousins and cousins kids growing up and especially seeing my new niece! She couldn't crawl yet when I left but was running all through the house and even barking like a dog when she ever saw one or was asked to do so! She's a bit of a ham and would put her whole body into the barks! She could also give a sign for “more” which was funny when I gave her a bite of pumpkin bread....more, more! Don't blame ya Darby! That stuff's good! Well the trip was definitely full of lots of love and laughter, family and friends!! If y'all are reading this I LOVE YOU! Hey, I love you even if you're not reading this!!

Is this two blogs in January? Look out now!...So in a few minutes I'll be trying to attach some video of a girl named Rachel or Rae and myself...when I first met her she said her name was “Rachel...Rae....wait...not Rachel Rae just call me Rae.” Anyway I met her one night at the Whaler in Venice. She was going to be playing right after me but needed to borrow my guitar...of course you can borrow my guitar Rachel Rae! At first I thought it was kinda funny that she didn't look too much bigger than the guitar, then I was hit by the memory of the dude smashing his guitar and hoped that wasn't some LA dirty trick people pulled...but then she started singing and I was kinda blown away by how big of a voice this little girl had. So for a few weeks we would see each other perform at the whaler, but then kind of randomly we ran into each other at the viper room in Hollywood. Actually it wasn't too random-we both independently decided to check out this guy who we both saw play at the whaler the week before. So after the show and hanging out with quite a few other whaler regulars I ran into her again as I was about to leave...she was waiting for a friend so we started talking about where we worked, food, music and somehow...I'm not even sure how exactly but tattoos came up and she decides she wants to get one...so we literally walk across the street to a tattoo parlor, she tells the guy what she wants, they draw it up, we grab a beer and I sit and watch Rae get inked up. Somewhere during this time we decide we should work on some stuff musically...i think she was getting some music notes on her arm at this time...so that's the little back story of the girl I'm playing with...no Granny Jane I did not get one! It was tempting to be able to say I went to Hollywood and got a tattoo-I met a girl out there with a tattoo too. Oh and the video camera provided by my dad for Christmas...that's the other story! If this works I'll be sure to add more video...we'll see how it goes.
So other things going on...i played on the rooftop of the mall where I work which was really fun-played from 5 to a little after 7 and then went up again from 8ish to a little after 9...the whole day before the show I was busy running errands to get ready for the show-buying new strings, batteries, changing strings, burning Cd's, but the best errand I had to run was to make it to Kinko's to sign and fax the agreements over to Julie the marketing director at mach speed! So I think that deal is a go! I'm playing on the rooftop again on February 11th which is Valentine's day weekend...I'm not sure if I can pull off any Marvin Gaye but I may have to try. So, I've been pretty busy working and playing places and what not but it feels good! Ok...let's see about this video...keep your fingers crossed!

happy new year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the west side of the world. The new year is feeling good! I got my pay first check from itunes for albums sold-which is pretty cool...it wouldn't hurt my feelings if those became a bit more regular. Also...don't want to jinx myself here-but long story short- I'm talking with a marketing director for a company called mach speed technologies. Mach speed makes units similar to ipods and other mp3 players. They are going to pre-load songs and albums and artists onto their systems before they sell them and I may be one of these artists who are pre-loaded onto the unit. So...hopefully in the next few weeks Indigo Blue will begin to get into the hands of many more people than I would be able to get it to. Anyway...looking forward to that and pretty much feeling good about the new year! I'm also looking forward to seeing my family in February.
I'm feeling very good but things weren't exactly awesome there for a while, mostly due to the fact that someone actually got under my car in the middle of the night and sawed out a part of my exhaust called the catalytic converter. I obviously noticed in the morning when it sounded like someone had replaced my engine with a supped up v8 race car engine...i didn't really think anyone actually did that but that something was really really wrong. So I sorta coasted down the hill in which I live and into the jiffy lube at the bottom. The guy said it was probably just a hole in the exhaust and that I could drive it for a short while but get it fixed when I could. That was actually a pretty funny time because I was driving it around nice areas of Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Malibu etc...i mean literally my car sounded like a tractor! So needless to say I got a number of odd looks; car alarms would go off as I passed by and it really sounded good when I would enter into an enclosed cement parking garage...i really couldn't even listen to music due to the loud rumble underneath me. I felt like I should don my John Deere hat put in a dip and a gun rack in the back...but I felt like I should go ahead and fix the problem and hide the fact that I am indeed a redneck out here in LA. It was however bad news that I had to pay for a whole new part instead of a simple patch up job. The cost difference in those two are definitely in the hundreds.
So a few days earlier my friend Matt tells me him and his brother bought me a ticket to see Roger Waters perform the Wall in Anaheim. I had told them no I couldn't really afford it but Matt insisted that if I was a Pink Floyd fan that I absolutely had to go and actually he had already bought me a ticket...so that was about the only arm twisting he had to do. So that was a strange day...i learn that someone sawed out a part of my car that cost me big time and my friend buys me a ticket to Roger Waters-talk about a pendulum swing of emotions. I think I said this somewhere in this blog but being out here so far has been a series of pretty wild ups and downs and that was definitely the case in the extreme on this particular day.
So got through that, spent Christmas reading through the first few chapters of Luke on the beach in Venice and then went to the movies. Spent new years eve and new years day working(which probably kept me out of trouble). The GM of the restaurant did pop a few bottles of our sparkling white wine as the ball dropped. Hmmm....what else? I think your caught up on the events in my life out here. One of my resolutions is to write more which hopefully will be in blog form for some of that. Alright! Happy New Year!