OK, feeling like I'm gettin' the lay of the land out here, took a few to adjust to the pace, but I'm getting into the groove.
Had a fun time in Philly, got to trip around town and be tourist checking historical sites, and even walked into a sold out Phillies game for some standing room tix. Thanks so much to Nicole for putting me up and showing me your town!!
This past Weds. 6/29 I traveled by Amtrak through rural PA to the capital city of Harrisburg for a house concert. Had my eyes scanning the countryside as we passed through Lancaster, the heart of Amish country. Never saw any horses and buggies or folks in the traditional garb, but I'm sure they steer clear of the train tracks. Had my first couchsurfing.org experience with Dave and Patsy, who were amazing hosts. They picked me up from the station, cooked me a tasty dinner and attended the house concert I played.
After a good night's sleep it was back to NY. Turns out my date from the 8th grade dance, Brenna, lives just down the street from my buddy Joel's house, and I had a drink with her-crazy. Joel and I then headed to Mt. Vernon, about 20 miles N. of the city. We played a couple of hr. long sets, and enjoyed some tasty beers and food. Special thanks to everyone who came out, esp. Walter, who read about the show online and came out not knowing what to expect.
Tonight's show is at the most recognizable and historic of venues on this leg of the tour, The Living Room, on the lower east side (L.E.S.!)Matt Nathanson, Carol King and any number of other famous songwriters have played this intimate venue. Joel with start things off at 7pm, followed by my set at 8. My special guest on a few tunes is old friend and former bandmate in the late 90's funk/hip-hop band Spunjunket, Gwen Mann. She still has the amazing voice I remember from last millennium, and it'll great to have her up there. Got folks coming from all over for this one, so hoping to make a good impression at my debut in NYC! More later...
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
East Coast Tour off to a fun start
This is the first tour I've done without a trusty vehicle, and so far so good. Amtrak, MTA and my converse have worked well so far. I'll rent a car for the upstate NY and VT shows, but for now it's nice to not be driving for a change, although navigating the NY subway system with all my gear is a challenge!
Flew in on Fri. the 24th into JFK, played my first show in Bryn Mawr, PA on Sat. Tripped around NY for a couple days-always surprised at the intoxicating energy of that city!!
Now I'm in Philly after a show here last nite at The Grape Room, fun times were had. Spent the day exploring Philly and refreshing my American history knowledge, and 2morrow it's off to Harrisburg, PA for the last stop in PA.
It's been in the 80's, and I've been walking a couple miles a day. Hopefully that'll counteract my cheesesteak intake (nice band name). Might try and catch a Phillies game here tonight.
More soon!
Flew in on Fri. the 24th into JFK, played my first show in Bryn Mawr, PA on Sat. Tripped around NY for a couple days-always surprised at the intoxicating energy of that city!!
Now I'm in Philly after a show here last nite at The Grape Room, fun times were had. Spent the day exploring Philly and refreshing my American history knowledge, and 2morrow it's off to Harrisburg, PA for the last stop in PA.
It's been in the 80's, and I've been walking a couple miles a day. Hopefully that'll counteract my cheesesteak intake (nice band name). Might try and catch a Phillies game here tonight.
More soon!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Michelle Shocked Western US Tour
So a little background on this tour is that my friend Rich Armstrong is Michelle's trumpet player/percussionist and music director, and I was called in to sub for him (on different instruments of course) for the last leg of her Western US Tour. If you're not familiar with Michelle's music and story, check out her site. I had very little notice, no rehearsals (just some emailed mp3's) and went in not knowing what to expect except the unexpected.
Sat. 3/26 and Sun. 3/27/11
After some delays, ended up rendezvousing with all but one of the band at a gas station at 1am in Richmond early Sun. morn (don't ask), then drove str8 thru to Portland. 11 hrs. of rain ice and snow. Made it in 10 min before Michelle's radio appearance.
Mississippi Studios is without Q the nicest listening room I've played. Not the biggest (was sold out at 225 or so) but killer acoustics and vibe! Met Greg Harris (keys) min. before showtime who flew in from Denver, super chill guy, multi-talented musician, good folks. The 4th player (for the first 2 shows) was Martha Groves Perry, a firecracker of a cello player from Sunnyvale, CA.
After intros by M.S., she steps off stage and I opened each show with the support of the other 2 players with my tunes "My Great Escape", "World Closing In" and "God Fearin' Man" which were always very well rec'd. The fact that Martha had shedded the songs and harmonies beforehand was much appreciated too!
Talk about storytelling and banter, M.S. captures a crowd like no one I've seen, and much like other storytelling songsters, there's at least as much of that as there is music, and the lines between are blurry. While playing a bunch of tunes with no rehearsal (and def. different arrangements than the mp3's I was emailed) was a challenge, the 5 vocal only songs (the Indelible Women portion of the show) mid set are by far out of my comfort zone. Picture Broadway meets Do-Wop meets jazz crooning. But I think I've gotten the hang of it now (haven't been fired yet!). The songs are set to portraits of famous historical women painted by M.S.'s boyfriend, which served as our backdrop on stage for the tour. Crashed at my old from from Oakland Dave who moved up to Portland last year. Next morning I briefly saw the sun on my walk to a cafe to meet up with everyone, then clouds and rain again.
Mon. 3/28/11
Next stop was Jazz Alley in Seattle, which was a very different scene (and of course, more rain and cold). The drive up from Portland was one of a few cramped drives in the Toyota king cab. The ladies sat in back most of the time as it's tough for me at 6'2" and Greg at 6'5" to squeeze in, but we made it work.
Much more like Yoshi's with a sold out dinner crowd, most of the venues had hospitality, usually just sandwiches and drinks, but at Jazz Alley we got hooked up with a fat meal. After the venue told M.S. they take 20% of merch sales, she made an announcement later in the show to the effect of "$20 for CD's at the bar, or I'll meet you at our trailer in the alley and sell them for $15..." So there the fans were in the cold drizzle, in a big line after the show at the door of the trailer. The only light being my mini maglite M.S. found in there to display the CD's. Don't the think the venue was to keen on it, but props to her for sticking to her guns! My pops and step-mom came down for the show, and I ended up staying with them up in Stanwood, WA for a couple nights as we had a day off before Boise-great bonus to spend some time with them.
Weds. 3/30 and Thurs. 3/31/11
So we lost Martha after Seattle, and Greg flew back to Denver for another gig, which left me and M.S. to drive to Boise. Nasty weather through most of WA, but finally cleared as we got into eastern Oregon. Met up with fiddler Neti Vaan in Boise, and crashed at a Motel 6. Next day Greg flew back in, we had our first little rehearsal so far in the room with everyone (mainly for the vocal stuff) and we headed for our soundcheck at The Bouquet (after a Denny's meal-they now hand out add'l menus to each person that have all bacon dishes including, you guessed it:
a bacon and ice cream sundae).
Each of the venues were very different, The Bouquet was a large old saloon from the 1800's with a lot of character. The sound was kind of boomy with all the wood in the place, but we made it work to another packed house. This was also the show at which I switched to primarily playing bass for the rest of the tour, as without a cellist I had to hold down the low end. If the song called for it, I'd grab my strat, which was nice. Got props for bass players who do long gigs, things are heavy!
Probably my least favorite show, but still lots of fun. Each show we get to stretch out a little bit during a ten min. intermission, where we jam instrumentals for the crowd until the next set.
Fri. 4/1/11
After another night at Motel 6 we blasted off for Salt Lake. This was the hardest haul in terms of space in the cab, as we rotated in and out of those tiny backseats for the 6+ hr. drive. My knees are now well acquainted with my chest. But it was less painful than I expected and we stayed in good spirits. Most of the time we're on the road, M.S. is planning some further part of the tour, be it doing radio interviews by patchy cell connection to Australia for her tour there coming up, or giving the sound guy at the next venue our stage plot so that when we arrived late for soundcheck (most times) we'd have less to worry about. Greg and I kept sending shit-talking texts back and forth and tried not to crack up-hilarious.
Salt Lake too the cake as far as venues go. The State Theater was def. the most pro operation I saw. Multiple dressing rooms, amazing sound, a WiFi code on the wall that allowed me to Skype on my phone with Isla. (seeing her def. made me miss her so much more!) and a crowd that was as appreciative as you could ask for. Instead of trying to make the grueling haul 10 hr. drive to Denver through Wyoming the following morning, we took advantage of the amped up energy from such a fun show and opted to drive 3 hrs. after the show to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming called Rock City. We made it in about 5:30am and headed into the now familiar Motel 6 room. For this short night's sleep, M.S. decided to crash in the trailer and the three of us squeezed into one room with the help of an air mattress.
At this point I was invited by M.S. to join her in Madison a couple days later to perform at a big rally on worker's rights which was an exciting proposition. Would've loved to be a part of something that important. However, after the lack of sleep and down time in between before the rally, I opted to head home on Sunday.
Sat. 4/2/11 (My madre's B-day)
After a short but hard nights sleep we headed out for Denver. This time M.S. opted to stay in the trailer as we drove (no thanks). Neti took the first shift, and if you've ever been through Wyoming, you'd know about the crazy winds. Always nice to see signs that read 55mph winds, NO SMALL TRAILERS when you're trying to make check 350 miles away with someone riding/sleeping in a small trailer. After a while, we had to get her out as it was crazy. We stopped at one the many truck stops-that's all there is (does anyone live in that state?) and went back to 4 deep up front.
As we were pulling in to Colorado (sunny and 80 degrees!), I got an email from Southwest air that my flight canceled. The scare of part of the roof of a 737 made them pull 80+ planes for inspection. Luckily I got another flight booked for later in the day. How did people tour without iPhones before? With weather, traffic, directions it's always a key component of travel these days, esp. when you're on the kind of schedule we were on.
Swallow Hill Music Hall was another seated sold out crowd, and I had some family and friends in the audience (Rachael, Lacey, David and his 2 daughters). Greg left before the encore to get to another gig, but not before being part of something super cool I had masterminded in lieu of not being at home to help my mom celebrate her 60th. M.S. frequently calls her boyfriend from stage and has him explain inspiration for the paintings, so I hoped M.S. would agree to help, and she did. She dialed my mom's house, and when she answered, the entire crowd screamed "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATE!" She was elated. M.S. apologized for kidnapping her son, and we played a B-day song that she wrote-good times.
After my goodbye's to Neti and M.S., I caught a ride with Lacey and Rachael over to Greg's show opening for Black Thought of the roots, a slightly different vibe than the tour we'd been on to say the least. Denver seems like a fun city, and the vibe where we were made me wish there were more cool hangs like that back in the Bay. I'll def. be making a trip back to play some solo shows and hang with the music community in Denver.
The final challenge was how to lug 2 bags, a bass, a guitar and an amp on the plane. Thinking some of my stuff could come back to CA in the trailer, which wasn't coming back after all, I ended up having to leave the amp at Greg's as I didn't have any box or case to check it on the plane in. Hopefully I'll get it back before too long. At the airport somehow the weather went from clear skies to a snowstorm after being in the 80's the day before, insane.
So to sum things up the tour was amazing. As always it comes down to the quality of the shows, which were awesome. Being put in front of sold out crowds with my own songs was amazing, and more than that I learned a lot about showmanship from Michelle Shocked, as we all were in awe of her mastery of the audience, night after night.
Thanks so much to her and all the other players/weary travelers for some great times!
Sat. 3/26 and Sun. 3/27/11
After some delays, ended up rendezvousing with all but one of the band at a gas station at 1am in Richmond early Sun. morn (don't ask), then drove str8 thru to Portland. 11 hrs. of rain ice and snow. Made it in 10 min before Michelle's radio appearance.
Mississippi Studios is without Q the nicest listening room I've played. Not the biggest (was sold out at 225 or so) but killer acoustics and vibe! Met Greg Harris (keys) min. before showtime who flew in from Denver, super chill guy, multi-talented musician, good folks. The 4th player (for the first 2 shows) was Martha Groves Perry, a firecracker of a cello player from Sunnyvale, CA.
After intros by M.S., she steps off stage and I opened each show with the support of the other 2 players with my tunes "My Great Escape", "World Closing In" and "God Fearin' Man" which were always very well rec'd. The fact that Martha had shedded the songs and harmonies beforehand was much appreciated too!
Talk about storytelling and banter, M.S. captures a crowd like no one I've seen, and much like other storytelling songsters, there's at least as much of that as there is music, and the lines between are blurry. While playing a bunch of tunes with no rehearsal (and def. different arrangements than the mp3's I was emailed) was a challenge, the 5 vocal only songs (the Indelible Women portion of the show) mid set are by far out of my comfort zone. Picture Broadway meets Do-Wop meets jazz crooning. But I think I've gotten the hang of it now (haven't been fired yet!). The songs are set to portraits of famous historical women painted by M.S.'s boyfriend, which served as our backdrop on stage for the tour. Crashed at my old from from Oakland Dave who moved up to Portland last year. Next morning I briefly saw the sun on my walk to a cafe to meet up with everyone, then clouds and rain again.
Mon. 3/28/11
Next stop was Jazz Alley in Seattle, which was a very different scene (and of course, more rain and cold). The drive up from Portland was one of a few cramped drives in the Toyota king cab. The ladies sat in back most of the time as it's tough for me at 6'2" and Greg at 6'5" to squeeze in, but we made it work.
Much more like Yoshi's with a sold out dinner crowd, most of the venues had hospitality, usually just sandwiches and drinks, but at Jazz Alley we got hooked up with a fat meal. After the venue told M.S. they take 20% of merch sales, she made an announcement later in the show to the effect of "$20 for CD's at the bar, or I'll meet you at our trailer in the alley and sell them for $15..." So there the fans were in the cold drizzle, in a big line after the show at the door of the trailer. The only light being my mini maglite M.S. found in there to display the CD's. Don't the think the venue was to keen on it, but props to her for sticking to her guns! My pops and step-mom came down for the show, and I ended up staying with them up in Stanwood, WA for a couple nights as we had a day off before Boise-great bonus to spend some time with them.
Weds. 3/30 and Thurs. 3/31/11
So we lost Martha after Seattle, and Greg flew back to Denver for another gig, which left me and M.S. to drive to Boise. Nasty weather through most of WA, but finally cleared as we got into eastern Oregon. Met up with fiddler Neti Vaan in Boise, and crashed at a Motel 6. Next day Greg flew back in, we had our first little rehearsal so far in the room with everyone (mainly for the vocal stuff) and we headed for our soundcheck at The Bouquet (after a Denny's meal-they now hand out add'l menus to each person that have all bacon dishes including, you guessed it:
Each of the venues were very different, The Bouquet was a large old saloon from the 1800's with a lot of character. The sound was kind of boomy with all the wood in the place, but we made it work to another packed house. This was also the show at which I switched to primarily playing bass for the rest of the tour, as without a cellist I had to hold down the low end. If the song called for it, I'd grab my strat, which was nice. Got props for bass players who do long gigs, things are heavy!
Probably my least favorite show, but still lots of fun. Each show we get to stretch out a little bit during a ten min. intermission, where we jam instrumentals for the crowd until the next set.
Fri. 4/1/11
After another night at Motel 6 we blasted off for Salt Lake. This was the hardest haul in terms of space in the cab, as we rotated in and out of those tiny backseats for the 6+ hr. drive. My knees are now well acquainted with my chest. But it was less painful than I expected and we stayed in good spirits. Most of the time we're on the road, M.S. is planning some further part of the tour, be it doing radio interviews by patchy cell connection to Australia for her tour there coming up, or giving the sound guy at the next venue our stage plot so that when we arrived late for soundcheck (most times) we'd have less to worry about. Greg and I kept sending shit-talking texts back and forth and tried not to crack up-hilarious.
Salt Lake too the cake as far as venues go. The State Theater was def. the most pro operation I saw. Multiple dressing rooms, amazing sound, a WiFi code on the wall that allowed me to Skype on my phone with Isla. (seeing her def. made me miss her so much more!) and a crowd that was as appreciative as you could ask for. Instead of trying to make the grueling haul 10 hr. drive to Denver through Wyoming the following morning, we took advantage of the amped up energy from such a fun show and opted to drive 3 hrs. after the show to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming called Rock City. We made it in about 5:30am and headed into the now familiar Motel 6 room. For this short night's sleep, M.S. decided to crash in the trailer and the three of us squeezed into one room with the help of an air mattress.
At this point I was invited by M.S. to join her in Madison a couple days later to perform at a big rally on worker's rights which was an exciting proposition. Would've loved to be a part of something that important. However, after the lack of sleep and down time in between before the rally, I opted to head home on Sunday.
Sat. 4/2/11 (My madre's B-day)
After a short but hard nights sleep we headed out for Denver. This time M.S. opted to stay in the trailer as we drove (no thanks). Neti took the first shift, and if you've ever been through Wyoming, you'd know about the crazy winds. Always nice to see signs that read 55mph winds, NO SMALL TRAILERS when you're trying to make check 350 miles away with someone riding/sleeping in a small trailer. After a while, we had to get her out as it was crazy. We stopped at one the many truck stops-that's all there is (does anyone live in that state?) and went back to 4 deep up front.
As we were pulling in to Colorado (sunny and 80 degrees!), I got an email from Southwest air that my flight canceled. The scare of part of the roof of a 737 made them pull 80+ planes for inspection. Luckily I got another flight booked for later in the day. How did people tour without iPhones before? With weather, traffic, directions it's always a key component of travel these days, esp. when you're on the kind of schedule we were on.
Swallow Hill Music Hall was another seated sold out crowd, and I had some family and friends in the audience (Rachael, Lacey, David and his 2 daughters). Greg left before the encore to get to another gig, but not before being part of something super cool I had masterminded in lieu of not being at home to help my mom celebrate her 60th. M.S. frequently calls her boyfriend from stage and has him explain inspiration for the paintings, so I hoped M.S. would agree to help, and she did. She dialed my mom's house, and when she answered, the entire crowd screamed "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATE!" She was elated. M.S. apologized for kidnapping her son, and we played a B-day song that she wrote-good times.
After my goodbye's to Neti and M.S., I caught a ride with Lacey and Rachael over to Greg's show opening for Black Thought of the roots, a slightly different vibe than the tour we'd been on to say the least. Denver seems like a fun city, and the vibe where we were made me wish there were more cool hangs like that back in the Bay. I'll def. be making a trip back to play some solo shows and hang with the music community in Denver.
The final challenge was how to lug 2 bags, a bass, a guitar and an amp on the plane. Thinking some of my stuff could come back to CA in the trailer, which wasn't coming back after all, I ended up having to leave the amp at Greg's as I didn't have any box or case to check it on the plane in. Hopefully I'll get it back before too long. At the airport somehow the weather went from clear skies to a snowstorm after being in the 80's the day before, insane.
So to sum things up the tour was amazing. As always it comes down to the quality of the shows, which were awesome. Being put in front of sold out crowds with my own songs was amazing, and more than that I learned a lot about showmanship from Michelle Shocked, as we all were in awe of her mastery of the audience, night after night.
Thanks so much to her and all the other players/weary travelers for some great times!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Friday, September 10, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Great times in the UK
Thanks sooo much to all of our English friends and fans that made the trip so easy and fun! I'm stoked to have my new album in CD players 5K miles away, and to have been able to perform for everyone in London, Leeds and beyond. The Ward Drobe in Leeds was fun, nice stage (and a backline drum kit when I bring the full band) my only guaranteed paid gig on the trip, it was amazing to be appreciated both as an artist and to make some $$ at the same trip (imagine that?), not to mention a constant flow of drinks bought for us and some pretty tasty food.
The next day I followed my sleuthing on my family ancestry down to a tiny town called Scrooby, where the local historian was kind enough to pick us up at the train station and show us around the tiny town of 329 residents. Dating back as far as 900 A.D., Scrooby was where my great grandfather (to the 12th degree) helped start the Separtist movement from the Church of England, and ultimately was the religious elder on board the Mayflower and in Plymouth. We saw the old church, his home, and several other centuries old landmarks that were amazing.
Then it was of to Edinburgh, Scotland, were we attended a wedding in a small village nearby and I got to rock my first kilt outfit-awesome. Beautiful countryside, warm and welcoming people, loved it!
Hard being away from the baby for ten days, but all worth it! Can't wait to get over and continue touring other stops in Europe!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
UK shows, new album selling over here first
So after a 3 hr. flight delay in SF, I made just in time to play my first venue in London on Sat. 6/26, Lemon Monkey. Made some new fans as well as sold the first few advance copies of my new album, Wrecking Ball at the Concert Hall. Yes that's the title, and I'm releasing it over here first before doing the same in the states in a month or so.
Many thanks to Josephine and Matt for letting us crash for the evening and showing us the true mixology of 69 Colebrook Rd.-amazing!
We then headed South to stay with our family friends, who have treated like royalty for real. Took a day to go down and check out the coastal town of Brighton, which reminded me of a hopping riviera beach town. Full of art and funky shops, def. have to go back. Tonight I just played the 2nd show at a venue which was really 2 venues in one. The Grey Horse is the front bar/stage, and in back is Ram Jam, a sweet little room that holds no more than 100. Had a great time thrown' down some jams there. Seems like a cool and supportive singer/songwriter community in the Kingston area of London. Tomorrow it's off to the north to Leeds, were I'll be the featured artist of the evening at a place called Ward Robe. Lugging a guitar and my merch around is tougher than being here without it, but well worth is so far!!
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