ASSEMBLY

My friend Scott invited me to play an assembly at the K-8 school he teaches at in Virginia last week. I played acoustic versions of the songs on By The Numbers, after each of which Scott would cue the studio version for the kids to listen to and compare.

But my favorite part by far was the Q&A session at the end. Here's a transcript of some of the questions the kids asked, along with my answers...

Harry: "Have you ever been on the radio?"
Me: "Yes."

Scott: "What was the first instrument you ever played in a band?"
Me: "Bass guitar."
Scott: "What type of band was it?"
Me: "A punk rock band."

Spencer: "What type of guitar did you use on your CD?"
Me: "A telecaster."
Spencer: "Amen!"

Andrew: "Are your songs on iTunes?"
Me: "Yes."

4th Grade Boy: "How many albums have you sold?"
Me: "Not enough."

3rd Grade Girl: "Are you famous?"
Me: "No."

MIX MASTER D

For my birthday last month, my amazing wife procured two tickets to a cocktail mixing class at Astor Wines on Lafayette Street. Well, the class was last night. After learning a good deal behind the history of cocktails and mixology, we then split up into teams to concoct our own signature drinks centered around a main alcoholic ingredient (my group was assigned gin). We experimented with several different variations before settling on the following recipe (which my teammates coined 'Winter Blood'):

2 oz. Gin

2 oz. Apple Cider

1/2 oz. Grand Marnier

4 dashes Fee Bros. Old Fashioned Bitters

2 whole cloves

2 whole sage leaves

1 pinch of apple pie spice

The juice of 1 blood orange wedge

Directions: Add all ingredients to a Boston shaker with ice and shake very well. Strain into a champagne coupe glass. Garnish with a blood orange wedge on rim of glass.

Here's a picture of it as well.

I thought it was fairly tasty, something I might drink on or around Halloween perhaps, even though that wouldn't technically be winter. In any case, many thanks to Brooke for this lovely lecture on luscious libations!

cocktail_class.jpg

SUMMIT COFFEE

A few years ago, my friend Tim Helfrich opened a place named Summit Coffee specializing in organic, shade-grown, fairly-traded coffee. Since then, he's expanded its operation to include live music almost every night of the week, an outstanding selection of beer and wine, plus a staff that ranks among the friendliest and most gracious individuals I've ever met. If you ever find yourself in Davidson, North Carolina and in need of an amazing cup of caffeine, please pay them a visit.

SUMMIT COFFEE

MORE PRAGUE DEMOS

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently - January has been quite the beast so far. Here are three more demos I created in Prague that I would like to share with you. These ideas are part of a continuing series I'm releasing to provide a better idea of the types of things I was creating in Prague during the lead-up to By The Numbers. If you have any questions about them feel free to email me.

A FRIEND OF MINE

I'd like to tell you a little about my friend Dominic Guarnaschelli. We went to high school together in Louisville, KY, where he now lives in a wonderfully quaint house a couple miles from downtown. He's a brilliant artist, working not only in photography, but also sculpture, drawing, video art installations and more. And he's quite the accomplished chef as well!

You can learn more about him and his work through the link to his website below.

GUARNASCHELLI STUDIO

MASTERING

I went to Masterdisk up on 45th Street earlier this week to finish mastering the new EP. Next week I'm going to send all the music off the manufacturer. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), it's always a pleasant feeling to be finished with a project such as this, to be able to listen to something that you've imagined in your head for many months, to let it go and move onto something new. And now all I need to do is take the necessary steps to share it with you. So back to work on that I go.

OLD DEMO

I was listening to this demo yesterday and felt like posting it. It's from the collection of ideas I composed in Prague that were the basis for the new EP. It reminds me a little of the Gershon Kingsley song "Popcorn" that my parents used to play on their old phonograph player. Anyway, I wrote several short electronic compositions like this during my time in Prague and wanted to share one with you. So here it is...

GRUDGE MATCH

I'm playing a special show next Wednesday called Grudge Match. It's a monthly series put together by the fabulous Joe Yoga - it features three musicians versus three comedians in alternating sets. It's held downstairs at the venerable Lucky Cheng's on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Here's a video that will give you some more information...

promo video for Grudge Match - Music vs. Comedy to the death! directed by Joe Yoga wed oct 21 @ Lucky Cheng's Basement www.amusecollective.com for more info