DEMONSTRATIONS

I finished a fresh set of demos for the upcoming acoustic project this past week. For some reason, it feels a little awkward to be starting a new project when I haven't even released the current one - but it shouldn't. This is how things get done, right?

RAW MATERIALS

Just a bit of promotion here...

I'm going into the studio tomorrow to start recording a new collection of acoustic songs that I hope to release later this year. And since I'm planning to use my new classical guitar on most of the tracks, I needed to stock up on strings, picks, and so forth. So I went to Matt Umanov Guitars over on Bleecker Street. Visiting an instrument store always brings me a lot of happiness, as I assume it does most musicians. And all the employess at Matt Umanov are attentive, knowledgeable, and kind, always willing to help. So I've listed the website below in case you're ever if the neighborhood. It's important to me to support my local music store because, as Jim Osman, friend of the sculptor Lawrence Fane, stated so eloquently, "You need raw materials to have hope."

MATT UMANOV GUITARS

THE TRIP NORTH

Ok then. I haven't been able to sit down and write a post about the drive up the coast until now because we've so busy getting from one place to another. We're back in New York surrounded by a few inches of snow. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the trip that I hope you'll enjoy...

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VINYL ADVENTURE

I'm in Florida at the moment for a friend's wedding, after which I'll be driving back up the east coast to transport a large collection of old vinyl records that were bequeathed unto me more than a year ago. I've included some selected images at the bottom of this post.

I didn't want to mail them to New York because I thought they might be damaged in transit - therefore, this seemed like a good time to make the trip. I'm going to take some pictures and such over the scope of the journey and post them here, which I hope will turn out to be at least somewhat interesting (especially the 'such'). Furthermore, I also recently received another collection of vinyl from my great aunt Lois, which I will most certainly document at the earliest possible opportunity.

Above all, I simply want to treat these collections with respect - these items were purchased and cared for over the years by people who enjoyed listening to this music - and I look forward to enjoying and learning from it in order to evolve further as a musician...

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EVEN MORE PRAGUE DEMOS

Here are three more ideas I recorded in Prague during 2007. None of them ever turned into into anything more than what they originally were, however. Sometimes it's strange to look back on ideas such as these, wondering what it would have taken for me to follow through on them, to make them better. Apparently I wasn't in a state of mind where I felt like putting the time and energy into improving them into full-fledged compositions. Some songwriters say that their songs are their 'children' and that each one is special. I suppose that's true - but if I had keep track of 30 new offspring each year, I'm pretty sure I'd be unable to give each one the attention he/she deserved. And it's safe to say that my wife would be fairly upset...

NEW SONG #2 - LIVE @ GOODBYE BLUE MONDAY (1.30.10)

Here's a second video of another new song I played at Goodbye Blue Monday in Brooklyn this past Saturday. I played this song live for the first time at Grudge Match earlier this month. I'm really looking forward to recording this one, plus all the others I have in mind for this new acoustic project. After a few years of recording rock songs, it should be pleasant to pursue something more lo-fi for a while.

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!

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