This Week

This week was a bit weird with gigs in the week but none on the weekend (besides Sunday morning for me). Tuesday was Shadowbox Live playing at the Bistro with Shaw Brothers. Great gig, the monthly Tunesday Tuesday thing has only been going for two months so the crowd was not huge. I've been to comedy nights and they have a great crowd it just needs time to build. The audience was so attentive and we sold like 4 cds. Thursday was Franklin Park Conservatory for their Valentine's dinner which was also great. They had like 300 reservations so it was insanely packed. People were just lined up rolling in this place. Normally this thing is like "background music"..at least that's how most musicians play it but not us. We play almost every gig like it's a show so several times through out the night we had an audience crowd around and listen and clap and even take video. It's a great feeling to know people appreciate you and the tips showed it as well. On Friday I played my first solo violin gig in a while at The Capital Club downtown inside the Double Tree hotel. It was super fun and I used a looping pedal out for the first time that a friend let me borrow. I created little symphonies for the people sitting. Been working on different songs I can use for a looping set including Aint No Sunshine When She's Gone, Amazing Grace, Eleanor Rigby, kind of all over the map mixed in with some classical sounding stuff since it was a (rich person's voice here) >>fancy schmancy<< dinner. I love two hour gigs with a break, actually I prefer a little longer..I ended up playing about 20 minutes over. Nice and easy and then I could go do other things. That night I think we ended up going to Barrel 44 to eat and then Brothers Drake for Billy Zehnal's Playhouse which was fun. I walked in and I thought it was a cd playing..which I think is a compliment to a band that plays house *woah...playhouse* and dance type music. Carlos Fisher kills it on drums playing with triggers, loops, and playing keyboard/synth (I think) while playing drums at the same time and never missing a beat. Saturday was Dick's Den for Ooh La La's and Circus of Cool. My lady did really well of course, everyone had great things to say about her performance as always :) Matt Paetsch, Jim Maneri, and Joe Nelson playing some jazz in the breaks and behind spoken word poets. I love when I get to see spoken word poetry even if it is ALL about vaginas....almost all the poets did lady parts poems..I loved watching Michael Cundiff (wearing a giant purple fuzzy jacket on top of a fuzzy leopard shirt) go up to Jim Maneri before he read and said "funny but not TOO funny"..and they improvised it spot on while he did his poem about different kinds of "pussy"...I guess it comes with the territory?? Then Sunday night I decided after church, nap, dinner at moms, to not go home and to venture out. Though I've hung out at Double Happiness and loved it, I had never seen a show there and knew it probably wouldn't be a ton of people I knew there (unlike Hoodoo my normal Sunday spot if I go out). Plus, hanging at a bar by yourself is always kind awkward but fuck it. I saw the Facebook event and saw it was a BenCo show so I assumed there'd be a decent crowd and it was DoneWaiting's 10th anniversary (apparently they're going to print only?) so it was packed. Time and Temperature was first and she was just great. I have a cd of hers but hearing her live is way better in my opinion. She actually had a backing band (which I've heard is really rare for her) including Sharon (aka Counterfeit Madison) of Trains Across The Sea/Apes fame. She is soo nice and a wonderful musician. Val also had upright bass, drums, and violin backing and no one got in the way of her great finger-picking-soft-indie-folk. The Connections were next and to be honest I didn't really care too much for them. I have a feeling they are inspired by bands like The Ramones. They weren't a bad band just not my cup of tea, and I hate to sound like an old man but they were simply too loud for that room. Everybody plays the same rhythm, nothing fancy, no solos (I don't recall), it's definitely raw, but every once in a while I need a little guitar flourish or riff to keep me going. Again, not my cup of tea doesn't mean I think they aren't good. Next was Sinkane whom I've heard about through various sources. He was in Columbus and moved to Brooklyn and it seems his career has taken off. The first song was a pseudo reggae/dub groove that just made the room pulse. Mostly instrumental for the first song the bass just grooved hard over guitar (with heavy reverb and or delay), drums, and keyboard. It was loud but loud where it filled the room not pierced your ears. There were a couple songs I saw that were in odd meter, one in 6 and one in 7 I believe. Very rhythmic, groove oriented stuff with harmonies over top gets me every time. I'd say these guys fit in with a lot that's going on right now with the retro thing popular (I guess it always is yeah..just depends on the decade) Black Keys, Gary Clark Junior, but with a twist of Fela Kuti mixed in. That's what I got from the short time I was there. I really dug what they were doing.  Really trying to go out and see music these days it's good inspiration especially with all the great bands we have in town. Fun week.

Be The Proof (new song)

I can be an over-analyzer I admit it but being a musician you kind of have to be some times. I think a lot about the career I have chosen because it's hard to find your way sometimes. It's also one of those jobs where for me I am alone a lot. I rehearse with people, I gig with others, I hang out in bars/venues, but when those things aren't happening it's a lot of alone time. Practice alone, work on booking alone, write alone (if not co-writing of course), etc. so it leaves time for thinking. If you don't choose some kind of path in music you can really get lost and I see this with a lot of people I know. You can really get into a pattern of playing lots of gigs to make money but then five years down the road you realize you are chasing the dollar and not a dream anymore. Connecting a bunch of "gigs" just to pay the bills is not what I want. I want to make an impact on people with my original music and find people I truly connect with. Long story short this new song is about that very thing and just the struggle with it.

I really enjoy the groove to this song which is inspired by Sam Cooke and classic soul and gospel. The lyrics so far (not all represented in this clip) are:

I want to be the proof

I want you to see the truth

I don't want to fake it I just want to make it on my own

Aint asking for much these days

I just need a little bitty raise

Just a little bit longer if I can only keep my head up

I want to be the proof that you can make a living doing something you actually like. I want people to see the true me, and I don't want to fake it by playing other people's songs or be this fake person in a cover band that I hate. The next verse is kinda self explanatory I'd say. 2013 is about getting to that next level for me. Please let me know what you think of the song. 

A Little About My Last Couple Weeks (posting late)

I wrote this post in December but realized today I never published it so here goes:

So this blog started out as me talking about my playing experiences around town. It morphed into talking about my new project and going from writing to recording. Well, I wanted to make kind of a side bar back to the first intention of the blog. I have lots of experiences with different musicians and still want to talk about those from time to time so here goes.

Shaw Brothers and Andy Shaw Band my two main gigging projects have been playing as always but not as much for the past month or so. This has allowed me to stretch out a little bit and play with some other projects. Phillip Fox Band has me sit in once in a while and I even recorded some fiddle on their latest ep which sounds great by the way. These guys invited me to do a video shoot at the Lazy Chameleon about a week ago which was fun. All the music was going through the board and being recorded and there was a live video crew there lead by Nathan William who did The Columbus Songwriter Sessions promos in 2010. It was a live show setting so the guys invited some friends to come out and be the audience...overall a great time. I love working with these guys because they are super professional and they work really hard. I like working with these kinds of people because often they have a pretty precise vision and they work toward that final goal. There is no "well...let's figure it out" "if all else fails.." or "umm....what?" It's just really fun to see the progression PFB in particular has made in such a short time. (Update: here is that live video)

I played Wexner Center with Mike Wojniak opening up for Patrick Watson. (Check this video out...amazing live show!)

 Patrick is a Canadian songwriter I had never heard of before and I am ashamed to say that after seeing him perform. The video is just what the show was like at Wexner, really cool use of projectors. Mike is a great songwriter whom I met during our South By Southwest trip two years ago and he was gracious enough to A: have me on his album B: let me play with him live even though I've said no a few other times due to ASB or SB gigs or something C: let me play with just one rehearsal! The show went really well and if you have not been to the Wexner Center Black Box performance space please check out a show. Everything I have seen at Wexner (which I admit is not a lot) has been amazing! (Update: I just found this video online someone took of the Wexner show..nice! Unfortunately it cuts off in the end but oh well.)
This Saturday I am guest spotting on violin at the McConnell Arts Center in Worthington with Jared Mahone. He does a show every year I believe which is more acoustic than his normal full band shows and I believe it's holiday themed...somewhat. He really brings the funk but the two songs we are playing are more chill folky/pop arrangements. One is an original and one is Away In The Manger. Jared has worked up a really cool version of this song and I'm excited to play with him finally at a show. Jared performed at The Columbus Songwriter Sessions just a few weeks ago at Shadowbox.

Speaking of the Songwriter Sessions...well it happened. Phillip Fox, Andy Shaw (brosef), and I came up with this event a few years ago to spotlight some local talent. We wanted an environment that was listening, classy, and that people could really HEAR the music. So this year was a great great night full of amazing performers. It had been 2 years really since we had done the last one so we hoped people would get the word about it. Good news is, everyone that WAS there had a great time and next time we do it it will be even better. Aaron Tasjan stole the night just killing an acoustic set. I am a huge fan of his and have been for a while and the audience was just blown away you could tell by the reaction. RJ Cowdery and Jared Mahone killed it as well. It looks like we may be sticking around Shadowbox for this event too and more CSS concerts coming soon so look out for that.

I just finished up my fiddle group for this session at Wellington School today. I teach 5th-8th graders fiddle tunes by ear and we have a little concert for the parents afterward. The kids were great this session and I can't wait to get back in for another session. We even learned "Move It On Over" by Hank Williams and I had the kids shout out the refrain. I love seeing the kids have some fun with music. Often times at least in my experience you are encouraged to read off the page and get all the notes but the "fun" part is for some reason not encouraged. Music should be fun....period.

That's about it for now, leave some comments let me know what's up!

First Session Complete

The first studio session for my new album has been completed! Whoo, a huge accomplishment as I have been working on these tunes for what seems like forever. Jeff Bass and Justin Campbell did a great job helping me out I wish I got more pictures in general. Good thing Julie Schatz and TJ Hansen of GingerAttack Productions were on board to get some video footage. We tracked 6 songs at 3 Elliot Studios with Josh Antonuccio working the knobs. Everything was recorded to tape and the drums especially just sounded amazing. Justin broke two...count 'em TWO sticks during recording. Not sure how he does it, but that man hits those drums hard...so I get it. He sounded awesome and I'm really excited about this stuff coming together. Stay tuned for more! 

Lots Goin' On....and of course I have been horrible about posting

So isn't this how blogs work? You're too busy doing stuff to actually write about it..then when ya have time it's like, oh yeah by the way this happened. Life is what happens when you're busy making plans, eh?

Well, the songs are certainly coming along and have come along way since the last time I posted. I have tons of recorded versions from rehearsals with Jeff Bass (on bass) and Justin Campbell (on drums) but SoundCloud is being a bitch so I'm not sure where to post them, any ideas? Apparently you are only allowed a certain amount of minutes before you have to start paying monthly, ugh..story of every awesome internet thing that figures out they should probably start making money on their thing that used to be free..oh well, can't blame 'em I guess. November 25th we hop into the studio in Athens with Josh Antonuccio and I'm pumped! Josh came by the rehearsal space we've been practicing in and listened to the tunes, it was fun playing them for him. Besides the barrage of people that come in and out of the studio from time to time we have not played these songs for really any audience so it's nice to have some feedback. Set list for upcoming session includdes:

Crazy
Ones We Hate (title to be changed ASAP as it sounds like a death metal opus or something)
Just Maybe
People In The Streets
New Home
Don't Waste Your Time

I'd like to talk a little bit about each song too so here goes.
Crazy - This is a song about working with people that just drive you crazy. Bad communicators and just people that don't do business right...they set themselves up for failure. I never really write a lot of hateful tunes (ones we hate, is not a hateful song by the way, ha) but I guess I needed somewhere for this frustration so it's wrapped up in this funky groove. I think it's a little bit interesting structure wise, I hope people like it it's been sounding great in rehearsal though at first I was not sure if I wanted to record it at all.
Ones We Hate (working title) - I forget if it was Justin or Jeff that told me this song reminds them of "It Ain't Over Til It's Over" that Lenny Kravitz song, hey I'm ok with that. This is a super simple groove that I gotta give Jimmy Castoe some credit for helping out with. He played this really easy sixteenth note groove to the song and it really worked out well. I was imagining it a little bit different but I stuck with that beat cuz I thought it really complimented the music well.
Just Maybe - The ever popular break up song..this one was when I was listening to Adele like non-stop and was trying to write a melody like her. The groove was inspired by oddly enough Dr. Dre 2001 (check out the track Still D.R.E.) at least that's how I imagine it.
People In The Streets - I think a lot about people and what leads them to a certain point. I try to understand them rather than say oh they're just a waste of space or something. When people are asking me for change, I wonder if they really really need it, and why do they need it? I also was inspired by watching Intervention and just the horrible situations people get into and why they get into them. Bad family situations, abuse, boredom, and then what they do to each other and how those things can tear families apart. I still can hear a rap in this song, it's already pretty rhythmic they way I sing it but I'd love to maybe do a remix with an actual m.c. on it, we'll see...
New Home - Another Adele inspired break up song..this song is slowed down even slower than I originally planned and I think it sounds great. I'm going for an old school almost Motown soul type feel. The end really brings it home and will have multiple vocals over top of each other laid over a soulful 6/8 groove.
Don't Waste Your Time - Ok, ok, so I have been obsessed with Raphael Saadiq for like..ever now. This is my attempt at capturing some of that magic when I hear his tracks. I like the simple bridge that just says "Sometimes runnin' away aint no thing" and then I use the guitar to harmonize with the vocals, The chorus is going to be three part harmony stabs of "Don't waste your time", a simple song with a nice groove I'm really excited about maybe adding some horns to this one or even strings?

That's it for now I'll try to post some audio soon.

Two New Tracks

Here are two more tracks from practice sessions for my upcoming album release. We will have a pre-production session with Josh Antonuccio from Three Elliot Studios here in the next couple weeks. It looks like the recording (originally scheduled Otober 7th) is going to have to be pushed back which will give us some more time to flesh these songs out and get some well deserved pre-production. All good things, songs are coming along. Please let me know what you think!

Lots of News!

So I apologize for not posting for a bit. A lot has happened since last post. For one I have decided to record in Athens, Ohio with Josh Antonuccio out of Three Elliot Studios. Funny quick story about this place. I was at a Halloween party in Athens and if you have ever been to Athens during Halloween you know what that entails. Drunk, drunk, drunk...pretty much sums it up. Our good friends from Columbus MoJoFlo were playing at this party and it was raging. The show was great, G. Finesse also played in the backyard of this house in front of what I thought was an unassuming garage. The house inside was just trashed of course and when I went to use the bathroom I thought it was a bit odd. The bathroom was an outside door like attached to the back of the house. The walls were covered in record albums and I just thought, "cool". So flash forward to like two years later I am recording with Joey Hebdo down in Athens. I take a break to go to the bathroom from Three Elliot Studios and I'm in the bathroom...attached to the outside of this house..and the studio looks like a garage outside of this campus house...wait a minute! Have you ever been standing (well, guys) taking a pee thinking...I feel like I've been in this bathroom before but when!? Ok so kind of a long story, anyway after recording with Joey I talked to him about his process and ideas on this recording. I had been working on these tunes for so long, well this blog lays out some of the time but even before the blog and I was like I'm gonna just throw caution to the wind and work with this guy. I only met Josh briefly recording with Joey but I liked the idea of getting away for the album to a place outside of CBus and outside of my comfort zone. I also had heard great things about Josh who has worked with some amazing artists.

So October 7th is the recording date to lay basic tracks for my (as of now EP). Originally I was thinking I would lay the songs down and then bring in other artists to fill the stuff in but Josh recommended getting players, at least a core rhythm section, to lay the foundation. I have been playing with a bunch of people with this music and I think I finally found the right guys. Justin Campbell on drums and Jeff Bass (like the fish...unfortunately for him..though sometimes he goes with the obvious pronunciation) on bass.

I'll post some tracks we've recorded (just basic) on the Mac and see what you think. I'm having a blast trying out some different grooves on these songs I've been demoing out myself for so long. It's nice to give them to people and give them a basic guideline and see where they go with it. If I don't like what they do I can always refer them to the demos. Ok, audio posted soon.