I played another open mike last night at the same place I played last week. I was thinking of going over to the East Village for another one, but stayed close to home since I wasn't feeling overly stellar. I only got to play one song because time was running short. Hopefully I'll get a better number next week.
I went to Brooklyn tonight to check out a few shows at Pete's Candy Store, Bar Matchless, Union Pool, and Spike Hill. Although all of these places provided some wonderful experiences, I must say that the highlights occurred at Union Pool. Not only did I witness an outstanding performance by PRONTO, I was also able to snack on the tastiness of the El Diablo Taco Truck. But now I'm home, damp from the rain, and tired. So to sleep I go...
I played my first New York City open mike last night. There's a place in my neighborhood called Cafe Vivaldi that has one every Monday night. People show up around 6:30 and pick numbers out of a hat to find out the order in which they are going to perform. I picked number 19. Since I was hungry, I went to get something to eat and then returned around 8:15. The place is small, but very intimate. Each performer gets two songs. Although the process was new to me, it made sense. Due to the number of artists, it would be impossible to let anyone play for longer than two songs. I watched about 9-10 people play before I went they called my name around 9:45 or so. I played a song off the album plus a new one that I finished last week. I thought the execution was good; I've really got to slow things down a little between songs though. I guess I'm so excited to get to the next song that I forget about my audience sometimes. So, I'll work on it. But above all, it was nice to be onstage again after a month of moving.
I went to two shows Thursday night. First, I saw that Josh Rouse was playing at Joe's Pub. I learned about Josh's music just last year through my friend John Whitaker. I missed the opener because I was having one of those exhilarating monthly budget discussions over drinks with Brooke (the company was wonderful as usual; the topic was not - although I've learned that alcohol helps). Anyway, I arrived around 7:35 and found a place to stand near the bar. Josh came on stage around 7:45 and played for about an hour. He's an outstanding songwriter. I would really like to see him again sometime. And Joe's Pub is a great venue. It's part of the Public Theatre complex on Lafayette Street. Most of the main floor is taken up by tables where one can order dinner before the show begins. There is also a stylish bar at the back of the hall with a few more tables nearby. The whole place looks and sounds fabulous.
After the show at Joe's, I walked over to a club near Washington Square called Sullivan Hall. It's a medium sized venue that would probably hold about 350 people. Unlike the smaller venues that I visited on Tuesday (all of which had a separate bar area), Sullivan Hall is simply one big room with a bar along the left-hand side. I had a beer as I watched the opener, a funk band from Brooklyn called The Pimps of Joytime. The percussion section was especially tight, as were the bass playing and the intermittent guitar solos. They also incorporated some samples from a laptop in a few of their songs. The headliner was a band from New Orleans called Dumpstaphunk, led by Ivan Neville of the Neville Brothers. I stood near the right side of the stage and watched the main bass player for a couple songs (there are actually two bass players; one alternates between bass and guitar). Then I moved to the rear of the bass rig to watch the drummer. Most of the time, when I go to shows, I spend the majority of my time watching the drummer. And it's unbelievably exciting when I see a drummer as amazing as Raymond Weber. The man is simply in charge. The whole band is outstanding though. They were extra special super funky.
All in all, it was great night of music...
I've been going to some shows at different clubs here in Manhattan in order to get a sense of what venues will be best for my type of music. There are lots of places to see live music in and near our neighborhood. I went to six different clubs this past Tuesday. For all of you who already live in New York, I'm sure you're most likely familiar with most of these places. But I'll go through my experience at each one for anyone not overly acquainted with the New York music scene (and I suppose that includes myself too).
The first club I visited was the Rockwood Music Hall on Allen Street. It's a relatively small place with room for about 50-60 people. Whereas the stage is in the back right corner, the sound booth is perched precariously above the front door, requiring the soundman to climb a ladder to access it. It was extremely crowded when I was there, so I stayed for about 30 minutes. Altogether, it was a seemingly nice place to watch a performance (if you can find a place to stand).
Next, I walked around the corner to Ludlow Street to a club called the Living Room. Earlier this month, I sold a LS-2 Line Selector Pedal on craig's list to a guy who turned out to the sound guy there, so I figured I would go check it out. I knew that this place caters to acoustic acts, so I thought it could be a good fit for what I've been doing lately. The front of the club has a bar that leads into the back where the performance space is located. Tables take up most of the back area, with a small bar to the left and the sound booth elevated and to the right. I found a table near the center of the room for the 9pm show of Dana Falconberry from Austin, Texas. I really enjoyed her songs and how they were arranged by her band.
Next, I walked next door to the two venues that flank the Living Room on either side. One door north is Pianos, a rock club with a small performance space in the back and a larger bar area out front. It seemed like a solid place, but unfortunately I missed the last band by about 30 minutes. Therefore, I went two doors south to Cake Shop, another rock club. There's a bar in the front and a used record store in the back. The club is actually down a staircase through a door on the left. The last band of the night was just finishing their set when I walked in, so I guess my timing was off at this point in the evening.
After leaving Cake-Shop, I walked around the corner to Arlene's Grocery on Stanton Street. Much like the three venues I had just visited, Arlene's Grocery has a sizeable bar area as one first enters the club, then a separate entrance for the performance space. The doorman said there was a cover I would pay inside at the entrance to the club. However, no one inside asked me for any money, so I walked in a grabbed a beer at the bar. Maybe no one was taking a cover because there were approximately seven people there. I watched 3 songs from the last band and decided that I wasn't really enjoying the music; so I finished my beer and left.
I walked up to Houston Street and turned left across Allen to get to the last venue of the evening, the National Underground. This club is owned by Gavin Degraw and his brother Joey. There are two stages here, one upstairs and one down. I watched the end of a set by a guy named John Foti and then walked upstairs to catch a little jazz by a band whose name I was unable to ascertain. At this point, both my ears and my body were tired. So I went home. It was definitely great to visit all these places. Even though I felt a stronger connection to some places over others, it was assuring to search for and discover places where I want to perform. I'll write more soon with an update...
we're finally here and have moved into our new apartment. after finding out about our visa issues in prague, we've spent several months looking forward to being somewhere we can call our own again. and, aside from all the details and short-term goals associated with moving to a new city, i'm very thankful and excited to be in this environment. i'm going to start performing as much as possible, meet other musicians, and continue working on all the ideas that i created in prague in preparation for a new album. how amazing it is to be part of all this. thus begins a new chapter i suppose...
i played a show at summit coffee in davidson, north carolina last saturday night. it was the first show that i had played in the united states in more than two years. although most of the songs i performed were off the album, i also played a few new ones and a couple cif tunes as well. overall, i thought it went well. it feels good to have played my music again for some people who like listening to it. thanks everyone for coming to the show.
we're moving to new york city next month. brooke will be attending NYU to work toward her master's in cinema studies. and i will be tagging along because, well, i like her. and new york seems like a good place to live. and i suspect that it will be exciting, yet humbling, to be part of it, if only for a fraction of its existence.
i set up my studio for the summer in the attic of our house here in louisville. here's what it looks like at the moment. it's obviously nothing special, but it's getting the job done. and as you can see, i have speakers now, so i can finally listen without headphones to all the ideas i created in prague. anyway, it's nice to have a space to work again.
hi everyone. we're having some problems with the images, movies, and sounds on the site. we're working as fast as possible to fix everything, but just know that many of the archived links may not work at the moment. thanks for your patience.
have a nice day.
after about two weeks of driving over the rocky mountains and the great plains, the last part of our trip just took us through chicago. we found a cheap place to stay in evanston called the margarita inn that used to be a boarding house for 'young professional women.' after watching a cubs game, we made our way back to evanston and found a place called bill's blues. there were two shows - the first act was the prohibiton orchestra (playing big band songs from the 1920s and 30s). and the second act was pistol pete (adeptly playing the guitar with his teeth, behind his back, and between his legs).
now we're back in louisville. it was definitely the best road trip yet. in addition to the handful of musical encounters, it was wonderful to see so many different parts of america again after being gone for so long. it's a beautiful country. and it's nice to be back...
after leaving berkeley, we drove north, eventually arriving in portland, oregon. we decided to stay at the jupiter hotel that sits adjacent to the doug fir lounge. the club was having a free show of three local bands (demain, pale blue stars, and the redeemers). what a great sounding club. i'm really looking forward to attending another show there, staying at the jupiter, and exploring portland more thoroughly. a few days later, we attended a crab, seafood, and wine festival in astoria, oregon. there was a great folk band playing called brownsmead flats. the best description i can muster is that they reminded me a little of the folksmen from a mighty wind. there's a puppy in the parlor and a skillet on the stove and a smelly old blanket that a navajo wove. you know, stuff like that. after heading north to vancouver, we passed through the cascade mountains on our way to ketchum, idaho. on the sunday we were in town, we walked with brooke's sister kate to a small pub named grumpy's that was celebrating its 30th anniversary with a lot of beer and some music by a group named the damphools.
hi again. we're a few more days into the trip and have encountered a few more musical adventures. we were too busy to get to a show in los angeles, but my friend victor and i were able to play some new ideas for each other, something we hadn't done for a long time. victor and i were in numerous bands together back in louisville, most of which would perform unusually complex songs with 15-20 different parts that would normally last about 8-10 minutes apiece. we listened to a lot of slint and big black back then, amongst others. and the music that victor shared with me when we were growing up in louisville was very influential in shaping my early musical tastes. anyway, it was great to talk with vic about new ideas and what we were both trying to accomplish in our lives. and overall, we had a outstanding time in los angeles
after leaving l.a., we drove north to visit our friends howie and kate in berkeley. howie and i were also in band together when we both lived in north carolina. amazingly, he had recently acquired a number of free instruments from various neighbors who were moving away. the gratis items included a vintage gibson electric guitar, an amplifier, and a six-piece drum kit. aside from the already awesome nature of howie and kate's abode, it was exciting to see so many different instruments sitting around, ready to be played. and selfishly, it was really nice to be able to hang out in one room and be able to play a mandolin, a banjo, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and a drum kit again. on saturday, howie and i had time before dinner to play a couple songs together with me on the vintage gibson and him on drums. later that night after some apples to apples, howie and i stayed up and traded songs until about 2 or so. again, it was wonderful to play some songs with an old friend with such incredible knowledge and appreciation of music. between our time berkeley and los angeles, it was a tremendously inspiring week.
okay. we're one week into the trip and have already witnessed some great music. the past few days have been filled with so many little incredible things (too much to type here), so i'll just concentrate on the musical aspects.
on saturday, we stopped in clarksdale, mississippi - birthplace to some of the greatest blues musicians of all time - sam cooke, muddy waters, john lee hooker, ike turner, just to name a few. after dinner at abe's bbq, we drove to the ground zero blues club and listened to big T and the family band for a couple hours whilst drinking miller high life. ah, miller high life – i've missed you so.
on monday, we arrived in austin, texas. we noticed that antone's was hosting "super funk monday" with a band called flyjack. the club, founded by the late great clifford antone, sounds amazing. in regard to flyjack, the rhythm section was outstanding, the guitarist and keyboardist were very tasteful, and the horn section was extremely tight. with great songwriting as well. all in all, it was an extremely entertaining evening of music.
on wednesday, we drove to an old spanish village called mesilla just outside las cruces, new mexico. after some mexican food, we walked over to el patio cantina to hear some jazz from the border jazz quintet. smooth, smooth jazz. anyway, while we were drinking at the bar, we met a guy named justin who kept warning us against going to mexico because the police had just gone on strike. then, as we were about to leave, he told us that we absolutely positively had to go to mexico.
on thursday, we stopped in bisbee, arizona. we decided to stay at the shady dell rv park that rents old 1950s trailers to people passing through town. after walking around town for a while, we noticed that a local bar called the stock exchange saloon was having a jam for local artists. as we sipped on a couple beers and watched the sound man set up the stage, musician after musician came through the door. everyone seemed to know each other and seemed really excited to play some music together. it was really refreshing to see such camaraderie.
tonight, we'll be in los angeles to visit my friend victor. but i've heard it's not really an entertainment type of town, so i'm not sure we'll be able to find any good music. maybe we'll get lucky...
so far i've played two open mics.
the first one was in fort lauderdale at a place called cheers. sadly, sam and diane were not there to serve drinks, but the host, gary gore, was extremely accommodating, especially when he let me use his backup guitar when mine decided not to work. it was the first stage i'd been on for a while, so that was different. i played a couple songs a bit too fast though. i guess i got a little excited. but all in all, i thought it went pretty well.
the second open mic was in louisville, kentucky. it took place at a bar on bardstown road called the highland taproom. the hosts for the evening were a local band called the fuckmonkeys. that's right. they were hilarious and awesome and really nice guys too. i played about six songs around the end of the night, then sat down to listen to some blues from the last evening's last performer. overall, i thought it went better than fort lauderdale. i felt a bit more relaxed, probably because i was.
anyway, i'm really looking forward to playing more of these things. it's great to hang around with, talk, and listen to other musicians. and it's challenging to adapt to the different environments of each performance. i hope a lot more opportunities show up along the way during this road trip we're going to start in a few days.
we're moving back soon. we've lived in the czech republic for 15 amazing months now. a new treaty went into effect a few days ago that says we have to leave before the end of march. there are more details, but i don't feel like typing out a long explanation on international immigration.
lately, i've been feeling the need to settle down. and that probably sounds very resigned to some of you. it's good to try new things and see how wide and varied the world is. but i'm beginning to understand how truth can also be found by watching the world change around you.
regardless, i'm looking forward to it. despite its shortcomings, the united states is still an awesome place with great people. and i can't wait to live there again. even if we're not sure where we'll go, a new adventure has certainly arrived. so see you soon, america. happy new year...
i turned 30 yesterday.
this morning, i woke up with an enormous pain in my back.
welcome to your thirties, old man!
