I distracted myself from the funereal feelings by rehearsing. Good thing Bart was there. We actually came up with some really excellent arrangements, as well as working out the spots where we could trade solos, which would lengthen each piece a lot and would be perfect for the jazz club venue we were headed to. […]
(Reminder! Chat live tonight Nov 10th! Daron & me from 8-9pm Eastern here on the site, then 9-10pm livestreaming video with me taking your questions, reading, etc! -ctan) I woke up in the morning groggy as hell and confused about where I was for a second, especially about why I appeared to be squished between […]
When we landed in Baltimore Carynne had a bunch of pages to answer so she went to a pay phone while I waited for our bags to come around on the luggage carousel. When she came back she said, “Bart’s here.” “Here?” I looked around. “In Baltimore, I mean. Came in on the train. I […]
Our flight the next day wasn’t that early, but it felt early since we had to be at the airport by nine to return the rental car and whatnot. I hadn’t slept much but I figured I could sleep on the plane. At the newsstand near the gate, I bought the issue of Musician one […]
We hit Haight Street, I ate a muffin, and then we drove to the radio station, where it turned out I was doing two separate segments, one live during drive time and one being taped for use later on a weekend show that was syndicated nationally. Cool. During the live segment I played “Awash” and […]
PART SEVENTEEN: May 1991 Unlike the Costa Mesa amphitheater, Shoreline is huge. Seats close to twenty thousand. I overheard some venue people talking before soundcheck that they hadn’t been expecting a sellout the way initial ticket sales had gone, but that eventually it had picked up and they expected the last few would be gone […]
My California geography sucks, mostly because I get a lot of the names which are very similar mixed up, but also because some of the dense parts take a long time to cross and some of the empty parts take very little time to cross. Therefore how far apart things are is skewed in my […]
Soundcheck went all right. Everyone seemed mellow, and pacing themselves for three days in a row. We didn’t need to overdo it and after six weeks on the road it wasn’t like anyone needed to learn anything new. After we were done and the other bands were doing their checks, it felt to me like […]
(Welcome to September! We’re back on our Tuesday/Thursday posting schedule! And don’t forget the deadline for the meme contest —click for details— is September 9th! -ctan) — So the thing about live music is that it’s live. It’s not always predictable. And shit happens. A cracked toilet at the venue makes a flood that shorts […]
“What do you mean you’re not coming to New York?” Carynne knocked me on the head with her sharp, little knuckles. “That’s what I’m trying to get through your thick skull. I’m going to Maine.” “Maine.” We were sitting in the Vietnamese noodle place near the house, having each consumed a bowl of soup bigger […]