Here’s another quick preview peak into a project I’m wrapping-up. This an excerpt to a rough mix–just to show you what I’m up to.
“Reptile” is basically a funk tune. The instrumentation is a little different in so far as the rhythm guitar part is played on a steel-string acoustic guitar. The solo is my old work-hourse frankestein ’80’s-era Strat.
This track features my buds Joe Shotwell on drums and Jack Hines on bass.
Having just received my nylon-string guitar back the repair shop from my man Gary Brawer, I was excited to get back to work on some projects requiring this instrument.
I love playing this guitar, this excerpt from an upcoming album provides a glimpse into why.
For decades, I have enjoyed a comfortable career as a working musician. Playing gigs as both a leader and a sideman, recording albums and teaching.
A few months ago, a fellow guitarist and friend, Ruth Parry and I decided to play a series of gigs on Thursday afternoons just for fun. It was at a small local cafe a few blocks from Ruth’s house and near where I teach. Fun and convenient, why not!
The venue has wi-fi so on impulse, I showed-up to the first gig with my laptop and streamed the show to Ustream. I thought it was a neat idea and sure enough, the Ustream audience seemed very into what we were doing. We would play to the room and not really notice much what was gong-on with the laptop. I would read comments in the chat module later in the day when I finished teaching. Ruth and kept doing this weekly gig for a month or so before she secured a new teaching position that conflicted with our Thursday schedule.
When the next Thursday came, I decided to live-out a longtime joke/ fantasy of mine: I would play a gig from home. No loading gear into my car, setting-up, tearing-down… just play. Now the “room” was the Ustream audience. I could interact quite directly with them, and I know many of them from Twitter, Facebook and Friendfeed.
This is turning into my favorite gig. I like to let the audience in on what it’s like being a working musician. Let the whole experience be inclusive and invite them into my world (which for me, is a fantastic dream). A pleasant and unexpected side-effect of this is a fairly dramatic spike in CD sales for my main Jazz group, The Atmos Trio.
So, as I’ve said during nearly every show, “Gigging from home–I’m DOIN’ it!” You’ll find me on Ustream every Thursday afternoon at 1:30 pm (PST).
LIVE on Ustream.tv
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Live Concert Videos
Here are the latest two Atmos Trio Albums. FREE (low res)/ PAY WHAT YOU LIKE (High Res).
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I recorded this piece as an experiment sometime around 2001. I played all of the parts on guitar. Good fun!
Originally composed for the organ, this piece goes well beyond the range of the guitar: I kept tuning lower and lower. I had to give in and use a bass for a few of the phrases.
On the 4th Friday of each month, Joe and I play this super-great gig
with bass virtuoso Cliff Hugo and his wife, singer Cynthia Tarr.
Not only are they both great musicians but really great folks on the
human-level too.
This all happens at The Olive & Vine in Glen Ellen, CA.
For the past couple of decades I have been “Living the Dream” of an active professional musician and I enjoy a very successful private teaching practice in the San Francisco Bay area.
I lead the Atmos Trio, an instrumental guitar trio which features myself, Joe Shotwell and Drew Waters. We gig frequently in the region and hire ourselves out as sidemen for recording and performance purposes. You can find our music on iTunes or on CDBaby.
I do music and music technology related clinics. Also a fair amount of consulting with audio pros who find themselves cussing and fussing with their gear too much. Apparently, I can string a sentence or two together as I occasionally do work as a freelance writer for music magazines. If I can be of service, give me a call.
We’ve all been there. The gig in the most unlikely of places. Airport terminals, bus stops, driveways, wheel-chair ramps… Screwy places.
I was going through some photos and found one that I had forgotten about. Not because it was bad, it was actually quite posh. Located in the beautiful Napa Valley Wine country, the Pine Ridge Winery holds a secret that belies the greenery of it’s exterior.
300 feet into the hillside is a subterranean dinning room you almost can’t believe: It’s a cave.
When informed that I would play in a cave, I immediately pictured bats, water running down walls, stalactites & stalagmites.
Yes–it’ a cave, but an upscale one. Stucco walls, tiles floors, electrical fixtures. The tunnels were filled with barrels of wine that opened-up to the chamber we see here.