I had a nice excursion North to Bellingham the last couple of days; Theoretics had a solid first Bellingham show at the Wild Buffalo, and I was able to spend the following day with Karl, drummer for the band Polecat, who the Polyrhythmics have shared bills and festivals with pretty frequently. It was good to talk about music as a career with someone else who has been doing it for a while: how to make it work, the positives and negatives, and how to balance everything out. Then that night we topped it all off with a great jam with Jeremy, guitarist for Polecat, Jefferson Rose, a killer bass player with a band of his own, and Mars, one of the best trombonists I know. Right on, Bellingham!
A couple of things I’m looking forward to next month:
April 8th Hardcoretet will be releasing our third album, a full-length recording that we are all very excited about. Not only that, we are also opening for Kneebody, a group that has been one of my primary musical influences for the last couple of years, and the show is at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard, one of my favorite venues in town! Some preview tracks of the new album are available at the Hardcoretet band camp page: https://hardcoretet.bandcamp.com/
The next day I embark on tour with the Polyrhythmics; we are travelling down the coast to Southern California, East through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and finishing in New Orleans.
I have never been to New Orleans and cannot wait to be there to take in as much as I possibly can. The more I play and listen to music, the more I know I am influenced by that city. Many of the musicians I enjoy listening to have spent significant time there, and its historical significance cannot be overstated, in my opinion. I’m going to try to post a bit from the road, so stay tuned!
There is a fundraising campaign to help us minimize the expenses and costs of the tour; most of the places we are playing are new to us, so there will likely be a few lightly-attended gigs, so to speak. If you want to help, please go here! http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/polyrhythmics-new-orleans-jazz-fest-2014