So here I am, almost 3 months into working exclusively as a musician and teacher. It feels as though my workdays have become compressed; lessons can’t start until kids get out of school, and gigs and rehearsals are almost always at night, plus most gigs are squeezed onto the Fridays and Saturdays of the week. […]
My New Year’s Resolutions. They’re fairly general, and although I make them and quickly break them every year, this time around feels different; I think they will stick, at least for a little longer than normal! 1. Take it easy – sleep more, drink less. 2. Practice – every day, if possible. 3. Get out […]
I remember the first time Birch Pereira told me about this scene. I had never seen Flight of the Conchords before, and this was the scene he described to me to convince me to watch the show; not because it was hilarious (it is), but because it really illustrates all the problems you have to […]
Last week was one the busiest playing weeks I’ve had in a long time. It’s not often that I have many weekday/midweek performances, so it was kind of a new experience for me. This is also on the heels of a couple of sub gigs I’ve recently done, so I’ve been thinking a bit about playing […]
Highlights from my recent trip to visit my sister in Chicago: – Wiener Circle Man these people are mean! If you make it through your order and get a chance to stay and watch the massive hating and trash-talking they give their customers, though, it’s hilarious. Late night it’s a madhouse. – […]
Some new things adding a bit of organization to my life: This Sunday I start teaching again. I’m really looking forward to it, and I’m motivated to be a better teacher this time around. I wasn’t awful before, just disorganized, constantly scribbling things out for my kids on staff paper or making copies out […]
Above: A friendly moth from Lopez Island. Just for fun. Hardcoretet is packaging the new recordings and video footage for release as well as writing and rehearsing new material for the next round of performances. The Polyrhythmics debut album will be released next week, with some fun festival work coming up this Spring/Summer. […]
This past weekend the group Slumgum came to Seattle as part of their album release tour. Slumgum is a quartet that plays a blend of free and composed elements that give them a really individual sound, sometimes delicate and other times in your face, sometimes long waves of sounds and other times precise rhythms, sometimes loose improvisations and […]
I got a chance to sit in with my friend, vocalist and guitarist Adam Danger Bacot, on Saturday night. I enjoyed myself for so many reasons, but the one in particular that prompted this post was the notion of cover songs and why they are so much fun to play (at least in certain settings […]
I’ve started contributing to a new blog that was started by a close friend of mine called Rust and Rum. Although some of it is still under construction, there are already a bunch of posts from our circle of friends and us, focusing on nothing in particular. Word of warning, though: some posts may be […]