2006
12/26/2006 - Hey everyone, I'm back in Atlanta from a quick weekend down in Florida for Christmas. I met with friends at the New World Brewery on Friday night and ended up back in the Burg for some rock at the Emerald, and finally, Colleen's birthday party after-hours. Saturday and Sunday we full of more parties and football. Christmas was quiet and the weather was bad. I skipped town and headed home just after all the tornadoes ripped through and met with more friends before arriving back in Atlanta 9 hours and -30 degrees. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Have a fun and safe New Year's. (Photos)
12/19/2006 - Hey everyone, I'm just checking in before my trip down to Florida for the holidays. I'm looking forward to a fun show at the Emerald on Friday night, a party on Saturday night and cocktails on Sunday before celebrating Christmas on Monday.
I've posted some new photos of recent shenanigans on the photo page so go check them out.
12/02/2006 - Hey everyone, I'm just in from playing a fun show with Mary O at the Drunken Unicorn for Animal Action Rescue. There were great bands and great dogs everywhere, but an adorable Terrier stole the show, hello Hamilton!
This last week I caught a few great shows, last Thursday was Mary O's first show with her band and last night was one of the final Steve Wynn and the Miracle Three shows. They absolutely destroyed the EARL with one of the best shows that I've seen in ages. After the show I talked with Steve, Linda and Jason from the band and they were incredibly friendly, engaging and genuinely down-to-earth folks.
Well, I'm getting ready to record some tunes, Chris and I are warming up the computer and trying to line up a drummer for the session. The following tunes are being considered for the new record: 22, A Girl Like You, All Hail this Town, All Those Things that Hold You Here, Allison, High School Drunk, Inside Out, Oh Angelina, On the Line, Take it Off, There May Not Come a Light.
11/18/2006 - Hey everyone, Last weekend's trip down to St. Pete was quick and dirty. Sunday's show with Margot & the Nuclear So and So's was well attended and fun. It was a great night to be playing outside and all the bands sounded fantastic. Margot went on pretty late, talked football, and played some great tunes.
Last night I caught Ted Leo + the Pharmacists and Death Cab for Cutie at the Fox and they didn't disappoint. Well, there's no more solo shows on the books for me. As Chris would say, "time to shuffle the deck."
I'll post some photos soon. Thanks for everything.
11/10/2006 - It's friday at last and I'm getting ready for a drive down to Florida to play what amounts to my last solo show for the foreseeable future. I'll be taking a break from performing my tunes in order to play with some other people and to catch up on some writing and recording for a new release of some type.
Last night I caught Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, the Elected, and Whispertown2000 at the Drunken Unicorn. Margot and all the bands were fantastic, I'm really looking forward to the last show this Sunday.
11/04/2006 - OK, just a quick hello. The Beck show last Tuesday night was unbelievable. I don't even know where to start so I'll just hit some highlights. They played in a small club in ATL. They all wore Halloween costumes and played rented gear. Beck was dressed like Napoleon. The bass player was a ghost, the drummer was a mouse cheerleader, and the keyboard player was the phantom of the opera. My favorite was the percussionist, he wore a coconut bra, an Indian headdress and a hula skirt. 80% of the audience wore costumes. We didn't and it was OK. I felt bad for the guy that came as a giant game of sudoko, he ran into everyone. Beck's drummer flew to Japan the night before, so his guitar player was the drummer tonight. His guitar player is a pretty damn good drummer.
Earlier in the week a friend and I played some poker at the Vortex, I came in 4th. We also checked out the Louvre display and attended a masterwork discussion on Rembrandt's Matthew and the Angel at the High Museum. Good times.
10/31/2006 - Happy Halloween! Oh hell yes! I'm going to see Beck at Vinyl tonight!
10/29/2006 - This is probably true of most big cities, but here in Atlanta Halloween started about 10 days ago and it's still going strong. The L5P parade last weekend, people in costumes out at concerts, parties last night, and even this morning as I headed out for coffee, ghouls and goblins, sexy cowgirls and cowboys were just arriving home from the previous night's activities. Broken Social Scene and Mac from Portastatic were making fun of people in costume at their shows last week. "How early do you celebrate Easter, November?" The Decemberists show last friday night was more of the same.
Speaking of the Decemberists, they put on a hell of a great show on Friday. I loved it. Fantastic songs, great musicians and a fun vibe was available all night. One of the funniest moments was when the singer grabbed a girls' cell phone, dialed a number, and began singing into it. At the end of the verse he tossed the cell phone back into the audience, about 40 feet from where he originally got it. ahahahah! You should have seen people scramble.
10/22/2006 - As the weekend winds down I find myself in a great little coffee shop called Inman Perk Coffee. It's located in the Inman Park neighborhood just southwest of L5P and it's full of hip kids, hip adults and a dog. I'll assume it's a hip dog for the sake of this entry. I'm not sure if it's as hip as the dog that was lying on top of the bar at The Cave in Chapel Hill a few weeks ago though, perhaps lying on top of a bar is hip behavior for a dog, for a human, it's just sad.
Speaking of Chapel Hill, I caught a great show last night at the EARL. Chapel Hill's Portastatic played a killer set of tunes off of their new release, Be Still Please, as well as some older material. They sounded fantastic and I got to chat with Mac for a little while. He's blogging the tour here. Chan Marshall was in attendance for the second band Jennifer O'Connor. First up was the Preakness, perhaps my favorite local band. There's just something sweet and charming about their enthusiasm, fine songs, and good-natured stage presence.
Earlier in the week I caught Broken Social Scene and Do Make Say Think at the Variety Playhouse in L5P. The room was hot and packed and they were OK. I was hoping for a more transcending experience but perhaps that's unfair of me to begin with.
Last Thursday I got an opportunity to go on a curator-led tour of the Intersections: Atlanta Collects Photography installation at The High Museum. A great hang, hopefully we'll catch one again sometime.
10/15/2006 - Sunday morning, half awake. Last night's show at Aurora Coffee was fun. Jim Combs created an original soundscape, I played some new tunes and Jen Woodhouse ended the evening with a beautiful voice. After the show I headed over to the EARL to catch the Hiss' CD release show with All Saints and Ferocious Bubbles.
10/10/2006 - The fact that I had arrived in Florida last week was confirmed within the first few miles on Interstate I-75 when, within about two miles of arriving in the Sunshine State, I ran over a large claw hammer and a flattened metal latter in the middle of the road. What is it with Florida and home improvement equipment in the road? I could never own a motorcycle in Florida, I wouldn't last a day. I'd hit a ladder, careen off of a big old Cadillac, skid into a sinkhole, and it would be all over.
I rolled into town on Friday evening and swung by Legends Guitars to hang out for a little while before ending the evening over drinks with friends at Limey's.
I spent the early part of Saturday working with Susie learning some guitar parts for her upcoming CD. Later that evening was the Southeast Music Alliance CD Release party at the State Theater. The show was fun, I played weird mix of tunes, and a brand new tune called There May Not Come a Light. After a while I headed over the Emerald to see Martin, Hugh and the Kevin K band rock the crowd. Good times.
Sunday, I recorded with Susie, Brad, and Keith over at Brad's place in Tampa for Susie's upcoming CD. We worked on three tunes before I had to head out and head back up to Atlanta. I'm anxious to hear how the songs come out. If anyone took any pictures this last weekend I'll post them at some point. I forgot to drag the camera around with me this trip.
I'll be back in the middle of November for the Margot & the Nuclear So and So's concert at the New World Brewery. Hope to see you there.
10/04/2006 - It's pretty much straight up midnight but I had to log on and update the site with some kick ass news. I just got word that I'll be opening up for Margot & the Nuclear so and so's at their headlining show at the New World Brewery in Tampa on Sunday, November 12th. This show is not to be missed! I've been singing the praises of Margot to my friends for a while now and you cannot afford to sleep on this show. They've got great songs, a great show, and 8 people on stage rocking out is never a bad thing! They blew me away at MMS this summer in about 30 seconds. Be there. I'll remind you plenty of times.
10/02/2006 - It's a short week for me and I'm getting anxious to play some music this weekend at The State Theater to celebrate the release of the new compilation from the SMA. I'll be playing some new tunes this Saturday, I hope you can make it out to hear them.
The last 10 days or so have been full of interesting developments, cool shows and a good bit of writing. There's a rumor going around that Parade in Paris may reconvene to record 10 tunes. We had a number of songs that were never properly recorded. That would be cool, I hope it happens!
A bunch of us saw a great Shawn Mullins show at the Tabernacle last weekend, Clay Cook played with him and together they put on a great show.
The Paste Rock and Reel festival was great, I worked at the Variety Playhouse for the Wrens show in which I teched for Bain and enjoyed all the bands. Sufjan Steven at the Fox Theater was amazing, as was the opening act My Brightest Diamond.
I've been talking to original Spiller drummer Pete Joseph up here in Atlanta, and hopefully sometime soon a bunch of us are going to get together and play some music.
This is Awesome.
09/26/2006 - Hey all, last night's show at Java Monkey was fun. A nice crowd, beautiful weather, and some good conversation were on tap. I bumped into an old friend, Sean Vinson and his wife. Sean use to take pictures for my old 80's band Parade in Paris and he owns the Vinson Gallery in Decatur Square. It was great seeing him again after all this time.
09/22/2006 - It's late on Friday night and I'm just now getting in after my trip to Chapel Hill where I played a solo show at The Cave. The drive over on Thursday took a little longer than it should have, I got detoured a few times on the way over and did a little ill-advised sightseeing. Once in town, thanks to MapQuest, I drove straight through the beautiful campus of UNC, just before 6PM classes were starting. 35 minutes later I popped out the other side of campus and located the Cave.
The Cave, for those of you that haven't been there, is a cave, or more accurately a basement bar with a low ceiling that's had every inch of the walls coved by a rough stucco application with primitive drawings. I shit you not. I walked in, I met Mr. Mouse and proceeded to get set up, occasionally staring at the dog that was sleeping on top of the bar. The wait staff was friendly, the college folks were friendly and the PA sounded nice. Good acoustics, good people and damn fine cold drinks. I played a couple of long sets, all originals, no covers allowed, and had a fine time.
After the show I headed out, packed the car, and to my delight I heard the thud, thud, thud, of a live band very close by. A block down in the cool night air and I'm in front of the Local 506 paying the cover to see Dr. Dog, a fantastic band out of Philly that I have been enjoying in my headphones as of late. They freaking rocked it, sounded fantastic, and brought the evening to a happy ending with a stage full of fans.
The drive back this morning was difficult, especially the first hour of "I'm not awake, I shouldn't be driving, but I'm driving." The Word Nerds kept me entertained, focused, and on the road. Did you realize the original meaning of terrific means "causing terror or fear"? OK, enough etymological deviation. Here's a very few pictures.
09/17/2006 - OK, it's Sunday and I'm relaxing for the first time in a while. This last week was a whirlwind of activity and good times.
Thursday and Friday night I was out on the road with Bain Mattox and Edwin McCain for their shows in Birmingham at the Workplay, and here in town in Atlanta at the Roxy Theater. It was a fun couple of days of driving, tuning guitars and rocking. Turns out Edwin's new bass player Manny was in bands back in Tampa in the mid-eighties and we had some mutual friends. Pretty cool.
Saturday was the East Atlanta Strut and the first day of the Paste Magazine Rock and Reel Festival. I saw a ton of bands including The Roy Owens Jr., The Slackey Family Band, Brodie Stove, The Preakness, Tiger! Tiger!, and The Close. There were a number of artists and vendors on site and it was beautiful day to be outside. I headed to the EARL after all the outdoor festivities were over but my batteries quickly wore out and I headed home. (Photos)
09/13/2006 - While Chris and the guys in Bain Mattox were rocking the 40 Watt Club in Athens with REM I was having a fun time at Smith's Olde Bar running through a bunch of tunes and chatting up friends from Dublin and all over. Taylor Hicks from American Idol was rumored to be playing a surprise show upstairs so the club was full of middle-age women with DIY shirts and eyes full of crazed fandome. We of course made fun of it the entire evening. I heard he was great. Good for him.
09/11/2006 - As I type this I'm sitting in the parking lot of Royal Isuzu. Am I buying a new car? No, but perhaps I should. For the second time today my car has completely died. And as I sit here and wait for James to come get me for a second time I have a few minutes to blow out a quick journal entry.
What's new? Not much. I did see some great bands last weekend though. I headed over to the The Melting Point in Athens to see Jay Clifford from Jump, Little Children play a solo show. Jay used an actual record for backing tracks and accompaniment, it was really cool.
After the show Chris and I hung out at The Manhattan Cafe with Michael & Becca, Bain, Liz Durrett, Amanda and the folks from Tin Cup Prophette. Later in the week I saw The Bridges and The Modern Skirts tear up Smith's, it was a great show.
Unfortunately my upcoming show at 10 High has been canceled because they are starting a new "hardcore night" at the club. That actually works out just fine as I was considering taking a long break from playing to start recording a new batch of tunes anyway. I need to do some writing and I've got some time and subject matter ready to go so I think that's what I should do.
Tomorrow night's show at Smith's, my show at The Cave in Chapel Hill, and whatever is left on the books will probably be it for a while unless something cool pops, and it always seems to.
09/06/2006 - Photos from my trip to Florida have been posted HERE.
09/02/2006 - Last night's show with G. Love & Special Sauce at Jannus Landing was a good time. I got to talk to the man for a few minutes and I really enjoyed playing. Thanks to Martin and Carrie for helping out and thanks to everyone that came up to say hello after my set, bought and CD, and signed the mailing list. After the show I headed down to The Bombshell Gallery and played a tune with Dean Johanesen which was fun. I'll post some pictures from this last week soon.
08/30/2006 - The open mic at the The Bombshell Gallery last night was fun. Geri X hosted the event and everyone jumped up for a few tunes including Scott and Joey from Nessie, Natty and me, and a ton of others. Good times.
08/29/2006 - It's Tuesday night and I'm just now catching up. Last night's show at The Bombshell Gallery was fun. Space Program and The Winter Sounds sounded great and it was fun having so many friends make it out to the show.
08/28/2006 - I had a fun time at ¡Viva La Frida! Sunday afternoon at Patti's Yappy Hour. Gary and Jerry from the Rancid Polecats played too. We had some beers, played some tunes and chatted up some dogs. Good times!
08/27/2006 - It's official, Florida is trying to kill me.
Ok, in all seriousness, a great time was had last night out at The Garage in St. Pete for the first of many SMA Compilation CD Fundraisers. The Same kicked things off with some badass emo-math-rock. Geri X played a great set next and then we rocked 7 tunes as hard as we could. I shredded people's faces off, that's what someone told me anyway. The Semis and Auditorium both turned in blistering sets as well and then we were off into the night to find our way home. Thanks to Joran for putting on such a fun show.
08/26/2006 - It is with extreme humility and gratitude that I'd like to thank everyone that was involved with last night's very successful CD Release Party at The Globe Coffee Lounge. Brian Merrill and Lance Rowland were fantastic as always. JoEllen is an angel for providing the space, atmosphere, and libations. Chris, Martin and Jon played as great as always, especially after one practice! Tina and Shannon sold some merch which was incredibly helpful, and thanks to Hugh we had some sparkly drums to play. Scott Harrell, Julie Garisto and Curtis Ross all wrote some very kind words about the CD and the shows this weekend in their publications, so a very special thanks to them as well. (Press)
A Readers Digest version of the better moments from last night is as follows: I played harmonica for the first time on stage for the opening tune, Jen is Bringing the Drugs by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, to which someone remarked, "That wasn't that bad" when it was over. My friends Marta and Andrea from Indianapolis made it out to the show! A lady on crack walked in and started talking to me during Friday Morning Half Awake, and to my immediate regret, I started talking to her. Chris and Martin took turns standing in front of the kick drum so it would stop sliding forward. I got chills when Chris started making a cool sound with his Tele on When I Go Deaf. The sangria was excellent. After the show we headed over to Steve's Tavern and hung with more crack heads, shared some laughs, and had some more beers. Good times.
08/22/2006 - Hey everyone, I saw lots of good rocking this last week out and about in Atlanta. Kill Gordon, Variac, and The Hiss rocked the EARL on Friday night. On Saturday night Military Junior put on a great show at Lenny's. Margot and the Nuclear So & So's were supposed to play the EARL but they canceled at the last minute. So sad.
Tomorrow I'm off to FLA to see friends and rock some shows including my CD Release party at The Globe on Friday night and the SMA Compilation CD Fundraiser on Saturday night. It should be a great time and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.
08/18/2006 - Hey everyone, I'm just now catching up from last weekend's vacation and last night's birthday festivities. Here's a wrap up of all the good stuff.
Thursday: The night before the trip started badly with me being locked out of my own house when my front door lock disintegrated internally leaving me out in the hallway with my useless key and a spinning lock. I originally intended to fly up to Milwaukee this weekend, but with the congestion and chaos at the airports anticipated over the next few days due to the terrorist threats in the UK, and me just fresh off the road from last week's trip to Albany, I decided another road trip was in order. I headed out midday and figured that if I could make Indianapolis by day's end I could have a familiar town to spend the night in and maybe I could catch up with friends. The drive took longer than anticipated and thanks in no small part to a few accidents and torrential rain bursts, I didn't extricate myself from the car until almost midnight in Carmel, Indiana. Not wanting to call it a night early I headed down to Broad Ripple to have a beer at the Brew Pub and maybe even kick around the neighborhood. The Brew Pub was nearly deserted as the Midwest Music Summit was this weekend and everyone was out to see some bands! I headed over to the Vogue in time to catch the final band of the evening, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's. I was completely blow away; they were nothing short of transcendent on stage. The scruffy guy/girl lead vocals, the animated percussionist, the songs, the words, and an entire crowd of folks singing along made for a magical set. At the end of the set, much to the soundman's frustration, nearly the entire crowd ended up on stage with a few microphones flying around uncontrollably. They're paying the EARL on Saturday night and I can't wait to see them again.
On Friday I got up pretty early to make the remainder of the drive up to Janesville, Wisconsin to pick up Chris. Chicago traffic was Chicago traffic but I rolled into town reasonably on time, picked up Chris, and we were off to Madison where we had some outstanding Cajun food at a local takeout, met the rest of the guys and headed four hours north into some of the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen. Once we hit the final destination, past Rhinelander (home of the Hodag), and out past Sugar Camp we grabbed some drinks, made some food, kicked back, and played some Sheepshead. The rest of the weekend consisted of the following: food, beer, cards, beer, chopping wood, beer, canoeing, skiing, video games, beer, Family Guy, Green Bay football at Sweetwater's, otters, bonfires, and finally, more beer.
Monday: After a great weekend, Chris and I headed south to Janesville to see family. Next we were off to Chicago and finally, at the end of the first day's drive, Indianapolis. Once in town we headed down for a beer at the Brew Pub, one at the Broad Ripple Tavern, one at the Alley Cat and finally a really late night dinner at Jimmy John's before crashing out.
Tuesday: We got out of Indy by midday after checking out Meridian Music, Luna Music, and the place that I worked. Unfortunately everyone was in meetings. A long drive and a great vacation ended at the Thinking Man Tavern before I completely passed out. Good times. (Photos)
08/09/2006 - I'm just in from my long weekend in NY and it was a great time. I'm supposed to be playing in Charlotte this evening but with the turn-around time being 4 hours and having to be there at 6, it's 5:40 PM now, it's not going to happen. NY was a great time, the drive up was long but I got to see my friend Ava in Delaware for a quick coffee and with an iPod full of tunes the hours sped by pretty fast.
On Saturday, Stacey and I headed into the city for Joe Popp's wedding, checked into the hotel, got dressed and promptly got on the correct subway train going the wrong way. It took us two hours but we made it to the wedding party before things really got rolling. The party was fun, it was great to see old friends. Dogs on Ice played as did Joe Popp, some of his friends from NY, the Caulfield Sisters, and then we had our turn. After the party a group of us headed down to Times Square for beers at an Irish pub, some pizza, and eventually some much-needed sleep.
Sunday we headed back to the Square for a street market before heading back to Albany where we attempted to thrift store shop, had a great Indian dinner, listened to some music, and just kicked back and had a great time. (Photos)
08/01/2006 - Happy August everyone, I'm writing this from my new kitchen, one of many rooms in my new place. I've finally gotten settled in, 11 months after arriving up here in Atlanta. It's a short week for me, I'm heading up to NYC for a wedding this weekend and hopefully, along the way, I'll get to catch up with some old friends. It's a busy month for me, I'm all over the place, maybe I'll see you soon.
07/26/2006 - Hey everyone, last night's show at 10-High was really fun. I played with Meghan Coffee and Gareth Asher, both great people and very talented songwriters. The format was loose and fun; 2 rounds of three songs each and then one round of 1 tune each. We had a great crowd out and the drinks were flowing pretty strong for a Tuesday night. For the last set I enticed Meghan to play piano on 22, which was a big highlight for me. Special thanks to Nicole for booking me, I can't wait to play there again. (Photos)
07/23/2006 - I headed east to Columbia on I-20 through a few raindrops, lovely rolling hills, and a sideswipe. A lady hit me every so slightly, I think she was sleeping. No harm, no foul so I kept moving. Once in town I checked into my hotel and looked up a few of the local music stores. Sims Music was the nicest of the bunch, they had a Fender Hello Kitty Strat, cool and funky.
I rolled into downtown about 5 PM and had a little trouble finding Jammin Java, the building is under construction and only a small sign on the sidewalk marks the actual entrance to the venue which is in the basement of the building. I literally called them from directly in front of the building to see where they were located, silly. I headed downstairs only to hear that the headlining act for the evening, Dylan Kight, had car trouble and wasn't going to be making the show.
Randy, the guy that books the room, was very cool and said I could play a little longer which was nice. The show was fun, I played a ton of songs, about an hour's worth of tunes altogether including some I haven't played in a while like Stay. The crowd was attentive and polite, and I was so pleased to hear that I got some radio play on WUSC earlier in the day. That helped bring some people out on a rainy night. I sold some CDs and signed some autographs, pretty cool. (Photos)
07/22/2006 - OK, so it's not like I planned to make it a Pete Yorn marathon this week, it just worked out that way. Pete played up here three times in three days last weekend and it just made sense to go see every performance. My friend Lance and his buddy Scott were up last weekend too so we all headed out to see his show at the Park Tavern on Sunday night, it was hot as hell but he played a great set. Monday night Lance and Scott played at Eddie's Attic and then afterwards we all met up with Tina T. for drinks at the Thinking Man. Tuesday, Pete played an in-store at Criminal Records and then later that night he tore up the stage at Smith's Olde Bar. Last night a group of us headed out to see the Modern Skirts and Y-O-U play at the EARL, the Skirts were fantastic. Well I'm out of here in a little bit, heading off to Columbia for a show, I'm playing Jammin Java, a great spot that everyone has raved about. If you're in the neighborhood stop in a say hey. I'll catch up with everyone after the the weekend. (Photos)
07/15/2006 - Hey everyone, this last week absolutely sucked. I had a spectacular case of food poisoning, thanks Chipotle, and I had to completely cancel all my East Coast shows last week. So bummed, so bummed. I missed playing some great clubs and I missed the Weakerthans in New York City. There's always next time right? Last night the guys from Bain and I us headed out to the Rock and Roll Circus at 10 High put on by Second Shift. The Bridges, from Oxford, stole the show in my opinion, four brothers and sisters and a cousin, all singing and playing their asses off, good stuff. Really reminded me of Eisley.
One week from now I'll be moving into my new place, I can't wait, a fresh start awaits and I'm having a party to celebrate.
And finally, I cannot seem to get over the fact that the Phil Hendrie show is off the air, that blows chimps, I'm going to IKEA.
07/09/2006 - OK, lots of big news in the last week. First off, my new CD is out! I received 1,000 copies on my front door this week and I'm as excited as a guy with a big debit on his credit card can be. They look and sound great, a big thank you to everyone that helped out!
Last night's show at Aurora Coffee was fun and well attended. Jim Combs kicked the show off with a keyboard-less experimental set that was very fun and cool, I rocked the acoustic second and Spy Magnet finished up the night with guitars and drum machines blazing. After the show some of us headed down to the EARL for the Shannon Mulvaney benefit in his fight against cancer. The show was great, I bought raffle tickets and won FOUR TIMES!
Last weekend in Florida was fun, I got a chance to catch up with friends at the Garage where the Weapons of Ass Destruction and John Frydaddy's new band tore it up! There was a great pool party at Elen's and I caught a great bill at the New World Brewery with Nessie, Ghostfinger, and Bobby Bare Jr.
OK, so I'm hitting the road tomorrow morning. I'm off to play some shows and I'm going to see the Weakerthans rock NYC on Wednesday night, I can't freaking wait!
07/02/2006 - How is it possible that it's July already? Wow, the year is flying by so fast. As the cars zip by my 22nd Ave. window I'll give you a quick recap of the show at The Bombshell Gallery. I played first to a fun group of folks, followed by Some Dancing Skeleton, and Gruppo99. Both bands were very cool and very nice, it was a good hang. From there a group of us headed down to the Garage and eventually we ended up at Steve's on the Ave. We all had a few, and then one more before calling it a night. I bought a round at Steve's for 5 people and it was $9.75, that's good info for you readers, you're welcome.
06/28/2006 - Last night's show at Java Monkey was a good time. Blake Guthrie, this evening's host, kicked things off; I played second as the rain started falling. Everyone packed in closer to the stage to get out of the elements and Michael Levine and Matthew Kahler played a couple of killer sets, including Michael's made-up-on-the-spot tune about cucumbers, basset hounds and ninjas. I got scalding water dumped on my leg, played a good set, and sold some CDs. Good times indeed.
06/25/2006 - Hey everyone, it's been a fun week, two excellent concerts, a solo show last Friday night and Corndogorama! Last Monday night Sonic Youth and Be Your Own Pet turned in a couple of scorching sets, Sonic played most of their new CD and some great older tunes like Eric's Trip and Brother James. (Photos)
On Tuesday night Echo & the Bunnymen put on a great show at the Roxy. Mac was joking with the audience and the band sounded amazing. (Photos)
The solo show on Friday at Mocha Match was a good time, James, and Rivers played great and it was nice to see some friends out and about in the crummy weather for the show. (Photos)
Yesterday I caught a few hours of Corndogorama at The EARL. A million bands, slip and slides, cheep beer, dogs, and yes, corn dogs. I saw the Preakness, Hot Young Priest and others, good times. Tomorrow night I'm playing a solo show at a great coffeehouse in Decatur called Java Monkey. It's a free show, check the calendar for all the details and swing by if you can.
06/19/2006 - I'm off to see Sonic Youth tonight! Hell yes!
06/16/2006 - OK, it's after 5pm on Friday and technically I'm not even supposed to have my computer on but I wanted to catch you up on last Tuesday's show at Smith's. I had a really fun time, the show was loose and joke filled. It was like playing The Globe, minus the dog and the coffee. I debuted a new tune called "A Girl Like You", and I think it went over well. Neil, a great friend of mine from high school, came out with some friends and it was so great to see him. We all had a good time catching and watching Joal Rush, Adam Klein, and Nate Nelson perform some great tunes. After the show a group of us hung for a while before heading out. I'd like to thank everyone from Smith's for having me; I hope to be back there again sometime very soon. (Photos)
Also, I've posted some random photos from the last few months, just for fun. Enjoy! (Photos)
04/12/2006 - Hey everyone, I trust you have been well. OK, the last month or so has been really fun and productive. I've started working on demos with Chris for a new full-length CD. Current song titles include: On the Line, Allison is Coming On, 22, Oh Angelina, Inside Out, A Girl Like You, All Those Things that Hold You Here, High School Drunk, Take it Off. Also, the last CD that I recorded with Russ Fowler, Silver, is getting sent to the duplicators this week so expect that to be available within the month. I'll have a CD release party up here in Atlanta and down in St. Pete to celebrate the occasion.
What else... oh, I've got a show tomorrow night at Smith's Old Bar, I hope my friends in the Atlanta area get a chance to make it out.
In the last month or so I've seen some great shows, Bain Mattox at Summerfest in the Highlands, Liz Durrett and Tin Cup Prophette at Eddie's Attic, Artimus Pyledriver at Criminal records. Martin came up to Atlanta and we saw the Dave Navarro and the rest of the guys from the Panic Channel at the Roxy and at the sushi restaurant next door. I saw Metalsome Monday cover 18 and Life by Skid Row with the guys from Skid Row in the audience. Eric G and the guys from Military Junior played 10-High with a couple of cool local bands, Ghosts on Speed and The Preakness. Stacy, Elen and Natty came up for the Memorial Day weekend and had a fun time. Eef Barzelay from Clem Snide put on a great show at the EARL. And... I played a really funny show at "Soul saturday" at Mocha Match.
Good times. I'll be back later in the week with an entry about tomorrow's show at Smith's so stop back by.
04/23/2006 - I'm on hiatus from the journal at the moment. Check back.
04/09/2006 - OK, finally catching up from a long week. The show at the Bombshell Gallery on Friday night to celebrate Rebekah Pulley's new CD was a good time. The Headlights played as did, Ronny Elliott, Cat Cheshire and Sparky's Nightmare. Sparky played a brief acoustic set of covers and originals and we had a good time. Not much else new to report, I enjoyed dinner and drinks a few times this week with friends and tried to do a whole lot of nothing. One more week off and then back to work!
04/03/2006 - It's hard to believe that my residency in Indianapolis has finally come to an end. I'm going to miss everyone, but hopefully I'll get back up there soon to say hello and I promise not to become a stranger. (Photos)
I flew back to Atlanta from Indy last Thursday night and had a fun weekend. I got some guys together to rock some tunes and were going to try and get together again this weekend, it should be a good time. Last night's show at The Globe Coffee Lounge was really fun, despite my crummy cold and scratchy voice. David Sinclair, Rebekah Pulley, Ronny Elliott, and Hector Mayoral all played great sets and I think I had fun set too, although I think I talked more than I played. After the show a big group of us headed out for food and I eventually skittered home with my head in my hands heavy with allergies. (Photos)
04/01/2006 - tbt* has run a cool article on me! Check it out HERE
03/28/2006 - My god, I'm still recovering from the weekend. It started off on Friday where I encountered Air Force One and the President's motorcade at the Indianapolis International Airport and steamed full speed ahead with a fun cook-in at Rivers' place with the Bain Mattox crew and the later, drinks up at Smith's with some great new friends. Sunday was recovery day. Good times. Well this week is really my last week in Indianapolis. I am going to miss all my friends like crazy.
03/23/2006 - I messed up this journal entry before I even started typing by not taking better notes. Eh, to hell with it. SXSW was a fantastic time and it's all a blur. I'll just spit out the major events. Check out the pictures too.
Wednesday: I caught the flight out to Austin with Flee, Mane, Laura, JoEllen, Life of Pi, WUSF DJs and a bunch of BAAMO folks. The BAAMO show at Yard Dog was well attended and all the bands sounded great. Steve Wynn closed out the show and he and his band were nothing short of fantastic. The Giraffes tried to strangle me at Friends. I left covered in beer and whisky. Zum Zum did math @ Blender Bar upstairs. Sabrina hooked up with Mane and I to roam the strip. I saw... the New Pornographers (excellent!), Belle and Sebastian, The Plimsouls (rocking!),and +/- (cool), before calling it a night and grabbing some pizza.
Thursday: Foggy morning. I saw Neil Young. A group of us headed to the Long Branch Inn for the Vice party where we saw a Japan noise band called Afrirampo. I manager to see one Laura Veirs song when I got to her showcase on time only to find out she started 30 minutes early. I checked out the Irish showcase w/Exploding Butterfly, the Chalets, great bands, The Tokyo Night day showcase was fun, the singer for this one band rocked so hard he passed out. That evening I headed out to the Town Lake Stage to see Spoon, and Echo & the Bunnymen. Awesome sets by both bands. Later I caught a kick ass set by The Tyde with Darren and Brent Rademaker on guitar and bass! The Parish hosted Barsuk records bands Mates of State (awesome) and Nada Surf. The Beastie Boys rocked a surprise Stubb's show and Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips rolled inside a ball down 6th.
Friday: A rainy morning. I attended the Paste Magazine Party; I got there just in time to see Modern Skirts play Pasadena. Also in attendance was Harry Shearer from Spinal Tap, and A Mighty Wind. Walking down Red River with JoEllen in front of Emo's I spied Thurston Moore walking down the street, I yelled "THURSTON!", we talked for a moment and I got a picture with him. So freaking cool! The SPIN party was great this year, I saw The Go! Team (fun), The Stills, We Are Scientists (funny), and Charlatans UK. After the SPIN party a group of us headed over to the Fader party. Laura was the cat whisperer on the way. I caught the the Giraffes again and I ended up at Stubb's for a majority of the evening to see Vega 4 (cool), White Rose Movement, The Subways (holy crap they were awesome!), Metric, The Magic Numbers (loved them), and Snow Patrol (they rocked it)
Saturday: The final day got off to a rainy start. At the Fader Party I caught Essex Green and Lady Sovereign. I swung by Flatstock on my way to see Nine Black Alps (rock!) and Snow Patrol play a fantastic acoustic set. Martha Wainwright sat in for a song and the closed with the Bright Eyes song You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. That evening I headed down to Waterloo records before checking out the night shows. First up was St. Pete's own IMA. They played a great set and it was fun to catch up with Matt and the guys. The rest of the night consisted of a rocking set by Rhett Miller, classy sets by Rosanne Cash and Lyle Lovett, and finally, after a long set change, Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders came out to heckle the crowd and play a ton of new songs. The night wrapped up, I headed down for one last slice of pizza and then the sky opened up as soon as I sat down in the rental car. Thank you, good night!
I got up early on Sunday morning and looked up the movie Slacker on the Internet and for some of the sights where the movie was filmed in Austin. I drove around town for a while, took some photos, hit a squirrel, and really explored the city. I had lunch with everyone at Guero's where I met up again with Mane, Sabs, and all the BAAMO folks. Off we headed to the Austin Airport where we saw Karl Rove, Suzanna Hoffs and once again, Harry Shearer. What a great time, I can't wait until next year! (Photos)
03/14/2006 - I don't know about you, but I'm really tired, and yet as my CD player is randomly picking out an appropriate soundtrack (Sarah Harmer, Ida, and the MacCabees, so far...) in the next room, I know that the next five days in Austin for SXSW will be even more exhausting in the best way possible. This is my third one in a row and I look forward to the randomly appropriate soundtrack that will play out directly in front of me every second until I fly back on Sunday with a suitcase full of CDs, contact information, newspapers, hangovers, ruined shoes, flyers, and I'm sure at some point I'll pick up a new coozie. I'm eternally grateful that I've been asked to be a part of the BAAMO showcase tomorrow afternoon at the Yard Dog. They are an outstanding group of individuals, music lovers and friends. Thank you Flee for asking me to be a part of it.
I did a little running around today getting everything I needed for the trip. I picked up some strings and good conversation from Kent and Bill at Legends Guitars and some CDs from Vinyl Fever where I bumped into Walt Bucklin and Ronny Elliot loading up on music for the trip as well.
So, to catch everyone up on what I've been up to the last few weeks. I headed over to Greenville, SC a few weeks ago to catch a fun show by Bain Mattox and Nathan Angelo at the Handlebar. Great guys and it's always a good time. I hope to get together with them in a few weeks to play some music.
Last Friday a group of us headed down/up to Jacksonville's Florida Theater to see Portastatic and Wilco put on a fun show. Saturday was opening of Stacy Mathis' photo show at The Globe. Brian Merrill, Sam Bond and Natty Moss Bond, and I all played and had a great time. I played some old tunes that Stacy requested, High School Drunk for Elen, a great new Death Cab for Cutie song called I'll Follow You Into the Dark, and they all seemed to go over well. The question still remains though, was I wearing a jacket or a blazer? Sunday a group of us headed down to the The State Theater to see Will Quinlin and Lucero rock the house. Good times.
So, that's the gist of it folks. I'm off to finish packing before I head out to Sparky's Nightmare practice this evening. See you on the other side of the weekend. (Photos)
03/10/2006 - Well, I'm heading south today at about noon. I'll meet up with some of the gang in Jacksonville to see the Wilco show tonight and then it's on to St. Pete on Saturday for Stacy's show at The Globe. Hope I see you soon.
03/03/2006 - March is here and this will be the last month that I'm up in Indianapolis for work. I've been heading up there every week for over two years, my how time has flown. Looks like I'm on the hook for one more traveling assignment and then, I swear, I'm off the road. My next assignment, starting in mid-April most likely, should be amazing. I'll fill you in when I know more. I don't want to jinx it.
Not this weekend, but the following weekend I'm heading down to Jacksonville to see Wilco with some of the St. Pete crew and NY Stacey! It should be a great time. Then it's down to St. Pete for a few days before I head out to SXSW in Austin later in the week. I'm playing a solo show at The Globe for Stacy Mathis' photo exhibit grand opening on March 11th. I'll post more details when I get them. I hope to see you out there. OK, that's it. I'll catch up with everyone sometime in the next few weeks before South by.
02/25/2006 - OK, everyone that knows me knows that I'm a big fan of the Blake Babies and everyone that was involved in that great band. Well, last year Juliana Hatfield implemented the honor system on her webpage as a way of both generating some funds for her new record and as a way to bypass the music industry and get some cool, unreleased songs directly to her fans at a price that only the fan could determine. It's a cool concept and one that I've thought about implementing for a long time. Well, here it goes. Every few weeks I'll put up some unreleased, rare, weird, recordings that I've made that you've probably never heard. I hope you enjoy them. I'll be posting stuff from all through the years. I'll leave as many songs up at a time as I can until my .mac account cries for mercy. The first two songs aren't very old, one is a cover of an Eric's Trip song that's FREE, don't pay me for this one OK? The other is live version of Take it Off recorded up in Atlanta as a demo for my upcoming CD "Silver". Thanks for listening and check out the honor system.
02/16/2006 - I just turned down a job in Dublin. I've decided to decline the offer; there are other things more important than running all over the place at the moment. It's time to put down roots and get the band rocking. Am I nuts? Perhaps, but that's not the point of this entry.
It's taken me a little while to catch up (on sleep) and organize my thoughts about my weekend out in Los Angeles. First off, a huge thank you to my friend Mike for putting me up, showing me the town, and almost getting me in a music video in my four days out there.
I got up early Friday morning after getting practically no sleep for fear of oversleeping. I headed out of Indianapolis International and dozed off almost immediately. I woke up in time to see the Rockies, the Grand Canyon and what I'm going to guess was Monument Valley. Once on the ground at LAX I picked up my rental car and revisited some of the places that I use to live. I headed to Redondo Beach first; it was still pretty early in the AM and the beach was deserted so I changed clothes in the car and headed out for a dip in the refreshing (freezing) water. Ahhhh… I've missed this place so much. It was so strange to walk down streets that you haven't walked down in years, everything seemed pretty much the same except smaller. Make sense? I walked down in the ravine that I use to play in, I drove the neighborhood and then headed down to the cliffs. It's so beautiful here and the cliffs remind me of Ireland, green grass and crashing waves. Next, fearing Friday afternoon traffic would be bad, I headed up to Hollywood and Silverlake so I'd be in the neighborhood for the Biirdie show at Tangier. My first stop was Guitar Center and a soon as I walked in Billy Gibbons was standing directly in front of me. I said hello and reintroduced myself to him. We've met before. My friend Lance and I sold him a guitar and an amp 10 years ago. Believe it or not he remembered, or at least he acted like he did. I headed out to Tangiers in Silverlake where I was greeted by Jared from Biirdie as soon as I popped in. It was great to see a familiar face. He introduced me to Kala, John. They hit the stage and sounded great. They played a few great new songs and some new arrangements of some of my favorites, the crowd loved them. Next up was Court & Spark, a folk band, they were from San Francisco and I enjoyed them. The Autumn Defense, featuring John Striatt from Wilco, closed out the night. They sounded great and the crowd hung on every word. As you can imagine there was more than a few Wilco t-shirts in the crowd. After the show I headed over to my friend Mike's place and called it a night.
On Saturday Mike chauffeured me all over town. We dropped by a ton of places so I'll just ramble off a list! The Rose Bowl, Frank Lloyd Wright's G. M. Millard House, The Hollywood strip, The Sunset Strip, Voltage Guitars, lunch at Jack in the Box, Amoeba Music (I picked up some CDs for the trip), The La Brea Tar Pits, LACMA. We also drove through the hills, saw The Gamble House from Back to the Future, the Warner Brother, CBS, and Disney Studios and a bunch of other places. Good stuff.
Sunday wound down as quick at the sunset on Palos Verdes Peninsula. I did a ton of stuff today, not everything that I wanted to do but enough was enough. I'm sitting in the old shopping plaza that I use to come to as a kid to get sugar cookies with a big blob of chocolate on top. The sunset was amazing as the r/c gliders slipped back and forth between the sinking sun and the seagulls that were scrambling for cover. I got up pretty early. Mike had a shoot down south for the Sean Lennon video. I can't wait to see the finished product! OK, here's another list of what I did. I headed down to the Rose Bowl for their bi-monthly flea market. Next I located Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House. It sits on the top of a hill next on a crazy, winding road. The house is in quite a bit of disrepair but the pure size and scale of the house makes it breathtaking. I headed down to the Hollyhock House, another Frank Lloyd Wright house sitting on a hill that opposes the Ennis House, the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign. I got there too early for the official tour so I drove around, took a few shots and headed down to Hollywood. I parked near Grauman's Chinese Theater and walked the district. Next stop, the Santa Monica Pier. The memories came flooding back. I headed back to San Pedro and found the place where my Dad and I use to go explore the tide pools. Point Ferman Park was exactly as I remember it. The climb down the hill was treacherous but well worth the risk. I hope they don't mind but I took a small souvenir, a small sand and surf polished stone. Back up at the top of the cliff the r/c airplanes were flying as the sun was heading out. Suddenly I was 8 again. It was such fun watching them swoop around in the sky. Seagulls were chased around and one of the planes crashed into the side of the cliffs. I'd wanted to head down to the Fonda Theater to see Jeff Tweedy this evening but it's sold out and I'm beat.
On Monday I got up early and headed towards the Getty Museum but it was closed on Monday so I turned it around and made tracks for The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The feature exhibit, called Sonic Scenery, featured prerecorded music that is meant to be listened to while viewing specific exhibits. Some of my favorite selections were from Nels Cline (Wilco), David J, The Sun Ra Arkestra and Ozomatli. Mike called and I headed over to the Sean Lennon video shoot. I had the opportunity to be in the video but they already had enough extras unfortunately. How cool would that have been! It was fun to see them film a scene and I can't wait to see the finished product. I headed back down to Palos Verdes for an early dinner and a final sunset before stopping by the beach one more time before heading to LAX and back to Indy on the red eye. I hope I see you soon, I hope I see you soon. (Photos)
02/09/2006 - Despite my cold I had a fun time in Indy this week hanging with friends and working hard. I'm off to California in the morning for a long weekend and I'm anxious to see old friends and old haunts.
01/06/2006 - So, what have I been up to? Too much. I'm currently sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting for my flight to Indianapolis to board. Flights are delayed this morning because of the weather, we had some snow last night and it's creating some airborne traffic congestion apparently. I trashed my cell phone in the parking garage this morning which completely sucks as I won't be back in town for about two weeks so I'm going to have to pick up one of those "pay-as-you-go" phones tomorrow just to have something to use until I get back home. Any recommendations? Last week in Indy was hectic and fun. I got a chance to take in a game by the Pacers and Lakers on Wednesday night at the Conseco Fieldhouse. It was a 30-point blowout! I finally got to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind too, what a great film! Friday, I headed up to Chicago, it was rainy and nasty out and I got to the Art Institute 1 hour early because of the time change so I walked around Millennium Park and ended up at the Virgin MegaStore up on Michigan. It started to snow as I headed back and it was a beautiful. The Art Institute was amazing, I walked every inch of the place and loved it. Next, I headed south to the Hyde Park district where the University of Chicago is located to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Frederick C. Robie House. The next tour wasn't for two hours so I walked around the site alone. The house is currently being renovated, and there were missing windows and obvious construction everywhere. Eventually I headed back to Atlanta on Friday night, had some drinks with friends at the Thinking Man and called it a (late) night. Saturday I drove over to Birmingham, AL to see John Strohm from the Blake Babies rock a set at the Workplay. He played a fun, laid back set full of jokes and spontaneity. I had some down time on Sunday which I needed and ended up watching some of the Super Bowl with friends. Sadly I fell asleep before the 4th quarter. I'm lame. I think I'm catching a cold too. (Photos)
01/30/2006 - I'm on the way to Indy again this week and I'm just back from a very brief weekend in Florida. I rolled into St. Pete on Friday in time to grab dinner with friends and see Hugh play a fun show at the Bombshell Gallery with Kevin K. After the show we headed down to the Emerald but it was so packed we headed over the Globe for coffee instead. Eventually we filled out and I stopped in at the Independent for a beer and then I caught a few fun tunes by the Paper Stanleys at the Rare Olive before heading out. Saturday during the day I had Sparky's Nightmare practice and then, later that night, I headed down to Jannus Landing with friends to see Son Volt tear the place up with Shannon McNally opening up, good stuff. I ended up at the Globe again that night, I got there just as Crash Mitchell was finishing a set of acoustic tunes. Sunday I headed to Kissimmee for the Orlando Vintage Guitar Expo. I was disappointed by the selection of guitars, I don't think I'll bother going to the one next year if all there is going to be is $300,000 Les Pauls and $1,000 Kay acoustics.
01/24/2006 - It's Tuesday night and I'm in Indy. I've just surfed over to the SXSW website, perused the list of bands playing, and I can't freaking wait to go! Here's my list of "must sees" so far... Judah Bauer, Brazilian Girls, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Calla, Cat Power, Centro-matic, The Charlatans, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Clem Snide, The Datsuns, Echo & The Bunnymen, Elefant, The Giraffes, The Go! Team, Sarah Harmer, Harry Shearer's "Le Show Live", IMA (Matt and the boys from St. Pete!!!), Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Mary Lou Lord, Lucero, The Magic Numbers, Charlotte Martin, Rhett Miller, Modern Skirts, Nada Surf, The New Pornographers, Nine Black Alps, Of Montreal, OK GO, Over the Rhine, Glen Phillips, The Plimsouls, Portastatic, The Secret Machines, Jules Shear, Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3, and John Vanderslice. Hell yeah!
01/22/2006 - For the most part this last weekend was pretty laid back by anyone's standards. I met with friends on Friday night out at Smith's Olde Bar to see Red Letter Agent, A fir-ju well, and Evoka. The guys from Bain Mattox were in attendance and it was fun to hang with them and catch up a little. Thanks for the beer Andy. As for the rest of the weekend? There was nothing going on except some nasty weather and the sudden and heartbreaking loss of Berkeley, one of the cats here at the house. R.I.P.
01/20/2006 - I'm back in Atlanta for a brief weekend, then back to Indy and I'll be in St. Pete for a whole day next weekend. God I love driving. As promised, here's a few photos from my show at Locals Only. They're a little blurry, but I was too that night. (Photos)
01/18/2006 - "Can you play on February 1st? We're having a 'best of" night at the club and we'd like you to play." To say I was flattered would be an understatement. Tonight's solo show at Locals Only was a really good time. It's a cool club just south of the Keystone Mall off of 56th Avenue in Indianapolis with some great musicians and friendly folks in the crowd. I got there pretty early, Jethro signed me up, and I played first to a nice crowd of friends and locals. I'll definitely play there again sometime soon. Thanks again to everyone that made it out! I'll post some photos this weekend.
01/15/2006 - The weekend sputters to an end, cough, cough, or is it my allergies? I'm in early in preparation for my early morning flight up to Indy. This weekend I went to a great holiday party on Saturday night at the 755 Club at Turner Field. The entire stadium was lit up and the view out onto the diamond was fantastic! I got to partake in some more studio work this week in Atlanta with James. It was fun to try some different things and it's always cool to be exposed to some different music and get an opportunity to play on it. There are some new dates on the shows calendar, The James Salter Band is going to be playing the April 1st show at Dave's and I'm going to be playing a solo set on the April 6th show. This Wednesday night I'm going to play at a new club up in Indy called Locals Only, it should be a good time and I'll try and post some photos. OK, I'm off, I'll catch up with everyone later this week.
01/14/2006 - My travel plans for Ireland in February got scrapped. Time was an issue so I'll just try and make it there in the late Summer or Fall. That however has not deterred me one bit from taking a vacation. I'm heading out to L.A.
01/01/2006 - My 10 days down in Florida have been a blur, today especially, as I ran around all day getting ready for my big final move into my new place in Atlanta not to mention I was helping my Mom move into her new place, my old house. I'm sleepy, I'm sore, and I gained 10 pounds this week, but thankfully I'm not hung over from last night's fun. Here's a quick breakdown of what I was up to while I was in the Sunshine State.
Thursday: Flew in to Atlanta from Indy and had drinks with friends at the Inman Park Patio and the Brick Store Pub in Decatur. Friday: Drove down to Florida with a newly busted muffler on the Civic dragging on the ground throwing sparks. That night was the Holiday Hootenanny Show at The Globe Coffee Lounge hosted by Bob Anthony. Sam, Natty, and Hugh were playing and they invited me to join them and play some old tunes that I didn't know. Also performing that night were Kenny Howes, Dean Johanesen and lots of talented folks at the open mic. I played a brief solo set and enjoyed some coffee and some sangria. Saturday: Hung with friends and watched the Bucs beat the Falcons in the craziest overtime game I have even seen. Later that night I got together with friends for Christmas Eve drinks and fun conversations. Sunday: I spent Christmas with family. That night I went to a great show at the New World Brewery with My Own America, Tomorrow, Pohgoh and Scrog. What an amazing time, there were so many people that I hadn't seen in years and the show was very moving. A guy got his collarbone broken during the Scrog set so it was just like the old Stone Lounge days. Monday: I played a solo show at The Globe with James McFarland, I played a crummy set but Tina and Stacy we're there to cheer me on. Tuesday: Rebekah Pulley played at the Globe. She pulled Natty and I up to play Angel from Montgomery and then I sang High School Drunk. Justin Beckler played after Rebekah and was pretty fun. We all drank sangria and Elen got us hooked on Su Doku. Later, I tried to turn on my TV with my TI-83 calculator from college with limited success. Wednesday: Stacy and I headed over to the Dumbwaiters show at the New World Brewery and had a great time. Thursday: A big group of us headed up to Limey's for food and drinks, the Cuban Sandwich Crisis sounded great, and we closed down the pub. Friday: Tonight was the grand opening of the Bombshell Gallery owned by Gina Vivinetto. I had a great time, Giddy Up Helicopter!, and The Peabodies played, it was great to hang with the old St. Pete crowd for the evening. Saturday: New Year's Eve. A group of us had dinner and then most of us headed over to the Bombshell Gallery again, and before I knew it, it was midnight, fireworks were going off downtown, X was blasting on TV via the DVD player and at one point we were all playing congas. Sunday: Moving day. All day. So sleepy. So tired. Heading back to ATL in the morning. Farewell St. Pete, I'll see you when I see you. Thanks for a great holiday break. (I'm trying out a new photo album style, let me know how you like it - photos from the holidays)
01/01/2006 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!