2009

Happy New Year.

So here is a short re-cap of the last few weeks for me.

December is a big month for me. Before I have a chance to recover from Turkey Day, my wife's birthday starts off the month. A week later is my father's b-day. Then I get a couple of weeks before what Fred Sanford would describe as "the big one". Well kinda...I think Fred was speaking of a heart attack, but you all know what I mean. Then I have a few days off before New Years Eve, (which ALL musicians are required by the law of the universe to work).

I hope I am not coming off sounding grumpy. What I am trying to say is I had a wonderful holiday and hope you did too. I thank everyone who sent me holiday wishes with cards and the "new hottest" method of text messages. I also got a new fishing pole for Christmas (thanks Aunt Cathy). Oh, and a new (old) set of 1964 Ludwig's.

Lately I have been gigging with a guy named Mike Lyons. I will be doing select dates around Jacksonville with him while the season is slow.

No Address is really happening. It is truly an exceptional thing. The band should be doing more writing / sessions this month.

Ben Lauren's solo record is coming right along. He has some wonderful musicians playing on his record. Check Ben's blog http://www.benlauren.blogspot.com/ for updates.

Other than all that, the Jaguars had a horrible season and are not in the playoffs. Oh well, I suppose neither is Dallas!! (that's for you Jerry)

I hope everyone has a wonderful new year ahead of them. Please tell someone everyday that you love/appreciate/like/ them. And try to walk at least 10,000 steps. Oh, and don't worry about the economy or your own financial situation/ disaster......everyone is in the same boat!!!

No Address Session

Well. It has been almost 3 weeks of not touring and I am finally settling into "normal" life. I am now a full-time baby tech. It is easier for me to make comparisons of my at home life with my working (touring) life for the 1st month or so. It's funny because my 9 month old son is on a pretty regimented schedule as far as feeding and sleeping goes, so that compares to the monotonous schedule of touring. I find these similarities amusing.

On another note, No address rocked last weekend. It actually happened. Ben, Justin, Phil and myself scheduled 2 nights of writing and recording at 2 secret locations in Florida. We had no outside influence or pressure, which was awesome, and we were able to be creative in that No address kind of way. It is hard to explain, so I'll just say that the magic is still there. Unfortunately I was not feeling very well the 2nd night, but that did not stop our progress.

In the end we were able to work out somewhere between 7-10 new songs. That is no small feat for a band given the time. I am going to be working with Justin on the mixes shortly. I will know more then. As for the rest of the fellows, I believe that we are excited as to what could possible come in the future. Time will only tell. I have learned not to be selfish and prematurely rush these things.

There will be more to come. Here is a low light photo I took from my Blackberry. It shows my drums in my favorite studio mic set-up. You can't reall see, but there are 4 mics on my drums. Kick, snare, and 2 overheads.

Ok...so I never kept a diary.

Well...it seems that I suck pretty hard at this blogging thing. I was attempting to blog about the tour regularly and it seems that I have come up short. In fact I have been home 4 days from the tour, and I just thought to myself maybe I should post a blog.

Here is a list of the dates I did on this last run.

10/01 Charlotte, NC
10/02 Atlanta, GA
10/03 Orlando, FL
10/04 Miami, FL
10/05 St. Petersburg, FL
10/07 Dallas, TX
10/08 Houston, TX
10/09 Austin, TX
10/11 Tempe, AZ
10/14 Las Vegas, NV
10/15 Los Angelas, CA
10/16 Los Angelas, CA
10/17 San Diego, CA
10/18 Anahiem, CA
10/19 San Fransisco, CA
10/21 Vancouver, B.C.
10/22 Seattle, WA
10/23 Portland, OR
10/25 Salt Lake City, UT
10/26 Denver, CO

I will try to blog about some of the highlights after my brain digests them for a bit. There were plenty of great times, great tunes, awesome fans and insane adventures and parties! Thanks to all the guys in Carolina Liar for the opportunity. Special thanks to Sam Cole and the one and only Bill Handlin....I love you man!

Austin, Tempe, Vegas, Los Angelas

Wow! What a week I have had. Since my last blog I have played in 4 different cities, have travelled over 1700 miles, have had way too much fun in Vegas and rocked to some killer crowds. The boys and I have just been having a blast on this tour so far. Here is a recap of what has happened.



10/9/08 AUSTIN, TX -Emo's

This was my first time in Austin. What a cool little rock and roll town. The venue we played is called Emo's. It was a dilapidated old building that was kinda outside. The place reminded me of Jannus Landing in St. Petersburg, Fl. Austin has a funky vibe that I enjoyed. The crowd was fantastic. I believe the audience really appreciates music, so that always makes for a good time. The monitor problems I was experiencing were solved and I had the best mix so far.



10/11/2008 TEMPE, AZ - Marquee Theater

Well we drove for around 15 hours in the van to get here. That is always fun. We arrived at the gig and I took my usual tour of the club. The Theater is unlike most theaters I have played. This place was a 1 story big open room with concrete floors. Although we had a good gig, the band seemed to not be "feeling" it. I thought we played fine...I guess things can seem weird on the stage after being cooped up in the van for over 1000 miles in one day. That night we drove into Las Vegas. We would spend the next 3 days in Vegas. here is a clip from the show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgWw_LchXQs

10/14/2008 LAS VEGAS, NV - House Of Blues/Mandalay Bay

This show was exciting for me because I had not played this H.O.B. before. After having 2 days off in Vegas, the show was work for me. I did enjoy playing the show, but it was work. The dry desert air is somewhat foreign to a Florida boy and makes for a dry mouth during the set. I would like to state that I am in no way complaining about what I do....I LOVE playing the drums. Sometimes it is harder than other nights. Boo-hoo, poor little rockstar! Well I did have a great time, and the show went well. I am enjoying the company of the other band members on the tour and we all seem to be having fun. All the guys and girls from We the Kings and Hey Monday are Florida natives like me, so we do have lots in common. That night we drove to LA. Sorry, I cannot disclose anymore info about Vegas, you know the saying!

10/15/2008 LOS ANGELAS, CA - House Of Blues

Back at the H.O.B. This time we are at the one in LA. which seems to have the smallest stage of all the H.O.B. clubs. Earlier in the day the band played an acoustic showcase at the radio station. We played 4 songs for station winners. We should have audio and video from the show soon. Back to the H.O.B. Because we are in LA the guest list for the show was 3 miles long, and there was a continuous party backstage all night consisting of friends, industry peeps, record label peeps, endorser peeps and I'm sure some people who happened to sneak in. We shared a dressing room w/ Hey Monday so both bands shared hospitality which means all the beer was gone in about 1 hour. Like I said there were lot's of guests backstage. The show was by far the best show of the tour so far. All bands performed great to an enthusiastic LA crowd. The Academy Is were awesome I thought.

Now here comes the fun part. Chad happens to have a totally rock-n-roll house nestled in the hills of Laurel Canyon. Well we had a party to rival all parties after the show at the house. I was acting bartender/cheerleader of the shots/insane margarita manufacturer. I did not leave the kitchen except to make last call. Our TM was the acting shuttle driver for 7 solid hours making it possible for all the bands and crew to safely make it to the house from their buses and hotel rooms. We are a responsible bunch if nothing. In addition to the entire touring party it seems as if half the club showed up as well. I made drinks for 4-5 solid hours and had a blast doing it. Some party highlights were.....well never mind all that. Let's just say it was everything that a Hollywood Hills rock party should be. Too much fun.

House Of Blues, Dallas Texas

So as promised I am back to blog about the shows, events, etc. Tonight was a good show, but as usual something always happens. Tonight I had some technical problems. Without sounding to "techy" I will try to explain. I use a little mixer on stage to input a stereo mix from the monitors. I also input the signal from my click track. Then I plug my In-Ear monitors into the headphone output of the mixer. That is how I am doing my monitors on this tour.

So tonight, when I was line checking the drums, every time I kicked the bass drum my in-ear monitors distorted. Sam, our trusty monitor engineer, figured out that the mixer I am using is F.U.B.A.R.D. If you don't know what that means...Google it! In the end this means I will be figuring out a new way to have monitors, or going to my favorite store ever....GUITAR CENTER!

All B/S aside, we had a very good show. The show was not sold out,(which is weird for this tour) but the crowd was enthusiastic. Chad sang very good, and the band played well. I am backstage right now blogging as The Academy Is are performing.

So I am getting to know the bands and crew a little bit more each day. Of course, I have spent the most time with all the drummers and drum techs, but everyone is really accommodating and pleasant to work with. I really am starting to enjoy all the music from the bands. I must admit I was not familiar with any of the material from the bands, but I assure you it is quite good.

We are heading to Austin tonight. I will update soon.

New tour, New posts

Wow!

I just realized I have not updated my blog since the start of this new tour. I'm slacking. Well I am gonna try to keep updating my blog as much as possible. Here is a short recap of what my world has been like. I started about 10 days ago in Charlotte, NC. We rehearsed for 3 days and the 1st show of the tour was in Charlotte. We then played the following cities:

Atlanta
Orlando
Miami
St. Petersburg
Houston

And tonight we are in the "Big D" a.k.a. Dallas. The shows have been great. the bands we are out with are very good and nice guys to boot. I am trying to remember some highlights.....all I can remember is I almost tore off my right thumb on the trailer door. It hurt VERY bad. the pain has subsided, but I have a terrible bruised thumbnail.

I will have more updates...I promise. Right now I have to start warming up for tonights show. More to come.

Beale Street, Blues, Ribs and Graceland

Hello,



So I have been hanging in Memphis for the last 3 days. We played a show tonight at the Delta Fair and Music Festival. It was a small turnout (due largely in part to weather from Gustav) but they were enthusiastic. There is nothing quite like dancing in the mud.



But....last night Chad, Johan, Chuck and myself ventured down to Beale Street and did the waltz. We also toured the Gibson guitar factory which was pretty neat. We ate at a funky little joint called Rendezvous and it was literally some of the best ribs I have ever had the pleasure to eat. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone serious about ribs.



This morning the whole gang, including Chuck from Atlantic, visited Graceland. Wow! If you ever had any thoughts of being a "rockstar" or if you ever need your ego to be put in check, you should visit Graceland. All I can say is "all hail the king"! Elvis was and will forever be the "King". He was the 1st to do everything. Oh, and he has a building to house all of his gold and platinum records and awards....no.... make that two buildings!



So we are off in a few hours to Chicago. Over & out.