Idiot's Guide to Gigging.

As I am writing this blog, my mind is re-capping the events that happened last night on a gig. I am only going to touch on the topic and details, because I am seriously thinking about writing a instructional manual on gigging.

Lesson 1 - Bring two of everyting. Eventually, when you least likely suspect, your gear (guitars, bass, drums, cables, speakers, etc.) is going to not have a good day. It may be a simple fix, like batteries or a cable, or something major like wiring of said instruments. Point is, you will spend more time looking and feeling like a moron attempting to suss out the faulty instrument, or you can simply grab the back-up.

Lesson 2 - Show up extra early to gigs. This not only helps you in the sense of having ample time to set-up, soundcheck, eat and freshen-up...but it allows you time to drive around town to find a suitable back-up instrument in the likely event that it shall fail. (SEE ABOVE)

More to come in the book. Right nmow I'm off to fix gear for tonight. Cheers!

Pat Travers - "FIDELIS"

Pat Travers released his new record entitled "FIDELIS" this month. I am fortunate enough to have a few tracks of drumming on this record....thanks Pat. You can here me on tracks 2, 3, and 9. I had a great time recording this record with Pat and the boys. Special thanks goes out to Steve Thompson, Steve Chauley, John Breau and Alexus Records.

You can preview and purchase FIDELIS here:

RHPD Session

Once again I find myself recording with the best damn Aussies I know The Red Hot Poker Dots.

Ray Anonymous and Odette Montana have asked me once again to lend them my percussive swagger for their forthcoming album. All I can say is the songs are better than ever. recently we were in the studio for 4 days and I had a blast. Here is a picture of the drums I used on the session.

1964 Ludwig Club Date

• 13 Rack
• 16 Floor
• 22 Bass
• 14 BLACK BEAUTY SNARE
• Paiste Cymbals (various)
• Aquarian Drumheads

Swampy Tonk Avenue

AWESOME!

The Red Hot Poker Dots have released their album entitled "Swampy Tonk Avenue" on Rhythm Bomb Records. I recorded with the band last April for this album. Please visit the bands website to purchase. It's Swampy!

http://www.redhotpokerdots.com/home.html

2010 Is Finally Here

OK..so I just realized that I haven't posted since last year. OK it was last summer. Well it was many months ago. It was the recession. Yeah, that is my excuse... the recession.



I have been keeping busy during the months with many activities including writing new music with various artists, buying a home, enjoying the age of 30, watching football and enjoying the holidays. I have been working very hard and diligent with music trying to create the best possible material in whatever medium I find myself in. I have been fortunate to be playing many different genre's of music including country, rock, blues, rockabilly, acoustic, just to name a few.


I recently attended The NAMM Show on behalf of Ludwig Drums.. As always I enjoyed the show. It is always great to see friends in the biz that I rarely see due to touring life. Some highlights were watching legendary drummer Bernard Purdie play to a packed Hilton lobby while enjoying some beverages with great drummers and friends, watching a private concert of Ted Nugent with Derrick St. Holmes, taking part in a photo shoot for Modern Drummer with Ludwig artists and seeing all the NEW gear before it hits the shelves!

More to come.

April Through May

It's early and I have been saturating my brain throughout the day with digital info. I have tweeted, MySpaced, blogged, updated, downsized, G-chatted, and just about every other form of digital communication I understand. Point is I am getting tired.

So what's new?

No Address is busy, busy, busy. We had rehearsals all weekend long, which coincided with my birthday, and even managed a photo session. We have a show coming up in May (see below).

Oh yeah, I had a birthday. So I am 25 AGAIN! Funny how that happens.

More to come. As I mentioned earlier I am tired.

January & February / Sessions & Such

Hello.

It has been 2 months since my last blog and I have been keeping pretty busy. Here are some things that I have been working on.

NO ADDRESS - If you don't already know it, No Address is alive and working again. The band had another writing / recording session in February and we wrote 4 new tunes. We do have another session booked for later this month. Hopefully we will have enough songs for a new record this year. We also have a YouTube page with various videos from the past and present. I invite you to check it out. www.youtube.com/noaddy09

SESSIONS - In addition to the session with No Address, I recently recorded 9 songs for an Australian duo called The Red Hot Poker Dots. http://www.redhotpokerdots.com/

The group is affectionately dubbed as "Swampy Tonk". I had so much fun on this session. The songs were fantastic, funny and well crafted. I am excited to hear the finished album.

DRUMS - Wow! I have been using my 1964 Ludwig's on the last 2 sessions, as well as various gigs, and I absolutely love them. They are vintage 3 ply shells mahogany/poplar/mahogany and sound amazing. The engineers and producers have all commented on their "vintage" sound. Below are some pics of the drums in different studio/microphone configurations. Sorry for the dodgy photo taken from my Blackberry.

NO ADDRESS SESSION

VISION SOUND STUDIOS - ORANGE PARK, FL

Bass Drum – Shure Beta 52
Snare Top – Shure SM57
Snare Bottom – Shure SM 57
Toms – Sennheiser 421
Overheads – AKG 414
Room – Blue Blueberry
Cymbals – Neumann KM 184

RED HOT POKER DOT SESSION

OZONE STUDIOS - JACKSONVILLE, FL.

(notice the blanket on the bass drum used for isolation purposes)

Bass Drum – Shure Beta 52
Snare Top – Shure SM 58
Snare Bottom – Sennheiser e604
Toms - Sennheiser e604
Overheads – Sennheiser c1000