It's Such A Perfect Day

Sit back and close your eyes. Now, try to imagine your best day. OK, Open your eyes again. OK! OK! Open your eyes! Awww, man this was a dumb way to start a post.

I'm just going to assume that you opened your eyes and I'll start again.

On Saturday, I had a perfect day. When I woke up, my back was killing me and it was raining. How's that for a good start?

After a bagel and iced-tea from my favorite bagel and iced-tea joint, I was picked up by Brian and Jason and we headed over to the Umass campus to do a little in-studio appearance at WMUA. It'd been a long time since I had been in the campus center concourse and I was happy to see that not much had really changed. There were some differences certainly but the general over-all feel of the place was the same. It was a dreamy stroll through my past as we made our way down the escalators and passed the orange and yellow sofas and mural paintings on the way to the WMUA studio.

We met Oliver and Beth who host the show and we all set ourselves up around the microphones with our headphones and acoustic guitars and ukulele and melodica and little keyboard and snare drum and cowbell. The studio was small and cozy and we spent the next couple of hours talking and playing music. I remarked, "I could do this all day".

You can download and listen to the show here: WMUA - Rub Wrongways for a limited time.

When we were finished, we strolled back to the parking garage and headed home, I asked Brian if he could drop me off in town so I could get some lunch, but he said he needed to get a high-hat from my house first and he would take me town later. That'll work out for me, I thought, I can grab an umbrella and a book.

As we pulled up to my house, I saw a number of cars in the driveway and lining the street. What the?!

Brian and Jason seemed nonplussed by the cars everywhere and very quietly walked up to the house with the equipment. It started to dawn on me what was happening. When I stepped inside, I could see some orange and blue balloons outside and also what looked like a giant white tent. I crept up the stairs and jumped out on the deck. The back yard was full of people who all yelled "surprise!". The back yard was completely transformed from when I had left it only two and half hours earlier. There were two tents, fifty chairs, tables of food, balloons, and kids running around.

I think my face was blushed as I walked down the stairs into the party. Max was crouching down hiding behind the deck snapping photos as I scanned across the tables of my friends. Then I saw my brother Norbert and his family, Darlene, Zane, and Ayla. Then I saw my parents and then Lesa's family. "Woah", I thought. This is a big party. People traveled. I looked back over the tables and saw my friend Ian and his family. I turned around and saw my friend Matt walking up the driveway. "Crazy", I can't believe people came all the way out here. I looked back at the tables, faces started to jump out at me. Thane, Alex, Jody, Rick, Tony, Shelly, Jason, Emily, Ken, Sarah, Gwen, Emily, Lauri, Karen, Debbie, Benjamin, Dennis, Lauren, Brian, Eliza, Dave, Kelsey, Max, Anya, Miles, Ian, Vicky, Aiden, Norbert, Darlene, Zane, Ayla, Cord, Elin, Ed, Betty, Carl, Judy, Chris, Matt, and Jason and Brian laughing behind me. And standing in the middle, beaming, was Lesa - who, I'm guessing, was breathing a huge sigh of relief that she managed to pull this off with me being 100% surprised.

I walked around from table to table saying hello to everyone. People started milling about. There were snacks and barbecuing (Lesa's family had transformed our garage into a full-on outdoor kitchen with three cooking stations going). There were coolers everywhere. Soon some more friends walked in like Ryan, Philip, Flora, Mark, David, Brad, Amanda, and Ashton. Well, Ashton didn't walk. He was carried. Clumsy baby.

I sat down at one of the tables and Brian stuck a laminated book in front of me. It turns out that he had contacted many people and asked them to write a page for me. Max then did a hilarious job of adding high-school yearbook type graphics to it. I read the whole thing in one sitting while around me people were working on the themed crossword that Brian and Karen had made.

Inside there was a giant bowl of personalized M&Ms. Half of them had my name and birth date on them, the other half said "uncomfortable". They came from Lauri Mac. There was also a giant plate of brownies that Debbie brought, cookies from Darlene, a cherry pie from my mom, and an amazing chocolate cake that Emily created. There were snacks and people everywhere.

Outside, there was a wonderful mix of music playing that Brian had made. So for the next few hours, I strolled around from person to person, catching up and joking around. I played with some kids, I ate some great barbecue (cooked by Carl and Chris) and marveled at all the work the Bezo family had done to clean up the yard and get everything organized.

When the eating was done, I lit a fire in the fire pit and sat there just letting everything sink in. Just a few hours earlier, I had thought that I was at the high point of my week in the radio studio and now here I was surrounded by friends and family and feeling the warmth of the fire while the crickets, my crickets, chirped all around me.

Can you even imagine somebody going through all of that work and planning for you? Award of the century goes to Lesa Bezo for pulling off the secret event of the ages.

....and guess what? My perfect day wasn't over.

After most people had left, a few of us settled inside in front of the TV for a little Red Sox action and some conversation...which lead into an impromptu watching of the first episode of Summer Heights High (a DVD gift). After a half hour of non-stop laughing, we all jumped up and drove down to The Elevens to see a concert by Spanish for Hitchhiking.

At the club, I ran into many more birthday wishers and I collapsed into the soft red sofa in front of the stage, feeling exhausted, and took in the entire Spanish set. They were so great. I had forgotten how much I missed seeing them play. Dennis' new songs were excellent and the old ones were welcome friends and when they were at there almost last song, Lesa leaned over and said, "I hope we're going to take the palace". Without missing a beat, the band played their huge hit single and we all sang along, "Tonight we take the palace!".

Fancy Trash then took the stage and one great concert was followed by another, the addition of Katie on pedal steel and dobro and harmonies transformed the band into a whole different realm. I dug the whole thing.

What a day. Thank you, everyone.

(PS. I closed my eyes and tried to picture everyone at the party while writing this. If I missed you, please forgive me. It was a lot to take in.)

Rub Radio and The Next Few Days

(pictured: Roger Salloom, Bill Dwight, Jaz Tupelo)

This morning Jason and I went down to Serio’s Market (where customers are friends and friends are customers) to take part in a live on-location radio broadcast. We were appearing on Bill Dwight’s show called The Bill Dwight Show on WHMP.

We spoke briefly about Wrongways Tuesdays and I played “Superhero”. Then Jason played “Rosamonde” on the ukulele and I sang back-ups and played the melodica. It was a lovely surreal experience to be playing in the produce department of this small neighborhood grocery.

There were bananas, peaches, onions, and us.

Tomorrow a bunch of us will be visiting the WMUA studios and playing some songs and talking about stuff. That show will air from 7-9:30 tomorrow night and we’ll be on for about an hour in there somewhere. You can stream it here: WMUA

Then tomorrow night there is Spanish for Hitchhiking and Fancy Trash at the Elevens.

Then next thing you know, it’s the first Wrongways Tuesday. On Tuesday at 7:00. Its free and you’ll be able to hear, Max and I as a duo, Sitting Next To Brian, and the awesome electro-dance-band Tasha Yar. Who boy, I can’t wait.

Lucky

This was a rare year in which I went to Transperformance as a spectator, and not a performer. In the weeks leading up to the event I've been feeling a sense of relief. Every year it's the same thing: first you spend weeks trying to figure out which band to portray; then another couple of weeks choosing songs. About a week before Transperformance you realize there are songs to learn and haphazard rehearsals are scheduled. The day of the event you can't believe you forgot to get the wig, coat or hot pants. Blah, who needs the stress? Not me.

But then today rolled around and I was suddenly struck with, "hey, how come we're not a part of this thing? I LOVE TRANSPERFORMANCE". It's ok, being an onlooker can be just as fun. I got into spectator mode, putting together a picnic, explaining to my son what TP was all about, charging the batteries for my camera. Then a text came through from Henning. "It's sold out". We had one foot out the door. A crisis with a small child was inevitable. We decided to walk to Look Park anyway. At least it's a fun park, and we'd be sure to hear all the fun everyone else was having.

(Lucky #1) I used my one Get Out Of Jail Free card and called in a favor to a sympathetic band, who said sure, be our honorary tambourine player. We waltzed in and were soon enjoying the trippy sounds of Peter Blanchette recreating Ravi Shankar. It was the most people I had seen at a Transperformance, but everyone seemed to be doing their best to recreate the hippie vibe. Minus a lot of illicit substances, but I'm sure there was some of that happening too. The Young at Heart Chorus is a hard living crowd after all.

(Lucky #2) I would hasten to guess that the majority of people who go have never heard of most of the local bands on stage. That may be an overstatement, but get this - of the 24 acts who performed tonight I hadn't heard of 9 of them. But Transperformance seems to be the one event that brings all the local bands together and makes everyone play nicely (together). Not that there is a lot of angst in the scene anyway, but it's a good reminder that the scene isn't just a bunch of indie rock bands. It encompasses a lot of talented musicians who work within a varied bunch of genres. I feel lucky to be a part of it all.

(Lucky #3) I loved the vibe, man, of Lookstock. This was the first year that I can remember where people were all over the place, spilling on to the stage, running around the woodsy area behind the stage, climbing on to the 50 foot speakers and jumping off (slight exaggeration, though there was crowd surfing). A few weeks ago I had walked the bike path in Florence and heard the band Page 6 working out Crosby Stills Nash and Young. I had never heard of Page 6, but they sounded ok. A little rusty, but definitely passable. Later tonight, after I had come home early to put the boy to bed, I went outside and caught the last song of their set. It was amazing. Even from a mile away it sounded like I was hearing CSNY live, with waves of people singing along in unison. I felt lucky to be living in this town.

If I could have changed one thing it would have been for SFTD to be Creedence Clearwater Revival, with Tony singing lead. Sure, the Winterpills were great as always, but Tony does a smashing John Fogerty. Just ask him.

Above is a picture of Jason Smith and our Brian rocking the Dead.

Singapore for the Dead

Our pal, Chris Collingwood, is about to head off to Singapore for a gig and this newspaper from there just published an article about him that featured a few mentions of School for the Dead. TodayOnline.

(photo by: Rick Murnane)

My number 12, I think.

Twelfth Consecutive Transperformance--Cripes. Yipes.
First one with no Henning...kind of sad. But we've been doing a lot of music lately, so I'll be hard pressed to even notice his absence.
Oh no I didn't.

Brian, how many bands have you portrayed in all those transperformances?
I don't know. There's probably a list of all the past themes somewhere, but even if I had it in front of me, I'd still not get all the acts.
But I've gotten to be many of my favorite bands: Velvet Underground, XTC, Beatles, Monkees...and I've gotten to be acts I don't feel one way or another about (and no that wasn't a reference to the Fawns doing Blondie, although it would have been clever if it was. It's more a reference to the Moody Blues and the Guess Who. But know what? Because I had no expectations for those, they ended up being two of my faves. I was told just the other day that there was a shooting star or a meteor shower or something durng the Steamtrain-as-Moody Blues. Trippy! ).

Why aren't any Henning-related bands doing it this year? Well, School For the Dead and the Fawns are both pop-song-oriented bands who like to keep their colors bright and their whites white and their hands and teeth and hair clean and smelling fresh.
None of these things were very important at Woodstock.
I'm not sure I would have enjoyed Woodstock. I can barely say the word "camping".
Anyway...

This year, in Henning's absence, I've gone ahead and decided to do two really grown up things: I'm donating my drum set as the house kit for the show and I'm growing my own facial hair.
I'm arriving with a mustache, playing the Grateful Dead (drummer Bill Kreutzmann), then will shave after that and do the Hendrix bit (drummer Mitch Mitchell) clean shaven. Now that's something. I think Ken Maiuri said he's doing something similar. Now that's something.

So who'm I doin' these thin's wit?
The Grateful Dead--billed as Bruce Mandaro and Friends. Bruce Mandaro is a very talented guitar player who did quite well in a band called Slipknot! (named after a Dead tune) , who then got their name taken away by the late 90's metal band of the same name. After that, they were The Knot.
So Bruce Mandaro and friends. Who are the friends? Scotty Hall (Drunk Stuntmen), Ernie Wilson (Big Bad Bollocks), Dave Houghton and Jason Smith (Fancy Trash) and me.
The Dead did not play well at Woodstock, due to a stage sinking into the muddy ground, bad grounding causing electrical shocks, and oh yeah, maybe perhaps they were just a wee bit high.
We're doing 3 songs in 12 minutes. Bite size portions of a Dead set.

And the Hendrix thing. Truth be told, Hendrix didn't really do that great of a show either at Woodstock. He played to "only" about 40,000 people (there had been 600, 000) because they were the last act on the last day, which really was the morning after the festival was supposed to be over.
He gave the band the off the cuff name "Gypsy Love and Flowers". It wasn't the Experience. Noel Redding had quit/was sacked a couple months before and Hendrix had extra percussionists and a rhythm guitar. I think they only did a gig or two with this extended (and unneeded) lineup.
So we're doing more of a Hendrix Experience thing--the trio. Don't go causing a fuss. It's F. Alex Johnson, Ken Maiuri and me. It will blow the unicorns out of the rivers of Jupiter's moons. I mean, you'll be sure to enjoy it. Now I gotta go shave into a mustache.

Here are clips of the acts we're Transperforming:

Hendrix

Dead




Transperformance 19: LookStock Lineup for Tuesday, August 25

4:00 – 4:10 – The Armenti Family Band and Klezamir as Country Joe Arlo

4:15 – 4:25 – Rick Murnane as John B. Sebastian

4:30 – 4:40 – The Mike Hooker Experience as Canned Heat

4:45 – 4:55 – The Dukes as Joe Cocker

5:00 – 5:10 – The Primate Fiasco as Woodstock Dixieland Medley

5:10 – 5:15 – Florence Community Band as Sha Na Na

5:15 – 5:25 – Rocker Panel, featuring Tom Kovar, as Ten Years After

5:25 – 5:30 – Florence Community Band as Sha Na Na

5:30 – 5:35 – Mayor Clare Higgins as Melanie

5:40 – 5:50 – Dad, Come Home! as The Band

5:55 – 6:05 – Peter Blanchette and Kenny Butler as Ravi Shankar

6:10 – 6:20 – Viva Quetzal as Santana

6:25 – 6:35 – The Nields as Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez

6:40 – 6:50 – King Radio as Blood, Sweat & Tears

6:55 – 7:05 – Evelyn Harris as Janis Joplin

7:10 – 7:20 – Moonlight and Morning Star & Miro Sprague as

Sly and the Family Stone

7:25 – 7:35 – Young@Heart as Jefferson Airplane

7:40 – 7:50 – Fistah as the Who

7:55 – 8:05 – Bruce Mandaro and Friends as Grateful Dead

8:10 – 8:20 – winterpills as Creedence Clearwater Revival

8:25 – 8:35 – F. Alex Johnson as Jimi Hendrix

8:40 – 8:50 – Rusty Belle as Mountain

8:55 – 9:05 – Page 6 as Crosby, Stills and Nash

9:10 – 9:20 – The Charlie Braun Band as Richie Havens

Ning's 40!

Henning's 40th....

Oh my. Henning, friend, bandmate, producer, comedic partner, is turning 40 today. Unreal.
"well, actually, Brian, it's not so unreal when you do the math.."
Ok, thanks left half of brain. But I'm trying to be creative here, so take a break.

Did I ever tell you all about the first time I remember interacting with Henning?
It was 1997, and The Figments were playing at Pearl Street, opening for The Lilys and New Radiant Storm King. Oh my, what a show. I was wearing an orange turtleneck because I didn't want Kurt from the Lilys to be the only embarassingly retro looking guy there.
Anyway, I wasn't feeling too great, and went out for some air, but instead went next door to the Baystate. There I saw Henning standing at the bar.Maybe it was Tuesday night.
I was a bit nervous to approach him, because we'd probably only interacted through social buffers like Lord Russ. Never one to one. And we're both a bit shy and mean looking.
In any case, I says to to Henning, I says:
"Hey, I listened to the Big Plans For Underachievers cassette in my car the other day. I really like it. Reminds me of a lot of things that I like."
Henning smiled and said "Thanks".
He was 29 probably. I was 25?
A bit before or after (who can remember? I'll have to dig up my journals..) we played music for the first time together. It was in a basement on Bardwell Ave, in Florence.
Pre Aloha Steamtrain. I don't know what we were thinking, but Lord Russ had gathered Henning, Matthew Zapruder and me. Henning was relatively new in town (see "I Was Thinking of a Time").
The only thing I remember playing was Harry Nilsson's "Me and My Arrow".
Who knew that that would be only the first time of a subsequent thousand something times that I'd be seated behind the drums watching Henning sing and play guitar? That we'd
appear at crazy places? Bars, theaters, dorms, enormous outdoor stages... We'd log thousands of miles driving to shows, play to crowds of 1 and 1000, from Boston to San Fran, That we'd record...oh man, I should figure this out. How many songs have Henning and I been on together? I'm gonna guess 138.
I do hope that I can be writing another one of these when he's 50 and I'm 36. I mean 46. Guh. And that we'll have recorded another 150 songs and played another 500 gigs.
Rest assured, neither of us will have pony tails, or wear hemp baseball hats with Armani Suits.
Will we?
Happy Birthday, Ning.

Goldwater - This Saturday - The Elevens - Northampton, MA

There is an article in the Valley Advocate today about the new band that Brian and I are a part of, Goldwater. We have our debut show this Saturday at The Elevens here in Northampton, MA.

Maybe you are a fan of the band The Figments. I know I am. Thane Thomsen is the man behind that band and he is also the man behind this band. We'll be playing songs from The Figments catalog, his amazing Rehab Massachusetts album, and some new specifically Goldwater designed songs. I'm playing bass, Brian is on drums, Scott Hall of Drunk Stuntmen is on keyboard, and Matt Cullen of Ware River Club and The Humming Field is on guitar. We're playing second on Saturday right after Mike Flood. Mike hasn't played around here in a while and he is always incredibly entertaining. He may even do a few songs with his band from his most recent record (Brian, Me, and Peyton Pinkerton). Peyton plays in New Radiant Storm King who are third on the bill. They are about to head out on a big national tour so catch them while you can. Rounding out the night will be Golden Bloom (Shawn Fogel) who just released a brand new album today!

Hope you can make it on Saturday. It's going to be a really great show I think.

And hey! Before you come to The Elevens, stop on over at The Basement where Spouse is playing an early show. Sheesh. Busy Saturday.

Recording, Learning, Discussing

We've been doing some recording at Rub Wrongways Studios during the last few days. First we had a nice long session with Bourgeois Heroes to record some string parts. Its always nice to have someone come in with a violin or cello. One of my favorite things is arranging parts and hearing them come together. In this situation, Jason, the violinist, and I all worked together in the arranging. Then yesterday, Brian and I recorded percussion and harmonies and a little keyboard for the upcoming Sitting Next To Brian record. I think its gonna be pretty great.

Meanwhile, I've also been trying to learn all these Goldwater songs on bass for our upcoming debut this Saturday (more details to come).

As a distraction from all that, I am currently having an online discussion on Facebook with a guy who basically called School for the Dead, pretentious, boring, and just blah. If you'd like to follow that thread you can do so right here: www.facebook.com/SchoolForTheDead. You might have to have a Facebook account, I'm not sure.

This Is The Kind Of Thing I Do

This is the kind of thing that I do.

I was in the little bagel and iced-tea cafe this morning, doing my usual thing, waiting in line. I reached into my pocket with my right hand and took out my wallet. I removed the three dollars that I would need when I placed my order and put the wallet and money into my left hand. Then I noticed there was a David Bowie song playing in the background. "Blue Jean," I thought.

Then I put my right hand into my pocket and freaked out because my wallet wasn't there. How would I pay?! I can't believe I left my wallet at home!

Then I remembered that I was actually still holding my wallet in my left hand and I thought, "This is the kind of thing that I do."

The Mocha Maya's MadLib

A while back I played a solo show at Mocha Maya's in Shelburne Falls, MA. During the course of the show, I and the audience did a MadLib that I had prepared. Here is the result.

It's Friday night and it is a SLOPPY May evening in Shelburne Falls, home of the Bridge of LAKES and the LASCIVIOUS Potholes. Inside a small cafe called SNAPPY Maya's, a group of NOTORIOUS people are sitting around listening to the LEAKY songs of a HAIRY and SNEAKY guy with a CREEPY guitar and a LAZY voice. The people sip BUBBLE BATHS from BUSES and some of them snack on TAPIOCA or ACORN SQUASH. The general mood in the room seems to be HAPPY.

Outside, an occasional DERELICT drives by and people RUN back and forth on the CANTANKEROUS sidewalk. Sometimes they stop and peer inside. When they hear the music they either ITCH and walk away or they IMPALE and stick around.

Suddenly, between songs, the SALTY performer whips out a piece of GENDER and starts asking the FLAKY audience to supply him with words. The crowd replies with some of the LUMPIEST words you've ever heard. Finally, when the performer has all the words he needs, he says, "OUCH! This is the SPACIEST MAdLib ever! It's called "An Abrupt Evening in Shelburne KITTENS."

My Time With the Winterpills and St. Vincent

Last night I played a show as a fill-in bassist with the Winterpills. We performed at Pearl Street in Northampton, Massachusetts on a bill with St. Vincent. I've played bass with the Winterpills a few times before and I really dig it. There's something about the simplicity of the parts and the groove that makes it very hypnotic for me. I feel more like part of a wall of sound than I do in other bands. I've also played with Philip Price (of Winterpills) in a few other situations. I was the keyboardist and the bassist in the Gay Potatoes which featured Philip, Chris Collingwood, Lloyd Cole, and Brian Marchese. I played keyboards with The Maggies (Philip's old band) when we were performing as Talking Heads once. Another time School for the Dead did a Beatles "Revolver" tribute show and Philip played and sang with us. I've worked a bit with Dennis Crommett (Winterpills guitar), too. He played on a Sitting Next To Brian song in my studio, I once took one of his acoustic demos and added instrumentation to it just for fun, and I've been a fan of his songwriting for a long time.

So, it was nice to be up there on the stage with these friends playing these songs that I know well. The audience was ridiculously nice and eager and receptive. They were squooshed up against the stage, faces lit by the overhead colored lights. I felt very at ease and in the moment and grateful to be there. Philip peppered our set with momentous reports on the day that he and I learned earlier on. August 6 was the day that Elliot Smith was born. He would have been my age (well, 15 days older) yesterday. It was also the day that Hiroshima was bombed by the U.S. And in the newest of news, it was the day, yesterday, when John Hughes died. If it were my show I would have played my song "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles", but as it was a Winterpills show, we played "Want The Want", which proved to be a devastating and mesmerizing tribute, at least from my perspective looking out over the crowd.

After our set, I stepped off the stage hoping for some relief from the oppressive heat and found none. The room must have been practically ninety degrees and getting hotter by the second. Eventually, St. Vincent took the stage. I am unfamiliar with the band, having only listened a little bit after finding out about the gig. I gotta say, though, they were pretty amazing. I have never heard the downstairs room at Pearl Street sound better and the arrangements were interesting and enthralling with the saxophone and clarinet and violin and samples and bass and drums and with Anne's killer guitar playing. It was an inspiring performance all around. It was one of the best shows I've seen this year and I didn't even know any of the songs (except for the crazy cover of "I Dig A Pony").

Thanks to you, if you were there. I hope you had as nice a time as I did.

Listening To Albums All The Way Through

I went on a long car ride this last weekend. Actually, I went on two long car rides. As I and my friend were just about to leave and I was getting ready to plug the ole iPhone into the radio and start up some long-haul shufflin', we discovered that, although the car had an "AUX" button, it didn't actually have an aux input. Gasp.

We went back inside and pushed the cobwebs back from my CD shelf and selected about ten discs. The car has a six disc changer so I loaded in all the CDs as we pulled out of the driveway. Then I hit the shuffle button. But the shuffle button would only shuffle one disc at a time. Gasp.

So, what did we do? We listened to ten CDs in full from start to finish. It was so last century...and it was pretty awesome. We stuck with some old favorite stand-by albums from our past since this whole trip was going to be steeped in nostalgia anyway. When I began making this same journey out into the nowheres of Maine with my friends, it was all about the cassette copy of albums. R.E.M.'s Chronic Town jumps out as a heavy rotator.

On this trip we listened to and sang along with:
XTC - English Settlement
Blur - Park Life
Freedy Johnston - This Perfect World
The Beatles - Revolver
Steely Dan - Aja
Simon and Garfunkle - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme
An R.E.M. mix CD
A Harry Nilsson mix CD
Django Rheinhardt Collection
They Might Be Giants - Apollo 18

These great old records skipped across the green rolling roadsides of Vermont and New Hampshire and Maine, alongside the car, like they were old friends traveling with us. I like albums.

Filling In With The Winterpills

This Thursday, Brian and I are sitting in with Winterpills for a show at Pearl Street in Northampton, MA. We'll be playing on a bill with St. Vincent. Do you know St. Vincent? I think it's going to be a good show. I played bass with the Winterpills a few years back for a short tour south and I enjoyed it very much. Their songs are really fun to play. Brian also filled in once on a similar tour. Now, we are both taking part. We're a package deal.

The practice went well. My fingers still remembered how to play some of the songs that I learned last time. It was smooth sailing learning the new songs, too, because I've been hearing a few of them on the radio daily and I've seen and heard them all performed at concerts so many times that they just feel natural to me.

The last time I played at Pear Street, I was filling in on bass with Spouse and before that I played glockenspiel with Winterpills for a song. I think before that it was with The Fawns at a Madonna tribute show. The Fawns were barely born at that point, a new young band to the area also played that show. They were called Bourgeois Heroes. Ah, memories.

Anyway, come on out to Pearl Street if you'd like. The show is this Thursday. Day after tomorrow.