Archive - August 2004

08-31-04: Today is the last day of my... I was going to say community service, but that makes it sound like I'm a criminal or something. Anyway, for the last two months I've been playing piano for the Meals For Many program in Plymouth. Today is the last day of their summer program. It's been a very cool thing to do; I've met a lot of good people, and it gave me a chance to play some of the softer stuff I don't get to play in bars. If you're in Plymouth, New Hampshire, and you need a free lunch, stop by the Congregational Church at noon for a sandwich and a song.
In other news, it may surprise some of you to find out that I am a frat boy. I spent some time in Worcester, Massachusetts in the early '90s, and took part in enough of the theatrical productions there to be inducted into the Rho Kappa cast of Alpha Psi Omega, the national honorary theater society. I just recently discovered their web site, and it brought back a lot of memories. I haven't done any theater since then, but I sure had a great time.
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08-30-04: Things didn't go as expected for No Limits with the gigs at the Paradise Beach Club this year. But we did just get a call from them asking if we could play this Sunday, September 5th. It turns out we all have the day free, so we'll be there. If REO Speedwagon, Journey, Billy Joel, and/or Bad Company are YOUR thing, then you should be there too.
Tomorrow is the scheduled unveiling of CoverFight. As mentioned before, this is where SongFighters cover other SongFighters' songs. I got a preview of Kamakura's cover of my 'Between The Rain', and I loved it. My cover of Dylan Nau's 'I Want To Get Better' will be there too, along with about fifty other covers of tunes you may never have heard in the first place. Of course, my more perceptive readers will already have gone to SongFight and downloaded the entire song archive, thereby treating themselves to the greatest stockpile of independent music on the web, and familiarizing themselves with the songs being covered here. So clever, you are. *wink*
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08-26-04: Things are kind of quiet this week. I'm putting the finishing touches on my cover of Dylan Nau's "I Want To Get Better" for the upcoming CoverFight. And No Limits is preparing for the annual Mass Ave. Block Party this Sunday.
There are three decent titles up at SongFight this week, and I've made it my personal challenge to write lyrics for all three. We'll see how far I get with that. Oh yeah, and I did album art for the current red fight, Por Favor. It was a rushed project, submitted merely because no one else had done so. But I like it.
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08-22-04: I'm on my way to meet Bob King. We're playing a private party in Holderness, NH this afternoon. We played for these people last year, and it was a blast. This year there's a drummer (Steve) sitting in with us. And we got a perfect day for it; the rain has let up, and it's sunny and 75 degrees. Awesome.
After the show, I might head over to the Sunset Grill for their open mic. We'll see how late the party goes. Probably not too late, since Bob King is the one running the open mic at the Grill.
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08-20-04: I spoke with someone at that agency I was talking about, and they said they weren't taking on any more performers because they have too many as it is. That's too bad. I hope it doesn't mean I simply won't be able to play at certain places in the area, but I suspect that's exactly the end result.
No matter; I'm still fully capable of pounding the pavement and booking my own work. In fact, I've been asked to come back to the Black Cat Cafe for a performance on Saturday, September 11. As before, I'll be on from 8:30pm to 11:30pm or so. I'm looking forward to going back.
And hey, if you know of anyplace that might be an appropriate venue for me to play, let me know!
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08-18-04: I've made a small change to my site; you can now leave comments, blog-style. See that link at the bottom of this post? Go on, don't be shy. Thanks to the good folks at Haloscan for their free service.
In other news, I was making the rounds last night, trying to book some gigs, and I'm told that a good portion of the area is being booked by an agency. I had no idea! It honestly never occurred to me. I'm going to have to look into this; maybe some representation would be good. I could spend less time looking for work, and more time playing music. Sounds okay to me, as long as I can still make enough money to justify the travel and whatnot. I'll let you know what comes of it.
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08-17-04: Thursday's No Limits show at the Paradise Beach Club has been CANCELLED. I don't really know what else to say about that. One of these days they'll have us back, but for now all we can do is scratch the dates off the list as they come up.
Since this frees up some midweek time, I'm going to put some effort into recording. Maybe a SongFight piece, maybe some backtrack work for my live sets. We'll see where the muse takes me, I guess.
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08-15-04: The Black Cat Cafe show was a lot of fun. It's really a nice little place. I hope they invite me back. It wasn't real busy, but the crowd was enthusiastic enough. I got a couple songs recorded; I've posted a cover of Glenn Case's Space Man. Glenn's a regular SongFighter, and his original version of the song can be heard here. On my live version, the guitar ended up recording kind of thin and buzzy; I'm still working the bugs out. Getting better though...
No Limits is keeping their fingers crossed about this Thursday at the Paradise Beach Club. It'd be good to get back in there; it's such a great venue, and there's no better way to spend a Thursday night.
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08-13-04: I just got off the phone with the folks at the Black Cat Cafe in Laconia, NH. I had dropped off a demo there yesterday, and they called to ask if I could play a show this Saturday. I'll be starting at 8:30pm, and playing until 11:30 or so. The Black Cat is a nice little place with great atmosphere, and I'm really looking forward to playing there. Come on down and check it out!
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08-11-04: I'll be appearing at a couple parties later this month. Nothing new there, but this time I won't be the guy wearing the lampshade, I'll be the guy on the stage.
Sunday, August 22, I'm doing a private party in Holderness with Bob King. The following Sunday, August 29, No Limits is playing at the Third Annual Mass Ave Block Party, which is held (conveniently enough) at Steve Hinchey's place.
In other news, I've added a link to Mojo Music Studio, located right here in New Hampshire. I did some session work there once for a friend of mine, and thought the place was great. I was rooting around the other day and happened upon their web site, so we exchanged links. They do a radio show called 'The Studio' that features independent musicians, so I sent them a CD. We'll see what comes of it.
08-09-04: Things went okay at the Sunset Grill on Saturday. I played more guitar than normal, in an effort to change things up from last week's show.
No Limits is not playing this week, but this time it's because one of our guys has another engagement. We're planning to return to the Paradise Beach Club on Thursday, August 19. We also recently booked three weekend engagements at Goodfella's in downtown Laconia, NH. Check the Shows page for details.
08-06-04: I just got a call from the Sunset Grill, asking if I could play tomorrow night! It just so happens I had the night open, so I took them up on the offer. Join me at the Sunset Grill in Campton, NH on Saturday, August 7th from 9pm to 12am. I'm busy putting together a new set list; it's unusual to play the same place two weeks in a row, and I want to be sure I give them something new.
With such little notice, I don't know if I'll be able to line up a special guest for tomorrow's show. I'll make a couple phone calls tomorrow, and see if anyone's up for sitting in. If not, I'll just switch off between the keyboard and the guitar, like normal. Either way, it'll be fun; it always is.
08-04-04: We just got word from the Paradise Beach Club that this Thursday's show has been (you guessed it) CANCELLED. The situation over there is becoming pretty disappointing. We should have signed a contract, I guess.
But hope springs eternal. There's a restaurant soon to open in Plymouth called the Tuscan Sun, and I've been talking with the owners about playing some dinner music, and also possibly booking No Limits downstairs in the bar area. And I've got a demo CDs on the way to a couple other interesting opportunities. I'll let you know if anything comes of it.
08-03-04: It was a good show on Saturday. Lots of people. In fact, a couple friends of mine were turned away because they were told they "couldn't just stand around". Funny, I thought it was a bar. Whatever. Sorry Matt and Devon!
I tried recording a few songs from the show, but they didn't come out that great. I've managed to get one track cleaned up to the point where it's at least listenable. Check out Between The Rain (Live).
Steve Hinchey, the guitarist from No Limits, was able to come out and join me for the third set. It was fun; I think we'll try to do some duo shows in the near future.
Speaking of No Limits, we're supposed to be playing the Paradise Beach Club again this Thursday, but apparently it's not definite. I should think we'll hear about it today, and I'll pass the news along as soon as I get it. Stay tuned!

Earlier Ramblings
August 2004 • July 2004

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