09-30-04: No Limits just got a call from the Paradise Beach Club, asking if we could play on Sunday, October 10.
It turns out we all have the day free, so we'll be there. Come celebrate Columbus Day down at the Weirs!
Also, I'll be sitting in with Rick Clogston's band for a few shows at the Bridgewater Inn. I'll have dates for you shortly.
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09-27-04: Playing at Goodfellas on Friday and Saturday was a lot of fun. People seemed to dig what we were doing, too, which always helps.
So did the owner; we're booked for Friday/Saturday shows once a month through next September. Plus, we'll be playing every night during
next year's Bike Week.
In other news, there was a SongSkirmish on Saturday, and I managed to participate between shows. It was the usual deal:
a song title is announced, and you have ONE HOUR to write, record, and upload a song for it. This time around, the title was
"Crazy Crazy Monkey", and the song had to include laughing. The piece I wrote is over there on the What's New bar. But what you
SHOULD do is go over to the SongSkirmish page, listen to them all, and vote for the best.
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09-20-04: No Limits is busily working away, getting ready for our two-day engagement at Goodfellas.
That's going to be a lot of fun; Steve Hinchey and I stopped in on Thursday to go over some of the details, and the place was
hopping. I expect weekends are even livelier. Come on down!
I was able to try something new for SongFight this week. I got ahold of some multitracking software, and put a song together on
my laptop. I like the results well enough, but I wish I hadn't inadvertently destroyed most of the source files before I got a chance
to re-record some of the vocals. Oh well. The results will be in the upcoming blue fight, 'Frannie'.
This one is the first song I've recorded where I actually like the sound of the drums. The samples are from Douglas Whates'
Natural Studio, and I sequenced them using FruityLoops.
This song just scratches the surface of what I can do with this setup, so I'm pretty excited.
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09-15-04: I've uploaded some live tracks from the Black Cat Cafe show over the weekend. They'll be available for download for about
a week, so if you want to check them out, get cracking. It was a decent show, but it makes me think that I really want to start using backtracks. The newer stuff
I'm writing (like Big Disco) really sounds better with full instrumentation. Anyway, check 'em out by clicking the link below.
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09-14-04: I got some fairly decent recordings from the show at the Black Cat Cafe on the 11th. I'll be posting them
shortly, but they'll only be up for a little while, maybe a week or so. Grab 'em while you can!
I'm off until September 24/25, when No Limits has a two-night engagement at Goodfella's in downtown Laconia, NH. That'll be
a good time. We're coming off a great show at the Paradise Beach Club, and we can't wait to get out there and do it again.
That project I was talking about the other day has borne some strange fruit. If you're interested, go to our sister site,
TwinGeekz.com and check it out.
Oh, and the CoverFight has arrived! Check out
Kamakura's cover of my 'Between The Rain'. I love it!
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09-11-04: Tonight I'll be at the Black Cat Cafe in Laconia, NH. I've come to like this venue
more than others because I tend to play more of my original material there. It should be a good time, so come on down!
In other news, I'm starting to put together a strange musical project. I've enlisted the help of a friend who seems to get involved in ALL my
weird projects, Mike Piper. It's yet to be determined if the results will be particularly
listenable, but I've got high hopes. One thing's for sure, I won't be able to duplicate it live. My focus thus far has been to write
material I can play out at shows, but this stuff definitely doesn't apply. It's mostly just concept now, but depending on how it comes
together, we may try to do an Album-A-Day project or something.
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09-08-04: Here's what people are saying about my latest SongFight entry, Big Disco:
"What I Liked: Bells. Lyrics are good. Vocals are on pitch and listenable. Slide is a nice touch. I love crickets.
What I Didn’t Like: I think this needs a rhythm section, even if it was drumming on a table or a lap."
"This is nice. The chords and melody are interesting and pretty. The lyrics are fun. Love the crickets. Good song, possible vote."
"Neat xylophone(?). Nice guitar. Well-written song. I don't have much else to say, except for [good]."
"I love the bells. I am a bell freak. Very Floyd sounding. I like. Cool lyrics. Slide guitar sounds incredible. Very cool. Nice structure. Crickets! Totally cool. Great Job! A-"
I'm happy with the piece, myself, but that doesn't always mean other people will like it. This is fairly encouraging feedback, so far. If you haven't yet done so,
head over to SongFight and check out all the entries; there's a lot of good songs this week.
And don't forget, if you've got something to say, feel free to use the Comments feature below.
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09-07-04: SongFight and CoverFight are not yet updated, but you can hear
my entries right here. Over there on the What's New bar you'll find links to my SongFight entry (Big Disco) and my CoverFight entry (I Want To Get Better, originally
by Dylan Nau). Enjoy!
In other news... the No Limits show at the Paradise Beach Club was perhaps our best yet. Lots of people showed up, and we
were pretty tight all night. It's probably the last show for us at the Paradise this year, but we'll be doing a few weekends at Goodfella's in
downtown Laconia. Check the Shows page for dates.
And I'm playing a solo show this coming Saturday (9/11) at the Black Cat Cafe, also in downtown Laconia. I dug out another live track (Dizzy Spells) from my last appearance there, and there's a
link to that one over on the What's New bar too.
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09-03-04: Last night I put the finishing touches on Big Disco, my submission for the upcoming SongFight. I resisted
the urge to add percussion, and opted for some ambient background sounds. Namely, crickets. I thought some crickets at the end would add a nice space to the sound.
After an hour of searching online for a decent cricket recording, I took matters into my own hands. I headed out to the back yard with my digital 4-track and microphone, and
set out to stalk the wild cricket. Eventually I convinced one to sing for me, and you'll hear him at the end of the song. The fight goes live early next week.
In other news, we're only two days away from the triumphant return of No Limits to the Paradise Beach Club. This is the last
big beach weekend, so Weirs Beach will be hopping. It should be a good show. Don't miss it!
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09-02-04: There's been a deadline extension for the upcoming CoverFight, so you'll have to wait another week to
hear my cover of Dylan Nau's 'I Want To Get Better'. Can you even stand it?
I found myself with some unexpected recording time yesterday, so I worked out a submission for the upcoming week at SongFight. I'll be in the red fight,
'Big Disco'. The fights go up sometime on or after Monday, September 6th. I'm pretty happy with the piece; there's still some level issues, but the song sounds more or less
like I had envisioned it, which is nice. And no, it's not a disco tune. There aren't even any drums in it.
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Earlier Ramblings
September 2004 • August 2004 • July 2004
