Also, one quick thing I forgot to mention.  Please go check out my new band’s myspace. It’s called Lulu’s Playground, and is made up of Lawrence grads/old friends who are now living in the Twin Cities.  It’s a quartet with accordion, cello, trumpet, and guitar.  I think you’ll enjoy it.

This past weekend I was playing a gig in Appleton, WI at a hotel, and they were kind enough to put us up Friday and Saturday night.  Saturday evening we played the gig, then made our way down to the University for a session with some friends.  As I’ve talked about in previous posts, these evenings are often therapeutic for me and my creative engine, so naturally it put me in a pretty good mood.

The night wore on and eventually 2:30 rolled around and I had to make my way back to the hotel from my friends’ house.  Brian was kind enough to keep me company on the walk back, observing the many inebriated souls lurching towards us as they stumbled out of the 50 bars that line College Avenue.  I haven’t been drinking since New Years, along with removing caffeine, meat, and eventually cigarettes from my diet as well, so it was interesting to see things from a different and sober perspective.  Along the way I had multiple people make slurred comments about my guitar, watched a young woman halfway out of a car yell at another guy across the street while he leaned against the wall and chuckled to himself, saw couples making out wantonly on corners and in doorways, and heard more gay-bashing and racially offensive jokes than I care to recite.

We finally get to the front door of my hotel just in time to see an extremely drunk man, by himself mind you, fall backwards and smack his head against the outside wall.  He started snoring almost immediately.  I started to laugh at how ridiculous he looked, until I tried to wake him up.  That was when I noticed the blood on the wall.

As far as I could tell before the first responders got there, the guy cut the back of his head, maybe got a mild concussion, but all things considered was pretty lucky.  Some other girls who were outside the hotel seemed to think that he had some friends who had just left him there.  I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it makes me sad all the same for him that strangers would care more about his health and safety than his “friends”.  All I can say is I am thankful everyday for the friends and family that I have.  They are the ones that keep my head from hitting the wall, and without them I would have long ago ended up like the man I saw: in pain and alone.

In other news, I have posted two more YouTube videos.  One is a miniature interpretation of “Midnight Nation”, which I mentioned briefly in my last post.  It’s a graphic novel (fancy word for comic book), and if you haven’t read I strongly suggest you check it out.  Straczynski, the author, came up with the idea for the book after he was savagely mugged and beaten while out taking a walk at night.  The full story and explanation is in the foreword, and perhaps rather than butcher it I’ll let you folks check it out for yourselves.  In the book, the main character has to travel across the U.S. on foot after Lucifer takes his soul.  He is helped along the way by an angel who he of course falls in love with.  It really is a great story though, and I can’t do it justice.  I like to think that this new piece, though still in its infancy and somewhat unfinished, conveys at least how I perceived the story.  I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for visiting the site.  Please take care of yourselves and each other.

I’ve begun working on a new project.  It involves, perhaps as nerdy as this sounds, music derived from comic books.

I’ve been fascinated with music from the romantic era for some time now.  Romanticism in general, I should say.  Many of the paintings from this era grab my attention, the fog and mysticism, the longing to experience something far away, distinct only in your imagination or some memory from childhood that you’ve forgotten as you age.

Certain graphic novels pique this same kind of interest for me.  In particular Midnight Nation by J Michael Straczynski (also the author of the quote I took for the title of my first album), and The Sandman by Neil Gaiman.  In particular I’ve been inspired recently by The Sandman to write a piece for each of the “Endless”, the main subjects of the book.  Desire, Delirium, Despair, Destruction, Death, Dream, and Destiny.  Each one of these characters represents a very different aspect of the human experience.  I’m not quite sure what the instrumentation will be, or how exactly to represent each one, but now that I’ve gotten this idea in my head it’s hard to get it out.  It’s been a while since I’ve felt this driven to do anything, and it’s a wonderful sensation.  So far I’ve begun working on Desire and Dream, getting a fair way through Dream.  I’m going to try and post frequently throughout this process, and I’d love any feedback people are willing to give me.  I’m still in the fledgling stage as a composer, and sometimes with larger projects like this it can be hard to step back and take in the full picture.

It looks like there was also a little bit more traffic on the site after my radio interview Saturday night, so if you folks are still checking back, I’d like to welcome you again to the website.  Also, we do have the paypal button setup on the discography page of the website now, so if you’d like to purchase a CD you can do so either there or on iTunes.  If you purchase a physical copy, however, I’ll send you a personalized copy of other high quality recordings I’ve done in the past few years.  This includes several big band charts which I either performed in or arranged, my nonet arrangement of Beautiful Love that was in rotation on the music player for a while, some great moments from various student recitals I played on, and my personal favorite, my combo’s version of the Bad Plus’s tune, “Giant”.  I’ve placed this in rotation in the player if you’d like to get a preview of it.

Thanks again for your continued support, and check back soon for new updates.

Hello ladies and gentleman.  Long time no see.

I have made many resolutions for this year, and one of them was to try and update this blog at least 2 or 3 times a week.  Well, I didn’t actually make that one, but I’m starting it now!  Which in my twisted little world means I’ve been doing it since the new year began.  Go me!

I’ve got a few updates for you and some exciting news.  I will be interviewed and featured on Corner Jazz with Maryanne Sullivan tomorrow night (Saturday).  Her program goes from 9-11, and I don’t know when I’ll be on, but she has a great show and you should be listening to the whole thing anyways.  I recorded a couple acoustic tracks in the studio for her, but I don’t know how they turned out or if she’ll even play them.  If she doesn’t, I’ll probably cry.  If she does, I’ll still cry, though I’m sure the reason will be related to something else.

If you’re visiting the site for the first time, welcome!  I probably could have done a better job introducing myself, but I’m too far gone in writing this post and too lazy to edit anything.

UPDATE!

My wonderful site-manager/computer guru/buddy Ben Doherty helped me get a Paypal button set up so that you can now quickly and easily purchase my CD, “The Insufficiency of Rain”.  Please buy in bulk.  I need to eat.  You can purchase it here, or on my discography page.

Please check out his website as well.  He’s a great web designer, saxophonist, and all around great guy.  He recently posted a transcription of Chris Potter’s solo of All the Things You Are (from a masterclass), and has lots of other great stuff on his website too.  Check it out!

UPDATE!

New YouTube videos coming soon!  I’ve been trying to figure out how to upgrade the quality of the YouTube videos I’m uploading without actually having to purchase any new software.  Again, please buy my CD in bulk, because then I can put new shiny things on my website for you to gawk at.  Or laugh at.  Or just laugh at me for putting them up.  Okay, moving on.

UPDATE!

I’m now playing in eighty-bajillion bands!  Kind of!  I’m very excited about two new projects that are getting off the ground, one with some other Lawrence graduates (Cory Grossman, Adam Meckler, and Greg Woodsbie), and a new funk/soul/awesome organ trio + singer with Jana Nyberg, Jake Nyberg, and Greg Woodsbie.  I’m also working with a great MC on getting a new hip-hop group going.  I’ll keep you posted with updates and gigs as things go along.

Well, now that I’ve scared away most of you, I hope you enjoy some of the music, videos, and awkward photos on the websites.  Stay tuned to see where I’ll be playing, or friend me on Facebook to get updates as well.

Thanks for stopping by!