Getting ready for the East Coast leg of the tour. What makes for a really big shoe? Duke Ellington: the original SexyMF. The dilemma of Danny Collins: give people what they know or do new material? Steely Dan and studio musicians. What it really means to be professional?

Roger CortonSo we were supposed to talk the weekend before you started but you were playing a gig. That surprised me. Just some bar gig.

JCHYep.

RCWhy did you do that. I thought you would be resting up.

JCHYa know. I have no idea. The guy texted me a month ago and I just replied ‘Sure’. It was like a reflex. What was interesting was this: I hadn’t played with those guys in 2-3 years and ya know what had changed?

RCNothing.

JCHHow’d ya guess? Seriously. I’m sincerely surprised you got that right away. I guess I shouldn’t be because that’s something you’ve whined about before with your own band.

[…]

We chat about the upcoming summer tour for The Solid State Siren and the all new Beautiful Sounds.

Roger CortonSo I see you have the tour dates posted. Excited?

JCHSure.

RCAnd so far all goes well?

JCHLike a well-oiled machine.

RCYou mean like the broken link to buy tickets?

JCHOh, you noticed that? Details, details. Yeah, that was slightly embarrassing. But it’s fixed. Thank God for fans who put up with this stuff.

RCAmen. And yes, I did notice. That’s part of the job. So, why do you think people put up with that?

JCHWell, we’ve been meaning to do some deep ‘marketing’ rants but the theory in a nutshell is that this is a niche deal and people are a lot more forgiving of niche deals. And that also allows me to get by with some pretty eccentric marketing schemes. A very nice man at a show once tried to compliment me on something called […]

So for those of you who are already clued in: this is it. Come and get it!

For those of you new to this little sideshow, here’s how it works:

Depending on the size of each space there are still between 25 and 100 tickets left for each night. So if yer interested? Buy a ticket. They tend to go fast.
All tickets are open seating so if you get a seat? Get there early for best selection.

Features

A complete performance of The Solid State Siren
The premiere of an entirely new arrangement of Beautiful Sounds (from the album of the same name, of course.)
In addition, all ticket holders will get a free download of several new songs (including the Beautiful Sounds v2.0). *And if you’re one of the first 100 callers, you’ll get a free case of Sham Wows®.

*I’m keeeeeeding. The music will simply have to suffice.