For some reason, it’s always tough to talk about ‘the craft’. I try to get my students to study acting and comedy and they look at me like I’m nuts. But actors, and even more so comedians, are very self-aware. And they talk about what they do in a very detailed way that musicians rarely do outside of with certain ‘mentors’. Actors and comedians are just as insecure as musicians but they seem to make it work for them. Being a musician requires a lot of ego, but usually it doesn’t translate into words all that well. So if you try to talk about how it all works with non-musicians they tend say very little or sound defensive.

When I play a show there’s always the requisite ‘free form solo’. It’s just what one does in the ‘Prog’ business. I don’t want to be cynical about it, but that’s largely the deal. I suppose I enjoy it, but truthfully if it wasn’t an expected part of […]

This was a great summer for me. It renewed my faith in humanity. It renewed my faith in myself. It renewed my faith in you. It renewed my bank account. 😀

Six gigs may seem like nothing (especially after all this time) but like I’ve been saying, I didn’t know if I had the vim or vigor to even get on a plane anymore, let alone play shows. But in the end here’s where we’re at:

The new format seemed to go over well. And more than that, as we went along, the shows not only got better; I also enjoyed them more and more. This was easily measured by how wrecked I felt after each show. The first show? I didn’t get out of bed for two days. By San Francisco? I was kinda disappointed that was the last show. Good sign!

The dough is giving me the wherewithal to continue working on the next record: The Solid State Siren. And the energy has me planning the next tour in the […]