Riverfest

I played my first mall on Friday, August 26th, 2005. Back in the 80's this was a sign that you were going places. I'm turning 30 next week and I think there's still a lot I have to do with my life. Still, I can finally check off that "play a mall" thing from my list.

The show was sponsored by 100.7 The River, a Raleigh, NC radio station that really liked the MG4 EP and asked us to play in their summer concert series. We were asked to do an "unplugged" set, so it was more of an MG2 show.

I enjoyed playing with Mark in an acoustic format, again. We play a few different songs as an acoustic duo than we would with the full band. "Flat Tire" and "Sad Songs," two of Mark's songs, get good billing in our acoustic set.

Remy, our drummer, came out to the show even though we didn't play as a full band. He lives in Raleigh and brought his daughter, Grace. She's growing up fast.



Our set was great. I got to sing through Duncan Sheik's microphone, which was great. It was a Neumann. That's German for "really good microphone."

We played some Mark and Mike standards, including "Flat Tire," "Automatic," and "October." We also played a new song of mine called "The Secret of Happiness." I'm really proud of this song.

After we finished, Duncan Sheik took the stage about 20 minutes later. He was with a full band. I've done three shows with him over the course of my career and this was the best I've seen him.

I'd like to say thanks to Jess, who took the pictures you see in this blog. Good luck in school in Toronto. I'm glad we could do "Sad Songs" for you.

Writers in the Line

Usually when songwriters do a "writer's in the round" there are enough songwriters to make at least a semi-circle. On August 16, 2005, I played an "in the round" show at Lewisville, NC's Music in the Park outdoor concert series with Mark Aaron James, a songwriter from New York. There were only two of us, so it was "in a line." Giving credit where credit is due, that was Mark's idea. As I found with is songs, he was full of very clever ideas.

I met Mark Aaron James about an hour before we were to share the stage. A year ago, I would have shunned the idea of improving over someone else's music. Now, I'm all about it.

Mark and I showed each other a portion of a song back stage before the set, just to make sure we were both on the same page. I found quite a few similar chords and voicings in his music as with mine, so I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to follow along.

We traded songs back and forth. I don't remember many of his song titles, except two: "Kleptomaniac Girlfriend" and "Invisible Man." Man, those were fun songs to play. Mark comes from a steep songwriting tradition. He lived in Nashville for years and, as far as I could tell, is a sharp songwriter. He had several turns of phrase that were both original and poignant. I found myself saying, "Man, I wish I had thought of that," at least five times during the set.

As Mark played his songs, I attempted to improvise over his song structure. I muted my expressions during his melodies; I just let his melodies inform my phrases. When I solo, my focus is finding the right notes, not necessarily the most notes of the fastest phrases. On one song, I played three notes over and over, but they were the right three and it provided a cool counter melody.

As for my songs, I played mostly stuff from my forthcoming live album. Not a lot of "new" material. That stuff is coming...once I finish it.

And then, after 75 minutes or so, we were done. If you were there, I hope you enjoyed it. I most certainly did.

At The Evening Muse, July 30, 2005

Sitting in a parked car on the corner of 36th St and Davidson isn't very entertaining. Charlotte, NC is a vibrant city, but at around 4:30 in the afternoon, there wasn't much going on. I did see my brother Jay jog by for some reason, but by an large, I had an hour to kill before Joe K, the soundman at the Muse, would arrive.

Bitches Brew is a tough album to understand, at least for me. I passed the time by listening to "Pharaoh's Dance" and accompanied it by reading a passage from Miles: The Autobiography. Compared to albums like 'Round About Midnight and Kind of Blue this Miles Davis album is cacophonous by comparison. I think I finally got it as that hour passed.

"I told the musicians that they could do anything they wanted, play anything they heard but that I had to have this, what they did, as a chord. Then they knew what they could do, so that's what they did," Davis explains on page 299 in Miles. When I started looking for the chords in side what was going on, my eyes got really big. Wow, he really was a genius, even when the world thought he had gone nuts. Having spent a pleasant hour just listening, my day was about to get even better.

I tried to tell myself that this was just any other show, but I knew different. There wasn't any tension in the air from my perspective, just a bit more air on the side of caution. The show would become my first live album; it would be one for the books.

Joe arrived right on time. He brought in his digital multitrack machine and greeted me in his usual, cordial and professional manner. As we got things set up, I ran through a mental check list of all the stuff you should do before any recording session, live or otherwise. String change, check. Guitar intonation, decent. Voice, sounds fair. Need more water, room temperature. Mandolin, kind of sucks, but it'll do. After a quick sound check, Joe and I created a small vignette of guitars and drums off to stage right.

Chip and the film crew arrived around 6. They were running a bit late, but that's to be expected when you're traveling from Kentucky. They did their thing, which I'm not to sure about. I like it when camera people have light meters and white balance issues. That means they probably have a clue. Chip and his crew were quite skilled. The stills that I've seen so far have been wonderful.

At around 7, a few people started to show up. I was to take the stage promptly at 8, which, in musicians terms, really means 8:15. I was beginning to get a little concerned when at 7:30 only about 20 people were there. The Muse isn't a big place, but I hoped to have a good turn out. 80 seats lined the club floor. 20 people beyond those chairs could fit near and around the sound board. 100 people would be at capacity.

I decided to run next door to get a taco. My wife, Holly, was there already and I asked her to save one for me. Cabo Fish Taco excels at making interesting Mexican pescatarian dishes. I only spent ten minutes eating dinner which was enough.

When I returned, the place was half full. Good. And, there was a line out the door. Even better. Everything was going to be great.

I started the show at 8:10 p.m. after Chip riled up the crowd. I divided the show into two segments. The first was a scripted segment with a battery of songs that I knew I wanted to record:

April Moon
October
Another Day in Paradise
Rusted Radio
She Alone
Orange
The Clorox Metaphor
99
Sour Milk
Throwaway, A Race Horse (w/ Mandolin)
Static (w/ Mandolin)
Jenny

I talked very little between songs, just so it wouldn't become a banter fest. Honestly, this made me feel a little uncomfortable. So much of what makes my Muse shows entertaining is the off-the-cuff nature of the set lists. Therefore, I was happy that the second half of the show would be all-request.

Going "all-request" is a lot like taking the net away from a trapeze artist. And, honestly, I found myself not engaging all of the requests. The selectivity made it more like taking half of a net away. Still, there were some surprises, at least from my perspective. I didn't expect "What You Will" or "April's Complaint." I don't fully recall what the songs were that I played in this portion. There were several unreleased songs like "Happy Song #1" and "Tourniquet" that make an excellent addition to the show.

The crowd remained enthusiastic throughout the night. I couldn't have asked for a better crowd, although that sing-a-long version of "Sour Milk" from Warren, OH still blows me away.

The show came and went. The footage met the can. The recordist hit stop. We all packed up our things and headed home.

Chip calls me a few times a day to tell me how excited he is about this project. "I knew it would be about an 8 on a scale of one to 10. I think we're gonna hit 11 with this," he said to me, just yesterday.

Live albums are important. Most artists release them after they have a decent body of work. Having recorded a good many albums, I felt it was time to showcase my songbook for what it is. The way you'll hear the songs on this album is the way they were conceived, just me and a guitar. This live album takes me back to the root of what I do. For that reason, if you like my songs, I think you'll appreciate this work.

We'll be packaging a CD/DVD combo for this project. The CD will between 74 and 80 minutes long. The DVD will be no more than 90 minutes long, although we'll probably opt for something in the 70 minute range. Some songs on the CD may not appear on the DVD and vice versa. I like it when things do that.

Thank you.