The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Well today was an interesting day.

It started with perhaps a great opportunity. It came so quickly, it threw me for a loop. Basically, contact made early Tuesday morning, reply Tuesday afternoon & meeting today. More on this later. This was the good (will hopefully turn into GREAT!)

A band I auditioned for picked someone over me to join the band. The band Boy+Kite is a melodic guitar texture band. I really enjoy their music and think they have something special. I will support them. It wasn't a natural fit. We all got along, I could play the music, but it wasn't perfect. I audition twice, so at least I made it a hard decision. It will hurt if they blow up. I've hit a real dry spell for gigs. I haven't played out since March. This was the bad, but it wasn't that bad.

The Funk Wagon, my ride, was a victim of a smash and grab. The passenger side window was broken and my laptop was stolen. And it was raining. This is ugly, but I can handle it. All the files are backed up, my demos, my music collection, my writing, etc. Of course I'm worried about my personal stuff. I will be vigilant about protecting my passwords, ID and whatnot.

I always get philosophical in June. I look at today as all opportunities-the contact, the rejection from the band (I find the right musicians for QOBT?, produce a friend? Get a big name gig?) and the loss of the laptop (clean slate, a sign from the universe to streamline my digital life, a new laptop!?)

Who knows? This guy always knew. I take my cue for Jimi Hendrix "They don't know, like I know.."

I Just Can't Quit You! I'm Back! & New Music (To Me) Tuesday.

Back to the Blog.

Back to writing about my love, frustration, obsession with everything music and being a musician. Where have I been? Well...

I auditioned for Honeybrowne and didn't get the gig.

Getting gigs are not just based on talent. Like any other job, there are a multitude of issues why a person is chosen. This process was not the most professional. Fred Andrews emailed me tracks to learn, then didn't contact me for a for a week. Then he called me on a Sunday afternoon as he and the band were driving back from a road gig. It was around 12:30pm and he wanted to met for the audition at 2pm. I asked him if 2:30 was ok. I got there, played the 3 tunes he sent and had the audition cut early because Mike (a drummer I played with in Wendy Colonna's band in the early aughts) had to leave. Fred then ask me some questions about my working situation. He had to leave and so did the guitarist Cale. Derek, keys & accordion player, was left and I had a great conversation about his main project Alpha Rev featuring Casey McPherson. I knew Casey when I first moved to Austin and was a fan of his band Endochine.

I felt comfortable with everyone personally and musically. The vibe I picked up from Fred was that he was concerned about my day gig getting in the way of the touring. But you know what? I don't know because

I never heard from Fred again.

I understand I wasn't the right fit, but to not call or email or anything left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I had to email my man Mike to find out they got some young guy with no attachments. Mike was disappointed in Fred because Fred told him he was gonna call everyone. Oh well...

I'm still trying to get the Quart of Blood Technique of the ground.

Finding musicians is hard. I was pretty detailed in what I was looking for. I had a few emails, but nothing panned out. My man, Chris Trafton is eager to play drums. I was trying to schedule rehearsals with him and Sam Powell, keys player of Soul Track Mind, but since they have other gigs we couldn't get together. I did get offered a demo gig at Yellow Dog Studios for SXSW. I played it with Sam and Raymond Johnson from Soul Track Mind. We were the demo band for the CLASP system. since we didn't have a drummer Chris Estes, the inventor of CLASP. Filled in on drums. Not bad for 1 take of each tune-All Blues & Mercy Mercy Mercy

Endless Analog's Chris Estes demonstrates CLASP from Kelly Kerr on Vimeo.

While putting the band together, I've got a logo designed:



I started a myspace, reverbnation, twitter and facebook fan page. They are still in "beta" so I haven't gotten them to where I'm ready to release them. By the end of the month, I promise.

Mostly, I've been writing and arranging. That takes a lot of time. I have a meager studio at best and I'm a a meager engineer at best. Plus, I have hundreds of cassette demos I'm going through and digitizing. (Don't get me started on digitizing my media-I got my old radio show Crosstown Traffic, reel to reel interviews, VHS, pictures... ugh) I promise to have my 1st batch of demos ready for the public by the end of the month. I was offered a weekly gig at TC's Lounge, but it got booked because of my line-up issues. Trafton will be back from touring with Guy Forsythe and Carolyn Wonderland. Sam is ready and he suggested a saxophone player for the project. I'm still looking for a guitarist, though Sam is working on his left hand. I might play guitar while he covers the bass.

I've been auditioning for bands & got offered a project that is hitting in the fall. More on that later this week.
Everyone needs a bass player, but quality gigs are hard to find. I'm putting together my music resume, starting a myspace and facebook fanpage about me. Same as the band, I will have stuff done at the end of the month.

My Clark Kent got switch to a different department-not of my choosing.


The transition has been interesting and different. No pay raise. To be honest, I liked my old Clark Kent in marketing-I was the competitive media analyst. Now I'm in advertising as the business development analyst. Jury still out as I feel my way around. Plus, I'm trying to get consulting work and working on my Clark Kent business plan. Like everyone else, it's about the dolla, dolla bills ya'll...

Catching up on TV shows

I rewatched The Wire, got heavily into The Pacific, Treme, Justified, 24, Law & Order, Life & Times of Tim, Archer, Damages,..no I never watched a single episode of Lost. The great work on TV has really inspired me creative juices, a reason I've been writing so much music. Oh, this little thing called the NBA playoffs as well.

Twitter
If you see the left hand column, you know I'm a twitoholic


I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of stuff (I have a ton of pics from SXSW, I bought a lot of music, attended dozens of shows, been reading a lot of music, social media, TV, economic, tech blogs, streamed the San Francisco Music Tech conference and made new twitter friends, world events, national events, etc). I will get to it. I have a lot on my mind. My birthday is June 30 and this month I always reassess my life & goals.

Now, let's back to my favorite thing to write about on Tuesdays-new music I bought. This week I went to Waterloo Records and Cheapo Discs.


From Cheapo Discs:
Mojo Presents: The Score Compilation-$3.95


I've been listening to a lot of soundtracks lately. This disc has some classic themes on it. Favs-Get Carter, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Truck Turner, A Fistfull of Dollars, Johnny Too Bad.

From Waterloo Records:

Booker T & the MGs-The Definitive Soul Collection-$10.99


You can never have too much soul. 2 Discs for the price of 1.


Frank Zappa-Strictly Commercial-The Best of Frank Zappa-$6.99


Great primer if you are new to Zappa. I was never that heavy into him, but always admired his musical vision. When I was in Rock Stardom & the Fashion Jerks, we played a killer cover of "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama".

It's All Too Much...

February was a BUSY month. My goal is to post everyday and I have a bunch of half-written posts. For example,

My Saturday posts: The Week That Was... would have included the following:

February 1: Don Everly Birthday
February 2: Tom Smothers, Graham Nash, Birthdays
February 3: Johnny Guitar Watson, Dave Davies, Birthdays. Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper & Ritchie Valens die in a plane crash (The Day the Music Died)
February 4: Alice Cooper Birthday
February 5: Al Kooper Birthday
February 6: Fabian, Bob Marley Birthdays
February 9: Carole King Birthday. The Beatles play Ed Sullivan & make their American TV Debut
February 11: In 1963 The Beatles record all the tracks for Please Please Me in 12 hours at Abbey Road. In 1964, The Beatles play their first live gig in the America at the Washington D.C. Coliseum. Gene Vincent (Beatle contemporary) Birthday.
February 12: Ray Manzarek Birthday
February 13: Peter Tork Birthday
February 14: Tim Buckley Birthday
February 16: Sonny Bono Birthday
February 17: Gene Pitney Birthday
February 19: Smokey Robinson Birthday
February 23: Johnny Winter Birthday
February 24: David Fathead Newman Birthday
February 25: George Harrison Birthday
February 26: Fats Domino, Johnny Cash, Mitch Ryder Birthdays
February 28: Joe South, Brian Jones Birthdays

Plus, I bought a lot of music and saw a lot of shows. I was also writing music for my instrumental band The Quart of Blood Technique & my solo project (Greg & the Get Downs) looking for musicians, hanging out & drinking with my wife and friends, going to Dallas for All Star Weekend, watching the Saints win the Superbowl, working my Clark Kent job as a media analyst, recording LEOGS, getting my black ass back in shape for my boy's wedding in August, trying out for Honeybrowne....

A lot of stuff. Now it's March and it's just gonna get worse with SXSW. I will post a collective New Music (to Me) Tuesday tomorrow. Thanks for reading and being part of the conversation.

2010-Back to the Blog: Fired & New Projects

It's been way too long since I've put my thoughts down in this blog. 2009 was a very busy year for me. I really got into Facebook and Twitter. My friends and followers already track me with those two SoMe services so they have a nice snapshot of what 2009 was like for me (music/gigs, work, sports, hanging out, going to shows, my sister's wedding, dealing w/the economy, etc.) I haven't been on Spill.com as much as I like to, though I will correct that this year. I miss my LEOG fans a lot. This blog will allow me to flesh out my 140 character thoughts.

So to review my 2009-I played a lot of bass, worked in competitive media (my Clark Kent gig), attended a ton of shows, did terrible in my fantasy football league, played on Facebook/Twitter a lot, went to some kick-ass parties/bars and played guitar for my sister's wedding-my "Gig of the Year". The set list was:

Norwegian Wood-The Beatles
I Believe (When I Fall in Love...)-Stevie Wonder
Feel My Love-Bob Dylan
Cobalt Blue-My tune
Airbag-Radiohead
Language of God-My Tune
She walked down the aisle to me playing In My Life-The Beatles. It was awesome, beautiful and humbling.

As far as my main music project, Soul Track Mind-the above words don't come to mind. Those three words would be ego, stupidity and disappointment. The lead singer Donovan fired me from the band as we were in pre-production for the debut album, on the day I did this interview for Austin360 He reasoning was not based on any logic. It's based on ego. Let me put it this way:

Donovan and I are walking down a street. There's a hole in the street. I have a board in my hand to cover the hole so we can avoid stepping into the hole. Donovan would rather step into the hole to remind himself not to step in the hole.

That is basic it. He doesn't want advice or guidance unless he feels he generated the idea that he needs advice or guidance. I have other opinions, but they get into the pop psyche of comic actors that can't handle the idea of success (Dave Chappelle comes to mind...) I've been cut from bands before, but those times were different because I wasn't so heavily involved like STM. A lot of time, money, energy was used in trying to make STM better. I wasn't perfect-I was hard on the drummer Doug, I mess up parts, I was blunt about the music business and I guess I hurt some feelings. I'm a proud member of Generation X. We don't do well babying Generation Yers that need gold stars for everything they do. Things I take for granted as a professional musician-learning your instrument, playing in time, practicing with a metronome, taking lessons, investing in your equipement, studying the music business, etc. Overall, I think I helped STM from A to B. The horns are also leaving-Joe was fired and Raymond is doing his own project. It was a learning experience and I'm glad that I met some cool people.

For 2010, I have two projects in mind:

An instrumental band-live, experimental jazz, funk/R&B, rock, sound texture stuff. Original music, arrangements of music from movie soundtracks-TV Themes and riff heavy music (reworking hard rock and jazz tunes). I have a name, but I will release it when it is formed. The ideal lineup will be me on bass, occasional vocals/guitar/Alto Sax, a full time guitarist, drum-percussionist and keyboard-piano. I can hear the music also working with a DJ. A band along the lines of Medeski, Martin & Wood, Jaco Pastorius' mid '80s NYC Trio, TJ Kirk, The Bad Plus. Danceable Out-there Stuff...

A pop/funk/rock/R&B band-Have a few names. Meaningful lyrics, almost an audio magazine on the human condition. I know this is more of a single track era, but I still think there is an audience for well produced albums. The sound of the music will be grand, full and strong. I would serve almost like an editor. I have a lot of material for this band and will look to write with the band. We would do strategic covers-not "ironic" covers, but blends of 2 tunes together-like a mash-up. Bands/music like The Noisettes, Peter Gabriel, David Ryan Harris, Brand New Immortals, Earl Greyhound, Terence Trent D'arby, All the Beatles, Stones etc...The ideal lineup will be me on bass/vocals/guitar, guitarist, keyboard/piano,drums, female vocalist that plays guitar or keyboard.

Also on tap for 2010:

A website to serve as my media portal-my music/media projects. Something that combines my Clark Kent (I'm a competitive media analyst) and my Superman (music, writing etc.) I anticipate this blog going through some more changes (platforms, video, music, media, looks) I have other specific goals I'm sorting out this week. I might post them, I might not. I'm also finalizing some kind of blog posting schedule for myself. I'll try to keep up with my life as a musician on the blog as well-the search for gigs, booking gigs, licensing music, writing music, music philosophy, music culture, going to shows, giving interviews, music research/history, practicing, meeting other musicians, touring and all the heartache/exaltation in-between.

Schedules, Schedules, Schedules

No, the swine flu did not get me.

It has been a great and busy couple of weeks. Let's do a recap, shall we?

1. LEOG recordings.

2. Gigs with Soul Track Mind

3. Various competitive media projects...

4. Practicing bass and guitar. Putting money down on a new Fender Precision Bass. Also, branching into teaching bass.

5. Performing in a video for work. I will get the outtakes and post them. I got some pretty tasty guitar licks.

6. New tires for the Funk Wagon.

Now that I'm on twitter, I am basically micro blogging all the time. I am finally working on my website that will included this blog, all of my social media connects, my ongoing music projects (audio and video), my writing (papers and poetry), photos, calender, etc. I really want everything in one place with different channels. I look at myself as a media creator. I think of my body as the tree and the branches are my ideas.

My goal is to blog everyday. I have a lot to say and I think of the blog as a column of my thoughts. Reports of my life. I must schedule time to write like I do to workout or practicing.

Other thoughts:

Happy 100 days to President Obama.

I was immersed in the 7 game battle my dear Bulls lost to the Boston Celtics. I needless to say, I was happy to see the Celtics lose yesterday.

Congrats to LeBron on his MVP Trophy.

R.I.P Dom Deluise.

Two Words: Treasure Bath! Treasure Bath!




24 has gotten bizarre, but I will ride it out. Plus, I feel I'm the only one who watches this show I know. So I stopped doing the 10 Observation post. I started to track Soul Track Mind so I stopped the Damages 10 Observations posts for that. I enjoyed the season finale. It was neater than last year, but still left me wanting more.

I really want to keep up my 10 observation posts for 2 other shows coming back: True Blood and Mad Men. Make that 3, I have to include Entourage.

Great job by the Divine Jill Scott in #1 Ladies Detective Agency on HBO. Plus congrats on the new baby boy. I love this show because of the light touches and the positive images of Africa.

Yes, I like HBO.

In organizing this blog, I will create subject posts (10 Observations, The Mind of a Music, Social Media, etc..) on certain days. I will add more video, pictures and audio to the blog. I am trying to make the jump to really getting my media life together. I just need to schedule, schedule, schedule...

I appreciate anyone & everyone that takes the time to read my posts and journey with me.

My Mom Goes Existential On Me.

Today is my mother's birthday, so I called her to chat a bit. In the middle of our conversation, she got sublimely deep on me. We were talking about my childhood. She once gave me Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss to read to my sister. She said I told her "This is stupid, there is no such thing as green eggs and ham!" During our conversation today, my mom told me I was always a "literal" child. My mom and dad never spoke to me as a child, so my imagination developed in a different manor. I never was and still not much of a reader of fiction. I have read most of the classics in school, but I never go out of my way to read new fiction. I love biographies and I always marvel at our literal world. I love history. That is why I love the human condition. It also explains why I'm a news junkie. When I write songs or poetry, I write about literal worlds-time and places. My abstract thinking comes from imagining what if people made different choices in their lives. How would a person react if put in a situation. I was never a fantasy world type person. Comics, D and D, and even video games have never really interested me. I appreciate the passion for those things.

One of the things I love about music is that is real and abstract at the same time. I can play notes, read notes, sing notes, play with rhythm, listen to recordings. Yet you never actually see music. You feel it. The imagination behind songs, compositions and bands. The myths and legends behind the creators of music are my comic books, my fantasy worlds. The great thing for me is that I can be part of it. I can create my own world and collaborate with others.

This leads into my thoughts on religion, since this is Easter weekend. The greatest gift my parents gave me is a sense of self. They always respected my autonomy and let me think for myself. Now music to me is my way to connect with the spiritual. Whether playing or listening to my favorite music of discovering new bands, I connect with a higher power. I respect a person's faith, though I will never get around how some organize religion is used to separate and marginalize people. I never believed in a middle man to tell me how I should live my connection to the spiritual. I am very glad I didn't grow up with some of the constraints organized religion can give folks. My sense of self lets me know its ok that I get my connection with the spiritual through notes and beats. When I need to connect, I pick up the instrument closest to me or play a recording.

All the green eggs and ham talk made me think of this reading by Jesse Jackson.

Back to the Blog

It was a nice week away from one aspect of my computer life. This last week has been pretty interesting for me and I guess culture in general. Here is a rundown of things of interest to me:



1. How progressive is Iowa? First, the 2008 Iowa Caucuses gave President Obama the springboard to get into office. I'm still amazed by that. Now, the Iowa Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage. This should make Californians feel ashamed.

2. The Obamas in Europe. Do they cut a figure together or what? Their mere presence is doing a lot to repair the US world image. The fact that President Obama didn't get more economic stimulus from European countries makes perfect sense. Those countries possess the social safety nets to help their citizens. The United States does not have universal health care or cheap access to higher education. Michelle did what any human being would do if a someone gives you a hug, she hugged back. Get over the Queen thing people. Steve Jobs must love the fact the Queen has an iPod. I can't wait to see the commercials. And she gives the French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy a Gibson guitar. Who said music the music industry is totally dead?

3. I haven't really commented on the economic crisis. There are enough people taking all types of potshots at the Stimulus Package, the Bailout of the Banks, The Auto Crisis and so on. I am worried like everyone else, but it doesn't overwhelm my thoughts. I feel lucky to have finished my MBA in Finance from Summer of 2006 to Spring 2008. That education gave me the tools to understand the problems and the knowledge of where to go to research what I don't understand. For everyday tracking and simple understanding of these complex issues I recommend these resources:

NPR: Planet Money the Blog and Podcast
Slate: The Big Money
Marketplace from American Public Media

Check out this podcast from Fresh Air featuring Frank Partnoy. Great explanation of derivatives and the other financial instruments that have push us close to the edge.

4. Speaking of close to the edge, the newspaper industry is getting hammered by everyone. I work for one of the successful newspapers, The Austin American-Statesman. What irritates me about the discussion is the omission of 2 key facts with the newspapers that have failed. They papers were either in 2 papers towns (Seattle, Denver) or the ownership had the had massive debt (Tribune Company, Philadelphia Newspapers). Since the Statesman has been up for sale, there has been a lot of speculation and rumors. Over the past month, there has been a back and forth between the Statesman and the Austin Chronicle about what's going on. That will be a separate blog post.

5. We are getting a nice tax refund.

6. The Bulls are in 7th place in the East.

7. The Bears got Jay Cutler! Yes, I'm excited and I'm going to draft Matt Forte, Devin Hester and Greg Olsen in my fantasy league next year.

8. Damages had a great season ending episode. Season wrap-up post this week.

9. Opening day in baseball never gets old. Steroids, expensive stadiums be damned. Does anything ever really stop baseball, expect the war and baseball itself?

10. The latest LEOG is up. Check it out, if you dare...

11. I will be joining Soul Track Mind either this week or next week. Depends on how the bass player reacts to his dismissal.

Information Overload

On this first day of Spring, I'm suffering from too much information.
This from a professional information junkie. At work, we have a ton of
new projects coming up. I have the honor of being selected for our
Innovation Board. I'm running the Cap10k next Sunday and volunteering
the Friday and Saturday before. SXSW is making Austin a giant speaker
and parking lot. I'm battling my sister and my friend in a war of
bracket supremacy in the NCAA tournament. I'm learning tunes, writing,
arranging and practicing with a couple of bands. I'm putting together
a myspace music page. Did I mention my wife got her wallet stolen, she
needs new brakes, the air condition in or condo needs work? Plus 24
and Damages are climaxing and I'm behind on my updates for them.

Since I'm a junkie for information, I love this stuff.

Weekend RoundUp

1. The loss of the hour really sucked. I was hanging out late at the Red 7 in Austin when I actual watched my phone go from 1:59 AM to 3:00 AM.Damn you daylight savings time. My sentiment about the dastardly daylight savings time is summed up in this great letter by the Huffington Post's Jason Linkins:

Dear Daylight Savings Time:


Hello. My name is Jason. I am writing you this morning to express the emotions I am currently feeling to you, personally. These emotions include: confused anger, a tired and tragic sadness, a uniquely unquantifiable sort of hatred that I simply call "MMMMMMMMUUUUAAAGGAAAH." That sort of thing.

Why do we do this, again? Because we hate ourselves? Why has an hour of sleep been so cruelly and untimely ripped from me? Was this for farmers, or some crap like that? Argh. Argh, I say.

With the intensity of a thousand white hot suns, drowning in the throats of a hundred angry cats, I despise you, Daylight Savings Time. It is as perfect a hate as you shall ever feel in your lifetime. I want you to suck on that hate, forever and ever, until the end of Creation.

Gah,

Jason

Right on brother Jason

2. Why was I up at Red 7 in Austin cursing Daylight Savings Time? I was at the Live! Art Benefit Show for KOOP radio 91.7 FM in Austin with my friends from Spill.com. It featured DJs and instant art creation from some talented people. Pictures of the event are located on the Austin360 A-List section. Here is the link. This was the after party for the independent media showcase Staple! The only photos I took were of my man Korey doing his part for the benefit. I'm not sure what it was he drew:
















3. The new LEOG podcast on Spill went up on Friday. Again, if comics are a major part of your life, this podcast is the best in the world. Plus they have a bad ass musician on it. Yes, that musician is me...

4. Speaking of music, tonight is the 1st rehearsal for 2 music projects. One is for Soul Track Mind, the guys I went to go see last Wednesday night. I really want this gig. The other is for a group tentatively called Clouds in HiFi. It will feature the great Ruby Rocket as the lead singer. I will continue to update as each project progresses.

5. Things are going to ramp up big time here in Austin. South by Southwest (SXSW) is going to take over for the next 3 weeks. Being the guest list whore that I am, I will report on all that I see and do.

Allergies Clouding My Brain.

Austin is known for the allergies. After testing a new pair of running shoes (Mizuno Wave Elixer 3) on the trail, I felt alright. Then, my head started clouding up. Sometimes, the season passes me by. Not this time. The local allergy forecast is indispensable here in Austin. What a way to start March. I guess it is better than the massive snow hitting the east coast.

Random Thoughts From the Last Week: Tues 2/17/09 to Tues 2/24/09

Other than my regular Ten Observations: 24 post on Monday, I have been a little out of pocket. Here are the some random thoughts from the last week.

1. I know I have to get my Ten Observations: Damages up. Last weeks episode was good. Uncle Pete, what a guy. By the way, I love character actors that play roles in multiple projects that are on at the same time. Tom Aldredge also appears in Taking Chance, the wonderful HBO movie.

2. If you watch Taking Chance and are not moved, you are a heartless bastard or part of the Taliban.

3. The Bulls pull of a nice trade without trading Kirk Hinrich. I hope the Bulls keep him and let Ben Gordan go.

4. I missed acknowledging the birthday of one of my favorite musicians and songwriters-Smokey Robinson turned 69 on February 19.

5. I realize I'm not into reselling. I'm in the process of cleaning out my storage space and getting rid stuff. I hate setting up garage sales, selling things on Ebay and Craig's List. I'd rather give it to Goodwill because I know these items can put people to work. And the stuff I donate is good stuff-new file cabinets, designer clothes, stainless microwave, etc. I really believe in the idea of sunk costs. For me, there is no way I'm going to get back what I pay for most items, so taking energy to try to sell things for pennies on a dollar is silly to me. I get my repayment by donating items to friends and to people who need them. That's just me.

6. The Oscars were alright. I chuckled at Hugh Jackman, Will Smith's line about action movies having things like fans and doing things like make money and Cuba Gooding Jr's "attack" on Robert Downey, Jr. I still hate musicals, most of the women look pretty good and the best speech of the night belonged to:



Actual this one was the best speech:



Dustin Lance Black, his speech should shame those opposed to gay marriage. Plus the emotion of the faces of the famous when Heath Ledger's family accepted for him was touching. The best live feed blogging was Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily. One of the best media and entertainment insider blogs. Period.

7. Obama's speech was great. I loved the line about high school and the theme of collectives responsibility for fixing America. Also the girl with the simple line in her letter " we are not quitters" really said it all. Next time, I will love blog it. Hey I was tired, I just ran 7 miles.

8. My wife's wallet got stolen out of one of her salons. All she was doing was being kind to someone that had to use the bathroom. She let this woman in while they were closed for training and she took her wallet. I learned about it because of email alerts I have place on our accounts. This bitch used over $1100 of our money and I was alerted because transactions were over $250.00. I encourage everyone to use this feature because it works. We were able to minimize the damage. It was a pain in the ass for her, though. She had to get a new driver's license, new Social Security card and all that crap. I just feel bad that people are getting that desperate. We should get all the funds back.

Inside the Mind of a Musician.

Last night I saw Shawn Colvin in concert with my wife and some friends. She played a solo gig and she was wonderful. As I was listening to her, I couldn't help but think about the 40th Grammy's in 1998 when she was interrupted by 'Ol Dirty Bastard. Tonight the 51st Grammy's will be televised and it always makes me feel strange. I have been playing music since I was 7 years old. The first college I attended was Berklee College of Music. I lived was a working musician for 8 years in New York City. When I moved to Austin in 2000, I played with a number of people in this scene. I have to admit, I always thought one of the projects I was involve with (or my own stuff) would have a chance to be widely known. I realize that those ideas might have been grand illusions, but I really believe my talent and the talent of my friends. I still believe. After a 6 year hiatus from regularly with a group of musicians, today I am meeting with some guys to get it started all over again. Music and the industry has always been inside me and it is all I ever really wanted to do. I have kept diaries of past tours and recording sessions. I have backtracking tapes of a radio show I did on WBAI in New York. I have hundreds of great pictures.

The main point of this mind ramble is I want to do a complete music blog that really gets inside what it means to be a musician that had some success and still believes in his talent. I have never really read any blog about the insights of being a professional musician. The trials, the glory and the PITA (Pain in the Ass) moments. What is it like rehearsing a tune? Arranging, writing, gigging, buying equipment, recording sessions, personality traits of bass players, guitar players, vocalists? Being a black musician that loves rock music when the commercial public and even organizations (BRC) don't how to market that? The irony that major black rock artist didn't and still can't get together as one coalition? The economics in all of industries of music and entertainment that are creating major issues with content and ownership (how really this started in the early 1990's)? All of this and more. I want to make this blog a total unique experience that musicians and lay people can get into. I have been wanting to do this for years, I just have to plan how to include audio and video and date segments. Should I do this with this blog? Should I do it with another blog? A separate website? I'm not sure how to make it work, but this is what is inside of this musician.