Spiller

My old band, Spiller, from back in the late 90s, early 2000s are back! Marcus and I have asked Vinnie Cosentino from Palentine and Lukali to fill the drum seat and we're off an running. We've got a show at the New World Brewery on April 7th to celebrate.

 

Thx Mgmt Proudly Presents
Saturday, April 7th 2012

SPILLER 
http://www.facebook.com/spiller

THE SEMIS
http://www.facebook.com/thesemis

MICHAEL CHRISTMAS
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Christmas/252997804729643

+ thee Liquid Jesus DJs
http://www.liquidjesus.com/

9pm | $tbd | 21&Up
at New World Brewery
1313 E 8th avenue - Ybor City - 813.248.4969

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Formed in 1996 from the ashes of singer/guitarist John McNicholas’ original punk outfit, Lie, Spiller made quite the impression on the Bay area’s musical landscape during their heyday almost a decade ago. Gold Leader (which was released on Super6 Records way back when) is an extremely charming set and marked by crunchy, grungy guitars all buoyed by Marcus McCord’s bouncy, yet brawny bass lines. It’s all heavily garnished with the band’s penchant for sunny harmonies and infectious hooks that seemed destined for 90s radio gold. Spiller never “made it big,” but their return (guitarist Scott Harrel is no loner in the lineup and original drummer Pete Joseph has been replaced by Palantine frontman Vinnie Cosetino) is welcome breath of fresh air for sure.

Two bands, established surf-classic rock revivalists The Semis and up and coming St. Pete garage-rock sensation Michael Christmas, are set to play support on this must-see bill.
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Written by John McNicholas On Tagged

2009

12/5/2009 - Hey everyone, I know I've quiet here on the site, but there's some great show coming up at the beginning of the year. I'm trilled to be playing up in NYC at Googie's, Flicker Theater in Athens, and a fantastic 3-day tour of North Carolina, all in the first 30 days of the new year. Between now and the end of the year I'll be working on new solo material and I've been playing with some friends in a new band that's going to be called, Supervisor of the Loveless Average. Hopefully we'll start playing shows in Feburary. I'll make sure to keep you informed.

10/11/2009 - So, without going into any detail. I've hit a wall. Not with my car or anything, but with a million other things. There's burning the candle at both ends, and then there's burning the candle with a volcano. I'm doing the latter at the moment in various aspects of my life and to be honest, I could really use a nap, or some coffee, or both. I still need to catch up with my trip from Ireland. I stared a journal when I was there, but never had the downtime to spend with it. For a majority of the trip I was sick. Not go-to-the-doctor sick, just sick enough to feel like crud and worn out pretty much all the time. There was one night on Innis Mor, we had just had a fantastic guided tour of the island, thanks to John our driver and we were walking around the port when my body just said, ÒI'm done.Ó I headed back to the hostel and passed out for about 2 hours. Here I was, in one of the prettiest places I'd ever been with some amazing folks taking the same life journey. My heart was singing, my eyes were wide open, my soul was soaring, but my physical body was having none of it. That's where I am today. I need a napÉ of maybe I need to go back to Ireland. It's been a month since I've seen a castle. I mean, that's probably all it is. Lack-of-castle-itis.

9/4/2009 - Hey all, it's been a while since I've updated, but I'm committed to using the blog over the next 8 days to document my trip to Ireland. I fly out tonight, and I'm back next weekend. It's been 4 years since I was there, and I can't wait to plant my feet on Irish soil again.

5/20/2009 - I'm playing a solo show this Friday night at The Drunken Unicorn and I've got some new photos up, check it out!

4/22/2009 - I just updated the Photo pages with some newer stuff. Check it out!

3/24/2009 - Hey everyone, I'm just back from SXSW. It's good to be home, but as always, the trip was a huge motivating lift. So many people living the dream, playing their hearts out and enjoying their life. I can't wait to start working on some new music, and I can't wait for the two shows I'm playing this week at Kavarna. Come out if you get a chance, all the info is in the calendar. Also, here's some pictures from my trip out to Ausint, ENJOY!

3/16/2009 - I swear to god I'm going to start blogging more. CHeck the blurb above for the new blog. I'm heading to SXSW on Wednesday. Check back for updates!

1/20/2009 - Hey all. Just a quick hello to remind you about my show this Thursday night at the EARL. I hope you can make it out!

1/1/2009 - Happy New Year everyone!

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Written by John McNicholas On

2008

11/25/2008 - Hey gang, there's some great shows that we're booking. Check out all the upcoming dates, maybe one is close to your smiling face. It would be so nice to see you.

12/23/2008 - Greeti ngs friends, not much to tell here. I'm heading down to Florida for a few days before the year closes out. I've got a cool show coming up this Saturday at the The Emerald Bar. It's the return of Dank. Also, on 1/7 I'll be playing a fun solo show at the Flicker Bar and Theater in Athens with Bain Mattox and Mary O. Harrison. Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'll check in at the top of the year. This website is due for a complete redesign. Maybe the next time you drop by things will look a little different.

11/27/2008 - Happy Thanksgiving!

11/12/2008 - Hey folks, the holiday's are coming up so quickly that I wanted to let you know about a new show that I just booked down in St. Petersburg on Friday, November 28th at The Globe Coffee Lounge for Hugh vs. Hugo's art opening. I'll post more details as I get them. Hope to see all my Florida friends very soon!

Played a fun couple of shows last week. Last Thursday I played with Mary O. Harrison & the Tiny Tears at Flicker Bar and Theater in Athens with Casper & the Cookies and Keith John Adams. We had a fun show and all the bands were fantastic! On Friday I played with the Good Graces at Java Monkey with Lindsey Appel. It was rainy and chilly, but it made for a fun evening and a cozy crowd under the outside covering. After the show we headed over to The EARL and caught a fantastic, fantastic, fantastic show by Margot & the Nuclear So and So's. They just blew me away, again.

11/3/2008 - This year is going by so quikcly it's crazy! It seems like it just started and here it is November already. The last few weeks have kept me pretty busy. I had another recording session with The Low Days. I've got most of the music done, and now I'm working on some ear-candy overdubs and some vocals. (Photos)

On October 21st I played a fun show at the Sweetwater Brewery to benefit FitWit. I played outside on a fantastic evening and the free beer was flowing! (Photos)

This last weekend Liz and I headed up to Minneapolis to visit family and friends and I got blow away blown away by the guitars at Willie's American Guitars! (photos coming soon)

This week is going to be a busy one for me, I've got two shows, one on Thursday night with Mary O Harrison at the Flicker Bar and Theater in Athens, and on Friday night the Good Graces are playing at Java Monkey in Decatur. Check the show listings for all the details. Hope to see you out at one of the shows!

10/15/2008 - In my feeble attempt to get back to updating this site I'm going to hit you with a new entry in the journal! Had a fun show WonderRoot a few weeks back, and a great show last Thursday night at Kavarna in Decatur.

A few weeks ago I got started on some new recordings for my new project called The Low Days. It's esecentally still a solo project but I hope to bring in a variety of folks to do some playing on the new songs, and make it more of a communnity vibe. I've already started playing the songs live under my solo name and under The Low Days. You can be my friend on MySpace, check out the demo up on The Low Days page. On the first recording session Derek Murphy put down drums for 4 songs, and I put down some guide bass and guitar for all the tracks and did a little singing. Last night James and I reconveened again and put down all the acoustic guitars and did a little more singing.

OK, just about catches you up. I'll do my best to get by here alot more often in the coming weeks and days.

09/27/2008 - Hey friends, come on out to WonderRoot this evening. I'm playing a solo set at 9:00pm!

09/18/2008 - Hey everyone. It's been ages since I've checked in, and it's very possible that it will be ages before I sit down and commit thoughts to paper again soon. Who knows, maybe I'll surprise you.

So, last time I wrote was just before the beginning of August, and I've done a ton of stuff since then. Let's quickly recap.

At the beginning of August a bunch of us headed up to Rhinelander, WI for a long weekend of relaxation on the lake. We had some beers, played some golf, sheepshead, and lots of Rock Band. Before my flight out on Monday I stopped for a nice long visit at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

During August I completed most of the legal paperwork for my new company, Octane Guitars. I'm still building up my inventory, and I've already made my first sale!

I wrote some new songs and performed a set of new material at Newfangled Fest! I got a window busted out again! I saw Jack Johnson at Lakewood Ampitheater. Played Athens PopFest 2008 with the Mary O. Harrison Band and The Good Graces.

Headed down to St. Petersburg for my birthday weekend and had a fantastic time with friends and family. I caught a fun show by Margot & the Nuclear So and So's at The Drunken Unicorn. Played The EARL with The Good Graces and loved the band The Dutchess and the Duke and James Jackson Toth on the same bill.

I played two sets at the Grant Park Summer Shade Festival, one solo set, and one with Mary O. I saw Aimee Mann at the Variety Playhouse, what a great show! I got an iPhone! Liz and I went to our first Atlanta Twitter meet-up. And just last weekend we went to a great weedding.

Ok, whew. That should catch you up. I'll post more soon. There some cool stuff coming up in the next few days!

06/17/2008 - I admit that I've been terrible at keeping up with the website lately.

07/28/2008 - Greetings, dear readers. It's been a measy 10 day since my last update and though that may be an eternity inthe bloggy world, for me it's pretty good lately. Not too much to report except a fun show I played with Mary O. Harrison last Thursday night at The EARL. We played with The Preakness and Cassavetes. We had a fun opening set and then we hung around for The Preakness before hearding home. I had to get up early in the morning so, sadly I missed Casavettes. Next time for sure. This week I've got a few practices before a weekend getaway. I could really use a break at the moment so it's coming just at the right time.

07/18/2008 - For the life of me I cannot keep up with this journal lately! Once again it's almost been an entire month since my last propper update. Back on June 28th I played a fun couple of sets with The Good Graces and solo at Kavarna. (Photos) I spent a fantastic weekend down in St. Petersburg for the 4th of July (Photos) and again the following weekend for the wedding of a good friend. Recently the APWBWGTTD got togeher again (Photos), and last night I had a great time at the Taste of East Atlanta! (Photos). OK, that's it, check back soon!

06/24/2008 - OK, first off I want to tell you about a last minute solo show I'm playing this Saturday night at Kavarna in Decatur. You've probably heard me sing the praises of this place so I'll spare you the sales pitch. Just be there. I'll be playing guitar with The Good Graces and I'll be playing a solo set. It's a free show. Just go.

OK, so I've done stuff since I last checked in. I was a model in a photo shoot. (Blog/Photos) The SDXE folks got drinks. (Photos) I went to Minneapolis wit Liz and had a great time. (Photos) We had the June Blogger meetup. (Photo) I helped demolish a kitchen. (Photos) The usual stuff. OK, that's it, you're caught up. I'm tired.

05/28/2008 - It's been so long since I've sat down and committed some thoughts to paper that I'm not sure where to start. The beginning you say? OK, let's get caught up really quickly, it's been a month.

Last month I started playing with a new group called Bad Magic Number. We've only had two practices, but they were a ton of fun and I'm looking forward to more once everyone's schedule quiets down.

On May 2nd I played the 500 Songs for Kids benefit at Smith's Olde Bar. It was a blast. I played The Freshmen by the Verve Pipe. There were too many highlights to mention so go check out the (PHOTOS).

The following Wednesday was my last day at Super Deluxe. I had been there for around a year and half and it was indeed the best of times. I don't think it was a surprise to anyone that we got shut down, but it was a sad day. I've made a ton of great friends there. I know I'll see everyone in the future. I had a new job lined up that started the following Monday, so I was lucky.

For Mother's Day weekend I headed down to St. Petersburg for a few days. I had a great time at the BAAMO street market, and I had a blast playing at the 2/3 Spiller reunion with Marcus and the Paper Stanleys at Cafe Alma. It was great to see everyone. (PHOTOS)

May 14th was the mothly enstallment of the APWBWGTTD blogger meetup. I got there late, but the group was still in full swing when I arrived. (PHOTOS)

Two days later was the Mary O. Harrison CD release party at The EARL. A few days before the show the opening act had to cancel so I stepped in as the first act. I had a great time playing solo and with Mary. Magnapop closed out the night and sounded fantastic as always. (PHOTOS)

The next two days I spent down in Box Springs, Georgia at Mahoneyfest. I played a solo show on Saturday, got a flat tire, and saw a ton of amazing, amazing performers. Check out all the (PHOTOS), it was nuts.

Later in the week a few of us from Super Deluxe caught a stand-up set by one of my favorite artist, Maria Bamford. She was hilarious on stage, and very sweet and nice when we all got to talk to her after the show. She even remembered me and left a funny little comment on my MySpace page. (PHOTOS)

On May 22nd I played two sets of original tunes at Kavarna in Decatur. I taped the show for posterity, hopefully I'll post it sometime soon. I need to go through the recording and chop it up. (PHOTOS)

This last weekend Liz and I headed over to Wilmington, NC for the annual WE Fest XII. We had access to a great little beach house and the beach all weekend. I performed a solo set on Saturday night at the Soapbox (a laundromat rock club) and I played with The Good Graces on Sunday. There was a ton of great people there, and a ton of great bands. On Monday before we headed out of town we explored downtown, grabbed some yummy seafood and just relaxed before heading home. (PHOTOS)

On the drive back from WE Fest I got a call from Tessa from Super Deluxe. A good friend of our, Erlene has passed away earlier in the day in a tragic accident. I'll always remember her as smart, charming, beautiful, energizing, motivated and sweet. When I first started with Super Deluxe we sat next to each other and swapped music, and made each other laugh. She will be missed by so many people. It's tragic. My heart goes out to Aaron, her family and all of her friends. She touched everyone she met, and I consider myself lucky to have worked and played alongside her.

04/28/2008 - Hey everyone, lots to catch you up on so here we go with a quick recap of the last week or so. Two Friday's ago the Good Graces played a fun but weird show at the 11:11 Teahouse. The crowd was small but the bands, for the most part were really good. Tiger Saw and Cathy Cathodic were a blast. (PHOTOS)

The next day The Good Graces and I played the See-Through Souls 2008 show in Kirkwood and it was a fun, laid-back time with some amazing window-art creations. (PHOTOS)

Liz and I also had a great time at Criminal Records for Record Store Day and the Sweetwater 420 festival in Candler Park was a great time too!

This last weekend saw me getting together with some folks for a second time and hammering out some new tunes. I'll keep you posted as things move forward, should be exciting stuff.

This Friday night I'll be performing at Smith's Olde Bar's 500 Songs For Kids. I'll be playing around 9pm and it's for a great cause. Hope to see you out and about.

04/15/2008 - Hey everyone, just a quick recap from last weekend! On Saturday I headed over to Chapel Hill, NC to record some guitar on the upcoming Good Graces' CD. Jerry Kee was producing the three songs that I was recording and I was excited to be working with him. He's recorded a ton of my favorite bands from that part of the country like Superchunk, Portastatic, Seam, and Polvo!

When I arrived Kim was wrapping up her parts, so I said hello to Jerry and Molly the studio cat and got set up and tuned. I brought a few guitars, but it seems like the '62 blue Jazzmaster was all I needed to get the tracks down. Kim did some additional songs the next day. Jerry was a great guy, and so easy to work with. I'm anxious to hear everything when it's mixed and ready to go. (PHOTOS)

04/10/2008 - When I started writing in this space in 2001 so my Dad could keep up with what I've been up too I never would have thought that I'd still be spouting off 7+ years later. At first it was fun, then habitual, cathartic, a chore, and finally an afterthought.

Hey, I've been busy! I'm not even sure how far back to go, but I suppose I'll start with a fun show I played last weekend at Kavarna. Last Saturday I played a solo show with Cousin Sophie, Spy Magnet and my friend from Florida, Geoff's Evil Twin. We had a fun time, many beers were had and I even bumped into an old friend from St. Pete that's living in Atlanta now. (PHOTOS)

On Tuesday night, Liz and I headed over to the 40 Watt Club to see The Weakerthans, Christine Fellows and A.A. Bondy. Christine opened the show, A.A. Bondy wooed the crowd with his southern heart and the Weakerthans came out and rocked it with a smile. We had a great time and we had a quick chance to chat with A.A. and John from the Weakerthans. Two incredibly nice folks. (PHOTOS)

Last night was the April edition of the APWBWGTTD Meet-up, and once again we had a fun time trying out a new restaurant and meeting new friends. (PHOTOS)

OK, that's all I got for today. I need to get some work done and get ready for Good Graces practice tonight! We're hitting the studio in Chapel Hill this weekend!

04/02/2008 - Yesterday wasn't like any other day in a long time for me. It was one of the best days I've had in ages. Work was engaging, my heart was singing, and the weather here in Atlanta was amazing after the early morning rains that we so desperately need.

After work I headed home and walked Molly around the neighborhood. It was beautiful out. The neighborhood dogwoods, flowers, and purple-flowery tress were going crazy with pretty. I picked some yellow wild flowers and dandelions and stuck them in Molly's collar. People laughed and smiled. I said "Oh, isn't she beautiful!"

After a fun walk I headed off to band practice with the Good Graces.

It was at practice that I received the call that a friend of mine here in Atlanta had "collapsed" and that the ambulance was on the way. I quickly packed up and loaded the car. I got an update a few minutes later that the EMTs were there and that they were taking him to the hospital. I sped out to meet everyone there.

As I pulled up I got the call. He didn't make it. He died.

From this point forward my memory is fuzzy, the details are heartbreaking, and the events were of course, life changing.

So, I just wanted to say this. Love the people in your life with all your heart. Life is way too short and everything can change in a heartbreaking second. Please say some prayers for his family and friends today. They lost a loved one way too young. He'll be missed by a ton of people that were really lucky to have him in their life.

Love,
John

03/25/2008 - SXSW Day 5 Recap - Sunday morning, surprisingly totally awake. I bounced out of bed, checked the weather on the news and headed out early. As I've done in years past I headed out to Mount Bonnell to check out the view before heading back downtown. The weather was clear and cool, and from the top you have a great view of the city and the Colorado River.

From there I walked the waterfront downtown and headed to the S. Congress district to hit some shops and get coffee and drinks with JoEllen. Quick enough it was time to head to the airport and head home. I gave Flee and JoEllen a ride and we checked in and waiting for out flight. Mine was slightly delayed and full of screaming kids so it was nice to get home. Hello Atlanta, I'm back.

Is it too early to start planning for next year?

Day 5 in the books, I'm home safe and sound. (Photos)

03/24/2008 - SXSW Day 4 Recap - Saturday is the last big day of the music festival and in years past it's been one of the most intense as you try and see every band you've missed all week, and check off all those final "must-do" items. One of the first things that I wanted to check off my list was Flatstock. Flatstock is a fantastic concert poster showcase featuring around 100 artists. I could have spent $1000 in there, but I managed to get out of there with just two great Spoon posters and a few buttons.

From there I headed briefly over to the Paste party for some food and drinks before heading up to the Mohawk to see Film School rock the crowd with their My Bloody Valentine sound.

Super Deluxe was sponsoring a huge day party called Mess With Texas 2 at Waterloo Park, and that's where I spent the remainder of the day before the night shows. There were a million cool bands and hilarious comedians. I got to see Atlanta's own Atlas Sound, Kimya Dawson, Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman, Aziz Ansari, Reggie Watts, Tig Nataro, Hard 'n Phirm, Paul F. Tompkins, Brian Posehn, Human Giant, Matt & Kim, and The Breeders!

After a long sunburnt day spent under the Texas sun I was ready for the final night shows to get started. I didn't really have any "must-see" shows tonight so I just winged it all night. First up was a nice set by Georgie James at the Dirty Dog. The band was quiet and the club was loud so I was straining to really catch everything. Next up was Neva Dinova, they had a nice guitar heavy sound and I stayed for most all of their set before heading over to the Parish to try and catch Los Campesinos!

There was a big line outside but it quickly moved inside and I made it upstairs just in time to watch the band set up for 30 minutes. They tore their set and played my favorite "Tonight I Have to Leave it" to finish out the night. Well, the end of the evening was quickly approaching and I was done. I stuck my head in a few bars on the way back to the car and picked up a big slice of pizza for the walk. Every year I want the festival to last one more day, yet I'm totally exhausted by this point. One more short day in Austin and I'd be home.

Day 4 in the books. (Photos)

03/21/2008 - SXSW Day 3 Recap - By Friday morning I was finally in the swing of things. It always takes a few days to get your schedule lined up with your endurance. This is a marathon, not a sprint after all. I slept in a little bit and then headed down to the convention center to grab some food and drinks at the Australian BBQ and then headed over to the Paste party to start the day of rock.

When I arrived Lightspeed Champion had already started his set. I really enjoyed his stage presence and his original songs. He's made a challenge to himself to play a different Weezer cover at every show, and today he played Perfect Situation off of Make Believe.

After their set I was ready for my second show by The Weakerthans in about 14 hours. Yes, they we're up next and I couldn't wait. I positioned myself right in the middle and rocked out the entire time. They played a slightly different set, and it was great. NPR was there recording the show. You can stream it HERE.

Next up I headed back of to the Australian BBQ and caught The Vines before heading over to check out the Spin party at Stubb's and She & Him at the Yaris outside stage. That was completely packed so after a song I went over to Emo's a got to see a fun set by Bon Iver.

Back at Stubb's I got to see a handful of songs by Vampire Weekend, and while I really like their new CD I was not blown away by the live show. Maybe 4pm on a hot and dusty friday afternoon is not ideal view conditions.

Jens Lekman was playing across the street at Club Deville, a place I played in 2004, so I hoofed it over there for his set and bumped into Kim. Really dug his set as did the entire patio full of people.

I made it back over to Stubb's just in time to catch X rock the crowd. They brought the rock and Billy Zoom's smile never left his face the entire time.

Super Deluxe was having a night party so I swung by there and helped put up a few posters and fold some shirts. Putting up posters, we spotted Franz Nicolay from The Hold Steady parked on a corner playing some tunes on his accordion. Very inconspicuous my fiends, what a cool idea.

As we were watching Franz play up waled Jonah Ray and Matt Braunger. We walked it down to the Fader Fort to meet up with the guys from Human Giant where they were getting interviewed (video here).

OK, I'm tired, but the night parties are just getting ready to start. I headed to the Parish with Kim for the Merge Records showcase. I've always loved this label and nearly everything they sign so I knew I was in for some great music.

Portastatic with just Mac solo was up first and he played a short but fun set of tunes. Wye Oak was up next and I really dug them. The drummer played drums (duh) and bass on a keyboard with his left hand while the singer also played guitar. A big sound from the two folks from Baltimore.

The Radar Brothers hit the stage next with some great tunes followed by a loose-but-fun Shout Out Louds from Scotland. She & Him we're clearly the buzz band of the night and they brought a beautiful and charming set to the Parish.

At the end of their set I headed back down to the Super Deluxe showcase. On the way I got a text message from Atlanta that said "Kirkwood has power and seems fine. Cabbage Town hit hard, Downtown hit hard." Turns out a tornado just slammed through town and all the Atlanta folks were really concerned about home.

Several of the folks from work either lived in hard hit Cabbage Town or nearby. It was a surreal way to end the evening and I hurried back to the hotel to check the news for the latest info.

Day 3 complete. (Photos)

03/20/2008 - SXSW Day 2 Recap - Thursday started out with a very cool keynote speech by the godfather of punk, Lou Reed. He had a million great quotes including, "I've got a B.A. in Dope, but a PHD in Soul" and, "Technology makes it easier to make things worse."

With the noon hour quickly approaching I headed over to Volume for the Paste/Stereogum party and caught My Brightest Diamond's quirky and fun set. Next up I was over to Emo's Annex for Dawn Landes and Peter Moren before heading back to the Paste party to catch a fun and loose set by Nada Surf.

By this point I was starving, and despite the delicious queso at the Paste party I needed real food. Hello "Music from Spain" party. Hello free buffet.

Next up was the Irish Breakfast courtesy of the Music from Ireland folks. I missed the food but I got there in time for some great tunes from Delorentos, and the best Guinness I've ever had. It's usually at this point in the day that randomness takes over, I just let the wind take me to whatever I can hear. In this spirit I caught The Duke Spirit, Christine Fellows, Cloud Cult, South, Moby (playing bass in a blues band!) and a really cool set by The Blow at the trade center cafeteria!

The night shows were up next and this was the night that I was most excited about, The Weakerthans were playing!

I headed up to Cedar Street early to take advantage of the free drinks and settled in for the night. First up was a great set by Islands and a knock-my-socks-off, best surprise of the festival, totally entertaining Tim Fite.

Soon enough The Weakerthans hit the stage and rocked it hard. They sounded great and played a wide selection of tunes from all of their records. The crowd bopped and swayed, and sang along. This was definitely a fan show and not an industry crowd. What a fun set.

I wanted to stick around and see Billy Bragg, but instead decided to catch No Age at the other end of the strip. I would end up seeing No Age again on saturday and really enjoy them, but tonight the PA was so loud and it was so late that I was only good for a few ear-shattering tunes.

Day 2 is done. (Photos)!

03/19/2008 - SXSW Day 1 Recap - SXSW is always a mix of insanity, inspiration, and endurance. So it's been customary for me to fly out there super early on Wednesday morning so I barely make it to the Yard Dog in time for my set at the BAAMO showcase. Mission accomplished. After my morning flight got delayed I arrived at the Yard Dog about 8 minutes before I was supposed to start playing.

I had a fun set, I played an extra song or two and then settled in for the rest of the show. The Ditchflowers sounded fantastic, as did Ed Harcourt and everyone else. It was a great time and the food was top notch as always.

Next I headed down to the convention center, picked up my badge and my big bag of swag and headed over to the Fader Fort. I caught a few cool tunes from YACHT before heading over to Stubb's for the R.E.M. showcase.

It's not typical that I spend an entire evening in one venue, but I didn't want to miss R.E.M., so I stuck it out and checked out all the bands that were on the bill before them. Summerbirds in the Cellar were bombastic and thick with pre-recorded tracks, broken amps, and video screen behind them. Jonathan Rice was great despite a loose cannon guitar player, really enjoyed his tunes. Next up, Papercranes were OK, but the performance seemed a bit contrived. Dead Confederate, a local Georigia band with a swirling Hammond B-3, and a plodding vibe.

Finally R.E.M. hit the stage and the place went nuts. They sounded great and I loved the new tunes. I think their new CD is going to be great.

The weather turned cold, so I headed out before their encore was over and stumbled upon The Lemonheads playing their album, It's a Shame About Ray in it's entirety. They sounded awesome.

Day 1 was in the books. I checked into my crappy hotel and passed out. (Photos)!

03/18/2008 - Time sure does fly by fast at times. No sooner than I get back from Texas, I realize I never had time to fire off a quick entry about my trip dow to Florida 10 days ago. There's not too much to report other than it was the best time I've had in ages.

Dank and Nessie rocked the Emerald Bar and everyone was there. I lost track of the number of parties that weekend. I had a great time. Check out the (Photos)!

02/29/2008 - Three years ago last night one of my favorite bands of all time played their final show. I wasn't there.

I first discovered the band Luna while I was working at Spec's Music in Gateway Mall in St. Petersburg, Florida. Musically it was the middle of the grunge rock revolution and every song that played through the store's speakers blasted out with abandon and wildness except one.

There was this one CD in the 6-disc changer that was so low in volume that I always had to check to see if it was still working. It was. It was Luna's first CD, simply entitled Lunapark. It was the copy where the name of the band had a numeral "2" after the "Luna." I figured there must have been another band named Luna at the time and this was the way the fine folks at Elektra records dealt with it while the other "Luna" was offered money to change their name.

OK, that's not really true at all, I just thought it was weird. After a few weeks of everyone in the store enduring that one quiet CD, the manager of the store plucked it out of the player and said "you want it?"

I took the CD home, and from that time forward that CD has been on or near the top of the stack. I fell in love with every song. My old band Lie covered "I Can't Wait." If a girl liked Luna I took that as a sign we should get married.

The first time I saw them was at a place in north Tampa called The Stone Lounge. It was a great punk rock club run by a friend, and it served as a local band hang out for a few years. I've been told the name Stone is a reference to Stone Gossard from Pearl Jam. I have no reason to doubt for a second.

Low opened the show. They were fantastic. Luna played next and lifted the room a foot off the ground despite Sean's busted amp and some drunk frat boys from USF screaming the entire time.

I picked up every CD they put out from that point forward. Every little EP I could find. Every shitty mp3 I could track down on the web. They were one of those bands.

And so, as I played last night at Flicker Bar and Theater with The Good Graces, the Jazzmaster seemed to play itself. I snuck in a few Luna licks. Nobody seemed to mind. We had a great time. We ate free popcorn. (Photos from the show)

Three nights previous, Liz and I saw an amazing set by Luna's singer and bass player Dean and Britta at Eddie's Attic. And despite the drunk couple standing up directly in front of the stage groping each other and making out, they lifted the room a foot off the ground again, like they always do. They played a dozen tunes from Galaxy 500, Luna, and their own Dean and Britta catalog. At the end of their set the band sat out in the main room, smoked cigarettes, talked with fans and relaxed. I was going to say hello, but I didn't.

I guess I should have. I just wanted to say thanks.

02/27/2008 - I'll be honest, it's been hard keeping up with the journal/blog/thingy lately. I've been so busy and the words are not spilling out. Maybe it's the huge amount of facial hair on my face that's weighing me down.

Last weekend the fine folks in The Yum Yum Tree did an insane amount of driving to play in Chapel Hill for International Pop Overthrow 2008 at the Local 506. We played first. We rocked all ~20 folks that saw us and then we drove home the next morning. I had a good time. My friend Marcus meet me out at the club, took some snazzy pictures of us rocking and then we headed out to see what Chapel Hill had to offer. We had some pizza, we had some beers, we had a good time catching up.

The next morning we caught up some more, and then reluctantly, with the help of a 20oz coffee, I headed home. I made a few brief stops on the way home, but I was anxious to get back. I was anxious to sleep. (Photos from the trip)

I've very excited about tomorrow night. I'll be playing guitar with The Good Graces in one of my favorite spots in Athens, GA. It's called the Flicker Bar and Theater. The show starts at 9:00 PM and we go on second. If you're in Athens and you're so inclined, we'd love to see your smiling Face. They have Free popcorn for crying out loud!

02/19/2008 - Hey there, hope everyone a nice long weekend. I needed the extra day off to recuperate from all the activities this weekend. OK, here's a quick recap.

Friday night the Mary O. Harrison band played a set at Kavarna with Richard Parsons. The show got off to a late start but once we got up and running everyone had a good time. (Photos)

The next night I was back at Kavarna, only this time with The Good Graces. We played with songwriter Marcellus, the one-man experience The Subliminator, and songwriter Mark Phelps. (Photos)

Finally, and at long last, I've got my little home recording setup running. I picked up a new Apple MacBook, to replace my old one that died last month, upgraded the RAM, and I'm up and running. I hope to start posting some new demos very soon.

02/11/2008 - Happy monday everyone. Last weekend kicked off with The Yum Yum Tree playing our first headlining show at The EARL on Friday night. All the bands sounded great and we really had a fun time. Thanks to everyone that made it out! (Photos from the show!)

I have two shows this weekend to look forward to. Both of them are at a great little place in Decatur called Kavarna. This friday I'm playing guitar with Mary O. Harrison, and on Saturday night I'll be playing guitar and bass with The Good Graces. I think I play at 9 PM both nights. Come on out, and see the calendar for all the details.

02/07/2008 - Hey there, just a quick reminder that one of my bands, The Yum Yum Tree will be headlining our first show at The EARL tomorrow night. All the details are in the show listings. Hope to see you there.

02/04/2008 - Hey everyone, just checking in after a fast weekend. The Good Graces played a private party on Friday night at Round Box. The food was yummy, the company fantastic, and the drinks were free. Ahhh... my favorite kind. Won't you get me one sometime soon?

This week is going to be a busy one, I've got practice three nights this week and The Yum Yum Tree is headlining our first show at The EARL on Friday night. Awesome!

Work is starting to pick up on my new project, and I hope to have an announcement and some demos up on the site pretty soon. Speaking of the site, I'll have a new site up for the new project, although you can always keep up with me here.

(Photos from the Good Graces show!)

01/24/2008 - It's been a while since I checked in! I had a fun show last Friday at Smith's Old Bar, thanks to everyone that made it out!

Last night a bunch of us attended a book reading at Wordsmiths Books by Rob Sheffield for his great book Love is a Mix Tape. I had him sign my copy and he was great to talk to, a real nice guy. Also performing that night were The Swear. They ripped it up real good, nice job for rocking a bookstore!

OK, just a few quick updates. The Yum Yum Tree is playing International Pop Overthrow 2008 in Chapel Hill, NC! Mary O. is going putting her new CD out on Two Sheds and she's making a video!

Whew, that's enough for one week.

01/17/2008 - Hey, I'm playing my first weekend show at Smith's Old Bar - The Atlanta Room tomorrow evening at 8pm. Come on out!

01/08/2008 - Hey everyone, long time no see. I was going to do this big recap of my Christmas and New Year's break, but I'm so excited about 2008 that I can't find the energy to look back for a moment. OK, maybe just a quick recap!

The holidays were a ton of fun, and very hectic. Liz and I drove down to Florida on 12/22, through a ton of traffic, just in time to make my solo show at Tre Amici @ The Bunker in Ybor City. I had a fantastic time playing, and it was great too see Bob Anthony, Kenny Howes, and so many great friends out at the show.

After the show, we walked around Ybor City for a while, caught up with some more friends, and had a great time out and about. The rest of the long weekend was spent at the beach, at the Dali Museum, having drinks with friends, and eating at some of my favorite restaurants in town.

Back in Atlanta for Christmas proper, presents were opened and quality time was spent with more family and friends.

New Year's was a low-key affair, dinner in the EAV with friends, and we heard all sort of fireworks (gun shots?) when New Year's hit! I swear East Atlanta sounded like a war zone when the peach dropped at midnight.

OK, that's it for a look back. (photos)

I'm looking forward now, and there's a ton of things happening! There's going to be lots of music, shows and recording this year, and I hope to get a fair amount of traveling in as well.

2008 = Create!

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Written by John McNicholas On

2007

12/31/2007 - So this is the end of the year, and I always tell myself I'm going to post a list of favorite songs, or CDs, as if anyone buys CDs anymore. Well, here's a quick and dirty list of things that made me smile this year. I'm sure I missed some things and some people. My bad.

- Super Deluxe goes live and I still have a job
- Jeff Tweedy @ the Tabernacle
- Playing with The Good Graces, Mary O. Harrison and The Yum Yum Tree! Great people, every one of them!
- The Atlanta music scene
- SXSW 2007! A million great shows in one town.
- BAAMO
- WMNF
- Dean & Britta at the Variety Playhouse
- ISP Space (R.I.P.)
- The EARL
- Smith's Olde Bar
- Hanging with Ava in Delaware
- 500 Songs for Kids
- See-through Souls
- Working with the CNN.com folks on Funny Lunch
- Ben Gibbard at Center Stage
- Sloan at the 40 Watt
- AthFest
- Bright Eyes at The Fox Theater
- Memorial Day weekend with my Florida friends
- Corndogorama!
- The Star Bar photo booth
- "Marry Me" by St. Vincent (answer "yes")
- Java Monkey
- The Atlanta Songwriters shows
- Lenny's Bar
- Rufus Wainwright, Neko Case @ the Tabernacle
- My second annual Wisconsin holiday
- Milwaukee Art Museum
- The Other Sound Festival
- 11:11 Teahouse
- The Drunken Unicorn
- KEXP & KCRW podcasts
- 2007 Grant Park Summer Shade Festival
- Playing Kelly's Pub in Tampa with Lance, Rebekah & Rob and Ted
- Rebekah & Rob in Atlanta
- Kent and everyone at Legend's Guitars
- Midtown Music
- Eskimo Kiss and Eskimo Bliss
- The Preakness
- Club Awesome's pool party
- Parade
- Thunderbox rehearsal space
- GutterPop
- Sandra and Raleigh
- All my Super Deluxe co-workers
- Jeff Wood (R.I.P.)
- The Howlies
- The Bain Mattox crew, past and present
- James and Ali
- The East Atlanta Strut
- The 88.5 WRAS interview
- The Jupiter Watts
- Art Bar in Columbia, SC
- Two Sheds Records
- Two days in Indianapolis with friends
- The Gardner clan
- Broad Ripple Fall Music Festival
- Luna Music
- Indianapolis Museum of Art
- Eisenhower Field Day
- Atlanta People With Blogs Who Get Together To Drink
- The Clermont Lounge with Liz! Peach Cobbler!
- Little 5 Points Halloween Parade
- Pittsburgh to see The Weakerthans
- Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater
- The Hushpuppy Gallery
- Chomp and Stomp
- Kavarna
- A decent car crash
- My new JamMan pedal
- My new Strat
- The 1990s, Art Brut & The Hold Steady show at the Variety
- The Swell Season at the Variety
- Once
- Black Lips at the Variety
- Happenstance 2007, "One Great Song!"
- Bain Mattox and Shot From Guns at Eddie's Attic
- The Turner Christmas Party and a busted window
- Liz's new house and expertly manicured lawn
- All my great new friends in Atlanta. - Molly my doggie

Have a fun and safe New Year's Eve everyone. I'll catch up with everyone in the next few days!

12/20/2007 - Sorry this is so long... The last few days have been full of rock and roll, and as my habit of late, it's taken me a few days to spill my guts.

Last Saturday was Happenstance 2007. Take 30 musicians, assemble them at 10 AM in a bar, and have them draw names out of a hat to determine what 6 new "bands" that they will be in. Next, have them go away for the day and write 20 minutes worth of original songs and learn one cover. Sounds easy right? RIGHT?!

I rolled into The EARL at 10 AM, signed in and grabbed some coffee. As more folks arrived, I got more and more excited. Jenny and Mike from The Eyes were there. Mary O. Harrison, Tracy Clark from The Preakness, Blake Guthrie, and lots of other folks were there and ready to rock in the early morning.

Quick enough the 6 "front persons" took center stage and pulled names out of 5 baseball hats, one each for guitar, bass, drums, and one for an auxiliary player, that could be any instrument.

Jenny Hutton from The Eyes was up first and drew Mike Goldman, her guitar player's name from the hat. There's a rule you can't play with anyone you've been in a band with before, so she had to draw again. "John McNicholas." Cool! I was really hoping to get a chance to play with Jenny and I was equally as excited when she drew Tracy's name from the sweat-stained PBR baseball cap next! The other players would be Harry on drums, and Allen on guitar and keyboards.

The other bands were quickly assembled. We picked our Journey cover tune, and then everyone gathered outside The EARL for the official group picture.

The band headed back to the Harry's practice space, which as luck would have it, was three doors down from the room that The Yum Yum Tree uses at Thunderbox. When we arrived, Harry unlocked the door, looked in the room, paused and said, "one sec." A few minutes later he came out, "Hang out for about 10 minutes, there's a guy sleeping in here."

He shares his space with 4 other bands, and one of the guys got kicked out of his apartment and was couch surfing in the space. Literally. There was furniture.

With Sleepy out we began the process of coming up with three tunes. Allen's keyboard was D.O.A., so we took a short break while Jenny ran and got her keyboard as a replacement. By 12:30 PM we were ready to rock.

I had had an idea on the way over about a song with a Lee Renaldo-spoken-word style verse and a catchy chorus, so that was the first song attempted, and the first song quickly aborted.

Jenny and Allen had an idea for a song with a 50's progression that we all jumped right in on, and it sounded great right off the bat. Jenny decided to compose lyrics about the guy that was sleeping in the space. Fun!

I started messing around on guitar and Tracy said, hey, that's good for the song that you wanted to do earlier. For the next hour and a half we worked on what would become a song called "One Great Song!" It's a fictional story about how all the guys in Journey met. I love it.

Next up, Tracy suggested we work up a fun and funky tune. We did, and we called it "It's Your Thing." This one quickly became a favorite of the other bands in the space, as I later heard how much they were digging that one at 3:30 PM in the afternoon from the rooms next door.

We took a break for pizza, told some stories and attempted to clear our heads. We did, we cleared them so well we could barely remember the songs.

Back at the space we ran through everything a few times, worked on Tracy's tune and Jenny finished up the words to what would become "Practice Space Surfer."

Next up was the cover, Journey's "Wheel in the Sky." Awesome, yes I know. We stripped out all the hard parts, and rocked it with guitar solos and vocal harmonies. Yes, it was glorious.

Suddenly it was 8 PM. We had to be there by 9 PM. We ran to our cars through the rainy parking lot and headed home to change/nap/eat before load in.

I ran home, changed, and got back to the EARL a little before 9pm, met with Liz and brought my stuff inside.

The order of the bands was randomly decided, and we were picked to be second. This was perfect, let the first band break the ice and we could play before we forgot all the songs or had to many beers!

The first band sounded great, Mary O. was on keyboards, and they sounded damn fine. The bar was set high. We were up next. Guitars we're quickly thrown on stage, tuned up, beers refilled and before I knew it we were being introduced. "Will you please welcome to the stage '27 Vagrants!"

We started with Tracy's song, "It's Your Thing," and the people were dancing. So far so good! Next up was Jenny's "Practice Space Surfer," and after a few false starts we were off and rocking. Tracy and I were hitting the backups hard and Jenny's lyrics were great. I'll have to provide a transcription soon.

My song was third, and "One Great Song!" was rocking from beginning to end… not so much in them middle, but hey, it was rocking and nobody noticed, right? I told the story of 4 musicians in the 70s, rocking and rolling their way to rock and roll history.

For the grand finale we rocked The EARL with some Journey from 1978! "Wheel in the sky keeps on turning!" Jenny switched over to keyboards and we ended the tune with an arena-rock ending, Tracy fell over, Allen and I pulled out some rock moves and then we burned the staged to the ground with pryo. I made up that last part.

In just the blink of an eye our day was over. It was a quick day, a quick set and now we would sit back and just enjoy ourselves for the rest of the evening.

Blake Guthrie headed up the next band, featuring Leanna from the Georgia Fireflies on drums with some other fine folks. They sounded great and the words were top notch.
The fourth band consisted of Regina from Cowboy Mouth and others. They started of by jumping into the crowd with a rocking surf instrumental and the intensity only went up from there for the entire set.

Band number five feature Mike from the Eyes on guitar and Yum Yum Tree drummer Alex. They rocked. The best joke of the night goes to the unknown drummer in the audience that used his sticks and did a "One, Two, Three, FOUR!" and the entire band started except for Alex. Fantastic.

Finally, band numero six hit the stage. I don't know any of these folks, but they rocked it and rocked it good. It was a fitting way to conclude what was one of the most fun and memorable days.

What an amazing event, with an amazing group of talented people. Thanks to Brian Fletcher of Luigi and everyone else that made this evening happen. (photos)

12/13/2007 Hey everyone, come out to The EARL tomorrow night for Happenstance 2007. I'll be playing guitar in one of the 6 new bands that we'll form tomorrow. It's for charity. All your friends will be there! You will have a great time!

So, this week has been hectic. I'll recap quickly. I had Yum Yum Tree practice on Monday, we've got a show on 12/27 at The EARL and we're getting ready to rock it!

Tuesday, I worked on some new songs with my new band called The Low Days. There, I said it, it has a name. Songs that we ran through were Chicago Apartment Building Fire, We can Stow Away the Sound Underground and a third one that's tentatively entitled Carmel.

Wednesday, I got together with Kim for Good Graces practice. We talked music and cider. We had fun.

Thursday night was the big Adult Swim, Super Deluxe, Cartoon Network, Game Tap Christmas Party at Park Tavern. It was a blast. We had drinks. There was a chocolate fountain. We took a prom picture. I got my car window smashed in. Oh, and DethKlock rocked Center Stage!

Tonight, Liz and I are going to see Bain Mattox play Eddie's Attic and tomorrow night is of course, Happenstance 2007 at The EARL. And on Sunday I rest. Oh way, no I don't, it's Yum Yum Tree practice again! Our last one before our show on the 27th.

I need a nap.

12/05/2007 - I can't believe it's December already! I'm excited to announce that I've been picked to participate in The Happenstance 2007 at the The EARL on 12/15. They get 30 musicians, randomly form 6 bands, and that night everyone rocks a set of new tunes that they wrote that same day! I attended last year, and it was a great time.

Last Friday night Liz and I caught a great show at the Variety Playhouse. It was Stomp and Stammer's 11th birthday and it was a completely packed house. The Selmanaires kicked things off with some Talking Heads inspired beats, while the second band, Snowden provided some rocking Euro-core. Deerhunter played third and just slayed. There was tension galore on stage with Bradford calling Colin, "the Deserter," and making light of Justin's bass amp problems. I hope I get a chance to see them again sometime, I have a feeling that was going to be their last show for a long time. Last but not least, the Black Lips ripped the top off the place as everyone was ready to dance by the time they hit the stage. Beers and bodies we're flying the entire set! What a great show and a great night. (photos)

Saturday night, Mary O. Harrison and the Living Room Drama played Kavarna in Oakhurst. We had a fun and quirky set and it was nice to have so many friends come out on a chilly evening and hang out. (photos)

Well, I've been doing some writing again, and I'll be in the process of getting a band together pretty soon up here. If you're interested in playing some tunes or know someone who might be, drop me a note!

11/30/2007 - Hey everyone, I'm just now catching up for the week. I had a really fun show at Smith's Old Bar on Tuesday night. The 8pm starting time was in my favor and a nice group of friends made it out to the show. I've been asked back on a weekend in January, so I'll need everyone out in full force for that one so they'll have me back again sometime. (photos)

I'm excited about the weekend, there's some fun stuff happening every day. Tonight, right after work I'm going to the Vinson Gallery for their Christmas show and sale. It's run by a friend of mine, Shawn Vinson, from the late 80's music scene. He took pictures of my old band Parade in Paris.

Later tonight I'm excited to be attending the Stomp and Stammer show at the Variety Playhouse featuring Black Lips, Deerhunter, The Selmanaires, and Snowden. It should a fantastic show.

Tomorrow night I'll be playing Kavarna at 10pm with Mary O. Harrison and the Living Room Drama. It's a free show and the music starts at 8pm.

11/27/2007 - I'm playing at Smith's Old Bar in the Atlanta Room tonight at 8pm and I feel like crap. I'm sick. That won't stop me from rocking out, but it will keep me from hanging out all night to see all the acts unless I pull a 180 and feel better. Come on out tonight, bring me some tissues.

My trip down to St. Pete for the holidays last weekend was fun, so fun that it's not important what I did. It was good to see everyone and bask in some Florida sunshine. Hope you had a great weekend.

11/22/2007 - It's raining this morning in Atlanta, and that is indeed something to be thankful for. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday with family and friends.

11/21/2007 - If I don't catch up with everything that's happened over the last week I never will, so here's a quick recap.

Last Thursday night, Liz and I attended the monthly bloggers meet up at Ace's Bar in lovely downtown Kirkwood. It was a fun time and it was great to meet some new folks in the group. (Photos)

After the meet-up we headed down to the Star Bar to catch Big Trouble In Little Five Points, a monthly show put on by Atlanta's Pop Death Squad. It was packed beyond belief are we were lucky to even get in. We caught The Lollygags, a two-piece electro-dance group from Athens and the Black Kids from Jacksonville, FL. We had a great time! (Photos)

Saturday night we caught The Swell Season and Martha Wainwright at the Variety Playhouse. The Swell Season, featuring Glen Hansard from the Irish band the Frames, and Czech singer/songwriter Marketa Irglova stared in the movie Once and provided the music as well. It was an amazing movie and their live set was incredible. They played almost everything from the movie in addition to some Frames songs and even a great Pixies' song, Cactus. He told a great story about the last time the Frames were in Atlanta; they played the Echo Lounge and hit his head on a nail sticking out of the ceiling. When he came too, Chris Martin from Coldplay was holding him in his arms. Funny. (Photos)

Sunday night was a fantastic show as well. The Hold Steady, Art Brut, and 1990s played the Variety playhouse, and we were back in attendance to rock out. The 1990s were loose and fun, with great feedback and lots of "ba ba ba" back up vocals. Next up, Art Brut were fantastic, energetic, engaging, and pretty much stole the show. The Hold Steady rocked it hard, and were every bit as good as the last time I saw them. The crowd bounced, swayed, and hung on every word. At the end of the show everyone at the front of the stage crawled up and joined the band for the last song. It was quite a moment and a fantastic way to end the weekend! (Photos)

OK, that's it, that's enough, I'm off to Florida for Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

11/13/2007 - I had such a fun time last Saturday night. It was my first time playing with the ATL Songwriters group, and it was my first time at a great new spot in Oakhurst called Kavarna. Jim Combs had already started by the time I arrived, and this was the best set that I've caught by him. During one of his spontaneous compositions he played an electric kalimba that sounded amazing!

I was up next so I grabbed my guitar, tuned up, and rocked it. I had a really fun time on stage, the best time I've had in a long time. The room sounded fantastic, the crowded listened, chatted, and laughed at my lame attempts to be funny. Some friends made it out too, which is always great and very much appreciated.

Next up was the Melinda Kingsley Band, a fun four/five piece. And finally, closing the night was one of my local faves Lindsey Appel. She's got a really sweet voice and creative songs, good stuff indeed.

Most of Sunday was spent playing some guitar at home and trying to figure out my new JamMan pedal. It's a looping pedal. I think I'm the last solo guitarist to get one, but they are pretty damn cool. And finally, Sunday night, a big group of us gathered to celebrate our friend Kim's marriage vows and rock out to The Preakness. No pictures in this updated unfortunately, you'll just have to trust me that all this stuff really happened.

11/09/2007 - Last night was... wow. Um, it was great. Srsly. All my gear broke before we even started, cables, input jacks... and once we started rocking the entire rig was destroyed by the second tune and I never mentally recovered. All that being said, nobody seemed to notice but me. I'm pro like that.

Last night was a really fun time, I got to catch up with lots of friends and ran into folks I hadn't seen in ages. Rick Brantley played a great first set, The Yum Yum Tree went second and Bain Mattox closed out the night with some new tunes, well, new to me at least. It was full house and everyone had a great time! (Photos)

Don't forget my solo show at Kavarna tomorrow night. Music starts at 9pm, and I play at 10pm.

11/07/2007 - Days since last car accident: 0.

11/07/2007 - Hey everyone, I'm just popping in real quick to remind you about the big rock show tomorrow night with The Yum Yum Tree, Bain Mattox, and Rick Brantley at the Star Bar in Little Five Points here in Atlanta, GA. The show starts early at 9pm and goes all night. We play at 10pm sharp!

This Saturday night I'll be playing a solo show at a new place in Oakhurst called Kavarna. Music starts at 9pm, and I play at 10pm. It's a free show so come on out!

Last weekend I saw some good rocking, caught a festival, and attended the opening of one of my friend's art galleries. On Friday night Liz and I headed up to Lenny's to catch the always great Jupiter Watts and Cassavetes, rock the room. We bumped into lots of friends and a good time was had.

On Saturday we headed out to the 2007 Chomp and Stomp in Cabbagetown. I had never spent much time in Cabbagetown and I'd never been to the festival. It was a fantastic fall afternoon, and although we got there too late for the $5-all-you-can-eat chili, we had the best time. We saw some bands, like National Grain, enjoyed the dog show, bumped into friends, and just had a nice time.
(Photos)

Later that night we attended the opening of the Hushpuppy Gallery. There was some fantastic art, lots of friends from Super Deluxe and from The Preakness, See-through Souls, and many others. (Photos, Photos)

Sunday night was The Yum Yum Tree practice, and it was fun to rock the set as a lean and mean three piece.

Alright, that's it, maybe I'll see you tomorrow night at the show.

11/05/2007 - What's a Schmap? It's an interactive guide to your favorite city. They were nice enough to pick one of my photos to include in their latest Atlanta edition. Cool. Check it out HERE under the Photos for Smith's Olde Bar!

10/30/2007 - Pittsburgh rocked! Wow, what a fun two days I had up in the Iron City and parts thereabouts. I flew up early on Saturday morning and Andy picked me up at the airport.

We checked in to the hotel and made a beeline for the Duquesne Incline on the top of Mount Washington. We rode the cable cars and took in the breathtaking view of the city from the top. It was chilly, but sunny and wonderful. We grabbed some lunch at the Georgetown Inn and then headed down into the city.

We went to the Carson Street South Side neighborhood and checked out the great shops, cool record stores, and Pittsburgh Guitars. What a great neighborhood, cool architecture, and hip vibe the area exuded.

From there we headed north over the river, through downtown (some cool old buildings) and over the river again to the Andy Warhol Museum. This was an unexpected treat, there were so many great pieces from Warhol and others on display. I wish we had more time to study every piece.

After a quick break we headed off for the main course of the trip, The Weakerthans at Mr. Smalls in Millvale. We arrived a little early and grabbed some pizza around the corner from the club and talked hockey with the guys that were working the counter. Great pizza and conversation.

With a slight drizzle in the air we made our way back to Mr. Smalls just in time to see the opening act, Jim Bryson. Jim was great, he was affable and warm on stage, and the songs we're heartfelt and sweet. He stopped to grab his harmonic for a solo (I can relate), he played piano with the headstock of his guitar, and he invited people up to play percussion. I loved it.

Next up was Last Town Chorus. Megan, the singer/guitar player played a mean lap steal guitar "with an aquatic feel," and she really made an impression on the crowd! I'd love to check them out again if they come down to Atlanta. She's blogging the tour too, check it out HERE.

OK, it was time, the opening bands had rocked and I was ready for the Weakerthans to play. They were nothing short of fantastic. They played every song that I hoped they would and more. They we're humble and fun, and they pulled off the rock moves (synchronized guitars in the air!) with delight. I don't think I've seen a band have that much fun in ages.

The crowd sang along with every word, a difficult task, and requests were shouted as soon as each song ended. I cannot thank Stacey enough for turning me on to this band, but I did attempt it by getting her a t-shirt. Shhh... don't tell her, I haven't surprised with it yet.

Too soon the show was over. I talked briefly with Jim Bryson after the show, and we decided that food was in order. We headed back down to Carson Street, where the Halloween costumes were out in full force and ordered up some big french fry sandwiches from Primanti Brothers. Wow, what a great day.

Sunday we got up and out pretty early. I was going to catch an early flight home since Andy was heading back to Cleveland, but I saw the Hertz rental counter on my way into the airport and I couldn't resist. One of the things that I wanted to do when I was up in this part of the country was to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. It was about 60 miles south of town, and it was such an amazing fall day, I had to go.

90 minutes later I'm pulling up to the ticket gate, "Sorry sir, tickets are sold out today, but you can still buy a grounds pass." Done. I registered at the information center in case anyone didn't show up for a tour, and I was told that I'd probably get to go, "People always cancel." She handed me one of those buzzie-light things you get at restaurants when you're on the waiting list. Sweet.

For the next hour I walked around the house, explored the area and took pictures. BUZZZZZZZ! Hurray!

I scampered back to the info booth and joined a tour just as they we're leaving. For the next hour we explored every nook and cranny of the residence, and words cannot describe what an amazing building it is. If you are ever in the area, you have to go.

With the time before my flight dwindling I jumped back in the rental and high-tailed it back to the airport. I made it with 5 minutes to spare before the flight started boarding. Damn, I could have spent 5 more minutes at Fallingwater.

The flight home was quick and uneventful and I nearly finished David Sedaris' Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by the time we touched down.

Good times indeed.

10/26/2007 - I'm excited, I'm going to Pittsburgh tomorrow morning to see The Weakerthans! Know any cool places that I should check out while I'm there?

10/25/2007 - I have a song called Holly's Tooth. It's a story about a girl that gives me a necklace made of hair with her tooth on the end of it. It's a silly little tune.

So today, a friend of mine sent me this article about Scarlett Johansson.

Life imitates art.

10/22/2007 - Whew, the last few days have been a blast. Starting last Thursday, Liz and I went to the EARL to catch the the (Still) Born in the USA comedy tour, featuring one of our favorite artists here at Super Deluxe, Jonah Ray and others. It was a fun evening.

On Saturday we attended the Little 5 Points Halloween Parade. There were crazy costumes galore and we bumped into quite a few friends. (PHOTOS)

Later that night, after two years of being in Atlanta, I finally attended the word famous Clermont Lounge. It was at least ten times more fun and insane that I would have imagined. The strippers we're terrible (awesome), the DJ was incredible, and I now have a profound dislike for peach cobbler. So much fun.

Friday and Sunday evenings The Yum Yum Tree got together to work on some new tunes and the prepare for our next show at the Star Barwith Bain Mattox & Shot from Guns and Rick Brantley on November 8th.

10/18/2007 - Last Tuesday night I was invited to the monthly gathering of the Atlanta People With Blogs Who Get Together To Drink (APWBWGTTD). Liz and I went, we had pulled pork, tater tots, banana pudding and some lovely beverages. It was really fun talking with all the folks there, finding out how they got into writing. Thanks to Mingaling for putting this together!

Check out some of the blogs from the folks that were there.

- shelbinator.com
- Penelope Plop Right
- David P Brown
- mingaling
- PTO Today
- Making Chutney
- chamblee54
- bobafred
- Lady Crumpet's Armoire
- eater.org
- Maigh

There's was many a good writer at the table, and many pictures were taken.
(PHOTOS PHOTOS PHOTOS)

10/16/2007 - Traveling is fun most of the time. This is true. Trying to book a flight the night before the flight leaves in the morning is not smart, or recommended. This is also true.

Whoever said computers and the internet make life easier never tried to transfer their frequent flier points online between merchants and have it work the first, second or third time.

"Hello, yes... I'm fine thank you, look, I... yes... they haven't? Uh-huh, well the website shows that they have. Well... hello?"

And so it went for about 30 minutes.

Saturday morning I got up and out early. The security line at the airport was long but it breezed along and quick enough I was on my way to my connection in Cincinnati.

The Cincinnati Airport, like the one in Indianapolis, isn't too big and it's quick to get around unless you have to take the shuttle bus to the C terminal. Every time I come into CVG I'm always startled by the short runway and the braking power these big planes have.

I got into Indy around 1:30 PM and by 2:00 PM I'm in the rental car and off. I swung by Reno's Music and Meridian Music to check out guitars and then I headed down to the Mass. Ave. district and picked up the new Black Lips CD (with bonus EP!), did some shopping at Silver in the City and got some coffee.

On the way to Broad Ripple, I stopped by the new Luna Music location on College Ave. and caught a good band called Rodeo Ruby Love. Next, I was off to Broad Ripple for the Fall Music Festival. I met up with Andrea and Ryan and the first stop was the Alley Cat Lounge. Prizzy Prizzy Please was the first band we saw. They sounded great and they rocked a fun version of Thunderstruck by AC/DC.

Next up was my friend Natalie's sister's band, Eisenhower Field Day. I absolutely loved them. They have a mid-90s Chapel Hill sound with great harmonies, and crafty guitar and bass interplay. Loved them. Their family was out to see them play and it was great to see everyone again.

I also kept bumping to Richard from Margot every 15 minutes for nearly the entire festival. I was tempted to quiz him about their new record, but I didn't.

Everything Now! played next and I really enjoyed them too.

Everyone headed over to Spin for Arrah and the Ferns (excellent), Beta Male (hot chicks, great tunes, hoola-hoops!) and We Are Hex (dark wave).

We had bagel sandwiches at Ripple Bagel & Deli and more coffee before closing out the night back at the Alley Cat to see Small Arms Fire and Red Light Driver.

Everyone said their good nights and cars were driven home.

I got up pretty early on Sunday and headed downtown to walk to War Memorial Plaza and the State Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Circle Center before heading back to Carmel to meet everyone for lunch at Paradise Bakery. Khali, Andrea and Ryan were there and we hung out, talked, and laughed.

After lunch I decided to check out the Indianapolis Museum of Art on my way back to the airport. I wish I had more time to spend there; they have a great collection or contemporary and classic art. After an hour I headed to the airport.

It was a quick and fun two days, I hope it doesn't take me long to make it back up there again.

(PHOTOS)

10/10/2007 - I can't wait. In just a few short days I'll be headed north to see some great friends in Indianapolis. I'm also hoping to catch a ton of bands at the Broad Ripple Fall Music Festival. There's a ton of cool local Indy bands playing, and just being back up there is going to be fantastic.

While I'm in town I'm going to try and see everyone and stop by Luna, Meridian Music, the Broad Ripple Brew Pub, The Wellington (Corner Wine Bar), and a ton of other places.

I miss that town, and I miss my friends.

10/02/2007 - Happy October everyone! Well, let me get you caught up on last weekends shows. The Yum Yum Tree had a very successful CD release show with Jupiter Watts and Orphins at the Star Bar on Friday night. We had lots of drinks, balloons, and tunes for the people. (Photos)

Saturday, we packed up and headed out to Columbia, SC for a show at a great club called the Art Bar. Playing with us that night we're Atlanta locals The Drownout and Columbia favorites Hot Lava Monster. My friends Marcus and Megan drove down from Charlotte to see us play, and thanks to them we've got some photos of us rocking. All the bands we're cool, and despite an overflowing toilet in the ladies room, we had a fun show, it was a late night by the time we headed out. (Photos)

Today marks the official release date of the new Yum Yum Tree CD on Two Sheds Records. Check it out and maybe even buy a copy.

And finally, there's a couple of write-ups posted online at EvilSponge for the Mary O. Harrison (link) and The Yum Yum Tree (link) sets at the Other Sound Festival

09/27/2007 - Hey everyone, just a quick note before the weekend gets started to let you know about everything that's happening with The Yum Yum Tree this weekend.

Tonight we'll be interviewed on the 88.5 WRAS from 6-8pm, tune in tonight and check it out!

Friday night we're throwing a CD Release Party at the Star Bar for our new CD. Joining us tomorrow night will be two of my favorite bands, Orphins, and The Jupiter Watts. Show starts at 9pm!

On Saturday, we'll be driving to Columbia, SC. to play at the Art Bar with Hot Lava Monster and The Drownout. Oh, and apparently Saturday night is Pirate Fest in Columbia, so expect some stupid pictures on the website by Monday.

09/24/2007 - Happy first day of Fall everyone. I can't wait for the cooler weather to arrive. I had a fun weekend kicking around with friends and The Yum Yum Tree had one of our final practices before the CD Release party this Friday night at the Star Bar in Atlanta. It's going to be a great show, I hope you can make it out.

09/19/2007 - Last night's show at Smith's Old Bar was a good time, thanks to everyone that made it out. My friend Brian took some PHOTOS.

09/18/2007 - Hey everyone, before I run off to play Smith's Old Bar this evening I thought I'd get you caught up. I had a fun weekend. The Yum Yum Tree did an interview on WRAS Album 88.5 that will be broadcast on 9/27, the day before our CD release show at the Star Bar. (PHOTOS)

Later that evening I headed down to the East Atlanta Strut and saw a ton of great bands like Parade, Envie, The Preakness, The Howlies and Anna Kramer. Good times! (PHOTOS)

09/13/2007 - Hey all, I've posted some Jeff Wood photos on my Flickr account. PHOTOS

I wish I could make it down to Florida tomorrow for the memorial, but I'm not going to be able to.

Al my best to everyone and his family,

John

09/13/2007 - Last night, former band mate, scene peer, and friend, Jeff Wood passed away. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

Here's an mp3 of the last recording he did with my old band Spiller. We were still working out the arrangement in the studio, and this is probably the second or third take. The music is live, one take. The slow part at the end was his idea, and that drum fill he does right before the last chorus (2:45) always gave me chills. "Simple!"

Spiller - The One
John McNicholas: Vocals/Guitar
Martin Rice: Bass/Vocals
Marcus McCord: Guitar/Vocals
Jeff Wood: Drums/Vocals
Tracy LaBarbara: BU Vocals.

Joe Popp has put together a tribute site, please check it out HERE. Please have a look and contribute.

09/12/2007 - Hey everyone, I've got some people in my life that could use your thoughts and prayers right now. Send some my way, I'll make sure they get every one of them.

09/11/2007 - Wow, what an exhausting week of music! OK, let's catch up!

Last Wednesday evening my friends Rebekah and Rob rolled into town with a car full of ants, sticky seats, and a huge windshield, to play a show at 11:11 Teahouse. Before they started we caught up, someone went on a beer run, and we admired all the GutterPop artwork. I have to get one of the John Oates Will Fucking Kill You! pieces. We never did make it over to 80s Karaoke, so we headed back to my place, watched some Simpsons, ate hot peppers and made a pizza. (Photos)

Thursday night was the first night of the Other Sound Festival. Tonight's show would be at the Drunken Unicorn. The Mary O. Harrison Band rolled in early and got all our gear situated while Moresight rocked a killer soundcheck. Envie was the first band that played, and they sounded great. I had been asked by them to play bass on a few songs, but I was just too busy. All the better for them, the guy that filled in for them sounded great. We played next, and we had a fun set. The mix was good and the Fenders sounded lovely on stage. Pistolero kicked some serious ass after we played. As it got closer to midnight the club becomes 18 and up, so everyone with a drink had to kill them or move it over to the bar, which is through a door off to the right where you can't see the bands. Sort of weird, but hey, I understand. Moresight played last, and brought everyone away from their cool beverages for a great set of rocking tunes, furry suits, diapers, and fake bears. A very nice time.

Friday night's show was at The EARL. The Yum Yum Tree debuted their new four-piece line up, and I think we rocked it pretty hard. We had a great time and all the other bands sounded great. I was especially impressed with All Night Drug Prowling Wolves.

Saturday, everyone shifted over to Lenny's for the third night of rock. There were two stages, a giant pool, and tons of dancers. The second stage acts, Orphins and Club Awesome had the dancers our in full force, while the main stage hosted the rock bands.

Sunday, the final night of the fest came up quick and the show at 11:11 Teahouse, with Untied States, Tenth to the Moon, and others, did not disappoint. It was a great night to hang out on the porch, have some store-bought beer or tea and dig some tunes. I can't even begin to remember all the fun and funny details over the last week, so these pictures will have to tell the story for me. (Photos)

09/11/2007 - Kim, the drummer from the Mary O. band has posted some great photos from the Grant Park show a few weeks ago, check them out here! (Photos)

09/05/2007 - Is it seriously September already? Wow, time flies. As I get ready for the Other Sound Festival this week I figured I'd better recap last weekend before it's all just a fog.

I drove down to Florida last Friday afternoon and played a show at Kelly's Pub in downtown Tampa. I had a great time playing, but I had an even better time listening to Lance Rowland, Rebekah Pulley and Rob, and Ted Lukas tear it up for the rest of the evening.

Saturday, I did a bunch of running around over to Legend's Guitars to check out new wood, and to MacDinton's, and to see the Paper Stanleys rock the soho crowd into a frenzy. I didn't make it out to see some friends play in Clearwater, but I caught up with a few of them at the Globe Coffee Lounge for beers before calling it a night.

I spent the better part of Sunday over at Studio B, recording an old Factory Black song with Brian. What a blast! We put down some basic tracks for a song we wrote years ago, but never recorded, called 72 Girl. It sounds great, and as soon as Hunter lays down the drums it's going to sound even better! After recording we headed over to Limey's for beers and in the blink of an eye the weekend was over and everyone was heading home.

Well, this week I've been getting ready for the Mary O. Harrison show tomorrow night at the The Drunken Unicorn. We play second, at 9:20 PM. The next night at The EARL, we'll debut the 4-Piece The Yum Yum Tree. Michelle will be joining us on guitar for a few tunes before settling in full-time on guitar and keyboards for our next show.

OK, that catches me up. Tonight, I'm headed over to 11:11 Teahouse to see Rebekah Pulley and Rob play. After that it's off to the 10 High for 80's Karaoke!

08/31/2007 - Happy last day of August everyone! As soon as I get out of work, I'm jumping in the car, new and improved with air-conditioning, and heading straight to Kelly's Pub in downtown Tampa for a show. I've been asked to play with Ted Lukas, Lance Rowland and Rebekah Pulley this evening. Traffic permitting, I intend to get down there and strum a few tunes around 8PM. C'mon out!

The rest of the weekend will involve as little planning as possible, but it's going to include some great friends, some good food, and maybe even a little beach action. I'll hit everyone up with a full report next week before the Other Sound Festival kicks off.

08/28/2007 - OK, I think I'm about caught up. Last Sunday afternoon the Mary O. Harrison band played a fun show at the 2007 Grant Park Summer Shade Festival. I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to check out all the artist and the second stage, but we played a fun show to a nice crowd of friends and random strangers eating corndogs and drink beer. About an hour after our set a pretty nasty thunderstorm came rolling through and brought things to a decisive end.

Next up I stopped by The Other Sound Festival meet and great at the 11:11 Teahouse. I hung out for a while and then I was off to Yum Yum practice. A full day of rock. (Photos)

08/27/2007 - I'm still trying to catch up from the last few week's activities. Two weekends ago some friends and I headed up to Wisconsin for a long weekend in the woods to kick back and relax. I flew in to Milwaukee on Friday morning, met Chris at the airport, and we headed to Madison to grab some great cajun food before heading north. The next four days were spent doing as little as possible. We played some golf, played Guitar Hero II (Mudfla rocks!), read books, ate, and had a great time.

On Monday I headed back to Milwaukee to catch my flight home, but I made time to stop by Wade's Guitar Shop and even spent an hour at the Milwaukee Art Museum. They had an amazing collection.

At MKE, I checked out a great bookstore in the airport called Renaissance Books before catching my flight back to Atlanta.

(Photos)

08/24/2007 - Better late than never, here's some pictures from the Neko Case, Rufus Wainwright show that I went to last week! (Photos)

08/22/2007 - I can't even begin to catch up with all the fun stuff that's been happening in the last two weeks, so I'm going to cut up this journal entry into digestible little bites. On August 11th The Yum Yum Tree, Jim Combs and I played a fun show at Aurora Coffee. Carrie made it up from St. Pete, and a good friend, Todd, from my days at Accenture made it out, as well as a fun group of friend. Photos here!

OK, that's it for today, I'll catch you up with more stuff tomorrow!

08/07/2007 - Last Friday's show at Lenny's Bar was a great time. Parade kicked things off with a wonderful set, The Yum Yum Tree rocked our second set and Club Awesome closed out the evening in a white tiger suit. Photos here!

08/03/2007 - Hey everyone, I'm playing at Lenny's Bar this evening with The Yum Yum Tree! There's two great bands on the bill with us, Parade and Club Awesome. This show is not to be missed!

I got a new camera! Expect pictures from tonight's show!

Oh my, registration for SXSW 2008 is now open!

07/26/2007 - Last night's show at Java Monkey with The Good Graces was wet and fun. The skies opened up just as we arrived, and for the most part, never let up from the time we soundchecked until I scampered off down the rainy sidewalk home. It was my first show with Kim and by all accounts it was a success. It was great to see so many familiar faces out and about on a rainy school night.

The folks over at The Yellow Stereo have a great blog entry about Wes Andersons' new film, The Darjeeling Limited, I can't wait to see it.

07/25/2007 - Come on out to Java Monkey this evening to see me play with The Good Graces. We start the show off at 9 PM and it's FREE!

Just to catch everyone up, I saw some good rocking last week around town. On Thursday night I went out and saw some bands from people here at work. The folks from Adult Swim kicked things off with a set from their in-house band Insane-O-Flex. Three words, hi freakin' larious. Next up were Three Dog Stevens, a parody band featuring the guys from Y-O-U. Fox Trotsky rocked the third position hard. Closing out the evening, and providing rock and some delicious chicken and waffles were Attractive Eighties Women. Awesome to the max, fur-sure.
Video, Photos, Photos, Photos

On Saturday night I caught a great show at the Star Bar with Bad Magic Number, The Preakness and Luigi. Fantastic. Photos.

07/23/2007 - Happy birthday Hugh!

07/20/2007 - The last few weeks have been filled with music. Last Wednesday night I caught the amazing St. Vincent at The EARL. She played a ton of songs off of her new release Marry Me, and it was every bit as good, if not better, than her show in Austin last Spring. (Photos) The opening act, Tacks, the Boy Disaster, was excellent as well.

On Thursday night the Mary O. Harrison band played our first set with the new lineup and it was a fun time. Mike, from The Eyes, joined us on lap steel and mandolin, and won the "killer gear" award of the night with some amazing Rickenbacker instruments. Warm in the Wake and Hymns played great sets, full of rock and hustle.

Last weekend's Corndogorama was insane. My final count was 9 corndogs over 4 days. I would have taken some pictures but my camera got stolen and I'm in no hurry to replace it at the moment. It's nice not to have a lump of metal in my pocket when I'm out and about.

If you do want to see some great pictures from last weekend, click it. (Photos)

Hope you have a great weekend.

07/10/2007 - The Mary O. Harrison band is playing with Warm in the Wake and Hymns this Thursday night at The EARL. It's going to be the premier show for the new 4-piece lineup, although we'll have a special guest playing with us on a few tunes. Join us!

Also, this is the weekend of Corndogorama at Lenny's Bar! The folks here at Super Deluxe where I work are one of the sponsors, so expect to see me down there covered in sweat giving away beer coozies and bragging about the time Joey and I hung out with famous comedians in Austin.

07/06/2007 - Last night Mary and I played an impromptu set at the Gravity Pub in East Atlanta last night. A few friends joined us for some beers and some tunes. We started off with some of her tunes and then I crashed the stage and played a few of my own. For the life of me I couldn't remember what songs I know. I need to write down some song titles and carry them around with me.

07/02/2007 - Happy July everyone, hope you had a great weekend. I was down in Florida last weekend to catch up with family and friends. It was a quick trip, too quick to be honest, but I was glad to see everyone and catch up. I hope everyone has a fun and safe Fourth of July.

06/29/2007 - Hey everyone, it's been a while since I checked in, the last month has been a busy one. I've posted some photos from some of the show I've been too on the photo page. Enjoy.

06/16/2007 - Happy Bloomsday!

06/11/2007 - I had every intention of getting down to Florida this weekend, but it just didn't happen.

In music news, Tom, the lead guitar player in the Mary O. Harrison band is leaving and I'm assuming the lead guitar spot. It was great playing with him and he will be missed. The Yum Yum Tree have been working on new material and there's some shows for both bands in the works over the Summer. Maybe I'll see you out and about.

Saturday, some friends and I attended the AVP Beach Volleyball semi-finals and had a great time. I never realized so many people followed the sport!

06/04/2007 - Hey there, I'm finally getting around to posting some photos from last Tuesday's show at Smith's Old Bar. Details escape me, so make with the "click-click" and check out the Photos.

Oh, and check out the Music page, I've posted some live videos.

05/30/2007 - A quick recap of my Memorial Day weekend, in 3... 2...

I flew down to Tampa on Thursday night. Carrie and Stacey and I headed straight to Dave's Aqua Lounge where Natty hosts a weekly singer-songwriter night. There was a really tall drunk girl dancing before the music started. I played a few songs, as did Natty, Carrie, Crash Mitchell and April. At the end of the night April got her car stolen. That sucked.

On the way home I saw a turtle in the middle of the road by my house. Thinking that someone might run it over, I stopped, got out, and grabbed it to move it out of the road. Suddenly a violent stream of water/pee shot out of its rear end about 6 feet out and soaked my pants. Nice. Thanks.

On Friday I headed over to Legends Guitar for a little while before a bunch of us headed out to St. Pete beach for the weekend.

We hit the beach, had drinks out of coconut heads, had some dinner, swam and had a blast. That night mosquitoes attacked us, and I definitely swallowed a few love bugs by accident.

Saturday night Marsha had a big pool party at her house and more fun was had.

I headed home on Sunday and on Monday I headed out to the final day of the Atlanta Jazzfest. Good times. (Photos)

05/21/2007 - Hey there, I'm just in from a fun few days in Savannah, GA. I was down for a friend's wedding and it was a lovely outdoor ceremony in a gazebo under a giant oak tree on a square near downtown. The weather was perfect, the ceremony was simple and classy and the reception was a great time.

Last Friday I attended the Bright Eyes concert at The Fox Theater. Openers Gillian Welch and Oakley Hall were great, but it was clearly Bright Eyes' show and their audience. They put on an great show, both musically and visually stunning. Two drummers, rear projection images manipulated in real time and a great setlist made the show fly by so fast.

The Yum Yum Tree convened last night to rock, talk about new shows, and to play new songs. Check the calendar for some upcoming dates. Hope to see you out and about.

05/17/2007 - You know what's cool? I'm one of the "top friends" on this MySpace page. Third row, first column. Cool.

05/16/2007 - Last night's Sloan show at the 40 Watt in Athens was fantastic. They played a million tunes and the opening band, Small Sins, was great. Small Sins gave each other back rubs, told jokes about the south and posed for pictures as Chris from Sloan climbed all over the stage. I picked up their CD and I'm anxious to check it out.

Sloan, from Canada, came out and rocked about 40 songs, joking, "We don't get down here often so we're going to play everything, in case we don't come back." I think I counted a 15-song encore. They were great. (Photos)

05/15/2007 - It's Tuesday, May 15th, and that could only mean one thing. I'm going to Athens this evening to see Sloan play at the 40 Watt Club! Speaking of cool shows, the Ben Gibbard show last weekend was packed out and really fun despite the drunks and teenage girls screaming during the quieter moments. (Photos)

05/12/2007 - I'm not one to gush, but g.d. it, it's so freaking fantastic to be in Atlanta this time of year. I love it, I love it, I... you get the point.

Sure, the traffic sucks, everyone is constantly on their cellphones, and the holes in the roads are covered up with 3-inch thick metal plates that destroy the tires on anything smaller than a pimped-out Escalade blaring an OutKast bootleg, but I can ride my bike to work suckas, and it's beautiful out.

There's a million things going on this time of the year and the weather is amazing. It's cool in the mornings and evenings, and just right in the middle of day. People like to argue that it's hotter here in Atlanta than down in Florida. "That's why we call it 'HotLanta'" they point out in a New-York-of-the-south-self-congratulatory tone while pointing to their t-shirt with the HotLanta logo on it.

"Sure, It gets hot here in Atlanta" (for three months) I concede, "But, in addition to the heat, Florida has 100% humidity, palmetto bugs, tornadoes, alligators, malaria mosquitos, old drivers, hurricanes, snakes, lightning storms, road rage, Orlando, and sharks?!" Mentioning sharks is always my ace in the hole. "Oh, you don't have SHARKS in ATLANTA do you?" Rolls eyes, shakes head, walks away.

I'll admit, the Kudzu in Georgia is pretty crazy, but at least you have about 30 minutes to get away from it once it spots you.

I'm rambling.

There's lots of exciting stuff happening at work and with my music. I don't want to jinx any of the music news so I'll spare you for the moment. Something exciting could happen soon, and if it doesn't in fact happen, I'll make something up. So either way you win.

At Super Deluxe I've been leading up the Funny Lunch promotion with CNN.com. It runs every weekday from 11am until 3pm EST. I'm working with some amazing folks and we're constantly trying to make more of you laugh at our funny videos. Check out Funny Lunch in the "Latest News" section on CNN.com and make with the "click-click-click" all over our website.

This Wednesday we'll be premiering the newest offering from Bob Odenkirk. You can be the first one on your block to check out his new series called The Derek and Simon show. You will love it.

I didn't intend to write a novella, so I'm going to stop. I think I'm heading over to the East Atlanta Beer Festival on my bike this afternoon. Yum. This evening I'm off to the Ben Gibbard (DCFC), David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), Johnathan Rice show at Center Stage, and if there's time, back to Smith's Olde Bar for the conclusion of the 500 Songs for Kids benefit show. There's a rumor that R.E.M. is playing the final song.

Go buy your mother something nice today.

05/09/2007 - Once again I am just now recovering from the weekend. There's so much to report and I'm going to write so little about it. I played three shows between last Saturday and Monday. First up was a fun art show opening at ISP Space in East Atlanta for the opening of See Through Souls. There was some great music, great people, a keg of beer and some amazing art.

Later that evening, Mary O. Harrison, with Michelle on bass, Jenny from The Eyes on drums and me on guitar, played a rocking version of The Who's, I Can't Explain. There was so many great performances, I wouldn't even know where to start.

I headed out to Smith's again on Sunday night and saw Spy Magnet rip it up along with Blake Guthrie and Bain Mattox too.

Monday I played an americana version of Money (That's what I Want), and it seemed to go over pretty damn good! Once again there were some great performance, too many to list, but Clay Cook's performance of You are the Sunshine of my life was definitely a stand out.

I took tons of photos.

04/30/2007 - Last weekend was full of rock. There was the Mary O. Harrison show at Lenny's on Friday night, and my first show with The Yum Yum Tree at The EARL on Saturday. Good times indeed. Check out all the new photos.

04/27/2007 - OK folks, I should have posted this earlier in the week, but better late than never right? There's two rock shows to see this weekend featuring your truly.

Tonight I'm playing at Lenny's Bar in Atlanta with Mary O. Harrison. Also on the bill are two fantastic local bands, The Preakness and Silent Kids. We start the show promptly at 9pm.

Saturday night will be my debut performance with The Yum Yum Tree at the world famous EARL. We'll be opening up for the fantastic Magnapop and Sleep Therapy. These shows can't be missed! Srsly!

04/25/2007 - I went to Delaware last weekend to hang with my friend Ava. Here's what happened: I broke a wheel on my rollerbag walking from security to the D gate (4,000 feet) at the Atlanta airport. Problems with my plane's flight computer grounded us for a while. The flight up to Wilmington was a good one. We went to an art show opening in Wilmington at the DCCA. We toured a burned out building. We smelled fields of mushrooms in Pennsylvania on an late-night drive. Had coffee and chocolate chip cookies at Brewed Awakenings a few times. Got a tour of Ava's studio, very cool! Fixed an wiring problem in Dover. Drove to Rehoboth Beach, ate a sandwich from Wawa and got some sand between my toes. It was chilly and fun. I almost bought an airbrushed t-shirt. Checked out Skidfest back in Newark. CHAOS. Had some food and beers at the Dear Park Tavern and made some new friends. Ava pulled a huge splinter out of my foot. Saw a house that was getting new "siding" installed. Stopped to look at an old truck and made new friends with this couple who let us tour their house. Bought a ton of CDs at Bert's during their 50% off everything sale. Had a great time. Check out the photos.

04/18/2007 - If time flies, does space drive? So I'm mentally gearing up for the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Elvis Perkins in Deerland show tonight at the Variety Playhouse and I'm wondering if I've recovered from the activities from this week and last weekend. There was the Dogwood Festival, the new ATHF Movie, Yum Yum Tree and Mary O practice and all that damn spring cleaning. Hey, check out some new photos!

04/09/2007 - I did stuff this weekend. I saw some bands like Attractive 80's Women at the EARL and Bain Mattox and Shot From Guns, and Cary Ann Hearst at the 40 Watt Club in Athens. I also went to Chattanooga on a whim. Here's some photos.

04/08/2007 - Happy Easter everyone.

04/03/2007 - Status: not shot. Thanks to everyone that sent me an email wondering if I was OK today. The tragic shooting that took place today in the CNN center in Atlanta was in a different location than where I'm located, a bit farther north on Williams Street. Please keep the families of the today's victims in your prayers.

04/02/2007 - Hey there, just a quick note to say hello. It was a weekend full of music that culminated in a fun show on Sunday evening with Mary O. Harrison, Casados and Georgia Fireflies at the ISP Space in East Atlanta. It was Michelle's birthday so maybe drinks were had after the show at The EARL. I caught Hope for AGoldenSummer and a few other bands there on Friday night and had a fun evening out. Here's some photos.

03/29/2007 - I've posted some photos from the Dean & Britta show on the Photo page.

03/26/2007 - Wow, I just had a weekend completely jammed with music. Friday night I went to the Variety Playhouse and saw Dean & Britta. They played some songs off of their last two CDs as well as some Luna and Galaxy 500 tunes. They were great.

Saturday night I played a solo show at Aurora Coffee with Blake Guthrie and I also played guitar with Mary O. Harrison. We had a good turnout and it was a fun evening. After the show I headed over to the EARL to see Parade, Say Hi To Your Mom (loved them!), +/- and Bishop Allen. All the bands were great and almost everyone from work was there as was everyone from The Yum Yum Tree. Speaking of, we had Yum Yum Tree practice on Sunday and it's really starting to sound good. I'm really looking forward to our first show at the EARL on 4/28. Photos

03/21/2007 - OK, I'm finally getting around to getting caught up from my trip out to Austin for SXSW. It was hectic and fun and I'm not even going to attempt a play-by-play description. So, here's a quick rundown of what I saw and did out there each day.

Wednesday: I caught an early flight out of Atlanta, a very bumpy ride, and sat next to a guy named Andy that works with my friend Brett in Hilton Head. Small world. After getting in we attempted to get badges before I played, but the line was about an hour long so we headed to Yard Dog for the BAAMO showcase. I played, as did The Human Condition, Jon Langford, The Beauvilles, Geri X, Hangtown, Mojo Gurus, Nessie, and The Postmarks. That night, as part of the official SXSW showcases, I caught Future Clouds and Radar, Imperial Teen, The Rosebuds, Oakley Hall, and Peter, Bjorn & John. I even saw Laura from the 'Chunk at the Merge Showcase!

Thursday: I got up early and headed down to the convention center to get some coffee and plan the day. I headed over to the Fader Fort to see the Adult Swim folks and caught The Pipettes. I saw Wayne from the Flaming Lips a handful of times on 6th recording interviews and sketches for the Tonight Show. I caught Clem Snide and Tokyo Police Club at Emo's. At La Zona Rosa, Rachel Fuller hosted a hootenanny that featured Pete Townsend, Martha Wainwright, Willy Mason, Joe Purdy, Alexi Murdoch. I stuck around for the rest of the night and saw Elvis Perkins, Cold War Kids, Architecture in Helsinki, and Ghostland Observatory. Walking back home I managed to catch The Honorary Title playing my favorite tune of theirs, "Bridge and Tunnel."

Friday: Up early again and down to the convention center to hit the trade show. My work, Super Deluxe, was hosting a two-day day party and I had a blast on the first day hanging with the Nessie guys and meeting a ton of people. I got to see David Cross, Eugene Merman, Jonah Ray, Spindrift, Matt & Kim, The Gsossip, Brian Posehn, The Black Angels, and Les Savy Fav. I stopped by the Paste party too and saw Badly Drawn Boy and Eisley. Wayne from the Flaming Lips was everywhere today. The Fader Fort was rocking all day. That night I headed to Antone's to catch St. Vincent, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, My Brightest Diamond and The Black Angels. Next up I caught Sloan and The Apples in Stereo at The Dirty Dog Bar.

Saturday: As usual, by this point in the trip, I am completely exhausted and on cruise control. I picked up a few cool posters from Flatstock, I saw Atlanta's own Silver Lakes at the Paste showcase and then headed back to be a part of day two at the Super Deluxe party. I saw Fucked Up, Sloan, and The Walkmen. After that I headed over the Cedar Street Courtyard to catch a surprise show by Thurston Moore. Very, very cool. At the night showcases I saw West Indian Girl, Mew, Architecture in Helsinki, Eisley and The Polyphonic Spree. A final walk of the strip back to my rental and I was done. Thank you good night Austin, what a fantastic time.

Sunday: I slept in thank you very much. I packed up and headed out to Mount Bonnell. I went there last year on my Slacker sightseeing trip but it was so foggy I couldn't see a thing. Thankfully the skies were clear and you could see all the way to downtown Austin. I met Laura and JoEllen for lunch at Guero's, hung out at Yard Dog for a little bit and headed to the airport. Checking in and getting through security wasn't bad at all so I had time for a nap before the flight. A few of us from work, Jim, Daniel and I were all on the same plane. We got back to Atlanta and proceeded to wait for our bags for nearly as long as the flight from Austin. It's good to be back home. (Photos)

03/19/2007 - SXSW was amazing! I'll upload some photos and hit you up with a blog entry sometime this week. Right now it's time to rest up.

03/13/2007 - I'm sitting here at work, getting ready for my trip out to SXSW tomorrow, by drinking a vodka and cranberry and listening to music with the headphones blasting. What initially looked like a snoozer of a festival has turned a full 180 degrees with an outstanding lineup of great bands and fantastic day parties. My god there's going to be a million pictures and a huge blog when it's all said and done.

03/09/2007 - Last night's show at the EARL was a great time. Special thanks to everyone that made it out to see my first show as guitarist with Mary O. Harrison. I finally got to see Luigi and Silver Lakes, they we're both great! I talked with Michelle from Luigi and determined that her Vox guitar was the exact one that I owned about 10+ years ago. I had sold it to my friend Brian and it ended up one the cover of Barely Pink's Starduster CD. Photos

03/08/2007 - Photos from Tuesday's night show at Smith's have been posted on the photo page. Come out to the EARL tonight, we play at 9:30pm.

03/07/2007 - Last night's show at Smith's was pretty fun. I played some tunes, including a fine Brad Neeley jam called Cat People that my friend Brian sang. The headliner, a guy named Alex Nackman was really nice and he sounded great.

If you're looking for some trouble to get into tomorrow night I'll be playing my first show as the guitar player in Mary O. Harrison's band. Luigi and Silver Lakes, two Atlanta favorites are on the bill as well and warrant the price of admission all by themselves. I'll post some pictures from the last night's show very soon.

03/04/2007 - Damn you MySpace! Just a quick note to tell you my MySpace account got hacked and apparently it sent everyone in my Hotmail.com address book invites, emails and random crap. Please let me know if you got anything crazy or strange. I may have to shut down the profile.

I'm playing a few shows this week, hope you can make it out to one or both of them.

02/16/2007 - Hey folks, hope you are enjoying the cooled weather that's been all over the counrty right now. This week has been chilly in Atlanta, not like the NE, but chilly none the less. We even had about 10 seconds of snow on Tuesday. So, we had an interesting week a few weeks ago at work, thanks to the fine folks in Boston, but apart from that everything is going great. I'm going to start playing with a few different band here in the next few weeks. First off, I'll be playing acoustic with Mary O. Harrison and I'll be rocking the electric guitar with The Yum Yum Tree. There's a few solo shows on the horizon too so come on out and say hello when you get a chance.

01/31/2007 - Here's some fun party photos. If you look hard you can find me in a few of them. Super Deluxe Blog and Flickr Photos

01/30/2007 - Hey there, I've booked some new shows, aren't you excited? I am. Speaking of shows, last night's Jeff Tweedy solo shat was fantastic. He played a ton of tunes and the stage banter was great. Scott McCaughey from the Minus 5, my friend Amanda and her drummer from Tin Cup Prophette opened the show and sounded great. Last saturday night was the release party for Super Deluxe and it too was a great time. I might post some pictures at some point.

01/26/2007 - I've got a question for everyone out there. Have you ever been to Coachella Valley Music Arts Festival? I'm thinking about going and I don't know where to stay. Have you ever camped or stayed in a hotel? Did you have a good time? Was it worth it? Have you seen the line up - The Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth, Bjork, Brazilian Girls, Rufus Wainwright, We Are Scientists, Tokyo Police Club, and Silversun Pickups are playing, and that's just the first night! THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN! If I don't end up going I hope JAMC tour the states. The last time I saw them was in 1994 with Mazzy Star opening. The time before that was in 1990. The opening act was and unknown band called Nine Inch Nails.

Speaking of great shows, I'm looking forward to the Jeff Tweedy show this Monday night at the Tabernacle. SXSW is on the horizon as well, and so far there's a small list of bands floating around the internet. Here's a few bands I'm looking forward to seeing: Annuals, Apples In Stereo, Asobi Sesku, Badly Drawn Boy, Black Lips, Cold War Kids, David Cross, Emmylou Harris, Ghostland Observatory, Hoodoo Gurus, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Imperial Teen, Interpol, Margot & the Nuclear So And So's, Mates Of State, Okkervil River, Pete Townshend, Rocky Votolato, Sloan, Snowden, The Frames, The Stooges, Thunderbirds Are Now!, and Thurston Moore.

01/20/2007 - Hey there, it's been a while since I've checked in and it's been for a good reason. I've been busy with a little thing called Super Deluxe. A great group of folks and I have been putting together a website that will feature all forms of things funny. We are working with some amazing people. I don't want to brag and name drop, but you should check it out. You should make your own profile. You should upload some funny wedding videos. You should come over for a drink or maybe we could go see a show, there's some good ones coming up at the EARL. Seriously. Call me. Stalker. Me-Wow! (Photos)

01/01/2007 - Is this thing on?

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Written by John McNicholas On

2006

12/26/2006 - Hey everyone, I'm back in Atlanta from a quick weekend down in Florida for Christmas. I met with friends at the New World Brewery on Friday night and ended up back in the Burg for some rock at the Emerald, and finally, Colleen's birthday party after-hours. Saturday and Sunday we full of more parties and football. Christmas was quiet and the weather was bad. I skipped town and headed home just after all the tornadoes ripped through and met with more friends before arriving back in Atlanta 9 hours and -30 degrees. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Have a fun and safe New Year's. (Photos)

12/19/2006 - Hey everyone, I'm just checking in before my trip down to Florida for the holidays. I'm looking forward to a fun show at the Emerald on Friday night, a party on Saturday night and cocktails on Sunday before celebrating Christmas on Monday.

I've posted some new photos of recent shenanigans on the photo page so go check them out.

12/02/2006 - Hey everyone, I'm just in from playing a fun show with Mary O at the Drunken Unicorn for Animal Action Rescue. There were great bands and great dogs everywhere, but an adorable Terrier stole the show, hello Hamilton!

This last week I caught a few great shows, last Thursday was Mary O's first show with her band and last night was one of the final Steve Wynn and the Miracle Three shows. They absolutely destroyed the EARL with one of the best shows that I've seen in ages. After the show I talked with Steve, Linda and Jason from the band and they were incredibly friendly, engaging and genuinely down-to-earth folks.

Well, I'm getting ready to record some tunes, Chris and I are warming up the computer and trying to line up a drummer for the session. The following tunes are being considered for the new record: 22, A Girl Like You, All Hail this Town, All Those Things that Hold You Here, Allison, High School Drunk, Inside Out, Oh Angelina, On the Line, Take it Off, There May Not Come a Light.

11/18/2006 - Hey everyone, Last weekend's trip down to St. Pete was quick and dirty. Sunday's show with Margot & the Nuclear So and So's was well attended and fun. It was a great night to be playing outside and all the bands sounded fantastic. Margot went on pretty late, talked football, and played some great tunes.

Last night I caught Ted Leo + the Pharmacists and Death Cab for Cutie at the Fox and they didn't disappoint. Well, there's no more solo shows on the books for me. As Chris would say, "time to shuffle the deck."

I'll post some photos soon. Thanks for everything.

11/10/2006 - It's friday at last and I'm getting ready for a drive down to Florida to play what amounts to my last solo show for the foreseeable future. I'll be taking a break from performing my tunes in order to play with some other people and to catch up on some writing and recording for a new release of some type.

Last night I caught Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, the Elected, and Whispertown2000 at the Drunken Unicorn. Margot and all the bands were fantastic, I'm really looking forward to the last show this Sunday.

11/04/2006 - OK, just a quick hello. The Beck show last Tuesday night was unbelievable. I don't even know where to start so I'll just hit some highlights. They played in a small club in ATL. They all wore Halloween costumes and played rented gear. Beck was dressed like Napoleon. The bass player was a ghost, the drummer was a mouse cheerleader, and the keyboard player was the phantom of the opera. My favorite was the percussionist, he wore a coconut bra, an Indian headdress and a hula skirt. 80% of the audience wore costumes. We didn't and it was OK. I felt bad for the guy that came as a giant game of sudoko, he ran into everyone. Beck's drummer flew to Japan the night before, so his guitar player was the drummer tonight. His guitar player is a pretty damn good drummer.

Earlier in the week a friend and I played some poker at the Vortex, I came in 4th. We also checked out the Louvre display and attended a masterwork discussion on Rembrandt's Matthew and the Angel at the High Museum. Good times.

10/31/2006 - Happy Halloween! Oh hell yes! I'm going to see Beck at Vinyl tonight!

10/29/2006 - This is probably true of most big cities, but here in Atlanta Halloween started about 10 days ago and it's still going strong. The L5P parade last weekend, people in costumes out at concerts, parties last night, and even this morning as I headed out for coffee, ghouls and goblins, sexy cowgirls and cowboys were just arriving home from the previous night's activities. Broken Social Scene and Mac from Portastatic were making fun of people in costume at their shows last week. "How early do you celebrate Easter, November?" The Decemberists show last friday night was more of the same.

Speaking of the Decemberists, they put on a hell of a great show on Friday. I loved it. Fantastic songs, great musicians and a fun vibe was available all night. One of the funniest moments was when the singer grabbed a girls' cell phone, dialed a number, and began singing into it. At the end of the verse he tossed the cell phone back into the audience, about 40 feet from where he originally got it. ahahahah! You should have seen people scramble.

10/22/2006 - As the weekend winds down I find myself in a great little coffee shop called Inman Perk Coffee. It's located in the Inman Park neighborhood just southwest of L5P and it's full of hip kids, hip adults and a dog. I'll assume it's a hip dog for the sake of this entry. I'm not sure if it's as hip as the dog that was lying on top of the bar at The Cave in Chapel Hill a few weeks ago though, perhaps lying on top of a bar is hip behavior for a dog, for a human, it's just sad.

Speaking of Chapel Hill, I caught a great show last night at the EARL. Chapel Hill's Portastatic played a killer set of tunes off of their new release, Be Still Please, as well as some older material. They sounded fantastic and I got to chat with Mac for a little while. He's blogging the tour here. Chan Marshall was in attendance for the second band Jennifer O'Connor. First up was the Preakness, perhaps my favorite local band. There's just something sweet and charming about their enthusiasm, fine songs, and good-natured stage presence.

Earlier in the week I caught Broken Social Scene and Do Make Say Think at the Variety Playhouse in L5P. The room was hot and packed and they were OK. I was hoping for a more transcending experience but perhaps that's unfair of me to begin with.

Last Thursday I got an opportunity to go on a curator-led tour of the Intersections: Atlanta Collects Photography installation at The High Museum. A great hang, hopefully we'll catch one again sometime.

10/15/2006 - Sunday morning, half awake. Last night's show at Aurora Coffee was fun. Jim Combs created an original soundscape, I played some new tunes and Jen Woodhouse ended the evening with a beautiful voice. After the show I headed over to the EARL to catch the Hiss' CD release show with All Saints and Ferocious Bubbles.

10/10/2006 - The fact that I had arrived in Florida last week was confirmed within the first few miles on Interstate I-75 when, within about two miles of arriving in the Sunshine State, I ran over a large claw hammer and a flattened metal latter in the middle of the road. What is it with Florida and home improvement equipment in the road? I could never own a motorcycle in Florida, I wouldn't last a day. I'd hit a ladder, careen off of a big old Cadillac, skid into a sinkhole, and it would be all over.

I rolled into town on Friday evening and swung by Legends Guitars to hang out for a little while before ending the evening over drinks with friends at Limey's.

I spent the early part of Saturday working with Susie learning some guitar parts for her upcoming CD. Later that evening was the Southeast Music Alliance CD Release party at the State Theater. The show was fun, I played weird mix of tunes, and a brand new tune called There May Not Come a Light. After a while I headed over the Emerald to see Martin, Hugh and the Kevin K band rock the crowd. Good times.

Sunday, I recorded with Susie, Brad, and Keith over at Brad's place in Tampa for Susie's upcoming CD. We worked on three tunes before I had to head out and head back up to Atlanta. I'm anxious to hear how the songs come out. If anyone took any pictures this last weekend I'll post them at some point. I forgot to drag the camera around with me this trip.

I'll be back in the middle of November for the Margot & the Nuclear So and So's concert at the New World Brewery. Hope to see you there.

10/04/2006 - It's pretty much straight up midnight but I had to log on and update the site with some kick ass news. I just got word that I'll be opening up for Margot & the Nuclear so and so's at their headlining show at the New World Brewery in Tampa on Sunday, November 12th. This show is not to be missed! I've been singing the praises of Margot to my friends for a while now and you cannot afford to sleep on this show. They've got great songs, a great show, and 8 people on stage rocking out is never a bad thing! They blew me away at MMS this summer in about 30 seconds. Be there. I'll remind you plenty of times.

10/02/2006 - It's a short week for me and I'm getting anxious to play some music this weekend at The State Theater to celebrate the release of the new compilation from the SMA. I'll be playing some new tunes this Saturday, I hope you can make it out to hear them.

The last 10 days or so have been full of interesting developments, cool shows and a good bit of writing. There's a rumor going around that Parade in Paris may reconvene to record 10 tunes. We had a number of songs that were never properly recorded. That would be cool, I hope it happens!

A bunch of us saw a great Shawn Mullins show at the Tabernacle last weekend, Clay Cook played with him and together they put on a great show.

The Paste Rock and Reel festival was great, I worked at the Variety Playhouse for the Wrens show in which I teched for Bain and enjoyed all the bands. Sufjan Steven at the Fox Theater was amazing, as was the opening act My Brightest Diamond.

I've been talking to original Spiller drummer Pete Joseph up here in Atlanta, and hopefully sometime soon a bunch of us are going to get together and play some music.

This is Awesome.

09/26/2006 - Hey all, last night's show at Java Monkey was fun. A nice crowd, beautiful weather, and some good conversation were on tap. I bumped into an old friend, Sean Vinson and his wife. Sean use to take pictures for my old 80's band Parade in Paris and he owns the Vinson Gallery in Decatur Square. It was great seeing him again after all this time.

09/22/2006 - It's late on Friday night and I'm just now getting in after my trip to Chapel Hill where I played a solo show at The Cave. The drive over on Thursday took a little longer than it should have, I got detoured a few times on the way over and did a little ill-advised sightseeing. Once in town, thanks to MapQuest, I drove straight through the beautiful campus of UNC, just before 6PM classes were starting. 35 minutes later I popped out the other side of campus and located the Cave.

The Cave, for those of you that haven't been there, is a cave, or more accurately a basement bar with a low ceiling that's had every inch of the walls coved by a rough stucco application with primitive drawings. I shit you not. I walked in, I met Mr. Mouse and proceeded to get set up, occasionally staring at the dog that was sleeping on top of the bar. The wait staff was friendly, the college folks were friendly and the PA sounded nice. Good acoustics, good people and damn fine cold drinks. I played a couple of long sets, all originals, no covers allowed, and had a fine time.

After the show I headed out, packed the car, and to my delight I heard the thud, thud, thud, of a live band very close by. A block down in the cool night air and I'm in front of the Local 506 paying the cover to see Dr. Dog, a fantastic band out of Philly that I have been enjoying in my headphones as of late. They freaking rocked it, sounded fantastic, and brought the evening to a happy ending with a stage full of fans.

The drive back this morning was difficult, especially the first hour of "I'm not awake, I shouldn't be driving, but I'm driving." The Word Nerds kept me entertained, focused, and on the road. Did you realize the original meaning of terrific means "causing terror or fear"? OK, enough etymological deviation. Here's a very few pictures.

09/17/2006 - OK, it's Sunday and I'm relaxing for the first time in a while. This last week was a whirlwind of activity and good times.

Thursday and Friday night I was out on the road with Bain Mattox and Edwin McCain for their shows in Birmingham at the Workplay, and here in town in Atlanta at the Roxy Theater. It was a fun couple of days of driving, tuning guitars and rocking. Turns out Edwin's new bass player Manny was in bands back in Tampa in the mid-eighties and we had some mutual friends. Pretty cool.

Saturday was the East Atlanta Strut and the first day of the Paste Magazine Rock and Reel Festival. I saw a ton of bands including The Roy Owens Jr., The Slackey Family Band, Brodie Stove, The Preakness, Tiger! Tiger!, and The Close. There were a number of artists and vendors on site and it was beautiful day to be outside. I headed to the EARL after all the outdoor festivities were over but my batteries quickly wore out and I headed home. (Photos)

09/13/2006 - While Chris and the guys in Bain Mattox were rocking the 40 Watt Club in Athens with REM I was having a fun time at Smith's Olde Bar running through a bunch of tunes and chatting up friends from Dublin and all over. Taylor Hicks from American Idol was rumored to be playing a surprise show upstairs so the club was full of middle-age women with DIY shirts and eyes full of crazed fandome. We of course made fun of it the entire evening. I heard he was great. Good for him.

09/11/2006 - As I type this I'm sitting in the parking lot of Royal Isuzu. Am I buying a new car? No, but perhaps I should. For the second time today my car has completely died. And as I sit here and wait for James to come get me for a second time I have a few minutes to blow out a quick journal entry.

What's new? Not much. I did see some great bands last weekend though. I headed over to the The Melting Point in Athens to see Jay Clifford from Jump, Little Children play a solo show. Jay used an actual record for backing tracks and accompaniment, it was really cool.

After the show Chris and I hung out at The Manhattan Cafe with Michael & Becca, Bain, Liz Durrett, Amanda and the folks from Tin Cup Prophette. Later in the week I saw The Bridges and The Modern Skirts tear up Smith's, it was a great show.

Unfortunately my upcoming show at 10 High has been canceled because they are starting a new "hardcore night" at the club. That actually works out just fine as I was considering taking a long break from playing to start recording a new batch of tunes anyway. I need to do some writing and I've got some time and subject matter ready to go so I think that's what I should do.

Tomorrow night's show at Smith's, my show at The Cave in Chapel Hill, and whatever is left on the books will probably be it for a while unless something cool pops, and it always seems to.

09/06/2006 - Photos from my trip to Florida have been posted HERE.

09/02/2006 - Last night's show with G. Love & Special Sauce at Jannus Landing was a good time. I got to talk to the man for a few minutes and I really enjoyed playing. Thanks to Martin and Carrie for helping out and thanks to everyone that came up to say hello after my set, bought and CD, and signed the mailing list. After the show I headed down to The Bombshell Gallery and played a tune with Dean Johanesen which was fun. I'll post some pictures from this last week soon.

08/30/2006 - The open mic at the The Bombshell Gallery last night was fun. Geri X hosted the event and everyone jumped up for a few tunes including Scott and Joey from Nessie, Natty and me, and a ton of others. Good times.

08/29/2006 - It's Tuesday night and I'm just now catching up. Last night's show at The Bombshell Gallery was fun. Space Program and The Winter Sounds sounded great and it was fun having so many friends make it out to the show.

08/28/2006 - I had a fun time at ¡Viva La Frida! Sunday afternoon at Patti's Yappy Hour. Gary and Jerry from the Rancid Polecats played too. We had some beers, played some tunes and chatted up some dogs. Good times!

08/27/2006 - It's official, Florida is trying to kill me.

Ok, in all seriousness, a great time was had last night out at The Garage in St. Pete for the first of many SMA Compilation CD Fundraisers. The Same kicked things off with some badass emo-math-rock. Geri X played a great set next and then we rocked 7 tunes as hard as we could. I shredded people's faces off, that's what someone told me anyway. The Semis and Auditorium both turned in blistering sets as well and then we were off into the night to find our way home. Thanks to Joran for putting on such a fun show.

08/26/2006 - It is with extreme humility and gratitude that I'd like to thank everyone that was involved with last night's very successful CD Release Party at The Globe Coffee Lounge. Brian Merrill and Lance Rowland were fantastic as always. JoEllen is an angel for providing the space, atmosphere, and libations. Chris, Martin and Jon played as great as always, especially after one practice! Tina and Shannon sold some merch which was incredibly helpful, and thanks to Hugh we had some sparkly drums to play. Scott Harrell, Julie Garisto and Curtis Ross all wrote some very kind words about the CD and the shows this weekend in their publications, so a very special thanks to them as well. (Press)

A Readers Digest version of the better moments from last night is as follows: I played harmonica for the first time on stage for the opening tune, Jen is Bringing the Drugs by Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, to which someone remarked, "That wasn't that bad" when it was over. My friends Marta and Andrea from Indianapolis made it out to the show! A lady on crack walked in and started talking to me during Friday Morning Half Awake, and to my immediate regret, I started talking to her. Chris and Martin took turns standing in front of the kick drum so it would stop sliding forward. I got chills when Chris started making a cool sound with his Tele on When I Go Deaf. The sangria was excellent. After the show we headed over to Steve's Tavern and hung with more crack heads, shared some laughs, and had some more beers. Good times.

08/22/2006 - Hey everyone, I saw lots of good rocking this last week out and about in Atlanta. Kill Gordon, Variac, and The Hiss rocked the EARL on Friday night. On Saturday night Military Junior put on a great show at Lenny's. Margot and the Nuclear So & So's were supposed to play the EARL but they canceled at the last minute. So sad.

Tomorrow I'm off to FLA to see friends and rock some shows including my CD Release party at The Globe on Friday night and the SMA Compilation CD Fundraiser on Saturday night. It should be a great time and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone.

08/18/2006 - Hey everyone, I'm just now catching up from last weekend's vacation and last night's birthday festivities. Here's a wrap up of all the good stuff.

Thursday: The night before the trip started badly with me being locked out of my own house when my front door lock disintegrated internally leaving me out in the hallway with my useless key and a spinning lock. I originally intended to fly up to Milwaukee this weekend, but with the congestion and chaos at the airports anticipated over the next few days due to the terrorist threats in the UK, and me just fresh off the road from last week's trip to Albany, I decided another road trip was in order. I headed out midday and figured that if I could make Indianapolis by day's end I could have a familiar town to spend the night in and maybe I could catch up with friends. The drive took longer than anticipated and thanks in no small part to a few accidents and torrential rain bursts, I didn't extricate myself from the car until almost midnight in Carmel, Indiana. Not wanting to call it a night early I headed down to Broad Ripple to have a beer at the Brew Pub and maybe even kick around the neighborhood. The Brew Pub was nearly deserted as the Midwest Music Summit was this weekend and everyone was out to see some bands! I headed over to the Vogue in time to catch the final band of the evening, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's. I was completely blow away; they were nothing short of transcendent on stage. The scruffy guy/girl lead vocals, the animated percussionist, the songs, the words, and an entire crowd of folks singing along made for a magical set. At the end of the set, much to the soundman's frustration, nearly the entire crowd ended up on stage with a few microphones flying around uncontrollably. They're paying the EARL on Saturday night and I can't wait to see them again.

On Friday I got up pretty early to make the remainder of the drive up to Janesville, Wisconsin to pick up Chris. Chicago traffic was Chicago traffic but I rolled into town reasonably on time, picked up Chris, and we were off to Madison where we had some outstanding Cajun food at a local takeout, met the rest of the guys and headed four hours north into some of the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen. Once we hit the final destination, past Rhinelander (home of the Hodag), and out past Sugar Camp we grabbed some drinks, made some food, kicked back, and played some Sheepshead. The rest of the weekend consisted of the following: food, beer, cards, beer, chopping wood, beer, canoeing, skiing, video games, beer, Family Guy, Green Bay football at Sweetwater's, otters, bonfires, and finally, more beer.

Monday: After a great weekend, Chris and I headed south to Janesville to see family. Next we were off to Chicago and finally, at the end of the first day's drive, Indianapolis. Once in town we headed down for a beer at the Brew Pub, one at the Broad Ripple Tavern, one at the Alley Cat and finally a really late night dinner at Jimmy John's before crashing out.

Tuesday: We got out of Indy by midday after checking out Meridian Music, Luna Music, and the place that I worked. Unfortunately everyone was in meetings. A long drive and a great vacation ended at the Thinking Man Tavern before I completely passed out. Good times. (Photos)

08/09/2006 - I'm just in from my long weekend in NY and it was a great time. I'm supposed to be playing in Charlotte this evening but with the turn-around time being 4 hours and having to be there at 6, it's 5:40 PM now, it's not going to happen. NY was a great time, the drive up was long but I got to see my friend Ava in Delaware for a quick coffee and with an iPod full of tunes the hours sped by pretty fast.

On Saturday, Stacey and I headed into the city for Joe Popp's wedding, checked into the hotel, got dressed and promptly got on the correct subway train going the wrong way. It took us two hours but we made it to the wedding party before things really got rolling. The party was fun, it was great to see old friends. Dogs on Ice played as did Joe Popp, some of his friends from NY, the Caulfield Sisters, and then we had our turn. After the party a group of us headed down to Times Square for beers at an Irish pub, some pizza, and eventually some much-needed sleep.

Sunday we headed back to the Square for a street market before heading back to Albany where we attempted to thrift store shop, had a great Indian dinner, listened to some music, and just kicked back and had a great time. (Photos)

08/01/2006 - Happy August everyone, I'm writing this from my new kitchen, one of many rooms in my new place. I've finally gotten settled in, 11 months after arriving up here in Atlanta. It's a short week for me, I'm heading up to NYC for a wedding this weekend and hopefully, along the way, I'll get to catch up with some old friends. It's a busy month for me, I'm all over the place, maybe I'll see you soon.

07/26/2006 - Hey everyone, last night's show at 10-High was really fun. I played with Meghan Coffee and Gareth Asher, both great people and very talented songwriters. The format was loose and fun; 2 rounds of three songs each and then one round of 1 tune each. We had a great crowd out and the drinks were flowing pretty strong for a Tuesday night. For the last set I enticed Meghan to play piano on 22, which was a big highlight for me. Special thanks to Nicole for booking me, I can't wait to play there again. (Photos)

07/23/2006 - I headed east to Columbia on I-20 through a few raindrops, lovely rolling hills, and a sideswipe. A lady hit me every so slightly, I think she was sleeping. No harm, no foul so I kept moving. Once in town I checked into my hotel and looked up a few of the local music stores. Sims Music was the nicest of the bunch, they had a Fender Hello Kitty Strat, cool and funky.

I rolled into downtown about 5 PM and had a little trouble finding Jammin Java, the building is under construction and only a small sign on the sidewalk marks the actual entrance to the venue which is in the basement of the building. I literally called them from directly in front of the building to see where they were located, silly. I headed downstairs only to hear that the headlining act for the evening, Dylan Kight, had car trouble and wasn't going to be making the show.

Randy, the guy that books the room, was very cool and said I could play a little longer which was nice. The show was fun, I played a ton of songs, about an hour's worth of tunes altogether including some I haven't played in a while like Stay. The crowd was attentive and polite, and I was so pleased to hear that I got some radio play on WUSC earlier in the day. That helped bring some people out on a rainy night. I sold some CDs and signed some autographs, pretty cool. (Photos)

07/22/2006 - OK, so it's not like I planned to make it a Pete Yorn marathon this week, it just worked out that way. Pete played up here three times in three days last weekend and it just made sense to go see every performance. My friend Lance and his buddy Scott were up last weekend too so we all headed out to see his show at the Park Tavern on Sunday night, it was hot as hell but he played a great set. Monday night Lance and Scott played at Eddie's Attic and then afterwards we all met up with Tina T. for drinks at the Thinking Man. Tuesday, Pete played an in-store at Criminal Records and then later that night he tore up the stage at Smith's Olde Bar. Last night a group of us headed out to see the Modern Skirts and Y-O-U play at the EARL, the Skirts were fantastic. Well I'm out of here in a little bit, heading off to Columbia for a show, I'm playing Jammin Java, a great spot that everyone has raved about. If you're in the neighborhood stop in a say hey. I'll catch up with everyone after the the weekend. (Photos)

07/15/2006 - Hey everyone, this last week absolutely sucked. I had a spectacular case of food poisoning, thanks Chipotle, and I had to completely cancel all my East Coast shows last week. So bummed, so bummed. I missed playing some great clubs and I missed the Weakerthans in New York City. There's always next time right? Last night the guys from Bain and I us headed out to the Rock and Roll Circus at 10 High put on by Second Shift. The Bridges, from Oxford, stole the show in my opinion, four brothers and sisters and a cousin, all singing and playing their asses off, good stuff. Really reminded me of Eisley.

One week from now I'll be moving into my new place, I can't wait, a fresh start awaits and I'm having a party to celebrate.

And finally, I cannot seem to get over the fact that the Phil Hendrie show is off the air, that blows chimps, I'm going to IKEA.

07/09/2006 - OK, lots of big news in the last week. First off, my new CD is out! I received 1,000 copies on my front door this week and I'm as excited as a guy with a big debit on his credit card can be. They look and sound great, a big thank you to everyone that helped out!

Last night's show at Aurora Coffee was fun and well attended. Jim Combs kicked the show off with a keyboard-less experimental set that was very fun and cool, I rocked the acoustic second and Spy Magnet finished up the night with guitars and drum machines blazing. After the show some of us headed down to the EARL for the Shannon Mulvaney benefit in his fight against cancer. The show was great, I bought raffle tickets and won FOUR TIMES!

Last weekend in Florida was fun, I got a chance to catch up with friends at the Garage where the Weapons of Ass Destruction and John Frydaddy's new band tore it up! There was a great pool party at Elen's and I caught a great bill at the New World Brewery with Nessie, Ghostfinger, and Bobby Bare Jr.

OK, so I'm hitting the road tomorrow morning. I'm off to play some shows and I'm going to see the Weakerthans rock NYC on Wednesday night, I can't freaking wait!

07/02/2006 - How is it possible that it's July already? Wow, the year is flying by so fast. As the cars zip by my 22nd Ave. window I'll give you a quick recap of the show at The Bombshell Gallery. I played first to a fun group of folks, followed by Some Dancing Skeleton, and Gruppo99. Both bands were very cool and very nice, it was a good hang. From there a group of us headed down to the Garage and eventually we ended up at Steve's on the Ave. We all had a few, and then one more before calling it a night. I bought a round at Steve's for 5 people and it was $9.75, that's good info for you readers, you're welcome.

06/28/2006 - Last night's show at Java Monkey was a good time. Blake Guthrie, this evening's host, kicked things off; I played second as the rain started falling. Everyone packed in closer to the stage to get out of the elements and Michael Levine and Matthew Kahler played a couple of killer sets, including Michael's made-up-on-the-spot tune about cucumbers, basset hounds and ninjas. I got scalding water dumped on my leg, played a good set, and sold some CDs. Good times indeed.

06/25/2006 - Hey everyone, it's been a fun week, two excellent concerts, a solo show last Friday night and Corndogorama! Last Monday night Sonic Youth and Be Your Own Pet turned in a couple of scorching sets, Sonic played most of their new CD and some great older tunes like Eric's Trip and Brother James. (Photos)

On Tuesday night Echo & the Bunnymen put on a great show at the Roxy. Mac was joking with the audience and the band sounded amazing. (Photos)

The solo show on Friday at Mocha Match was a good time, James, and Rivers played great and it was nice to see some friends out and about in the crummy weather for the show. (Photos)

Yesterday I caught a few hours of Corndogorama at The EARL. A million bands, slip and slides, cheep beer, dogs, and yes, corn dogs. I saw the Preakness, Hot Young Priest and others, good times. Tomorrow night I'm playing a solo show at a great coffeehouse in Decatur called Java Monkey. It's a free show, check the calendar for all the details and swing by if you can.

06/19/2006 - I'm off to see Sonic Youth tonight! Hell yes!

06/16/2006 - OK, it's after 5pm on Friday and technically I'm not even supposed to have my computer on but I wanted to catch you up on last Tuesday's show at Smith's. I had a really fun time, the show was loose and joke filled. It was like playing The Globe, minus the dog and the coffee. I debuted a new tune called "A Girl Like You", and I think it went over well. Neil, a great friend of mine from high school, came out with some friends and it was so great to see him. We all had a good time catching and watching Joal Rush, Adam Klein, and Nate Nelson perform some great tunes. After the show a group of us hung for a while before heading out. I'd like to thank everyone from Smith's for having me; I hope to be back there again sometime very soon. (Photos)

Also, I've posted some random photos from the last few months, just for fun. Enjoy! (Photos)

04/12/2006 - Hey everyone, I trust you have been well. OK, the last month or so has been really fun and productive. I've started working on demos with Chris for a new full-length CD. Current song titles include: On the Line, Allison is Coming On, 22, Oh Angelina, Inside Out, A Girl Like You, All Those Things that Hold You Here, High School Drunk, Take it Off. Also, the last CD that I recorded with Russ Fowler, Silver, is getting sent to the duplicators this week so expect that to be available within the month. I'll have a CD release party up here in Atlanta and down in St. Pete to celebrate the occasion.

What else... oh, I've got a show tomorrow night at Smith's Old Bar, I hope my friends in the Atlanta area get a chance to make it out.

In the last month or so I've seen some great shows, Bain Mattox at Summerfest in the Highlands, Liz Durrett and Tin Cup Prophette at Eddie's Attic, Artimus Pyledriver at Criminal records. Martin came up to Atlanta and we saw the Dave Navarro and the rest of the guys from the Panic Channel at the Roxy and at the sushi restaurant next door. I saw Metalsome Monday cover 18 and Life by Skid Row with the guys from Skid Row in the audience. Eric G and the guys from Military Junior played 10-High with a couple of cool local bands, Ghosts on Speed and The Preakness. Stacy, Elen and Natty came up for the Memorial Day weekend and had a fun time. Eef Barzelay from Clem Snide put on a great show at the EARL. And... I played a really funny show at "Soul saturday" at Mocha Match.

Good times. I'll be back later in the week with an entry about tomorrow's show at Smith's so stop back by.

04/23/2006 - I'm on hiatus from the journal at the moment. Check back.

04/09/2006 - OK, finally catching up from a long week. The show at the Bombshell Gallery on Friday night to celebrate Rebekah Pulley's new CD was a good time. The Headlights played as did, Ronny Elliott, Cat Cheshire and Sparky's Nightmare. Sparky played a brief acoustic set of covers and originals and we had a good time. Not much else new to report, I enjoyed dinner and drinks a few times this week with friends and tried to do a whole lot of nothing. One more week off and then back to work!

04/03/2006 - It's hard to believe that my residency in Indianapolis has finally come to an end. I'm going to miss everyone, but hopefully I'll get back up there soon to say hello and I promise not to become a stranger. (Photos)

I flew back to Atlanta from Indy last Thursday night and had a fun weekend. I got some guys together to rock some tunes and were going to try and get together again this weekend, it should be a good time. Last night's show at The Globe Coffee Lounge was really fun, despite my crummy cold and scratchy voice. David Sinclair, Rebekah Pulley, Ronny Elliott, and Hector Mayoral all played great sets and I think I had fun set too, although I think I talked more than I played. After the show a big group of us headed out for food and I eventually skittered home with my head in my hands heavy with allergies. (Photos)

04/01/2006 - tbt* has run a cool article on me! Check it out HERE

03/28/2006 - My god, I'm still recovering from the weekend. It started off on Friday where I encountered Air Force One and the President's motorcade at the Indianapolis International Airport and steamed full speed ahead with a fun cook-in at Rivers' place with the Bain Mattox crew and the later, drinks up at Smith's with some great new friends. Sunday was recovery day. Good times. Well this week is really my last week in Indianapolis. I am going to miss all my friends like crazy.

03/23/2006 - I messed up this journal entry before I even started typing by not taking better notes. Eh, to hell with it. SXSW was a fantastic time and it's all a blur. I'll just spit out the major events. Check out the pictures too.

Wednesday: I caught the flight out to Austin with Flee, Mane, Laura, JoEllen, Life of Pi, WUSF DJs and a bunch of BAAMO folks. The BAAMO show at Yard Dog was well attended and all the bands sounded great. Steve Wynn closed out the show and he and his band were nothing short of fantastic. The Giraffes tried to strangle me at Friends. I left covered in beer and whisky. Zum Zum did math @ Blender Bar upstairs. Sabrina hooked up with Mane and I to roam the strip. I saw... the New Pornographers (excellent!), Belle and Sebastian, The Plimsouls (rocking!),and +/- (cool), before calling it a night and grabbing some pizza.

Thursday: Foggy morning. I saw Neil Young. A group of us headed to the Long Branch Inn for the Vice party where we saw a Japan noise band called Afrirampo. I manager to see one Laura Veirs song when I got to her showcase on time only to find out she started 30 minutes early. I checked out the Irish showcase w/Exploding Butterfly, the Chalets, great bands, The Tokyo Night day showcase was fun, the singer for this one band rocked so hard he passed out. That evening I headed out to the Town Lake Stage to see Spoon, and Echo & the Bunnymen. Awesome sets by both bands. Later I caught a kick ass set by The Tyde with Darren and Brent Rademaker on guitar and bass! The Parish hosted Barsuk records bands Mates of State (awesome) and Nada Surf. The Beastie Boys rocked a surprise Stubb's show and Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips rolled inside a ball down 6th.

Friday: A rainy morning. I attended the Paste Magazine Party; I got there just in time to see Modern Skirts play Pasadena. Also in attendance was Harry Shearer from Spinal Tap, and A Mighty Wind. Walking down Red River with JoEllen in front of Emo's I spied Thurston Moore walking down the street, I yelled "THURSTON!", we talked for a moment and I got a picture with him. So freaking cool! The SPIN party was great this year, I saw The Go! Team (fun), The Stills, We Are Scientists (funny), and Charlatans UK. After the SPIN party a group of us headed over to the Fader party. Laura was the cat whisperer on the way. I caught the the Giraffes again and I ended up at Stubb's for a majority of the evening to see Vega 4 (cool), White Rose Movement, The Subways (holy crap they were awesome!), Metric, The Magic Numbers (loved them), and Snow Patrol (they rocked it)

Saturday: The final day got off to a rainy start. At the Fader Party I caught Essex Green and Lady Sovereign. I swung by Flatstock on my way to see Nine Black Alps (rock!) and Snow Patrol play a fantastic acoustic set. Martha Wainwright sat in for a song and the closed with the Bright Eyes song You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. That evening I headed down to Waterloo records before checking out the night shows. First up was St. Pete's own IMA. They played a great set and it was fun to catch up with Matt and the guys. The rest of the night consisted of a rocking set by Rhett Miller, classy sets by Rosanne Cash and Lyle Lovett, and finally, after a long set change, Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders came out to heckle the crowd and play a ton of new songs. The night wrapped up, I headed down for one last slice of pizza and then the sky opened up as soon as I sat down in the rental car. Thank you, good night!

I got up early on Sunday morning and looked up the movie Slacker on the Internet and for some of the sights where the movie was filmed in Austin. I drove around town for a while, took some photos, hit a squirrel, and really explored the city. I had lunch with everyone at Guero's where I met up again with Mane, Sabs, and all the BAAMO folks. Off we headed to the Austin Airport where we saw Karl Rove, Suzanna Hoffs and once again, Harry Shearer. What a great time, I can't wait until next year! (Photos)

03/14/2006 - I don't know about you, but I'm really tired, and yet as my CD player is randomly picking out an appropriate soundtrack (Sarah Harmer, Ida, and the MacCabees, so far...) in the next room, I know that the next five days in Austin for SXSW will be even more exhausting in the best way possible. This is my third one in a row and I look forward to the randomly appropriate soundtrack that will play out directly in front of me every second until I fly back on Sunday with a suitcase full of CDs, contact information, newspapers, hangovers, ruined shoes, flyers, and I'm sure at some point I'll pick up a new coozie. I'm eternally grateful that I've been asked to be a part of the BAAMO showcase tomorrow afternoon at the Yard Dog. They are an outstanding group of individuals, music lovers and friends. Thank you Flee for asking me to be a part of it.

I did a little running around today getting everything I needed for the trip. I picked up some strings and good conversation from Kent and Bill at Legends Guitars and some CDs from Vinyl Fever where I bumped into Walt Bucklin and Ronny Elliot loading up on music for the trip as well.

So, to catch everyone up on what I've been up to the last few weeks. I headed over to Greenville, SC a few weeks ago to catch a fun show by Bain Mattox and Nathan Angelo at the Handlebar. Great guys and it's always a good time. I hope to get together with them in a few weeks to play some music.

Last Friday a group of us headed down/up to Jacksonville's Florida Theater to see Portastatic and Wilco put on a fun show. Saturday was opening of Stacy Mathis' photo show at The Globe. Brian Merrill, Sam Bond and Natty Moss Bond, and I all played and had a great time. I played some old tunes that Stacy requested, High School Drunk for Elen, a great new Death Cab for Cutie song called I'll Follow You Into the Dark, and they all seemed to go over well. The question still remains though, was I wearing a jacket or a blazer? Sunday a group of us headed down to the The State Theater to see Will Quinlin and Lucero rock the house. Good times.

So, that's the gist of it folks. I'm off to finish packing before I head out to Sparky's Nightmare practice this evening. See you on the other side of the weekend. (Photos)

03/10/2006 - Well, I'm heading south today at about noon. I'll meet up with some of the gang in Jacksonville to see the Wilco show tonight and then it's on to St. Pete on Saturday for Stacy's show at The Globe. Hope I see you soon.

03/03/2006 - March is here and this will be the last month that I'm up in Indianapolis for work. I've been heading up there every week for over two years, my how time has flown. Looks like I'm on the hook for one more traveling assignment and then, I swear, I'm off the road. My next assignment, starting in mid-April most likely, should be amazing. I'll fill you in when I know more. I don't want to jinx it.

Not this weekend, but the following weekend I'm heading down to Jacksonville to see Wilco with some of the St. Pete crew and NY Stacey! It should be a great time. Then it's down to St. Pete for a few days before I head out to SXSW in Austin later in the week. I'm playing a solo show at The Globe for Stacy Mathis' photo exhibit grand opening on March 11th. I'll post more details when I get them. I hope to see you out there. OK, that's it. I'll catch up with everyone sometime in the next few weeks before South by.

02/25/2006 - OK, everyone that knows me knows that I'm a big fan of the Blake Babies and everyone that was involved in that great band. Well, last year Juliana Hatfield implemented the honor system on her webpage as a way of both generating some funds for her new record and as a way to bypass the music industry and get some cool, unreleased songs directly to her fans at a price that only the fan could determine. It's a cool concept and one that I've thought about implementing for a long time. Well, here it goes. Every few weeks I'll put up some unreleased, rare, weird, recordings that I've made that you've probably never heard. I hope you enjoy them. I'll be posting stuff from all through the years. I'll leave as many songs up at a time as I can until my .mac account cries for mercy. The first two songs aren't very old, one is a cover of an Eric's Trip song that's FREE, don't pay me for this one OK? The other is live version of Take it Off recorded up in Atlanta as a demo for my upcoming CD "Silver". Thanks for listening and check out the honor system.

02/16/2006 - I just turned down a job in Dublin. I've decided to decline the offer; there are other things more important than running all over the place at the moment. It's time to put down roots and get the band rocking. Am I nuts? Perhaps, but that's not the point of this entry.

It's taken me a little while to catch up (on sleep) and organize my thoughts about my weekend out in Los Angeles. First off, a huge thank you to my friend Mike for putting me up, showing me the town, and almost getting me in a music video in my four days out there.

I got up early Friday morning after getting practically no sleep for fear of oversleeping. I headed out of Indianapolis International and dozed off almost immediately. I woke up in time to see the Rockies, the Grand Canyon and what I'm going to guess was Monument Valley. Once on the ground at LAX I picked up my rental car and revisited some of the places that I use to live. I headed to Redondo Beach first; it was still pretty early in the AM and the beach was deserted so I changed clothes in the car and headed out for a dip in the refreshing (freezing) water. Ahhhh… I've missed this place so much. It was so strange to walk down streets that you haven't walked down in years, everything seemed pretty much the same except smaller. Make sense? I walked down in the ravine that I use to play in, I drove the neighborhood and then headed down to the cliffs. It's so beautiful here and the cliffs remind me of Ireland, green grass and crashing waves. Next, fearing Friday afternoon traffic would be bad, I headed up to Hollywood and Silverlake so I'd be in the neighborhood for the Biirdie show at Tangier. My first stop was Guitar Center and a soon as I walked in Billy Gibbons was standing directly in front of me. I said hello and reintroduced myself to him. We've met before. My friend Lance and I sold him a guitar and an amp 10 years ago. Believe it or not he remembered, or at least he acted like he did. I headed out to Tangiers in Silverlake where I was greeted by Jared from Biirdie as soon as I popped in. It was great to see a familiar face. He introduced me to Kala, John. They hit the stage and sounded great. They played a few great new songs and some new arrangements of some of my favorites, the crowd loved them. Next up was Court & Spark, a folk band, they were from San Francisco and I enjoyed them. The Autumn Defense, featuring John Striatt from Wilco, closed out the night. They sounded great and the crowd hung on every word. As you can imagine there was more than a few Wilco t-shirts in the crowd. After the show I headed over to my friend Mike's place and called it a night.

On Saturday Mike chauffeured me all over town. We dropped by a ton of places so I'll just ramble off a list! The Rose Bowl, Frank Lloyd Wright's G. M. Millard House, The Hollywood strip, The Sunset Strip, Voltage Guitars, lunch at Jack in the Box, Amoeba Music (I picked up some CDs for the trip), The La Brea Tar Pits, LACMA. We also drove through the hills, saw The Gamble House from Back to the Future, the Warner Brother, CBS, and Disney Studios and a bunch of other places. Good stuff.

Sunday wound down as quick at the sunset on Palos Verdes Peninsula. I did a ton of stuff today, not everything that I wanted to do but enough was enough. I'm sitting in the old shopping plaza that I use to come to as a kid to get sugar cookies with a big blob of chocolate on top. The sunset was amazing as the r/c gliders slipped back and forth between the sinking sun and the seagulls that were scrambling for cover. I got up pretty early. Mike had a shoot down south for the Sean Lennon video. I can't wait to see the finished product! OK, here's another list of what I did. I headed down to the Rose Bowl for their bi-monthly flea market. Next I located Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House. It sits on the top of a hill next on a crazy, winding road. The house is in quite a bit of disrepair but the pure size and scale of the house makes it breathtaking. I headed down to the Hollyhock House, another Frank Lloyd Wright house sitting on a hill that opposes the Ennis House, the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign. I got there too early for the official tour so I drove around, took a few shots and headed down to Hollywood. I parked near Grauman's Chinese Theater and walked the district. Next stop, the Santa Monica Pier. The memories came flooding back. I headed back to San Pedro and found the place where my Dad and I use to go explore the tide pools. Point Ferman Park was exactly as I remember it. The climb down the hill was treacherous but well worth the risk. I hope they don't mind but I took a small souvenir, a small sand and surf polished stone. Back up at the top of the cliff the r/c airplanes were flying as the sun was heading out. Suddenly I was 8 again. It was such fun watching them swoop around in the sky. Seagulls were chased around and one of the planes crashed into the side of the cliffs. I'd wanted to head down to the Fonda Theater to see Jeff Tweedy this evening but it's sold out and I'm beat.

On Monday I got up early and headed towards the Getty Museum but it was closed on Monday so I turned it around and made tracks for The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The feature exhibit, called Sonic Scenery, featured prerecorded music that is meant to be listened to while viewing specific exhibits. Some of my favorite selections were from Nels Cline (Wilco), David J, The Sun Ra Arkestra and Ozomatli. Mike called and I headed over to the Sean Lennon video shoot. I had the opportunity to be in the video but they already had enough extras unfortunately. How cool would that have been! It was fun to see them film a scene and I can't wait to see the finished product. I headed back down to Palos Verdes for an early dinner and a final sunset before stopping by the beach one more time before heading to LAX and back to Indy on the red eye. I hope I see you soon, I hope I see you soon. (Photos)

02/09/2006 - Despite my cold I had a fun time in Indy this week hanging with friends and working hard. I'm off to California in the morning for a long weekend and I'm anxious to see old friends and old haunts.

01/06/2006 - So, what have I been up to? Too much. I'm currently sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting for my flight to Indianapolis to board. Flights are delayed this morning because of the weather, we had some snow last night and it's creating some airborne traffic congestion apparently. I trashed my cell phone in the parking garage this morning which completely sucks as I won't be back in town for about two weeks so I'm going to have to pick up one of those "pay-as-you-go" phones tomorrow just to have something to use until I get back home. Any recommendations? Last week in Indy was hectic and fun. I got a chance to take in a game by the Pacers and Lakers on Wednesday night at the Conseco Fieldhouse. It was a 30-point blowout! I finally got to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind too, what a great film! Friday, I headed up to Chicago, it was rainy and nasty out and I got to the Art Institute 1 hour early because of the time change so I walked around Millennium Park and ended up at the Virgin MegaStore up on Michigan. It started to snow as I headed back and it was a beautiful. The Art Institute was amazing, I walked every inch of the place and loved it. Next, I headed south to the Hyde Park district where the University of Chicago is located to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Frederick C. Robie House. The next tour wasn't for two hours so I walked around the site alone. The house is currently being renovated, and there were missing windows and obvious construction everywhere. Eventually I headed back to Atlanta on Friday night, had some drinks with friends at the Thinking Man and called it a (late) night. Saturday I drove over to Birmingham, AL to see John Strohm from the Blake Babies rock a set at the Workplay. He played a fun, laid back set full of jokes and spontaneity. I had some down time on Sunday which I needed and ended up watching some of the Super Bowl with friends. Sadly I fell asleep before the 4th quarter. I'm lame. I think I'm catching a cold too. (Photos)

01/30/2006 - I'm on the way to Indy again this week and I'm just back from a very brief weekend in Florida. I rolled into St. Pete on Friday in time to grab dinner with friends and see Hugh play a fun show at the Bombshell Gallery with Kevin K. After the show we headed down to the Emerald but it was so packed we headed over the Globe for coffee instead. Eventually we filled out and I stopped in at the Independent for a beer and then I caught a few fun tunes by the Paper Stanleys at the Rare Olive before heading out. Saturday during the day I had Sparky's Nightmare practice and then, later that night, I headed down to Jannus Landing with friends to see Son Volt tear the place up with Shannon McNally opening up, good stuff. I ended up at the Globe again that night, I got there just as Crash Mitchell was finishing a set of acoustic tunes. Sunday I headed to Kissimmee for the Orlando Vintage Guitar Expo. I was disappointed by the selection of guitars, I don't think I'll bother going to the one next year if all there is going to be is $300,000 Les Pauls and $1,000 Kay acoustics.

01/24/2006 - It's Tuesday night and I'm in Indy. I've just surfed over to the SXSW website, perused the list of bands playing, and I can't freaking wait to go! Here's my list of "must sees" so far... Judah Bauer, Brazilian Girls, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Calla, Cat Power, Centro-matic, The Charlatans, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Clem Snide, The Datsuns, Echo & The Bunnymen, Elefant, The Giraffes, The Go! Team, Sarah Harmer, Harry Shearer's "Le Show Live", IMA (Matt and the boys from St. Pete!!!), Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Mary Lou Lord, Lucero, The Magic Numbers, Charlotte Martin, Rhett Miller, Modern Skirts, Nada Surf, The New Pornographers, Nine Black Alps, Of Montreal, OK GO, Over the Rhine, Glen Phillips, The Plimsouls, Portastatic, The Secret Machines, Jules Shear, Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3, and John Vanderslice. Hell yeah!

01/22/2006 - For the most part this last weekend was pretty laid back by anyone's standards. I met with friends on Friday night out at Smith's Olde Bar to see Red Letter Agent, A fir-ju well, and Evoka. The guys from Bain Mattox were in attendance and it was fun to hang with them and catch up a little. Thanks for the beer Andy. As for the rest of the weekend? There was nothing going on except some nasty weather and the sudden and heartbreaking loss of Berkeley, one of the cats here at the house. R.I.P.

01/20/2006 - I'm back in Atlanta for a brief weekend, then back to Indy and I'll be in St. Pete for a whole day next weekend. God I love driving. As promised, here's a few photos from my show at Locals Only. They're a little blurry, but I was too that night. (Photos)

01/18/2006 - "Can you play on February 1st? We're having a 'best of" night at the club and we'd like you to play." To say I was flattered would be an understatement. Tonight's solo show at Locals Only was a really good time. It's a cool club just south of the Keystone Mall off of 56th Avenue in Indianapolis with some great musicians and friendly folks in the crowd. I got there pretty early, Jethro signed me up, and I played first to a nice crowd of friends and locals. I'll definitely play there again sometime soon. Thanks again to everyone that made it out! I'll post some photos this weekend.

01/15/2006 - The weekend sputters to an end, cough, cough, or is it my allergies? I'm in early in preparation for my early morning flight up to Indy. This weekend I went to a great holiday party on Saturday night at the 755 Club at Turner Field. The entire stadium was lit up and the view out onto the diamond was fantastic! I got to partake in some more studio work this week in Atlanta with James. It was fun to try some different things and it's always cool to be exposed to some different music and get an opportunity to play on it. There are some new dates on the shows calendar, The James Salter Band is going to be playing the April 1st show at Dave's and I'm going to be playing a solo set on the April 6th show. This Wednesday night I'm going to play at a new club up in Indy called Locals Only, it should be a good time and I'll try and post some photos. OK, I'm off, I'll catch up with everyone later this week.

01/14/2006 - My travel plans for Ireland in February got scrapped. Time was an issue so I'll just try and make it there in the late Summer or Fall. That however has not deterred me one bit from taking a vacation. I'm heading out to L.A.

01/01/2006 - My 10 days down in Florida have been a blur, today especially, as I ran around all day getting ready for my big final move into my new place in Atlanta not to mention I was helping my Mom move into her new place, my old house. I'm sleepy, I'm sore, and I gained 10 pounds this week, but thankfully I'm not hung over from last night's fun. Here's a quick breakdown of what I was up to while I was in the Sunshine State.

Thursday: Flew in to Atlanta from Indy and had drinks with friends at the Inman Park Patio and the Brick Store Pub in Decatur. Friday: Drove down to Florida with a newly busted muffler on the Civic dragging on the ground throwing sparks. That night was the Holiday Hootenanny Show at The Globe Coffee Lounge hosted by Bob Anthony. Sam, Natty, and Hugh were playing and they invited me to join them and play some old tunes that I didn't know. Also performing that night were Kenny Howes, Dean Johanesen and lots of talented folks at the open mic. I played a brief solo set and enjoyed some coffee and some sangria. Saturday: Hung with friends and watched the Bucs beat the Falcons in the craziest overtime game I have even seen. Later that night I got together with friends for Christmas Eve drinks and fun conversations. Sunday: I spent Christmas with family. That night I went to a great show at the New World Brewery with My Own America, Tomorrow, Pohgoh and Scrog. What an amazing time, there were so many people that I hadn't seen in years and the show was very moving. A guy got his collarbone broken during the Scrog set so it was just like the old Stone Lounge days. Monday: I played a solo show at The Globe with James McFarland, I played a crummy set but Tina and Stacy we're there to cheer me on. Tuesday: Rebekah Pulley played at the Globe. She pulled Natty and I up to play Angel from Montgomery and then I sang High School Drunk. Justin Beckler played after Rebekah and was pretty fun. We all drank sangria and Elen got us hooked on Su Doku. Later, I tried to turn on my TV with my TI-83 calculator from college with limited success. Wednesday: Stacy and I headed over to the Dumbwaiters show at the New World Brewery and had a great time. Thursday: A big group of us headed up to Limey's for food and drinks, the Cuban Sandwich Crisis sounded great, and we closed down the pub. Friday: Tonight was the grand opening of the Bombshell Gallery owned by Gina Vivinetto. I had a great time, Giddy Up Helicopter!, and The Peabodies played, it was great to hang with the old St. Pete crowd for the evening. Saturday: New Year's Eve. A group of us had dinner and then most of us headed over to the Bombshell Gallery again, and before I knew it, it was midnight, fireworks were going off downtown, X was blasting on TV via the DVD player and at one point we were all playing congas. Sunday: Moving day. All day. So sleepy. So tired. Heading back to ATL in the morning. Farewell St. Pete, I'll see you when I see you. Thanks for a great holiday break. (I'm trying out a new photo album style, let me know how you like it - photos from the holidays)

01/01/2006 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Written by John McNicholas On

2005

12/31/2005 - I'm going to make this brief. I had a fantastic year, and ultimately it all boils down to my friends. I have the best ones in the world. So for that I say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support this year through my move to Atlanta, my constant travels, and my music. I simply cannot thank all of you enough for your outpouring of support, understanding and enthusiasm. I miss everyone in St. Pete but I am so blessed to have made such great friends in Indianapolis and Atlanta. Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you.

Have a safe New Year's Eve and I'll see you on the other side of the weekend with lots of pictures (A year in review!) and a run down of what I've been up to.

12/21/2005 - It's Wednesday morning and I'm just now catching up from a great three-day weekend in Albany. On Friday afternoon I headed to the Indy Airport, jumped a Northwest jet to Detroit, swapped planes, and within a few hours I was touching down at the Albany International Airport. Stace met me at the gate with a "Johnny Rock!" sign held aloft. She's awesome. It was a relaxing weekend with nothing on the agenda, and even though we squeezed a ton of fun into a few days, it was just the kind of break I needed. Albany is a great town full of brownstones, cool bars, and great restaurants. The weekend consisted of drinks and dinner at El Mariachi, walking the blocks of the Lark Street Neighborhood, with stops in the Lark Street Bookstore, Hodge-Podge Books, the Lark Tavern, and the appropriately named Bomber's Burrito Bar. I got to see the State University of New York at Albany, Washington Park, and The New York State Museum, which included an actual fire truck from 9/11 and part of the original set of Sesame Street! We walked the Empire State Plaza which features the Egg Theater, the underground, and some great modern art. We went to Savannah's for drinks and eventually stumbled down, but not in, the clubs on Pearl Street. Christmas trees were decorated, movies were watched, and frat boys slipped and fell on the ice. It was a great weekend. (Photos)

12/15/2005 - I got caught in the craziest 5 minute snow storm ever this evening. I'm out in Broad Ripple checking out the bookstores and music stores when the sky just dumps snow on me like a practical joke. BAM! Insane, and 5 minutes later it's completely gone. Hopefully the weather will behave this weekend while I'm in NY. I have a feeling it will be freezing cold with snow for the next few days. See you on the other side of the weekend.

12/12/2005 - OK, so this is going to be really quick as it's late on Monday night and I've got to get up early and head to Indy bright and early in the morning. Last week in Indy was full of Christmas parties, work, and an insane amount of snow.

I was supposed to head home on Thursday night but a storm dumped 7 inches of snow on me as I drove to the airport. It took me 3 hours to get there, only to find out that my flight had been canceled. Ugh. 2 hours in the car, back to the hotel. Such a crazy drive.

I finally made it back into town on Friday afternoon to attend a meeting at the new Georgia Aquarium, well, I made it back in time to hear the final speaker of the day say, "so in conclusion..." I still managed to get a free tour of the Aquarium though and I just loved it. What a great place! On Friday night I had some drinks with some new friends at Smith's Olde Bar, we chatted for hours, walked for miles, and piggyback rides were nearly dispensed. Alas, it was too cold and we were too drunk.

Saturday night I headed over to Tasty World in Athens to see Bain Mattox, Red Letter Agent and Kalen Young Nash rock the house. I hung with the guys, had some drinks and food, enjoyed the bands, and really had a good time. Downtown Athens has such an outstanding vibe.

Sunday I finally found a condo and put down a deposit! Hell yes! I'll be moving in in January, I can't wait. It's a modest 1-bedroom but the price was right and I love the neighborhood, lots of parks, cool bars and it's close to all my friends up here. It's in an up and coming neighborhood called Kirkwood and I'm hoping that it will be a good investment. OK, I'm off to bed. I'll catch up with everyone before the weekend is upon us.

12/04/2005 - Last week in Indy was standard fare, things were a little hectic at work but nothing out of the ordinary.

Friday night I flew into Atlanta to meet up straight away with Hugh and Carrie; they drove up from Florida for the X and Juliana Hatfield show. I picked them up and we headed down to the Masquerade, had a drink in Purgatory before the doors opened and checked the place out; I had never been there and it's a great club. The club quickly filled up and the opening band was rocking a therimin. Juliana played next and she opened with Sellout and closed with My Enemy. In between she played On Video, Necessito, Somebody is Waiting For Me, Get in Line, a cool version of Linda Ronstadt's When Will I Be Loved and quite a few others. After her set and just before X took the stage I got a chance to talk with her for a while when she was running the T-shirt booth. She was very approachable, super nice, and we just talked music for a little while. I was going to ask her for a photo together and an autograph but it just seemed silly. The night wound down after a blistering set by X and it was back out into the cold night for a quick ride home. It was so great to see Hugh and Carrie up in Atlanta, I hope they visit again soon!

Saturday I kicked around town, did some condo shopping, and Chris and I eventually ended up at the Brick Store for dinner and up at the Local with the guys from Bain Mattox for drinks and some funny as hell conversation. Oh, if you find yourself in the Local, check out the top of the Christmas tree in the corner. It's got a great decoration right on top of the tree.

Sunday was the big 99X Christmas Toe Jam at the Tabernacle. I helped tech for Bain Mattox and the guys ripped it up, the place loved them. Next up was the Violent Femmes who were excellent! They have so many great tunes and it was fun to see the place singing along with every word. Earlier in the day Kevin Kinney from Drivin' and Cryin' ("…I'm going straight to hell, just like my momma said… I'm going straight to hell…") popped into the dressing room and introduced himself, he played guitar with the Femmes on a few tunes and it was so very cool. Last up was O.A.R. but I didn't stick around, I'm up early and back up to Indy. (Photos)

11/29/2005 - I have to get up in a few hours to fly to Indy so I should be snuggled in bed, my covers wrapped tightly around me but I'm just now settling in from a great night out and a great show at Eddie's Attic. Chris and I rocked a few tunes, Tina took some great photos, and we had a really fun time hanging out watching different songwriters and having one beer too many on a school night. Good times. (Photos)

11/28/2005 - I knew I was in Florida when I saw my first metal ladder in the middle of the Interstate. My week in St. Petersburg is a blur, I'll just summarize... James and I rolled in on Sunday night. I worked all week from the new Accenture office in St. Pete. Tuesday night we practiced with John from Hankshaw. Wednesday night was dinner and drinks downtown at Moon Under Water. Yum. I spent Thanksgiving at my friend Brian's house with the family. Thursday night a few of us headed over to Hugh and Carrie's house for some cocktails.

Friday night was the acoustic show at The Globe with James, Scott Derryberry, Martin, Brian & Ed Wotil. Lots of friends came out. Mom heckled me. Fun Bobbie didn't pick up when I called her from the stage so Hugh left her a message of me playing A Plea from a Cat Named Virtue. I tried to throw Martin out for talking. Danielle and I hung out at Limey's and random people came up to us and recognized us from somewhere!

Saturday afternoon the rock'n'roll flea market at the Globe to benefit BAAMO was a good time. I got a great Neil Young print from Robert Phelps and I hung with Hugh for a while. There was tons of cool stuff to sort through. Flee mentioned over the mic that I was in attendance and everyone clapped. I have no idea why. The show at the New World Brewery show went great. We were joined by Milton from Hankshaw on keyboards; he played some swirly B-3. We rocked it. Morning Bell from Gainesville was cool, they had suits with Christmas lights in them. Mark Bustin did a great job of running sound. I talked to Brian Repetto from Dumbwaiters for a few, I hadn't seen him in ages. Mike from Swagger brought out some friends from Atlanta. I was so tied I didn't stay for Guiltmaker. Instead, I watched as people got their cars towed away as I walked to my car. Will Quinlan was out and about and Stacy took some great photos.

Sunday I headed over to Hugh and Carrie's for a Thanksgiving feast with the crew. Elen and I were hypnotized by the Denny's coffee mug that changed when it got hot. The turkey and dressing was amazing. Finally, with my belly full of turkey, beer, coffee and cookies, I headed back up to Atlanta.

Tonight I'm playing a couple of songs out at Eddie's Attic in Decatur at 7:50 PM. Swing by if you get the chance!

11/21/2005 - Thanks to everyone that expressed an interest in my house that was for sale in St. Pete; it's no longer available.

11/20/2005 - It's been a fun week and I'm looking forward to the week ahead just as much. Last week it snowed in Indy! It was no blizzard but it was fun to see the flakes falling and the dusting on the roads looked like chalk getting blow around by the tires and the wind. The snow didn't stick but it was still great to run outside and catch a few flakes. We must have had the locals shaking their heads. Last week at work was pretty stressful, but everyone handled themselves with grace and we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I work with great people.

OK so what happened this weekend... I flew back home on Thursday night, grabbed some food and headed to bed pretty early I think. Friday night, Chris and I headed down to the EARL to see the Oranges Band from Baltimore but the show was sold out so we just had some beers and soaked in the vibes from the main room.

Saturday I went searching for a new home and I do believe I found it! It's a renovated condo in Kirkwood, not too big but really nicely done. I don't need tons of space quite yet, just a spot to rest my head. There's a big park a half block away, a new nightlife district with bars and restaurants about 4 blocks over, and the neighborhood is going through a gentrification process so it should be a great investment too! I'm going to put in an offer this week and we'll see what happens! I'll keep you posted.

Saturday afternoon I got together with The James Salter Band and we ran through all the tunes for the upcoming show at the New World Brewery this Saturday. Vic played drums, Scott (formerly of Pageant) played bass, Milton from Hankshaw played organ and James and I played guitar. Good stuff, it should be a fun night for music; I've heard all the bands we are playing with are great.

Speaking of great, it will be great to be in St. Pete all week to see family and friends. Folks from Atlanta will be down as well and the Friday night show at The Globe with James, Brian, and Martin will be a blast.

OK, I'm off to pack the car. I'll post some pictures at the end of the week to catch everyone one up and I'm sure I'll check in again before then.

11/15/2005 - Greetings from room 104 here at the lovely SpringHill Suites in Carmel, Indiana. ...untz, untz, untz... you can't hear it but in the room above me ...untz, untz, untz... there appears to be a dance party going on. ...untz, untz, untz... It sounds like a good time actually, I may have to get some beer and go knock on the door. ...untz, untz, untz... So OK, anyway, this weekend in Atlanta was pretty laid back, and pretty fun. Friday night, I grabbed some food and drinks with James, Vic and the gang up at the Thinking Man. ...untz, untz, untz... We played some Simpson's pinball and had a fun time. Saturday, during the day, I did some house hunting and went to the High Museum of Art downtown for their re-grand opening ceremony, for the additions that they've made to the facility. I especially enjoyed the featured artist Andrew Wyeth and the live music. ...untz, untz, untz... That night James, Ali, Mike from Swagger, and I went and saw a really great band called the Tender Idols at Smith's Olde Bar. Also on the bill that night was a band called Variac that was pretty cool too. ...untz, untz, untz... Sunday, James and I ran trough some of his tunes for the show at the New World Brewery next week, I can't wait, it's going to sound so cool! Eventually the weekend wound down at the Brickstore and then I was off to pack. OK, I'm heading upstairs. ...untz, untz, untz...

11/09/2005 - The cool air of Indianapolis has finally killed the colors of the Fall foliage. What was a vibrant tree line when I was here a week ago has changed into burnt sienna and dark bare stems. The flight up on Monday was pretty quick thanks to a 20 minute nap and an empty seat next to me. I think I had the only empty seat on the whole plane, so for that I'm thankful. I drove down to St. Pete last Friday night and met up with Martin, Elen, Pegs and a bunch of their friends at Limey's. We had some drinks and I enjoyed a good hang. From there Elen and I headed downtown and met up with Hugh & Carrie the newlyweds, Natty and Stacy. Fun times. I headed over to Legends Music on Saturday to meet with some guitar store folks and I was able to leave without buying anything. Amazing. I also officially put my house up for sale. I'll post a link as soon as the MLS listing is active. That night I met up with a friend of mine, Danielle, we enjoyed some drinks and some wonderful conversation. I loaded up the car Sunday morning with more of my stuff and headed back home to Atlanta. Chris and I hung out and then we headed over to Billy Goats to top off the weekend. Alright, it's late, I fly back to Atlanta tomorrow. I'm off to rumple some covers.

11/02/2005 - It's hard to believe it's November already. I'm flying out of Indy tomorrow night, back to Atlanta and some beers are in order. Saturday I'll be down in St. Pete for a day to put my house up for sale and to meet with some folks that may help me start my business. It's all so exciting. I'm not at all into typing this evening so I'll just throw some random thoughts down and head to bed. I need to clear the mental table. Taking off from the airport in Atlanta reminds me of catching the lift on the ski slopes that Stacey and I went to in upstate NY. Get in line, sit down fast, off you go. The fall leaves in Indy are spectacular right now. I must take a picture. It was 36 degrees this morning, no jacket, and I wore a short sleeve shirt to work. Apparently I'm mentally warm. If you are in Athens, GA on Friday night, go see Bain Mattox play. Yell "Chris Rocks!" every time it gets quiet. I've got a show booked at The Globe in a few weeks, I'm taking all requests, including "play something new!" Alright... goodnight. I'll catch with everyone on Sunday.

10/31/2005 - Happy Halloween everyone! I trust you had a great weekend and have a great week planned. I enjoyed myself thoroughly this weekend, it was the first weekend that I've had all to myself since I've been living in Atlanta. I flew into town on Friday night and I was Chris' guitar tech at the Bain Mattox show. All the guys in the band were very cool and they put on a great show! Well done and congratulations on the new CD. I kicked around town on Saturday looking at houses and music stores. I'm thinking about opening my own guitar shop up here, I think it would do well, don't you? Saturday night a big group of us headed up the the EARL to see Hankshaw rock the house, they sounded great and put on a hell of a show. Harold was dressed up as a whoopie cushion and kept making farting sounds into the mic. Awesome. Also on the bill that night were the Black Angels from Austin and fellow Atlanta band the Hiss. Good times and some darn good food! Sunday, I did pretty much nothing. Nice. So here I am, wrapping up. I took a bunch of pictures this weekend but I'm too lazy to post them. Deal with it. I'll get a few weeks worth up at some time. Oh, hey, I've got a new show at The Globe Coffee Lounge in November, see you there?

10/28/2005 - Our dear friend Michael Hoag, bass player for The Threads, Barely Pink and The Vodkanauts is in the hospital in critical condition after a motorcycle accident. Please keep him in your thoughts through this difficult time. If I hear anything more I'll pass it on.

Once again I'm sitting in the Indianapolis International airport waiting for my transportation home, home being Atlanta recently for those of you not keeping score. The week was fairly quiet and it's going to be good to be home for an entire weekend with not much to do. Tonight, I'll be Chris' guitar tech at the Roxy Theater. His band Bain Mattox is having their CD release party this evening and everyone is really excited and anxious about the show. I'll be tuning guitars, changing strings and trying to make Chris look good out there, not that he needs my help. It should be a fun time and I'm looking forward to getting out and meeting some new people.

Today was supposed to be my last day in Indianapolis but the project is being extended through the end of the year. I'm not sure how I feel about that but I'm going to try and use my access to airports for some travel as the year winds down. I'm thinking Europe for the weekend; who wants to go get lunch in Barcelona?. There will be lots of vacation time in the next two months so maybe I'll bump into you somewhere soon. I'll catch up with everyone on Sunday and hopefully I'll have some fun pictures to share as well.

10/24/2005 - So yeah, the last few weeks have been an interesting mix of disappointment, exaltation, revelation, heartbreak, admiration, stupidity, cleverness, frustration, gratitude, amazement, and a few other words that aren't coming to me at the moment. Mix all that with 6 or so trips to the airport, lots of work, some beers, shake well for consistency, pour, drink, and you have an idea of what's been rattling through the coffers of the cortex. Last weekend in Atlanta was spent house hunting, hanging with friends, having beers, catching a great movie (the Constant Gardener), and enjoying some great food.

I spent last week, as has been the case since January, in Indianapolis. Our contract ends this week but there's talk of an extension so I'll have to wait and see what develops.

This weekend was Hugh and Carrie's wedding and it was a wonderful gathering of friends and family that I would not have missed for the world. I flew in, with a cold, from a chilly Indy on Friday night. Stacey from NY arrived about the same time as me at TPA and Stacy was gracious enough to pick us both up. We caught up with the gang for dinner at the Chattaway and headed back to Hugh and Carrie's for a fun party on the patio. Martin and I busted out the guitars, took requests, and with Natty and everyone in the choir in tow, we fumbled our way through more songs than I can remember. The next evening was the wedding. It was beautiful, classy, fun, and a reaffirmation of so many things for me. Stacey and I danced, I sang karaoke (Closing Time!), we ate some great Polish food, drank champagne and I even seem to remember dancing with Hugh at one point. Oh my. There were too many great moments to mention and I could not be happier for them. Travis and Charlene threw a world-class "after party" where toes were soaked in the pool, more food was eaten, drinks were drunk, and to everyone's disappointment nobody got pushed into the pool. Eventually the evening dissolved into gray, then black, people packed up and headed out to sleep it off, drive in a designated manner, or slip down through back roads a few miles with fingers crossed.

So, with hurricane Wilma pelting the house with wind and rain, I'll wrap up this evening... I've left about a million things out of this journal entry on purpose, I usually do, like the fact that I bought a new guitar, for perfectly good reason, and I'm leaving out the reason as well. Some things ended suddenly for me and for others in the last few weeks. Yet, at the same time, an equal number of new ideas, people, guitars, and plans have rushed in fill the sudden vacuum. A new cycle has started/ended and it's with wide-eyed wonder that I'm riveted to the page. The New Year is just around the corner, and much like the last one, there are some big changes coming for me. A new house, a puppy (or rescue Scotty!), my own business, lots of shows, traveling to Europe again, a writing gig, and finally, me, living-working-sleeping and starting a new life in one town.

Oh, and if I didn't return your phone call this time... well... it just seemed like the right thing to do.

10/10/2005 - Someone dared me to say "I hate hippies" over the microphone at the Neil Young Tribute Show at Skipper's Smokehouse on Saturday evening. While every part of that is absolutely true, I declined. Instead, I took it up a notch. No, I didn't profess my love for the Republican leadership of the country; I said "WMNF hates women." Now, let me tell you how I got there. Natty was thanking WMNF for having us play but in doing so quite correctly pointed out that in fact, out of all the tribute shows that WMNF has put together in the last 5 years or so, not one of them featured a woman artist. That's when I threw in my two cents. Funny. I also told half the crowd they were ugly. I was kidding. During our set we told jokes for longer than we played. This is typical. We do this in practice too. We're entertainers; it's not all about the music. I like to think we're the Dean Martin or Sammy Davis Jr. of Tampa Bay. Sing a song, have a drink, tell some jokes, repeat. I had an absolute blast and it was great to be part of such a fun and worthwhile show. A few local artists had their rock and roll paintings on display too, our own Hugh T. Williams and Robert Phelps had some great pieces for sale and dammit I forgot to pick up one of Robert's prints. All the acts sounded really good and despite a few torrential rain outbursts it was a great, great time. Saturday night's show at Dave's was hilarious as always. Rebekah and Rob played a great acoustic set to get things rolling and the place filled up with friends pretty quick. Sparky's hit the stage for a fun first set full of jokes and tunes as usual. It was great to see so many familiar faces out and about dancing and having a good time. After our first set Hugh asked me if the John McNicholas Band wanted to play a few tunes, and with Frydaddy there we hit the stage for three fun songs. Rob jumped up to play bass on No One Would Miss Us and it was great to play with Martin and John again, such a solid rhythm section. We're going to try and schedule a show on the Saturday after Thanksgiving somewhere, maybe the Emerald. I'll keep you posted. Photos (check out the new sign at Dave's!)

10/07/2005 - Now that it's Friday I feel a few notes about my trip home on Thursday night are in order. Thursdays are, to me, a weird night to travel for work. It's like getting up at the seventh-inning stretch of a baseball game and going home to watch the rest of the game on TV. The biggest thing wrong with Thursday is of course, Friday. Thursday is not a day things come to their conclusion. I know, college kids would disagree, but I always had a Saturday morning class to look forward to. Thursday isn't the day the credits roll or surprise endings are sprung, that's reserved for Friday too. Without Friday, Thursday would be Friday, but it's not, it's Thursday, you know? Thursdays at the Indianapolis Airport are dull in an exciting way. Explain. The airport is buzzing with people heading home from their busy corporate, professional, soul draining jobs (guilty to some degree). People are on their cell phones closing last-minute deals, hurriedly finishing last-minute tasks on their laptops and sending last-minute messages on their blackberries, palm pilots, and secret decoder rings. Only, it really doesn't matter one bit. Why? Friday, of course. Friday, Friday, Friday. You still have one more day to get all that crap done. Just to change the subject for a minute, the guy next to me is falling asleep on the plane and his head is performing a bizarre dance, a weird bobble and weave, much the same way a baby tries to hold their giant head upright before the neck muscles are interested in participating in the whole growing up experience. Where was I? Oh yes, airports, Thursdays, etc… Anyway, the flight home was horribly delayed last night thanks to a hurricane with a name that starts with "T". Trouble? Tactless? Travel interrupter? Coming into the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta the wind and rain were lapping heavily at the plane, and I swear to you, the clouds and fog outside the windows looked like bad movie fog. It really did. I half expected to look out and see a guy with a fog machine or a bucket of dry ice and a fan. It almost lent credibility to all those whack jobs that think the moon landings were faked in the 60s. Fools, we all know the world ended in the 60s and this is just an astral projection created by our alien dictators. I digress. The flight was bouncy and all I had to comfort me was this laptop, a can of chicken noodle soup and my copy of the new Tom Robbins book of short stories. Robbins' new book, Wild Ducks Flying Backwards, has a cool piece on the Don Caesar Hotel on St. Petersburg Beach; I never knew he was a regular visitor to the 'Burg. The laptop provided an opportunity to keep working, I mean there is always Friday but why waste Thursday night not working. The soup is for later, but thinking of it now makes me less hungry. I'll be in St. Pete all weekend. Two shows on Saturday and lots of hanging out with friends. Maybe I'll see you out and about?

10/04/2005 - If it's Wednesday I must be in Indianapolis again. It's 4 weeks until my travels up here wrap up and I've had a great time. I will miss everyone. Where to next? I'm hoping it's Atlanta but there's always Cali and Dublin on the horizon, so exciting. One of the folks at work wants me to go to China for a few years, that would be amazing but I going to pass. Not much happening this week in Indy but last weekend in Atlanta was a blast. No sense in giving you the play-by-play, but a disjointed recap is in order. Out to 10-High on Friday to see The Swear (missed them dammit!) but saw CypherCell. Looked at houses Saturday. Had drinks with Tina, and friends of hers from out of town at the Thinking Man. Engaging conversations about geography, jerks and an attempt at Bluetooth web surfing with Janet. Searching for cell phones with Erin. Random dudes from Arizona and Denver at the loft party. Dancing to the Cult. More lost phone devices. The Hilton is where? Sleeping in. A delicious dinner at the house. Dinner and drinks with the gang at the U-Joint. OK, enough. This weekend I'll be in St. Pete for a few shows with Sparky's Nightmare at Skipper's and Dave's. Check the shows page for details. I can't wait! I will be great to see everyone. I've missed you so.

09/28/2005 - I'm in Indy again this week and I just wanted to touch base with everyone and say hello. I had a fun weekend full of house hunting, horse riding, guitar playing and little to no sleeping. First off I want to say happy birthday to Natty and Tina! Woo-hoo! I got into Atlanta late Friday night and met everyone out for dinner and drinks. Saturday morning I spent house hunting and I saw quite a few places that I liked. That evening we had practice and worked on On the Line, 22, Gone for Good, All Hail this Town, and a few other tunes. It's sounding very cool. Later that night Chris and I headed over to Harold's from Hankshaw for their dog's 10th (I think) birthday party. The guest of honor had a shirt that said "Bitches Love Me" and he was smoking and playing cards at the poker table. The night closed out with dinner and drinks at The Supper Club. Yum. On Sunday Nicole and I headed out to the stables, it was a beautiful day and I even got do a brief bit of riding, sans saddle, very fun indeed. Monday night a big group of us grabbed dinner to celebrate Tina's birthday at a nice place called Wahoo!

09/22/2005 - The week is slowly winding down up here in Indy and the weather has been great. Some of the trees are starting to lose their leaves and fall feels like it's just around the corner. Last weekend Chris and I got together and recorded about twenty tunes live in the loft and worked out a set that we're going to play out. Last Monday I had dinner and drinks at the U-Joint with Nicole, Walter, Natty, Chris, Tina, and Ali with Natty's broken foot on a chair with a cup of ice on top, ouch! The previous Friday I got a chance to go to the Georgia Dome, I got a tour of the place and a bunch of us even played some football out on the field. The Astroturf is pretty cool. I looked at houses a little bit and on Monday night Natty was using Tarot cards to see if her foot really was broken. When I picked up the deck one card came flying out, Natty said "that's your card." The card? It was the Fool. "Yeah, that's about right." No big plans for the weekend yet. We'll get a practice in and I'll look at some more houses and hopefully get some time to kick back and relax.

09/14/2005 - Hey there, long time no see. Greetings from Indianapolis, six weeks and counting and rumor has it I'm getting out of here this time too. We'll see, you never know with this job. What's on the work horizon? Two options are beginning to make themselves know, California and Ireland. I won't go into details, I don't want to jinx it. Stay tuned, I hope to know more soon, and notice I said and, not or. So what else is new... Chris and I got together last weekend and ran through 15 plus tunes and it was so fun to be playing again. This weekend we're hoping to get together, play and discuss some upcoming gig opportunities. I can't wait. It's been so long since I've written I'm not really sure what else I've been up to, let me consult the calendar.. I had drinks with Jermaine O'Neal in the house at Champps tonight. I waited in the longest security line ever at the Atlanta airport. I played golf, poorly I might add, with friends from work. I chased dogs and cats through the neighborhoods of Clarkston. I missed someone. I looked at houses. I had dinner and drinks at the U-Joint. I listened. I gave advice. I enjoyed the Bitterest Pill. I sang. Someone made me breakfast. I smiled. This weekend Natty is heading up to Atlanta and I'll be looking at some houses too! Keep yr fingers crossed, oh and I promise to catch everyone up with some new photos soon. nite!

09/05/2005 - The week in Indy was a quick one. Lots of work and not much play last week except for a fun time on Wednesday night, out with friends for a few drinks. My flight back to St. Pete on Thursday night was a long one, I connected in Atlanta and had a two-hour layover before heading home.

Friday I worked a half day and attempted to make it to the funeral in Palm Bay, but traffic thwarted my plans and I'm so sorry I didn't make it. That night I headed out and had dinner and drinks with friends before calling it an early night.

Saturday I headed to Atlanta after lunch with Mom. The drive up was quick, thanks to some podcasts from the Bitterest Pill, and I rolled into town about 8pm. It was Chris' birthday so a big group of us headed over to Chris and Tina's new loft for lots of drinks and lots of fun. Most of the guys from Hankshaw were there as were many other friends. The party stretched into the wee hours of the morning and everyone had a great time. I hope the Sparky's Nightmare show at the Globe was a success tonight, I would have liked to have been there.

Sunday I kicked around town a little bit and got my bearings. So many new things to learn. I need a map. That night Hankshaw played the EARL so we all headed out for dinner and drinks before they played. The band had some tech issues but they sounded great. Also playing that night were The Marsh, Taylor Hollingsworth and a band called Aloha on Polyvinyl Records, I really enjoyed them, very cool eclectic stuff.

Monday I went to IKEA and encountered sensory overload, Nicole and I had Swedish meatballs and I didn't buy anything but I did get lots of ideas. OK, I've got one more day off this week and then it's back to Indy for a short week. There's talk of band practice next weekend! Hope everyone had a great weekend. I'll catch up soon.

08/31/2005 - My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in my family over the sudden loss of my cousin Trish. I remember, as a kid, her playing guitar over at my Father's house one summer evening, I was mesmerized.

As August crashes to an end it almost feels like the end of an era, and in a big way it is. I'll be flying out tomorrow night from Indy, back through Atlanta, and eventually I'll arrive in Tampa a little after midnight, as long as there are no canceled flights and plenty of gas in each airport. Friday I'll be all over the place. Work in St. Pete, a funeral in Palm Bay, packing up back home, and eventually a final evening gathering with friends. I'm anxious and excited about all the changes and it feels great.

08/29/2005 - Monday morning coffee in Atlanta was wonderful and I was riveted to XM radio on my AirTran flight as Katerina was pounding the Gulf Coast. So terrible.

08/28/2005 - Once again the weekend is winding down and I'm digging through closets in preparation for my move next Saturday. I'm throwing everything out that I haven't seen or used in a year. The weekend was fun, Joe Popp was in town and the band played Saturday night at the New World Brewery. It was a benefit for the Jobsite Theater in Tampa. They sounded great and everyone had a really good time hearing the tunes one last time. The banter was hilarious as always. Martin won two of the raffle prizes and everyone was taking whisky shots on stage. I had an exciting drive out to the show, my front passenger-side tire blew out right in the middle of malfunction junction, luckily there was nobody immediately next to me so I was able to keep the car under control and pull over and change the tire. Good times.

08/27/2005 - The week in Indianapolis consisted of late-night work, Nora's garage sale and Batman shoes, watching Hurricane Katrina, dinner at the Brewpub, and late-night phone calls. Currently I'm rocking the iPod, listening to the Moggs this very second, at 37,000 feet in a Northwest jet on my way back to Tampa for my last weekend in town for a while. Weird? Yeah maybe. Anxious to pack? Not so much. Anxious to get to Atlanta? Yeah, definitely. I'm back in the Burg a few times in October and possibly before then depending on what's happening with me and mine. I'm looking forward to the weekend, especially the Joe Popp show at the New World Brewery on Saturday night. Hopefully the hurricane will stay away and we can all enjoy some fun under the stars. See you there?

08/26/2005 - A year ago this week we were all sitting around wondering if Hurricane Francis was going to come knocking down our doors, well this year it's Katrina and if my math is correct that means we've had five more storms this year than last year already. Yikes. Anyway I'm in Indy, getting ready to jump a midday plane to the southernmost state in the eastern time zone and I have no idea if the airport will even be open in Tampa. Maybe we'll have to divert to Atlanta, Orlando, or Jacksonville. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's Atlanta. I owe someone a coffee for breakfast. Anything going on this weekend in the Burg?

08/22/2005 - I had absolutely no plans to turn my computer on during the flight from Tampa to Indianapolis but once airborne I was completely overtaken by the most beautiful sunset and scenery that I think I've ever seen from a window seat. Unbelievable. The mountains north of Chattanooga through the low clouds, a rainbow from 38,000 feet, the sunset, wow. The soundtrack in my headphones was provided by friends in the form of some iTunes gift certificates that I cashed in before my flight, which brings me around to another point that I failed to address earlier. My friends absolutely fucking rock. I don't know if I picked them or they picked me but I am very lucky. I had such a great time this last weekend. Because of my friends... I laughed incredibly hard while trying to solo, bought drinks, felt part of something so much bigger than myself, felt sympathy, let someone buy drinks for me, was given unconditional support for my move, laughed, smiled, offered advice, missed someone I barely knew, and realized how much I miss all the people I know already. Thank you. OK... who wants to go watch football or wrestling, geeeeeez.

08/21/2005 - Once again my bags are packed and I'm ready to head up north for work. The weekend came and went really fast and there isn't time to go into great detail, but what a fun weekend it was. We'll hit it highlight style...

Thursday - I got in a little before midnight and headed to The Uptown Lounge. Hung with friends, got birthday drinks, and eventually we all headed over to Limey's where the Cuban Sandwich Crisis was playing for last call.

Friday - Sparky's Nightmare played at The Emerald with The Dillusionaires and a really good DJ for Jim Hood's new art show. I got some Birthday cupcakes on stage, we rocked a good set, I stuck the Les Paul into the ceiling tiles and Travis joined us for the Hunter. After the show we all headed back to Hugh's to close out the night.

Saturday - Dave's was as funny as ever. The Peabodies opened the show and Gina entertained the crowd with wit and humor. Lots of friends make it out tonight which was great. Luscious got his shirt ripped off by Joey, there was some hot dancing, requests for Skynard were honored as was a rare one for John Prine that we were going to play anyway. Eventually the night closed up with everyone on stage and final drinks were drunk. Hope everyone had a great time, I know I did.

08/18/2005 - Greetings all from 28,000 feet, Southwest Airlines, seat 23A. The entire plane is silver, never seen one of these before. I've flown in Shamu but nothing like this one. The week in Indy was too short and lots of fun. I had a birthday on Wednesday and a great group of friends got together to make some food, play some pool, drink some drinks, listen to some music, and have a great time. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I work with some amazing folks. The soundtrack for the week consisted entirely of Juliana Hatfield's new CD and it's really growing on me. It's pretty raw but I dig it. I'm really looking forward to the two Sparky's Nightmare shows this weekend, Friday night at the Emerald and Saturday night at Dave's. Rocking out with the gang is always fun and I'll miss doing it on a regular basis, but with me being gone as much as I am already I miss it now. Come on out if you can, I hope I see you this weekend.

08/14/2005 - As the weekend winds down I need to pack my bags for the trip to Indy this week so I'm keeping it short. I'll be back on Thursday night in preparation for the two shows this weekend, one at the Emerald and one at Dave's. A big group of us helped Stacy move on Saturday and later all of us headed down to the Art of Rock and Roll art show opening at the Bank We enjoyed the paintings, the conversations, and the music by James from The Mercy Seat. Hugh had a bunch of great pieces as did Robert Phelps and a few others. I even bought one. A group of us headed downtown but we decided to take the party home to make Margaritas, drink rum, and talk and laugh all night. Oh, I'm going to be getting rid of some things in the next few weeks before I move so check back, I'll post some photos.

08/09/2005 - OK, so let's catch up. I was in Atlanta last weekend, well, part of it at least. I got into town on Friday night and went out for dinner and drinks with the gang. After dinner, Tina, Nicole, Chris and I headed over to The Thinking Man for a few more drinks and of course some rock-wall climbing at 3 AM. I mean, what else is there to do except head down to the local kids park and climb walls in the middle of the night, right? On Saturday a few of us headed out to do a little driving around the neighborhoods and we grabbed lunch before I headed south to St. Pete. Sunday went by so fast, so fast. The Yappy Hour show at the New World Brewery was really fun. Patti has organized a happy hour for people and dogs and it features three acoustic performers and tons of dogs howling along, seriously, howling along. I played my first solo set in 4 months and had a great time. It was nice to take a break and it felt great to be singing again. I played some requests, but sadly I had to turn down a request for Life in Museums by my 80s new wave band Parade in Paris. I'm still not sure who shouted that one out but I played the riff for a moment and they clapped. Scott jumped up to sing backups with me on a request for Coward off the first Spiller CD. Fun. Scott played next and sounded great and the Rancid Polecats played last and were really fun. I had to head up to Skipper's Smokehouse for the Sparky's Nightmare show so I had to leave early before the end of the show. Skipper's was hosting a fundraiser for the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Association and I was grateful to be a part of the event. There were lots of friends from St. Pete and even Indy! We played a fun set with lots of energy, jokes and of course self depreciating humor. The crowd dug it as they were dancing most of the set. Did anyone notice the big chicken flying around in the trees? Where did that come from? I almost dove off the stage by accident, I walked up to the front of the stage, stood on the bamboo corner of the stage and it completely gave way. Oh so close to completely busting my ass for all to see. The night wrapped up and we all headed home. I headed home to pack for Indy and as we speak my plane is starting it's decent into Indianapolis. I'm signing off.

08/07/2005 - I have to catch a plane in a few hours so I'm not going to wrap up the weekend just yet, besides I've got some photos to post and stories to tell and I don't want it happening all out of order. What started out in Indy and Atlanta ended up in Tampa and all points in-between over the last 4 days. So, sit tight and check back in a few for all the fun from last Friday until late Sunday night as I'm typing this up. The shows were fun, there were dogs, rain, beer and great friends everywhere. Oh, and at one point there was a chicken... you'll have to check back though if you want the whole story. For some photos of the last few weeks of my travel here's some photos I promised you last week from around the USA. Enjoy. Also, I condensed all my Ireland photos into one small album and put the journal entries in the Journal.

08/02/2005 - The weekend in Atlanta was a great time. I got back from Chicago on Friday night and Saturday morning I headed north. When I got to Atlanta I heard on 99X that Ben Folds was playing a free show downtown at the Underground! Woo-hoo! Chris and I headed out on the MARTA to meet with Tina and her friend Nicole. Drinks were drunk and so were we. We headed home. I couldn't get my seatbelt fastened until we pulled up to the house. We threw abandoned bicycle tires down the street. We talked all night, and oh by the way, I'm moving to Atlanta. As of September 1st I'll be a resident. Work has given me the chance and I'm taking it. I'm very excited at the new opportunities that I'll have in my newly adopted home town for work, music, and for personal reasons. So, a few more shows in Florida, a few more weekends in town and then I'm off. Here's to change. I'll post some photos early next week of all the recent shenanigans, check back.

07/29/2005 - Things I learned while working with a great group of people from all over the world in Chicago this week.
1. People with German accents aren't funny and they'll admit it. "Thank you for laughing at my joke, I'm German, we're not funny"
2. Girls from Belgium have the best smiles, much better than the English, it's all in the hygiene.
3. The French admit to being rude to Americans. They also admit to being rude in general so don't take it personally. "We're rude to each other, why should you be any different?"
4. The temperature in Chicago can get up to 102 degrees and it did while I was there.
5. Fuzzy Bunny is a really fun English drinking game, I'll show you.
6. The English drinking game, Bear, Ninja, Hunter is brutal, I'll show you.
7. The English know tons of drinking games.
8. "8, 8, I forget what 8 was for and..."
9. People from Italy seem to smile constantly because their country is so pretty, "Except for Naples, it's a third-world country".
10. I'm lucky to know and work with such amazing people.

07/24/2005 - It's Sunday evening and my bags are almost packed for my trip up to Chicago. The weekend flew by pretty fast, so fast that I never really caught my breath. I met up with friends on Friday night for dinner and drinks and on Sunday we headed over to the Emerald to celebrate Hugh's birthday. His band was playing a rocking set until Travis blew up his amp. We packed up and headed to an after-show party where drinks were raised, presents opened, and good times were had. If anyone is interested, my house is going to be for rent in the next few months. I'll post some info and photos in the next few weeks so check back if you're interested.

07/22/2005 - The week slows to an end and I'm flying back to sunny, hot Florida as I type this. The week in Indy was fun, lots of work and not enough hanging out but I was a little under the weather all week. Sorry! I'm really looking forward to the weekend though, there are some good shows to see at The Emerald and Saturday is Hugh's birthday! Happy Birthday Hugh! Sunday night I'm headed up to Chicago until Friday and then it looks likely that I'll be back to Indy for a few more months of work, fun, and hopefully some fall foliage starting the following Monday. Maybe I'll see you out and about this weekend?

07/18/2005 - The week that will be. Last night I headed up to Indianapolis for one week to help crunch some numbers, spread some sheets, word some documents, and catch up with Nat and all my great friends. It's been a few weeks and I was anxious to see everyone. In my line of work, consulting, the people you work with really do become like family. You spend more time with them than you do with friends and loved ones at times so it's an honor to work with such amazing people. At TPA before the flight I talked with my friend Lisa, we talked about my trip to Ireland, (Hi Lisa!) and in the name of public safety she was able to provide me with a seat upgrade. (Thanks Lisa!) The airplanes need to be balanced so they need to fill up first-class with warm bodies. Willing and able. I grabbed the window seat and read Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea from cover to cover. I loved it. So from 32,000 feet over Chattanooga, seat 2A, a bottle of red wine in the rearview mirror, I need a new book to read. I brought a book of poems by W. B. Yeates that I picked up in Dublin at Eason's so I think I'll dig in and enjoy a trip back to Ireland. I read James Joyce's Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man before I went on vacation so maybe Yeates can bring the entire trip to a tidy end. Still, I need a novel, any suggestion?

07/17/2005 - It's Sunday afternoon and I'm just packing up for my trip up to Indianapolis for one week. I'll be up there until Friday and then the following week I'm off to Chicago for work. The Sparky's Nightmare show at Dave's last night was lots of fun. We had a good crowd out and it was already rocking when we got there. We celebrated some birthdays, JoEllen's and Terry's, and played some tunes. Dank made a special appearance at the end of the night. As the crowd filed out we packed up, chatted up friends and loaded out the gear.

07/16/2005 - Pretty cool, I went to the PO Box today and got my first check from iTunes for songs that people have downloaded! Last night Lance and I headed down to the State Theater for the rock show. The place was pretty damn packed. World Leader Pretend were cool but not my thing. Eisley were awesome, great tunes, great tones, great singers. They were funny and sweet on stage too, goofing when they forgot words, talking to the audience, and just charming everyone. They hung out at the merch counter after their set and talked to everyone, so nice to see. Next up was Hot Hot Heat and by that time the room was about 120 degrees. They were rocking, the sound was a little bright, especially the guitar, but they put on a great show. We headed over to the Emerald afterwards but all the bands had already played and it was so smoky you couldn't even see the back of the room. Later. I'm looking forward to tonight's show at Dave's with Sparky's Nightmare. Come on out if you get the chance.

07/15/2005 - Heading out to a killer show tonight, Hot Hot Heat, Eisley and World Leader Pretend. If your looking for something to do tonight, this is the show. Also it's JoEllen's birthday weekend so I hear a bunch of people are headed over to the Emerald after the show. Had a fun practice with Sparky's Nightmare last night, we sounded good and it was great too see everyone.

07/13/2005 - Ireland was amazing, simply amazing. I kept a journal and I've posted pictures and most of the scrawled journal entries as they were written for each day, misspellings fixed, and grammar corrected of course for your enjoyment. Check it out here.

07/10/2005 - Sunday
9:17 am - I'm sitting in Dublin Airport right now waiting on the 10:30 am flight to board. Checking in and going through customs was amazingly simple and not at all the headache that I heard it could be. There might be something else when I get off the plane at JFK but I think I'm done. I guess if I had gone to Amsterdam there could have been a strip search involved. Hopefully it won't be a jam-packed flight and I can get some rest on the way home.

4:55 PM - New York Time - I'm sitting in the plane for the last leg of my trip back to Tampa. Hopefully we'll get out of here on time. The flight from Dublin to NY was quick and comfortable thanks to a five-hour nap. I woke up 20 minutes before we landed so hopefully I've diverted some of the jet lag

Ireland was wonderful, just what I needed.

Where should I explore next?

Seat 25C
JFK Airport
New York City
New York
United States
North America
Earth

Yum

07/09/2005 - Saturday
8:45 am - Saturday morning. Well, it's my last full day in Ireland. I'm sitting in the wonderful dining room of the bed and breakfast. The sky is overcast and gray but I keep seeing little hints of blue through the clouds so I'm hoping the sun will burn this junk away and I'll be able to see the Cliffs of Moher from top to bottom. I'm in no rush today, I'll just soak in the sights, sounds, and smells and end up in Dublin when I end up in Dublin.

11:00 PM - I am going to sleep so well this evening. I headed to the Cliffs of Moher after breakfast, backtracking all the way, hoping, praying that the weather would break so I could see the cliffs. The drive out was promising, the blue sky was making an appearance and I was hopeful. Just as I pulled up the hill to the visitor center the fog was rolling in but it looked like wouldn't stick so I waited. I didn't have to wait long, the fog lifted and the cliffs were spectacular! I must have spent about two hours there. Amazing.

Back in Dublin I picked up some souvenirs and walked around town one more time.

11:17 PM - Heading out of the city and I got lost again but I kept heading towards the airport and eventually I found it. The search for a place to stay that night took a while but eventually I found a room a few miles from Dublin International. Now I'm all packed and ready to go. I'm looking forwards to getting back but I look forward to returning here someday soon.

07/08/2005 - Friday
8:00 am - Friday morning, completely awake. I had, and apparently needed, a good night's sleep. Right now I'm having some toast and coffee before heading out our for the day. Dinner last night was especially good. I was hungry.

12:50 PM - Kinvara, Co. Galway - Stopped for coffee in Kinvara, south of Galway. Next door was a great little guitar shop that had an old Gibson L4 from the 1920's. It was in beautiful shape. Well, the Cliffs of Moher were completely covered in fog. You could barely see the visitor center from the road so I just kept driving. Change of plans for the day, I'll head up through Galway and up to Kiltimagh where the McNicholas clan is from and then maybe Kylemore Abbey, if there's time, before returning to Galway for the evening. Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be clear so I'll head back to the cliffs early and then off to Dublin to spend the night before my flight on Sunday morning.

10:45 PM - I haven't written all day because I've been exploring. The day started off at Bunratty Castle, the weather was overcast but I really had a great time. I stopped at Dunguaire Castle and then headed to Kiltimagh.

Kiltimagh was wonderful. A quaint village with "McNicholas" on a few storefronts. Cool. It's also the sponsor city of Puerto Rico in the Special Olympics. From there I headed west to beautiful Kylemore Abbey. I missed the last tour of the day but I got a chance to wonder around. The steps to the top of the hill were closed because of rain that day unfortunately. On the drive out the scenery was more beautiful every second as the sun set lower.

I pulled into Galway, in the rain, and headed downtown to the shopping district. I saw the Oscar Wilde statue, I had a drink at Taaffes, walked the docks, and had one more drink before heading out to look for a B&B south of town. Most everything was full but I finally found one, or rather, it found me. One of the B&Bs I stopped at called around and somebody came and got me. An redheaded guy name Peter picked me up and we headed off to a great little house just around the corner. I stayed up and watched the news about the London bombings and the Hurricane. Looks like it's going to miss us but not by much. My fingers are crossed.

I should be up reasonably early for my drive back out to the cliffs and then I'll head across the Midlands to Dublin for my final night.

07/07/2005 - Thursday
8:00 am - I'm up pretty early this morning to get a head start on the day. Had a few beers last night and enjoyed a local folk/pop group. A cozy little bar. Came back to the room and watched some of the final Live 8 concert before passing out for the night.

10:15 am - Stopping for coffee at the Thatch Cottage, a great little spot with a real thatch roof. So cool. The Ring of Kerry has been wonderful so far, very scenic. I'm about two-thirds the way through it at the moment. The roads are so much better than what I was driving on yesterday. I would love to spend more time is this part of the country next time but for now this is perfect.

11:25 am - Just finished up driving the Ring of Kerry, very beautiful but not as raw and rugged as yesterday's drive. There was some amazing scenery.

5:00 PM - I just missed getting into Bunratty Castle by 15 minutes so I'll try again tomorrow. After a bit of a drive I spent the majority of the day in Limerick. I wanted to love the town but it just seemed a bit dirtier and less friendly than the other places I've been, especially Cork. King John's Castle was nice and I accidentally stumbled on the University of Limerick which had some pretty grounds and buildings. I picked up a bottle of Mead at the castle to enjoy, or maybe I'll just hang onto it until I get home. When I stopped at the main shopping mall downtown after parking my car I saw the news of the London Bombings on the TV. They are saying 33 dead so far, so terrible. I was hoping no one would blow anything up just a few days ago. Could a certain redhead be involved? I must keep an eye on the hurricane at home too. Looks like it's going to be in the Gulf about the same time I'm getting home on Sunday. Good times. Only two more full days left.

Close to 8 PM - Headed back to Limerick after stopping in Shannon. Drove around Limerick for a while looking for a B&B but the city just didn't appeal to me. Headed back to the Bunratty Castle area, through a traffic jam, and came across and really nice B&B right by the castle. I'm currently enjoying a Guinness and a huge hamburger as we speak at a place called the Creamery Bar.

12:15 am - Wrapping up for the night and making plans for tomorrow.

07/06/2005 - Wednesday
8:00 am - I'm up early and I'm just now sitting down for breakfast at the B&B. Yum. The plan for the today is to hit Blarney Castle in Cork and then explore the Beara Peninsula.

11:15 am - Blarney Castle was awesome. I got there pretty early before the big crowds and walked right in, free, with a group that was getting off a tour bus. Yes! Haha! I kissed the stone, took lots of photos, and walked the grounds. Time to gas up and head west.

8:00 PM - After spending a good while at Blarney Castle making out with the stone I headed for the Beara Peninsula. I grabbed lunch at a great spot in Castletownbere called MacCarthy's that caused either lunch or breakfast to disagree quite severely with my stomach, or maybe you're not supposed to actually kiss the Blarney Stone. That can't be sanitary, right? The weather was overcast most of the day with the occasional burst of sunshine. The views were breathtaking and the driving was insane. The roads were incredibly narrow and twisting on the north side of the peninsula. I got stuck in two traffic jams, there were no cars involved, only cows.

I'm very tired tonight so I stopped for the night in Kenmare instead of driving in to Limerick. Tomorrow I'll see the Ring of Kerry and then head up to Limerick. I caught a local group in a pub next to the B&B that I'm staying in and really enjoyed them. Not too traditional, some covers, but done wonderfully, reminded me of a mix between Low and Ida at times. Wonderful singers and a great mellow vibe. Also, I was able to check my e-mail for the first time in a week at the Post Office to see that there's a hurricane headed towards Florida. Nice.

Oh, I've also determined that there are not enough cameras in the world to take all the amazing pictures that need to be taken of this place, so beautiful.

07/05/2005 - Tuesday
"The sun comes up, it's Tuesday morning, hits me straight in the eye, guess I forgot to close the blinds last night" ~ Cowboy Junkies. Well, not as such this morning unfortunately. It looks like it's going to be rainy and overcast for most of the day. Hopefully the weather will cooperate enough for me to get around and have a good time. I've got a quite a bit of ground to cover if I want to make it into Cork by this evening. Oh, last night, I saw the coolest pair of of Converse Chuck Taylor's. I may have to come back for those.

Dublin to Powerscourt House - N11 south to R112 West to R117 south<

12:10 PM- Just now done with Powerscourt House and Gardens and waterfall. Crazy roads and beautiful scenery. Saw some old ladies and one in a wheelchair come flying down this steep, wet, gravel path. I have no idea how they all hung on and didn't crash. They were laughing too, so I'm not poking too much fun.

12:45 PM - Stopped at Roundwood, the highest village in Ireland to do some shopping. On to Glendalough.

Midnight - Today was a whirlwind that ended up with me drinking pints at the Thirsty Scholar across the street from the University of Cork. It was singer/songwriter night and I enjoyed hearing all the performers. I talked to a few of them and they asked me to play but I passed, I just wanted to be a spectator tonight. Cork is a big college town and I'm staying right across the street from the front gates to the University. The room is small, pink, and cozy. I did a bunch of driving today, a little more than I expected, so I'm looking forward to a laid back day tomorrow if possible. The only thing I have planned tomorrow is kissing the Blarney Stone. It rained almost all day today, just a sprinkle, not enough to seek an eve to huddle under but enough to keep my jacket wet all day. Umbrellas are of no use in this climate at times. With this kind of rain you just get wet.

I really enjoyed Cork, I'd like to spend more time here when I come back.

07/04/2005 - Monday
Hey baby, it's the 4th of July. A few words about driving in Dublin. "Fuck this". I think I may have said that eight or nine times in the first few minutes as I was headed north out of town. Somehow I managed to find the N3, the highway that heads north out of Dublin into the Boyne Valley, and make my way out to my first stop, the Hill of Tara.

12:25 PM - I have fallen in love with all three of the girls that work at the Hill of Tara bookstore/cafe. The charm and friendliness of people out here in the countryside is overwhelming and wonderful. The view from the top of the hill was breathtaking and I enjoyed the hike despite the complete saturation of sheep droppings at every step and the slippery terrain.

I had lunch at the cafe, coffee and scones, absolutely delicious. Looking back on it now, this was probably the most delicious meal of the trip. So simple and good with fresh jam, cream and warm scones.

From Tara to Kells - N3 north
2:30 PM - Kells was nice, the church in the main square was beautiful and the walk through the town was charming.

Kells to Slane Castle - R163
4:00 PM - Slane Castle was beautiful. It's where U2 recorded quite a bit of their Unforgettable Fire album and I could recognize certain parts that they used including the grand ballroom and the outside balconies. So cool. A bit geeky sure, but I soaked up the vibe. Our tour guide Diane gave a great tour and took my picture at the end of the tour. Joining us on the tour were some crazy redheaded kids that liked to jump up and down on all the beds and chairs. Nice. Again with the redheads, and not a pack of Camel cigarettes in sight to meditate on.

Slane Castle to Newgrange - N2 South
4:13 PM - Pulling up to Newgrange - the road between Slane Castle and Newgrange was harrowing.

6:45 PM - Leaving Newgrange. Simply amazing and quite the entertaining tour. My favorite part was when the tour guide threw a guy out during the recreation of the winter solstice for taking a call on his cell phone. Who knew you could get reception in there. Heading back to Dublin for dinner, drinks, drinks, and to get all packed for tomorrow. Tonight is my last night in Dublin before I head out south and west.

Newgrange to Dublin - N51 east to M1 South
8:00 PM - Holy crap I got lost in Dublin on the way back from Newgrange. Getting back on the Interstate was simple enough but once I was in town I missed the Gardiner Street exit, if there is in fact such an exit. Still, I'm so glad that I'm not on some guided tour. I love getting lost.

1:00 am - Just in from Temple Bar, tonight the live music was wonderful and apparently the ultra-trendy folks from all over the world have headed home from the weekend. Today was spectacular and I'm really looking forward to getting out on the road. There are a list of "must sees" while I'm here so I'm going to try and stay on schedule.

07/03/2005 - Sunday
Got up at 9 am. No breakfast! The Pembroke was closed! Walked past the Natural Museum of Ireland, the National Library and over to Trinity College where I saw the Book of Kells, so beautiful, and the old Library's Long Room. Took a break on the square and wrote a few postcards.

2:46 PM - I'm sitting on top of the Guinness Storehouse drinking my free pint of Guinness and talking to a guy from Arizona who's getting his Ph.D. at London College. Took the long walk from Temple Bar up here and really enjoyed the tour. The jet lag is catching up to me today. I hope to call it an early night and head north in the morning.

4:50 PM - Almost 5 PM and I'm just wrapping up a quick meal, nothing heavy, just something to keep me moving. I want to call it an early night tonight so I'll head back towards the apartment pretty soon with a little shopping on the way. I need a better map of Dublin and the countryside if I'm going to be doing a bunch of driving this week.

9:02 PM - I was going to be diligent and sit down and figure out where I'm going tomorrow but I think that's going to get skipped, I want to go grab a beer and soak in some atmosphere. Tomorrow is the 4th of July.

1 am - I can go home now. I headed down two blocks from where I'm staying to a pub called O'Donoghue's. It was amazing. There was a group of musicians in the front corner playing traditional music, people singing along, people from all over singing and swaying to the music. The craic was mighty. What a great time. The rain came and went and for the first time I stumbled home from and Irish pub in Ireland. I'm off to bed.

07/02/2005 - Saturday
7:18 am (Dublin time) - The flight was quick, thanks in part to some beef and potatoes, some peas, and my new inflatable neck support and eye cover that conveniently came with ear plugs. I was out light a light for 4 hours.

I'm currently sitting in front of Latchford's of Baggot Street. I headed straight here from the airport just to see if I could find the place and check in early. I did and I can't. God knows how but I basically drove straight to it. Oh, the car? A Citroen C4 stick shift. Yeah, the stick is in the middle where it should be, me however, I'm on the right side of the car. The directions here were vague at best, but I literally drove right to the place only attempting to swerve to the American side of the road once. Trying to make plans for the day...

The first song I hear on the radio is a Coldplay song follow by 50 Cent and then and old Michael Jackson song. This kind of randomness will continue for the entire trip.

Just around the corner I find a great place called The Pembroke that serves the full Irish breakfast and some great coffee. I had some coffee and watched the Lions get pounded by New Zealand. Every time the Lions made a mistake some guy yelled "OH FUR FUKS SAKE!" at the top of his lungs. It's 8 am, I'm having breakfast and they're drinking beer like it's free OJ.

I mailed out a bunch of postcards from the General Post Office today and now I'm sitting in Temple Bar watching U2 and Paul McCartney open Live 8 with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, then Beautiful Day, Vertigo and One. The bar goes crazy. It's like I'm at the show only louder.

6:30 PM - Once I got checked in today I headed down to Trinity College, stopped at a few music stores before crossing over the River Liffey to roam around Dublin's northside. I started at the O'Connell Street Bridge and headed to the Spire, a giant needle-like structure. Next was the General Post Office, a major site in the Easter uprising of 1916. You can still see where bullets struck the original columns out front. At the GPO I mailed a bunch of postcards and studied the paintings that told the story of the uprising.

From there I headed north to the Gate Theater and the Garden of Remembrance before ending up at the Dublin Writers Museum. Next was the James Joyce Center for a look around. I missed Bloomsday by a few weeks so I headed over to the site of Molly Bloom's fictional home at 7 Eccles Street. From there I headed back south towards the Spire, cruised all the stores on Abbey Street and got my picture taken by the statue of James Joyce. I then headed south, back over the Liffey, through the Temple Bar district and saw tons of street musicians, comedians, and one guy dressed up like a sexy nurse. Not sure what the theme was there, but there he was. I grabbed a Guinness at Temple Bar just as Live 8 was starting. I checked out Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle and the shopping district on Exchequer St., Wicklow St. and Grafton St. before walking back to my apartment through St. Stephen's Green. I've got blisters on my feet.

On a side note, I finished reading Tom Robbins' book Still Life with Woodpecker while I was waiting for my flight at JFK and I find the symbolism striking when I think of all the redheads I've seen and all the times I've said "Yum" today. Hopefully nobody will try and blow anything up while I'm here.

12:15 am - It started to get dark about 10:30 PM and the rain has been falling for a little while. I headed down to Temple Bar for a few drinks and to meet some people. Surprisingly, Temple bar turns into Ybor City on a Saturday night. There was no live music to be heard in the big pubs downtown. There were amazing street musicians everywhere though, and all sorts of bachelor and bachelorette parties roaming the pubs dressed up in costumes. I saw Playboy bunnies, Tiki goddesses, and about 20 cowgirls with the bachelorette lassoed and being led around completely wasted. What time is it? I'm off to bed.

7/1/2005 - Friday

Seat 9c
Indianapolis International Airport
Indianapolis
Indiana
United States
North America
Earth

United Flight 7702 Indy to DC - 8:30 AM
United Flight 5322 - DC to NY - 12:31 PM
Aer Lingus Flight EI104 - NY to Dublin - 6:00 PM

11:30 am (EST) - The Flight from Indy to DC was quick and uneventful. I read through my Fodor's book on Ireland and talked to a guy, a student, sitting next to me about his travels in Ireland a few years back. "A lot has changed, you can't smoke in the pubs anymore." Seems there's this new thing called "smirting", it combines smoking and flirting outside the pubs. Apparently people are starting to smoke just to hang around outside and meet people. I'll bet nobody saw that one coming.

The day stared early for me. I spent the night in Indy, did some laundry, ate a big meal, a sub from Jimmy John's, and crashed out early. Up at 6:30 am, showered and out the door. Light traffic on the Interstate through the construction zone but the airport was jammed packed with travelers. Thank goodness for on-line check in and no checked bags. Hopefully JFK won't be too crazy when I'm switching airlines and going through security again.

3:30 PM - I'm sitting in JFK waiting for the little hand to hit 4 so I can work my way through security. Food is really expensive here but the people watching more than covers the cost in entertainment value.

6:40 PM - Aer Lingus Flight EI105 - We're underway, the seats are small but they recline nicely. I'm sitting next to a guy that works at Sun Microsystems so we chatted about work, traveling for work, how traveling for work sucks, and work. We just took off in a healthy rainstorm; I hope it's the last bit of weather we have during the flight. The plane is "fairly full" according to the pilot, which apparently means there isn't one square inch of room left on the plane. It's a 5 1/2 hour flight and I'll be getting in at 5:30 am.

06/28/2005 - I'm completely exhausted. Damn. I'm fighting a fever, and this, only two days from my trip overseas, will not deter me one ounce from having a great last week in Indy. This last weekend was a blast, Nat and I squeezed in as much fun as we possibly could. We dog sat, we took Bruno, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever for a swim in the White River. We rode the waverunners, we bar hopped on Friday night down in Broad Ripple at the Brew Pub, Brugge Brasserie, and finally a closer at the Wellington. Sunday we celebrated Nat's Mom's birthday with a great meal, we played some guitar, and just relaxed. This week at work saw us celebrating with dinner and drinks and get-togethers of all kinds. Not sure where I'll be after my vacation but I'm sure I'll know for sure soon enough. I'll catch up with everyone in a few weeks, there will be lots to see and say.

06/24/2005 - The weekend is here and it's my last in Indy for the moment. We'll try and squeeze in as much fun as we possibly can in the next 48 hours and smile and laugh as often as possible which I suspect will be all the time. Beers will be had, dogs will be sat, fireflies will be chased, and good times will be had with family and friends. Next Friday I head to Ireland and then back to St. Pete for some vacation time. I expect to see all of you when I get back and I'm thinking that it's about time for a second annual House Concert. Maybe I can squeeze that in before I head to Chicago. OK, I'm out. See you all next week sometime. I'll catch up before I head out.

06/19/2005 - Greetings all. I'm just sitting at home in sunny St. Pete, killing a few hours before my plane takes me up north again so I thought I'd catch up. I had a fun weekend, the Sparky's Nightmare show at the Emerald on Friday night was cool. We hadn't played in a while but it was fun none the less. I jumped on a table and stuck my guitar through the roof and only flubbed a few changes. Pretty good considering the last time we played was two and a half months ago. Michele Ari & Jeremy Gloff and Orange Envy from Charlotte, NC played that night too. As a bonus we saw George escort a lady out that was so drunk they had to load her in a wheelchair and dump her outside. Saturday afternoon was Bob Anthony's wedding, the entire crew headed out and it was a beautiful ceremony with lots of friends. Saturday night I headed downtown to the Independent where I met up with Stacy. From there we headed to the Bank where we met up with Jon Harrison, had a few more and watched Lake Audition, featuring former members of Helium Bomb and the Boats, rip through some tunes. An early night was called and I headed home. OK, enough of the wrap up, I'm out of here soon.

06/13/2005 - Hey everyone, I'm back in Indy after a great weekend down at Dale Hollow Lake in Tennessee. We stayed on a houseboat, ate, drank, swam, kayaked, rode waverunners, skied, got a sunburn and had a great time. Saturday night was especially fun with some of Nat's Dad's homemade beer and wine. Noah and I played acoustic guitars and swapped tunes back and forth. We rocked some Journey, Violent Femmes, Nat and I sang Sarah Harmer, Noah and Holly sang some great original tunes, Sloan, the Shins, Noah and I rocked Iron On by Superchunk, Pavement, and I ran through On the Line. This weekend I'm really looking forward to the Sparky's Nightmare show at the Emerald. It's our first show in a while and it should be loose and fun.

06/09/2005 - I've posted some snazzy new photos from last weekend's good time with the Giraffes at the State Theater. There's not one of me however, I kept ducking out of the way. I'll post more if anyone sends me s. Anyone got any photos from the show at the Uptown last Saturday night? Well, for me the weekend is here and I'm headed south for a little R&R. Not rock & roll but rest & relaxation. A few days on a houseboat in the middle of Dale Hollow Lake should be fun. Hopefully Tropical Storm Arlene will miss us and we can enjoy a wonderful weekend. Later gator.

06/05/2005 - Two days, they came and went... there was a fun Sparky's Nightmare practice on Friday night after which Carrie and I headed down to the Emerald for a few drinks and conversations with old friends before calling it a night. Saturday night a group of us headed down to the State Theater, first time I've been there in over a year, to see the Giraffes and catch a few songs from Local H. The Giraffes were drunk, they rocked. Check out their video here. Saturday was Stacy's birthday and Elen was celebrating hers one day early so we headed over to the Uptown Lounge for a few drinks and some secondhand smoke to celebrate the occasions. My bags are packed again...

06/03/2005 - Friday Morning, half awake. Last night I flew in a plane painted like Shamu. My friend Ken and I had drinks, we had a few more. The sunset from 33,000 feet was spectacular. The wine was bad, again. I worked most of the flight but took some time to jot down some notes, hum a few tunes and peruse the scenery from the window seat. "Three whole seats to myself, I'll lie down and stretch out", Juliana Hatfield sings that, and occasionally I do too although it's been a while.

"Will you sit in a window seat, when you say good-bye to me this time?
Will you smile?
Will you cry?
Will you even say good-bye?
From the wind seat you just closed the blind"

Will the itch return? Yeah, I imagine it will. In due time, in due time.

06/02/2005 - This weekend? I'll be in St. Pete, going to shows, practice, hanging out with the gang, I can't wait! The last few weeks? Let me summarize. I got to see some of the Indy 500 last weekend at night. Last Friday night was spent having drinks on the tiki barge and eventually we ended up at the White River Yacht club for more drinks and we got to see The Flying Toasters. Nat and I rode her wave runners on the White River too. Enjoyed a great cookout for Mitch's birthday on Memorial Day, which included a late-night boat ride and another stop on the tiki barge. Because my rental car, a hideous Chevrolet Malibu, has a broken radio, I am enjoying the new Stephen Malkmus CD. I finally got around to reading the latest issue of SPIN magazine with My Chemical Romance on the cover, only to notice that Hugh and I are in one of the SXSW photos! There was some dog sitting, complete with dog vomit and even some cat sitting and gardening. There was a fast-paced 11-mille bike ride on the Monon Trail. I restrung Nat's old 1960s Epiphone acoustic and we sang harmonies to some Low and Sarah Harmer tunes. And finally, the Euro continues to sink against the Dollar making my trip to Ireland even cheaper! In a few hours I'll see the Interstate, the airport, my seat, New Orleans and eventually home. I'll see some of you very soon.

05/21/2005 - Trying to type in the tail end of a bouncing 737 high over the Gulf of Mexico between New Orleans and home reminds me of the time my Mother drove us through the beautiful winding roads of North Carolina in the summertime. The sun was setting and golden rays of yellow, red, and orange were filtering through the lush green maples and oaks. The rays skittered off roadside streams like diamonds between the leaves. The scenery was beautiful and breathtaking and it was everything I could do not to throw up because of motion sickness.

OK, I've been busy, busy with all kinds of stuff not related to music and it's been a nice break. I've been up in Nap town for a few weeks soaking up the springtime weather, seeing the sights and working hard. I spent last weekend in Indy with Nat, she had a big crowd over for her graduation party and I got to meet some great friends of hers from Chicago, Erica and Jesus. Not the Jesus, think "hey-seuss" and you've got it right.

I (finally) wrapped up James Joyce's, Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man and it was a great read. A little heavy on religion at times but the story soared at the end. I can't wait to walk those same streets in Dublin that he wrote about.

Humm... let's see, what else, what else...

Martin wrapped up the artwork for my new EP "Silver" that I'll eventually put out. I'd like to be in one place, physically, so I can be around when the UPS truck drops them on my doorstep. 4 snappy tunes, 5 bucks, such a deal.

Wow, the turbulence at the moment is so bad it just knocked my awful $3 chilled merlot off my tray table... damn... hang on... somehow it completely missed my computer so I'll continue.

This last week a bunch of us from work headed down to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to watch the practice sessions for the Indy 500. It was such a cool experience! The race track is HUGE! We walked all over. We saw famous drivers. We got autographs. We drank beer. We watched the practice session. We had a great time. If you ever get the chance to go it's a unique experience, I was amazed how close the stands are to the track and it was unbelievable how loud the cars were. I can only imagine that on race day you could hear it from the other side of town.

I picked up some new CDs over the last few weeks too, I got the new Weezer, the new Eisley and Sloan's greatest hits CD that comes with a DVD of all their videos! So cool.

Well, we're in our decent into TPA so I'm shutting down...

05/09/2005 - Last week crumbled one day early for me, the sheets were pulled back, bags were packed, work was completed, stones were kissed and I barely made my flight due to heavy traffic on I-465. While I was headed to New Orleans and eventually Tampa I was missing Ben Folds at the Murat Theater in Indianapolis. Nat called me, held up her cell phone and let me enjoy Still Fighting It while I was waiting for the 737 to deplane in Tampa. On Friday I worked in St. Pete, attended a day-long work meeting and ended up drinking with old friends and new friends including folks from the Dublin office. We talked Irish music, places to play and things to see while I'm over there. Saturday night I headed downtown to meet John, Natty and Stacy for drinks before she heads off to NY for work. Practice on Sunday got canceled but Lance and I headed up to the House of Blues in Orlando to see Paul Westerberg. It was a great show, Paul was drunk and the band sounded great. He smashed a Les Paul Junior, told jokes, signed autographs on stage and everyone switched places for the end of Can't Hardly Wait.

05/01/2005 - What a difference a few days off makes. The week ended with a big ball of stress being rolled down the hall and as it picked up steam over the weekend Nat and I headed up to Chicago to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. After seeing that exhibition I've only got two words for you, "body slices." My god, that was the craziest thing I have ever seen. I'm not sure I can do it justice in words so check out the link to the site above. There were so many cadavers, if that's the right word, in various poses, on horses, cut into thin "slices" and posed artistically, that it boggled the mind. We spent the whole day standing in lines, looking a bodies and, hey, they have a really good snack bar... Anyway, it was fun and the weekend was relaxing and serene, just what the doctor ordered. Nat and I spent most all of Sunday kicking around Indy, ate lunch at Three Sisters Cafe in Broad Ripple, got kicked out of a thrift store, went for a walk in a park on the campus of Butler University and had a great meal with family and friends on Sunday night.

04/29/2005 - Have a great weekend everyone.

04/24/2005 - Zzzzzzzz

04/17/2005 - Right now I'm in sunny St. Pete but I've been back in Indianapolis, among other places, enjoying the company of great friends, the beautiful spring weather, the blooming magnolia and dogwood trees, and cold beers at the Brew Pub in Broad Ripple. It's nice to see the town without it being tucked in under a cozy blanket of snow. In music news I'll finally be putting my new CD EP out soon. It's going to be four songs that I recorded in Atlanta last Summer. It's been done for a while but the time feels right to put it out now that the my head is clear; I'm sure we'll throw a party to celebrate it's release. Check out the Discography page for more info on the CD and a look at the cover.

Friday night I ended up at MacDinton's to see The Paper Stanley's rock the shiny-shirt crowd, JD was absent so I jumped up for a few tunes and had a great time singing and playing guitar, thanks for having me.

Saturday night was spent at the New World Brewery celebrating their 10-year anniversary. The Boats, Hankshaw and Auto, Automatic! rocked all night and it was great evening for music and catching up with friends.

04/03/2005 - I feel like I'm missing a hour... and I am, this whole "Spring forward" concept always throws me, I much prefer the "Fall Back" part of the equation. Saturday Night's show at Dave's was really fun. My band kicked off the night and rocked through about nine songs, both new and old. We sold some T-shirts and CDs and everyone had a good time. Next up was Sparky's Nightmare and we were celebrating the release of our new CD, Hangovers and Heartbreaks. As always Dave's is hilarious once the liquor starts flowing. We rocked through the first set and we're joined in the second set by Luscious P. singing Angel of the Morning, Barefoot Jerry singing Dead or Alive by Van Halen, Marcus played some bass, and Travis jumped up for a Dank tune. Sunday was the third annual ACL Rock and Roll Flea Market and all of us headed down for the beer, the bands and the great friends. All the bands sounded great and it was nice to catch up with so many people I hadn't seen in months. I didn't take any pictures this weekend but I'm sure someone did so I'll post a few when they turn up.

04/01/2005 - Come see us rock Dave's this Saturday night!!

03/28/2005 - First off, I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. I had a great one, Nat was down from Indy and Chris and Tina were down from Atlanta. I enjoyed a week off and we had a fun show at The Globe on Saturday night featuring the very talented Brian Merrill from The Threads and Martin Rice from our beloved Sparky's Nightmare, who by the way, played a fantastic version of Alice Copper's "18". Chris played electric guitar with me that night and he sounded great! Practice, who needs to practice. I hope we have a chance to do that again real soon. Chris and I played a few, and I played a few by myself. There were three-nipple dogs jokes (you had to be there), forgotten words and lots of chatting. After the show quite a few of us headed over to The Emerald and enjoyed The Bad Touch and Jeff Wood's new band. Drinks were drunk and so were we.

03/21/2005 - SXSW 2005 - I'm back and I'm tired, here's the rundown of how the week went!

Monday - A year ago tonight I was in New Orleans. It was a windy and chilly night, Bourbon Street was relatively quiet and I had almost completely lost my voice. I had to sing in Austin on Wednesday at Club Deville and an early night was unfortunately the best idea. This year the Big Easy sung with a different energy. The weather was in the high 60s, the wind was on vacation and speaking of vacations, the Spring Break crowds were out in full force on this crisp Monday evening. A relatively early night was still on the menu but a few drinks were enjoyed along with a wonderful meal and a full walking tour of the district was thoroughly enjoyed. Boobies were flashed, people threw up, horse-draw carriages navigated the narrow crowd-filled street through the tits and frat boy puking as if it was the most romantic ride in the world. Oh, and despite my best judgment and most misguided efforts, I only lost $4.95 at Harrah's on the slots.

Tuesday was spent in the car mostly. I got off to a late start thanks to the big-ass beer that I bought last night. The drive to Austin was an exercise in hazardous driving conditions; Houston was gridlock and it rained heavily the entire time, only briefly letting up just as I rolled into town. I did a quick run by the Yard Dog to check out the venue and drove around downtown to stir up all the wonderful memories of last year before checking in at the hotel.

Wednesday - Everyone met up at The Magnolia Cafe for breakfast and then it was off to the Florida Bandango @ Yard Dog. It was freezing cold all day and running around looking at all the art was an excellent way to keep warm. The show started with with a great set by Freight Train Annie. Next up was Four Star Riot who put in a blistering set. Squirrels Gone Wild fought through some bad technical problems in their set. The Beauvilles turned in a great set with some excellent guitar tones. I entertained between sets with a few acoustic tunes and had a great time. Sparky's Nightmare closed out the set with a rocking set, broken strings, fake cell phone calls and lots of jokes. After the show we grabbed some dinner at a great Mexican place where we were serenaded with La Bamba from a strolling guitar player. After dinner Sam and I headed to La Zona Rosa to see Elvis Costello and Glen Phillips but the $50 ticket for Sam had us scurrying down to Bigsby's to see Sam Champion, the Giraffes, and Abra Moore. Next, I headed to Stubb's where I stood in a long line with real nice guy from Bunim/Murray Productions and thanks to him I got in the backstage VIP area to see Billy Idol rock the crowd! Next up was a quick walk to Emo's where Sleater-Kinney tore through a ferocious set.

Thursday - Happy St. Partick's Day! This festival is just getting started and I'm exhausted already. Here's the readers digest version. Got up early and hit the trade show. Talked to folks from Ireland and the UK, publishers, indie labels and nice folks from all over. I talked guitars with Jimmy Atchey from First Act custom guitars. I saw Lou Barlow play a few tunes at the acoustic cafe. I bumped into Mike Peters from the Alarm and I got to see Robert Plant. The experts loved my tune Alright in the demo critique panel and will defiantly be in touch, so exciting. One of the guys said later, "I'm still singing "Alright!" Very cool indeed. I caught up with Martin, Hugh, JoEllen, Flee and the gang to see Magnapop at Emo's Annex. They sounded great. Next it was over to see Biirdie play, they put on a cool set and Devin from Bloom was there too. Had an amazing steak dinner with Martin and Hugh. That night I caught some of the bands at the Irish Showcase including Mono Band and Bell X1. I stood in line for an hour with some folks from Chicago to see Hot Hot Heat but eventually bailed to go see Clem Snide instead. They had some great tunes and lovely embroidered white tuxedos. Mary Lou Lord played on the street among the drunken St. Patrick's Day revelers. There were drunk people in green everywhere. Pizza from Rappollo's was enjoyed at 2am. Bands I missed today: Hot Hot Heat, Kathleen Edwards, Death from Above 1979.

Friday - Again, recap style... Got lunch with Hugh. Hit the Polyvinyl Records showcase where I saw Picastro and Ida. The SPIN 20th anniversary party at Stubb's BBQ was fun. Hugh and I saw The Hold Steady, Louis XIV, The Futureheads, Bloc Party, and The New York Dolls! Also in attendance were Gibby Haynes from The Butthole Surfers and Leah and Sabrina from Birds of London. Briefly talked to Steve Malkmus in line before he played at the Matador Records showcase where Dead Meadow, Laura Cantrell and Stephen Malkmus debuted some new material. Saw James Salter and Derek Murphy who played with Teitur at The Drink when The Blue Van was rocking. Also I caught a few seconds of Of Montreal down the street. Bands I missed today: Shonen Knife, Ash, The Ravonettes, Centro-matic, Rainer Maria, Pedro the Lion, Steve Wynn and the Miracle Three and James Iha.

Saturday - I feel dirty on the inside, the free beer and BBQ is starting to extract a physical toll. Hugh and I talked about playing chess by mail. I headed down to the seminars on Publishing and songwriting. I hit the day parties one last time for some MORE free BBQ. At the ASCAP party I enjoyed Matt Costa and Kate Earl. Quite by accident I stumbled upon Flatstock 6, a concert poster exposition. I bumped into Greg Reinel (Stainboy) there and enjoyed all the artists, I wish I had bought a bunch of posters, next year for sure. Bands I caught at the Day shows included A Fir-Ju Well, The Good Looks, The Witnesses and Supersystem. It rained like hell for 30 minutes and the cooler weather returned. That night at Stubb's I hung out with James, we caught the John Butler Trio from Australia, and Aimee Mann. Aimee had a security guy who's sole job was to tell people not to use the flash on their camera. Good stuff. As the night wound down I caught 33hz and had a final slice of pie at Rappollo's. Bands I missed today: Son Volt, Nada Surf, Brazilian Girls, Nashville Pussy, American Analog Set and Ben Lee. Best band name at the 2005 festival goes to Holy Fuck! My god I'm tired. What a great trip it was. Thanks to everyone involved, I can't wait until next year!!

03/11/2005 - Ah yes, my last day in Indianapolis or "Nap Town" as some people call it. It's Friday morning (Half Awake), the snow was coming down pretty hard for a while outside but now it's just a dusty mist. Last night's show at the Rock Lobster down in Broad Ripple was a great time. About 30 people from work and some of Nat's friends and family made it out to sing along, meet new friends, and wish me bon voyage. I really appreciate everyone coming out on a cold and snowy night. After the show Nat and I stopped in at the Alley Cat across the street for one last drink before heading home. Not too much more to say today so I'll save my strength for SXSW next week. I'll post some photos from last night's show soon.

03/10/2005 - Hey everyone, this is John's brother Josh filling in. John is out of town and he won't mind me posting a brief journal entry. The new issue of TBT is out and there is a story about Sparky's Nightmare in there. Funny enough, the same weekend that they did the interview John was out of town so I went down to fill in and answer some questions. I learned things about the band that I never knew, I never knew that Sam liked Jade's Music. Good stuff. Here's the article ~ Josh

03/06/2005 - The weekend dissolves and the new week begins. I spent the better part of the day today being a tourist in my own town and had a great time. I biked around town for about three hours, got a little sun burnt, took some pictures and just enjoyed the wonderful weather. Last night's show at Dave's was fun. Experimental Pilot opened the show and sounded great; the Vessenmeyer brothers played some tunes and the harmonies were flawless. Sparky rocked a few sets, loose and fun as ever, with lots of random requests and plenty of heckling. This week will by my last official week in Indianapolis, hopefully I'll get extended for a little longer, right now Thursday's show at the Rock Lobster will be the last show I've got booked up in Indy.

03/03/2005 - Forgive me, with everything that's been happening with me I've completely neglected to mention that the Sparky's Nightmare CD entitled Heartbreaks & Hangovers is done!!! We'll be getting it back next week and we'll have them with us in Austin at the SXSW SMLG Showcase so all the big industry types can start the bidding war. I'm holding out for a cool million bucks, non-recoupable of course. Click on over to the Discography page to see the cover and the track listing. You can also check out the MySpace Site to hear a few of the tunes. Enjoy!

03/01/2005 - It's hard to believe it's March already and even harder to believe it's almost time for SXSW again. A year goes so quickly sometimes. Last night's show at Birdy's was fun. A bunch of people from work made it out as did some of Nat's family. There were supposed to be three performers but one guy "just got out of the pokey and nobody's heard from him" and the other guy was going to "try and make it out." So it ended up being just me for the entire night. It was a snowy night but the mood was warm and toasty inside as people sang along, shouted requests, the one for Superchunk from Noah got filled with Iron On. Take it Off was played, and once again I threatened to drag people on stage to play No On Would Miss Us. One of these days someone up in Indy is going to go for it. After I played the night wound down pretty fast as everyone slushed out to the cars before the roads became pulled up sheets of white with white lines hidden underneath them.

02/27/2005 - This weekend... where to start, it's not even over and I'm completely worn out so I'll just kick it highlight style... A late-night flight from Indianapolis with a James Joyce novel. An early morning, Tangelo's for lunch, a soy misto, looking at houses, taxes, an acoustic show at The Globe with Susie, Mike and Bob and a call to Indy to play a Shins song. Girl's Night at the Emerald featuring a few drinks, great bands, tons of friends, an interview with Aaron from TBT, amp stands, Sparky's Nightmare rocks a set, and I break a glass. Sunday was paradise in sunny Florida with wind, rain, a flat tire, a tornado watch, more taxes, laundry and me finding $20 in my pocket from who knows where

02/20/2005 - Low's new CD "the Great Destroyer" has been the soundtrack for the weekend and I also picked up an new EP from the Florida-via-New York transplants the Caulfield Sisters from Luna Music to push the weekend along. Saturday was absolutely beautiful all day long so Nat and I headed downtown, parked in the circle, and went up into the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial. The elevator was rickety but not nearly as bad as the stairs that led to the top. The $1 view from the top was worth every penny and some photos were taken. The next stop, unintentionally, was the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art on our way to the Canal Walk. We parked right in front and enjoyed a quick jaunt through the multimedia newspaper creations, movies, and alias-musician paintings. From Canal Walk we headed over to IUPUI where she's finishing up her Master's Degree this semester for a quick tour of he campus. The sun sets early in the westernmost state of Eastern Standard Time so we headed off for dinner and called it a night with Napoleon Dynamite. Idiots! I spent most of Sunday running errands and sightseeing at the Indianapolis War Memorial & Museum and I even swung by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and (surprise) a few music stores. The evening wound down and Sunday was topped off with a great dinner with family and friends.

02/18/2005 - Like a slowly spinning coin, the week makes its final few turns before collapsing onto the weekend. I could use a few days off to recharge the batteries and see the sights so I'll be staying put this weekend. The weather up here in Indianapolis has been pretty wonderful. Some days the temperature got up into the 60s, we'd get some snow at night and then another beautiful day would emerge just as quickly to brush away the dusting. This weekend is supposed to be especially nice and I'm going to spend it kicking back with no plans and no agenda. I need to avoid the airport at least one weekend a month, right? There's always too much running around followed by too much sitting around. A new book has been keeping me occupied on those sitting around moments though; I picked up James Joyce's, A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man. I'm headed to Ireland this summer and I need to start soaking in the atmosphere before I go. Next on that agenda is to pick up a good book on Ireland and start making plans. So what else is new… I'm really getting excited about SXSW, I just found out today that I'm getting a pass to the SPIN party! Very exciting. This week's show at Barley Island in Noblesville failed to materialize, I had to work late and we never did get around to making it out there. I've rescheduled for next week and I hope a bunch of friends from up here will join me. Have a great weekend everyone and I'll see you soon.

02/13/2005 - So much to catch up on and so little time, where to begin. The week cartwheeled by so awkwardly and quickly that before I knew it it was Friday and I hadn't even had a chance to write a setlist for the show at Birdy's that night opening up for Jeffrey Gaines. In between changing shirts, packing my suitcase and looking for my phone charger a setlist was scrawled. We headed down to the club and settled in. There was a nice crowd on hand for the show and joining Nat and I that night were some of her friends and a some folks from my work. I played first and had a fun set, I tried to pull people on stage, ad-libbed a few things, took requests and had a great time. Thanks to Tim Wilsbach for loaning me a new 9volt battery for the show. Tim played next and turned in a fun, groovy set. Jeffrey Gaines closed out the evening with a soulful set of originals and covers including his current radio tune, Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes.

Saturday I flew up to Chicago before heading back to the 'Burg for the Skipper's Cash for Ca$h show. I rolled into town at 6PM and by 7PM I was at the venue. It was a fun show, the weather was cool and the beer was even colder. I think I ate seven hot dogs to the disgust of the vegetarians in attendance. Sparky's Nightmare played a rocking set consisting of Tennessee Stud, Lonely Before, and Ring of Fire. It was fun to see April, Travis, and so many people that I haven't seen in a while. I don't think anyone took any photos tonight so you'll just have to use your imagination. OK, I'm flying out of town again this afternoon so I'd better run, er... fly.

02/08/2005 - At one point last night the jokes were so bad I was writing them down as fast as I could so I could post them here on the webpage, but alas, I lost the pink flyer that I was scrawling them on. It was Open Mic night at The Melody Inn last night in glorious Indianapolis. Nat, my tour guide to all things Indy, and I headed down a little early to sign up and grab a pint. We were joined by Alfred, Andrea, Gina and Melissa and we proceeded to take over the bar. I played two sets, they yelled requests, I tricked Alfred into singing "Alright!" really loud. It was a fun time.

02/06/2005 - The week careened into the weekend like a wounded duck on it's final landing. OK, maybe that's a bit dramatic but I've been flat worn out this week and I can't shake this cough. Work was busy but there was time to mix in some fun with Nat out at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub before heading to Florida on Thursday night in the biggest emptiest jet I've ever been on. Everyone had three rows to themselves; no wonder ATA is pulling out of the St. Pete/Clearwater Airport. Friday was a blur, so much stuff to catch up with here in Florida that before I knew it it was midnight and I was off to sleep. Saturday I headed up to the Vintage guitar show in Orlando. I left the credit cards at home and thankfully I didn't see anything that I couldn't live without. The prices of vintage Jazzmasters have really gone through the roof and there were some beautiful custom colors at the show. Next, I headed over to Palm Bay for a stop, only to discover that an uncle of mine had passed away recently and I had no idea. I must get a card out this week. Saturday night was a typical (hilarious) Sparky's Nightmare show at Dave's, that place never disappoints. Kate Bradshaw joined us and played a couple of great acoustic sets. She's got such a wonderful voice. Charlene, Rob and Rebekah crashed the stage for Straight to Hell and everyone had a great time.

01/30/2005 - Stacy asked me if I had walking pneumonia. I'm pretty sure I don't but the way I felt last night maybe I did. I was under the weather and by all accounts should have stayed home. Last night's show at The Globe Coffee Lounge was well attended, well performed, joke filled, and fun. Keeping an eye on us from the broad inner right-hand wall were all the great works of art featured in Hugh and Carrie's closing of their art showing tonight, well, most of their works were there... Several nights earlier (and I'm guessing several double espressos later) a customer went berserk, grabbed two of Hugh's "Beat Poet" paintings off the wall, locked himself in the bathroom and proceeded to beat Jack Kerouac against the porcelain sink. Lance Rowland filled in for the ailing Billy Soma and played a great set of original tunes off of his upcoming CDs. Susie Ulrey and Mike Waksman played next; Susie's voice sounded better than ever and Mike sounded great on guitar and piano. Brian turned in an excellent set and treated us to a great version of Never Tear Us Apart by INXS. He should have made the finals of their auditions! I jumped up next and despite the lack of a voice turned in a proper set. After a brief intermission Sparky's Nightmare kicked into an hours worth of rock and JoEllen only told us to turn it down once. We sounded pretty damn tight for not having played together for over a month and the enthusiasm of playing again really showed. Thanks again to everyone that made it out, we'll do it again soon.

01/28/2005 - The lights of the Greater (is there a lesser?) Midwest at night from the back of a 737, row 27 seat A to be exact, shine like a lite-brite with too many pages of paper on top and not enough holes. They'd rather go to sleep, who wouldn't, and cease their endless enthusiastic enlightening of city roads in Bloomington, front porches in Seymore, empty shopping center parking lots in Bedford and the snow covered soccer fields of the Eva Bandmam Park on the shore of the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky. They should be motion-activated, that way if everyone stood real still we could see the stars so much better at night. So in this limbo at 20,000(?) feet I have two sets of twinkling lights to study, one above and one below. What causes the twinkling is probably a matter of scientific fact but I like to think it's some sort of communication between them, some undiscovered language, perhaps some obscene joke that zips through the air in space-morse code. I'm going to open and close my airplane window real fast and see if I can get their attention.

01/25/2005 - Greetings all! Last night's show at Birdy's was so much fun. A ton of people from work made it out as did some great new friends from the local area. Birdy's was basically one large room, similar to the Rubb/Twilight in Ybor City with the stage situated at one corner, high ceiling, and an upstairs area. It was a cold night and we got there about 8pm, just before the show was getting ready to start. We talked to a few of the people that were also performing that night and settled in. The most interesting performer was Grogh. He had a black death metal outfit on; black hair, chains, boots, and he had his face painted red with upside down black crosses painted on it. Nice. All the people from work enjoyed his performance. The other solo acts were good and I threw out a fun set of mostly-rockers. I started with Maria, my friend Melissa yelled "Take it Off" so I played it. I also heckled a few people answering their phones and my friend Ryan as he played Golden Tee. I finished up with On the Line and the crowd-pleaser-sing-along Alright. The set went well, people danced, CDs were dispersed and as soon as I got off stage I talked to a few of the people who booked some of the rooms locally. I'm in the process of setting up some shows, most notably one on February 11th with Jeffrey Gaines. That one should be fun, I'll have to come home and get some more gear to rock with. I miss my Gibson Hummingbird. After my set a band called Fontaine played. I really enjoyed them. Cool tunes, great musicians, and super nice guys. They sounded like a mix of Luna, Pixies, and the Shins. They asked me to open up for some of their shows so hopefully I'll get to play again sometime soon. Eventually the night was dispersed. Conversations were closed. Tabs were paid. Smiles were exchanged. I walked new friends out as old friends had skittered home a little earlier under the stars and over the slick blacktop. I'm gonna like it here.

01/23/2005 - The weekend is fighting a losing battle with the week as I catch up with everyone here from the comforts of home. It was good to be back for the weekend yet it's good to be packed and ready for the flight tomorrow morning. I had a fun night out with friends at the Emerald to see Rebekah Pulley on Friday night. Sam threw a great party on Saturday night at his place. It was a perfect night for a party too, cool temperatures and great friends were enhanced by the warm fire pit by the water, the refreshing brief rain shower and some damn fine Guinness. Sunday's reluctance to motivate and inspire was enhanced by spending time with friends, some football and great conversations. I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's show at Birdy's in Indy; rumor has it that the last time Prince was in town he played an after-show set there. Maybe the vibe is still hanging in the air and I can soak some of it in. Hey, if you're in Indy come on out! I'll catch up with everyone in the middle of the week and maybe I'll have a few photos from the show.

01/17/2005 - What a great weekend I had! I flew out of Indy on Friday afternoon to see my friend Stacey in the bustling metropolis of Elmira, NY. The flights were quick, the layover in Detroit was brief, and the weather was cold and crisp. I got the guided tour of Elmira, which is where Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Prince and the Pauper in his Summer home. It's also the birthplace of Tommy Hilfiger and it's where he first started his men's fashion business by traveling into New York City to buy jeans to resell in rural Elmira. Interesting. That night we headed out for drinks at an Irish pub called Patrick's and spent time with family and friends. Saturday we headed out to ski at Greak Peak which was just north of Ithica. Cornell University is located in Ithica and the campus strikes and impressive silhouette up on the hill, even from a few miles away on the highway. Skiing was amazing; it was the first time that I'd ever gone and I think I did pretty damn good. I only busted my butt a few times, and thanks to Stacey who gave me some excellent pointers, I had a great time. I can't wait to go skiing again. That night her work threw a party and we had a wonderful dinner at an old converted firehouse called the Number 5 in Binghamton. I met some of her friends from work and we had a great time. I can't wait to go back.

01/12/2005 - Hilarious. Fun. Anarchy. It was like a scene out of a movie at The Melody Inn on Monday night. The Melody Inn is a very cool little indie-rock/punk-rock bar just north of downtown Indy. The decor oozed local-band clubhouse, autographed cymbals mixed with busted autographed Danelectro guitars and Squire basses to create a cool, kitchy, and intimate feel. The entertainment tonight was organized by Otto, a comedian/musician who's sponsored by the Math Channel. I'm not making that up. There were half-baked acoustic jams, great/terrible comedians, guys making out with guys in the men's room, and a sweet bartender that just seemed pleased that we bought a few rounds. Some friends from work joined me and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a night that will be remembered for quite some time by all of us. I got to rock a few tunes and I had a great time, mission accomplished. Staying true to form I heckled the comedians and the locals. You can take me out of the 'Burg, but you can't take the 'Burg out of me. In other news, I finally got a contract on my house tonight, it's sold! I couldn't be happier.

01/10/2005 - Well it was quite the fun weekend. A friend from work and I drove up to Chicago on Saturday morning. When we headed out we discovered that it had snowed about 3 inches overnight but by the morning the snow had stopped and roads were clear. The drive up to Chicago was a quick one, just under three hours all the way to our first stop which was the home and studio of architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the Oak Park suburb just outside of town. The guided tour was incredible and the two of us made up the entire party. It was personal and fun and the house was absolutely amazing.

From there we walked a few blocks in the snow, through the neighborhood, where we stopped by Ernest Hemingway's birthplace home where he lived until he was six. It appeared closed and when we knocked on the door we thought we must have come to the wrong place by the way the woman opened the door, "Yes? May I help you?" Next, we slushed down a few blocks towards the Oak Park shopping district where we stopped in at the Hemingway Museum. I picked up a old, used, 1952 copy of The Sun Also Rises for $5 and we decided that the next stop should be Caribou coffee.

The shopping district in Oak Park is charming, there are a number of mom-and-pop shops of all types and everyone was friendly, warm and helpful. I quickly found the local indie-rock record store called Val's Halla and picked up a copy of Luna's last CD, Rendevouz. Next, we stopped in to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple. This church is still operational and when we inquired inside about a tour we were turned away because there was a service that was about to begin. We shrugged our shoulders, took a few photos, and headed back to the car.

Music stores in big cities can have an amazing amount of mind-boggling guitars and amps and the two shops we visited were just incredible. Midwest Buy and Sell was stuffed to the ceiling with great guitars and vintage amps and Chicago Music Exchange had so many rare guitars I had to quickly leave before my brain overloaded.

We drove by Wrigley Field, grabbed some food, and went downtown to check in into the hotel before heading up to Evanston to hang out on the way to the open mic that I planned on playing in the Park Ridge neighborhood at a bar called The Blarney Stone. Evanston was fun, traffic was bad and The Blarney Stone was a bust, no open mic tonight, just snow, slush, four guys playing darts, and both of my gloves fell into 3 inches of freshly thawed snow.

We closed out the night at Kitty O'Shea's, a Irish Pub I discovered three years ago when I was in Chicago last.

Sunday was an altogether less-ambitious day that would be just as exhausting. We hit the Field Museum, The Art Institute, Millennium Park, lunch at the Hancock Building, and a few stores on Michigan Avenue's miracle mile before calling it a day heading back to Indy.

01/05/2005 - New Year's weekend is still a blur. There were parties, starting on Thursday, going all weekend long. There was the "Yay Meat" party for Fun Bobby, Martin and Natty's annual New Year's Eve Party, Allen's Black Shirt Gang party and finally JoEllen's New Year's Night party. It was quite the blowout weekend before I headed out.

On Monday the flight up to Indy was about as non-eventful as you can get. I was kept company by Tom Robbins' Another Roadside Attraction and Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain kept me in good spirits the entire trip up, even if I did have to listen to it three times. I need more Miles Davis' in my iPod. I brought a guitar with me and despite a tense few moments and it being the last piece of baggage to make it out on the luggage carousel, it made it safe and sound. Once into town I met with friends and went for drinks at an Irish pub. Several Bass later it was last call (at midnight!) and we headed for the hotel.

By now it's Wednesday, and despite the fact that I've only been here three days, I haven't seen the sky since leaving sunny Florida. The Ohio River valley has been blanketed consistently by low gray clouds since before my arrival and there's no end in sight this week. They cover the sky like your favorite comforter on a rainy day, begging you to stay inside underneath its spread to read a book. The sun never stands a chance above them as they cast a dull gray shadow on the blue/gray cars, the leafless sticks impersonating trees and the now line-less slick roads acting as the vital arteries that get me around town. I'm hoping to check out to an open mic this evening but if the weather keeps up I'm going to take the clouds advice and read.

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Written by John McNicholas On

2004

12/31/2004 - As I look back, here at the end of this year, I never would have guessed how overwhelmed I would be by this year's events... My friends and I will be raising a glass at midnight tonight to ring out the old and celebrate the promise of a brand new year. A heartfelt thanks to them, everyone that I played with this year, everyone that let me sleep on their couch, lean on their shoulder, came out to a show, sang along, heckled, or just said hello, it means so much.

Beginning in January it looks like I won't be around town very much anymore, life has bigger plans for me and the prospect of playing shows locally doesn't hold the charm it once did at the moment. I have some dates out there on the calendar and schedule permitting I intend on being in town to rock all of them. I'm sure I'll book a show or two when I know I'll be around so I hope to see your smiling faces soon. It's time for a change though, a big change.

I'm looking forward to everything 2005 has to offer and I have a feeling it's going to be the best year yet. I'll have a new EP out soon that I recorded up in Atlanta and I hope to get another new record started soon. I'll be out in Austin for SXSW in the spring (I can't wait!), and I'm heading to Ireland for a vacation and some solo shows in July. As for the rest of the year, it's anyone guess as to where I'll be. I'll keep you up to date on the website, so check in from time to time.

Happy New Year everyone, thanks for all the good times.
~ John

12/26/2004 - A fun time was had last night at the New World Brewery. All the bands sounded great and it was wonderful to bump into old friends like Gerald Hammill, who was down from New York, and to make some new friends too. James sounded great playing bass with Hankshaw, Susie was wonderful as usual and the open fires in the courtyard went a long way in helping my Guinness keep me warm and cozy despite the chilly temperatures. I hope everyone had a great Christmas with family and friends.

12/25/2004 - Thursday night's show at the Uptown Lounge was very fun. The place was really packed, the beer was cold and the bands were loud, really loud in fact. Oh well, good times. I'm going to keep it short today. I'm out to the New World Brewery tonight to see Susie Ulrey, Hankshaw with James Salter on bass, and some other bands. It should be a fun night, maybe I'll see you there. Merry Christmas everyone.

12/22/2004 - Last night the men in Dank convened to rehearse for the final show of 2004. We met up at Circle Studios, played for two hours and celebrated the fact that it sounded just as good as it did 9 months ago when we last dragged out the amps and guitars. If you get a chance, come on out to the show on Thursday night at the Uptown Lounge. We play last but I don't think it's a school night for most of you. Check back on Friday for the recap and some photos.

12/19/2004 - Whew, what a hectic few days. On Thursday night Hugh, Natty and I headed over to Brian's to work on the Sparky's Nightmare recording. We wrapped up two tunes, One The Moon and I've Changed. They sound great and the CD should be done any day!

Friday night was a surprise birthday party that Gina threw for her Dad, a Sparky's Nightmare fan and all around great guy; it was an absolute blast. Sparky's played a few sets, the Johnny Mac Band got up and rocked a few tunes like Maria and No One Would Miss Us with Rebekah Pulley on second guitar, I played a newer solo tune, On the Line and Natty joined me for a fun version of 22. We backed up Rebekah Pulley on The Lesser of Two Evils. Carrie and Gina stormed the stage with Bob Anthony on bass, and kicked out a rocking version of These Boots are Made for Walking. Rebekah played a few more beautiful tunes by herself, and Bob Anthony played a couple of cool tunes too. The night wrapped up with Sparky's Nightmare and everyone up on stage (ok, in front of the sofa) singing Straight To Hell. Good times.

Saturday night's show at The Globe Coffee Lounge was our most successful one yet. The place was full of people and Brian, Martin and I had loose and fun sets. Brian's set was excellent, I love to hear those tunes acoustically especially the new version of Elli's Suitcase. Martin showed us up by playing all new tunes and Natty joined him to sing Love Hurts, Martin's Christmas tune and Revolver. Me, in the spirit of competitiveness finished one new tune called All Hail this Town especially for the show. I pretty proud of it, it has the word fuck in it. I was so glad Mom came out for the debut of that one. (insert embarrassed expression) After the show, we headed over to Hugh's house briefly to recharge before going over to Travis and Charlene's annual Christmas party. We chatted it up, drank dirty martinis by the fireplace outside (my god Carrie those were strong), and eventually called it a night. I hope you had a great weekend, what did you do?

12/16/2004 - Hey everyone, it's Thursday night, I'm just in from work and I'm getting ready to head out the door to go hear how the final mixes are going for the first Sparky's Nightmare CD. This weekend should be lots of fun and I hope to have lots of photos from both Friday and Saturday's events posted on the site by the time the new week gets going. This Saturday's show will be my last solo show until, well, I'm not sure, for a while anyway. Hope you can make it out.

12/11/2004 - So it goes, another show, another few tunes tossed out into the ether to dissipate over the sound of steamed milk, stirred sugar and orders placed. The show at Sacred Grounds Coffee to raise money for the PA was a good time. I got there a little late and left a little early, so my apologies to all that I missed on either side of my time there. Susie joined me for a sweet version of Juliana Hatfield's Might Be In Love and I stumbled and strolled through On the Line and Oh Angelina. I also returned the favor and jumped up to sing backups on Susie's tune, Number two. "It's easy to hang on, but it's harder to be strong." So true. Thanks to Jeremy Gloff for putting on such a fun show and to all the great performers that I saw like Nessie for playing, I hope they get a shiny new PA.

12/09/2004 - A quick hello and then I'm out the door to the first mix-down session for the upcoming Sparky's Nightmare CD over at Studio B! I'll fill everyone in on how it went tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, I hope you get a chance to stop by the big benefit show at Sacred Grounds tomorrow night. It should be a blast!

12/03/2004 - What's up everyone? I am so ready for the weekend. It was a long week and I could use a few days off to recover. Nothing much happening this weekend and that's fine with me. I'm hoping to finalize the artwork for my new EP and maybe do a little writing over the weekend. Last night's art exhibition at The Globe Coffee Lounge was something special and I hope you had a chance to make it out and see all the great work. Hugh and Carrie did a great job and everyone had a blast. Thanks again to JoEllen for providing the time and place for everyone to celebrate their art. If you didn't make it by, the pieces will be on display for a few more months and, yes, they are for sale, so go pick up a Christmas present for someone that's been nice to you all year. OK, I'm out of here I'll catch up next week, oh, and, Happy December!

11/29/2004 - Evening all, I'm sitting here in the final hour of Monday, just in from finishing up recording all my parts for the new Sparky's Nightmare CD over at Studio B. Once again, Brian got some outstanding guitar tones and recording vocals through his setup is just effortless. I also got an opportunity to record some acoustic guitar on a great new tune of Brian's called My Next Life. It's a great song and I was honored to rock the acoustic for the recording.

11/28/2004 - It's always a great time when everyone from Atlanta comes into town and this weekend was no exception. Chris, Tina, James and Ali all headed down this week for the holidays. We all got together at different times and hung out, had beers, laughed, geeked out on guitars and computers and laughed even more. Saturday afternoon we got together for a practice at my house and ran through some new and old tunes for the Emerald show on Saturday night. That same night we all went out to dinner and then headed over to the Emerald for the benefit show. 1987MF was playing when we got there and the club was already smoky in the same way an oven is hot when it's turned on all the way for a day and a half. Edo was up next and then Hugh T Williams rocked the house with full on distortion. Bad ass. Next up was Scott's alter ego, Nessie. He played some great tunes and then we got set up to play. Once we kicked into our first number the PA was starting to collapse and by the second tune it had kicked up it's legs and died. So I jumped out in the audience to finish off Allison, yelling at the top of my lungs. We took a break to try and fix the PA but it was clearly beyond help. Hey, this is a benefit for a new PA anyway right? Luckily, James and the guys from The Mercy Seat had a PA in the car which was quickly set up and we were able to finish out our set. Good times. We played most of the rockers tonight and a few old tunes that we learned just for the night, like Holly's Tooth and the Great Mistake. We hadn't played those two live in the band so it was fun to trot them out for people to enjoy. The Mercy Seat was up next and they sounded great as usual, great tunes, and a great vibe. As the night wore down I caught up with old friends and chatted up a few new ones before heading out onto the painted lines and reflective buoys that guide the car home every night after a gig. Oh, and if I remember correctly, I was late-night dialing too. Nice.

11/25/2004 - Hey everyone, Happy Thanksgiving! Last night's show at the Bank was a great time. I know I say that all the time but I mean it, it was great to see everyone on this special holiday weekend and to see so many great bands all at one venue. The venue itself is cool. It's an old, yeah you guessed it, bank. There's even the old vault that you can walk into. There's plenty of rooms, different bars, and it looks like there must be a pretty rocking sound system in there on a regular night. When I got there it was raining so I just ducked the drops and ran in without the guitars to see what was going on. Squirrels Gone Wild was playing when I first got in. I checked out a tune and then headed back to the merch room to check in some CDs, sign in, and see where the acoustic stage was. The merch room had some cool hats painted by local artists like Sparky's Nightmare's own Natty Moss-Bond and Hugh T Williams. Out to the acoustic stage, Brian Merrill was keeping things running and sounding amazing. I grabbed a beer and started to check out all the bands. Everyone sounded great and it seemed like it was suddenly time for Sparky's Nightmare to play. I grabbed gear in the still rainy back lot, loaded in, and we got set up to play. We kicked things off with Money Changes Everything, Natty was throwing money into the crowd, I was gloving chords and it was fun. Next up was an original tune that Martin wrote called Meant For This. We closed out the set with a pretty damn rocking version of Police on my Back by the Clash. I loaded out and grabbed my acoustic guitar for my set solo 30 minutes later. I got set up, met some new friends, and got tuned up. The stage was pretty high, I felt freakishly tall. I started with Rescue by Echo & the Bunnymen and by the end of the tune I had had enough of the giant stage so I grabbed the mic and came down on the floor. Much better. The next tune was I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend by the Ramones. The people, they liked it. I finished up with Alright. Natty, Carrie and Martin were all singing along as were quite a few other people that I've never seen before in my life. Cool. After the set I gave away all the CD EPs that I had made up for the night. I hope that you got one, I had fun making them. OK, so the night wound down, numbers were exchanged, backs were slapped, shoes were sloshed in puddles of parking lots and cars were driven home. Thanks to Flee, Beverly and everyone that put the show together last night. It was a great venue and a great vibe all night.

11/23/2004 - Hey everyone, I hope to see you out at the big benefit show at The Bank tomorrow night. It's for a good cause and I'll have some free CDs that I made especially for the occasion. I recorded an acoustic cover of the Ramones' tune, I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend and I've also included four live tunes from my shows up at Eddie's Attic in Atlanta including, High School Drunk, Take it Off, No One Would Miss Us and Alright. I'll probably be carrying them around with me so come find me and get one!

11/21/2004 - Last night's show at The Globe was lots of fun and I want to thank everyone that made it out. Hugh, Anna, and James all had great sets. I got a little help from Natty on 22 and for the first time in ages I spontaneously played Crush and a Superchunk tune called Iron On. I figured they were all in drop-D tuning so I might as well keep it going. After the show we headed down to Mastry's for a cocktail finale before we headed home. Well, I'm pretty damn excited, yesterday I picked up a new Apple iBook and an iPod. Hopefully by this time next week I'll be using the new laptop to do all my website development. We had a good practice today and once Chris rolls in to town we should be all set for the rock show this Saturday at the Emerald.

11/20/2004 - Good times last night at the Emerald where we got to see Brian Merrill's new band Starduster rock the house. Four-Star Riot put on a great show too. Good times. Hope to see some of you fine folks out tonight at the Globe Coffee Lounge.

11/19/2004 - OK, last night's show at the New World Brewery, this much I remember... Colleen did a great job of putting the show together! The night was a beautiful night to be outside. Everyone sounded great. I played a rock set. I stopped several times to cough and talk to people. Natty and Martin tore it up. I saw so many good friends. I made new friends. I tried new beers. Mark Bustin did a great job running sound. It was great to see people I hadn't seen in ages. I keep running into Billy from the Semis at the Castle. I didn't stop at Taco Bell on the way home. That was a good decision.

11/17/2004 – This week has been flying by pretty fast. Yesterday I spoke with Jared from Biirdie and we discussed some possible touring activities in the New Year, could be very cool. I also had Sparky's Nightmare practice last night. We ran through our songs for the Anarchy show at The Bank on November 24th and then called it a night. I'm really looking forward to the show tomorrow night at The New World Brewery; I hope the weather stays as nice as it has been lately. Hope I see you out.

11/14/2004 - Atlanta again!

Wednesday – After a pleasant drive up to Atlanta on Wednesday evening after work, I settled into my room at Georgia Tech. I met with friends in the lobby where we caught up and headed out to get some beers and meet up with even more friends. After a brisk walk down to were we thought the Varsity was we determined that we we're lost and that we could have bought crack from about five dealers, before heading back to the hotel.

Thursday - After a very full day of work I found myself outside in the chilly evening, dogging lazy raindrops, and crossing a street covered with a misty-grey backlit fog over to Barnes and Noble to pick up some OJ, scout around for some souvenirs from the college, and maybe a new book to peruse in the nights ahead. With only my OJ in hand, and after checking out some of the new Mac iBooks at the Technology Center, I decided to call it a very early night. Back at the room I found myself digging through mail I brought with me and I was intrigued by an invitation from Harvard to participate in a health and work study. I'm calling this week to get the details. Lately I've been feeling all academic, and I find myself wondering if I shouldn't dive back in and test the waters of a new degree. I also got inspired to jot down some lyrics to a new tune that I've been working on by listening to the mp3 of it on my laptop through its tinny, somewhat newly distorted speakers. Blasting the Beastie Boys through it has clearly taken its toll.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday - they came and went. I got sick and headed home early. Boo hiss. I did a little scouting around for houses and guitars in Atlanta before I headed back to the 'Burg, but nothing caught my eye like the stretched out Interstate heading south to my house.

11/09/2004 – Last night I headed over to Studio B with Brian Merrill and we finished mixing my cover of I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend by the Ramones. It's going to appear on a CD sampler that's coming out at the “New Wave, the Early Years” show at The Bank in St. Pete the night before Thanksgiving. I'm excited for everyone to hear it; Brian did a spectacular job on the mix.

11/07/2004 - Friday night's show at the Uptown Cafe was a great time. Right after a fantastic family taco dinner courtesy of Carrie, I headed down to the club and got things setup, only to discover that my acoustic guitar pickup was not working. I frantically took the thing apart and got it working. After about 15 Patsy Cline tunes were played on the jukebox I jumped up and ran through the set. I scratched a few tunes and played a few other songs like Maria a bit differently for fun. Thanks to everyone that came out and sang along, that means more to me that I can ever say, such fun. Next up, the Steve Passo Band played a great set and I jumped up for No One Would Miss Us and one of their new tunes, Hush Little Darling. Saturday I had lunch with the Sparky's crew and Joe Popp or as Stace would say, "Jackie Popp!" Saturday night, John F. and I got together to talk about the intricate concepts of drums, guitars, amps, songs, beer, damaged goods and the propensity for people to skip out on their check if you order beer around the far corner at Limey's where nobody can see you. I'm also fairly confident we ended up at the Emerald briefly where were ran into Jon from Welcome, Matt, Paulina, Allen and er... was I even there? Oh yes, I have a flyer in my pocket that Heidi from Peephole records gave me, yes, I was there. Now, where's the car? Sunday I got together with John and Martin and ran through our set for the show coming up at the Emerald on the 27th, everything sounded great.

11/05/2004 - Greetings all, I'm just heading out the door to grab some dinner with the Sparky's crew before I eventually head down to the Uptown Cafe for tonight's show with the Steve Passo Band. Last night I got together with the guys from my old band Welcome. We gathered at the old practice spot and ran through some of the tunes off our CD for fun and a few new tunes that Martin has cooked up recently. It's funny, the last time we played a show was six, gasp, six years ago. We had a good time and I expect we'll get together again sometime soon to rock again. I'm outta here, hope to see you tonight!

11/01/2004 - Monday evening, pretty late. I'm just in from recording an acoustic version of I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend by the Ramones over at Studio B. Brian is doing a great job and you'll be able to pick up a copy of it at The Bank show on November 24th. I ended up singing, playing the acoustic and electric guitar, and all the drums. I'll post a sample of it as soon as we've got a final mix later in the week.

10/31/2004 - What a great weekend! Friday night was full of great friends and multiple Halloween parties on both sides of the bridge. Thanks to everyone that hosted such great events. A quick summary of costumes and events is in order. There were men with coconut bras, a lovely dominatrix whipping the Cuban Sandwich Crisis guys, and Marilyn Monroe. In a scene straight out of Lost in Translation, I was dancing to some spectacular music with Japanese foreign exchange students dressed mostly in cat outfits and chasing around a yellowjacket. There was also a Daisy Duke and of course a Brittany sighting! Tina Taylor was in town on Saturday and a bunch of us met downtown for sushi. We talked about heading over to the State Theater for the Pinback show but we ended up at Limey's instead to enjoy some wonderful weather, a few drinks, some intricately carved pumpkins, and of course we checked out all the costumes. I wonder if we won the raffle? This upcoming week I'm going to finish recording a solo version of the Ramones classic I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend for an upcoming compilation CD. Also, I'm playing another solo show at the Uptown Cafe with the Steve Passo Band on Friday. Come on out!

10/28/2004 - Evening all! I finished up my guitar tracks for the Sparky's Nightmare CD over at Studio B this evening. Brian is doing a great job. I ended up tracking most everything with the 62 Tele and the 95 Stratocaster. The 59 Paul got used on a few parts and the Hummingbird got used all over the place. I can't wait for everyone to hear it.

10/26/2004 - I'm back from Atlanta and I miss it already! Here's how it went down...

Friday - Its 12:34 PM on Saturday afternoon according to my laptop, that's a fun time to type, 1234… I'm sitting in Octane drinking a decaf and nursing the slightest sliver of a waning hangover from the previous night's activities. The drive up to ATL on Friday was less than enjoyable. Despite leaving about 3 hours apart, Natty and I arrived in Atlanta within minutes of each other, thanks in part to I-75 being closed south of town because of an "All Lanes Blocked" accident that we were alerted to by a flashing overhead billboard on I-475 outside of Macon. Elizabeth from the cool Atlanta band the Swear stopped by on her way to the Morrissey concert with James. It was great to say hello and it was great to see that she was up and about after being in a nasty car wreck. Natty, her friend Walter, Tina, and I headed over to the Thinking Man Tavern for dinner and a few drinks. Once another one of Natty's friends Jim arrived those few drinks turned into a few more and suddenly people were stealing cutout cardboard Halloween cats and enjoying watching someone attempt 6 cartwheels "with my cell phone in one hand" in the parking lot. In case you're curious, only 1 cartwheel was completed out of the 6, that is if going face first into the pavement on the first one counts as 1. Out if pure style and entertainment value I counted it. After dinner we walked back to the house and soon the acoustic guitars were out, Natty and I sang Friday Morning Half Awake, I played On the Line, Jim and Natty played Little Black Egg, and more drinks were poured. Incidentally Jim and Walter were in the excellent dB Records' band the Chant in the 80s. Tina also started writing her first song and it's coming out nicely! Somewhere between 2am and 4am James and Chris rolled in and I think it was at this point that I passed out yelling "everybody out of my room!", which was in fact the living room. OK, it's 1:07 and I'm headed to Athens.

Saturday - Today seemed to fly by very fast. After the previously-mentioned coffee at Octane I looked at a few houses in the berkeley park and midtown neighborhoods and eventually I headed to Athens. It was at this point that I realized that my brakes were making awful scraping noises. That's not good, right?. I checked out the guitars at Music Exchange and stuck my head in the 40 Watt Club and the CD store in the front. It was a beautiful crisp Fall day and the streets were full of students passing out political leaflets, families with kids underneath turning maple trees, and locals out for a bite to eat. I walked down the main shopping district on Washington where there were frat-boy bars, antique shops, and a few cool record stores like Schoolkids Records, where I could have spent all day flipping thorough the racks of CDs and vinyl. After a few hours I headed back to the house, squeaky brakes and all. Natty headed out to see REM while the rest of us hung out, ate a great dinner, and a watched a movie. Eventually we moved out to the porch, had a few beers and called it a night just after heading down to the basement where we picked the acoustic tracks for the upcoming CD. (I'm not telling ya yet!)

Sunday - After a late start a group of us headed out for brunch at the Earl which was delicious, and there was an acoustic duo playing some cover tunes in the corner of the front room. We dropped off James at the Hiss house and headed home for some football and pumpkin carving. Football was watched, pumpkins were carved, and pizzas from Felinni's were eaten.

Monday - I was up early and out the door to meet Chris for lunch at the Lennox Mall, a little shopping was done and then I headed over to Guitar Center and Midtown Music. I always forget that Midtown Music is closed on Monday. I backed out of the parking lot dejected. I cruised some neighborhoods for houses again, picked up a few flyers from the info boxes stuck into the yards out front, peered into some windows, took a few pictures, and eventually headed over to Octane for one last coffee before heading back. That night the show at Eddie's Attic was a blast, Chris joined me on stage, everyone came out, and we had a great time. Back to the house we cooked up some pasta, fixed Tina's sabotaged pumpkin and passed out. Thanks everyone, I had a great weekend!

10/22/2004 - As Snow Patrol plays in the living room, the week is winding down like the last few awkward turns of a wooden top on the brick steps of my childhood. The slow orbital decay and the comforts of home are bringing the weekend to me one day early this week and I'm taking the liberty of skipping town and heading up to my second home, Atlanta. In a matter of hours I'll be drinking Octane coffee, catching up with great friends, playing guitar at Eddie's Attic with Chris and breathing in the acrid and sweet fumes from an altogether more active atmosphere. Mama Fu's for lunch or is it Felinni's again? Only one more coffee at Octane and I get a free one. There is something about a repeat customer card from a place 500 miles from my home that brings a smile to my face. Natty will be up in Atlanta this weekend too, she'll be hanging out with her best friends Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Peter Buck, yeah, that's right she's REM best friend, jealous much? Tonight was spent enjoying the Cuban Sandwich Crisis with my friends Jon and Martin from Welcome and I finally got to meet some new MySpace friends. If I wasn't headed out so early in the morning I could have hung out all night and enjoyed the company. Alright I'm off to pack and sleep, I hope nobody hassles my friends that are house-sitting my place while I'm away, they get grumpy! I'll fill everyone in when I get home.

10/17/2004 - For some reason I always expect us to play one show at Dave's where the show is totally lame. Sometimes it starts out that way, and it's as if we have predicted the future by talking ourselves into the inevitable. But then, like death, taxes, and Old Faithful plus or minus 10 minutes, all hell breaks loose. Honestly you can never predict where it's going to come from either. It's like unknowingly running a red light, missing all the cars, and having a plane crash into you instead. However, anytime the following four events occur at the same point in time it seems like an act so unlikely that it doesn't so much beg the question "Does God exist?", but more, "What's his address and does he drive an SUV or a hybrid?" First off, there was a lovely couple celebrating their wedding anniversary at Dave's. That's right, I'll wait while you reread that last bit. Secondly, there was a lovely lady, her lovely daughter and her son-in-law celebrating her birthday that night at Dave's. Now that there's some pretty flowers in vases on the table it's not that much of a stretch I admit, but again, keep in mind it's the cumulative effect we're going for here. Number three, mix in a big group of fun-loving college kids out for a cheap good time at a dive bar to act all crazy and drunk. No need to go back over that one, it just make sense. OK, number four, and the most significant one. Somebody was wearing a Viking helmet. The fact that it was the cook and considering he wears it every time I've see him doesn't diminish from it's impact one ounce. It was the catalyst, the spark, the guy yelling FIRE in a crowded mov... well you get the idea. Anytime somebody's got animal horns in a Nordic helmet coming out of their head it's a license to go nuts apparently. There were birthday spankings, there was guy-on-girl lap dances, there was dirty dancing, there were more birthday spankings, there was the big group sing-a-long with Mikey on bass, the crowd rushing the stage, there were four girls groping me at one point. Ah, I can never do the events justice with words, but luckily there was a camera to document some of the finer moments. I've put one page up and I know Carrie has some good photos from her camera too so I'll post those when I get them, for now, I need coffee. Photos

10/15/2004 - Friday Evening, half awake, and I am completely exhausted from last night's Gloff-Fest at the New World Brewery. As usual, I had a great time playing some songs, catching up with old friends, and throwing back a few beers. Everyone that works at the New World always goes out of their way to be as nice as possible and it's greatly appreciated. Mark Bustin ran sound last night and did a great job. For the show's lineup, names were being drawn out of a hat and I got picked first! Up I went, 4 songs got played, Fallout, On the Line, Take it Off (Dedicated to Jeremy Gloff) and Oh Angelina, (dedicated to Jen Shamro). After I played there were cute go-go dancers, adult poetry by Susy Martin, stellar sets by Jade McNelis on the Rhodes piano, Anna O., Rebekah Pulley and well, everyone sounded great. Kamran from the Urbane Cowboys played a brief but rocking set that concluded with Hung up on You by Fountains of Wayne and I couldn't help myself, I had to get up and sing the harmonies on the last chorus. Nobody rushes the mic for backups any more, what the hell! I miss those days. Later on Will Quinlin and I discussed guitars with Johnny from The Mercy Seat and I hung out with my friend Kristen who stopped in on her way to the Castle. I chatted up the go-go dancer who, despite everybody cheering for some dude, clearly won the booty-shaking contest, seriously there was a booty-shaking contest. Also, I talked to some friends that I met through my MySpace site that made it out to see the show too. It was a very cool night indeed.

10/12/2004 - I just love having my picture taken, is that so wrong? It's narcissistic maybe, but not wrong. Carrie came over on Sunday and rattled off 100 or so great photos that I plan to use for the artwork on my new CD and promotional material. She's got a great eye for composition; check out the results on the Photo page! Yesterday the Sparky's Nightmare crew met up over at Brian Merrill's Studio B to record drums for the new CD. We laid down On the Moon, Meant for This, I've Changed, Lonely Before, Until You Try and a new song of Sam's called… um… actually the name of the song has slipped my mind. I'll figure it out and get back to you. Hope to see you out at one of the shows this week!

10/10/2004 - I have never seen so many people packed into Limey's last night. The club was crammed with fans and friends for the CD release party for the Cuban Sandwich Crisis. I played a well-received 45-minute opening set that drew heavily from the more up-tempo catalog pieces. In fact I changed the set list completely once I got started and everything got played with a little more spirit and verve just to keep up with the noise level in the room. The Crisis hit the stage next and sounded great, everyone was dancing, CDs were sold and the place was in full party mode. Good times. Carrie is coming over today and we're taking some photos for my upcoming EP. Now that I've reassembled my lightning-damaged studio PC I've begun pouring through some live acoustic performances to include as bonus tracks for the new release. This Monday afternoon Sparky's Nightmare is going to convene over at Super B's to lay down some drum and bass for our first CD. It should be a hectic week and I can't wait.

10/09/2004 - A splendid time was had out and about with friends last night, the jazz at the Garden was inspiring and the weather was perfect for the windows to be swung open, drinks to be savored, and dogs to be chased. Tonight is my first performance at Limey's Pub. I'm looking forward to seeing Cuban Sandwich Crisis at this, their CD release party, and enjoying the still-wonderful early-October air with a pint in hand. I play early at 9:45pm, so there will be plenty of time to cause trouble if you get there early and enjoy the entire show. Also, I talked to Chris yesterday and he'll be joining us for the show on November 27th at the Emerald! Excellent! Plans are also underway for John, Martin and I to record a few of the new tunes, like Oh, Angelina and 22 for a new CD. Which reminds me, we've still got to finish up Take it Off, High School Drunk and Allison that we started recording in Atlanta a few months ago!

10/07/2004 - "And I feel like some bird of paradise. My bad fortune slipping away." - PJ Harvey

10/06/2004 - Wednesday night got here pretty fast this week. Last night, Sparky's Nightmare did pre-production for our upcoming CD that we are going to start recording with Brian Merrill in the next few days. The songs have been picked, the artwork is being painted and in no time the guitars and drums will be tuned in anticipation of the little red light coming on on the computer. I can't wait to finally have something out on CD, it's been a privilege to play with such great people and talented songwriters. So, what else is new... I've been confirmed on the Eddie's Attic showcase show on Monday. October 25th in Atlanta. Chris will be joining me that night on stage so the competition doesn't stand a chance. 'wink' I'm also trying to work on another few dates up there that weekend at Smith's Olde Bar and another venue. I might as well get use to the place, meet and greet, shake some hands, kiss some babes. Finally, tomorrow there will be an article in the St. Petersburg Times written by Gina Vivinetto that discusses popular music and voter impact with the upcoming concerts that REM and Bruce Springsteen are playing to raise money for the Democratic party, I've got a few quotes in the article, check out the paper tomorrow or click the link to check it out from the comfort of your chair. - Original Story

10/03/2004 - Sunday morning, surprisingly awake, especially after the fun time that was had last night. The show at The Globe Coffee Lounge was a blast. We had a big crowd of friends and pretty new faces and now that The Globe sells beer and wine there was a few moments of additional chaos thrown in the mix as well. Susie was unable to attend the festivities so Brian kicked things off with a great, confident, and relaxed mix of old (Factory Black!) and new tunes that everyone loved. Lance arrived with his entourage of women and played some great tunes from his first CD as well as some new songs from his upcoming CD like Perfect Disorder and 70's Radio. I jumped up next and thankfully I had just bought a new guitar that day (yes!) because the battery in my main acoustic, the Larrivée, was departed. I played a few new tunes including On the Line, that I had just finished earlier that day, and the once-performed Oh, Angelina. Jini, Duane Stafford and Andy Stafford from Sentdown shouted out requests like X-Girl Friend. Sam interjected with "Do you have an acoustic version of We're the Same? I like that one." I played them. A guy dressed up as a woman came in so of course I got him on stage and yelled, regrettably, into the microphone for all to hear, "Show us your titties!" He obliged by showing everyone his electrical tape "x"-covered nipples and then kicked my beer over onto my cables, set list and pedals. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that that was probably the first legally-sold beer kicked over by a man in drag at the Globe. One for the record books folks; I hope you would come to expect nothing less. Cell-phones rang occasionally to which I would stop and yell "hello" when they went to answer. Hugh and Carrie laughed at me the entire time; I'd like to think they were actually laughing with me but at the time it was anyone's guess. Also, I'm pretty sure Luscious P. hugged me at least three times. OK, I think that about sums it up, I'm sure I missed a few minor details like Lance's girlfriend Shelly accidentally pulling a button off the red plush sofa and then trying to press it back in place, but those things will come to me eventually. After the Globe a few of us headed down to the Garden for a couple of drinks and called it a night before the sun came up.

09/30/2004 - Read a great story on Sparky's Nightmare drummer Hugh T. Williams >here< in the St. Petersburg Times. Speaking of the Times, Gina Vivinetto interviewed me for a story about the MoveOn.org concerts that are being held all over the country featuring REM and Bruce Springsteen and my view point on artists endorsements of candidates. I'll post a link to the story when it appears.

09/29/2004 - Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm going to SXSW 2005. The pass has been bought and the demo song has been submitted. If I don't get chosen to play I'll have a great time anyway watching all the bands, playing on the street corners, eating great food, and soaking in the vibe that is Austin, Texas in the Spring. The SXSW 2004 trip was a great experience and I'm sure this one will be just as fun. I can't wait to see who's playing! In other news, I've got a show this Saturday at The Globe that I'm really looking forward to. I'm going to try and play a few new original tunes and maybe even a fun cover song. At Sparky's Nightmare practice last night plans were made to record a five or six song EP in time for the holiday buying frenzy. We're taking your advance orders and your money now. If you'd like to suggest a tune that you'd want to hear recorded drop me an e-mail and I'll pass it on for consideration.

09/27/2004 - Monday night, falling asleep, and I'm just happy to have the power on this evening. Saturday evening we celebrated Natty's birthday at O'Mattie's on Gulfport Beach with lots of free drinks and Karaoke. As soon as I walked into the bar Martin informed me that the guy at the end of the bar had just won a bunch of money somehow and had opened a tab for the entire bar. Nice. Several long island ice teas later I'm singing Tempted by Squeeze and pretending to buy drinks for people that are just getting to the bar and have yet to figure out that everything is free. When the tab was finally closed we headed next door to a club that used to be called the Swamp Club. It was a really popular hangout in the late 80s where I must have played 100 shows. On Sunday hurricane Jeanne woke me up early in the morning, knocked on my door, my window, and eventually called my phone to make sure that I was awake to realize that the power was out. It was out and it stayed out all day like a dog that doesn't come home no matter how much you look for it or how much food you put outside the door to lure it back. It comes back when it damn well wants to. Today one of the guys at work likened this weekend to the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray; another repetitive lost weekend spent watching (listening to) the weather, reading a book and strumming a little guitar. I'm hoping that was the last storm that we have to worry about this year; I think everyone is just exhausted.

09/25/2004 - As the weekend sputters to a start, Jeanne is somersaulting towards us like an angry drunk suddenly forced to walk the line at a 2am inquiry. Plans for a road trip up north this weekend were scrapped in the anticipation of a fun Saturday night Karaoke rendezvous with the Sparky's Nightmare gang and the preparation for an open house on Sunday, which I'm sure at this point, will fail to be successful with the hurricane heading this way. Friday was an exercise in spontaneity. There was the 4:30 AM songwriting session, a nice lunch with a new friend, a quick trip to MacDinton's to catch the first set by the Paper Stanleys, who were great, and finally a midnight visit with some friends who got a hotel room out on Madeira Beach for the night. Sleep is overrated my friends and I'm having none of it.

09/23/2004 - Thursday evening and I'm feeling a little under the weather. Not too much happening this weekend except for the possible arrival of Hurricane Jeanne. Enough with the hurricanes already! Good thing I have a few books ready to read and songs to be written.

09/16/2004 - As the week winds down I find myself firmly established in a new book, writing lyrics, and nursing a three-day old pounding headache caused in some small part by my general malaise but mostly from my self-inflicted withdraw from caffeine. Going cold turkey was not necessarily the right decision on this one my friends, even my eyes hurt. Still, overall I'm feeling better, I'm writing songs (about headaches), I got a big raise and promotion at work, and I think I may dream this week's lottery numbers. Ah... not to worry, I'll split it with everyone. Tomorrow evening my best friend Brian is going to be getting married and it should be a great time... I should go to sleep now, I must rest up!

09/11/2004 - Greetings all, I'm just in from breakfast at Dave's with Hugh and Carrie. That place is always so good the morning after a gig. Those pancakes just seem to soak everything up like new sponges dropped into the sink for the first time. The pictures from last night's show at the Uptown Cafe are so funny, incriminating, and embarrassing that there are but a scant few that I can, in good conscious, and for legal reasons, post on the website. As always, I had a really great time hanging out with great friends, the best time I've had in a while actually. I started a bit late and had a nice crowd for my set. The Sparky's crew and everyone else came down after the Reverend Horton Heat show at Jannus Landing to shout requests, heckle, hang out, and have some beers. Thanks to everyone that bought a CD last night, there was quite a run at the merch table. Everyone must have thought I was selling plywood; I hope nobody is too disappointed. After my set the Steve Passo Band got up and played their first original set and sounded great. I joined them for a version of No One Would Miss Us that they had put together, nice work guys! Hunter crashed the stage and sang the choruses with me and I think I even yelled "take a solo!" to no one in particular. I busted a string and forgot words, so basically is was business as usual. Thanks to everyone that made it out, I'll see you all in a few weeks at The Globe Coffee Lounge.

09/09/2004 - So it appears that Hurricane Ivan is going to take a shot at us as the new week begins. Thank goodness there is still time for merriment, drink and song before Le terrible strolls through with an abundance of breath and spit. Tomorrow night, Friday, depending on when you are reading this, finds me rocking an acoustic set at the Uptown Cafe in St. Pete opening up for the Steve Passo Band. I hope you can find it in your heart to cheer us on; I start at 10PM sharp. Extra special thanks to Scott Harrell for the kind words in the Weekly Planet!

09/05/2004 - As Sunday afternoon gives way to Sunday evening I'm finishing up a great book and listening to some old Miles Davis and Pat Metheny while Hurricane, now Tropical storm Francis, litters the street out front with tree limbs, empty garbage cans, and one of my now-missing outdoor chair cushions, off-white with a southwestern pattern, if it should show up in your yard. I'm also experiencing what a friend of mine once described as a palpable loss when finishing a book; you become so attached to the characters, their lives, their story, and the author's cadence, that you experience a sense of real emptiness once the last page has been folded shut. Damitt Switters! Finally, I came to find out last night that a cousin of mine had passed away suddenly at a very young age. Please know that my prayers are with you and your family as always but especially now in this difficult time of loss, if there is anything I can do...

09/04/2004 – It's September already and the year is slipping away like the last few days of summer before school started when you were 14 and yearning for just one more week of freedom. I'm home bound this weekend, the prospect of battling a long drive through clogged Interstates, questionable gas availability, and oh yeah, Hurricane Francis has me listening to the Weakerthans and Sarah Harmer, strumming my old Yamaha acoustic guitar, mowing yards, finishing up a Tom Robbins book, and doing laundry. Ahh... all the quintessential elements of a quality "backyard vacation" are in perfect alignment. Somebody please tell me Fall weather is just round the corner, it seems like every year about this time the Florida heat gets so bad I want to die. But then comes a sudden cool in October that gives me a reason to live for a few more months and everything falls back into place. I've never gotten use to the summers in Florida; I still miss the crisp August mid-70s off the California coast in the evenings from when I was younger. I need to get back there soon, even if it's just to say hello to my old street and go for a walk around the hilly streets and ivy-covered embankments that lined my walk to school. There's not too many more shows booked at the moment through the end of the year and I think that's a good thing. So many things are in flux for me at the moment that I need some time to step back, do some writing, and really enjoy the impending cooler weather. Keep an eye on Francis, grab a good book or some good music and kick back for the next few days.... oh and I'm saving up for a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic if anyone has any leads on a nice one.

08/29/2004 – Sunday morning, I have never gotten the hang of Sunday mornings. Last night's show at the Emerald Bar was really fun. We had a packed house and All Night Movers (from New Orleans) and Michele Ari sounded great. Last night was also George's birthday so people got there early, drank hard, danced to the bands, and stayed late. Chris, Martin, John and I hit the stage about midnight and busted out some new live tunes like Check 1, 2... , Angelina, and 22 (I'm about to lose you) the later which Natty sang with us and absolutely stole the show. Wow. We kept No One Would Miss Us to ourselves last night and it sounded great except for the fact that my guitar stopped working during the last verse. After I inadvertently skipped two songs on the set list, and with a new guitar cable in place, we finished out the set with Take it Off, Angelina, Alright and a nearly guitar-neck-breaking version of Kool Thing by Sonic Youth. There's no shows planned for a few weeks so it's time to recharge the batteries in preparation for a much-needed long Labor Day weekend as long as hurricane Francis stays away.

08/28/2004 – As the week draws to a close I am nearing the final chapter on the house that I have been fixing up for the last few months. Check it out and make me an offer! I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night's show at the Emerald Bar with Michele Ari and All Night Movers. It should be a fun time and I hope you can make it out. It's possible that it's the last band show I'm going to play around here for a little while. Lots of things happening with me at work and with life, but that won't stop me from dragging the acoustic guitar out on weekends and crashing some clubs near you somewhere.

08/23/2004 – Monday night, half awake… This weekend flat wore me out. Sparky's Nightmare had a fun show at Dave's Bar and Grill on Friday night with Spot Lucy opening the show. For some reason Dave's was rocking from the first jarring note until the last headstock-smashing note of Straight to Hell with a stage full of people. Saturday night was a big blow-out party at Martin and Natty's place and I'm still recovering. Sunday afternoon we had John McNicholas Band practice. We hashed out a newer tune called 22 (I'm about to lose you) and worked up all the other tunes for next week's show at the Emerald Bar. Chris Skogen will be joining us on guitar for the show so we hope to see you all out there.

08/18/2004 - Greetings all, I had a nice time last night at The New World Brewery playing with Susie. I talked with Keith, Jimmy, John from Hankshaw and lots of friends I haven't seen in quite a while. It was great to catch up and everyone had a great time. Earlier in the evening the rain came through, Candybar took the stage with some angular rock and spacey sounds, next up Karmen and Mike from the Urbane Cowboys played a fun acoustic set. Next up were Susie and I, we ran through about 7 tunes and the crowd seemed to enjoy us although the heckling was very second rate. Will Johnson closed the night with some great solo tunes and some wonderful Centro-matic tunes like Flashes and Cables.

08/16/2004 - Monday night, pretty late. I'm in from practice with Susie and I can't wait for the show tomorrow night, should be really fun. I'm a big fan of Centro-matic and I spoke with Will Johnson briefly when I was out in Austin in March. He's a great guy and a great songwriter as well. I'm guessing the show kicks off around 9PM and we play 3rd.

08/14/2004 - We really dogged a bullet here yesterday, and we are very grateful. We put the hurricane shutters on the house, got some beers and prepared for the worst. My prayers go out to everyone that was in the path of the storm.

08/11/2004 - Wednesday evening, a little tired. After the party cleanup on Sunday morning and after the final guests left me alone with my aspirin and water, the house was cleaned, coffee was made, and guitars were re-strung in preparation for 2PM practice. John and Martin headed over and we proceeded to rock about 14 tunes as if we had been practicing 4 times a week for a month. We also worked up a few new tunes that I had played acoustically over the weekend that included 22 (I'm about to lose you) and Angelina. We are also working up a little surprise tune for the closer that night so you should come on out! Monday night I got together Susie to work out our acoustic set for the August 17th show at the New World Brewery with Will Johnson from Centro-matic. I learned a few new tunes of Susie's and everything really sounded great. Tuesday night was Sparky's Nightmare practice where we worked on a few new tunes including a version of 22 with Natty singing the lead. For those keeping score we will not be performing at the Hard Rock Cafe this Thursday night, we are going to get rescheduled for another date.

08/08/2004 - Three words, "Ow my head..." is "ow" a word? Good time last night on the home front. Thanks to everyone that weathered the early evening storm and a big thank you to everyone that played! I also want to thank Chris and Tina for the 3:00 dial, it was amazing to hear from you guys and I'll see you very soon.

08/07/2004 - Happy very early Saturday morning! I'm just in from hanging out at the Uptown Cafe and the show at The Globe Coffee Lounge. Thanks again to Joran, Scott, Steve and everyone that made it out. The show was a huge success and we had a full house. I got to debut three new tunes too! (22, All the Things that Hold You Here, & Angelina)

08/01/2004 - Happy August! OK, it seems like half the people I know have a birthday in August so expect to see lot's off "happy birthday" messages this month. Last night's show at Dave's was fun as always. The rain kept some folks away but the people that came out had a fun time. Knowing Stu opened up the show and they sounded great.

07/29/2004 - Uh-huh, so it's like this, Sparky's Nightmare is playing Dave's on Saturday and I can't wait. Dave's is always hilarious... you just have to go to see for yourself. Tonight I'm headed out with good friends for conversation, laughter and a beer or two (3?). I'm still in writing mode so taking a break is a good thing. I'm really looking forward to the acoustic shows next weekend. I hope to have some of the new tunes ready to go (cheat sheets in hand) to play for everyone. My great friend James Salter from Atlanta will be joining me both nights and I'm sure there will be lots of surprises in store.

07/28/2004 - What the f*ck!? OK, so I worked on like 15 songs last night. Where has this inspiration been? All hail happiness and all hail this town, this f*cking town!

07/26/2004 - Ahh... the weekend has come and gone. Happy birthday Hugh! This weekend was a pretty hectic one for me; I flew up to Atlanta on Saturday morning to finish the record with Russ Fowler. Strangely enough joining me on the plane were local musicians Twitch and Steve Vessenmeyer! Chris picked me up at the Atlanta airport with Sam Shaber, a great singer/songwriter from NY. We dropped her off to get a rental car and from there it was straight to Octane for coffee (nice new t-shirts!) and then to Berkeley Park Studio where Russ had already started the mix for Check 1, 2. I let Russ do his thing and it sounded great. Lunch was had at a nice little English Pub called the Fox and the Hound just north of the studio. The fish and chips were good and it was nice to sit outside and get out of the studio for a while. After lunch we finished up the first tune and started working on No One Would Miss Us. Karin Russ stopped by the studio for a little while to work with James on a mix in the front room. Last time I was in Atlanta I had put some guitar tracks down on three songs and I really enjoyed working with her. We mixed until about 10pm and called it a night. We headed back to James' place to have some beers and talk about some stuff that was so unbelievably funny that I'm pretty sure I spit beer at least three times. Tina was pointing at all of us by the end of the night.

Sunday morning came around pretty fast and we loaded up and headed down to the studio to listen to mix. No One Would Miss Us was wrapped up by lunch and after a couple of slices of pizza we started working on the final tune Maria. As Russ was getting that one started I headed over to Stonehenge Recording next door to track some new guitar parts on Karin's record. I played Vic's amazing flame-top Gibson 57' reissue through Chris' Matchless combo, no pedals, just sweet amp tone. It sounded awesome and James did a great job coaxing some nice parts out of me for a song called Watching Love Unfold. Back over to Berkeley Park we wrapped up Maria by about 5pm and proceeded to make copies and backup all the files to disc. After a quick and productive weekend everyone headed out, Chris dropped me off at the airport and I headed for the gate. Storms rolled through, flights were delayed so I kept reading a collection of essays called How to Be Alone by Jonathan Franzen, same title as my last record, as everyone waited for the plane to hit the sky. Got home late, got some sleep.

07/18/2004 - Despite all outward appearances I had a fun time last night. For those of you who thought I was aloof and quiet I had almost completely lost my voice and man did it hurt to talk. I need a notepad! So if I had a conversation with you last night consider yourself one of the chosen few. (I'm joking!) Anyway, it was Mimi's birthday from Star Booty and the entire scene was out to show the love at a new venue called the Uptown Cafe. The stage is right next to the door so I was bumping into people the whole time we played. It was also assumed that you could grab my ass, poke me in the side, hump me from behind, or shove me out of the way depending on who was coming through the door. Good times. I'd also like to thank Scott Harrell for sporting the finest in John McNicholas t-shirts and to Shannon, Brett, Piper and everyone for all the kind words last night. OK, I'm rambling, off to do some writing!

07/15/2004 - I'm just back again from girl's night at The Globe Coffee Lounge where Gina and I shot the shit, Natty told funny voodoo stories and Carrie kept making me laugh. I called it an early night though as my voice has gone away on vacation in anticipation of Saturday night's show at the Uptown Cafe. I had practice with Sparky's Nightmare this week and worked an a few new tunes (22, Angelina, I'm Falling for Her Again) that I'll have ready for the solo acoustic show the first week of August. OK, I'm off to bed early.

07/08/2004 - Just in from hanging out with Martin, Natty, Hugh and Carrie for some grub and then I crashed girls night at the Globe Coffee Lounge where we swapped stories about Parade In Paris, River Phoenix, Club Detroit, a girl named Bonnie and "who was that DJ back in the day..." Sorry Hunter and Joran I didn't make it out to the rock show, I hope it kicked ass, I'll see you at the next gig you guys have.

07/04/2004 - Hello all! I got together with some great friends to watch the fireworks in downtown St. Pete this evening. I especially enjoyed American Music by the Violent Femmes blasting during the show! Hope everyone had a fun safe night.

07/1/2004 - OK, just now settling back in from the trip up to Atlanta last weekend so I though I'd catch everybody up on what the weekend was all about.

Friday - I headed up to Atlanta about noon, the 7 hour drive was a tough one with the eye problems that I have been having and I took frequent stops. Once I got into town I headed to James' house where Pete, Chris, James and I were going to practice/rock/hang out. Chris, Tina and Ali were there so we chatted until Pete arrived. It was great to see Pete again, he's hilarious and a great friend. Pete was the original drummer for my band Spiller. Once James arrived from the studio we headed down to the basement and rocked for a few hours, blew off some steam and really had a great time. Considering we've never all played together as a band the stuff sounded great right away. We even worked on a few new ideas (I'm About to Lose You, Falling) that I've been working on that sounded great, thanks guys!

Saturday - Happy Birthday Ali! Got up early and headed over to the Berkeley Park studio with Chris to meet Russ Fowler and get the session started. We headed up to Octane for coffee and then we began. James had already tracked most of the bass before I got up there so we tracked final bass parts for No One Would Miss Us. Russ played the verses, Chris played the choruses and I added the Sonic Youth distorted bass line in the last verse. We also threw down some acoustic guitar on Maria, Russ added percussion to a few of the tunes, and then I sang Check, 1, 2 and re-sang No One Would Miss Us. Finally we added some harmonies and called it a night about 11pm.

Sunday - I haven't been sleeping well so I got up early again on Sunday and headed to the studio to meet Russ. On the way I looked at a few houses in the neighborhood. There is a particular house that I'm looking at so we'll see; it's been on the market for a while so I may make a low offer just to see what happens. It's a 1920's Craftsman style bungalow, very cute, fenced in back yard, lots of trees. Today was spent wrapping things up with the recording, I sang Maria and added harmonies, we added a few more percussion ideas, James put down some sweet Hammond organ B-3 parts in all three tunes. I played Russ a few new acoustic ideas that he liked. I'm already starting to plan the next batch of tunes!

Monday - I was supposed to head back today but I had a little car trouble so I put the car in the shop and hung out at the studio all day. Turns out there was going to be a session on Tuesday that James asked me to work so I decided to stay the extra day since the car wouldn't be ready in time to get back for work on Tuesday and take a shot at my first guitar-for-hire-session gig.

Tuesday - Karen Russ was the artist. She's a complete sweetheart, she's got a great voice and some great tunes; it was going to be fun. Peter Stroud from Cheryl Crow's band has been doing guitar parts for her album so I was absolutely thrilled to have to chance to participate in the recording. Also involved with the session was Russ (engineer), James (producer), and Derek Murphy (drums). The session went great and I had the best time working with everyone. I put down guitar tracks for 3 songs so I'm curious to see what gets used and how the final recording comes out. Hopefully they will use the stuff I recorded. I headed out of town about 6:30pm, hit a little Atlanta traffic and got home early Wednesday morning. It was a great trip, thanks again to everyone up there that let me bend their ear, sleep on their floor, eat their food, drink their coffee, disturb their neighbors, use their shower, play their songs, and allow me to vent. You rule and I am forever grateful for true friends.

06/24/2004- No updates for a week! Well, oh well. I got together with everyone this week for a little practice and I'm headed up to Atlanta to try and finish up the recording sessions with Russ Fowler for the next batch of songs. I'm getting together with Pete, Chris and James up in Atlanta to jam on some tunes Friday night so it should be a fun and busy weekend. I'll fill everyone in next week and maybe have some new song samples to post up on the website. Yes, of course there will be lots of photos!

...and in closing some deep thoughts...

"When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we don't see the one that has opened for us." ~ Alexander Graham Bell

"Don't stare at the door!" ~ Natty Moss-Bond

06/17/2004 - Hey all, I had a fun time last night jamming with Brian, Ted, Michael and Stan. We ran through a few tunes, talked a whole bunch and kicked over a beer or two in the process. I'm sure we're going to get together again next week and get a few more tunes down... who knows... we may even play a show sometime!

06/14/2004 - Monday evening and it's pouring outside. Summer is officially here when it starts raining every day. This Wednesday evening I'm headed over to Brian's to jam with him, Ted Lukas and Stan and Mike from Barely Pink. I went out to Dunedin Brewery the other night to catch one of their last shows and it was a scorcher. They sounded great as always. I think this new project will be the five of us all bringing in tunes and we hope to play a show in the not too distant future. No stress, not mess. Should be laid-back and fun.

06/09/2004 - Just now finding the time to catch back up from last weekend's shows. The show at The Music Spot was fun, Brian Merrill got up a rocked the first set. Joran, Suzie Q and Rich played a great second set and I closed out the night with a bunch of requests from Stacy because it was her birthday! The following day, Saturday, was the big Bob Dylan Tribute at Skipper's Smokehouse put on by WMNF 88.5 FM. There were about 30 bands stretched out over the 10 hours and it was a really fun time. I will admit to being totally exhausted by the end of the show however. I got there about 4pm and played an acoustic set at about 5:30pm. I played two quick tunes, Boots of Spanish Leather and I Shall Be Released. After the set the waiting game began as I didn't play again until about 11:45. The time spent in-between sets was spent talking with friends, having a few beers and grabbing a bite to eat. Kate Brawshaw was going to be performing It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry with Sparky's Nightmare tonight so she and I spent some time out front going through her tune, which I had not been able to practice. She's got a great voice so I was really looking forward to the set. By the time out set rolled around the show was running behind to the point that they didn't know if we were even going to play, they have a midnight curfew for the outside venue. Things sped up and we hit the stage at 11:55pm to rock our three tunes, which we managed to get through by 12:05am... THANKYOUGOODNIGHT! Kate's tune went great and I busted out my Stairway to Heaven solo on All Along the Watchtower. Nice. Not much planned for about a month as far as shows go. I'm supposed to head up to Atlanta this weekend to play with Pete, Chris and James but with everyone's schedule and my bad eye I'm not sure it's gonna happen. Also, I'm headed up there on the 25th of June to work with Russ Fowler again so maybe I'll just have to hold my breath until I make it up there.

06/01/2004 - It's funny how I always seem to get sick on weekends and holidays. Not much happening this week except for me putting drops in my eyes and staying in dark rooms. Got shows on Friday and Saturday so hopefully I'll be able to see by then.

05/29/2004 - Greetings all, we had a great time last night at Yeoman's Road Pub, there was a nice crowd and everyone played a fun set. Brian Merrill busted out Julie, I - an old Factory Black tune that sounded great, Steve Alex played some nice new tunes and Ted brought back some great tunes that Barely Pink was famous for back when Ted was playing with them. Really enjoyed the conversations last night, glad some new faces made it out to the show.

05/22/2004 - Saturday morning, completely awake. I didn't have a chance to catch up from the In the Raw show on Wednesday so here goes... It was fun. Everyone sounded great, the place was packed and we all had a great time. There I'm done.

05/17/2004 - OK, to recap last weekend... Friday fun, Saturday funner. That's all I got, OK, well, Sparky's Nightmare played at Yeoman's Road on Friday night, Joran, Rich and Suzy Q opened the show with a great set of acoustic tunes that really sounded nice. So nice in fact that they should have played all night. Sparky's Nightmare got up and we rocked it like we got thrown out last time for rocking it, which is to say we were a little tentative when we should have ROCKED IT! OK, but we had a great time, we always do though don't we. Saturday night at the Emerald was much more funner-er. We ROCKED IT. Well, maybe I'm biased but I though we had a great set and the crowd dug it, not to say Friday's crowd wasn't good, because they were great too, but, aw jeeze forget it, you know what I mean. Lance Rowland opened the show with some damn fine acoustic tunes, we rocked a set, heckled the crowd, Lance and Joran joined us on bass and guitar for No One Would Miss Us, some guy took his pants off and then Barely Pink hit the stage, rocked it, I sang with them on Diane by Material Issue and then sang the lead for Fountains of Wayne's Radiation Vibe. Good times!

05/14/2004 - Uh, OK so, uh, I got a few shows this weekend, should be a good time both nights. Joran Oppelt is performing a solo set before we play on Friday night and Saturday night will mark the last Johnny Mac band show for a little while, I'm going to take some time off to do some writing and hopefully get things cranked up in Atlanta as well as back down here when I've got some new tunes. I'll still be rocking the solo guitar at shows though so don't your fret none. Hope I see you soon, hope I see you soon.

05/09/2004 - Good times at The Daiquiri Deck last night. It was the first time Sparky's Nightmare has played out there and we had a blast. Thanks again to the Hazies that had us out to open up for them, they sounded great. Let's quickly recap the evening. I did the "shopping cart" dance and I learned the "bus driver.", Natty and I jumped up and sang backup and I even ended up playing piano on Jumpin' Jack Flash, good times.

05/05/2004 - Friday - The drive up to Atlanta was an uneventful one if you don't count all the rain and traffic I encountered getting out of the state of Florida. Once in Atlanta we all met up at Berkeley Park studio where James was putting the final touches on the new Pageant record. After things wrapped up we headed over to the Thinking Man Tavern for a quick beer and then off to bed.

Saturday - In the morning we headed out to the studio and got to work early. Derek put down some spectacular drum parts, Russ dialed in the sound and James played some cool bass parts. Between us all I think we must have polished off about 3 pots of coffee and quite a few slices of pizza from Felini's. Once we started tracking we decided not to pursue Fallout and instead chose to work on a new tune called Check, 1, 2... After drums were cut Russ and Derek headed out and James polished off some bass tracks before we called it a night. This was a good thing because a storm rolled in a knocked out the power just as we were finishing up. After the session we all headed out in the rain for beers at the Thinking Man Tavern before we called it a night.

Sunday - I was supposed to be at the studio at about 10:30, I woke up at 10:30. 20 minutes later I'm pulling up to the studio as Russ is unlocking the gate, perfect timing. Off we ran to Octane for coffee and then got to work tracking guitars for the three songs. We used a variety of amps including Chris' Matchless DC-30, Vic's master-volume, silver-face Fender Twin and my newly acquired Matchless Clubman 35. As far as guitars go we tracked all the lead lines in Maria and Check, 1, 2… with my '83 Fender Strat Elite with the amps set at “melt-down.” No One Would Miss Us was all red Jazzmaster on rhythm guitar and Sea Foam Green Tele Custom on lead lines and picking parts. The rhythm parts on Maria were Firebird and '59 Les Paul, and the rhythm parts on Check, 1, 2... were mostly Jazzmaster or Tele, can't remember. As I was tracking guitar Chris was rocking the Music Midtown festival with the Swear so while he was away we decided to start tracking vocals for No One Would Miss Us. Once Chris was back he tracked his guitar parts for No One Would Miss Us with the Tele. The end of the session was rapidly approaching so we wrapped things up, made some CDs to listen and headed out.

04/29/2004 - Thursday evening and I'm just back in from the Sparky's Nightmare show at the USF Tavern at Bayboro. Last night's show at The New World Brewery was really fun. Susie and I played a brief yet well received set as part of Gloff Fest put on by Jeremy Gloff. It was a wonderful night, the weather was nice and cool and everyone played a fun set. Gina and Curtis brought down the house with their opening song, Christina Aguilera's "I am beautiful". Yes you are, yes you are. They should have changed the words to "I am eye candy" but that's another topic entirely. Tonight's show at USF was quiet and fun. It was the last night of final exams and there were groups out celebrating that final paper or final presentation. Travis jumped up for a rocking version of Bite It and The Hunter. Good times. Well I'm off to Atlanta tomorrow to record and I'm really looking forward to it. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I'll update the site as soon as I get home with all the fun details.

04/27/2004 - Hope to see you at the New World Brewery Wednesday night. I'll be backing up Susie Ulrey for a few wonderful tunes.

04/25/2004 - Two shows this week, come feel the rock. New photos from The Music Spot have been added to the Photos page.

04/24/2004- Sunday night and the weekend is winding down. Friday night's show at the Emerald Bar with Sparky's Nightmare was a good time. We opened up for the Vodkanauts and really had a good time rocking a 1-hour set. Drinks were drunk and so were we. It was the first time I had seen the Vodkanauts with their new keyboard player and Steve Alex singing lead and they sounded great. Saturday night Trish and I headed downtown for Eric Snider's 50th birthday and had a great time hanging out with Scott, Shannon, Travis, Sam, Jen & Joran and everyone else that was there. It was a who's who of the St. Pete music scene in attendance to wish him well. This week is going to be pretty hectic, I've got practice on Monday, a show on Wednesday at The New World Brewery and Thursday at Tavern at Bayboro and on Friday I'm headed up to Atlanta to record with Russ Fowler all weekend.

04/23/2004 - Happy Birthday Eric Snider!

04/22/2004 - "Yummy Sangria", that's what I was drinking last night and that's the only proper explanation that I have for my pick-dropping-word-forgetting-tied-up-finger performance. Oh yeah, I rocked, it's just that shit was flying off the car as it headed down the track. Last night was funny and fun. Luscious P. kicked things off with The Dave and the usual volatile word play they are known for, smart and funny, irreverent and poignant at the same time. They also played an excellent version of the Cocktail Honey's gem Pay Attention. Nice. Next up Michelle Ari performed some lovely originals and a rocking Blondie cover of Dreaming. So, then I stumble up there and proceed to not follow the set lest, get heckled and drop picks. Nice. Molly's Lips, Holly's Tooth... whatever... I get so confused. Scott Harrell closed out the evening with a pensive and cathartic set of some great new tunes about great new characters that he's been working on including one he had written the night before and a few Cocktail Honey's tunes. His parents were in the audience and they looked proud. As the evening wound down everyone chatted each other up, I talked with Singer songwriter from England named Cat and her husband, she had seen me when I opened up for Thea Gilmore at Skipper's. Everyone swapped numbers/e-mail address and headed out. Thanks again to Scott and everyone at the Globe for having us out!

04/20/2004 - Happy Tuesday everyone. Sunday's Swap Meet at the ACL was a great time. There were lots of vendors with great rock and roll merch and everyone was in a festive mood. It's always great to see a bunch of people in all black milling around outside in the sun on a Sunday afternoon. All the bands sounded great especially St. Felons, Car Bomb Driver and The Bad Touch. They just ripped it up. After the show most of the gang headed over to Tijuana Flats for more food and beer before calling it a day and heading home. Good times.

04/17/2004- Saturday morning and I'm up and ready to go. Last night's show at The Music Spot was really fun. I suppose I need a new word to describe the show because I always use "fun"... hang on, where is the Thesaurus, OK, last night's show provided levity and entertainment, a welcome diversion from the norm. Anyway, the guys at the Music Spot have a great bistro in the back of their record store with a small but wonderful menu for dinner, I had the stuffed green pepper appetizer and it was great. We had a packed house so Lance Rowland kicked things off and he sounded great. I especially like his song about Nashville called "Miss You Tonight". Next up Susie Ulrey and I played and joked our way through about 10 tunes of hers and mine. We played a brief game of "Did you know?" local trivia and debated briefly the merits of following the set list, which we did for the most part. It was great to see lots of her friends out at the show, as well as some people that I haven't seen in quite a while. Michael Canning, Jimmy Reese from Tomorrow was there as was Brad from Pohgoh and current WMNF DJ, friends from my work and even the legendary guitar hero Sam Bond made it out to the show. I closed out the night with about six more tunes, the highlight for me was No One Would Would Miss Us with Anna O. rocking on the house piano and Lance rocking the acoustic guitar. A very fun... er... convivial evening indeed. Thanks again to Manny and Mike for the great venue and great hospitality. On a side note, I got home just in time to see Grant Lee Phillips perform Calamity Jane on Jay Leno and he was awesome. I caught him out in Austin a few weeks back when he played before Juliana Hatfield and really enjoyed the show, I need to pick up his new CD.

04/16/2004 - Last night's show at The New World Brewery was really fun. Even though it was tax day there was a nice turnout to see some acoustic music in the chilly night, perhaps they were drinking their anticipated tax refunds. It also happened to be the 9th Anniversary of the bar and they were giving away free beer! Yes! Brianne Gallager started off the show a little after 10, I jumped up next, Jen Shamro followed and then another guy that was at the bar, whose name escapes me at the moment jumped up and played some Dave Matthews inspired tunes. Thanks again to Jen for getting the show together before she heads out on tour. I'm really looking forward to the show tonight at the Music Spot with Susie and Lance. Hope to see you out there.

04/12/2004 - Back from ATL. Had a good time this weekend up at the studio recording. Originally we were going to finish the three songs that we started a few weeks back but we decided to record some live acoustic tunes. I got up there on Friday evening after a 10 hour drive filled with lots of traffic. Had some pizza with Russ and we talked about upcoming plans for the recording. By the end of dinner it was pretty late so Chris and I headed back to the house and walked over to the Thinking Man Tavern for a few beers before crashing out. Saturday we hit a good breakfast spot by the studio with Ali and headed over to Berkeley Park Studio to start recording. We recorded about 17 songs with just two microphones, one in front of the guitar and one for vocals. Hopefully I'm going to tinker with a few of them and then I'll have a 10 to 12 song acoustic CD that I can send out to clubs and see at some shows. OK, this week is a busy one so I'd better get going. Hope to see you at one of the shows this week.

04/08/2004 - Happy Thursday evening everyone. I'm getting ready to head to Atlanta this weekend to do some recording, have some beers with Russ and Chris and just create some general chaos while I'm up there. On Friday evening I'll be meeting with Chris and Russ Fowler to discuss my recording plans for the first weekend of May. We'll be working on three tunes that have yet to be determined and then hopefully we'll send out some copies and have a few meetings set up with various folks in the biz. Either way it should be a great time and I can't wait. This weekend Chris and I are going to concentrate on some acoustic recordings. Over the last year or so I've been playing lots of solo acoustic shows and I've had many requests for some acoustic recordings so hopefully we'll get some good takes this weekend that I can make available at some upcoming shows. I've got about 40 songs that I'd like to throw down to tape to see how they come out. I'll probably bust out some old chestnuts as well as some brand new unreleased and unperformed material too. I've got a new tune called May that I'm anxious to record as well as a few unrecorded tunes from over the years like Inside Out, Check 1, 2... . I suspect I'll throw down a few cover tunes like Allergic to Love (Eric's Trip), Girl in a Box (Blake Babies), I Think I Might be in Love With You (Juliana Hatfield), No Expectations (Rolling Stones), Panic (the Smiths), Asshole (Beck) for a little CD-EP that I'd like to have at shows just for fun. OK, hope everyone has a great weekend I'll catch up on Monday.

04/04/2004 - Four, four, Oh-four! It's late Sunday evening (all alone) and I'm crashing out soon. I can never get use to this whole daylight savings time. I just hate losing that hour come Monday morning. Last night's show at the State Theater was really fun, there was a nice turnout and it was great to see E up and out at his own benefit concert. All the bands really sounded good and everyone seemed to have a great time. I caught a brief set by Glitter Guns that was pretty cool and Rebekah Pulley and St. Felons sounded great. Well, I'm out of here, there is a busy week ahead. I'm getting together with Susie tomorrow to run through some acoustic tunes, Sparky's practice on Tuesday and I've got to get ready for the weekend of recording up in Atlanta at Berkeley Park Studio.

03/30/2004 - I know it's Tuesday and I'm just now getting around to updating the journal from the weekend but it's been a hectic few days full of practice and work. Friday night's show at Skipper's is still swimming around in my head, that was so much fun. My friend James in Atlanta went and talked to Thea the next night when she played Eddie's Attic and picked up a few CDs for me, very cool. The show Saturday night at Dave's was hilarious as always. I love that place... there I said it. Check out some photos! Monday night I got together with Susie and ran through some new material for our acoustic show at The Music Spot in April. I encourage everyone to make plans to be at this show because it will be something special. It's a free show and they have a great kitchen. Alright, it's getting late and I'm off to strum some guitar and write some songs!

03/27/2004 - Last night's show at Skipper's Smokehouse with Thea Gilmore and Jeffrey Foucault was a really great night. Randy and everyone at WMNF did a great job putting the bill together and I was grateful to be playing with such talented people. I started the show off with a 35-minute set of songs off the album and three unrecorded tune that seemed to go over well. Next up Jeffrey played a mellow set with some nice fingerpicking and great words. Thea headlined the evening and she was just amazing. She's got a great voice, a great band and some great songs. As the evening wound down I had a chance to sit a chat with Thea, Jeffrey and score some pointers on "the business" that I hope to put to good use in the near future out on the road. Being part of a great show like that really make me anxious to get out on the road. Tonight Sparky's Nightmare is going to rock Dave's Bar and Grill, I think I need to start drinking early tonight, we're playing three sets.

03/21/2004 - Wow, SXSW was so much fun. I will definitely be headed back next year! Monday was spent driving out to New Orleans where we enjoyed the sights, smells, and tastes of the French Quarter.

Tuesday we rolled into Austin to discover that Sonic Youth was playing at Stubb's BBQ. The opening band Comets on Fire was noisy and cool but Sonic Youth rolled out a set of almost entirely new material from their upcoming album and just sounded amazing.

On Wednesday everyone convened at Club Deville for the Flamingo Bandingo. Skipper's Smokehouse provided some delicious food and all the bands sounded great. We managed to get Rebekah Pulley and Ronnie Elliott on stage for a fun rendition of No One Would Miss Us. Rebekah kicked out some mean guitar riffs while Ronnie handled vocal duties. After the show we sold some merch, talked with friends and new friends, and drank lots of beer. Flee, Norwood and everyone involved did a great job putting the show together and everyone had a great time. Eventually we all headed out to get some pizza at Roppolo's and started checking out bands. I'm not sure who everyone else saw but here's a rundown of the groups I saw on Wednesday: Division of Laura Lee, The Von Bondies, Joan Jett, and The (International) Noise Conspiracy.

Thursday we got up early and headed downtown again to catch more daytime shows. We headed over to the Merge/Touch and Go records day party and caught TV on the Radio, The Radar Brothers, and Coco Rosie. By the time nightfall hit Trish wasn't feeling well so I headed out solo to meet up with the guys and check out some more groups including... Supagroup, Stinking Lizaveta, (Rounder records Showcase: Grant Lee Phillips, Sarah Harmer, and Juliana Hatfield. Juliana played My Sister, Robot City, and an almost entirely new set of material from her upcoming new record. All the new tunes sounded great and I was glad I finally got to see her play live.

Friday was filled with more day shows and packed clubs all night long. During the day, thanks to Flee and Randy Wynn, we got in to see the Thrills play a stellar set at the Filter Magazine private party. That day we also bumped into Juliana on the street and kissing her guitar player in a cab, Patrick Park cruising outside of Stubb's after his great set, and I swear I thought I saw Fiona Apple at the Thrills party, I could never get close enough to find out but she looked just like her. Some of the other groups we saw on Friday were: Throttlerod, Response, American Analog Set, Patrick Park, Trans Am, Metric, The Metermen, Bands I missed that I wanted to see: Liz Phair, Pete Yorn, Rhett Miller, Snow Patrol, Bettie Serveert, Calexico, Portastatic. The best band name at the convention goes to: I Love you but I've Chosen Darkness.

Saturday we drove home, Martin flew home and John stayed for the Saturday shows. Time for sleep.

03/13/2004 - Hey everyone, you may have already noticed but tonight's show at The Music Spot has been canceled. I have lost my voice. We played Gasoline Alley last night and after about 4 songs it was pretty much gone. It had felt strange all week and it finally just decided to go on vacation. Thanks to the guys from Spot Lucy, Tony Purnell, Gary, Ed and everyone that made it out. Jeff, sorry my amp blew up just as you got on stage. I'm off to rest my voice with hot tea, honey, saltwater gargling and a little sunshine.

03/10/2004 - Just in from practice with Susie. We ran through some songs that we're playing on Saturday at The Music Spot and tried to keep the music trivia conversations to a minimum. Lance Rowland is going to get things started on Saturday and then Susie and I will get up and tell stores, music trivia and eventually get around to playing a few tunes. Come on out and check out the store, it's a great place and I hear the food is wonderful too!

03/07/2004 - Another fun show at the State Theater last night. Thanks to Flee and Norwood for doing such a great job organizing the show, everything ran smoothly and all the bands sounded great. I got there pretty early, got my stuff loaded in and Joran helped me set up the merch. The Crippled Masters put in a great blistering set, they get better every time I see them. Next up, Red Tide got the crowd moving and thinking with a frantic set. Next, The Mercy Seat, and it was clearly their crowd last night, put on a sublime and explosive set that proves why they are headed out to Austin. After their set Chris had still not arrived from Ft. Myers so we set up as a three piece. I introduced us and proceeded to tell everyone the practical joke that we were going to play on Chris. Since we hadn't had any time to practice with Chris before the show I thought it'd be funny to write up a fake set list with a bunch of new song titles mixed in with some ones he knew and then start out with a brand new song. Natty yelled, "Play it anyway!", so I did. After the intro we kicked into our regular set and the stage sounded really good, the vocal monitors were really happening, the band was tight and it just felt very comfortable up there. Then just as we were finishing High School Drunk I spotted Chris coming through the crowd, guitar and pedals in hand. As we played Take it Off he got set up and by the time we got to Friday Morning Half Awake, he was ready to rock... for 18 minutes. A three hour drive for 18 minutes. You gotta admire the guy. The rest of the set was fun, Natty sang No One Would Miss Us with us and we ended with the self-appointed feel-good-song-of-the-Summer, the newly recorded Allison. We said good night and made way for Anna O.'s set. I swear she gets better every time I see here, if you don't have any if her CDs you really need to seek them out, great recordings of great songs. Next up, Rebekah Pulley closed out the evening with beautiful vocals, tight playing and some great tunes. As the evening wound down Chris headed back to Ft. Myers, discussions about SXSW were had, amp/drum/drummer sharing deals were struck and I cannot wait for this trip!

Just to back track a little bit, earlier in the day I headed over to Bay Sound in north Tampa to record some guitar tracks for Joran's band Auditorium. As soon as I got there Jerry Outlaw was just wrapping up his session, we caught up and then decided that we were all hungry. Publix sushi was decided on and we filled up. Good stuff. Once in the session my job was to layer in some noise at the end of a song called Spinning. It's the epic song that Auditorium closes their set with and clocking in at a little under 10 minutes there was plenty of room for some noise. I brought the red '64 Fender Jazzmaster , the blue Fucker (Fender) Jazzblaster and the '66 Fender Electric XII for the session. We started off layering a wide bed of feedback facilitated by plugging both Jazzmaster/blasters into the amp, max-ing out the Rat 2, max-ing out the amp, insert screwdrivers and let it cook the tubes. Wow, what crazy tones, the first pass ended in something that sounded like a huge analog synth throbbing and bursting. The second pass utilized just the red Jazzmaster and a few screwdrivers over the pickups for some harder industrial noises and even some really vocal sounding higher melodies. Whoa. The third pass was fairly straight forward with me playing along, accenting the chord changes, and hitting some different climbs and some unique turnarounds that jumped around some different octave parts. Cool. Next we threw down some XII parts in the verses but I think we decided that they didn't fit. As we wrapped up I got to hear some of the stuff that's already recorded and it really sounds good! Thanks again to Dan and Joran for having me over.

03/06/2004 - Good times at the USF show last night. Lots of friendly folks, sumo wrestling outfits, dogs everywhere, good eats and cold beer. Thanks again to Jason from Cuban Sandwich Crisis for having us play. They sounded great and everyone had lots of fun! Really looking forward to the show this evening at the State Theater for the SXSW Fundraiser. Chris will be in town for the show, so tonight we'll be a four-piece rock band. Yeah! I'm headed out right now to record some guitar for Joran's new band Auditorium's first record. He needs some noise on a track and he picked the right man for job. I'll recording with Dan at Bay Sound Studios, the man responsible for recording the In the Raw CD. It should be fun.

03/04/2004 - Quite the fun evening last night, right after work I headed over to Susie & Keith's house to learn some tunes for an acoustic performance that's coming up on April 15th at the New World Brewery. We talked music trivia, local history and she played me some great new songs that she's written. I'm really looking forward to the show. I'll keep everyone posted as we get the material together.

02/29/2004 - Sunday evening and the silence of the house stands in stark contrast to the weekend's activities. Friday evening was practice with Sparky's Nightmare and a set of the Mojo Gurus at the Ringside Cafe. Saturday was filled with trips to Legends Music to ogle guitars and to Manny's great new record store on Dale Mabry called the Music Spot. Saturday night brought the Sparky's show at Dave's Bar and Grill with Rebekah Pulley and her wonderful band, and lots of friends and funny stories (Pictures will be posted soon!). Sunday started early after the show with a trip over to Hugh's with Trish and Duncan and more friends, before drifting home around 5am. Midday Sunday was band practice with Martin and John, and it sounded great. I'm really looking forward to next weekend's shows and SXSW, it looks like John and Martin will be heading out with me after all! Sunday finally creeps to a close with a little television and complete silence in the house. It's quite comforting and it only makes me anxious for everything to get noisy again this week with more music.

02/28/2004 - Saturday morning, totally awake, yet feeling hungover somehow even though I didn't drink a drop last night. Perhaps it was just being in the Ringside Cafe last night watching the Mojo Gurus rock the crowd that's responsible, hummm... perhaps it's just me settling back into the Florida scenery from my seven weeks in Indianapolis. Well I'm back for good, or for worse, that's yet to be determined. Lots of things to do now that I'm back full time. I'm getting calls for shows so I need to get the band situation figured out here pretty soon. John and Martin will be rocking with me at the USF St. Pete campus and SMLG SXSW warm-up show at the State Theater next weekend and for that I'm eternally grateful. At the moment it looks like the SMLG SXSW Austin showcase might just be me playing solo, in fact I think I can guarantee that at the moment. Hopefully I'll tag a few shows out and back to fill up the calendar, I need to get on that right away. Out on the horizon I'm seeing another trip back to Atlanta in the not to distant future involving some record, mixing and coffee. Man, that sounds good already. Also there may be a few new band/recording projects sitting out there that I'm going to be involved with but I'll spill the beans as that actually happens. OK, I seriously need to get some aspirin and get my ass in gear this morning, so much to do!

02/21/2004 - I know, I' know, I've been slacking on the Journal lately. Well, I've been busy racking up the frequent flyer miles for the last 6 weeks at work. OK, so last night was a good time at the New World Brewery watching St. Felons bring down the house. Bumped into lots of friendly faces that I haven't seen in a while, CDs were exchanged and beers were demolished. I mean really demolished. I still have a headache. Ugh. OK, so anyway next Saturday the 28th Sparky's Nightmare is rocking Dave's Bar and Grill on Gandy Blvd. and tomorrow we're gonna run through the tunes so we are all ready to rock the crowds. I found out last night that Josh Ritter has dropped of the show at Skipper's Smokehouse on 3/26 but Thea Gilmore is still gonna be there and it should be a great show! Alright, I gotta go take some aspirin and pick some grapefruit to make some juice.

02/16/2004 - No time for a massive amount of detail but the road trip to Atlanta was a blast and we got three tunes recorded and sounding great. Trish and I headed up Friday night and got back in town on Sunday. James played some stellar bass on Allison, Chris played some grooving guitar, John added percussion and I sang all hunched over in a chair in the main room. Coffee was drunk, X-Box was played, and it never stopped raining for a second the entire time. Check out the photos! Not much happening this week, time for some writing!

02/07/2004 - Another week out of town and the following weekend I'll be in Atlanta working on 3 or 4 tunes for the next CD. John and I are headed up on Friday evening and will be prepared to rock the studio with James and Chris all weekend. The tunes on tap for this session will be High school Drunk, Take it Off, and Allison. If there is time we might try a live tune or maybe an acoustic track to round out the weekend. Any requests? Once again this Monday night I'm going to try and make it out to The Melody Inn in Indianapolis for their open mic feature. So... if you are in the neighborhood come on out!

02/02/2004 - Well I didn't make the Open Mic show in Indy this evening, crummy weather and I didn't get out of work until about 10pm. I was however asked to play an AMAZING show on March 26th at Skipper's Smokehouse with Josh Ritter and Thea Gilmore. Check out their websites I think you'll love them. Well. That's all for now, I'm gonna run.

02/01/2004 - Are you ready for some Football? Strangely enough, I have little to no interest in the big game this evening. Maybe it's because last year's game with the Bucs was such an amazing game. Got a phone call from Flee this afternoon and he has invited the Johnny Mac band out to SXSW to perform at their independent side stage at Club De Ville on the first day of the festival. I can't wait to play, hopefully the band will be able to make the trip otherwise it will just be me and a geetar making the trip. Anyway, this week should be pretty fun, I'm going to crash an open mic at The Melody Inn this week up in Indy and I'll be looking for some other places to play on some other nights too.

01/25/2004 - Sunday morning, surprisingly, completely awake. Had a great time last night at the Dubliner watching Steve from Ask Erin work the crowd with the acoustic guitar. Threw down and few pints and talked guitars with Ted Wray and his friend John. Steve got me up for a quick couple of tunes and I swear if he keeps introducing me with these big grand introductions... well.. I appreciate it but the punk rock kid in me is humble, ya know? haha.. Anyway. After the set the owner Noel even bought Trish and I a round. Thanks! Not much happening this week, I might have a show lined up for the middle of the week so check back on the web page.

01/24/2004 - Had a great time at SMAsh Fest 5 last night at the State Theater. All the bands sounded great and it was great to hang out with so many friends. I'm out again this evening to see Steve from Ask Erin play at the Dubliner in Hyde Park.

01/18/2004 - A fun time was had by all last night at Romeo's, thanks to everyone that made it out! Turns out that Jackson Davis went to school with Jeff and Joelle from Stitch so we talked for a while about the old days and some Lie shows that he a had been to at the Brass Mug! Cool. Jen was her usual funny, sharp and frenetic self on the guitar and the coffee was great. The venue is a pretty cool spot right next to Twilight on 7th. Well, I got nothing booked for the immediate future but be on the lookout for some solo shows sometime soon.

01/17/2004- Greetings all, hope that you having a fun weekend. I'm looking forward to the acoustic show this evening at Romeo's Studio 1515 on 7th Ave. in Ybor City this evening. The show is free but donations are encouraged. I hear that it's a nice spot and that the coffee is wonderful. The show starts about 9pm and I'm not sure what time I'll be playing, but the show will be ending by about 11:30 before all the dance clubs can crank up their speakers and drown out our little acoustic show. Should be fun and it will be the last show I have booked for a little while so I can concentrate on the new record and writing some songs. I'm sure a show or two will pop up occasionally for now that's all I have planned.

01/11/2004- Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.... man it was cold last night. Dank rocked the Emerald with Ricky Wilcox and the Moonsnakes and the Crippled Masters last night and we had a great time. The place was packed and everyone was in the spirit or at least they were drinking spirits! OK, no time for too much chit-chat today, I've got a busy day ahead of me and all I want to do is read a book...

01/10/2004- I'm not sure how it happened, but Gasoline Alley turned into Dave's Bar and Grill last night.... I'll explain later. I'd have to go over to the shows page to figure out the last time I played Gasoline Alley, let's see... the day after Christmas 1998. So the place was always a cheesy rocker bar, and that hasn't left the building completely, but Mike Sears has done a real nice job of getting some cool bands in there and playing some great in-between set music that I was digging. OK, so Red Skyline and 2nd Day Broadcast (with x-Spiller alumni Pete and John!) were really great to hang out with and I dug both of their sets. If you are into the Modern-Alt-Rock-Metal sound you'd dig both of them and the club really has the sound dialed in nice. It was also great to see Vinnie and Brian from Lukali out as well as Jeff and John from Spot Lucy, Lani Daniels, and a majority of the St. Felons, Ask Erin and Sparky's Nightmare crew along with many others. So we hit the stage about 12:30 as a three-piece and played a "loose and fun" set of oldies and brand new tunes. OK, so here's where it turns into "Dave's", and for those of you that don't know what I mean, Dave's is a little blues club that Sparky's Nightmare plays on a regular basis and it never fails that the craziest stuff happens while we're playing... so anyway... in summary... people are falling down on the dance floor - literally crashing to the ground, Martin and I are out of tune, Trish's friend Michelle came up on stage and sang a blues tune with us (with hilarious lyrics), Martin jokingly asked someone to buy him 17 Coronas and somebody did, I screwed up Maria, people kept requesting Satellite after every song, and Brian from Lukali played a few ripping solos in No One Would Miss Us... all in all I think it was our "worst sounding/most fun" set ever. Hopefully I'll get some photos posted for everyone soon. OK, so tonight's Dank show at the Emerald promises more of the same so if you are feeling brave come on out and embrace the chaos and lack of clean-air ventilation.

01/03/2004- Happy New Year everyone! I'm finally getting down to updating the Journal today after a hectic few days of fun. New Year's Eve was a blast over at Martin and Natty's and the parties on New Year's Day were every bit as fun too. I think this year is going to be the best yet! (fingers crossed!) I worked on a few new ideas yesterday evening before heading out to Four Green Fields for a beer last night, then my throat started killing me and I made a beeline for home. It's still feeling a bit scratchy today so I think I'd better take it easy so I'm ready to go for next Friday's show at Gasoline Alley. OK, I'm out, time to get some orange juice and vitamins. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTIN!

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