Fast Company
The day job got a really nice write up in the latest issue of Fast Company. Check it out!
http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2013/nba
The Sunset District - Gone, Gone, Gone
A new demo for a song called, "Gone, Gone, Gone."
Spiller at the Shuffle
I had a such a great time down in Florida last weekend rocking out with Spiller at the St. Pete Shuffleboard Courts. Robyn and I rolled into town late Thursday and I rushed off to practice with Marcus and Vinnie on Thursday night to run through the set. Damn if it didn't sound pretty good!
If you've never been to a rock show at the Shuffleboard courts in St. Pete for a first friday you really should check it out. There's a ton of people playing shuffleboard, coolers loaded with drinks, some great music, and this time of year the weather is just amazing. There's just no place like Florida in the Wintertime.
We had a good time, my voice was a little shaky, but we made it through without breaking too many things. I may have unplugged the P.A. running into the stands. I may have played my guitar with one of the shuffleboard lights. I may have cursed in front of my Mom.
The Sunset District - Astronaut (for jphono1)
Hey friends, here's the song I whipped up for my friend John, or jphono1 as he goes by as a recording artist. Hope you dig it!
Spiller at the Shuffle!
Holy cow you guys! Spiller is playing in St Petersburg this Friday night at the St. Pete Shuffle. We're really looking forward to playing and seeing The Pretty Voices and The Stone Eagles rock the courts.
Ray Roa from Suburban Apologist gave us a nice mention here: http://www.suburbanapologist.com/ai1ec_event/spiller-the-stone-eagles-the-pretty-voices-at-st-pete-shuffle-free/
You can RSVP and check out all the details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/424652330941403/
Hope to see you there!
Songwriter Anonymous
I'm really trying to kick my writing habit back into high gear at the moment, and so it was with great delight that I received an invitation to a monthly songwriters meeting from fellow Sunset District'er, Jules, titled "Songwriters Anonymous."
This past Sunday we had our first meeting. I brought a growler. It was a small gathering. I drank most of the growler. We talked about process, inspiration, blockers, played a few songs, and broke strings, as you do, playing stupid breakup songs.
One of the things that I talked about was how strange it feels to perform certain songs in front of certain people, or a certain group of people, because they know the story behind the song, or at least they think they do. Deeply personal songs carry a heavy weight sometimes, and I've found myself steering away from them in the last few years. It can make you feel like you're living in the past.
I've got a few songs that I hate to play in front of some people, and as silly as it might seem, when I moved to Atlanta from Florida it really lifted that icky feeling. It inserted a distance, both literal and figurative, that was needed to let me truly enjoy these songs again.
In the past I always used real names in the songs, and then for a while I didn't. I think it's time to make the switch back, so, for fun, I'm going to write a song about a friend of mine and post it up here this week.
"Hi, my name is John. I write songs."
Do the Hoax!
in doing my part to get some stuff done I decided that I needed to write a new song NOW! So, I jumped on Facebook, asked some friends to suggest some song titles and then set about writing and recording a song is just a few hours, Happenstance-style! Chris Jansen suggested the title "Hoax" and off I went. I borrowed a few chord changes here in there, but really I just wanted to bang something out for fun. I even made a video! Hope you dig it.
Good Graces Weekend
Last weekend was a fun one as The Good Graces had a few shows in Atlanta and Athens, GA. It seems like every winter we get out of town for a quick tour, and although we didn't leave the state this year, at least we didn't have to drive through snow on a frozen interstate for 6 hours. That was insane.
Saturday's show was at The Flicker Theater and Bar, my favorite spot to play in Athens. It's right next to the 40 Watt Club, and you always get a nice little crowd of music goers filing in and out, checking out the bands. The Drive-by Trucker's were playing next door so there were more folks out and about than usual and we had a chance to play for quite a few new folks. Our friend, Jphono1, or John Harrison as we know him played with us and rocked it out on the effected acoustic guitar and loops. Really good stuff. Thanks to Helen Scott and AJ Griffin for hosting and sounding great. We had a lot of popcorn. I spilled a few drinks. Fun was had.
Sunday's show was in Atlanta at an art space called Capsule in Grant Park. It's a no frills space, but it's a great little room with a nice PA, and the folks that run the place are top notch. We kicked things off with a potluck after the Falcons' loss with some great food and drinks. Mary O. started off the music for the evening followed by jphono1 and then us, The Good Graces closing out the night.
Thanks to everyone that was a part of the weekend. We had a great time!
Saturday Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmcnicholas/sets/72157632570510748/
Sunday Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmcnicholas/sets/72157632580431430/
Tools of the Trade
At Good Graces practice tonight I started thinking about how much I dig the way Kim approaches the Good Graces' live shows, the way she mixes it up at every show. Jim and I are rocking alongside her most of the time, but ultimately she likes to keep things fresh for herself and the folks that come out to cheer us on. So, in that spirit, Michelle will be joining us in Athens at Flicker Bar on Saturday. She'll be banging on drums, ukulele, and coffee cups. Seriously, she plays a mean coffee cup.
Ultimately that got me thinking about gear, as I do, and why I pick certain guitars to play at different times. I like to mix things up. I like to keep myself guessing. I have a few guitars, and I play in a few bands. It keeps me engaged. It keeps me creative.
For a long time my main Atlanta guitar was the blue Fender Jazzmaster, ice blue metallic thankyouverymuch. Why? Because I hated that thing, and I felt that I had to beat it. I lost. It won. Fine.
So the old red Jazzmaster is getting thrown back in at the #1 position. That thing, with all it's dents and scratches, quirks and creaks, is just amazing. Best sounding? Nah. Easiest to play? Nope. It's just like a old sweater or broken in pair shoes, so comfortable and so familiar.
Dents and scratches will be added this weekend. Come see.
Get that *#$% right.
Last night I drove down to Marco's to lay down some final lead vocals on the last of the full band tracks that we've tracked. Up next is vocals by Jules and some sweet keys from Jim. I'll probably throw down a few more guitar tracks, but we're really getting close to being done with these tunes!
Mancation
About 8 years ago a major relationship in my life came to a sudden end. I was traveling for work. I was away from friends. I felt completely disconnected to the world around me. I was lost.
(Dramatic pause)
My friend Chris decided what I needed was a long weekend with some dudes, some beers, conversations about life, cheese, brats, and some make believe card game that I'm still trying to figure out (Sheepshead). He was right. Every year I look forward to this annual weekend in the north woods of Wisco the moment I duck my head and board my plane out of MKE from the previous year.
In the last 7 years I've gotten to know these guys really well and in a sense we've become the best of friends. Though we only see each other for 4-5 days a year, the days are packed with some of the most fun and the best conversations I have all year.
Since this tradition has pulled me in a few of the dudes have left the group, one very tragically (RIP Drew), and one mysteriously. Rob, where are you? Last year, cabin-master Greg graciously extended the invitation for a few new guys to join the fold, to join the tradition.
My friend, Brian from Atlanta and Chris' brother-in-law, Allan from San Francisco came aboard. It was a perfect fit all around and a joy to be able to add these new voices to the conversation.
While life here in Atlanta is pretty great, about a year ago I decided it was time to start getting friends together every few weeks over drinks and wings to have those great conversations, to make those life connections here in my own town.
Brian and Gale had organized a semi-regular Tron Night where we watched, you guess it, Tron, and it was great. A large amount of meat, beer and rum was consumed and we talked for hours.
Since then we've had a few more movie nights, but I really wanted more of a regular gathering where we could talk as friends and more importantly, as men. So, every few weeks we get together at Trackside in Decatur and catch up. It's something I always look forward to, and even though I've only known some of the guys for a few years, they're some of my best friends.
Recently, Fabio got married and everyone from the group attended the wedding. I even played guitar and sang. Towards the end of the reception, Mickey said, "Hey we should all get together some weekend up in the North Georgia mountains."
Someone called it Mancation. Someone else snickered.
So, this weekend we assembled in the north Georgia mountains. We ate meat, Barry made a special beer called Mancation Brew, we watched movies, took pictures, and talked. I learned so many new things. So many gross new things. It was a great time.
A new tradition has been started.
It's so important to make time for good conversations, friends, and fruity lime drinks from Brazil. SO IMPORTANT, YOU GUYS!
What are some of the traditions you look forward to each year?
More pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmcnicholas/sets/72157632516861156/
Good Graces records and shows are coming!
Over the last few months, Kim has been hard at work getting the newest full-length record by the Good Graces completed, and it really is sounding great! We're all anxious for everyone to hear it, but we're going to make you wait just a little bit longer. In the meantime we're playing a few shows this month to support our new EP of covers called, Discoverings. Check out the EP below, and come out to a show or 2! The show on the 20th is a covered dish day party, so bring your best casserole.
Fits and Starts - Day 11
Last night I headed down to Marco's studio to do some recording for the first record by The Sunset District. We've been working in fits and starts since last summer, but we're back on track and focused now that the new year is here. I've made resolutions people, serious resolutions. We got lead vocals tracked for O Angelina, All Hail This Town, We Can Stow Away the Sound Underground and The Kids on Blake. Such progress. We still need to touch up a few more songs with some guitars, Jim's keys, and Jules' sweet, sweet vocals, but these 6 full-band songs are almost done. We'll start on 4 more tunes in the next few weeks, including Inside Out, and On the Line, to make it an even 10 for the record. Progress, people, progress!
Around the Block in this Weather?
Looking out the window was like staring into a front-loading washing machine filled with hipsters. We grabbed coats. We grabbed umbrellas. We grabbed the L and then the 6.
The Good Graces on Jonah Raydio
Check out The Good Graces on Jonah Raydio. So cool.
http://www.nerdist.com/2012/12/jonah-raydio-9-episode-and-canvas/
Happy New Year! (2013 Edition)
Hi friends, I'm pressing reset here on the blog. It's been updated, some old content is gone but there's quite a bit of new stuff here for your perusal if you're so inclined. I'm going to try to make weekly updates at the very least, so check back or subscribe as you do. I need to get back into the habit of writing, so join me as I twack the keys for the first time in a while. I'll probably cross-post to Facebook also, but I'd like to start living in my own space a little more, all grown up like.
Last year was a blur. A few trips to Savannah, SXSW, Athens, Helen, the Hopscotch Music Festival, YepRoc 15, Asheville, AntiWarpt Music Festival, Tropical Heatwave, Mississippi, New York, Wisconsin, and HNG and I finally moved in together here in Atlanta. I'm so close to work now that I ride my bike nearly every day. So happy.
In addition to the travel, there were non-stop musical projects. Spiller got back together for a handfull of shows and continue to write and play. Dank reunited for the big annual Christmas show in St. Petersburg. The Good Graces finished up a great new record, and my new project, The Sunset District are in the middle of our first record. Supervisor of the Loveless Average rocked a show or two, I got to play Happenstance again this year, and I played a friend's wedding with my friend, Jules.
I even got a few photos into magazines this year. One of them, a two page spread, glossy, in all it's glory. (pg. 22/23) Pretty neat for a guy who's still trying to figure out what all the buttons on his camera do.
It's all too much to wrap my head around.
Pile all of that on top of the number of award-winning mobile apps and connected device apps that my team were responsible for for the NBA and you've got a jam packed calendar with very little room for even a nap.
But, with that great year behind me, and now, finally with some time to spend with family and loved ones during the holidays, it was bittersweet that I had to say goodbye suddenly to Molly, my 12-year-old scottish terrier just before Christmas. She was simply the best dog I've ever had. Such a sweet girl. I'm going to miss her so much.
So, I'm hoping the train will keep rolling in 2013. I've got some new ideas, projects and songs up my sleeves. Here's hoping there's time to get them all done.
Wishing you and yours a very happy new year,
John
