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This is where I slept last night. Surprisingly, it was more comfortable than my bed at home. I needed a place to stay on the cape after my gig, because I had an 8AM ferry to catch.

So, after playing piano for about four hours, I found myself a nice seat at the bar-- where the bartender treated me to eight of his favorite shots. He offered me his couch for the night... but I had put a mattress in my car!! So, feeling a bit like a homeless person, I crawled into my trunk, cracked the windows and passed out.

Song Du Post: Frontin' - Jamie Cullum

Voicemail

"At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording you may hang up, or press 1 for more options"

--It's no new concept, so why does that stupid lady still come on and waste valuable time giving instructions!? Everyone on the face of the planet knows how to leave a voicemail... and anyone who doesn't should probably not be in public without supervision. I think it's time for that lady to get a new job.

Really, I don't need someone to tell me I could hang up the phone if I wanted to...

As an aside - the worst thing to listen to is the message you hear when the person hasn't set up a personalized voicemail.

It goes something like this:
"The person you called, area code 5-5-5, 5-5-5, 5-5-5-5, is unavailable at this time. After the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording you may hang up, or press 1 for more options."

I'm sure you could recite that word for word too. Life shouldn't be like that! On a side note, there are far too many people with LONG personalized messages,

For Example:
"Hey Guys, you've reached Jim at 555-555-5555. Looks like you missed me, but if you leave your name, number and a brief message - I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks, and have a great day!"

This could be shortened to: "Hey it's Jim. Leave a message!"
I know what number this is, I dialed it.
I know I missed you... I'm listening to a recording.
I know you'll call back... That's what the voicemail is for.
And, my day would have been better without your empty, pre-recorded wishes.

And then there's the "clever" guy (everybody knows one) who thinks he's original and records:
"Hello?... Hello!?... I can't hear you.... AH Just kidding, It's Jim at 555-555-5555........"

This could be shortened to: "Hey it's Jim. I'm an asshole!"

Song Du Post: The Pageant of the Bizarre - Zero 7

Sundae News

You always hear people talk about the "little things in life," and sometimes I wonder what those things are. Most of the time if you ask someone - they'll say something like "the sound of the ocean," or they might say "a baby" if they take the little things part too seriously...

Anyway - I found one of those little things. It's a tiny diner in Osterville, MA called The Sundae News. It's one of those places where they remember your name and what you order every time you come in. If you order a scrambled egg with onions- they'll throw in some mushrooms and peppers just for the hell of it. The coffee mugs don't match - and depending on who you are - there might be a specific mug reserved for you! The third or fourth stool has a stick-on label that says "Hot Seat," and if you find yourself sitting in it, you will be challenged to get the ring off of a metal puzzle that Mark keeps behind the bar. The people are friendly and talkative, even though it might be 6:30 in the morning. Finally, when all is said and done, my onion, mushroom and pepper omelet with a side of toast and a cup of coffee is $6.00.


Song Du Post: "One Glass Eye" - Two Ton Shoe

Building a Custom PRS Guitar

My father and brother are both rock-driven, guitar-crazy, demi-god super-stars (that's as many hyphenated adjectives I could think of in the 10 seconds I allowed myself to write that sentence).
Now, all men have a "MAN" gene that gives them random urges to cut down trees, build fences and re-floor the livingroom, but an interesting thing has happened to my father and brother. This "MAN" gene has collided with their musical-artistic side... And so, instead of building a shed to hold power tools in the backyard - they have started to build a guitar. Not just any... but a Paul Reed Smith style guitar. That rocks.

I have always wanted to be a guitar player - and this just proves, once again, that in the battle of 88-keys versus 6-strings,.. the strings win. I can't just go buy some wood and start building a Piano. I'll have to satisfy my own "MAN" gene urges with hammering nails into walls and stuff...

Song Du Post: The Otherside - Stefano Di Battista

**Free Room and Board

Work often doesn't end until 2:00 or 3:00am - and then I've got a 3 hour drive ahead of me. Naturally, I've spent a certain amount of time sleeping in my car... talk about starving artist ;-)

Since bucket seats do not make particularly comfortable beds, I try my best to make a friend for the night and crash at his/her place! Surprisingly, when I'm counting on it, it's a pretty reliable "hotel room." If I play my cards right, I might even get some free breakfast in the morning!!**

**typically, female "friends" expect a specific performance as payment for the nightly room and board.


Song Du Post: "Jazz" - A Tribe Called Quest

Free Drinks

When I show up at work - they ask me "What are you drinking tonight?"

Most people would be fired if they were caught drinking on the job. But, most people aren't working in an office where everyone else is drunk. My office has a dance floor, and changes location depending on the night. But, regardless of where I'm working my drinks are free, strong and plentiful.

Somehow, as a musician, I am expected to drink a lot, but not get drunk. Either that, or I'm expected to get drunk - but still perform well. I don't know who's idea that was, but I'm not complaining.


Song Du Post: "Poetry" - RH Factor

Song Du Post (a soup du jour for your ears!)

I'm going to try to do this the right way - and make sure I'm giving something to you with every post... Naturally, I think my little insights and opinions are of tremendous value -- but to ensure that you get a little something out of my ramblings... I'm going to do a "Song du Post" after every entry... like a Soup du Jour kinda thing!

I'll try and make it something good but a little lesser known...!

Song du Post: "Handclaps" - Vincent Van Go Go
this is the music video. it's really low budget, but the song is great :)

Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll

I'm working as a professional musician for the summer - which is a hard thing. Most musicians don't live the stereotypical life of Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll, but we all get a little glimpse now and then - just enough to keep us going - enough to keep us thinking, "maybe I can make it."

Really, being a musician means a lot of driving, and lifting heavy equipment. For any given job, I might spend more time packing up my car, getting there, setting up, breaking down and going home, than I do actually playing my instrument.

With that in mind, there is a lot of down-time involved with being a musician, and during my drive to Newport, New York or the boat to Nantucket - I'll use this blog to talk about what's on my mind!

...it's sort of a more socially acceptable way to talk to yourself ;-)