It's been a little bit...

So things are starting to get back to normal. My life sorta stopped for a couple weeks as I lost a close family member. My grandfather was a proud man, and he was proud of his grandson. I always thought he would be around forever. He will be greatly missed. I did play a great show last friday though, in my own mind, it was dedicated to him. When emotions come in, better music always comes out. That's how "I roll" so to speak.

Right now, I'm very excited that school is done for the semester. The last week or two has been insane with studying and rehearsals. I'm still in kalamazoo all the time. Nothing too new at the moment, just prep work for a big show with some western people. I still have about 40 songs to learn, it's gonna be close! I should be off to chicago a week from next monday for some blues jamming. I can't wait!

Here is something that I have to add. I strongly dislike booking agents :) I lost two gigs recently and compromised a good ongoing relationship with a certain establishment due to the lack of communication on my agent's behalf. I never claim to be a genius, but I would think that if a band was hired to play a certain night at a certain time... I would need to be informed right? Also when bands don't show up, the owners get angry. Needless to say, this guy is out of the picture.. which is also a good thing because now I don't have the pay 25% for someone to make a phone call (or not make in this case...)

okay, back to work.

oh yeah, I found my old rock-star picture. Laugh away :)

a few random pics from the last few years

Blues Festival, somewhere near indiana... 2006
"Jack's Money"- My acoustic duo, this was in kalamazoo at "Harvey's on the Mall"
Frankie B, myself and Mr. Eddy Lester- my blues brothers. These guys are top notch musicians. Every time we perform, there is no prep- the whole night is on the fly, yet it seems as though we've practiced together for years. Good stuff.
Old pic of the rock band- I'm the dude with the fro in the background hehe. Wedding gigs are great- 8 songs for a thousand bucks? Yes please.
And "Mr. Wonderfuls" -2005

This is a very historical basement blues bar in kzoo. The place stinks of nicotine and old beer, but everybody who is anybody has jammed here. The bass player in the pic, Robin Merideth, did work with the Rolling Stones. He is amazing. Jamming at this bar on a weekly basis was an awesome learning experience for me. I'll never forget that place, and I try to go back whenever I'm in the area.

it was a good week

The week is just about over. I wanted to take a little break, but that didn't happen. I ended up playing tuesday, wednesday, and thursday night. It was a great time. To top it off, it was blues all week, which is my favorite. I played with a bunch of old friends, and we put on some sweet shows every night. I felt kinda bad taking the money because I had such a good time, but I gotta pay those bills I guess haha. I should have some good pics coming from a couple of the shows, I'll try to post them up in the next few days. I jammed with some very very good musicians this week; old cats that have been around, played with the big names, and paid there dues. It was a very good week :) Do it again next week? Hell yeah.

One more down, ____ more to go.

Well, my contract with Western Michigan is now officially finished :) It was a fun run these last few weeks playing there. The last show this afternoon went very well- all the actors/actesses and bandmates gave it their best, so we sounded great. Driving home was a good feeling, no more commuting every night. I finally get to go out and buy some actual groceries for a change, catch up on school stuff, and best of all get a good night sleep in my own bed.

So what is coming up... I'll do a couple blues gigs (maybe three) this week, then I'll have a weekend off to catch up with some friends and whatnot. Now that I'm not tied up with Western I can start playing with a couple old bands I've been in for a while. That is what I enjoy the most because I get to play what I want and really put some feeling into it. Reading music for shows is pretty much like being programmed by somebody- it gets a little boring after a while. I also was graced with some discs for an upcoming gig in May- I have 45 songs to learn!

Also, more excitement this week...
not music related, but hopefully I'll get it up to GR by the end of the week, I hope joyous michigan doesn't provide any snow....