Friday, October 31, 2008

Live Clips from The Alchemist Lounge 10/30

Got some live clips from The show at The Alchemist with The Pick Up Gangsters.

Don't Terroize Me


Angel In The Snow


Black Man

Monday, October 27, 2008

9 dollar doughnuts.

Today I went to Starbucks.
At the register they were selling a box of mini donuts for 9 dollars. 9 dollars for mini donuts. Is this the world we live in now? These donuts are not even fresh! They are packaged and shipped and probably frozen at some point. For some reason this really pissed me off. Maybe its because I'm broke. Maybe its because the people working there would have to work for an hour and a half to afford these donuts. Maybe its because everything that is happening in and to this country right now we deserve. Why? Because we find it totally acceptable to buy a 5 dollar coffee and 10 dollar donuts. Maybe its time we found out how difficult life can really be.

2am-ish

I find myself awake at this time often. Usually, I would rather be sleeping.
I started my day off with my 26th Bikram Yoga class in a row. For the last 26 days I have practiced everyday. For those of you who don't know, it is not what most people think of when they think of yoga. The temperature in the room varies from 100 to 115 degrees on average and humidity up to 90 %. The class is an hour and a half long and very dificult. The first time I thought I would die. It was the most intense physical experience I ever had. The endorphin rush and "Yoga magic" that occurs is amazing. I have been hooked on it ever since.
After that it was off the rehearse with The Pickup Gangsters for the Alchemist gig on Thursday. It went well and I'm very lucky to have such talented musicians playing with me. W e played for about 2 hours. I then headed home to change my rusty strings. I'm surprised they made it that long. These strings survived 3 long rehearsals and 2 gigs. I usually change them before every show but sometimes I push the limit. String cost adds up after a while. You dig?
Finally after stopping at my Moms in Dot it was off to WAAF to play an acoustic set on Carmelita's Bay State Rock Show. Truly an honor. I remember when I was a kid listening to WAAF and trying to time it just right, so I could hit record on my tapedeck and get "18 and Life" by Skid Row on tape. Yes, I am not afraid to admit that. I still stand by my claim that that is a good song. "I Will Remember You" is as well. You dig?
The set went well enough. On "OFD" my voice cracked and it was a slight train wreck. I blame the yoga and the rehearsal. DAMN YOU!!! That will never see the light of day if I can do anything about it ;) The other 3 songs went well though. I played "Poor Boy", "3 Stories From a Triple Decker" and "My Disease". "My Disease" is a new song. I'll prolly post the 3 on the Intranet for your listening pleasure. Carmelita and her staff were all very nice and it was a good experience. Now I am home and slighly wired and its after 2am now. . . I think. . .

End of Blog.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Lineup for 10/30 at The Alchemist

The lineup for 10/30 at The Alchemist

Drums, John Cohan
Bass, Richard O'connell
Mandolin, Keith Cornelia
Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals, Me

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Dreaming Florida Steet. F.S.P.

I grew up next to Florida Street and next to Templeton St. It is said that they changed the name of Templeton to change the reputation. They changed it to Monsignor Lydon way. Is that Catholic? So much for the reputation.
On Florida Street there were these apartment buildings and there was always a lot of crazy shit going on there. People would put their stereo in the window and blast N.W.A. out onto the street at like Midnight, on a Tuesday! Low riders with "local motion" stickers and purple lights shining on the ground would cruise around blaring Latin music at like 2 am. Dogs roamed free without leashes and crapped on the sidewalks. Up the street was the endless Dorchester Ave, with the Irish bar on every corner, liquor stores in between, scattered Chinese take-out restaurants, pizza shops, and Catholic churches. Kids were everyhere.
Back to Florida street
When I was like 10 years old I got "jumped" right out in front. 3 kids came out of nowhere and grabbed me. 2 held me and one punched me in the stomach. I have no memory as to why this happened. Perhaps it was because I lived 20 yards away and I wasn't from the same building. I don't know. I struggled free and ran away. Next thing I know my aunt is in the building with my mother banging on the door of this kids apartment. The woman let them in and my aunt scared the shit out of her. Family.
Last night I had a dream that I was walking through the Florida street apartment buildings and they were very nice and clean. They were now Luxury condo's with "green" energy. The people had little dogs on leashes and they picked up their crap. There were no children anywhere. They were graduates of nice colleges with high paying jobs. They used phrases like "thats ghetto" when refering to saltine crackers. They drove mini coopers and hybrid cars and saw "films". They raised eyebrows at Boston accents and exchanged nervous looks between eachother when amongst a "local". They put up "Resident Permit" parking signs so you could only park there with a special sticker and they called the police when the music was too loud.
I kept thinking about how much I missed the way it used to be. I guess sometimes things change for the better or for the worse.
Then again, it was only a dream. . .

Sunday, October 12, 2008

2:30am in Dorchester.

Its more violence. In the last 2 days I have seen 2 fistfights already. There must be something in the air. Maybe Fall in New England. Maybe just New England.
There is a party spilling onto the street.
There are people in the street and they are yelling.
Girls are yelling. Boys are yelling. Black people are yelling. White people are yelling. Spanish people are yelling. Polish people are yelling.
"I should just shoot this Motherfucker"
"Should I pull on him?"
"Should I pull on him?"
Thats my cue to duck into my apartment.
The last ting I need tonight is to get fucking shot. Seriously.
I never called the cops.
I never heard gunshots.
The voices got quiet and the people moved on.
I tried to sleep.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Dawn of the Dead.

I'm watching Dawn of The Dead.
I've seen the original like 850 times.
I'm watching the new one.
I've seen this one like 50 times.
For some reason movies about zombies taking over the world relax and comfort me. What can I say? I'm weird.
Played a gig tonight.
It was another gig.
I was nervous about it.
Sometimes I get more nervous than other times. My parents were there, so I was nervous about that. Its a quiet room where everyone pays attention and there's no loud noise, or bottles clanging, or red sox games, where people start cheering in the middle of a song.
The turnout was less than I usually get there.
I try to focus on the people who were there and not the people who weren't.
I try not to care.
You play enough gigs and you have to not care, because if you do, its too painful.
It was a fun night though. Mark Lind played as well. He played with Britney Grey singing and they pulled it off nice. I enjoyed there set and sat around digesting my Chinese food.
Word of advice.
Unless starving, try to hold off on heavy/greasy food before singing your heart out. Its not a good time for indigestion.
So I played a handful of new songs.
I'm excited about them and look forward to an opportunity to record them. I figure something will come up. When I write songs, ways of recording them turn up. Its the way dude.
So what am I doing writing in this stupid blog? I don't know. . .Gathering my thoughts?
I've seen this movie like 50 times and I have nothing better to do.
Sleep has been a stranger these days. the change of the season or something. Haven't fealt too comfortable. I'm not looking forward to another Boston winter and I'm sick of my threats to move. If I move, I'm going to Austin texas. Austin Texas baby.