Mike's Tour Diary

At the Evening Muse, September 22, 2007

2007-09-25T15:41:00.000-04:00

This past summer, Mark and I played quite a few private parties and weddings. After our showcase last December at the Charlotte Music Awards, we secured quite a few private bookings for our acoustic duo show. We welcome them, for sure.

It was nice to get back to a club scene for a show. Five of our last six appearances were with our own PA system and in various different non-club locations (including wineries, living rooms, church social halls, and reception rooms). This show was a particularly nice treat for me, if for no other reason than the Evening Muse is my favorite club to play...period.

We didn't go on until a little after 9 pm. If you were disappointed by how short we played, I apologize. There were five bands on the bill and it was important that we allowed ample time for the 10:30 band to set up. I hope that next time we play the Muse, we can play a bit longer. Still, 70 minutes was a good set length for what we did. I'm a bit hazy as to exactly the order these songs appeared, but we played...

Automatic
Flat Tire
Another Day in Paradise
Sad Songs
Hey, Angel
Walk in Circles
God Lives in My Backyard
I Won't Back Down
Telling You I Love You
See You Tonight
Walking on Broadway
Two Shadows
October
Gravity Affects Me

Mark recently developed an interest in recording our sets, just to see what they sound like and how some of the newer songs can be improved. On the way home, Mark listened to most of the set on his Zoom recorder. We both agreed that "Hey, Angel" was a good new addition to our acoustic set. The song somehow became an unwanted lost dog from the mg4 EP. If we had more money it would probably have made it on the record. All's well, though. I'll make sure to release it somehow, someday.

Mark's new songs gelled quite well. "Broadway" and "Telling You" are going over well with the crowds. Mark also had a new song that we chose to cut, "Last Night." The harmonies on this song are particularly challenging and fun.

We also did a cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" in which we share the vocal duties. We listened to some tracks from Pearl Jam's at the Gorge set on the way to Charlotte. That song appeared on a few of their sets and we decided to throw it in to one of ours. Great tune, Tom.

I had a personal request to perform "See You Tonight." If you have requests for me, please feel free to email them to me before any show. I love to hear stories about how my music is used in other people's lives.

We'll be back at the Muse in January, I hope. Until then, it's back to the rehearsal space for some new tunes. See you then!

Mike & Mark at the Muse

2007-06-12T10:14:00.000-04:00

Our show on June 2, 2007 had a bit of levity to it. Those of you who were there know. We told jokes. We played old songs. We played new songs. We sat down.

If you've ever been to the Evening Muse in Charlotte, you know it's a laid back atmosphere. It's a great listening room. I'm extremely grateful that there's a place like this 100 miles from my house.

The Muse has early and late shows. We were the early show on this night. I enjoy the early show for a number of reasons. The most relevant of which is that its early. If I don't stay for the late show, I can be back at my house by 11:00 p.m., which is great. Maybe I'm getting old, but I'm not much of a barfly now-a-days. I like to get up with the sun. I rarely stay up past midnight, even on weekends. No, there's no maybe about it. I am getting old. Or, maybe just older.

Our set list was composed of both old and new material. We pulled out a few songs that we haven't done in a while, like "Believe in You"...a melodious deep cut from Dirty Wake. We also tried a "new" song called "All I Need." Mark and I began co-writing this song back in 2003. We're just now getting comfortable with an acoustic arrangement for it.

Mark's new songs are a total success. If you haven't heard "Walking on Broadway" and "Telling You..." you should see our next show. We also played one of my new songs, "Two Shadows." It rocks. I get to yell a lot at the end. It's pretty cool. I also played a cover of "Best of You," the last Foo Fighter's single. This was a bit off the cuff and really rough around the edges, but, man, I gotta tell you, it sure is fun to yell at the top your lungs for five minutes.

For all of the shows we've played together in the past ten years, this last one ranks as one of the funnest and most entertaining for both us and our fans. Everyone had a good time. It was a full room. It was a good night. We'll be back

Photo by Rick Reese

Athenaeum in Downtown Greensboro

2007-03-28T14:27:00.000-04:00

Admittedly, finding a way to process the last Athenaeum show has been a challenge. 23,000 people showed up to see American Idol runner-up Chris Daughtry perform a free outdoor show. And, Athenaeum was the opener. The date was March 23, 2007.

Any time a band, broken-up or not, has an opportunity to perform to that many people, it's generally a good idea. What made this situation different from any of the other festivals that we had performed in the past is that this show was all about Daughtry. I guess the situation was a bit humbling.

Feelings aside, I thought our set was solid:

Flat Tire
On My Mind
Damage
No One
Unnoticed
Frozen in Time
All My Life
October
What I Didn't Know
Revolution

The fact that the show was in town didn't make it any easier. The folks who put this show on grossly underestimated attendance. The space for a decent view of the stage was limited to about 9,000. The other 14,000 were stacked on top of each other down Elm St, the main drag through downtown. Streets were blocked off for miles. Being so, negotiating a way to the stage entrance was a bit difficult.

Why this event wasn't held at the Coliseum, I'll never know. It would have made so much more sense on a number of different levels. The first of which, in simple terms, we would have had a green room of some kind. It was difficult to change clothes in a day old porta-John. You just hope that you don't accidentally drop your shoes in the crapper. I'm no prima donna, but I had a hard time finding even a place to sit down backstage. There were no accommodations for us or our guests.

Before we took the stage, a little drummer got up on stage and did a drum solo. This was pretty good, except he went on just a bit too long. He cut into our set...we had to cut "Sweeter Love" as a consequence. But still, it was amazing to see a 6 or 7 year old play almost as well as some of the drummers that I've played with.

When we took the stage, our reception was positive. Although, it was pretty clear after the first song just how much this whole shindig had to do with Daughtry. Not everyone there was as into our set as we would have liked, but we gave it our best. The set was over fairly quickly. Although, "On My Mind" and "Frozen in Time" were performed as well as perhaps they ever have been. Maybe the show in Ferndale on the Athenaeum tour in 2001 had better renditions, but it would be hard to say. We closed the set with a cover of the Beatles' "Revolution."

As we finished and began walking off the stage, the crowd began to chant something. At first, I thought it sounded like "encore," but that would have been a bit weird. It wasn't. They were chanting "Daughtry." The optimist in me hopes that this was a sign that we did our job. The crowd seemed warmed up. The pessimist in me takes that kind of statement as an insult...kind of a verbal middle finger...I still don't know what to think of it.

We had just finished packing up our gear when Daughtry took the stage. There was much ado and the crowd was very excited. I guess if you are a kid who watches American Idol every week, this kind of show would have been one of the most exciting experiences of your life. For me, a guy who's seen over 1,000 rock shows (including Radiohead, The Foo Fighters, and Cheap Trick at a 600 person club) this didn't really do much for me. But then again, what do I know? He did a great job at pleasing his fans. That's all that really needs to be said.

When people started downloading songs and not paying for music back in the late 90's everyone knew that the music industry had changed forever. Labels purged their rosters. A musical vacuum had begun. Something had to fill it. It looks like American Idol has done it. With a weekly viewership of 60 million, it's no wonder that 23,000 folks showed up to see this American Idol alumnus rock out.

I'll end this post by saying that this show has been very difficult to process. Although, keep your fingers crossed everybody. Some exciting things are on the horizon.

Mark & Mike Show at The Evening Muse

2007-02-04T11:20:00.000-05:00

After having played hundreds and hundreds of shows over the past 15 years, there are a few kinds that stick out. There's, of course, the ridiculously bad shows (like the Collapsis tough man contest; if you know Scott Carle, you've probably seen the video footage of this). Then, there's the incredibly positive and energizing shows. The show Mark and I played this past Saturday, February 3rd, was one of those energizing ones. I can think of dozens of these from the past few years. But, few have been quantifiable as "sell outs." This also was a "sell out" crowd.

The last solo show I did at the Muse was far from a sell out crowd. I think between 35 and 50 people attended that one. Mark and I did quite a bit of promotion and "get the word out" about this particular show. I think all of it helped.

Last December, Mark and I participated in the Charlotte Music Awards Holiday showcase at the Wadsworth house. We did well at this event and even won the night; there were judges. A bit of press and visibility helped. Michael Evans and Jeffery Cheen presented us with our award before our set. Thanks, guys!

We also played on the Fox Charlotte morning news on Friday, March 2nd. I got the feeling that a lot of the people who were at our show on Saturday either saw us play or heard about us playing and got the info about the show. I saw quite a few new faces at the Saturday show. I can't help but think that the news show was a good idea. So, thanks, Beth, for having us on the show! Also, it was quite a perk to play a morning show on Groundhog Day. I enjoyed watching the live feed from Pennsylvania as we tuned up in the green room.

Dean Fields (http://www.deanfields.com/) opened the set. He was incredibly good. As he played, Mark and I sat at the back of the Muse and worked on the set list. Included in the show were four new songs by Mark ("Sad Songs," "Telling You I Love You," "Walking on Broadway," and "What It's Like") and one new song of mine ("Two Shadows"). The rest of the set included selections from Radiance, Athenaeum, Dirty Wake, The Promise of Summer, and Gravity Affects Me. You know, the stuff we usually play. New material presents a new energy to a live show. It's almost unpredictable. I think these new songs came off really well, espeically "Walking on Broadway."

As we worked through the set, it was good to feel the energy of the crowd. It was an early show, but everyone was attentive and excited. Mark and I are gearing up to record an acoustic record. It was good to see that everyone present thought it was a good idea. We hope to be back at the Muse this summer. In the meantime, look for some Athenaeum reunion shows in March.

Thanks for coming out to the Muse and supporting live original music.

The Lessons of Autumn 10th Anniversary Show

2006-10-16T10:03:00.000-04:00

Originally, I had planned to have an extravagant "to do" for this event. I'm glad that it ended up being just me and an acoustic guitar, though.

On Friday, October 13th, 2006, I celebrated the 10th anniversary of the release of The Lessons of Autumn. The album is significant for many reasons. For one, it's a pretty good record. For two, it's the work that got my foot in the door. And for three, it's arguably my most personal album. It's so personal that most of the songs don't have an identifiable chorus...looking back, the thing reads like a diary from a bad time.

Back in August, I considered getting the original band together for the show. This would have been Nic Brown on drums, John Gillespie on bass, Mark Kano on electric guitar, and a few others playing violin, piano, and clarinet. I wanted to augment the evening with sax and trumpet, too. When I asked around, not everyone was available. Around September, I resolved to let the show be just an acoustic duo interpretation of the work. Up until about three hours before the show, this was going to be the case. Mark called as I was on my way down to Charlotte to tell me that he wasn't feeling well enough to play the gig. When we practiced earlier that day, we weren't sure if he would be feeling well enough by the evening. Such is the case with show business. The show must go on.

There was something cool about performing this album in its entirety by myself. Perhaps cool isn't the right word. Maybe it was more fitting. Yes, that's it. Because Lessons is such a personal record, it made more sense for me to perform it by myself. Although, the Mike and Mark duo rehearsal of the record sounded really, really good.

I started and ended the set with an attempt at playing the electric piano. "Birthday Song" isn't hard to pull off on the piano, but I'm not a strong piano player. I listened to John Hodge's boot of the show this morning and this didn't sound too bad. I started this particular song with an allusion to "I Fall in Love Too Easily," a standard that Miles Davis played in the 60's. He also played the lick at the top of "Sanctuary" from the Bitches Brew era.

Once I got to the guitar, things were comfortable. I played through the record making comments where necessary. Usually whenever I had to retune the guitar I made some comment about the next song. I remember the second half of the set being stronger than the first. I guess it took me a little while to get comfortable, as it always does. I was told that "Oceans" and "Milestone" were particular good.

I ended the set with "The Lessons of Autumn." I can't recall ever performing this song live with me playing the piano. So, that was a first. The song was written as a requiem for the story. I like the song a lot. I enjoyed ending the set with it.

The second set was an all request set. The only two songs that I selected were "Two Shadows" and "Where There's a Door," two newer compositions of mine. Everything else was by request. The requests were Building a Hole heavy, but there were quite a few selections. Thankfully, no one requested a song from Lessons. I hate it when people request songs that I've already played. I got a request for a song called "Information Junkie" that I hadn't played in about 8 years. I didn't have the lyrics, but we found them on the internet during the show. Technology has come a long way.

The Pour House, Raleigh, NC

2006-07-24T09:52:00.000-04:00

It would make sense to me if by common law, bands were considered "broken up" if a year goes by and they haven't played a show. By the skin of our teeth, MG4 made the cut off. We're still a band. We played a show on Saturday, July 22nd at the Pour House in Raleigh with Rob Watson.

The main reason we haven't played a show since last August has been that we've been busy with other things. Still, everyone agreed after the show that it was a good time and that we played fairly well.

This particular show was deemed an "after party" for the across-the-street event: Raleigh Downtown Live. We loaded it at 5 p.m. and checked until about 7 p.m. I was surprised at how easy it was to load in even with the rather large public event across the street. Raleigh's public works has the whole parking thing pretty much down pat.

Angie Aparo was finishing up his set when we finally made it across the street. If you think you haven't heard of him, you have. He wrote Faith Hill's "Cry." It's kind of funny to hear him perform the song now-a-days. You see a lot of perplexed people looking around at each other asking themselves "Why is he playing a Faith Hill song?" Dillon Fence performed directly after Aparo. I used to play with Scott Carle in Collapsis, so it was good to see him play.

We went on at around 10:45 p.m., just as Butch Walker's show was letting out. I have never seen the Pour House that packed. It was a good night, especially for whomever owned the bar receipts.

Our set was:

Don't Fade Away
Automatic
Sour Milk
Another Day in Paradise
Walk in Circles
She Alone
Rusted Radio
Sister Havana
Gravity Affects Me
Superhero
October

I broke a string about two lines into "Sour Milk." I tried to make it through the rest of the set, but after "She Alone" I played the rest of the set on my tele (the yellow electric guitar I usually play).

Rob Watson went on shortly after we finished. Rob's set was great. If you're in the Raleigh area, I highly recommend his show.

In addition to the show being fun and fulfilling, it also served as a good warm-up gig for the Athenaeum reunion shows that are coming up at the end of August. Playing this show made me realize that I need to dial in my guitar tones a bit more before doing a band gig again.

Warren, OH

2006-07-17T15:55:00.000-04:00

I don't tour that much now-a-days. Clubs don't book original music as much as they used to, so it really doesn't surprise me. There just isn't as much opportunity as there was five years ago. Other musical activities, like studio production and freelance composition, fill most of my time of late. Although, when I get a chance to play a worthwhile gig, I usually take it.

For four years now, in some way, shape, or form, I've managed to make it to Warren, OH to play a show on a local bar patio for those who are interested. The first year, Athenaeum played it. The three following years, I've played the patio as a solo acoustic act. Each year, I am greeted by friendly, open-minded, music fans. I'm very thankful for this crowd.

It's an easy 9 hour drive from Greensboro, NC to Warren, OH. Most of it is on I-77 through West Virginia and southern Ohio. With the exception of a few hills and a few stretches of mountain travel, the route is surprisingly flat. My car is on the fritz, so this year I rented a car for the drive. I drove a 2006 Ford Focus that had a total of 5 miles of life on it when I picked it up from the airport. This was it's maiden voyage. How fun.

I like to spend time alone. I'm an introvert. The trip afforded me the opportunity to listen to quite a few albums. I put my iPod on album shuffle and ran the battery out. Highlights from the trip included David Bowie's Heathen, Sunny Day Real Estate's LP2, Anthrax's The Sound of White Noise, Weather Report's Heavy Weather, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters. The car ran like a dream. Not even a single studder of the engine was heard.

I arrived in Warren around 6:30 p.m. I chilled for an hour at the America's Best Value Inn on Mahoning Ave. Then Jimmy and Uncle Butter (the promoter and club owner for the show, respectively) took me out to eat. I am always impressed by Jimmy Martin's hospitality. We went the the ITAM local 29, a Warren Italian-American club, for dinner. They had quite a tasty fried fish on special that night. We sat and talked for a good three hours. It was a good way to end the day of travel. I turned in around 11 p.m.

I've been to Warren so much that I practically have a day-of-show routine now. I woke up at 7 and worked out at the YMCA, a half-mile from the motel. I got cleaned up and then had a nice breakfast at a Panera a few miles down the road towards Niles, OH. Then, I visited the CD Warehouse and Best Buy to look for media. One year I found three INXS albums for three dollars at the CD Warehouse. The year after that I was a semi-finalist in the INXS Rock Star show competition, but that's a different story altogether...

With the afternoon ahead of me, I opted to see a movie. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was on my list of films to watch. I didn't realize that it was almost three hours long, so I had to head back to the motel immediately after the movie. I had to change my strings and prepare a set list before 6 p.m. I barely had time to do that. I liked the movie, but I should have checked the running time before viewing.

Things were set up at the club at 6 and I was told to arrive back around 8 or so. I did a brief sound check and then there were three opening acts, all of which I watched. First was French Blue, an acoustic duo from Warren. They do a great cover of Concrete Blonde's "Joey." Next was Jimmy Martin. I had the privelege of producing and mixing a few songs for his latest CD. It was good to hear him in an acoustic context. He played well. Then, a local band called The Zou played. When a heavy rock band shows up with banjos and mandolins, it's bound to be interesting. I thought they did well. I'm looking forward to hearing the CD they gave me.

I went on at around 11:30 p.m. It had been so long since I had played a show that the time seemed to just fly by. I made it half way down my set list and I asked Jimmy what time it was. It was already 1:00 a.m. One of the draw backs to having written so many songs is that I can never quite have a show long enough to play all the songs I want to play. I ended the show at 2:00 a.m. after having played for two and a half hours straight. All in all, the patio was about half full when I started and about a quarter full by the end of the night. It was a decent crowd, for sure.

I sold a few CD's, packed up, and made it to the motel by about 3:00 a.m. I wasn't very tired. I got a few hours of sleep. I hit the road at 6:30 a.m.

The trip home was somewhat of a daze. I didn't get a full night's sleep. That began to take it's toll around 10:00 a.m. Thankfully, I had the complete Star Wars Radio Drama from NPR on my iPod to entertain me. The program is about eight and a half hours long. I listened to almost all of it. For some reason I forgot to put the last episode on the iPod, so I left everyone hanging before they could blow up the Death Star.

Returning the car was quite easy. I just pulled into the rental spot and a nice clerk checked the gauges. That was it. 1035 miles total.

To SC and back

2006-05-03T07:45:00.000-04:00

I've usually defined touring as any string of shows, however short, where staying overnight somewhere is required. Last weekend, my run to SC and back technically qualified as "touring." Although, when I was younger, I used to be able to make it back from SC over night.

On Friday, I played my regular Charlotte stop, The Evening Muse. I wanted to do a different kind of show so I invited Mark Kano to join me for the set. We did a classic Mark & Mike Show, with a few extra songs of mine. I wanted to promote my solo DVD so it made since to through in a few songs by myself.

I had some interesting openers for both the Charlotte show and the Columbia show I played on Saturday. Brad Passons and Taylor Davis, playing independently, opened each night. These guys were fairly young. Both drew from the whats-happening-now school of singer/songwriterdom (a la John Mayer or Jack Johnson). Each played for about 30 minutes.

The set Mark and I played was quite strong. We played about eight Athenaeum songs and another 10 songs of mine. My mom came to this show and she had a good time.

The next night was in Columbia, SC at Jammin Java. I didn't have a great show the last time I played in Columbia and I didn't have a great show this time either. I'm not sure why people don't come out to shows as much in SC. It might be that they just don't like me. There are a handful of sincere fans that do show up, but all in all, it's not a great market for me. It's becoming harder and harder to justify a 400 mile round trip for ten to twelve fans. That's like driving 40 miles a fan who pays $3 and buys a $10 CD...maybe. Doing the math, it doesn't make sense.

It was a fun weekend, for the most part. I did get to run sound at the show in Columbia, so that made it a little more interesting. I'm beginning to understand why sound guys have a hard time mixing in an empty room.

Beatles Tribute at Spirit Square

2006-04-24T08:50:00.000-04:00

I was asked a few weeks ago to participate in the 3rd Annual Beatles Tribute hosted by the Tosco Music Party in Charlotte, NC. The tribute took place on Saturday, April 22nd.

When I was in college, I did several independent studies on 1960's American culture. The scholarship culminated with a thesis on the Beatles. What I found with The Beatles, aside from the obvious musical achievements, was a wealth of cultural mimicry. The term that the big scholars coined for this was Ethnomimesis. Dr. Robert Cantwell, my advisor/sponsor in this project, is the man who coined this word.

The Beatles had three distinct periods. Some would argue that there's only the "early" period (the happy period) or the "late" period (the drug period). Lumping their 12 year career in two piles does it cultural disservice. Then again, if you just want to divide the music into early and late periods, you can.

The first period (and the longest of the three) spans from 1958 to 1965. Here we find the Beatles simply copying American music. The point of my thesis argues that the reason the Beatles were so big in 1964 has more to do with the assassination of president Kennedy and the absence of any relevant cultural presence in America than anything else. It certainly helps that they were good looking kids who could sing and play their instruments. The Beatles simply repackaged much of the music that had worked in the late 50's and early 60's in an easily digestible way. Next to many of their own songs, you'll find a wealth of Motown, R&B, and Broadway style songs that are re-presented.

From 1965 to 1968, one finds a few different things at work in the Beatles music that wasn't there in the earlier period. The most obvious is an embracing of psychedelia and drug culture. Second to that is the reflection of British working class life. It begins with songs like Norwegian Wood on Rubber Soul, where we get a glimpse of what it's like to live in a "flat." It culminates in the album Sgt. Pepper, which is an entire immersion in to the British working class experience. When talking about Sgt. Pepper, most people only focus on the studio genius that went into the recording. Unfortunately, this overshadows where the album fits in a social context.

From 1968 to 1970, the tide changes again. I like to call this the "what are we doing here" period. It's pretty clear to me that the band really didn't want to be together much after Brian Epstein, their manager, died in 1968. The White Album is one of the Beatles most celebrated works, but so little of it is really a Beatles record. It's more of a preview of what everyone's solo career was going to be like. Very little of it was recorded as a band. Let It Be, with the exception of Paul's contributions, is painful to listen to. Abbey Road is a much appreciated last hurrah, but really, it's kind of a let's-save-face and make a good final record kind of project. All three of these records surpass the quality and musicianship of 99% of any other commercial recording in history. Make no mistake that I respect these works. It's just that they seem frustrated to me when compared to the jubilee of Help!.

The Beatles tribute itself was quite nice. Everyone played only one song. There were about thirty performers. It amazes me that the Tosco Music Party company was able to logistically arrange this event. There was a lot going on.

I played "Julia" from The White Album. I was told that it was good. Honestly, I have no idea. It was over before I could process the event. I remember bowing.

At the end of the night, everyone was called back to perform "All You Need Is Love." That was nice. I got to sing the song enmasse with both of my brothers next to me. I enjoyed that.

Evening Muse

2006-02-11T13:49:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've played a show. With all the time that has been eaten up by the live CD/DVD and with The Gossman Passion, I'm surprised that I even found time to book this show, let alone play it. On Friday, February 10th, I played the 8 pm slot at the Evening Muse in Charlotte, NC.

This show was particularly good for a number of reasons. I haven't played out in about a month, if you don't count the jazz open mics I play on Wednesdays at Speakeasy Jazz in Winston-Salem, NC. I felt refreshed for this show. I didn't even practice. The songs weren't stale at all.

Secondly, and arguably more apparently, I've been approaching music a little differently lately. I've developed an obsession for Miles Davis' records. I particularly have been enjoying the unlistenable electric stuff like On the Corner and The Tribute to Jack Johnson (the fighter not the singer). In spite of the dissonance, on thing that resonates clearly on these experimental recordings is vibrant energy. The performances on these records are living, breathing things.

With this set in particular, I tried to approach my songs (many of which I've been playing for over ten years) with this purpose: How do I make these things live and breathe? In some of the live versions of Miles' stuff, he would speed up the songs so they almost seemed completely different. At other times, he would back off and play less. That's the kind of thing I tried to apply to my solo show. I found the melodies and inflections shifting all over the place. I think that made the experience enjoyable for both me and the room full of listeners.

Now, let me be clear about something. I understand that Miles Davis had more talent in his pinky finger (the one that didn't touch the trumpet valves) than I will ever have. I'm not trying to equate anything that I'm doing to the ground breaking (and often breath taking) music that he made. All I'm doing is applying a lesson to what I do. He's inspired me, that's all.

I played two sets. Each one was about 50 minutes long. That seemed about right. The first set was semi-scripted, but I never really follow the set lists I make. I don't remember what I played. The second set was almost an all-request set. There were a few songs I couldn't remember when people requested them.

I had a hard time getting out of Charlotte. I got stuck behind two long trains. I had to go all the way downtown to catch the beltway to get back to 85N. There was a strange coincidence with this, as I was listening to the new Train record. Please note that this is NOT irony. There's nothing ironic about listening to Train and being stuck at a train crossing. I think we should all strive to use this word correctly. That Alanis song was a harsh blow to champions of correct diction. I guess we can begin the healing by making small steps. In order for something to be ironic, the result of an action has to be the opposite of what was intended. Irony has nothing to do with coincidence.

I really like the new Train record. I think fans of the band will love it. "Cab" and that Sugar cover are my favorite two songs on the album.

I'll be on hiatus from shows/touring until April. See you then. Until then, check out www.gossmanpassion.com for information on a new record I've produced which should be available sometime in March.

Riverfest

2005-08-28T22:11:00.000-04:00

I played my first mall on Friday, August 26th, 2005. Back in the 80's this was a sign that you were going places. I'm turning 30 next week and I think there's still a lot I have to do with my life. Still, I can finally check off that "play a mall" thing from my list.

The show was sponsored by 100.7 The River, a Raleigh, NC radio station that really liked the MG4 EP and asked us to play in their summer concert series. We were asked to do an "unplugged" set, so it was more of an MG2 show.

I enjoyed playing with Mark in an acoustic format, again. We play a few different songs as an acoustic duo than we would with the full band. "Flat Tire" and "Sad Songs," two of Mark's songs, get good billing in our acoustic set.

Remy, our drummer, came out to the show even though we didn't play as a full band. He lives in Raleigh and brought his daughter, Grace. She's growing up fast.

Our set was great. I got to sing through Duncan Sheik's microphone, which was great. It was a Neumann. That's German for "really good microphone."

We played some Mark and Mike standards, including "Flat Tire," "Automatic," and "October." We also played a new song of mine called "The Secret of Happiness." I'm really proud of this song.

After we finished, Duncan Sheik took the stage about 20 minutes later. He was with a full band. I've done three shows with him over the course of my career and this was the best I've seen him.

I'd like to say thanks to Jess, who took the pictures you see in this blog. Good luck in school in Toronto. I'm glad we could do "Sad Songs" for you.

Writers in the Line

2005-08-17T09:25:00.000-04:00

Usually when songwriters do a "writer's in the round" there are enough songwriters to make at least a semi-circle. On August 16, 2005, I played an "in the round" show at Lewisville, NC's Music in the Park outdoor concert series with Mark Aaron James, a songwriter from New York. There were only two of us, so it was "in a line." Giving credit where credit is due, that was Mark's idea. As I found with is songs, he was full of very clever ideas.

I met Mark Aaron James about an hour before we were to share the stage. A year ago, I would have shunned the idea of improving over someone else's music. Now, I'm all about it.

Mark and I showed each other a portion of a song back stage before the set, just to make sure we were both on the same page. I found quite a few similar chords and voicings in his music as with mine, so I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to follow along.

We traded songs back and forth. I don't remember many of his song titles, except two: "Kleptomaniac Girlfriend" and "Invisible Man." Man, those were fun songs to play. Mark comes from a steep songwriting tradition. He lived in Nashville for years and, as far as I could tell, is a sharp songwriter. He had several turns of phrase that were both original and poignant. I found myself saying, "Man, I wish I had thought of that," at least five times during the set.

As Mark played his songs, I attempted to improvise over his song structure. I muted my expressions during his melodies; I just let his melodies inform my phrases. When I solo, my focus is finding the right notes, not necessarily the most notes of the fastest phrases. On one song, I played three notes over and over, but they were the right three and it provided a cool counter melody.

As for my songs, I played mostly stuff from my forthcoming live album. Not a lot of "new" material. That stuff is coming...once I finish it.

And then, after 75 minutes or so, we were done. If you were there, I hope you enjoyed it. I most certainly did.

At The Evening Muse, July 30, 2005

2005-08-03T09:30:00.000-04:00

Sitting in a parked car on the corner of 36th St and Davidson isn't very entertaining. Charlotte, NC is a vibrant city, but at around 4:30 in the afternoon, there wasn't much going on. I did see my brother Jay jog by for some reason, but by an large, I had an hour to kill before Joe K, the soundman at the Muse, would arrive.

Bitches Brew is a tough album to understand, at least for me. I passed the time by listening to "Pharaoh's Dance" and accompanied it by reading a passage from Miles: The Autobiography. Compared to albums like 'Round About Midnight and Kind of Blue this Miles Davis album is cacophonous by comparison. I think I finally got it as that hour passed.

"I told the musicians that they could do anything they wanted, play anything they heard but that I had to have this, what they did, as a chord. Then they knew what they could do, so that's what they did," Davis explains on page 299 in Miles. When I started looking for the chords in side what was going on, my eyes got really big. Wow, he really was a genius, even when the world thought he had gone nuts. Having spent a pleasant hour just listening, my day was about to get even better.

I tried to tell myself that this was just any other show, but I knew different. There wasn't any tension in the air from my perspective, just a bit more air on the side of caution. The show would become my first live album; it would be one for the books.

Joe arrived right on time. He brought in his digital multitrack machine and greeted me in his usual, cordial and professional manner. As we got things set up, I ran through a mental check list of all the stuff you should do before any recording session, live or otherwise. String change, check. Guitar intonation, decent. Voice, sounds fair. Need more water, room temperature. Mandolin, kind of sucks, but it'll do. After a quick sound check, Joe and I created a small vignette of guitars and drums off to stage right.

Chip and the film crew arrived around 6. They were running a bit late, but that's to be expected when you're traveling from Kentucky. They did their thing, which I'm not to sure about. I like it when camera people have light meters and white balance issues. That means they probably have a clue. Chip and his crew were quite skilled. The stills that I've seen so far have been wonderful.

At around 7, a few people started to show up. I was to take the stage promptly at 8, which, in musicians terms, really means 8:15. I was beginning to get a little concerned when at 7:30 only about 20 people were there. The Muse isn't a big place, but I hoped to have a good turn out. 80 seats lined the club floor. 20 people beyond those chairs could fit near and around the sound board. 100 people would be at capacity.

I decided to run next door to get a taco. My wife, Holly, was there already and I asked her to save one for me. Cabo Fish Taco excels at making interesting Mexican pescatarian dishes. I only spent ten minutes eating dinner which was enough.

When I returned, the place was half full. Good. And, there was a line out the door. Even better. Everything was going to be great.

I started the show at 8:10 p.m. after Chip riled up the crowd. I divided the show into two segments. The first was a scripted segment with a battery of songs that I knew I wanted to record:

April Moon
October
Another Day in Paradise
Rusted Radio
She Alone
Orange
The Clorox Metaphor
99
Sour Milk
Throwaway, A Race Horse (w/ Mandolin)
Static (w/ Mandolin)
Jenny

I talked very little between songs, just so it wouldn't become a banter fest. Honestly, this made me feel a little uncomfortable. So much of what makes my Muse shows entertaining is the off-the-cuff nature of the set lists. Therefore, I was happy that the second half of the show would be all-request.

Going "all-request" is a lot like taking the net away from a trapeze artist. And, honestly, I found myself not engaging all of the requests. The selectivity made it more like taking half of a net away. Still, there were some surprises, at least from my perspective. I didn't expect "What You Will" or "April's Complaint." I don't fully recall what the songs were that I played in this portion. There were several unreleased songs like "Happy Song #1" and "Tourniquet" that make an excellent addition to the show.

The crowd remained enthusiastic throughout the night. I couldn't have asked for a better crowd, although that sing-a-long version of "Sour Milk" from Warren, OH still blows me away.

The show came and went. The footage met the can. The recordist hit stop. We all packed up our things and headed home.

Chip calls me a few times a day to tell me how excited he is about this project. "I knew it would be about an 8 on a scale of one to 10. I think we're gonna hit 11 with this," he said to me, just yesterday.

Live albums are important. Most artists release them after they have a decent body of work. Having recorded a good many albums, I felt it was time to showcase my songbook for what it is. The way you'll hear the songs on this album is the way they were conceived, just me and a guitar. This live album takes me back to the root of what I do. For that reason, if you like my songs, I think you'll appreciate this work.

We'll be packaging a CD/DVD combo for this project. The CD will between 74 and 80 minutes long. The DVD will be no more than 90 minutes long, although we'll probably opt for something in the 70 minute range. Some songs on the CD may not appear on the DVD and vice versa. I like it when things do that.

Thank you.

Hat Trick

2005-07-19T21:28:00.000-04:00

OK, I finally got back out on the road.

Not all shows can be considered "touring." I define touring as a show so far away from home that it requires some form of lodging. The free kind (staying a friend's houses) is preferable, but usually its an affordable hotel.

When I'm out driving the highways of our great nation, I inevitably end up calling my friend Kyle for no real reason other than to bother him. Not in a pestering way, but just in that way that guys do. Talking about movies, films, books,...you know, important stuff. When I passed Parkersburg, WV, I was reminded of arguably the most surprisingly good Collapsis show of the Dirty Wake tour: Pub 47. I had to call Kyle because he was the road manager on that leg of our tour. Kyle works for the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team. A hat trick is when a player gets three goals in a game.

"You know when you're playing darts and you get three bullseye's?" Jimmy said. We were standing in a recently cleaned garage on the outskirts of Warren, OH. Jimmy arranged three separate shows for me in the Warren, OH area on the weekend of July 15 - 17, 2005. He continued, "Well, that's called a hat trick."

The first show wasn't much of a show, in the formal sense. It was an informal gathering around a bonfire to celebrate Jimmy's recent engagement. He invited his friends to hang out, eat, drink and generally be merry. He hired me to play the guitar and sing for everyone. Being an outstanding musician in his own right, Jimmy also played along with me as he called out the songs he wanted to hear. It was a fun night. That garage I mentioned provided some needed shelter from the constant drizzle that seems to loom over Warren. Eventually, we made it out to the fire...after the rain stopped.

The second show was at Kelly's Patio. This place recently changed ownership, but it's still the same great place Athenaeum played in 2003. It's still the same place I played in 2004 (that Ron recorded well). I've played a handful of shows this year and I can honestly say that this was the best one so far. The litmus test for a good show is the sing-a-long factor. If there's a song that people like so much that you, as a performer, can break down for a round of interactive crowd singing, you're playing a great show. "Sour Milk" has never been more appreciated by a crowd, anywhere. Thank you, Warren.

The third show was a slot at Jimmy's Localpalooza event. I played early so I could get home at a reasonable hour. I did a short set consisting mostly of songs that I didn't play the night before. I did an acoustic version of "Stumble," which I very rarely do.

Last year in Warren, I spent some time bowling. My wife never goes bowling. Therefore, I rarely go bowling. It's only when I'm out of town that I find the sport appropriate. I didn't get to go bowling this year because I was working. I've been doing a lot of production, co-writing, and recording of other artists lately. One of the artist with whom I work is living in Ohio this summer, so I figured we'd collaborate while I was a few hours away. This took the better part of Saturday afternoon. The song turned out really well and we'll be recording it in August. I may not bowl again.

The drive to and from Warren is mostly through West Virginia. It's a long, winding road. I'm glad I bought an iPod a few months ago. Man, those things really do occupy one's time. I usually listen to playlists that I've made, but this time I tried listening to a few albums on shuffle. Most of them were great. Except, one album that really doesn't work on shuffle is Pink Floyd's The Wall. It was like watching Memento.

For the trip home, I purchased two new albums. I've wanted to check out Herbie Hancock's Headhunters for about six months. I wanted to make sure I had a good jazz vocabulary before I ventured into the fusion world. This is one of the more important and influential albums. It's worth listening to at least once, if for no other reason than to hear where the funk genre came from. I listened to this album seven times in a row. It's that good.

I also finally picked up the latest Foo Fighters album, In Your Honor. It's an extreme album. It attempts to rock harder than they ever have, on one disc. And, it attempts to break things down to the most acoustic level than they ever have, on the other disc. Yes, it's a double album. The only double album I know of that works is The Wall (except in the situation noted above). I think a case can be made for this album, but I'm going to hold off on making that claim for a few weeks. The first time through, I didn't think the rock side rocked hard enough. Then I realized that I've been coming off of an Anthrax binge for the past month. It's just a fact that there aren't many albums that are heavier than Stomp 442. After coming to that realization, I was able to appreciate the rock side. I'm not a big fan of "Best of You," mainly because I heard that hook in a Radiohead B-Side called "Lewis (Mistreated)." Oops. The acoustic side is completely flawless, though. It might be my favorite thing the Foo Fighters have done. Packaged with the heavy stuff, I can see why a case could be made for it being their second most relevant album, next to, of course, The Colour and the Shape.

It was a fun weekend. Thanks to Jimmy for setting it all up. Thanks to Travis for having me at his club. Thanks to Nick who drove from Minnesota for the show. Thanks to Renea for driving from Pittsburgh. Thanks to Jenna who lets me write songs with her. Thanks to everyone I forgot to thank. And, thanks to the great people of Warren, OH who are brave enough to take a chance on music that isn't being forced down their throat by record labels and tv shows.

Three darts. Three goals. Three bullseyes. Hat trick.

Mountain Pass

2005-03-14T10:55:00.000-05:00

I've found myself doing a lot of mountain driving these days.

I haven't played Boone, NC and Johnson City, TN in several years, but over the last few weeks I've returned to these cities for acoustic shows.

My show at Murphy's in Boone on March 5, 2005 was different from my usual solo acoustic shows. I normally will play an all-original set, colored by a few cover tunes here and there. The number depends on how long I am contracted to play. Generally, the original to cover ratio is about 10:1. On this particular night, I noticed I was getting a lot of requests for bizarre songs. I was in such a good mood, I decided to indulge in Carly Simon and Tool covers. It was strange for me, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. After all, the function of entertainment is to entertain.

A week later, I found myself traveling the same route back to Boone, but I added an extra 50 miles to get to Johnson City, TN, which is just over the NC/TN border. 50 miles doesn't sound like a lot on paper, but when it's through 25 mph curvy mountain roads, it's quite a distance. It took me an hour and a half to plot my way through the ups and downs. I drive a Mazda Protege that has a v6 engine. It was tough to accelerate up some of the hills.

The club in Johnson City was quite nice. It was called The Sophisticated Otter. It was mostly wooden, which is nice for live music. I played after Chip Roop (Acoustic) and before The Part Time Heroes. I only did an hour set which went by rather fast when I think of the 3 hour vocal onslaught that occurred the week before at Murphy's. I noticed that a group of about 7 people were really into my set, so I asked them for requests. I didn't do many songs that I had wanted to do, but I played the songs that the more enthusiastic folks wanted me to play. After all, the function of entertainment is to entertain. I'd say about 50 people were there when I finished, but more and more kids were coming in as the Part Time Heroes took the stage.

I decided that the mountain roads were far too dark to traverse at that late hour...1 a.m. So, I took the interstates to get home. It kind of rattles one's brain when you have to drive on 81 N and 77 S at the same time, but it makes sense when you look at the map. It took me about 3 and a half hours to get home this way. In time, it was equal to my journey to Johnson City. In distance, I added about 50 miles.

I gotta say that the best part of the trip home, for me, was coming down the mountain near the VA/NC border at 3 a.m. The lights were amazing and I could see for miles. I don't recommend driving at that hour, but the effect should be the same if you were to drive that route at say 10 p.m.

Jazz in Reverse

2005-02-18T17:56:00.000-05:00

Since I started a heavy rotation of Miles Davis and John Coltrane a few months ago, I’ve often wondered what it would be like to improvise on stage, without a net. On Thursday, February 17th at the Pour House in Raleigh, NC, I got as close to a jazz sensibility as I think I ever have.

Nathan Davis contacted me several weeks back about doing a “songwriters-in-the-round” show at the Pour House. This variety of show involves putting three or four songwriters on the same stage and seeing what happens. Along with Nathan Asher, Nathan Davis and I committed to performing a SITR show; we had no idea what was going to happen.

Nathan Asher brought his keyboard player, Lawson. Nathan Davis brought his sax player. I didn’t bring anyone. We set up and started playing in the round at around 10 p.m.

The night started with each of us doing a song individually. I thought this would be a good way to establish the identity of each individual writer. I thought it worked well. I hadn’t heard any of Nathan Asher’s stuff before this particular show. I read a review of a show of his in the Independent Weekly a few weeks ago. They seemed to indicate that he had a severe political slant, but I only detected a slight one. I enjoyed the imagery and specificity of his songs, all bold statements. He started the night off with as song about “America” and images from coffee shops and the like. It was powerful.

I followed him with “Another Day in Paradise,” one of my better pop songs. Then, Nathan Davis followed me with a song. I can’t remember which it was. The greatest moment I’ve had so far this year happened during Nathan Davis’s first song. His sax player, who was sitting at the bar, began to accompany him from across the room. It was breathtaking to be a part of it.

As we began the second round of songs, we all began to join in. Since no one really knew the material other than the one who wrote it, most of what went on was a process of improvisation. I like to think of it as “jazz in reverse.” The soloist is on firm ground; the band doesn’t know where it’s going to end up. It was wild. I think everyone liked it, too.

The songs I contributed ran the gamut; from Lessons of Autumn to stuff I haven’t even finished yet, like the song “Jenny,” which, incidentally, will appear in the video tour diary of this show.

The night went on. Before I knew it, it was midnight. We took a quick break and did two more rounds of music. We closed the night with Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

Thanks for listening. It was a magical night.

MG4 @ Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC 2/12/05

2005-02-14T16:08:00.000-05:00

And, the MG4 has returned!

At one point during our set, I turned to Alex and said, "You know, man, no matter how good we think we are, Ornette Coleman would hate us." We laughed.

Since Alex had rejoined up with us on a semi-temporary/semi-permanent basis, things have been going well. On Saturday, February 12th, MG4, also known as the Mike Garrigan Band, took the stage at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC. It was one of the best shows we have ever played.

During soundcheck, I turned to Remy and said,"You know, man, four years ago to the day we were getting together for the first time for Athenaeum rehearsals at your practice space in Raleigh." We laughed.

It's a bit odd to think that in the amount of time that it takes (most) people to get a college degree, I've been making music with Mark, Alex, and Jeremy. It's true, though. Up and down, high and low, we've seen the best and the worst of the business. And, it had been close to six weeks since we had all done the Athenaeum farewell/reunion show together. It was good to be back.

After check, we all wandered into the India Palace restaurant right next door to the 506. As Mark got a plate from the buffet, I said, "You know, man, I just got an Indian cookbook." We didn't laugh. My comment was neither funny nor relevant.

Starting Tuesday opened the show. I was taken a back by the number of rather large men in attendance. I later found out that the drummer of the band was on the Duke football team and had brought out a few of his team mates. The band was solid. At times, their sound reminded me of Coldplay and Tears for Fears. I think it was the octaves on the piano that did that.

Our set was strong. We didn't play any new material, save the acoustic rendition of "The Great Divide" that I did in our break. I dedicated the song to my wife's late Aunt Karen, who very recently passed away. The funeral was held on that Saturday near Mobile, AL. We both agreed that Aunt Karen would have wanted me to play the show. I thought of her during our set and hoped that, if in the afterlife you get to look down on things that are going on, that she was watching us play.

The night ended well. We had a great crowd. We all left with a "Let's do this again very soon" feeling. We will.

The Southeastern Touring Nexus (Part 2)

2005-02-06T07:43:00.000-05:00

I got turned on to Jazz as an indirect result of doing a lot of running. During long runs, one has two choices. First, there's the option of escape, or, going to a different place and forgetting that you are running in the first place. Second, there's the option of existence, or, savoring just about every moment that your feet are hitting ground. I'm a fan of existence.

Wynton Marsalis was quoted in Ken Burns's Jazz as saying, "Jazz is existence music." By that he meant that when you listen to a Jazz recording, you are hearing a true negotiation among players, a democracy if you will. In the case of many great players, like say Charlie Parker, it is very possible that either directly before or after a solo that moved you, that player was passed out in the alley behind the club or recording studio.

In an effort to embrace the touring I've been doing over the past month, a heavy playlist of Jazz has been in rotation in my car. In fact, on my way to Charleston, SC, to play at Cumberlands on February 2, I listened to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane's avant garde masterpiece, on repeat. That, and Milestones by Miles Davis. I like a little hard bop every now and then.

When I got to Charleston, I headed straight for the Starbuck's on King Street. I like that one for some reason. I've passed many an hour in that place. I got some great press this week in Charleston from the city paper, too. It was nice to read that over a cup of coffee.

I got to Cumberland's at 6 p.m. I didn't need to be there until 9 p.m., but I was there. I took the time to do some writing in my journal. I needed three hours of uninterrupted time. Happy hour at Cumberland's was a little disruptive, but generally harmless.

The show was great. Stellar Door, a local acoustic trio, opened the show. They reminded me a lot of A Perfect Circle. They even did a Tool medley of "Crawl Away" and "Sober." Great job, guys! My set was solid. I enjoyed hearing my voice fly around that room.

Thank you to Luke Cunningham who let me stay at his brother's condo. Man, what a sweet pad!

The next day, I opted to head home to Greensboro. I could have stayed in Charleston for an extra day, but I saw a storm coming and didn't see a lot of benefit to staying there. I would just end up inside all day anyway and there were things to do at home. Just when I arrived home, it began to snow. My dog, Smitty, enjoyed romping in the snow immensely.

Jammin' Java in Columbia, SC is one of my favorite places to play. It's a restaurant and coffee shop. It's refreshing to not be a beer salesman for a night. By that I mean that most of the time, a touring musician's worth is based on a club's bar sales. This is unfortunate. And, not the case at Jammin' Java. Also, it's the only club I know of where you CAN'T play cover songs. How cool is that?

Brian Wiltsey opened this show. He was great! I enjoyed his falsetto; it's much better than mine. I was surprised at the number of people at the show. It was a Friday night and I imagine it's the only place in Columbia that kids under 21 can hang out with much success. Granted, a lot of the folks at the show were not there to see me. They did tip well, though. Thanks for covering my expenses.

I got a great write up in the Free Times, too. I was surprised that, for some in attendance, the only stuff people were familiar with was my free downloads. That made for a different set list, completely. Still, it was a very fun evening.

I managed to make it home at 4 a.m. I've resolved to limit my after show drives to 100 miles from now on. The 200 mile trek was just too dangerous to do at night for me. I was getting really, really tired. I had to stop every 20 miles to avoid falling asleep at the wheel and possibly dying. My death is going to happen someday, I know. I'll be damned if it's going to be because of a car crash, though.

The Southeastern Touring Nexus (Part 1)

2005-01-31T11:29:00.000-05:00

I'm glad that I'm an introvert. The road has been a lonely place for me over the past two weeks. I'm the kind of person who gathers strength and energy from time spent alone. My recent trips to Knoxville, TN, Charlotte, NC and to Atlanta, GA were energizing.

I haven't performed in Tennessee since the Dirty Wake tour back in 2000. My music never really took off in TN so I wasn't expecting much from my show at Barley's Taproom and Pizzeria. On the morning of January 20, 2005, I headed over the mountains to Knoxville. I stayed at a Motel 6 by the freeway junction; not the nicest place, but not bad either.

The show at Barley's wasn't great. I've played much worse venues under much dire circumstances. The soundsystem was very decent, though. I drew about five people from the press I generated. About 50 or so people drifted through he restaurant throughout the night. The problem with the gig was that I was background music. It was a hard crowd to read, too. Some of my covers received thunderous applause, some didn't. Some of my originals had a similar reaction. All in all, it wasn't a complete waste of time, as I sold quite a few CD's.

The next day I traveled to Charlotte for a show at the Evening Muse. This was a great show! About forty people came out for the show, too. Nathan Davis opened the late slot with me. Earlier, Dromedary and Devon Sproulle played. There's something about seeing musicians play exotic instruments well. Dromedary must be the most talented folks I've met on the road in the past year.

My set was good. Things started to turn into a pub atmosphere near the end of my two hour set. Jon Wells had a great Napoleon Dynamite impersonation that kept the night fresh. Again, I played my "Happy Song #1" near the end of the night. I feel embarrassed to play this song, but I have to take responsibility for my own actions. The song deals with some very serious issues that are easy to make light of. It's quite sad if you knew the real story.

The threat of an ice storm kept the night interesting. I discovered Dave bribes Time Out on this particular trip, so, I had plenty of music to wrap my brain around. Have you heard this album? Go ahead and buy this if you are remotely interested in Jazz. It's on just about every Jazz critic's top 100 album list. The cool thing about this album is that it is entirely in compound time, with a few 4/4 exceptions. It may be the first math rock album, too. The jury is still out on that. To all Jazz enthusiasts, I do understand that Jazz music begins and ends with Louis Armstrong. I'm just taking a detour in my education...

I took the weekend off, but I was back on the road on Tuesday morning to play Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta, GA. What a great club! Geez. I forget how great this club really is. The sound is impeccable. The stage has a curtain. There's a backstage. I just wish I brought more people out. Thanks to the Marshall Seese band and the thirty or so folks who came. I had a great time!

Amos' Southend, December 18th, 2004

2004-12-20T15:41:00.000-05:00

Athenaeum Farewell Show #1

Farewell shows are a new thing for me. My last band, Collapsis, played its last show at Rollins College to three people. We didn't have a farewell show, unfortunately.

In the case of Athenaeum, the notion of “breaking up” is a bit different. Judging from the 600 people who came out to see us at Amos’ Southend in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, December 18th, it’s not because a lack of fan support that the band is calling it quits.

I think we all realized at the beginning of the year that 2004 would be the final year for Athenaeum. There comes a time when you have to do what you have to do. We realized after a few shows into the new year that it was time to put these songs to rest. To say that we’re not a little sad and emotional about it would be mistaken; although, we all agree that it’s the right thing to do.

I’m glad that we’ve decided to send-off Athenaeum with a bang. If you were at our Amos’ show this past Saturday, you know what I mean.

Joey Auch and The Clear opened the show. Both acts played well as usual.

We took the stage at 11:50 p.m. Our set was a bit different:

Damage
Different Situation
Flat Tire
No One
Sour Milk
On Her Way
October
All My Life
Frozen in Time
Away
Life Line
Don’t Fade Away
Comfort
Little Red Corvette
Radiance
Unnoticed
---------
Banana
Just Like You
Hourglass
Plurabelle
Revolution
Sweeter Love
What I Didn’t Know

The greatest challenge for me on this night was that I had a bad cold. Singing with a cold is tricky. You just have to know how to do it. It requires much more concentration than usual, but it can be done. And, honestly, after a few songs, one’s adrenaline takes care of the phlegm and inflammation. I thought I would have some trouble getting through “Sour Milk,” but I was fine.

The set was powerful and spontaneous. We deviated from the plan by moving “Don’t Fade Away” up a few songs and cutting “On My Mind.” I enjoyed playing “Comfort” again. It’s been a long time since we’ve played that one.

The encore was quite fun. Over the past four years, I have typically done a solo song to kick off the encore. For this show, I thought it would be great to do an Athenaeum song that we usually don’t do. I chose to play “Banana.” I got the words right, but I screwed up the chords here and there. Oh, well.

Mark asked me to bring my mandolin to the show, just to see what would happen. During sound check we ran through a few songs in a stripped down manner. We decided on doing “Just like You” and “Hourglass.” I was surprised that the guitar licks in “Just like You” translated so sympathetically to the mandolin—it’s an unforgiving instrument.

Then, Remy and Big Mike came back on for “Plurabelle.” I’m not exactly sure what happened at the end of “Plurabelle,” but, whatever it was, will never be duplicated again by anyone, anywhere, at anytime. My wife, Holly, compared it to some of the primal scream pieces from an earlier Peter Gabriel concert she saw. I made the mistake of putting my “Plurabelle” guitar down and picking up my fresh one for “Revolution.” It was a happy accident, because it backed me into a musical corner as to my options. I could only play G# for a few minutes. And, when I went to solo, I switched on my reverse guitar pedal and played randomly in the appropriate scale. It was pretty wild.

After a spirited “Revolution,” we closed the encore with “Sweeter Love” and “What I Didn’t Know.” The room was nearly equally as full at the end of the night as it was at the beginning. Most who attended were there for the show and stayed to the end.

Looking back on the last four years I've spent with Athenaeum, I can say that just about every show with the band has been a complete joy. What I am going to miss most about Athenaeum is my supporting role in the band. I viewed my job as doing what I could do to make the band appear and sound its best. If that meant playing keyboards, acoustic guitar, and singing at the same time, so be it. I enjoyed trying to make they guys laugh, too. Although, usually, my jokes aren’t funny. Often, I’d just think about how bad my jokes were and laugh to myself. Most of the guys thought that was funny enough. It goes without saying that Mark's songs were ultra-friggin' awesome, too.

What about MG4? Well, it’s true that we’re all going to still play together under a different name. Although, with MG4, I’ll be in a completely different headspace. Even though it might basically look and sound the same, it’s a totally new thing in my eyes. And, being the front man carries a whole different set of responsibilities. Often, these duties are stressful and time consuming.

Our final show at Ziggy’s on December 30th will be a sight to be seen. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I’m sure it will be an emotional, exciting, and fulfilling show both for the fans and for us.

Thanks for the memories, folks! And, yes, the tour diary will remain active as long as I'm touring in some capacity.

The Pour House, December 9th, 2004

2004-12-13T00:04:00.000-05:00

Raleigh has always been a decent place for me to perform. I can dependably draw a fair crowd any night of the week.

Thursday isn’t the most ideal night to play a show, but at least it’s not Monday. On Thursday, December 9th, my pal Nathan Davis and I co-headlined the Pour House in Raleigh, NC.

I arrived at the Pour House at 7:45 p.m. I live in Greensboro, NC, which is 90 miles from the Pour House. I was able to have dinner at Moe’s with my wife and be on the road by 5:30 p.m. I had to park in a deck once I got to Raleigh. The Pour House is located on Blount Street in the center of downtown. Good luck finding a parking spot on the street. Patrick, the bartender, encouraged me to double park. I’ve had bad luck with cops lately so I just walked my gear in an extra block. No big deal.

A guy named Sam Hindmarsh opened the show. He plays in a new band called Evenfall. I liked his sound. He’s very much inspired by Edwin McCain. During his set, Nathan and I talked a bit about the Raleigh scene. I’m impressed that Nathan buys guitar strings in the gross. It’s amazing to see how 144 sets are packaged. It may be 200 sets that he had, too.

Nathan took the stage around 10:30 p.m. I hung out by my merchandise rig and watched people come and go. I talked to John Hodge and Kyle Hanlin for the better part of the evening before I played. A few women with obvious lower back tattoos hung out at the bar for a while during Nathan’s set. They didn’t pay any attention to the music. It was all about the beer, which, sometimes, is all one goes to a bar for in the first place. A lot of drunk guys didn’t realize that they were staring at them with their mouths open. I don’t drink when I play, so I tend to notice little things like that. It was amusing.

Nathan's set was great. It was the best of the three times I've seen him play. I expect great things from him in the years to come.

I took to the stage at around midnight. I saw some fans of mine leave before I started. Most people have real lives, so I understand when people can’t stay. A lot of clubs are really late, so it goes with the territory.

My set was good. I wrote a lot of music over the past week and I tried to sneak it in as best I could. Inevitably, when something new arrives, something old departs. My set:

April Moon
October
Another Day in Paradise
Rusted Radio
She Alone
Walk in Circles
Automatic
Throwaway, A Race Horse/Birthday Song
When I Was Five
Jenny (w/ Nathan Davis)
Falling in Love Too Fast
So Strange
Capture
Enjoy the Silence
Chartreuse
High Caliber Grease
Sundrop
Wonderland
Gravity Affects Me
The Original Pullman Palace Car Dream
Don’t Fade Away

I opened up the set to requests mid-way through the show. I got some really obscure ones that I didn’t mind playing. I’m grateful that so many people knew of my lesser known songs. Hell, most of the time when I open up my requests, some drunk asshole calls out “October,” even if I already played it. Raleigh is good to me.

It was good to play so much new stuff, too. Some of it went over well, some of it didn’t. That’s par for the course, as they say. I think “The Original Pullman Palace Car Dream” is the best song I’ve written all year. I’m really proud of it. If The Return of Spring ends up being an album about childhood and imagination, then, this song has found a welcome home.

The manager of the club was happy with the turnout. Nathan mentioned the possibility of doing a “songwriter in the round” show in the near future at the Pour House. I welcome that possibility. It was a good night.

Club Cafe, December 2, 2004

2004-12-06T11:27:00.000-05:00

My return to the road brought an embarrassing and painful truth to light. I was rusty. Really rusty. In spite of my checklists and efforts to be prepared, I forgot some very important things. Namely, my merchandise. I didn’t realize this until I reached West Virginia. That hurt. I had no choice but to turn around and trek the 150 miles back to Greensboro. At 11:30 a.m. in the morning, this oversight couldn’t have been actualized at a better time.

After that mistake, the trip to Pittsburgh, PA on December 1, 2004 went rather smoothly. I was scheduled to perform at the Club Café the next evening. I went up early to insure being well rested. I also wanted to see Pittsburgh in a non-rushed manner. I enjoyed myself on this three day trip.

I arrived in Pittsburgh at 11:00 p.m., just as the Carolina game was wrapping up. Dr. Erik Ritcher was nice enough to let me crash on his floor for a couple days. We watched Carolina cruise to victory once again. It’s going to be a good season for Carolina fans. I’m not much of a sports fan. However, once you go to Carolina, there’s a good chance you’ll always be mildly entertained by the basketball program, for better or for worse.

It was an early morning on December 2nd. I’m training for a marathon, so I knocked out my 5 mile run at the YMCA. Parking was expensive ($8/hr) but the Y was free because I’m a member. After that, I headed over to the Shadyside Starbuck’s for a coffee and a lowfat coffee cake. Then, I went to the Carnegie Science Center for the rest of the day. Special thanks to Dan C for the info and courtesy tickets. I liked watching the Lionel Trains exhibit the best. The Titanic relics were a surprise, too. At around 12:30 I saw an IMAX presentation of the Robert Zemeckis film The Polar Express. I really enjoyed this in IMAX. It was a fun Christmas movie. I also enjoyed the café which overlooked the river junction. From where I ate lunch, I could see two places where Collapsis played outdoor shows back in 2000.

I had a 5:00 p.m. load-in at Club Café. I arrived just in time and sound checked. This was one of the nicest clubs I’ve ever played. The staff was courteous and positive. They were up front about the expenses, unlike most clubs. It was great to be treated like a professional.

After my sound check, the doors opened. I was happy to meet a few fans and street team members who helped promote the show. I was embarrassed that an underage fan couldn’t get into the show. He didn’t have the proper credentials. (Sorry, Sean…get that ID card and we’ll get you in next time). I ate a really nice sandwich at the Club Café, too. In addition to being a great venue, they have swell food.

My show began at 8:00 p.m. I was very relaxed and comfortable. I enjoyed the sound and the crowd. The set I played was

April Moon
October
Another Day in Paradise
Rusted Radio
She Alone
Sour Milk
Walk in Circles
Automatic
Throwaway, A Race Horse/Birthday Song
When I Was Five
So Strange
Falling in Love Too Fast
Jerk
Don’t Join the Army
Stephen Fell Asunder
Chartreuse
Run from Thunder
Wonderland
Gravity Affects Me
------------------------
Heaven
Don’t Fade Away

After the show, I sold quite a few t-shirts and CD’s. I was so glad that I went back to Greensboro to get my merch. Otherwise, this would have been an expensive trip. I ended up breaking even.

The next day was an early one, too. I’m sorry I didn’t hang out with a lot of the fans who asked me out after the show. I was far too tired and I had to get going by 7 a.m. the next morning. The trip home was all downhill. I arrived in Greensboro at 3:00 p.m. after only making two stops for fuel on the way home.

Thanks, Pittsburgh for the wonderful show! I’ll be back.

Ziggy's, October 22, 2004

2004-10-23T09:49:00.000-04:00

Ziggy's, one of North Carolina's premier rock clubs, never disappoints when it comes to opening slots. This past year, MG4 has played 4 times at this club. 3 of the four times have been in supporting roles. All three exposed us to a big crowd.

Yesterday, MG4 opened for the multi-major-label band Better Than Ezra. I say "multi" because they've been on a few different labels. They've managed to nurture a strong fan base in that juggle. And, in a volatile industry, they've found a way to stay afloat. They brought in close to 500 kids for the show on Friday, October 22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Our sixty minute opening set was probably the best MG4 set we've played to date. There wasn't much room on stage, so we set up "James-style"; that is, in a straight line. Do you remember the band James from the 90's? Well, I saw them one time. They set up in a straight line. It was kind of neat. The crowd was energetic and supportive.

I like seeing people connect with the music. Usually, people are into our newer songs. There are those who look a bit bored until they hear a familiar song like "Automatic" or "October." I like to see faces their light up, as if to say, "Oh, yeah, I remember this song. It's good."

We shuffled the set list around in order to make it a little punchier. We dropped the acoustic number and added "Rusted Radio."

Don't Fade Away
Automatic
Summer Machine
Sour Milk
Another Day in Paradise
Walk in Circles
Sister Havana
Sigourney Weaver
Superhero
Rusted Radio
October
Gravity Affects Me

After the set, I sold merch. I sold a lot of merch, mostly EP's. We sold 50 copies of the EP. That means about 10% of the audience purchased our CD because they liked our set. Man, I can't tell you how happy I am about that. After almost two months, we're at 67% of our sales goal of 500 EP's.

I hung out with Ryan, the Better Than Ezra merch guy for most of the evening. I enjoyed BTE's set. They played a number of songs I forgot that I liked by them. I ended up picking up their live DVD recorded at the House of Blues in New Orleans. Incidentally, that's the only House of Blues Collapsis ever sold out. It's smaller than most, but it's so, so great.

At the end of the night, Kevin, the lead guy from BTE, told me how much he enjoyed our set. I returned the compliment. He and the other guys were swamped with fans, but I appreciate his taking the time to mention that to me.

The Evening Muse, October 12, 2004

2004-10-16T09:36:00.000-04:00

Shows on Tuesdays are usually duds.

This one wasn't.

The Evening Muse is a small club in the NODA district of Charlotte, NC. I usually play there three times a year. Usually. I enjoy it's ambiance. Joe and Lea, the folks that run the place, are really nice. I should also mention that they are fair when it comes to money. Clubs usually aren't.

Lea asked me if I'd like to open this show for Stereo 360, a band from LA, a few months back. It seemed like a good idea. Getting in front of a new audience is key when you're trying to promote a new project.

The day of the show, Stereo 360 had some transportation trouble...purportedly. If they did, that's fine. If they didn't and said they did, that's crappy. Personally, I've done the touring equivalent of "calling in sick" to avoid a money losing show. Whatever really happened, the bottom line was that they weren't coming. So, the show became mine.

Most of my fans appreciated that the other band cancelled. I gathered this as I was getting ready to take the stage. I gathered about 35 fans from the bi-state area for the show. That's not bad for a Tuesday. A lot of bands don't do those numbers on a weekend, so I considered the turnout a success.

I couldn't do the show I planned to do because, well, I had to add an hour to my set. I made an outline of a set list and worked off of that. I tend to drift from my plans once I get into the show. I think I drifted well. I had a few songs I wanted to play, but, by and large, I left the song selection up to the fans.

Many people told me, and I'm surprised with this, that this particular show was among the best they had seen me do. I made an effort to keep my anecdotes relevant and fresh. For example, when I played "When I Was Five," I told a story about my going back to the house I grew up in near Hinesville, GA. I don't recall telling that tale before. The night was good.

I'm surprised with the number of EP's I sold this night, too. I sold 12. That doesn't sound like a lot. However, when you look at the ratio of EP's sold to those in attendance, it's a different story. 34% of the people at the show bought EP's. If that trend was constant, that would mean a 500 person crowd would be expected to purchase 170 EP's! Now, I realize that the 34% rule I just made up is not a constant. Yet, $5 is such an easy sell. Things are looking good.

I'm seeking out more clubs like the Evening Muse all around the country. I recently booked a show in Pittsburgh that seems a lot like the Muse...a place called Club Cafe. I've started the ball rolling on a massive Pittsburgh press campaign, so I think I could see the numbers that would make the trip worthwhile.