work it out, toof-loss, syrup/jelly.

today is gym day. asked Holly early this morning about it to confirm so i could get it into my head. i'm excited for it actually - as much as i hate it, i like the idea of going and working out with the whole family. i just hope Delaney does alright in the child care that they provide. i should pick up some doughnuts and coffee to butter them up, that cute little kid is a touch nut to crack!

Chloe is psyched it's valentines day today. she was even more psyched yesterday when that dang tooth finally fell out! she got $2 plus an extra $1 from my mom when we were visiting over there yesterday afternoon.

speaking of teeth and kids - Delaney has some more coming in. had a little fever and was extra cranktastic all day/night. she was not going to go to bed without a fight. Holly got up with her around 4am for the day, i got up one time to settle her down, plus she was up an extra hour late! 

visited over at my folks place with the family, my sister and her husband. my dad's birthday is this week - so Holly baked a kickass carrot cake! we got my dad a bottle of Cabin Fever for his birthday. we picked a bottle up for a cake over the christmas holiday and found it was just awesome stuff! my dad had some last week (he's not a whiskey drinker much) and mentioned he wanted to take a bottle down to the keys for the trip coming up. figured we'd just pick it up and he wouldn't forget it. if you haven't had the stuff - try it. it's maple infused whiskey and is something really fantastic!

i got a cup of coffee here that clearly is being ignored - better get back to the grind!

swillmerchants, craft beer, chin strap beards, para-diddles

great night out with my buddy Jim last night. we went to max cap for a show, crowrider, swillmerchants and against apocalypse were on the bill. when we got there, there was a band already on stage - for the life of me i cannot remember the name. it was something to the effect of 220's or along those lines. good stuff, great vocal harmonies and the drummer used some interesting crash cymbals. one was destroyed - as in it looked like it had gotten the rough end of an industrial paper shredder. however, it had the most beautiful trashy and dark sound.

the crowd was full of familiar faces - some i haven't seen in ages! i was enjoying the selection of craft beers on tap. started out the night drinking Magic Hat's "Howl" (which is terrific btw), then based on the bartenders recommendation after my initial inquiry - i switched to Goose Island's Mild Winter. this was out of this world! enough about my beverages - Crowrider was up next. after months of missing the shows under the name UTAH - i finally got a chance to see them. i'll leave it at this - Dino's 'tiger shirt' said it all. and if you missed it, your loss!

Swills played a killer set and blew me away! played a lot of tunes i expected to hear - but they dug into a few of the newer tunes (i assume for the new record) - and did a cover of "girls on film". they put on such a good rock show. the type of show that engages the crowd from beginning to end. for the genre, the accomplish everything they should be, while on stage. everything is executed with the idea of having a good show in mind.

then Against Apocalypse played some songs. not really my thing, well played however! i think it's just catered more toward the chin-strap beard wearing crowd - not that there is anything wrong with that. :/

during the evening i spoke with a handful of people who told me they have checked out this blog - that made my night! best compliment i could have heard - i heard last night regarding dedication to writing this. couldn't have come from a better guy either, he's one of my favorite drummers (taught me how to apply the paradiddle to the drum kit back in the day, not that i do correctly - but he taught me) - thanks Bill!

anyway, Chloe is flipping her lid because we asked her to wait a bit on breakfast. i had better get on that. also, Holly is giving me a ton of crap about "computing" - i am terrible now that i have my own machine. amazing.

more soon!

peace!

Black Diamonds Heavies w/ Mark 'Porkchop' Holder Deep Blues 2009

this is amazing. this is music. this is art!

just finished making Chloe an egg sandwich for breakfast. man, that kid is so 'in your face' first thing in the morning. she just needs to chill-out a little - let daddy get some coffee before the onslaught of chatter! i love that kid though, she's awesome.

really quiet night last night around here. Delaney went to bed without any issue, which i appreciated. Chloe stayed up an hour extra to watch the Charlie Brown Valentine's Day Special. Holly went out for coffee with the girls and i spent some time checking out bands on the Deep Blues Festival 2011 lineup. there are definitely a few that i'm really excited to see, but they are all right up my alley.

Holly gave me my valentines day gift early because it arrived yesterday. it's an indoor smoker! it is basically a medium sized hotel pan with a fold away handle and a thin steel lid that seals it all up tight. inside theres a rack that fits into a drip pan. the idea seems pretty cool - we'll be trying it out soon and there will be reviews to follow!

tonight i'm going to check out a show at Maximum Capacity in Chicopee. SwillMerchants are playing along with CrowRider (UTAH in another form, i think). the show is right down 391, so it's close and cheap! another bonus, the club has a great selection of craft beers on tap. i figure if i'm only going to have a few beers in a night out - might as well make them great ones!

thinking it's time for some breakfast ya'll. peace!

comatose, chills, chicken and waffles, the beard diaries.

wow. i slept like a rock last night! heard the baby fuss a little bit around 4am, then go back to sleep. at that moment i realized that i had been sleeping in exactly the same position for about 5-6 hours. when it comes to sleeping - i'm pretty damn good at it.

it is WICKED cold out today! like, winter is cold - but today it's the kind of col that goes right through you.  single digits without the wind chill - that my friends is real cold weather.

weekend plans - pretty tame actually. tonight i'm hanging out at home with the kids while Holly goes out for her Coffee night out with the girls. between that and her "crafting night" i feel like i married a Golden Girl! anyway, tomorrow is going to be pretty quiet too. Chloe has a bday party for her BFF - spa themed. needless to say, i'm most likely going to hang out with the baby at home. Saturday night - there are a lot of options. i'd really like to to take Chloe out to a talent show that's going on - but it doesn't start until 7pm - so we'll see. Albert Cummings is also performing at the iron horse that night too - along with many other shows going on that night. i think my buddy Pawel is playing a gig too in Greenfield - gonna have to see how it all comes together.

sunday - gathering at my parents place for birthday cake for my pop's bday and that will pretty much wrap up the weekend. 

last night Holly started making some homemade chicken stock. she got a good deal on some whole roasters and bought five! two of them have already been roasted and picked apart for use in recipes - the bones and such have been boiling away making the house smell wonderful! i think we need to make more stock - it's s good to just have on hand, why not take advantage of the chance to make it?

Valentines day is coming up and a week later Holly's birthday - i get hit hard in February! i got her bday gift already, she's opened it and loves waffles! i got her a waffle maker - a good one. she's been asking. i need to get a valentine's card and i'll be set! she's been bragging that she bought me a valentine's gift that was awesome. i have no idea, last birthday she got me my Leboowski wallet - which i love!

i am getting to a crossroads with my beard. i should give it a good trim, but there is another part of me that wants to stay the course and just let it grow. i'm leaning toward just rolling with it as long as possible until i can't deal with it any longer. my hope is that in a few weeks i will have outgrown this awkward 'homeless guy' stage. wish me luck!

coffee time!

rehearsal, theo's, homefront

man - last night's rehearsal session was awesome! didn't realize it, but we haven't jammed since before the Ernie and The Automatics gig a couple weeks ago. we worked on 3 new tunes - all blues - foot stompin', low down dirty blues! i really love playing music with this group. the music is phenomenal, the chemistry between the 3 of us is great - and only getting better!

so, yesterday i managed to reach one of my personal goals for booking this group. i booked an upcoming gig at one of my favorite bars/venues. a place that i have been wanting to play forever - Theodore's! since i started playing blues inspired music, just a couple years ago - everyone has had the same statement at one time of another - "hey, how about you guys play at Theo's sometime!" or, "you guys really have that great kinda "bluesy" sound - why don't you play @ Theodore's". Well it's coming - not gonna drop the date just yet.... but it's coming.

last night, Holly made this Thai inspired peanut chicken dish that was out of this world! served it over brown rice and it was just awesome. i brought leftovers for lunch - yummy!

my lovely wife have been baking her own bread with the bread machine she had adopted. this is her second loaf of raisin bread and it's great! she sent me out the door this morning with what she called "daddy toast". she's such a funny little lady. yesterday, a friend of mine said that she was a lucky gal to have me - i think it's really the other way around. she takes good care of me - and makes me so unbelievably happy.

short entry today - i'm starving, gonna kill this toast!

rehearsal tonight up in ashfield and i have been dying to play some drums! that's the one drawback to jamming out in such a nice, remote location, the weather can go and muck everything up in a snap. we have a lot of work to do in order to get some good gigs, and i feel like missing one weekly rehearsal sets us so far behind. unfortunately, the idea of picking up a second session to make up for it is not realistic all the time.i really like the idea of setting up a jam room when Holly and i finally buy a house. if nothing else, it'll let me drum much more often!

i posted a couple videos last night of Steve Jordan playing. one of them is from his dvd, i think. that guy is way too overlooked and it's a shame. he owns the pocket... OWNS - OWNS!!! yes, that's a Slap Shot reference people. Got into a short conversation about favorite drummers last night on my Facebook page. Billy Ward got mentioned, i feel like he's one of the latest drummers to grab my attention over the last couple of years. one thing i really like is his kind of out of the box thinking when it comes to getting interesting sounds out of the drum set. there was a Modern Drummer Video (i believe) from a few years back where he demonstrate that by playing the kit bare handed and placing shakers into his shoes. what he played got me thinking quite a bit. i believe it was the same video where he demonstrated the use of a "woofer" in front of his bass drum, which was an 18"-20" or something. anyway, i'm going on a tangent... imagine that!

i have to give it up to my wife, this coffee is pretty good today! we've been brewing this mint flavored stuff - it was a holiday clearance item i'm sure. normally i'm not really on board  with this, but today's is pretty dang good!

we're going to be going to the gym as a family. on the one hand i think it's a little hilarious - on the other i'm hoping for the best. i totally need to get in shape. i mean, round is a shape... but i need to get into some other shape!

we also booked out hotel for our trip to Cleveland for the DEEP BLUES FESTIVAL 2011! very psyched that we are going to do this trip! on the one hand i'm just glad we are taking a trip together - just Holly and i. on the other hand, i cannot wait to see this show!!! i'm hoping to bring some of the bands on the bill to the pioneer valley sometime in the future. well, actually i already have the Ten Foot Polecats booked @ the basement in Northampton in march - so i'm already on my way there!

gotta run folks - later!

Lucio Enrico Fasino play Bass with Steve Jordan in "The Groove is Here"

Steve Jordan: The Groove is Here

this guys, is what groove is all about! Steve Jordan!

early to rise!

pretty great evening last night! got home and opened the front door to smell one of my favorite things in the world, ever - SLOW ROASTED PORK SHOULDER. Holly cooked the shoulder and we made roast pork tacos for dinner with cabbage slaw and pickled jalapeños. Chloe, huge fan, Holly and i were too - Delaney loved it as well! well, the girls didn't get any peppers.

then we got the friggen phone call. Chloe's school was cancelled for today due to removal of the snow on the roof. you have got to be kidding me! granted they had a half day scheduled anyway, but i don't think this kid has had a full 5 day week of school since Christmas vacation! i also think that if Chloe were any other kid - she'd be loving the snow days. however, since Chloe's only in first grade she looks at a snow day as a huge letdown. the look she gives Holly when she tells her that school is cancelled again - you'd think Holly cancelled it herself to irritate Chloe. i am really happy that Chloe loves school as much as she does - i know the longer she loves school the better she'll probably do scholastically, but her reaction is just so funny!

i also booked a gig for Damon and i to perform as an "unplugged" duo for 2/18. an old friend of mine has started managing this irish pub in Springfield MA [Finnegan's Tavern] and is looking to bring some music in there. i haven't been there in ages, so i don't remember what the layout is like - i need to make up some fliers/posters and drop them off. so, i'll take a look at it there and figure out the deal and what i should plan on taking for a kit. here's a link to the info from our Facebook Event!

i've been busy working on putting Black Cat Bone Music on the map. i built a reverbnation page for it and i'm holding off on doing anything on facebook - but that is next. right now what i'm doing with BCBM is primarily managing Damon Reeves and booking events in the Pioneer Valley to bring in some bands of the Deep Blues genre. These are not your Chicago/roadhouse blues kind of shows - this is the lowest and dirtiest - i'm looking to have that juke joint feel at these shows.

My first event is on 3/12 @ the The Basement in Northampton and i'm really looking forward to it! I put Damon & Co. on the bill initially - and i was lucky enough to book Ten Foot Polecats and add them to the bill. They are an awesome trio out of Boston - really fantastic stuff! Guitar work that is out of this world and just awe inspiring. The vocals really remind me of Howlin' Wolf - i could listen to them all day. I'll post some videos of them as the date gets a little closer. After booking TFPC's it happened to work out that they were touring with Jeff Norwood. Jeff is one hell of a bluesman, hailing from South Carolina - we are lucky to have him making a appearance in Northampton! This is what BCBM is all about - bringing these Deep Blues acts to an area where they have just not connected, yet. Let's face it - the Valley has it's share of great shows - i'm just looking to take my experience in the punk/hardcore/metal scene and apply it to a genre of music that i have a huge amount of passion for.


well - i can see the bottom of my coffee cup. you know how i roll.

post superbowl monday morning.

yea. i didn't watch any of the superbowl - and i'm ok with it. i just zoned out to hulu until i couldn't bear being awake anymore and went to bed. after two not-so-great nights of sleep, my body kicked into comatose mode. apparently, the baby got up about half an hour after we went to bed and i was not waking up for anything - woops!

i'm sitting in one of the pods in the hub, drinking my coffee and feeling good. it was a good ride into work today. i do have a short commute, but it still helps me have a good day if all goes smooth and i'm able to rock some good tunes in the car. today's spin was ZZ Top's Fandango. a buddy of mine from the overnight crew has been making some CDR copies of some old albums.  he's got some pretty good taste in music, so they are usually pretty good and there's a wide range of stuff.

i'm really looking forward to getting together with the band this week. @KaraKharmah, (she sings backup, plays some percussion and helps me out with some marketing ideas) - she came up with an idea to put together a party for her birthday and have the band jam during it, maybe do some of our live band karaoke too. that got me thinking that the band should do that for all our stuff. we all have a circle of friends that have missed the boat on our shows, but WILL make an appearance for an event like a party. might need to work on the idea of doing the live band karaoke unplugged, for some places where volume might be an issue - maybe we could even do this at our place! Anyway - great idea!

so, when Chloe got home yesterday we got all the info about the weekend. they ended up going bowling and had a great time! i'm happy she had so much fun. next weekend she has a 'spa' themed birthday party to go to next weekend, good thing Holly and i were on the ball enough to plan ahead and pick up a gift. i have got to say - i had such a nice weekend hanging out with Holly. i love spending time with her. She's such a great gal. i'm so glad i have her and my two little gals too.

I ordered her birthday gift last night too. just need to figure out what to get her for valentines day. this month is a tough one for gifts for her. only a 7 day turnaround from vday to bday. it totally requires me to get ideas from her or get REALLY creative. this year i have some really good ideas bouncing around, it helps that she has a new hobby which she is very into.

ok - time to get this day rolling. gotta figure out rehearsals this week. lots to do!

drumming.

i really have to work on my rudiments. when i look back over the last decade alone and see where my playing has grown the most and then gotten into a lull, it just blows me away. i mean for a self taught non-traditional drummer i can certainly hold it together. i just feel that i need to step it up. maybe start watching some good drum videos as a source of inspiration. working with a musician as talented as Damon is on the guitar and seeing how it all just comes so naturally to him is both inspiring and frustrating. that's where i think it gets me most - we're going to begin writing some newer material as a band eventually - not just learning tunes out of his back catalog and getting them down. it's gonna be a different game at some point where i'm going to need to be writing drums parts and these songs need to have it together. not something i just want to mail in, gotta do it some justice.


if i could actually swing it financially - i'd love to book a few sessions with an instructor to hone my technique a bit too. if i could get some rudimentary playing tightened up - i feel that my abilities would just sort of take off. two things i need to do - drop a little weight (this will also help behind the kit) and get my head in the drumming game for real.

i get so damned distracted though. gotta work on that.

i have a copy of stick control floating around here somewhere - gotta track it down and work on some old school rudiments.

yea - let's get working on that.

i'm easy - easy like sunday morning....

wow- did i ever have a rough nights sleep! Holly was nodding off right after we put Delaney down to bed - so we probably hit the hay around ten. I have to admit, seeing my wife passed out on the couch snoring like a chainsaw did bring some amusement to my night. After watching a few episodes of "it's always sunny in Philadelphia" and "Beer nuts" on HULU, i decided it was time to wake sleeping beauty up and head for the boudoir.

i ended up waking up about 2am . got up when i decided sleep wasn't on the table. ended up watching American Meth and then heading back to bed before the sun came up. Delaney woke up just after 6am, and that was it - start of my day. it's going to be a busy one too. need to take out the trash from the porch, and get this place back in order. the wife's sewing projects have turned out dining room into what looks like Kathy Lee Gifford's Filipino sweat shops! OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little - regardless, it needs to be put back together.

I'm thinking of cancelling Netflix and signing up for hulu plus. like it's half the cost!!! if i do that, i want to buy an interface or a device so i can watch on my tv. while i like snuggling in bed with the wife and the laptop watching SVU - it'd be nice to chill in the living room with the family or some friends. i should mention that my family watches a lot of PBS and only a little network TV mainly for some news. we have an antennae and refuse to pay for television.

the house hunt continues - have to put a meeting together this week concerning mortgage details. really hoping to be in our own place in the next year! After my chores today, i might take a gander at some available properties online.

so that's it. Chloe will be home this afternoon sometime, and we'll have dinner together. i think Holly is gonna make Chirico and Lentil stew for lunch. *nomz*


yea, life's good.

Weekend is here!

So nice that it's Saturday morning - despite the baby waking my up earlier than any other day this week! Go figure... still, it's nice to just get up with her and know that the day is mine today.

Got a little bad news last night. Turns out the Mass Mutual Center had cancelled ALL the shows lined up for this weekends Disney Princesses on Ice. They had cancelled last night due to fears about the amount of snow on the roof of the building. Something about a roof collapsing on thousands of people probably makes them a little nervous, huh?! Chloe was not happy at all when we told her the show was off, she was REALLY excited to go with my parents tomorrow. I'm kind of impressed at how well she handled the bad news though - not what i expected.

Last night was nice and relaxed. played with the girls till about 7pm - then put Delaney to bed. After that i ran out to move the cars so we wouldn't get towed because of the updated parking ban. Holly had put Chloe to bed by the time i got finished and headed back upstairs. My new issue of "DRUM!" arrived too - so i read that for a bit. There was an article on Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann I was looking forward to checking out. After that, Holly and I half watched "The Kids Are Alright" - then called it a night.

I picked up some beer on my way home last night too. Lagunitas Brown Shugga - which I thoroughly enjoyed! I also grabbed a bomber of Cappuccino Stout also from Lagunitas, which is for later today!

I've noticed some of the spring brews have been making their way onto shelves and i have got to say - even with the ample amount of winter weather we have had in the last month and how much i am longing for spring and baseball season - it's too damn early for spring beers! I felt the same way about the fall brews too - I feel like the season got into full swing and i barely got into the groove of the new seasonal then BAM - I'm drinking Magic Hat's Vinyl before Valentines day! Phew - enough of that nonsense.

i have to cut this short - I'm getting way too much entertainment out of watching Holly sew and swear! HILARIOUS!!!!!

peace!

TGIF

i have always felt that the best blog entries have always come on two days of the week. Mondays, because of the obvious updates of all the weekend's events - and on Fridays! Friday has this awesome magical kind of energy behind it. there's just something that you cannot get from any other day, than the feeling you get right before the weekend kicks off. there are some comparable feelings that i should mention - like your last day of work before a much needed vacation for instance. that is also a very special event - but it's the regularity of a Friday that makes it so great. once a week you get to have that 'eve of the weekend' and even if your weekend is less than relaxing, you still love that it's at least FRIDAY!

This Friday comes before a weekend that i am very much looking forward to. for starters - my wife and i have half a babysitter this weekend! what i mean is that my mother is taking my oldest daughter on Saturday for an overnight. my wife and i will still have the baby at home with us, but that is as close to a "kid-less" weekend as you could hope for. it's a win-win for all of us. My daughter Chloe, who loves spending time with her "Nonie" gets to hang at their place and go see Disney Princesses on ICE. Where as Holly (my Wife) and i get to hang out together and get caught up on things around the house. believe it or not, getting the house in order and making an extra special dinner together is quite nice. Delaney, my youngest daughter is perfectly content to hang with mom and dad for the most part. plus, she goes to bed early enough that we get to at least have the night together for ourselves.

no gigs or rehearsals lined up for this weekend either - it's been a long week for the band. we just played a big show last Sunday at the Iron Horse in Northampton MA. we got to open for Ernie & the Automatics, featuring members of Boston, The Beaver Brown Band and Peter Wolfe's Band. Met some very cool people - and had a fantastic time, but it was a last minute gig and I busted my ass to schedule a second rehearsal and to promote effectively. The rest of the week for the band was dealing with a situation that ended up costing us a couple gigs. short version of the story goes like this, a colleague of the group had his ego bruised when he had an exchange with Damon, which was not professional - on either parts end. He decided that he should drop us from a gig we had coming up this month with a group he sessions for - no sweat. what got ridiculous was when he had pressured a booking agent to take us off of a bill in June,  FOR A CHARITY EVENT! Anyway, we decided to just allow the situation be what it was - retarded. what's worse is that he's maintained nothing but lies to his actions, as if his beef with Damon has nothing to do with me, even though I'm Damon's Manager. Hopefully the childish actions of this guy will catch up to him eventually. I know we have a lot better things we could be doing than getting involved in some junk like this!

that about does it for now - time to refill this coffee cup!

First entry - new blog!

Well, this is it - I'm a blogger. with a legitimate blog.


I'll have much more up here soon.


Thanks for checking it out!!!