No 7.0 Earthquake is Gonna Bring Me Down 

I was lucky enough to be in Anchorage, Alaska earlier this month when an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude struck at 8:29am on an otherwise typical Friday morning. It was the largest earthquake in the region since 1964's 9.2 which caused extensive damage and casualties. Although there was some pretty hefty damage this time around in spots, overall the city and its hearty people stood strong.

I was with the New Standards, for a holiday show at the Performing Arts Center and despite our tectonic first impression…

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Day 5/6: St. Louis and Dubuque  

St. Louis was a healthy stretch from Nashville, about 5 hours plus the requisite stops for gas, browsing the truck stop merchandise and fast food menus I try to abstain from, and shitty decaf coffee everywhere you go. I've grown accustomed though. It's insanity to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. Now I get what I anticipate - thin coffee-flavored-brown-drink that stays undrinkably hot for 60 miles. Still seems a crime to pay $1.69-$2.29 for it when Starbucks is only $2.09…

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Day 3/4: Nashville 

You live by the Airbnb and you die by the Airbnb. Tuesday morning starting a day off from shows, I got up and out of that bedroom as fast as I could. Didn't use the bathroom or brush my teeth. I'm no Merriam Webster, but I'm pretty sure "historic" doesn't mean dirty and neglected. I headed downtown to the post office and marveled at the architecture. The World War Memorial is breathtaking. That's historic. I'd Airbnb that. 

First on the itinerary was lunch in Lexington, KY with a music friend from…

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Day 2: Indianapolis 


What's the best thing to do when waking up to a humid, 93° Monday morning in an air bnb bed in Griffith, IN? Why, go for a 6-mile run, of course. Granted, had I known the weather before stepping outside, I probably would have wussed out and browsed my phone for 55 additional minutes, so ignorance = sweat.  

Intrigued by the name alone, this morning's breakfast spit was Jedi's Garden. Think of it as a Perkins with a gruff, veteran waitstaff and French Toast Stackers with an astonishingly high count of…

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Day 1: Chicago 

Prince and Pearl Jam. Can't go wrong there.. Legend begets legend. Granted, glory days come and go, but in my annuls of pop music history, both artists are easy first-ballot HOF-ers. This was my sonic red carpet, laid out at the Elbo Room last night in Chicago. I've been in Wicker Park, Hyde Park, Rogers Park, Lincoln Park, Logan Square, Wrigleyville and the Loop over the years but this was my first impression of the Lakeview neighborhood. I found parking easily, which I attribute to the anatomy of my tiny…

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End-of-Summer Tour 

This blog post probably could have been posted a couple weeks back but, hey.. It's been a busy month. Lots of time on the road with Rogue Valley, and moving! We bought a house. It's impossible to fathom, really, after 11 years basically in the same apartment, but here it is: The next steps. It begins with home ownership, dog ownership, and basically just owning "It" whatever that transient "It" may be. There are so many projects awaiting attention. No electrical outlets in a room.. surprise! For now it'll…Read more

The Sleeplessness of Giving Birth (Symbolically) to New Music 

The band was nestled, all snug in their beds...

Tonight is the night before the Rogue Valley radiate/dissolve album release. I hope the rest of the band is in bed right now so they can help prop me up tomorrow when I'm counting on adrenaline and muscle memory to pull me through. With every next album I release, the stress seems further and further away. but it lingers still, perhaps just under the surface like a pea under a mattress that one can feel only upon lying down for bed. The album-release insomnia…Read more

Considering the Media Obsession 

So.. No new Game of Thrones until 2017 but this weekend I discovered something delightful on Netflix. And by discovered I mean devoured and by delightful I mean addictive. It's a pretty damn good hodgepodge of lots of familiar stylings, harkening back to Spielberg's ET, a little Hughes' Breakfast Club, a dash of The NeverEnding Story, Goonies, War Games, and a somewhat obscure film called D.A.R.Y.L. There are layers of contemporary en vogue psycho-science-fiction a l a Jeff VanderMeer's Southern ReachRead more

Drop a Seed in the Soil 


I was in the studio today, at Human's Win working with my talented friend/engineer/musician Lance Conrad on pushing an album towards completion. It is quite different than anything I've released before.. and it has been in the works, slowly marching along in the background; parallel with the many other projects that have been my main focus over the years. Things take the time they take. I'm enjoying the process more now than I have at any other time I can recall. Perhaps I've suddenly become more patient…Read more

Economy of Scale 

The last couple days on the road were fairly easy and without drama. Cornfields and farmlands whirred by outside as I soldiered on, earbuds in and mind occupied with podcasts. Radio Lab, This American Life, and a surprise discovery - a Game of Thrones podcast all took turns igniting the spider lightning of electrical connectivity throughout my brain. At a couple of points during the drive, critters from the campsite earlier in the week crawled out of their hiding spots, undoubtedly disoriented and maybe…Read more