Benjamin Wagner “Live At Rockwood Music Hall” Due November 19
I'll be releasing a new EP, "Live At Rockwood Music Hall," on November 19th. The 8-song recording will be available exclusively on Authentic Records Online and iTunes.
"Live At Rockwood Music Hall" tracks were culled from three separate Rockwood Music Hall performances over the course of sixteen months: March 25, 2007; July 10, 2008, and September, 25, 2008.
My longtime band mates and pals Chris Abad (guitar), Tony Maceli (bass), Ryan Vaughn (drums) and Jamie Alegre (drums) all appear on the recording, as does singer/songwriter ...
Roll Your Windows Down, Part III
All the best stories are trilogies (or should have been): Star Wars, The Bible, Lethal Weapon. There's something elemental to the rise, fall, and major lift.
And all the best heroes go out on top: Perseus, Odysseus, James Dean.
Tonight then, to that end, we celebrated the cacauphonous conclusion of the Lower East Sides' favorite white-boy, acoustic rhythm and blues revue: The Undisputed Heavyweights.
Scuttlebutt was that our pal Casey -- the heart, soul, and shtick of The Heavyweights -- had chosen to close the chapter on this ...
Jamie Leonhart & Chris Abad Bring Christmas To October
It may have been a bit out of sync with yesterday's balmy, October weather, but the holiday spirit was in the air.
And so it was that -- just as the sun began to set on a crisp, fall afternoon -- I retired to our cramped walk-in closet and began assembling my little MacGyver recording studio. I powered up ProTools, and cued up our track, and began tinkering. Twenty minutes later -- just as the doorbell rang -- I emerged to say to Abbi, "I would have to pick the world's most-recognizable Christmas tune."
Yup, it's time for another ...
A Post About Running Twenty Miles On Saturday Morning
The first few blocks of a twenty-mile run are populated by disbelief.
"What the hell are we thinking?" gives way to, "If this creaky, old ankle feels sore already, how's it going to feel in three hours?"
Such was the case as Abbi and I ran through the shadows of the gargantuan Time Warner Center and into the early-morning light of Central Park Saturday morning.
"At the minimum," I thought, "We'll see a lot of New York."
Which, in our 3:35:36 New York City Marathon training run (pausing frequently to stretch, hydrate, gel and snap ...
Goodnight Two Timing Blues
You're sitting in a windowless, fluorescent-lit conference room on the seventeenth floor of a Midtown corporate headquarters reviewing the network's Q4 Programming Calendar when it dawns on you.
You've promised your best friend, a guy you've known since you were ten-years-old, that you'd meet him in back home for his induction into your high school's sports hall of fame.
At the same time, on the same night, you're booked to play a rock show at a prestigious music festival -- a gig you've already re-booked once on account of your ...
Underground
Dear Ben,
In just a few weeks, you'll be laying in a hospital bed with a broken jaw. You'll look in the mirror but -- what with those wired teeth and that Elephant Man swelling -- fail to recognize yourself. It's a whole lotta' trauma on account of a girl, and a knuckleheaded football player, and it's gonna' bruise for a long, long time.
One year from now, though, you'll step from the gymnasium stage, stoned and squinty-eyed, with a diploma in your hand, and a duct tape question mark on you maroon cap. Shortly thereafter, you'll be ...
Vows (Or, I’ll Work For Your Love)
At the end of the day, the meet cute doesn't count for much.
I mean, make no mistake; it's a cute story. I thank my lucky stars that Abbi happened onto my Friendster profile, found my website, came to my rock show, and tapped me on the shoulder -- to say nothing of the fact that she had the wherewithal to be persistent (but not too persistent).
No, at the end of the day, it's a good story, and a great start (and, if you're me, a fortuitous turn of events).
It seems to me, though, that really matters isn't that first chapter, but ...
Debate Night In Hell’s Kitchen
Once again, it was debate night in Hell’s Kitchen.
And once again, Chris and Meg Abad hosted a viewing party of epic proportions.
We drank beers, ate nachos, and yelled at the TV screen. We gaffawed at CNN's silly graphics, played Palin Bingo, and chugged on a number of key phrases ("maverick," "reform," "change," etc.).
And we worried about the future of the country. (I said to Chris at one point, "Yunno, I didn't think anyone could top Bush's folksy, down-home, faux-authenticity schtick. Tonight, I stand ...
The Recovery Room
So... the bill for last months emergency appendectomy surgery came yesterday.
$30,445.16.
Thirty grand!!!
Abbi and I could go scuba diving in Belize six times! We could buy a brand-new Jaguar X-Type! We could put a 5% down payment on a $600,000 house!
The bill's full of interesting stuff, though, like a $219.19 "specimen bag" (presumably the final resting spot for my beloved, 5mm appendix). Or the $1041.86 Harmonic Ace Scalpel (an "ultrasonic cutting and coagulating surgical device" that, vibrating at 55,500 times per second, ...
The Dust Cloud Disappears Without A Trace
Two weeks ago this afternoon, I was in surgery.
This morning, I was back on the road, running 4.87 miles in just over 51 minutes.
Abbi and I rose in the dark, stretched, and started slow. We ran west towards the river, north along Hudson River Park, then up into Riverside Park.
It felt great to be outside, breathing fresh air, and watching the sky wake up. I had some pain in my right knee (still, three years after that rogue playground accident) for a second, but that subsided once I warmed up. I could feel some tightness in my ...
