“Mister Rogers & Me” In 25 Words Or Less?
I've been drafting our Independent Film Week application as Chris fine tunes our submission.
We've made some elegant revisions tonight, including the addition of a cute piece of footage of Ethan and me, some evocative driving b-roll, and a song by Davy Rothbart's brother's band, The Poem Adept, "Bear & Raccoon" (though we haven't officially asked Peter's permission yet).
Thing about non-linear editing is that there's no track record of what was, only what is. The project evolves before our eyes. That is, when my eyes aren't on this ...
George Washington, Rufus Scott & Me
Few vistas afford the sweeping panorama of New York City like the George Washington Bridge.
The Bridge was opened for traffic on October 24, 1931. It spans some 4,760 feet from the sites of Fort Washington (on the New York side) and Fort Lee (in New Jersey), fortified positions used by General Washington and his American forces in his unsuccessful attempt to deter the British occupation of New York City during the American Revolutionary War. The bridge's great shadow marks the route by which Washington and his troops fled the British in ...
Ten Reasons I Should Have Taken Up Needlepoint Instead
The last few weeks in the studio have been sort of painful. It all came to a bit of a head last night when I found myself preparing dinner between takes and swearing under my breath -- well, maybe not so much "under."
Abbi said, "I've never seen you so moody!" Which was a really sweet way of telling me to pull my shit together.
So I was tracking vocals just now thinking about why the recording of "The Invention Of Everything Else" has been so difficult, my obvious and tiresomely over-documented over-commitment notwithstanding. Here ...
Studio Chicanery (Or, My Weekend In The Closet With Chris)
Just how long does it take to nail a guitar solo?
Even if you're only a casual Rolling Stone or Spin reader, you've probably read the same B.S. I have about first takes. Yunno, Slash is talking about the "Sweet Child Of Mine" solo on "Appetite For Destruction" and he's all like, "Yeah we just rolled tape and nailed it on the first pass."
It happens... sometimes. Over the course of fifteen records, I can count such occurrences on exactly one finger.
I wrote a simple little song called "Glider" during the (drug addled) recording of ...
My Perfect Storm Of Poor Planning (Or Hubris)
Four miles on four hours of sleep is not an ideal training scenario.
These days find me in the center of a perfect storm of poor planning (or hubris).
I'm in putting the finishing touches on my forthcoming CD, "The Invention of Everything Else," due June 18th on Des Moines' own Authentic Records. I'm still tracking vocals and mixing before shipping off to Nadas' bassist (and Sonic Factory Studios engineer, Jon Locker) for mixing. Then comes mastering, replication, and marketing -- to say nothing of putting together release parties and ...
Extra Pickles, As Always
Years ago, when I was recording the first of two albums ("Almost Home" and "Love & Other Indoor Games") at my pal Kevin Anthony's Control One Studios, I began most sessions with a delicious, toasty Turkey Ranch Sub from Quiznos on 23d Street.
Tonight, Chris and I are editing just a few blocks from there, so I reprised the ritual... with extra pickles, as always.
The neighborhood feels a little different. Madison Square Park (where I recorded the city sounds you hear throughout my cover of John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane"), for ...
The Dirty Life And Times Of Warren Zevon
I'm pretty sure I'm not a tortured artist, though I may be a masochist.
Most readers flock to best sellers, pap like Joseph Hellerman, Dean Koontz, or Scott Turow. Nothing wrong with that; I enjoy a blockbuster page-turner like the guy in the next seat on the plane.
My pap, though, is the rock bio.
Last year, I devoured "U2: At the End of the World" by Bill Flanagan (a CBS Sunday Morning contributor and MTV SVP over whom I emphatically and somewhat embarrassingly gushed when I bumped into him in an elevator recently).
A few weeks ...
Top Five Boneheaded Sports-Related Injuries
I've made two fairly boneheaded training mistakes in the last two weeks.
Two weeks ago, I decided it would be fun to jog up then sprint down a mountain above Los Angeles just two hours before boarding the red eye to New York, and two days before the Brooklyn Half Marathon.
And yesterday, I set out for a quick five-miler having not eaten dinner or breakfast, with no money in my pocket, then got carried away and stretched the run to eleven miles.
The ramifications for both were minor. Two weeks ago, I limped around with sore quads ...
The Rock & Roll Husband
I distinctly recall standing next to Abbi in Brooklyn, staring way down Flatbush Avenue towards downtown Manhattan. We were testing the waters together, trying to find a neighborhood in which to move. The process, though, was pushing some other buttons.
"But it's so far away!" I whined.
Later, on the subway, I articulated what I was going through only slightly better.
"This is about who I am, what I’m worth, and what it all means," I said.
For some reason, I just couldn't imagine how I was going to do it all: hold down a ...
On Everything Else
Sometime just before I asked Abbi to marry me, I cracked open a fortune cookie that read, "Everything will soon come your way."
Not to gloat, but today felt that way.
First, Jamie Leonhart and I made a date to sing "Killing The Blues" next weekend.
Then, Chris Suchorsky's Damnwells' documentary, "Golden Days," hit my mailbox.
Then, I got an email from sometimes-Nada keyboardist (and otherwise badass pianist) Tony Bonenkhamp who said of my proposal for some sort of post Hy-Vee Triathlon benefit show at his Des Moines venue, "I am ...
