Merry Christmas, Baby
I saw Oasis perform at Radio City Music Hall in May, 2000. Truth is, I was there to see openers Travis, but the Gallagher Bros. guitar assault was impressive and infectious. That night, after the show, I unwittingly cribbed a song title from Noel. "Live Forever" was released years later as the second track on "Love & Other Indoor Games."
"Love" was released in 2004 amidst what one ex (a description of whom made the liner notes, natch) called my "Lothario Phase." In retrospect, I was fairly lost, playing numerous rock shows a week and ...
“A Holiday Benefit, Vol. 3″ Release Party Is Tonight!
Twelve hours from now, "A Holiday Benefit, Vol. 3" will be in full swing at Pianos! Which is a good thing; I don't think I have the energy to do yesterday over.
I tucked all sorts of small tasks into my already busy day at The MTV: gathering 826NYC materials, a final email to all of the performers, lyric sheets for our big finale ("Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You," what else?).
At 7:45, I raced straight from work to Sirius Radio headquarters there across from Radio City Music Hall. I spent about fifteen minutes on air with ...
“A Holiday Benefit, Vol. 3″ Silent Auction Is Open
It's all coming together!
Tonight, I'm calling into Ralphie Aversa's syndicated "Ralphie Aversa Radio Show" to talk "A Holiday Benefit, Vol. 3."
Tomorrow, Chris Abad and I are dropping by Sirius Radio to talk some more before crossing the East River for rehearsal with Tony Maceli et all.
And Wednesday night at Pianos we officially release "A Holiday Benefit, Vol. 3," our annual "A Holiday Benefit" for 826NYC. Chris Abad, Misty Boyce, Chris Cubeta, Bryan Dunn, Emily Easterly, Martin Rivas, Ruby Rivers, Bess Rogers, Casey Shea, ...
“A Holiday Benefit, Vol. 3″ Video Premiere
Comprising twelve tracks from some of New York City's finest emerging artists, "A Holiday Benefit, Vol 3" is a seasonal charity compilation spanning the delicate (Bess Rogers' "Little Saint Nick”) to the downright bombastic (Bryan Dunn's "Don't Believe In Christmas") with a dash of holiday hilarity (Casey Shea's "The Chipmunks Song”) in-between.
In addition, the contributing artists deliver a raucous cover of Billy Squier's classic, "Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You."
The charity CD release party is set for December 16th at ...
“A Holiday Benefit, Vol. 3″ Single & Track List Revealed
One Indian summer afternoon a few weeks ago, singer/songwriters Casey Shea, Paula Valstein, Emily Easterly, Andy Mac, Martin Rivas, Ruby Rivers, Amber Rubarth, Chris Abad, plus bassist Tony Maceli, drummer Jamie Alegre and I converged on Chris Cubeta's Galuminum Foil Studios in Brooklyn to conjure up a little bit of Christmas in October.
Our cover of Billy Squier's classic "Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You" kicks off the annual "A Holiday Benefit" with equal parts harmony and hilarity; you can practically hear us smiling our way ...
Serious (Christmas) Business, Baby
There's a chance I may be getting overly confident in our collective abilities, but we always seem to pull it off.
I've only been in the studio twice this year, in both cases recording cover songs for compilations albums. In May, the guys and I covered The Nadas' "Feel Like Home" for the band's fifteenth anniversary "Crystalline" album.
Yesterday, Chris, Tony, Ryan and I repaired to Serious Business Studios once again, this time to track our "A Holiday Benefit, Vol. 3" contributions: Chris was tracking The Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I ...
C’Mon C’Mon, Gather Round
I won't front; I was nervous.
Thursday was a difficult enough right from the start. Rapper Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to gun possession less than an hour after I stepped into the office. For the bulk of the afternoon, then, the news team piled on the story and began crashing a half-hour show.
All day long, though, all I could think was that fifteen musicians would descending on Williamsburgh for our all-star "A Holiday Benefit Album, Vol. III" recording, and -- as the guy who put out the call (email, really) -- I had to be ...
Times Are Hard (But No One Seems To Care)
Christmas can demand a lot of a man, even in October.
I swore up and down to Chris, Jamie and Tony that I'd meet them at Galuminum Foil Studios at exactly nine o'clock. At 8:34, I hailed a cab from West 86th Street to 14th and First. At 8:47, I hopped the L to Lorimer Street. At 9:01, I emerged in Brooklyn and began speed walking south.
Somewhere around Stagg Street (just seconds after picking up two six packs at Velez Grocery), my cell phone lit up with a text message from producer Chris Cubeta.
"Where you at, man? We're ...
Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You
There's barely a nip in the air, but once again, we're getting the holidays started early.
In two years, "A Holiday Benefit" and "A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II" have raised nearly $5000 for 826NYC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills.
This year, veterans Chris Abad, Casey Shea, Bryan Dunn and I will be joined by an absolutely amazing lineup of singer/songwriters: Chris Cubeta, Emily Easterly, Andy Mac, Martin Rivas, Ruby Rivers, Bess Rogers, Amber Rubarth, and ...
Forever & Always
You may recall that one of the "A Holiday Benefit, Vol. II" silent auction items was a "Custom Benjamin Wagner Song."
This was the pitch: "Singer/songwriter will collaborate with YOU on a song. At the end of the process, you’ll get two (2) signed CDs with YOUR song plus original album art. Minimum Bid: $75."
At the end of the night, the item had three bids. I decided to take them all, netting 826NYC $386. I followed up immediately with each bid (actually, one bid came from a loose affiliation of four friends), only one of whom had a ...
