No Major HR Violations Were Reported

I lived a lifetime in two days this weekend, and it may take all week to recover.

My brother called Sunday morning at eight for our appointed Central Park run — my first since the marathon — but I had yet to go to sleep from Saturday night. Sarah, Fish and I toured two of Hell’s Kitchen’s newest finds (‘Disiac, Fusion), standbys (Vinyl), and dives (Bar 9). At our last stop, sometime around 3, an intern from work spotted me in the crowd, and proceeded to ply me and my posse with drinks. Apparently, she drives in from Long Island specifically for this place, which was crawling with frat boys and Abercrombie clones, while I rarely stumble in from two blocks away. Still, so long as no major HR violations are reported (I’m kidding, dad), it was a lot of fun.

All I had to do Sunday was make it to Park Slope by 4:00 to rehearse with Leslie. But somehow, I bungled the 2/3 and took it too far. Way too far. Like, the end of the line. Which I only discovered when two little girls looked at me and said, “Where you goin?” I ended up New Lots, the last stop on the 2/3 (as if the station name weren’t indicative enough), deep, deep, deep into BK. The Empire State was a tiny spec way, way off on the distant horizon. The only buildings around were urban housing, those Robert Moses monstrosities of homogeny, and alienation. And I thought, “You’re way lost dude.” Lost, and nausious.

But I made it to the Slope (with only three calls for directions), and Leslie and I had a fine time rehearsing. Leslie’s from Kansas (alot of my friends have a Midwestern connection: Kev, Monica, Jeremy), and performed in two late 90s alt.rock bands a la Smokey Junglefrog (my college band): T-shirt and Big Millie. She hasn’t performed in a while, but I think the spark is back. And we’re both excited about it, especially about writing and performing as a duo.

So now I just have to rehearse the rest of the band, which grew by one member last night: Kevin Anthony. After rehearsal, Kev and I went for (get this) a few beers (and a burger). I thought while watching Emmylou’s band kick ass Friday night that I should ask Kev to play keyboards at the show. So I asked, and he’s in. So the band is now seven: me (acoustic guitar/vox), Leslie (acoustic guitar/vox), Jason (electric guitar/vox), Tony (bass), Todd (drums), Kevin (keyboards), and Julia (cello). Amazing right? Sin-e December 9th — mark your calendar. (By the way, my subway misfortunes continues as I fell asleep — passed out? — on the ride home from The Slope, coming to on Lexington Ave., just in time to narrowly escape a trip to Queens.)

The “Livingroom Tour” starts a week from Wednesday (see itinerary below). I added a listening party/tour kick-off on the 19th in my living room for everyone who helped on the record, and am also wedging a trip to Florida over Thanksgiving for my uncle’s 60th. Which ought to be terrific — sun! Email me if you’re close to one of the below towns and want info on the show.

Wed 11/19 – New York, NY
Thu 11/20 – Princeton, NJ
Fri 11/21 – Philadelphia, PA
Sat 11/22 – Washington, DC
Sun 11/23 – Richmond, VA
Mon 11/24 – Raleigh, NC
Tue 11/25 – Chapel Hill, NC
Sat 11/29 – Valley Forge, PA
Fri 12/5 – Cincinnati, OH
Sat 12/6 – Indianapolis, IN
Sun 12/7 – Cleveland, OH
Tue 12/9 – New York, NY

But first, Kev and I are recording again this weekend. (Can you believe it? I can’t stay out of the studio more than three weeks.) No big deal though: I’m heading in to whip out some b-sides for the super-secret, double-bonus MP3 site I’m building for everyone who pre-orders the record. There will be additional surprises — at least one cover tune — but here’s a sampling of what you’ll be able to download there.

California [Electroland Remix] – “Almost Home” remix
Annalia (Come Back Home) – Outtake from “Almost Home”
Broken Wing – Outtake from “JFK/LAX Demos”
Difference – Outtake from “Crash Site”
The Rest Of My Life – New solo acoustic studio track
These Wishes – New solo acoustic studio track

So everything’s allgood. And will be even better after another cup of coffee, or four…