Archive for July 2008
Glazed
I’m not thrilled to be the guy who taught Ethan how to use a Blackberry (though he used it constructively to take photos and email them to his grandparents). I like to think that what came next made up for the his early introduction to corporate handcuffs. In celebration of Ethan’s fifth birthday, Abbi and…
Read MoreThe Morning Fog May Chill The Air, I Don’t Care
As I’ve said before, my favorite part about travel is running in a new town. This morning, that town was San Francisco. In fact, a good run had more than a little bit to do with my being here. My primary raison d’etre for this sojourn was the Y-Pulse Mash Up, a conference for teen/tween-centric…
Read MoreBouncing Over A White Cloud – Video
Rockwood was rowdy. I was anxious. And then it all turned. Chris was on at 8. I was on at 9. So I left the office at seven o’clock and struck out through a sweltering Times Square with my guitar, computer, camera and a bag of CDs strapped to my back. I jammed onto a…
Read MoreBenjamin Wagner, Chris Abad & Jamie Leonhart At Rockwood Music Hall – Photos
The Boys Of Summer
Ah, to be a kid in the summertime. Remember? Kick the can. The ice cream man. Wiffle Ball. Zinc oxide. Fireflies. I have nothing but golden memories of summer vacation. When I was really young, family loaded into the brown, wood-panelled Cutlass Cruiser station wagon, and travelled 561 miles to Lake Vermillion, Minnesota where we…
Read MoreRock & Roll Show
No matter how good you know your best friend’s band sounds, you can’t really know until you’re sitting on the floor in the aural center of the kick drum, bass and guitar amps. Wow. Molecules are movin’ here, fo’ reals. You know Chris Abad and I are performing a double bill at Rockwood Music Hall…
Read MoreBenjamin Wagner & Chris Abad With Jamie Leonhart This Thursday Night!
Dear Friends, Please join me this Thursday night for an awesome double bill. The evening kicks off with a set from the always-rousing, Chris Abad, followed by your truly. Both will be backed by the fabulously capable Tony Maceli (bass) and Jamie Alegre (drums). The uber-talented Miss Jamie Leonhart will join me for “Promise,” “Breathe…
Read MoreInto The Arms Of America
Ok, so here’s the quandary. I love New York City, but thirteen years later, the place is killin’ me. I don’t just mean the fumes, shadows or concrete. And it’s more than the pace, noise, and frenzy. I’m talkin’ about politics, aspiration — the whole ladder climbing thing. A few weeks ago, a younger friend…
Read MoreMy Life Inside Rock (And Out)
For me, browsing the music section at the local book store is a little like an alcoholic ogling the top-shelf at the local tavern, or a sex addict wandering 4th Street in the Meatpacking District. I have an unnatural (though entirely understandable, I think) compulsion to consume rock bios, memoirs collections and compendiums. I’ve read…
Read MoreR.I.P. Sony Music Studios (Et All)
In the early days of my tenure here in Hell’s Kitchen, I discovered enthusiastically that two of the world’s most notable recording studios were within spitting distance of my apartment: The Hit Factory and Sony Music Studios. The Hit Factory, on 54th between Ninth and Tenth, produced dozens of legendary recordings, including Stevie Wonder’s “Songs…
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