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Showing posts from September, 2008

Cold

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I have a cold. I have had it for a few days and it just doesn't want to go away. I hate being sick and it really sucks for singing. Due to a crazily busy weekend last weekend, I haven't kept up with my weekly postings. I'm going to quickly recap some music related stuff that I have been into lately. Open Mic at Caffé Lena this past Thursday: I worked the door and met some songwriters who were from out of town. Robin and Annie were from Brooklyn and were on their way to a gig in Burlington. They decided to stop at Caffé Lena's open mic while on their way. I played Breaking Free and Saving the World . Larkfest on Saturday: Stephanie and I went to Larkfest, which is on Lark Street in Albany. We mainly went to see two bands that were playing on the main stage. The Sense Offenders , who are headed by Tom McWaters (a Caffé Lena open miker), and Saving Atlantis , a band that was created in Fulton County (the county in which I live). A former student of mine from back in my

Melting Pot

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I love my camera. It takes good pictures in dark places -- like where there are concerts. Last night, Stephanie and I went to the Egg in Albany to see Shawn Mullins and Dar Williams. (I'm a huge fan of Shawn Mullins and seeing him play solo is haunting and inspirational). Before the concert, we had dinner at the Melting Pot -- which just opened at the Crossgates Mall a few months ago. I tried explaining what eating at the Melting Pot is like to my dad earlier today and I found that I just couldn't put it into words. It's... quite different and incredibly expensive (imagine the most expensive meal you've ever had and then eat at the Melting Pot -- you'll have a new most expensive meal you've ever had). Still, it might just be worth it for the different experience now and again. The Egg is quite a cool place to see a concert. It's relatively small compared to most concert places and it creates an intimacy that you can't get at larger venues. I wrote ab

Is It All In My Head

I'm going to see Shawn Mullins tonight at the Egg. Dar Williams is also playing. Mostly, I'm excited about Shawn Mullins. If you'll remember, I saw him at the Linda back in March, I think. (I'd have to scroll through the blog to find out the exact date; I could probably also include a link to the entry that I wrote about the concert and meeting Shawn, but I'm not going to be that thorough right now). I'm not sure if the concert is going to be a full band show or a solo thing or what. Either way it will cool, I'm sure. Hopefully, I'll get some pictures. ------ A little while ago, I shooed a bird out of my basement. Somehow it had come down the chimney and was making scuttering noises inside of the little metal door that opens in my basement, which alerted the cat, who in turn alerted Stephanie, who -- of course -- alerted me. I checked it out with a flashlight and confirmed that it was indeed a bird. I closed the metal door, found some gloves, grabbed a b

Book Separation Anxiety

Last night I went to Red Square in Albany for the first time. The place has a pretty cool atmosphere. I like it a lot. I saw Matt Durfee , Katie Haverly and her band , and Alta Mira . It was a great show. Matt was excellent, as always -- his arrangements are incredible and his fingers are so fast. Katie Haverly is someone who I have not seen before, but have heard on myspace. Her band sounded pretty good. Her live sound was a little off, though, compared to her recordings -- maybe not her fault. Alta Mira rocked! I had heard them plenty of times at Lena's playing acoustic. This time they were electric and their drummer had a full kit. There was just so much sound coming from their instruments and the Joe, the singer. It was just an incredible wall of sound. And it was great. It was good to see some old friends that I haven't seen in a while, too: Maurizio and Nick of Turtle Writing. I didn't want to leave when it was all over. ---- A little while ago, I finished reading Ela

Hay Fever

Hay Fever. I am on three different types of allergy medicines and my eyes still itch incessantly. The only relief I get is when I take benadryl on top of the allegra, flonase, and claritin. But, benadryl puts me to sleep and makes me groggy for hours after I wake up. I am currently in a state of grogginess even though I took the benadryl over thirteen hours ago. Even so, my eyes aren't itching (they do feel like they could itch if I'm not careful and accidently rub them or instinctively itch them) for the time being. There's not a whole lot to blog about. I'll just quickly recap Lena's last night and probably go read until the grogginess puts me to sleep again. Okay. The recap: It was an incredibly slow night at open mic. There were about 17 performers and, no joke, five non-performers. Four of the 17 dropped off and/or left before playing because, well, there just wasn't enough audience. I played tenth, which is not typically late, but there were only about sev