Rehearsal

02023-03-10 | Performance, Santa Fe, Touring

Walked to Jon’s studio this morning, openly carrying my white guitar case over my shoulder. We decided not to play with the full setup, through IEMs, in favor of sitting in the same room. This way we could hear ourselves acoustically and could easily talk about finer points of the arrangements. We set up in a circle. Jon used a very small amp, placed behind the chair he was sitting on, for his fretless bass guitar. Robby brought the cajon and used Jon’s hi-hats. Super simple and so much fun. While we played, Jon would sometimes talk us through the arrangement. He would announce the violins, then the cellos, and here come the basses. I told him he should have a microphone and do that for the concert. At least he will wear a mic and do that for the rehearsal with the orchestra tomorrow afternoon. :-)

We worked through the whole set list for two hours, but there was a fair amount of talking and laughter, too. At one point I said how much fun it would be to have recorded the rehearsal… the music, the stories that bubbled up. I wonder how long it would take to forget that a recording is being made. Because, if one couldn’t forget that, the magic would probably be lost and one would perform rather than just hang out and work.

Cheyenne

02023-03-05 | Photos, Touring



First time in Cheyenne. First time playing there. Might have been there once, with the tourbus, on our way to somewhere else. Loved the old theater. Two images show the transformation of a stage into a place where music happens. The venue used one of Matt Callahan’s photos for their poster. As we were loading out of the building I noticed the concrete block wall across the alley, with a mural of cartoons. It was freezing, too cold to stand still. Looking up, there was the moon, fat and almost full, and on the wall I saw the text bubble “I am wondering what if…”

Dymo Zin

02023-02-18 | Design, Food, Photos, Touring, Wine

White letters on a red background, printed to look like it was made by a Dymo label maker. This was the wine we had with dinner, at the Blue Note Napa. A Zinfandel, and I loved the look of it. Minimal ✅, unusual reference ✅, brilliant! The wait person was too young to know Dymo label makers but we recognized it right away. The wine was good as well.

A Few Images

02023-02-17 | Photos, Touring



A few unrelated images, all phone pics, from this week. How green California is at the moment! The rolling hills look like they are covered in billiard table felt. Then we have an image of the empty afternoon Yoshi’s, from behind the curtain. The last photo is of a t-shirt I found in Los Gatos. I never buy shirts with slogans or brands but could not resist this one. :-)