June 2017 

...It's been a crazy couple of months but all good...! We are in a new home now which we absolutely love because it as plenty of room for friends and family. Especially those two little amazing boys, Finnigan and Griffin. A lot of people have been asking me about when I'm going to release  more music. I have enough material probably for two more albums but for me it's not something that I feel pressured to do, time-wise. I am enjoying taking this material and reworking it, playing with its cadence,  picking patterns etc. I am also reworking my effects pedal board.

  For you music gear people I have added a Strymon Mobius to go along with a Big Sky and a TimeLine. One of the main reasons I'm redoing the whole board is because I feel the cables I used aren't up to par. You can haves some really great  tools/pedals to work with but if the cables  aren't good quality it's irrelevant. I've chosen Mogami platinum series patch cables. There a life lesson in that somewhere....!avoid or

  I've also created a workshop in the basement to work on my garden carousel and some other visual art things. 

Life is good... life is short...

January 2017 

   Music.........

   Lately I've been digging up songs written in the past 2-3 years that have not been played out in public until now. I find it interesting that they are all names of women... 'Rene' Today', 'Anne Marie' and 'Stella'. It's truly some sort of subconscious thing because I really don't know people with these names. I felt much better when I recently discovered that the new Lumineer's Album had 3 songs on it with women's names ~ Ophelia, Cleopatra and Angela ( great album btw )

  Many people have asked recently if I have been writing new material. I find that right now,  I'm in a good place reviewing songs that have not made it to recording or the public ear.  It's wonderful to go through scratch recordings and see the history of growth artistically.... so.... stay tuned as I rework and re-arrange I'd say about 25 songs...
 

2015, a year in review 

Woah.........  

 It seems that I've been neglecting my duties in this Journal. Let's call it a good thing as 2016 was an amazing year for the music. I'm not quite sure how we kept up with it all but I just feel especially blessed to have had the opportunities to perform in several states as well as a jam packed local schedule. My 2009 SUV now has 162,000 miles on it although we did fly to the Midwest. 

 Speaking of the Midwest, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed travelling to our country's heartland. Thanks to a wonderful radio promotion campaign put on by Blue River Promotions, (Thank you Lisa Grey !), Carousel received a great deal of airtime throughout the country, especially in the Midwest, we were happy to see the songs getting plays on so many fine stations. Our tour of Minnesota and Wisconsin was so much fun. As an independent artist it is much more work than someone might think when it comes to the planning, especially when you add flights and hotels to the equation. I would do it all over again to visit the people and places we got to see.  The simple act of a conversation at a small store in a town like Redwood Falls comes to mind as the people were pleasant and genuinely kind. There is something to be said about slowing things down a bit. 
  
 As much as I enjoyed the performances and was so elated to have people requesting songs from the album in a far away state, I really think it was the Americana part of it that captured me.  The scenery, the Museums and the big lake they call Gitche Gumee... all spoke to me, saying our America is alive and well if you just take the time and breathe.

March ~ 2015 

...... Back in January I played a set of music at Fresh Hamptons out on the east end of the south fork. I spy a guitar player I know. Poor Klyph Black who had just finished playing was sitting there, trying to eat his dinner. If you know Klyph and his disposition,  you’ll know that he is too kind to say no and loves to just play. So of course I had to pull him up with me. 

  Kyph and I, although we’ve never played together before have had a friendly interaction in the last few years that we have known each other. What happened next was so much fun that my smile actually hurt me face. Fast-forward to March and Klyph and I are playing together at one of the Live on the Vine Winterfest shows. … Same Joy, same smile.
 
  What I love about Klyph is that he gets it. He doesn’t try to take over a song; he just makes it better and seems to know exactly what to do and when to do it. Call it a feeling call it experience… I call it Joy. It’s the same feeling I get when I play with Johnny, Jack or JP.
 
  If you ever get a chance to see Klyph Black in any form, with his project Black and Sparrow or playing with anyone else, go…. And when you watch him and see his face while his is playing you will see that same Joy

February ~ 2015 

...There is something to be said about listening to a friend... I took some advise from my buddy Jack Licitra and went back to the Grey Horse this time with just Dana and I. The evening was great fun and knowing that I was able to put on a show without back up is important, just as much as it is with it. My problem is that  I understand this, but I just love having my friends with me, sharing the moments..... Kinda like Chris McCandless saying ~ “Happiness is only real, when shared.”  And so I will continue to do shows solo and with my friends because know I won't always be in control of their schedules and mine. More importantly, the music needs to be able to stand by itself as an art just as I created it in my music room but my preference will always be to have them with me....

January ~ 2015 

I'm just now getting better at playing with a full band.. I can tell you it's a challenge as a singer songwriter who usually controls the tempo and pace of a set of songs. Having one of the most important shows so far for me, John Platt's 'On You Radar' at Rockwood Music Hall, was exciting and nerve racking at the same time. A simple answer.... Rehearsals.... and trusting Dave March and Chris Marshak with the rhythm section. The show, I felt,  was a great success.... rehearsals...trust. Thank you Dave and Chris

December ~ 2014 

A small stage....University cafe, Stony Brook NY.... Jon Preddice, Dana and I covering The Lone bellow's 'A Tree to Grow'.. I want those moment's...every time I perform.. ..
..................Joy, Intensity, Trust..........

November ~ 2014 

The NERFA Conference was such a great weekend. I learned a lot about myself and others. It was a milestone and an honor to perform as WFUV's JohnPlatt's guest at the Suzie Wallenberg DJ Showcase. 

October ~ 2014 

...Had fun in October especially at the Garden of Eve. Can't remember the older gentleman doing the sound, but he cracked me up. He saw my pedal system and said " you're not gonna blow my PA up now are you? I just spend $167 dollars getting it fixed" HAAAAAAAAAAAAA... I told him no and then proceeded to do a Metalica cover half way through the set. Acoustic of course..! Sometimes I feel like I wanna blow things up, but not his stuff... He was too cool and he was from WUSB.... Life in the fast lane

September ~ 2014 

..September in Key West is not September in New York, or Maine as a matter of fact. Especially when we got to meet the Finny Boy for the first time. 
Every chapter will now be different with Finnigan in this world. I am forever changed.....