Roadie Blog

Not posting here at the moment.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Stopped posting to this blog, been busy with Facebook. May try to get back to posts here in the near future. Thanks.

Paris -Day Off

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Day off in Paris today. Walked from the hotel towards Notré Dame, then decided to head in the opposite direction towards the Eiffel Tower (never been). Got close enough to snap some photos, but not close enough to be bothered by the crowd. Basically walked around for 4 plus hours, took the subway back to the hotel, when I determined I had wore a hole in my right sock. Had an early dinner with Micah and Brad (who walked around the same places as me, but never saw them) at a sidewalk restaurant near the hotel. After food, took an ill advised nap woke up in the middle of the night, read and interneted, finally fell back asleep. Slept through lobby call, was awakened by phone call from production manager. Luckily we were still waiting on a van, so I didn't get oil spotted (left).

Berlin - Day Off

Friday, May 08, 2009

First Day off of the promo tour. As we were pulling into the hotel at 1am last night I saw a poster with Alfred Hitchcock on it, further investigation led me to the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen. They have the only Hitchcock exhibition in Europe. I made it over this afternoon, paid my 4 Euros and spent a couple of hours looking at still photos, letters, storyboards, wardrobe, etc. All pertaining to Hitch's 6 decades of amazing film work.

Ran into a bunch of the crew as I entered the hotel after the museum. Went out for food (Italian) and then wandered the mall next door to the hotel and got gelato (banana, yum).

Time to dust off the old blog...

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Well, almost another year has gone by without a blog post. Why? What have I been doing? Here's a brief synopsis:

In May of 2007 I stopped touring full-time to start a tube amp company with my good friend Ossie Ahsen, it's called 3 Monkeys . Oz moved down to Raleigh in August and we spent the rest of '07 and most of '08 designing and building prototypes on the pool table in my (Paige's) sunroom. We moved out of my house and into a nice shop in August '08 . The amps were released to the public in November '08, right in the middle of the collapse of our economy. Sales have been steady, but not brisk. I have only done one tour since '07, which was the Experience Hendrix Tour in Oct-Nov '08, where I teched for Brad Whitford and Doyle Bramhall II.

Fast forward to 2009, I've been out teching for Darius Rucker (of Hootie & the Blowfish), filling in for my pal Skully (who's wife has just given birth to a beautiful baby girl). Darius has managed to go Gold with his debut country record in 9 weeks. He's also released two singles, both of which have gone to #1 on the Billboard Country Chart. In the last few weeks I have also been working for Green Day, as they will be releasing a new album in May and touring the world for the next few years. Oz and I will keep the amp company going while I tour.

So hopefully the blog will continue as I race around the world with Green Day again...

One Year Anniversary

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Since Tom Spaulding pointed out that it was my one year anniversary of posting to this blog, I decided to ACTUALLY post something!! Where have I been? What have I been doing? Well, I semi-retired from the road last June to start a tube amp business. I have been busy building prototypes and generally trying to get the business off the ground ever since. Soon, within 60-90 days, all will be revealed...

For now, here is a photo from the only gig I've done since last year. I got an email from the one and only Marshall Crenshaw last week asking me if I was available to work his gig closing the Azalea Festival in Wilmington, NC. Since I'm a big fan, and it was only 2hrs away, I agreed and had a fabulous time doing it!! Marshall's bass player was MIA, as his flight was canceled by US Air, so Marshall and Diego Voglino (his drummer) did a duo in the Flat Duo Jets style. We had a great hang for lunch and dinner with Marshall, Diego and Don Malter from NYC. Lots of music talk and story swapping. Thanks guys for a great weekend. Also, thanks Tom, this post is dedicated to you...

Fountains of Wayne

Friday, April 13, 2007

Just out is 'Traffic and Weather' the new album by Fountains of Wayne. Go download it from iTunes or buy it at your local CD store or big box retailer. These guys write perfect intelligent pop songs. Hard to pick a favorite but 'Someone to Love', 'Strapped for Cash' and 'Yolanda Hayes' come to mind. I mean who writes songs about the lady at the DMV (Yolanda). These guys should be at the top of the charts, but maybe they're just too smart for the average Wal-Mart shopper. Come on, be cool, be hip, BUY the new Fountain's record...

Paige at the KISS Koffeehouse

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

How I spent my Spring Break

Wow, a new blog post. Alert the media!!

So, as many of you know, when I am not touring I am usually working on some kind of remodel project at home. These projects usually take twice as long as I think they will and quadruple what Paige thinks. This is due to most of my projects being a 'first time' for me. I like to earn while I learn. Wait a minute, am I getting paid for this? Uh, no. Damn.

Current projects where to smooth the popcorn ceiling in the office (3rd bedroom), the hallway, and the entryway. Luckily I have a guy for this, and he did it in one and a half days. Our good friend Terry Anderson came to paint again and did a great job.

I meanwhile have been working on converting the office from this to this and this. Which consists of building all the furniture out of Birch and installing recessed lighting in the ceiling. Since most walls are not square (and our house especially), it presented me with a challenge to get the built-in bookcases to align properly. I still have to add the shelf that goes over the window, as it has been difficult to get my head around. The lights were easier than I thought, but I did a lot of prep work in my 4 ft tall attic. I still have some file cabinets to build, some guitars to hang, and shelves to build for the closet. Then on to the bathrooms and master closet...