| 08/10/03-Played 12 Bar last night and it was a good one. Oscar played djembe and Rick, Grace's new bassist, played a few songs. I got to play some electric guitar too so it was nice to have the "full-band" setup on such a small stage. It had been awhile since I played my songs to people and it really felt good to do it again. Everyone was quiet and paid very close attention so it was a bit unnerving, but hey, it's all about the adrenaline. I finished some lyrics today on a high hill in Hampstead Heath overlooking London. It was windy and cold, then warm and windy, then sunny and calm, and then cold again. I finally finished the lyrics to "Got Home Late," a song I've been writing since January. I've never been much of revisionist for songwriting, that is, until recently. I think I'm happy with it now. I can't wait to play it with a full band. I'm curious if I know anyone who voted for Arnold, and I don't mean the kid from Diff'rent Strokes, who incidentally came in 8th place. 18/09/03-Met up with Todd and Nathan from the band The Boxer Rebellion a couple days ago. Haven't seen 'em for a while. I was guitar tech for their gig at the Garage my first week in London back in January, 2001. There starting a UK tour today to promote their new single so It's great to see things are working out for them. We've booked a few more gigs for Grace's band in the next few months and I'm also excited to get back to playing the 12 Bar next month. My writer's block for lyrics continues as I'm backlogged a good 14 or so songs. Maybe I'll just do an instrumental album. I'm recording a song I actually finished called "Down From Here". It's coming along. 25/08/03-Back in London after a relaxing vacation in California and Mexico. Mexico must be the only place where you can just sit on the beach and wait for tamale and taco vendors to come to you. Viva Mexico! Now back in London with some cover gigs but I gotta book some gigs with my own songs. I'm sorting through my songs and will soon have 3 albums-worth of new(ish) material. More news sooner than later. 02/07/03-Been playing some gigs around town with Grace's band and doing cover gigs. I'm trying to organize my songs a bit better and finishing missing parts in songs for my Western Arms album. It's getting less and less cowboy as I work on it but that's okay. It's rained most of July so far here in London so needless to say, I'm happy to go home next week for a couple weeks. Hopefully we'll get a gig in San Francisco. Still have some lyrics to catch up on. 05/05/03-Just got back from Edinburgh where Tom and I played a whole lotta music with all the Land and Black Bull folks. Oscar got back yesterday along with his new bass. I had a jam on Saturday with Lilly, the Bulgarian bluegrass singer, Jeremy, the guitarist from Marin and Tom. Played a bunch of our own songs along with some Gillian Welch, Ryan Adams and old time songs. Gonna book some band gigs and sort out what my plans are for the summer. I kind of want to just do acoustic around Eastern Europe playing for food and lodging. We'll see anyway. 07/04/03-We've had a truckload of gigs the past few weeks and now I have a bit of a break to focus more on recording. The documentary is finished and I have yet to see it. We had a great gig last Thursday at the Garage playing Grace's songs and the Punk Purple gig was cool too. However, Swedish Oscar has run off to travel around America and the Caribbean for a month. Also, the name Punk Purple is going to go so hopefully you didn't get too attached to it. While Tom is in town I'm hoping to get a sort of hillbilly west coast cowboy band going. Bruce is into the idea and says he knows this drummer who played in Nashville. Jeremy Mendonca, this guy from Marin and living in London who writes and plays some great songs, is interested in playing some slide so we'll see if we get it together. Booked for 2 gigs on Easter so you can bet I'm gonna have to sing some traditional Easter carols. 16/03/03-Punk Purple's debut is this Wednesday. We might even have a film crew capturing it. Stay tuned on details of when and where to get the dvd. Played 2 sets at Bar Risa last night with Grace, and Oscar P. played djembe on the last song. Grace just booked her first full-band gig for April 3 at Upstairs at the Garage. Should be rockin'. Once the gigs slow down a bit, I'll have more time to make sense of the half-done recordings on my mixer. I had my first proper kebab last night at about 1, and though it's no burrito, it is a fine-tasting large amount of food that you can eat with your hands in a gloriously uncivilized manner. Mmmm. 20/02/03-We finished recording the 3-song club demo to get some gigs. Our band name is still Punk Purple so it just might stick. The songs are "Far Away", "Elevator Shoes" and "College Radio". I'm trying to book our first gig at the Half Moon which is coincidentally where U2 had their first London gig. I have lots of unfinished songs recorded that I'm currently juggling. I have 14 or 15 songs for a new mellow western album that will be called Western Arms. But getting band gigs is the name of the game now. Hopefully we'll play the Monarch soon. 13/02/03-Oscar recorded the drum tracks for nine new songs yesterday at Audio Underground. I added some guitar and vocals (vocals recorded in the cellar) today and Bruce puts down the bass tomorrow. I played 12 Bar last Tuesday with my Telecaster and it was fun to once again perform with the power of an electric guitar, distortion and all. Grace had absolutely no voice for 10 days and we had to reschedule a gig down at the Sound Cafe Bar. Now she can talk but isn't 100 percent yet, which is really how we want her to be. Next week, we play at Kashmir Klub, where I had my first London appearance over a year ago. Got the Zwan album on Monday and it's pure early Pumpkins bliss. Well, roughly speaking. 27/01/03-Grace and I were joined by Oscar Preciado on his new djembe drum at Friday`s Spice of Life gig. Good stuff! He is from Guadalajara, Mexico and is drumming for Grace`s band as her search for the right bassist continues. My band (name yet unknown) played a sort of open mic for bands on Thursday at the Boston Arms, just up the road for us. The good news was that we got to rock out on the provided drum kit and amps for 3 songs (College Radio, Far Away and Elevator Shoes) but it turned out to be the last open stage night there. I got the turntable that I found on the street last March working perfectly with the help from my friends. Craig connected the correct plug, Collin told me which place to get a needle and the guy there at Bartlett's Electronics actually found the right needle that pre-dated all of the store's catalogs. It's actually from the '60s and everything works: the turntable, stereo and tape player. I'm still in shock that it works. It just laid there under my bed for a good nine months. I got some new records to celebrate its rebirth: Patsy Cline, Slim Whitman, Muddy Waters and a couple of 50s/60s rock compilations with everything from Bill Haley to Cream to T-Rex. Recording one of Grace's songs tomorrow. She just finished translating the Italian lyrics to English with the help of Chris. More from the front soon. Archived News |