Tuesday March 3, 2009 - Encinitas, CA
I've been dividing my time between several "behind the scenes things" of late, but that usually means some fun things are coming down the pike. Bert Lams and I have been putting together one of our duo tours for April through the North East (PA, VA, OH, NY, KY, WV....) Should be a fun one. We still have a few open dates, so if you happen to live in that region and would like us to come to your area, let us know. It's easier than you might think! Check out the schedules page to see where we're headed.
I've also been working on two recording projects. First up will be a special 10th Anniversary Edition of Agent 22's debut album. Hard to believe it's been ten years, but... there it is. This new edition has been an ongoing project for over two years now. Myself and Howard Givens from Spotted Peccary Music have taken apart the original album and remixed and mastered it from the ground up. Simply put, the audio tools we have to work with are incredibly superior to what I had back in 1998/9 and we've managed to make things sound much much better. But.. probably more exciting is that we're also including four previously unreleased A22 tracks that were recorded in 2001. That brings over 17 minutes of new material to the disc, which has some of my favorite bits that we did in that period. The new album is in manufacturing now, and should be in stores by April.
Thursday January 22, 2009 - Encinitas, CA
Bert Lams and I spent Monday and Tuesday working on our new album. We've got most of it mapped out now, but the Stick player needs to get some work done. Yesterday I drove Bert to LA and took the opportunity to go by Stick Enterprises and pick out woods for two new Sticks! Very exciting... it'll be several months before they're finished, but it was fun to see them in their infancy.
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Meet Paduk and Wenge
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Last week(end) was the annual NAMM tradeshow in Anaheim, CA and Jerry Marotta and I played several times for Beyer Dynamic's booth. The California Guitar Trio with Tony Levin were also playing at the Beyer booth, so we had a lot of fun hanging out and listening to each other play. Bert Lams (from CGT) and I also played a little bit for my friend Chris Samu who had a small booth promoting his new "Guitar Hanger" product. The week also included a "Stick Night" in LA where Agent 22 (myself and Ryan Moran) played alongside Emmett Chapman, Larry Tuttle, Steve Adelson, Kevin Keith and others.
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Namm's Beyer team '09 (minus Jerry Marotta who I think was signing autographs at Yamaha)
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Marotta/Griesgraber with help from Bert Lams
(photo by Neil Bettencourt) |
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Agent 22 @ Stick Night 2009
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Happy audients and camerman (inc. several of the Chapman clan)
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Monday December 8, 2008 - I5 towards Oakland
We're racing up California from Redlands to Oakland today. We probably started later than we should have, but were maybe just a little too comfortable at our friends John and Sally's home. They have an incredible home in Redlands with horses, a big pool and plenty of room for a few traveling musicians. They hosted our show too in their spacious living room and packed as many people in as they thought they could. The evening also included a delicious catered dinner for everyone.
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Happy Redlanders
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Redlands "stage"
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the tablecloth's view
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Sunday December 7, 2008 - Long Beach, CA
Bert Lams and I are back doing shows again after about a week off for Thanksgiving. This time we're poking around California, which after my week with family in the new snows of Pennsylvania is a nice change of weather. Thursday night we had our first show out here opening for Tuck & Patti at the Coach House. I've been a fan of theirs for almost as long as I've played fretboards and had met them as a fan several times years and years ago. They sounded as good as ever and Bert and I got to talk to Tuck a bit both before and after the show. Both Tuck and Patti are some of the nicest, most genuine people you'll ever find in the music biz.
Last night we played in a fantastic old house here in Long Beach. Our friends Mark and Cheryl are part of a society seeking to preserve old houses in Long Beach. The one we played in is known as the "Bembridge House" after the family that used to own it and was built in 1906. Several different organizations contributed recently to decorating it for Christmas and left us with a wonderfuly inviting and "homey" space for a concert. It reminded me a lot of homes back east. Many of Berts old friends and family came to the show as well and it was great to see all of them again too. As we were loading in, a group of young neighborhood children were following Bert around asking things like "Do you live there? Are you rich? Is it haunted?!?"
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Bembridge House
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"Is it haunted?!?" (ask the neighborhood kids)
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A Bembridge bedroom
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Our stage
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Our green room
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luggage if you need it
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