Updated discography, some links and redid some bad mp3's...
7/25/08
I had the thrill of my musical life last Saturday when I got to play with Mr. Kinks himself, Ray Davies on two songs in Seattle at the Showbox along with my Sweet Hereafter mates! We rocked out on "All Of The Day And All Of The Night" and "You Really Got Me" and I even got a jump kick stop que from Mr. Davies on the last song, it doesn't get much better than that in my book.
5/17/08
Arrived in Paris yesterday afternoon and first thing on the agenda: see Willie Nelson at Le Grand Rex, as I was told by the note in my hotel room. Jet Lag or not, what a crazy way to start off a European tour! The show was unbelievably good. The whole band (including Paul English who has been playing drums with Willie since the mid sixties) had the most amazing, slinky, relaxed groove (check out "Country Willie: His Own Songs" from 1965, a great record) and Willie's guitar playing and singing were masterful. I found my self very aware that I was experiencing living legends. Inspiring to say the least!
9/9/07
Happy birthday to me!!! I finally got out.
8/7/07
Back from a hot and humid and extremely musically satisfying tour across the southwest and ending at Red Rocks near Denver. I learned that the amphitheater is older that I thought, a product of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 30's. So it wasn't just U2 and Dave Matthews that played there, The Beatles played there in 1964... Anyway it's probably the wildest place I've ever played. Pictures coming soon.....
5/10/07
Just finished an amazing falafel in Shepard's Bush, London and I saw two foxes while driving back to the hotel. A fox is much preferred to a possum when it comes to night time animal encounters, in my opinion. I'm getting towards the end of a 5 week tour of Europe with Jesse Sykes which followed close on the tail of our US tour opening for Sparklehorse (which was a blast!). We've gone to many exciting places with some highlights being Bilbao, Stockholm and of course Amsterdam. I'll be finishing up Paul Fischer's new record when I get back. It's a good mixture of songs tied together by Paul's sense of humor and direct singing and will include musical saw! (he's also a badass guitar player). Got some festivals cominging up this summer including playing at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Dever! I'm really looking forward to some sailing and backpacking when I get back.
2/4/07
Just set out on a long journey with Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter opening up for Sparklehorse. Getting ready to go on stage in Dallas after our first show last night in Austin. really good to get this thing rolling! The new album comes out in three days on Bursuk Records and we have two CD release show at the end of March in Seattle at the Tractor Tavern for which we will be well rehearsed so come out! In other news Victor Noriega's new CD "Alay" (which I mixed, helped produce and played drums on) just won "NW Recording of the Year" from Seattle's Earshot Jazz. Stayed tuned for more updates.....
8/11/06
At the tail end of a Victor Noriega Trio tour that included crawfishin' in the Truckee river and dune buggying on the Oregon coast. There have been a couple of rough moments including a bad wisdom tooth situation (which became much better with the help of some pharmacuticals) and some cartwheeling with an ATV down a dune cliff (how do you play piano with a bruised hand?) but we've still managed to have a good time. The incomparable JJ Morgan had his second annual Truckee Jazz Festival which has been a great experience where we got to meet and play with some amazing bay area musicians and hang out in a beautiful area. The new Jesse Sykes record is really close to being done and we have some shows coming up in October. Had a blast on some recent jaunts with Laura Veirs and Wayne Horvitz, both totally inspiring musical experiences. I have a new web site in the works but in the meantime I've put some new pictures up and some new sound clips.
2/7/06
The sun started shining after 40-something days of mostly rain, just as the Seahawks "lost" the superbowl so I'm not quite sure how I feel now. 06 has been off to a busy start: I played my first show with Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter in Bellingham last week and we've been rehearsing the songs for a new record. The new songs are Bad Ass. The new Victor Noriega Trio record "Alay" is in the can, as they say, and being shipped off to be manufactured as I type (I played on and mixed it). I believe Victor just won the "Emerging Artist" award from Earshot... good timing. Look for record release shows in March. I played on a few songs for a new Transmissionary Six record and I really mean played: at one point I was shaking, banging and throwing anything I could get my hands on (out of joy, not anger of course). Those guys know how to take it easy and go with the moment. I've done a little of my own recording here and there including working with the talented Johanna Kunin on a song for a compilation cd put out by Ball of Wax Audio Quarterly. That's about it for now, looking forward to what the rest of the year brings.
8/29/05
Had a blast playing the music from Filles De Kilimanjaro with some great musicians who also happen to be great friends. Thanks a ton to Dave, Tim, Steve, and Willie for their skills and also thanks to all of you who came out and listened so well!... I recently recorded for Vivian Linden's upcoming record and I am super excited to hear the finished product - excellent folks to play and work with (also got to dust off my atrophying barista skills... ahh wish I could record and make espresso every day).... I added some drum stuff to a few tracks for an album by Josh Ottum. Great, interesting pop songs from a mad scientist. The record is supposed to come out in January. Let's see.... I enjoyed a camping trip to the Washington coast last weekend (beeeautiful) and came away unable to listen to anything but Fleetwood Mac, Rumors not that the two have anything remotely in common, it's just a good record.
4/25/05
Back from the road. Had a great time in Califonia and Oregon, saw a bunch of friends, and made some new ones. All in all a great tour!
4/1/05
Spring tour coming up for the Victor Noriega Trio. See the shows page for details. I changed the pictures page a bit in my glacial approach to re-designing my website. Cheers!