Progress Report
How's it going y'all! I'm currently enjoying a ginger-turmeric tea with plenty of honey, giving my immune system all it needs to fight off these damn allergies. I have some exciting news and updates for ya!
This last month has seen some great progress with all of my projects. The currently unnamed Nola Night Band (Emmett Harrity on keys, Ryan Curless on drums, and Max Cantlin on guitar) has been rehearsing and is tightening up nicely. We're going to be hosting a New Orleans vibe night somewhere in Portland, probably Local 188, so keep on the lookout for that if you live close to there or are in the area.
The single 'City of My Mind' has its final vocal performance DONE by Dave Gagne!!! I am so stoked for y'all to hear this...Royal Hammer crew on rhythm section and Gagne on vocals makes for some serious heat!
Bence/Redman/Mahan has our first performance booked! We are playing at the Apohadion Theater on July 8. We've been working on getting our ears sharpened up for this and we are talking about releasing some recorded material that night as a celebration for the new project.
I traveled to NYC recently to record on Bonehart Flannigan's new album, which was really fun. Bonehart (Jon Dell) is a great songwriter from Lincoln, Nebraska and he got a stellar band to cut his new record. Be on the lookout for that gem!
Binky Griptite throws a blues jam hang on Sunday's in BK, so I went after my session and sat in. Somehow, the next day I found myself working on Binky's new album at Electric Ladyland Studios in the A room! The other bass player couldn't make it, so Binky asked if I could come in and dial in sounds and such. I humbly accepted. Thanks Binky!
I play guitar in Kenya Hall's band and I've been shedding a fair amount to keep sharp. I played my first guitar solo in a performance setting and got a ton of positive feedback, so I must be doing something right. While guitar is similar to bass, the role of the guitar is different and I love exploring new territory on different instruments, it makes me approach music from a different headspace. For instance, I've been singing a lot lately and I feel like my bass playing has gotten much stronger as a result. I'm fully intrigued now and can't wait to dig deeper into instruments I am unfamiliar with.
Well, you're up to speed. Keep on the look out for new music, more performances, and other happenings as they come up. I'm still trying to figure out how to get more past recorded music up on my audio page, sorry for the delay!
Stay well out there everyone! These beautiful summer months are upon us and there's a lot of positivity floating in the air :)