Dege Box

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i opened for a guy named brother dege last night and he had a wooden
stomp box he used while playing slide. inspired i grabbed a barrel
jack @ NOLL guitars here in cranston and a spare piezo pickup.
soldered it up and glued it to a slab of wood. expect some thump at
the next acoustic show, it sounds fun through my super reverb

269

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last week's gig at local 269 in NYC was a great success. thanks to dan mills for hosting me and being a great artist as well as sasha israel for the great photos below. i'm so intense...





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NYC

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Lupos Pictures

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lupos was a lot of fun. i can't wait to play there again. here's some pictures from the set, mama french was the photographer... so there were more of aaron and i than walt so i got arty on the one good angle shot of em. also, i forgot to announce from the stage, RIRA on April 10th to benefit local healthcare!

Settin up @ Lupos

heartbreakin'

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never write off the advice to write it down.  i'm playing LUPOS HEARTBREAK HOTEL for the first time about 2-3 weeks after writing down "play lupos within the year" in a planning notebook.  i'm really excited, we're on a tribute night so playing a bunch of fun bluesy covers too.

things is good, record's being mixed, artwork's being done by Jesse Hayes www.hayesmusicdesign.com, website overhaul and shwag to follow!  it's an exciting time.  

lots of charity going on too.  couple weeks ago my trio was the backing band for a make a wish fundraiser in boston that raised enough $ to grant 2 wishes!  we're playing a lifecycle event to help local cancer treatment charities next month, as well as the annual Tomorrow Fund Stroll in garden city cranston.

also, starting to gig with some old friends in boston playing rock your face off cover music, stay tuned for playing with ingrid gerdes & andre lovelle some more, as well as in a new band with tim butterworth.  into the great wide open...

glad that while artistic progress is being made, getting to play for good causes too.  check all these organizations out, they mean a lot to me, and come rock with us @ LUPOS for the 1st time!!!

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test foto from phone... blog on the run

Test blog mobile

it's aliiiiiiiive

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you take the blonde and i'll take the one in the turban

i don't use caps on this thang that much but HOLY MOTHA THIS AMP ROCKS MY BODY! i loaded my slant cab with the speakers i got today in the mail and it's so great i can't express myself. i want to spend every moment playing through it. i feel like a 16 year old that just got his first guitar from banjo center.

and i've started a photo gallery to accompany this blog. i'm going to try to find a way to get the shots from it right in here easily, but until then click here to see the half stack being slowly incorporated into my artistry!

blucah!

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packaging, amp

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it's aliiiiiiive! i bought a 50 watt maven peal tuskadaro amp head off eBay last week and after some stress and some lack of customer service on the part of the original builder i dropped it to Bob Lippet @ NOLL GUITARS in cranston and had the bias pot replaced. holy man does this thing do beautiful things! the guys at the shop were going nuts over it too. so far i've only tried it with 1 type of power tubes and through the speaker section of another amp, but i'm pumped. gonna order an AVATAR 4x12 cab to go with it.

but. i can't decide on speakers. 4 greenbacks? 4 vintage 30's? 2 v30's and 2 G12H's?

i know i lost about half my audience for a bit just now (so 1 person out of both of you stopped reading) but this is important stuff! TONE!

also making decisions on the packaging for the record. i got the mando and fiddle tracks back from SEAN STAPLES. He and DAN KELLAR sound great. so i'm looking at a double disc digi-pak order where you open it up and the electric disc is on one side and the acoustic on the other. pumped.

and just spent a bunch of time in back bay at berklee's career center getting geared up and educated for the tour to promote the sucker. so much information, drivin me insane. but busy's good right? long as it leads me to you, baby

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writing

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i started writing a lot again. some of it has to do with seeing great shows, some of it has to do with having a new notebook, some of it has to do with traveling (ride the L at 3am and see if nothing occurs to you), and some of it has to do with maggie gyllenhaal (saw crazy heart last night and my inner country songwriter reared it's dusty head).

i've spent a lot of time and energy over the past few years working on my voice, my guitar playing, my trios, and my record (and at least thrice as much time thinking about said vox/playing/band/album). now that the record's out of my hands in a lot of ways, that my chops have evolved a bunch, and that i've got some tools and talenteds set up to do my thing with, what else?

i've always kept a running titles list. i stop when ever one's falling out and take the time to pass the whole enchilada. i have a million scraps in a folder on "he'sbacbook". but i'm happy to be finishing complete lyrics. happy to have some guitar parts i'd play for 8 hours in a row without a worry it'll suggest the next section eventually.

i feel like i'm at the end of some time on a secluded martial arts island where my most difficult final pushes through training and patience are upon me and remembering to write is helping me find my way back around full circle and making me happy.

may i never stop writing again

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genuine article

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saw some great blues last night. my favorite singer and artist in boston is probably dennis brennan and he plays with a band called the white owls when not doing his own thing. he makes me wanna play harp. he makes me wanna sell all my stuff quit all my jobs and thumb it around the country with a guitar.

before that, on wednesday, i went to an open mic in providence. little baby steps in part of something i'm going to start referring to as the BIG PLAN. the BIG PLAN is good for everyone, especially you and me, so contact your local representative and tell them you support it. anyway, played Ain't No Fury, then Lamb, then Worst in Me. went over really well, reminded me how much i like being alone onstage and with only the lyrics and a not-so-loud way of playing an acoustic. you can grab people by the neck and toss them somewhere emotionally when you play it right.

anyway, still catchin up from my trip, time to go. come see us thursday, we're planning some jimi (as usual)

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drive my car

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i've been traveling and i like it. i missed it. i like that moment the airplane lifts, lurches and you suddenly have a new set of priorities somewhere else in the world. i was in israel for a week and a half after spending the new year with Matty Nakoa as usual. it was an incredible experience, look for the pictures on facespace. i spent a day in NY after getting back to keep the adventure alive and have been re-pumped to be a man of the world ever since. blocked off the calendar and am planning east coast, cross to and down and back west coast, and canada driving trips for the summer with a guitar in the backseat.

you know, just polishing coconuts. that's not dirty, there's these monkeys that washed coconuts in the ocean on an island, and suddenly monkeys on an island many miles away started doing that too. so the universe is listening, and i'm saying somethin

we be mixin on this



pretty psyched. anyone know of mastering houses we might afford?

also, am i the only male who blow drys? got my usual "uncle Jessie" nickname on the israel trip. they're just jealous. i have an excellent technique for the blow dry too. it involves a staged action plan. gotta do a bit, shape it, give it a rest, come back, reattack. you know? otherwise you end up looking like this



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