Blog: The Great Consolidation

I've canceled my record release party a second time. I'm sorry to those of you that mentioned traveling for it, or have held off purchasing my new albums to do it in person. I haven't slept in a week, and I just don't feel like I can put on the kind of quality show I want to put on for a party that features brownies and cookies and juice. It may just be the "ug" of sleeping alone in a big tomb of

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When we arrived at the Grape St. in Philly, we were scolded for being 15 minutes early. I have never, in my 42 years of touring, been scolded for being early to a load-in. It was fascinating. Santi's mom brought us two huge boxes of italian/argentinian food, utensils, drinks, and salad. I asked her if she was single. There were these stuffed croissant-like things called "Veggie Empanadas" that

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Tour Diary 4 We're on our way to Philly from Morgantown, WV. Everyone's a bit crusty from last night's tomfoolery at the cozy home of [...]

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We've somehow landed in the illest house in NC... it's a summer home with 3 stories of party potential, a hot tub, a pool, wireless internet, four showers, pictures of boats, Stovetop Stuffing in the billions, and every Matt Damon movie ever released (the racier, unreleased Damon tapes Dua from EC had in a special bag that has a picture of Damon with his arm around Tina Turner on the front of it)

We're in Washington DC and I just had a shower. Last night was a fairly fun show - several nice lads from MD drove up to see the show so it seemed like my songs had a little more welcomeness there. DC has amazing Ethiopian food, so I hit that, and hard, but the dudes in EC don't value their health at all so I hit it hard and alone. At the end of my set we did rousing versions of Pon Pon and Bad

It's day two of my tour with Eclectic Collective and we're in Pittsburgh. We played in NY last night and it was a strange show for me... I do a lot of rap on these shows... I think it's because there are black people in Eclectic Collective and I want them to like me. But I keep getting this weird feeling that dudes don't really wanna hear the story of my life, especially backwards, and over odd

I just arrived home from my brief CA tour. I played 5 shows. Check it: 1. The Portable (in SJ) - my entire rig fell over. 2. Bottom of the Hill (SF) - the mic shocked me for two entire songs. 3. Anno Domino (SJ) - two songs into the show, all my levels went wacky and blurried up my loops. The vocal mic was all peaking for the last two songs. 4. Plush Cafe (Fullerton) - my vocal and the kick

I had a vision today where the musicians (and the australian bands too) revolt at sxsw... somehow they arrange to destroy all the acohol in Austin. I know, I know. How do you do that? Well, use your head, kid. The shipments are easy to spot. So you get some firecrackers, and you spook every team of Clydesdales heading into downtown. BAM. Prohibition. So the city's basically dry, or will be

So I'm sitting in the trade show at SXSW in the Austin Convention Center to use their free internet. I'm two feet from a stage where this middle-aged couple is singing on a small stage about three feet from this laptop. We're making a lot of eye contact and the dude is giving me the "we-both-know-I'm-killin-it" face as he and the mandolin chick croon, "My little girl's not a baby time may go

In a shocking modern day David vs. Goliath legal skirmish, small-time unknown "song-writer" Gavin Castleton has filed suit against pop legends Michael Jackson and his understudy, Justin Timberlake, for copyright infringement. Representing himself (and east LA), Castleton sited a track he produced in 2005 called Chameleon as the particular composition flagrantly co-opted by both major league

Red Teller was seven when his brother Colin left for the Congo. After much frothing from his panicky father, Colin agreed to book a return flight for 3 months later, exchanging his "where-the-road-takes-you" Marlboro Mantasy for continued use of the family Dodge. Mr. Teller's fears were reflected and magnified through the convex carnival mirror of Red's seven year old mind. The stories he

When I was a kid I thought my grandfather was fairly average. He smelled like a grandfather - caramel corn and some sort of homemade aftershave. He sent us grandfathery and often times recycled gifts on our birthdays: quilts, Swiss Army knives, mittens. He flashed his gold teeth like they were rewards for some unfathomable act of bravery - the President might have pinned them on him. I hoped to

I'm embarrassed to say it's my mom who wants me to go into crime-fighting. I don't think what I have is even technically a "gift," but she just keeps pounding away at me ever since I got laid off. What started as subtle clippings left on my bed ("Crime Rates Soar!" and "Police Chief Baffled Again!") evolved into a high-pitched campaign when The Caped Vapor's invisible crime spree began. "The

They finally pick Cotter to watch because he's known me the shortest time, and probably because he's wound so tight they don't want him around the others. He lost his sister on the way here and has since turned into a stone-faced automaton. I feel like we've been staring each other in the eye for over an hour and he isn't blinking, as if he thinks in that millisecond someone might swoop in and

I'm in South Carolina somewhere at the moment, sleeping on someone's nice leather couch. Woke up sticky cause it was HOTlanta (not mylanta) and we drove through the night from Hotlanta to arrive at this mystery location at 8am. The One Drop guys are from FL so they faint at the slightest hint of a breeze. Feel weird. Like there's both a lot to say and a little. I guess I could start with the show

For those who missed it (which is basically all of you - thanks), here is a glimpse of the magic that once was... Everything is going according to plan... "For the first time on earth - a live robot band." We are truly jamming - me and my robot buddies. Hanging out back stage. Star Drummer 2000 tries to keep up with my chops. Even with a robo-glare, I must continue rocking. NASA

For many years I have felt my biological clock ticking. It is not un-often that I find my work suddenly interrupted by the notion of fatherhood. I'll be out in my workshop twittering around when out of nowhere I'm all but stifled by the need to influence the thought of or assign remedial tasks to someone at least 1/3 my height. I believe it is common for someone of my age