Just wrapped up a slew of activities in the middle west of this vast land.
The checklist started simply enough with going to Omaha and, after paying homage to Brando, (amazing interview from with LK from the 90's) rehearsing some new material for perhaps one of the "notable people" of Whitefish, Montana. Hint: it's not a Phil Jackson record, but I 'll go on the record officially offering my services for a recording of the Zen master.
Since we were scheduled to end a prep tour and record in Chicago, I took the liberty of setting up a soirée to celebrate 10 years of Herculaneum.
The Hideout is one of the best clubs I've played in the world. Built in 2 days over a century ago, it still stands as one of the city's pillars of greatness on a block just a bit too industrial to yet fall victim to the spirit crushing amputation of spirit that so many once great bars in Chicago have been subjected to. Let's just say you'd be hard pressed to find a schlinkin on any of those walls.
I got to enjoy some of that cities colorful dining establishments. The Hopleaf is simply a shining gem of a bar and at the risk of wasting my yelp review, I'll cut it short there, but if you enjoy getting plastered over mussels and Joe Henderson records, I do suggest you pay them a visit some time.
This month the wonderful Devin Hoff is doing a residency at another superb establishment, The Skylark in Pilsen. Every Monday this month, Hoff will be presenting some incarnation of his prowess. I was lucky enough to share the stage with him and play some of the music from my most recent recording, Sky Bleached, joined by my old friend Matt Schneider on guitar. It's a great thing to be able to use those tunes as psychedelic diving boards and the DR Sand team keeps expanding. If all goes well, this time in August, we'll be wrapping a tour-ette on the east coast.
Til then, I'm playing some dates in LA with the Bouquet as well as my beloved electro goth pop world brethren Rainbow Arabia to hype the new, as of April 16 record entitled fm sushi. To tide over the 3 people who made it this far in this dispatch, enjoy the reworking of the Tangerine Dream soundtrack from William Friedkin's 1977 masterpiece, Sorcerer. A group of career criminals are assembled to move four truckloads of nitro glycerin across the rainforest. Anyone who's ever been in the van for a few months should see this film. Perhaps one of the best trailers of the era. Roy Scheider is a badass of the highest order. I first realized his greatness via Jaws, but lord of lords, that is just the tip of the iceberg. All That Jazz really sealed the deal for me, so when I realized I could get Scheider and Freidkin in one one healthy dose, I immediately signed up for duty. The 80's, I know, are a strange and wonderful time for the anti-hero stars of 70's(Scheider, Hackman, Keitel, Pacino, Caine, Nicholson, Gould, et al.) and I've found myself bemused and bewildered by some of the cop dramas that got made in the first part of that decade, often filmed abroad with questionable names like Code of Conduct and Built for Revenge.
Finally, there has been a bit more of a delay in production, but there is a new Ether Feather song coming this month. A little jam called Sweet World that will be released on bandcamp as soon as I decide on a proper visual accompaniment.
Tally Ho!
