Take it for what it is...

so we did it. here's mr brownstone performing 'welcome to the jungle' on the late show with david letterman. it was a blast, a totally surreal experience. we were specifically told to, "keep away from mr letterman." the late show got it's highest ratings in a year that night. coincidence? again... we may never know... enjoy.



for any fans, we are headlining irving plaza next friday, 11/28/08.

Mr. Brownstone to perform on The Late Show with David Leterman, Novemember 19th

well friends, as many of you know, for the last 8 years i have moonlighted as slash in a guns n' roses tribute band known around the world as Mr. Brownstone. it started as a dorm room joke, something fun for us to do for ourselves and our friends. we got dressed up like GnR one night, even going to the dining hall at conn college in our cheap and crappy costumes, and rocked the cro's nest at the student center for maybe 100 people.

it was great.

numerous stolen or destroyed top hats later we are somehow going stronger than ever. despite (although some have argued that as a result of) the fact that we have never really taken Mr B that seriously, we've landed some amazing gigs in NYC, boston and even a midnight slot on stage at bonnaroo opposite medeski, martin & wood and the flaming lips. our next adventure brings us to the national stage: an appearance on the late show with david letterman. axl rose's current lineup of what he calls "guns n' roses" is finally releasing the long awaited album chinese democracy the tuesday after our late show appearance. coincidence? hmmm... as luck would have it, Mr B has a big show at irving plaza the night after thanksgiving which mr letterman will plug. be sure to watch as we rock america wednesday, november 19th.
special guest: katie couric.

hey, it's just this thing we do...

Mitch Mitchell 1947-2008

the world lost a great musician yesterday. mitch mitchell (left) passed away in portland, oregon at the age of 62. mitch played drums in the jimi hendrix experience. to support hendrix's freak-out-blues stratocaster sorcery, mitch recorded some incredibly inventive drum parts, culling influences from jazz legends such as elvin jones and buddy rich as well as incorporating modern pop/rock styles of the day. together with other power trio drummers ginger baker of cream and keith moon of the who, mitch's firey and at times manic playing redefined what the drummer's role could be in a rock band. no longer content to simply 'keep the beat,' mitch was forced to temper hendrix's massive musical presence with enough character in his drum parts step out of the background, keeping the band afloat. to keep it all together, noel redding supplied the reliable center line, the steady bass groove that was the glue between hendrix and mitch.
above, a young experience, fall of 1966
mitch was just out of his teens when he was recruited to play drums with hendrix. starting in the fall of 1966, the jimi hendrix experience shook the pop music world to its core with their fusion of blues, feedback, psychedelic sound and song craft, pop hooks, studio wizardry and a live show the likes of which had never been seen. for hendrix, it seemed meant to be. after spending his early twenties touring the US and canada on the chitlin circuit with the likes of ike and tina turner, little richard, curtis knight and king curtis, hendrix was finally noticed by animals bassist and soon-to-be producer, chas chandler. chandler brought hendrix to london and paired him up with mitch and noel. within days of its inception, the trio began performing and recording new material, releasing the classic are you experienced? in may of 1967.
above, roger mayer (guitar effect pedal guru) mitch, hendrix, noel
mitch as the marquee club, london 1967
at the time of their first couple albums, studio recording technology was still fairly primitive by today's standards. are you experienced? and the group's second album axis: bold as love were both recorded on a simple 4 track machine. they stand as monuments to the great musicianship on one side of the control room glass and the inventive engineering and production skills on the other side. at a time when recording engineers were still wearing lab coats and carrying clipboards, mitch along with other pop musicians of the day, began to use the studio as more of a creative tool then simply a way to capture a live performance in hi-fidelity. he was one of the first drummers to become actively involved in the recording process, pushing the boundaries of the studio and attempting to create a more sonically powerful experience for the listener. mitch began to experiment with the use of multiple microphones to capture his drum sounds. by using a variety of mics on his kit, the recording engineers were given more freedom to manipulate his drums and create a much more 3-D sound experience for the listener. this is particularly evident on their 3rd album electric ladyland, which employed a larger 16 track board and allowed for much more creative room in the mix. throw on a good pair of headphones and pay attention to where the instruments are in the mix from left ear to right, how the guitars, vocals and other sonic textures dip and weave around the song. i have to say, one of the amazing things about hendrix is that you can go back and hear something new every time you listen to one of his records. i'm listening to axis as i type this and i'm happy and amazed to say that after a solid 15 years of listening to his records, previously unnoticed sounds and textures are still popping out at me. how many artists can you say that about?!
above, hendrix with mitch in the studio
from what i've read, hendrix and mitch were great friends and very much enjoyed their musical relationship. mitch was there for most of it all (of the four official records hendrix released in his lifetime, he was absent only from band of gypsys, an album which captured hendrix live in NYC on new years eve '69/'70 with buddy miles on drums and billy cox on bass) he was there as hendrix famously smashed and burned his guitar at the monetery pop festivel in 1967 (see previous blog entry) he was hendrix's drummer at woodstock and played drums at hendrix's last ever concert at the isle of fehmarn in september 1970. his contributions to the drumming world and impact on the development of the jimi hendrix experience's 3 studio albums cannot be overstated. he will be missed.

Two of Brooklyn's guitar pickers...

i just got home from seeing a double header show at my fave nyc bar/venue: barbes. this place is a total gem in all of nyc and lucky me, i live just a few blocks from this fantastic small bar/live music venue. they have a great selection of beers and spirits and if you ask me... one of the best line ups of live music in town.

telecaster wizard, jim campilongo played the early show tonight. i've never seen a guy control an electric guitar and force it to his will the way he does. effortless behind-the-nut harmonic bends, bizzaro chords and TONE up the wazoo. when you see a guy manipulating an instrument with this kind of effortless control and dexterity, you know why the music press has called him "an american treasure." drawing influences from other telecaster gurus such as jimmy bryant, danny gatton, jimmie rivers and god-knows-where psychedelic influences, he conjures up sounds you might think only possible with a massive effects pedal board. campilongo, however, makes it all look effortless with his vintage tele and matching '60s era princeton amp. he plays every monday night at the living room on the lower east side. you may have seen him backing up norah jones or one of my favorite bands, cake.

from the left: jimmie rivers and jim campilongo:
the late show was western swing whiz, smokey hormel. you may know him from his work with tom waits or beck. he's an incredibly diverse musician. as a young picker, he learned western swing-style guitar from none other than jimmy wyble, one of bob wills famed guitar slingers. folks... bob wills is western swing and through a multi-decade career, he featured a number of ground breaking instrumentalists, most notably his guitar players. we've seen smokey a number of times and he is just a dynamite musician leading a cracker jack outfit: upright bass, drums, clarinet and steel guitar. smokey throws western swing classics into the modern world and the crowd loves it! btw- dig the unusual gretsch he's playing here... momma!
these are just two of the many great musicians playing on a regular basis here in brooklyn. if you live in the area, you owe yourself to check out these increidible guitarists!

10,603 miles

good god almighty i am so happy to be back in BK. as this blog entry's title would lead you to believe, yes we drove 10,603 miles since we left boston on august 23. i set the mini van's odometer to zero at izzy stradlin's house the day after Mr Brownstone rocked the bejesus outta the paradise the night before. amazingly it was exactly 1000 miles from boston to northbrook, illinois, the town where carolyn grew up. i just have to say the trip was an amazing experience. we saw deserts, moose, coyotes, irrelevant theme park motels, wild canadians in their natural habitat and Boss Tweed rocked the great white north.

some pertinent stats:
10,603=miles driven in the Silver Bullet from august 23rd-oct 5th
167.371 kmh=104 mph that we averaged through the middle of nowhere canada
53=cd's we outfitted the van with for our trip
24=towns able to provide for our carnivorous taco/guitar/record store appetite along the way
13=towns rocked by Boss Tweed
4=venues that hooked us up with sweet potato fries vs. standard white starch french fries
2=times i was pulled over and let off with a warning by canadian cops (they're so nice!)
1.6=new drummer(s) able to rock with the Tweed (jeremey was larger than life)
1=human finger we saw chopped off at the biker bar, the happy hog
.8=saskatoon-based tv channel that featured Boss Tweed on their daily culture show (let's up the production values here, eh fellas?)

here's some photos. entering jasper national park in the canadian rockies:
downtown canmore, our first show in canada:

some shots of our drive up through the national park to jasper:

jeremey scopes the view on one of our many stops along the drive to jasper:

a giant crow on the top of a car where we stopped to check out a waterfall. this thing could have weighed 20lbs:
the waterfall:

main street jasper:

everything is big in canada... we encounter a giant elk on way home after the gig. his giant elk head stood taller than mine:

racking up a game of pool before the gig at the slice in lethbridge:

more pool... jeremey sets up for the break in calgary:

on to exotic moose jaw. this town in saskatchewan is famous for the tunnels beneath the city streets which were once used by al capone and other prohibition-era bootleggers. we stayed at the famous gangster's theme motel. i wonder if his family sees any money from the use of his name and reputation? i doubt it:

at this point in the trip both carolyn and i were getting pretty shaggy and decided it was time to get our hair cut:

the front of our fan collected an impressive collection of bugs. we should have sold these off as lures to fisherman:
in saskatoon we were interviewed on a regional tv station:
the green room... classy:

the venue in saskatoon. we played a killer show for the folks here... lots of students and our first encounter with poutine:
making the long trek to thunder bay right on lake superior, we stopped and played a gig at the apollo. great venue and a great host... thanks, sheila!
checking out an old wurlitzer jukebox in the basement:

taking care of some wifi biz before heading out the next day:

boss tweed rolls into tottenham, about an hour north of toronto, to play our second to last show at the happy hog. our host, a gregarious biker named gar, told us some wild stories of his trips to the big biker rally, sturgis and showed off his harley. it wouldn't translate here but we did witness one of our new fans lose the tip of his finger in a bizarre seating accident. ask us about it sometime. outside the venue:
gar's hog: notice that he installed a sword for the gear shift... whoah:
after our last gig in toronto, we dropped jeremey off at the train station in albany and headed to portland, maine to see our friend sarah stebbins get hitched:

and to round the trip off, we made it down to delaware the following weekend to see our long reigning drummer, eric reed, tie the knot with the lovely amanda. amanda and her father walk up the beach for the ceremony:
the newly weds cut the cake. well done guys:
whew! and that's about it. lots of driving over those six weeks and now we're getting reacquainted with brooklyn. good to be home.

joy!

arg!

yes, yes... i know there are some typo's and misspellings here but blogger.com is fighting me in the editing department. i promise to fix it up asap. just letting you know that i care.

dig...