Let it be known that 4/22 is my favorite day of the whole year and so this post is brought to you by all current awesomeness and great things to come to fruition with the patience that time itself gracefully allows.

This has been a great couple weeks for live music in NYC.

I’m sure that sentence has been uttered before but in the light of this last week, this statement stands on its own legs and is raging.

Monday started off at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom with the anticipated debut of Thom Yorks’ new project  ATOMS FOR PEACE, featuring:

Thom Yorke – lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards (Radiohead)

Flea – bass guitar (RHCP)

Joey Waronker – Drums (Beck’s drummer)

Mauro Refosco – percussion

Nigel Godrich – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals

Quoted from Wiki:

“Until February 2010, the band did not have a name and was known as either “Thom Yorke’s live band” or “Thom Yorke????”, as some marquees and the poster for the2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival read. However, on the official website, the band was listed simply as “Thom Yorke”. Through Radiohead’s official website, Yorke officially named the band as “Atoms for Peace”.  The band shares a name with both The 1953 speech by American President Dwight D. Eisenhower and a song from Yorke’s debut solo album The Eraser.”

^WHICH I SAY, IS AN AMAZING ALBUM!

(I never really got into or understood Radiohead until I met J, but I have met its fans throughout the years and they are one damn passionate bunch of music enthusiasts and I appreciated the opportunity to get a bit more insight into what it was that they know that I was previously unaware of. And I was stoked for that. Reminds me of course of a direct correlation of Phish insight but in a totally different genre.)

Needn’t I shant say but nonetheless, this show was incredibly sic. Show of the year and a night to ignite rockets to the outer solar nether regions of space.  I’m not even kidding, I was in awe of how fucking good every single song was and how thick their rock version grooves set in to each second. As far as I know, the tour only hit a few select cities and we were very lucky to be in the right place at the right time, and i just barely scored a sold out ticket just two days before, out of sheer chance.

Tuesday night took us out of the city a short distance and up to Connecticut to The Ridgefield Theatre for some good ‘ol TEA LEAF GREEN.

The opening band had cancelled their set so to our advantage we received a special acoustic set by TLG’s alter-ego, COFFEE BEAN BROWN.

Both sets were classically constructed with many old school favorites which sounded so sweet and quite a few newer tunes too. The venue was an old theatre style that fir about 500 but the room was less full than it should’ve been.  The sound and lights were on point and it was overall an entirely groove packed night. It was great to see my good friends again and I truly felt that the entire show was played for me. I will ask the band someday if this was the reality but for now, as far as OB and myself are concerned, this show will forever be known as “The Phoreal Show”. And I really dig that. Thanks guys, it was great to see you too.

Friday night again we headed up to our sister state of my birth place, Connecticut for TURBINE headlining The Fairfield Theatre and supported by THE SCARECROW COLLECTION back in action. Solid sets by both bands and a lot of new material throwdowns by Turbine in their extended set.

The rest of the week winded down to a tame and celebratory excursion for a perfect spring invitation to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Every flower and fruit tree was in full exquisite bloom and it left us in its wonderland gazing for hours. J and I were joined by Dexatrim and Gretchstables after they got our textables and were roamed free on a Sunday stride whilst feasting on natures tasty vegetables.

Anyways, I start my new job on Monday so I’m keeping things low key this weekend but I looking forward to lots and lots of good shows coming up in the area like ALO at The Brooklyn Bowl 5/22 and Turbine w/ The Brew on the Rocks Off boat cruise in June. It would also be very cool if I could somehow swing out to Berkeley for the Phish Greek shows in August, so I’ll keep my hopes high.

Until next rhyme.

Lates. -B

Hola Amigos! it’s been a beautiful winter here in New York City and I have survived.  Busy between words but fruitful and sweet. Been really enjoying the east coast winter and absolutely loving the snow which I never lived in before now.  Oddly enough, its funny, i have been caught in every blizzard to hit the east coast this winter. I was in DC seeing Tea Leaf Green at the 9:30 Club when their biggest blizzard ever hit. And the following weekend in I attended two Turbine shows in Philly where the city advised no one to go anywhere due to their worst blizzard ever. And now all throughout NY, it’s been blizzard central for a few weeks. I’ve been on Blizzard Tour 2010!  Wooooooo! But yeah, It’s been really cool though. It’s like frozen magic in the air. Everything about the winter here has been quite exhilarating. Quite.

Lately, I am working on many things. Been busier than a cheetah’s lunch hour. Do have some shows coming up that I am excited about.  Started working with a music licensing company part time in addition to event promotion and soon to be full time in publicity and marketing for Turbine. I went on the road with Turbine every weekend this past month and they have been tearing it up with reckless abandon in every city, which has been great to see. They have a knack for blowing minds and taking names. They do have some local hometown shows coming up which we are really excited about. Playing the famous Bowery Ballroom in March and the next day at The Velvet Lounge in Long Island this friday so a rockin show at a great spot where we first welcomed Turbine’s new drummer, the amazing Octavio Salmon, last month. Shortly after they return from their cross country tour out to Colorado and all points in between, they will also headline the Mercury Lounge which we are all excited about. We love to rock it with the natives.

As for now, that is my short report.

Hope you all are doing absolutely fantastic!

Here’s a great clip of a great seasonal New York song by Billie Holiday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl_e7UW-bz8

ROCK ON!

-Miss Management

Currently as we speak, Phish is back on tour and has embarked on their four night run back in Morrison Colorado where they were previously banned many years ago. The setlists look good but I eagerly await reports from those in attendance. The venue of Red Rocks is one of the most spectacular on this planet, nestled within huge red colored boulders that frame the stage and the seats and to the open sky. Truly a marvelous weekend for all those that are there.

I however, would be very happy not to set foot in a vehicle for at least another month or so after just getting back from a very long trek across the country yet again. I made a last minute decision to make the voyage out to Minnesota (pretty much near Canada and a 1/2 hour from North Dakota), very far from New York anyways, for the 10,000 Lakes Music Festival.  And but of course, it was worth it. I got to catch 2 sets each of both my two favorite bands, Turbine and Tea Leaf Green, as well as WSP, Dave Matthews Band, Umphrees McGee and a few others. The festival had superb weather for a summer festival in the north and we had great parties every night. It was also a real treat to visit many friends along the way to and fro. We stopped in Cleveland, Chicago and Minneapolis to visit very good friends of mine that I hadn’t had the chance to see in quite a while, so that was very cool.

Shortly after returning home, just two days later we boarded the boat in Manhattan for another edition of the Rocks Off Boat Cruise Series, this time featuring Turbine. It was wonderful to have a full boat of  friends come out to join in on the festivities as the band threw down a fantastic 2 setter on the high seas as the people bounced around as the boat rocked on the waves. Memorable highlight was the debut cover of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” with all the keyboard parts played completely on guitar and harmonica and the booming rhythm section breaking it down full tilt. It was awesome. Pmonk taped the show so it should be up on archive.org soon under Turbine 7-30-2009 nyc boat cruise or something. Check it.

to be cont’d….

The above photo is taken in Manhattan at the site where the original MTV series, “The Real World” graffiti was used in all of the opening scenes. Pretty cool for the pop culture buff in all of us and I have appropriately chosen this as the photo for the next leg of my blog journal of recently living in New York. I also found a website that shows the locations of many infamous music spots of days gone by like the corner store photographed for the album cover of the Beastie Boys “Paul’s Boutique” and the building photographed on Led Zeppelin’s “Physical Graffiti”album. I will check these places out in the coming days of city exploration for the impeding joy of random musical encounters in my new world.

Rightfully so, I have just returned from a great couple of weeks on the road of several musical adventures. Those of which include recently seeing the Beastie Boys, Phish, Bruce Springsteen, MGMT, Tony Rice, David Grisman, David Byrne, Nine Inch Nails, Mars Volta, Turbine, King Sunny Ade, Ani Difranco and many others. If you couldn’t tell, It would appear that I was on a blasphamus musical rampage, however, I was fortunate to catch all of these acts in the same weekend at the greatest music festival on earth that is called Bonnaroo.

Bonnaroo is a place where all things are possible. The variety of music atmospheres is appalling and very accessable to the people with the 5 stages throughout the grounds. Having been an honored guest and having an all access pass, I had the opportunity to chat it up with so many artists all in one place meanwhile having dinner next to them every day and it was all a completely normal activity. The music was abundant and the festival was very well organized. I remember on the last night at the closing set of Phish, i was dictating the whole setlist to the guy writing the article for The Rolling Stone magazine, hahaha, and he really appreciated it.

Well, let me start first at the starting point 2 weeks ago when the long awaitied Phish shows came through town. Phish opened their summer tour with a sweep of the northeast. To start of June, I caught the 3 night run at the beautiful Jones Beach theatre just about an hour from the city and man, what a way to start out of the gates running. The venue was amazing, overlooking a magnificent waterfront and spectacular sound all around. Got to rage it with many west coast friends who came out and that made it really special and incredibly fun. It was especially sweet to rock out in the pouring rain to the songs of Free and 2001 again. I got to hear the best version of Cities ever and this time it had the most meaning i’ve come to understand.

After the three nights of music in New York, I headed up to Massachucetts to catch another fun run at Great Woods Ampitheatre and then the next day at Camden in New Jersey for the most epic show of the run at the reunion place of my hundreth Phish show and the venue where I first met my best friend Brian. It was an awesome week of grooves and then that next morning I caught my flight out to Tennesee to meet up with my boyfriends band, Turbine, in Knoxville where they played a post Phish show party and then we all loaded in the van and set sail towards Nashville’s music city and the site of Bonnaroo.

It is currently raining cats and canines which is keeping me indoors for the moment though I have a lot to do today. I woke up thinking that I want to write a new and interesting column for the local paper and I also was planning on taking my first city wide subway trip to run a bunch of errands. I love the rain here so much, it never really ever rained so much in the summertime back in California and it has such an appealing feel amidst the brownstone buildings and bustling crowds. I’m enjoying this out my window as I write and the sound in inspiring.

Turbine is currently on tour right now in Colorado and I am missing them greatly. When they get back, Jeremy is setting up a couple of solo shows in the area which will be amazing and a lot of fun and we’ll have a continued plethora of music on our palate for the coming months.

Well, thanks for your continued love and awesomeness and i’ll look forward to our next rendezvous all too soon.

Keep rockin’ it like ya do!

With much love and musical appreciation,

-B

Sweetness to the new summer season and may the wiley winds of the months to come bring you gentle breezes as refreshing as Egytptian grapes. 

And as the days seem to settle into the new season, I too become more acclimated to the new city, new environment and things begin to set in and settle as well. The whole process of relocating is a humble endeavor. I did recently find a wonderful apartment that’s very close to a large park as well as the beautiful Brooklyn musuem and Botanical Gardens. I’m almost through the first full month of officially living in New York City, and everything is gonna be real cool.

This past Saturday night I officiated my residence with a great Tea Leaf Green concert at The Fillmore East, Irving Plaza. An as usual stellar performance and it was great to see all the folks come out. Show was consistant but lacked many of the songs that I was personally looking forward to hear, just cuz it hadbeen so long. Still, papertecnics came out of retirement for the occasion and the streamers behaved themselves appropriately (no landing in the lights).  

The next local show that i’m looking forward to seeing is Bill Frisell on Saturday at what I hear is a classic venue an hour or so north of here. I’ve been wanting to see Bill Frisell for so long and I can’t wait for this show. Other than that, I still gotta get to know the city a bit better to be able to seek out all the many venues in this huge city with avid intent of catching lots of new music all which ways. Lots of ground to conquer, I mean cover. In this city though of course, catching live music is definitely possible 24/7, but yeah, I’ve decided to ease gently into the acclimating situation with a knowingly i’ll be led in due time to all the marvelous places and experiences. And it’s not like I’m foriegn to the city and havn’t been coming here for weeks at a time for the last 10 years, it’s just that this time, it’s for real. 

As June nears, I’m very much looking forward to having many of you out this way in the next couple weeks when Phish starts their tour and rolls throughout the eastern area. I’m trying to forseeably make it to the Boston show but definitely the few nights at Jones Beach, only and hour from me. After those shows, I’m heading out to Tennessee a week later for the Bonnaroo Music Festival (www.bonnaroo.com) for what should be a spectacular weekend of musical array and awesome times. I’m so stoked that Turbine is in the line up this year especially. It’s pretty cool to have The Beastie Boys, Phish, Ani Difranco, MGMt. and several more in the same line up as my boy’s band, nice.

Well, that’s about it for now. I’ll hopefully upload some new recordings soon to the radio site and archive, recent shows going away party show from sF. Also too, some photos of the new place and other musings like the worlds best grafitti art.

Stay cool and Rock on in the summertime!

Rarrrr,

-B

So after a wonderful send off party and a fantastic night of music by the band that Jeremy put together up in San Francisco, (featuring: Jeremy Hilliard, Sean Leahy, Pete Canton, Daria Johnson and Trevor Garrod), we hopped in the Phoreal Pod and ventured across the country towards the east coast and thus began our coast to coast adventures and the start of a new and exciting  chapter.

We left Santa Cruz on Thursday and headed down to Los Angeles where we had another party set up with all of my brothers and So Cal family. It was such a fun night and a great finale to rock it with the original California crew. The next day found us in Arizona where we stopped in Winslow, home of the Eagles lyrics,  “Well I’ve been standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see.” And hence, this would also be the start of the many musical places of references that we could stop in to entertain. The next day, we rolled through more desert badlands and stopped in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Now I have officially been to every town mentioned in the song “Willin”.

The next day we cruised through the Texas panhandle and into Oklahoma where a new song was born called, “Okahoma City” and then we went a little bit further where we were stoked to spend the night in the town of Okemah, the hometown of Woody Guthrie. The next day we headed into Tennessee and thought it only to be right to spend the night like a King, so we set the gear towards Memphis and stayed the night in Graceland. We checked out Memphis a bit more the next day which was very cool and we turned out another new song about “The Famous Memphis Panda”. Next up was Knoxville and then the home stretch of Virginia. The weather was beautiful the whole way and we finally made it to NYC for the scheduled Turbine shows. The friday night show in New Jersey was epic, a great reunion as many friends made it out that night to dance the night away. The next night Turbine played a homecoming show in Brooklyn and it was at this great club called Cameo and everyone was groovin’ and glad to have the band back in town. A fantastic weekend of music after a glorious trek across the country to make it all on time and we keep rollin on…

…and soon we’ll be spreading the word of the record label and spearheading new fronts in the new location and of course, will keep it all updated here.

Mad Love to y’all!

-B

“So what’s the sense of me sitting here leaving
When any ole day I might be even
And Lord knows that New York City’s got
a lot to do in it!”

-Gram Parsons (lyrics from: Big Mouth Blues)

Oh my goodness… and phuck yeah!

So friends, my good friends, I am proud to say that I will finally be making the leap out to the east coast to persue a slough of new adventures and dive into new aspects there in the music industry. I am stoked to rock it and entertain my enthusiastic fiasco in the big city along with joining up with my love and partner in crime.  I’ll return to Santa Cruz next week to re-group and then take off the following week and the ridiculous smile on my face duly reflects the extent of my excitement, for real.

It’s crazy to be leaving my home on the west coast after so long but I feel that I have adequately conquered California and all points in between and that I will be branching out to all of the new and outrageous opportunities that beckon me while moving forward to rock it coast to coast. Onward and upward!

So, I’ve been kickin’ it in Virginia for a few weeks now. Came here after Turbine show in Chicago and a little bit before the Hampton Phish shows… which of course fucking rocked. The shows as a whole were super tight and the band was showing immense respect and gratitude to all of us and portrayed it gracefully by playing so well and really defined. More on this later…but a seriously fuckin’ awesome weekend taking in the music and the familiar wild scene.

And my friends in Santa Cruz have planned a going away party on the short notice of my recent decision to make the move earlier than planned and the gig for this engagement will be for this Sunday 3/21 meanwhile we have also set up a city party to rock it in San Francisco next Tuesday before we leave (to drive across the country) and it will informally be a Phoreal Records Production with many friends and guest musicians so please join us for 3 sets of rock’n good times. The SF party will be held at The Blackthorn Tavern in the Sunset District 7pm til close. Opening set starts out with an illusive solo showcase by New York’s finest friend,  Jeremy Hilliard, followed by an accompanyment with our company’s own beast of the axe, Sean Leahy who will clock in second set along with Daria “Shani” Johnson on drums and Pete Canton on bass as well as many others to join in during the third set collaboration fandango.

Would love to have you there if you can attend and if you cannot make it, we’d love to stop by while we pass through your state on our way east, that means you Vegas, Colorado, Ohio, Illinois, hopefully NC and VA.

Much Love and much more to come…

After another amazing week of music, the party accelerates full steam ahead as I prepare to head out to the east coast again for a fantastic feast of a highly anticipated musical delights in an all out epic extravaganza and blasphemous bonanza.

Caught two stellar nights of ALO on their Tour d’Amor for 2/14 and 2/15 in Santa Cruz and Petaluma. The first night was at my beloved local Moe’s Alley and between the band and the audience, the roof was blown off it’s hinges. The energy was so high and you’d think that there had to be a tsunami warning forthcoming after the storm we danced up all night long.  Such a fun night for sure and we were thrilled to throw the raucous afterparty at our place which gave us an opportunity to entertain several new friends and VIP’s alike.

Sunday night at The Mystic was electric. I absolutely love this venue; superior sound and high ceilings, not to mention the classic old theatre architecture and Lagunitas on tap. I’m really loving many of the new songs and the guys just seriously played exceptionally and they also threw down with some super fun and funky cover selections. My apologies to our Choreographer for the after hours dancing injuries and to Jason and Elaine, I fuckin’ love you guys! New dance move made it into the repitoir though this night called “The Pillow Fight Casualty”. Don’t try it at home kids. Only under company supervision.

Notable Mention: Last minute decision and couldn’t make it to Tea Leaf in Tahoe on this same weekend but our sources said it was a scorcher and I was sore though like a sock in the stomach to hear that they covered “Lay Lady Lay” for the first time on Valentine’s Day night’s show. Great to hear it was a rock’n weekend up in the TEAhoe.

Last night 2/20 was a killer show at The Connecticut Yankee in San Francisco with Josh Clark’s new side project band, Counterclarkwise brought to you by Plateface Productions. Everyone came out in full force for this elevated event of fanciful musical prowess by the Clark character himself backed by Mr. Scotty (Iceman) Rager, Señor Steve (The Executive) Adams and Steve Molitz (of Particle fame). Our company’s own Sean (SLeahy) Leahy also sat in for a ball busting Hot Dog and the set included such other memorable tunes as: Fuck you blinking light, Farting on an airplane, I have a crush on my girlfriend, The ABC’s of Social Rugburn and Condensending Hippie.  Willin’ and Deathcake encore with Fred from Big Light. I would assume the Willin’ was a toss to Sauce, as it is the bands longtime song to him. Good call. And again, such a kick ass show, this one is going to melt hard drives once it seeps out from archive.

Next up on the agenda, I hop a plane on Thursday to meet up with Turbine for a show at Martyr’s in Chicago and then we have a week to casually stroll along the states to embark on Hampton Virgina for the epic 3 night welcoming back blast off that is PHISH! I can’t say enough how much i’m ready to rock the mothership and as a special treat, my boys, Turbine will be playing the afterparty on the first two nights! Also, so excited to rage Phish with so many of my best friends from back in the day and those whose friendships and mutual musical admiration in which i have acquired since the duration of the band’s last stand 5 years ago, this will truly take it over the top in my book.

I’m gonna kick it in VA for another week after and then head up to New York to scope out some potential future opportunities and then return back west the following week to digest what all just smacked the irremovable smile on my mug. Exhilarating adventures at hand to say the least.

PHUCK YEAH!

As for today, I had a life altering epiphany that I’m extremely grateful for and I also went to a bicycle museum. Good times.

…always.

Next up…in which I must express that i’m a terrible planner, but, if I return back to the west coast by April or if I leave again and then can get back by then, I am really seeking to make it to two shows in the area but they are both on the same damn night! JJ Cale (first tour in how long?!) and Ratatat(pure sicness)! JJ Cale or Ratatat? JJ Cale vs. Ratatat. I really need a teleporter machine stat.

All will be decided like the rhythm to the rhyme. All good things in all good time.

Love you all!

Late.

-B

Dear 2009, it is hard to keep up with you, but since we met on new years eve, You have stolen my heart. I think I’m in love.

Hey there friends!

It’s great to be with you all again, and it’s February now and I gotta say that this has been quite the epic year so far and the continued greatness that lies ahead is of grandiose, extacicly preposterous proportions. It’s actually Friday the 13th today, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and there is luck and electricity in the air. Here in Santa Cruz, we have been diggin’ on some pretty interesting weather patterns of mad rain for an hour followed by brilliant clear blue sunny skies and this pattern keeps repeating itself about every few hours, it feels magical. I just ate the best Veggie Burger in existance at this local Hawaiian bar and I want to give in to the resistance that keeping me in town and instead drive to Utah to catch up at a concert in Ogden this Saturday.

Last night I went out to a very intrigueing hip hop show that blended synths and a keyboard cacaughany behind spat vocals and inticing grooves. It was a goodtime. Russell, from Naomi and the Courteous Rudeboys fame is a part of the band and I’m glad I got to check it out.

What I want more than anything is to make it out to catch up with Turbine in Utah but if I can’t then I’m going to check ot ALO at Moe’s Alley for V-Day and it will be sweet.

I must admit, there has been so much going on as of late and a lot of progress towards new ventures with the company. New opportunities are braving the forefront which will unviel exciting feats of ascension as well as a profound compassionate acknowledgment towards current considerations as well.  I realize that that does not explain much but it soon will all come to light. All good things in all good time.

I recently spent 3 adventurous weeks on tour with my favorite New York band, Turbine. The response of their west coast debut was exhillerating and we had a ton of fun. Turbine is still on their legendary 90 day tour which will always be referred to as “The Tour of Insanity” as they have been traveling day in and day out conquering the country and rock’n peoples’ worlds. Rock on amigos! See you again in Hampton.

Ah yes, the most spoken word in our recent vocabulary; Hampton. Very exciting times at hand here with an exhorbant amount of us looking forward to the Phish shows coming up in Hampton next month and uh, yeah, this is gonna be insane.

I saw the writing on the wall and it read 422, and I knew right away it was the right thing to do. I went without a question to my designated destination and somewhere in the New York station reverberated an echo of elation. Really?! Yeah. And then ya know.