October 29: Lipbone Redding

Hey everybody! sorry I haven’t posted much this week. It’s been my first week off in quite some time, so I’ve been catching up on all the things that I’ve left undone over the last month.

Well, let’s see here. Last night, I ventured down to Columbus to hang out with my buddy Lee Connors. Lee is a promoter, consultant, and all around good guy who’s been working hard putting together his concert series for the cure. Last night was the kickoff of the series featuring Lipbone Redding, and Alex White.

Alex is an acoustic/soul/hip-hop artist from Columbus, his stuff is real chill. Check it out at myspace.com/gethighonmusic. Then, out of nowhere Lee asked me to jump up on stage and play a set before Lipbone came on. That was cool. We were down at the Lazy Chameleon in Powell, just outside of Columbus. This place had a great stage, sound system, and state of the art lighting system. I’m definitely gonna have to get the band down there soon.

Then it was time for Lipbone Redding and the Lipbone orchestra. They were a Jazz trio, guitar, drums, and stand up bass, but if you weren’t watching you’d think there was a whole horn section.


This guy Lipbone sings like Louis Armstrong, and does this thing with his mouth that sounds just like a trombone. He doesn’t scat. No sir, I swear if you closed your eyes you’d think there was a trombone player on stage, no lie. I bought the CD and it’s the same thing. It’s crazy. You should totally check these guys out at Lipbone.com.

Oh, and to top the night off I got to meet James Cotton, former Buckeye, Buffalo Bill, Atlanta Falcon, and CFL player. It’s not everyday you get to shake hands with a dude who could rip both arms off your body and beat you with ‘em. haha.

Well, I’d also like to say, “Happy Birthday” to my sister, and hopefully, fingers crossed, “Happy Birthday” to my new baby niece here soon.

October 24: MAE

Last night was a tough decision because there were too really good shows to choose from. The Speedbumps had their CD release party over in Kent at the Kent Stage, and MAE was playing at Musica. What to do, what to do? Well, my old roommate Nate is a MAE fan so he made the decision for us, plus we were already in Akron. So Nate, Josh, and I headed for Musica, after grabbing some delicious Chic-Fil-a.

I’ve never been a huge MAE fan, not that I don’t like their stuff, but I’m weird with music. I’ll listen to the same records over and over until I get sick of em, then move onto something new, but it’s really hard for something new to make it into my repeat playlist. I’m just picky I guess. Anyways, MAE was cool.

I especially liked their use of visualizations projected behind them. That was something my friend Jon and I have been talking about using for some time, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in use on such a small scale.



I have to say though, what I was most impressed with was how down to earth the guys really were. They just stuck around afterward and hung out after the show. In fact, we all went out for pizza and salad (with cheese of course) at Luigi’s. After a stimulating conversation about pop culture, Ben Folds Five, and about 3 pounds of mozzarella cheese it was time to head home, and time for MAE to head on to Allentown, PA. Good luck fella’s on the road. Just don’t make the same mistake as the Lonely Hearts and leave your bass player in the bathroom at BP.

October 23: Beachland Ballroom

What’s up everybody! So . . . last night we opened for Pete Francis (Dispatch) and Keaton Simons at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, OH. Despite some minor yet crippling glitches we pulled off a pretty sweet show. Check out my new set up. We added some pieces since last week.

There ended up being a corrupt file somewhere in Mainstage, the software application that we use, but we got it all fixed now. We just weren’t able to use the rhodes sound on “Can’t Keep on Running”.

Kudos to Jon for staying cool under pressure.

After a bit of a delay we recovered and rocked the house!

Keaton Simons played after us. He’s pretty freakin sweet! Check him out at KeatonSimons.com. His drummer plays the “Cajon”, which is basically a box that you sit on and smack with your hands, but when you throw a mic inside it, it sounds like a full drum kit.

Oh, and he actually straps shakers to his feet.

Pete Francis and his band were pretty cool too. The drummer was quite animated himself.

After the show we all went out to Panini’s for some authentic Cleveland style eats. Keaton and his whole crew are some really cool people. Hopefully we’ll all get to chill again soon.

October 21: Cat’s Cradle

So tonight I got to see my dude’s from Lovedrug open for Copeland at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC.

Carrboro is a cool town as far as NC goes. It seemed pretty West coast. Everybody was riding bikes and jogging and whatnot. There were a ton of cool thrift shops too. Plus I got to meet up with my buddy Hix who’s living down here in Raleigh.

Hix and I were leavin the show to grab a bite, and on our way we ran into this guy Mark. He was asking for some help, so we all sat down at the Crawdaddy’s Cajun Cafe’ for some jambalaya and got to talking. Unlike so many times when you run into somebody they’re just looking for a handout, but I really feel for this guy Mark. He joined the Army out of Highschool and was told that his service would count toward college credit, but when he got home none of the colleges he talked to would accept it, so his education was worth little in the workforce. He worked on cars for a while, but ended up relying on his Veteran Check to get by.

One month his medical expenses exceeded his insurance so he wasn’t able to cover rent so he lost his apartment. Without an address he had no way of collecting his Veteran’s check. He moved to Carrboro to find his sister, but when he couldn’t find her he ended up living on the streets and working for Advanced Auto during the day. To top it off, what little he had was stolen, and with no license, he has no way of getting any real help.

I don’t know the ins and outs of how the system works, but I’ve run into my fair share of people on the streets, and this guys was different. It just sucks that everything is so broken, that people who don’t deserve help abuse it and people who legitimately need a little boost have no way of getting it. All the loopholes become easy for someone to jump through when they aren’t in desperate need, but for those who are really trying to survive, waiting 3 days for paper work to go through just to get an ID could mean 3 days of sleeping in the woods outside of town.

Mark, I know you probably won’t read this, but I hope the best for you getting back on your feet. As for you guys, just think twice when you pass someone on the street. I know the stereotype, that someone who’s homeless is just lazy or a drug addict, and while that may be true for some, possibly even most, it’s not true everyone. And for these people, you can make a difference. I honestly believe that no government program will ever solve these issues. The only real way to make a difference is on the personal level. Each person’s story is so different there’s no way to pass a law or start a program that will ever meet people where they’re at, but you can. If you want to see the world become a different place don’t expect someone else to do it for you because the fact is that when you cross paths with someone, you become the most efficient and real source of change in their life.

Well, thanks for humoring me in my soap-boxy tangent. It was just fresh in my mind and thought it was worth sharing with ya’ll. Thanks again everybody for your support, and I hope to see ya’ll soon.

Remember NE Ohioans, Thursday night is the 2 for 1 deal at the Beachland Ballroom. You can’t beat it. Dolson with Peter Francis of Dispatch for only $6 a person with the flyer. That’s cheaper than a movie! Here’s the link to the flyer again in case you haven’t gotten it yet.

October 20: Winston-Salem

So I just thought I’d share a funny moment from last night courtesy of my friend Rebecca.

We’re on campus at Java City Coffeehouse at Salem College. It’s late and everyone’s got class in the morning, so Rebecca was doing her homework. I was having a friendly chat between songs and asked Rebecca if she was having fun studying. What I ended up saying actually ended up being one of those awkward, accidental double entendres. . . and I guess it was good enough to make her quote wall. See for yourself.

good times. Thanks for sending the pics Rebecca.

October 19: Winston-Salem, NC

Greetings from the South!

It’s 2:30 and I’m just now starting to wake up. It’s been a long, but fun past 2 days. On Saturday, the band opened for lovedrug at Musica in Akron. We had a great time. Winslow and Gallery were really good too.

Here check out some pictures from the show.

Yesterday, I drove that same old stretch of 77 to be at Salem College last night. If you have never heard or been to Salem College before I’ll try and give you a mental picture. It’s a women’s college that’s been around for years, so the buildings are beautiful. The campus has all those old street lamps at night, and all the buildings are brick colonial style. They even have this place called Old Salem which is sorta like Hale Farm in Ohio, where people dress up and live like they would in the 1700’s. So instead of having a tram or bus service on campus the girls all get around on horse drawn carriages……..haha. ok, so that’s not true, but Old Salem is really there.

After the show I got to meet up with some friends in town. Jerry, and Terry, and our new friend Brooke. Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday. Thanks to all of you from Salem College, I hope to see you all in the Spring.

Oh, and just a reminder. This Thursday we have a 2 for 1 deal at the Beachland Ballroom. All you have to do is print the flyer and bring it with you to get in for $6 a person. You’ve got to have the flyer and there have to be 2 of you. So come in even numbers

October 19: Dolson-Lovedrug

Hey everybody!

Thanks for coming out tonight! all 400+ of you!

I have to say that by far, that was our best gig yet. Everything worked out great from beginning to end. I mean earlier today I was stressing. Being your own manager/booking agent is a little intense when you’re not playing solo gigs. Organizing people, getting merch ready, and handling phone calls can get unnerving, but all that aside tonight was a great night.

We got our full sound check and everything worked great (all the looping gear that is), so then it was just up to us to pull it off, and I think we did.

I’m so grateful to everyone who came out to the show. Thanks so much. I hope to see you guys again soon. We’re really pumped to perform some of our new stuff.

For those of you who weren’t there, I’ll have pictures up tomorrow, but it was great.

Oh….and check this out! Dolson will be playing this Thursday night. That’s October 23, at 8:30 at the Beachland Ballroom with Pete Francis from Dispatch. If you download the coupon from this blog, print it and bring it to the show, you get 2 tickets for the price of 1. That’s right. You can get into the show for only $6 a person!! So download the .pdf, print it, and come on out to the show! Oh, and bring a friend. Just click the image below.

Thanks again Lovedrug! I hope to see ya’ll in Raleigh.

Tomorrow I’m off to Winston-Salem. Check back for pictures of the Lovedrug show and the latest on the October Tour.

Presidents and the Economy

There are too many factors to assume that correlation justifies causation regarding presidential parties and their effect on the economy. Check out this article and see for yourself. It’s mathematical proof of what I’ve been saying all along. So just cool your jets. It’s gonna be ok.

Click to Read

October 14: Rehearsal

Good practice tonight all. Hopefully my head will heal….haha.

Check us out this Saturday, October 18, at Musica in Akron with Lovedrug, Winslow, and Gallery.

-peace

October 11: Chicago Recap

Hey, we made it back to Ohio, but let me tell you the drive home always seems like an eternity. From Gary, Indiana all the way to I-77 it’s pretty much flat cornfields . . . so let’s just say it’s not the most interesting view, but nonetheless we made the best of it watchin “Science of Sleep” on my macbook. Great movie, if you haven’t seen it yet. Check it out.

This was my second trip to Chicago with Pete Nischt to play at DePaul University in Lincoln Park. We made good time on the way out, and actually arrived early enough to set up and play on time. Last time we were almost a half hour late….Chicago traffic can be brutal….

What was really fun this time was seeing people that we met 6 months ago when we played in April, who came out just to see us again. So the gig went well. We met some new people, had a private poetry reading/jam session in the lounge of the student center…..oh, and while i was playing i could see the poster from a distance, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where they found the picture of me that they were using. Then at closer inspection I realized that it in fact was not me at all! It was some guy playing my guitar, so I have the poster….

No worries. I had a laugh, and I have the poster at home. I’m gonna put it up on my wall.

Thankfully, Pete got out of a test he was going to take on Friday, so we didn’t have to rush home right after the gig. We got to meet up with a friend from back home and relax for a bit. We went to some crazy place in Buck town that was all decked out for halloween.


We didn’t plan the whole matching thing.

On Friday, we got some Giordano’s for lunch, as usual, and between the two of us, I believe we ate the equivalent of an entire wheel of cheese.

We rode the train to the North side of town to check out some of the cool stores in Wicker Park.

Then we made it to the 96th floor of the Hancock building to enjoy the Chicago skyline. Check out the view.

Thanks to everyone at DePaul. I hope to see ya’ll in the spring. This Saturday Dolson will be opening for Lovedrug at Musica in Akron. I hope to see you there.