hug your dog

beaglemania 

I feel like I should always mention something music related in here since I don't write everyday. That way I can justify my tirades. So; Here's some dates of note:
Friday, April 1st - Nuclear Waste Management Club and New Radiant Storm King at The Elevens - Northampton, MA
Saturday, April 2nd - Mark Schwaber (solo), Lo Fine and Treefort at the Brass Cat - Easthampton, MA
Saturday, April 23rd - Ponies in the surf and Mark Schwaber (solo) at Night Owl Records - Free show! - Easthampton, MA
There. Now; a vent.
Pictured above are 2 dogs and myself. The one putting his paw on me is Scooter (our baby boy). The one in the foreground is Jen's friends dog. The dogs name is Butchie. She is about 6 months older than Scooter (who's just about 5 years old) and about 1/3 the size. Scooter likes to eat, apparantly. I joked with Alex (Butchie's mom) that Scooter takes dumps that are bigger than Butchie. Anyway, Alex adopted her about 2 years ago. She loves her madly. I was with this dog for about 3 hours and fell completely in love. It took a little while for Butchie to come around to me though. I found out that she's still quite afraid of men. Turns out that her last owner abused her. I won't go into details. Luckily, I was able to swoon her and we were best buddies relatively fast. I did notice her shaking visibly though when another male approached. Luckily, it took Scooter about 10 minutes to completely cling to us. He's an unscarred, wonderful boy. I never realized how lucky we were. I mean, I know we're blessed to have such a great dog but after hearing Butchie's story it just reaffirmed that someone was on our side with our adoption.
I would like to go on record, publicly. If you mistreat or abuse your animals I believe that you are the lowest form of life on earth. I don't condone or endorse violence but honestly, I see nothing wrong with taking a baseball bat to the head of any insipid, spineless fuck that ever does that to a dog. Or cat. Or anything. Not too PC? Fine. I don't care. It's part of my belief system. If you are wronging someone/something then expect to be wronged yourself. I will forever defend that which I love. If you read this and know anyone who treats animals this way please intervene. It's for everyones benefit.
Now, get off the computer and hug your pet.

The whisper that you can't hear

dinner 

Michael Lemieux is an amazing cook. He was with Jose, JJ and myself in upstate NY at the home of Michael Merenda and Ruth Ungar. We started recording the new Nuclear Waste Management Club CD. What a great time. Wood stoves and amazing food. JJ and I did 12 songs in a day and a half. I've since heard that the other folks involved (Peyton and Anne Pinkerton, Scott Hall and obviously, Jose) did stellar jobs on their parts as well. I can't wait to hear it.

SJ 
I fell in love with the film Lost in Translation while I was there too. I didn't like it all that much when Jen and I went to see it in the theater. I think I had a stick up my ass about Bill Murray at the time. Don't get me wrong, I love him. Think he's one of the most gifted character actors in the business. It just seemed like he had played that roll only months before that film came out and I was just bitter. All right Bill, we get it. Enough. Anyway, I found the beauty in it this time. Scarlett Johansson (whos raging talent equals her senseless beauty) is the next Audrey Hepburn in my opinion. I really felt connected to their struggle. What a beautiful ending. The whisper that you can't hear. For years I've been trying to write songs that capture the feelings that a film like that did. Space, lonliness, loss, love, chance, risk. I don't know if I ever have captured it...or if I ever will. But it is most certainly inspiring. Jose was really happy that I came around. It's one of his favorites.
Off to Boston tonight to play a Lo Fine show. Springfield tomorrow at Shakago's with myself solo, Lo Fine, Space Captain and Running with Karma. I'm excited about that. I love Springfield. It too often gets shunned by valley folk.
Thanks to all who are throwing band names around. There's been some great ones. I'm still struggling so keep them coming if you don't mind.

Jose running the vivid show 

JJ recording 

PACE

PACE - March 11th, 2005 

The PACE show was amazing. Again. Thanks so much to all who came. J Johnson, Kevin O'Rourke and Matt Sutton were all mesmerizing. My backing band makes me look better than I really am. Such great players, and people. That's it. We all decided. We're going to do this whole band thing a lot more often. They're all right, it sounds too good to just do twice a year. I'll keep you posted as to when it will happen again. We discussed another local show in the late spring as well as shows in Boston, NYC, Provincetown, Portland and Vermont. We'll see. There's some pictures from the night below (thanks to Kevin Smith and Jen Campbell).
So. I'm going to hold a contest through this blog. See; I feel really silly just having my name be the thing that is displayed when I'm performing with a full band. But, I also absolutely despise the thought of coming up with a band name. So. I need you all to start leaving proposed band names in the comments section for me. If you have 10 ideas don't be shy, send them all. The winner will get to come see my shows (solo or with the band) for an entire year. That's right, a full year of "guest list" privileges. No, that does not mean you get the free beer that I don't drink at the aforementioned shows.
By the way, Jen just finished one thing and started another. She finished a big, autumn-orange blanket for Scooter. He absolutely loves it (I think he's as sick of winter as the rest of us are). She started rehearsing for a play that she's really excited about. It's called "Misery Loves Breakfast" and she has one of the leads. It's going to be at Thornes Marketplace (on the third floor) on May 6th, 7th, 13th and 14th. Kelsey Flynn is also in it and she's wildly talented.
Hmmmm, maybe my first pick for a band name is
A BIG AUTUMN-ORANGE BLANKET FOR SCOOTER
Ok...maybe not

Paul Kochanski and Matt Cullen 

Anne Pinkerton 

J Johnson (National Carpet) 

Kevin O'Rourke (Lo Fine) 

Matt Sutton (The Malarkies) 

Erika Kent and I voicing our collective opinion of winter 

loobie and me.

momma me and baby lou year 

It's only one day after the 2 shows I got to play with Lou Barlow (www.loobiecore.com) and already I miss it. The first night was at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA. Sold out. Anne Pinkerton (the most talented singer I've ever worked with) joined me for both shows. Chris Brokaw (The New Year, Come, Consanant, Lemonheads) played as well. My beautiful girlfriend Jen joined us on the trip. The three of us arrived in Boston around 7. Lou was on stage, soundchecking. He played a 4 string steel string and a nylon string guitar. He also had all kinds of loop pedals and this old moog type keyboard. Chris Brokaw arrived around the same time that we did. It was nice to chat with him. He also played at Night Owl so this was like a Night Owl on wheels type of event. I'll tell you, I've never been treated better than I was at the Middle East. The 2 sound guys (Dave and...oh shit, I forgot his name) were stellar. Real helpful and down to earth. Anne and I got a real live soundcheck where we got to try songs with both the guitars I brought. Anne even had her own monitor mix. I mention this only because these things are rare and cherished for the artists who don't have any monitary backing (translated: no major label money). Jen went out and grabbed us pizza (before she sold merchandise for Lou, Chris and myself...which she seemed pretty happy about) while we checked. Then they opened the doors and within minutes the place was packed. I could barely make it to the bar to grab a soda. Needless to say the room was filled with conversation and I started to get a little nervous that it would stay that way while we were playing. Anne and I took our places and I said "hello" into the mic and the needle came off the record. Silence. Absolute silence. It was amazing. The crowd was so sweet and interested. They listen to, and loudly applauded, every song we did. Anne sang beautifully and I guess I played pretty well. We stepped off stage and for the first time in my life I felt famous. People were sheepishly introducing themselves and a little afraid of me it seemed. We sold a bunch of CD's and made some new friends. I have to say, if that's what it's like to be famous I guess it's not so bad. But it's not like I reached David Ortiz status (although I did eat 5 huge slices of pizza) but it was something. I was in love with the fact that we went over so well. I was so grateful to Lou for letting us open the show. I wondered what he thought of it. He was sitting with Jen at the merch table when I arrived and he was completely blown away. He said it was the best thing he'd ever heard me do. He thought it was utterly amazing in every way. I almost cried. It means so much coming from someone who I not only look up to but I also know how seriously he takes music. It's everything to him. And he's VERY critical. What a HUGE compliment. Lou walked away and I asked Jen what she thought. She said it was great but she wasn't sure she heard all of it because Lou was going on and on about how great I sounded. I almost cried again. Not just because of Lou's review but more importantly about how utterly in love I am. Jen is truly my best friend. I never could've imagined that I'd be lucky enough to be with someone like her. What a great, late night. Chris played a great set of mostly guitar instrumentals (great player by the way). Lou was amazing. Intimate. Historic. Hilarious, and most of all, wonderfully alive. In my opinion he is one of the most important songwriters of our time. Period.
We had a chance to play at the Iron Horse the next night. It was just Lou and Anne and I. It was all the things that the middle east was. A little more talking though (I swear it must be in the fucking water in that town). I was invited on stage to sing and play guitar on Lou's cover of Ratt's "Round and Round". Good stuff. It was a wonderful night filled with wonderful friends and family. Lou's dad, John paid me a HUGE compliment at the end of the night. Again, tears. It's overwhelming to be born again musically. Jen and J Vaughn and I went home after the parade and I broke a pen and calculator to see how Jen and Anne and I could afford to go on tour. Just a pipe dream really, but a fun one. Thanks to all who were there. Hopefully we'll see you on March 11th at PACE. For more info go here www.nightowlrecords.net

me and Anne Pinkerton - March 3rd 2005 at the Iron Horse