Running up in Telluride

Well, I'm home now. I just had five of the most amazing days of my life. Telluride Colorado is by far the most beautiful place I've ever seen.

I met my friend Rose Cousins in Denver on June 18th. After wandering around the Denver airport for a good hour, trying to figure out which rental car agency I booked our car with, Rose and I were on our way. I'll post pictures soon, they were all taken with Rose's camera, so I don't have them yet. We got some crazy pictures.

Rose and I arrived in Telluride around 7PM just in time for the Troubadour competition's meet and greet. The party was hosted by local Telluride Real Estate Agents, David and Mike Zutler. David and Mike are two of the nicest guys you could ever meet and throughout the weekend they were constantly taking care of us. Not only are they Real Estate agents but they've created a bottle, for bottled water, made entirely of corn. The bottles won't leak chemicals into the water and when they're empty they completely and safely decompose in the compost. Check out what they're doing at http://www.biotaspringwater.com/.

The competition was broken up in to two rounds. Everyone participated in the first round, then the judges picked five to continue to the second. In the first round I played Rosa and a new song called Little Red Wagon. I made the cut and in the second round I played Carnival and Ocean Stone. The judges deliberated and about an hour later we were all called to the stage. They announced 5th place, 4th, 3rd... it was down to me and one other person. Then my name got called, 2nd place.

It was a great experience. I got to play on the main stage in front of 13,000. I sold a ton of CD's and made some new fans. I got to spend five days in the most beautiful place on earth. I wish I had won, but I'm very happy with second place. Nathan Moore, who won, was great and totally deserved to win.

I can't wait to get back to Colorado.

Pictures from the trip are on their way. Rose is on tour now with my other Rosie friend, Rose Polenzani so she hasn't been able to send them to me. As soon as I get them I'll post them.

Fox Run

Last night Lyle and I played at the Fox Run House Concert series in Sudbury MA. We opened for Karen Savoca and Pete Heitzman, who are a fabulous duo from upstate NY. I had never seen them before, but they came highly recommended by my friend Rose Cousins. They were most excellent.

Neale and Lori Eckstein have been presenting house concerts for many years and they have it down. They have turned their house in to one of the nicest venues around. Neale is also an incredible photographer, so I'm sure I will be able to post pictures soon. Here's our setlist:

Hey Love
I Don't Know You
Lighthouse
Little Red Wagon
Ocean Stone
Rosa


Neale and I also discussed the possibility of doing some recording. He has built a beautiful recording studio in his basement and has recorded some amazing musicians. It was the first time I had really started to think about my next record. It's not too far off.

Last night at Atwoods

We had a great show last night at Atwoods Tavern in Cambridge. Despite the Celtics game, which had hurt us the week before we had a nice turnout and a full band. I am absolutely addicted to playing with the band. The sound is incredible and we have a blast together on stage. The band last night was Lyle Brewer on guitar, Mike Piehl on Drums and Andy Dow on the Bass. Here's the setlist:

First Set
Lighthouse
Hey Love
Blue Skies
Black Leather Boots
Apt. 4
If I had a Boat (Lyle Lovitt)
Melissa
Can't Stop Thinking About You (Martin Sexton)

Second Set
I Don't Know You
Little Red Wagon
Better Than This
Cigarettes and Rain
Carnival
Ocean Stone
Black Tornado (Dan Bern)
Rosa

Encore
You Don't Know How It Feels (Tom Petty)

I keep meaning to bring my camera to these shows so I can post pictures. I'll remember one of these days. Imagine four guys on stage, in a bar, playing music. That's what it looked like.

We have one more Atwoods Show in two weeks, as part of our partial residency. I had to cancel next weeks show because I'll be in Colorado for the Telluride Bluegrass festival. I will definitely post a blog with pictures of that.

Our last June Atwoods show will be on Thursday June 26th at 10PM.

The Celtics are killing me

I love the Celtics and I'm as caught up in all of this as anyone. BUT... they're killing my shows. It used to just be that you didn't play in Boston in October. Now there's another month to avoid. Yikes. I'm just going to have to start playing exclusively in cities whose sports teams suck. If you're around Thursday night in the Boston area I encourage you to boycott the Celtics and come to the show at Atwoods. I'll be giving updates on the score (worst boycott ever) and it'll be a blast.

Stay cool

New YouTube videos

I just found these videos from when Chuck and I played in Knoxville TN. The Blue Plate special is a fantastic live radio show on WDVX. We had a blast playing and I just found a few videos that were taken of the performance. Hope you enjoy them.