Tales From the Road #9 - Nova Soctia, Ludo & North Carolina

So, continuing the Road Saga, a few weeks ago the Eli August band played up in Nova Scotia ... 15+ hours of driving each way, for one of the specialest gigs I've ever played!!  2nd time I've ever been to Canada (the first time was with Edensong in Quebec City)...

We were headed up to Sherbrooke ("Oh the year was 1778, How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now..." quickly became the anthem of the trip), but detoured in Halifax along the way.  Halifax it turned out was mostly a boring city (with interesting people).  We stopped by Prospect Point Park, which was really wonderful... particularly when we got to the (Rock) Beach section of it & I was able to just wander off for a bit... otherwise, we hit a pub where the music was far too loud & I've sworn off Strongbull (In addition to Magners) - Angry Orchard & Woodchuck are really my go to ciders.  This added a bunch of hours to our trip, and the last hour or so was spent on a never-ending windy road...

The Time Traveler's Reunion was in a period village - in the middle of nowhere, on the water.  It was blissful.  Everybody at the event was quite friendly, and we played in a church for a "Radio Broadcast", and at a picnic.  It's a bit challenging to describe the whole thing really, but wandering around a whole village in beautiful weather & getting to see old tool shops & woodworking & pottery making & all was really amazing.  The other performers on the radio broadcast were a young punk accordion/banjoist, a gentleman strip-teaser, and a skit.  I ended up helping out with sound a bit/saved the gentleman's set by having an extra 1/8th to 1/4 cable, so he could hook his laptop into the system.  In some ways, Canada was less foreign than I expected, but different/nicer.  I've had it confirmed by Canadians that I sound like I'm from Canada... also, Drunken Cards Against Humanity with bandmates is fun!!!

In between Canada & North Carolina, the was Ludo's Broken Bride at Ars Nova (in New York)... 2 rehearsals, and then tech/show in the same day... it all came together really pretty well... Rob & Alex of The Rose West joined me in the band, as well as Josh from And the Traveller... I got to meet half of Ludo, which was really exciting!  They were very cool/nice!!  Easily one of the specialist gigs I've done...

Now I'm on my way back from Contemporal... North Carolina was interesting... nice & warm!!  People were friendly & unique & a bit more affectionate/expressive than up in New York.  I got to meet Nerdvana & hear a bit of The Gin Rebellion as well as Extraordinary Contraptions... we also went and played at a place called Davenport nearby.  I also had the chance to reconnect with a former teacher of mine, which was absolutely splended.  Continuing the theme of my bow curse, I broke the new bow I had just ordered off of Ebay (which turned out to be good, since it was a *really crappy* bow and would have been useless by the end of the weekend anyway)... I also shredded through another bow (which I had stopped using after World Steam Expo last year) during our second set (which the sound guy just didn't show up to...) & had to go buy one from Sam Ash.  After Friday's set, a fan asked me for the broken bow & I signed it... totally unexpected, but really cool... also, a few other people told me that we'd been the highlight of their weekend. 

Definitely next time we go to Canada & NC, we'll have to make mini-tours out of the trips...

My next Tales From the Road is gonna be about playing ON A BOAT!!

See ya on the road!!

Tales From the Road #8 - Steampunk World's Fair, Twisted World, Gettysburg & Watch City Recap

Writer's Note: Somehow I never published this... pretend it's May

I just returned from Steampunk World's Fair ... a weekend of the most epicness & positivity in a long while...

There were 3 highlights for me:

1.  The Eli August Secret Show friday night was one of the most beautiful moments I've ever experienced at a convention... the band was really on, the crowd was AMAZING, and the whole vibe was just so beautiful... a moment to treasure

2.  The Two Bastards set was incredibly fun!!  Though I started off a little rough, when things picked up, it really got going... lots of people afterwards were like "I had no idea you sang"

3.  I BROKE MY BOW!!!  - Every Eli August Set, I try to add a new element of craziness ... sometimes it's singing along, or jumping around & head banging like a mad man... this weekend it was cymbal crashing with my wood bow... predictably, it Broke during the first song of our last set... I had to run back & get my replacement bow (which also has a major crack in the frog)... gonna order an Incredibow soon...

Otherwise, SPWF was a great balance between intensely busy & still being able to enjoy the event... I shared a merch table with The Rose West & Psyche Corp, and as table neighbors, we variably had Ego Likeness, Platform One & Frenchy & the Punk... can't ask for better folks!!

The Rose West sets had some technical difficulties... Aaron's pod crapped out at the beginning of our first set, and I had to cover a bunch of his riffs... Rob's guitar broke a string almost immediately afterwards... I gave up on keyboards, given the context...  our second set, the on stage power went out & I held down the mechanic, since my amp was battery powered...

Writer's Note: I clearly meant to write more, but it's been lost to time...

Tales From The Road #7 - Upstate with The Rose West & and Back Home with Eli August

So last weekend brought me upstate with The Rose West ... it was a really great weekend ... We journeyed up to the band's in Glens Falls to play at The Hudson River Music Hall.  Hudson River Music Hall is a very awesome venue run by musicians & artists for musicians & artists and was by far the loveliest place to play at.

We got to the venue pretty early (for once), which was really nice, b/c we had time to properly set up (and it was here that things first began to go awry for me) ... during setup it turned out that my 1/4 to 1/8th cable for my cello was crapping out & that I needed a 2nd one for my keyboards ... so we sent a friend to get some cables at the local music store... only it turned the local music store was closed, and he had to stop by Radio Shack & get some very low-quality 1/8th inch cables and then adaptors... yikes!!  Those were so short that I had to actually strap my tuning pedal *to my cello* (it would then later come off when I rocked out too much during The Mechanic)... on top of that, the Keyboards kept disappearing, and the organ pedal was getting all this noise & mucking everything up... add to that the fact that we had worked out the keyboard rig, vocal harmonies & decided I was gonna play accordion on Feria Cinerum 2 days before... it was a recipe for chaos... I trooped through it though, and the rest of the band played awesomely & the crowd was great

Playing Accordion on stage for the first time in my life

That moment when your cello life says "Let's be crazy" & you say "Yeah, let's do this!"

For me, the highlight of the night was seeing Anthime Miller ... A cellist singer-songwriter ... he did a lot of badass covers, and some originals.  It was a really inspiring set!!  I've seen and heard tons of cellists over the years ... very few play as if they are deeply in love with their instrument ... this guy played with heart & style & with the technique of a true bad ass ... I felt like I had simultaneously met a kindred spirit & found someone whose greatness I could aspire to (I even got to try his ancient cello later in the evening ... what a *beautiful* instrument)...

Anthime Miller - Bad Ass Cellist & the highlight of my night

Cello Robare... just doesn't have the same ring to it...

The rest of the weekend involved great conversation & food, and hanging out in the woods by Alex's Folks ... we shot rifles, which was an interesting experience for me (having never held a gun in my life before) ... not something I think I'm likely to fall in love with, but definitely glad to have tried...




So that was last weekend ... this weekend I came back home and played with Eli August for the CD Release... we were originally supposed to play in Massachussetts the night, however the show was cancelled due to hazardous weather, so Alas, it was just New York ...

NYC more than made up for it... Brooklyn Fireproof was where it was at!!  We had a really strong turnout & everyone was dancing, clapping, singing or cheering along ... the band was tight, everyone was having fun ... Baroque & Hungry opened & were amazing fun as usual... I started some clapping mayhem during their set (assisted by Robare) ... I started some clapping mayhem during our set (again assisted by Robare) ... B&H joined us for a song during our set, with great affect ... So many of the Steampunk Family came out ... proceeds went to the NY 19th Century Society's educational programming (who helped sponsor the event) ... Through my Ninja Cam, I learned that I can play a set drunk & without monitors & still play well (Important things to know)... all in all, a really fun & *amazing* night

Some pics from the show (taken by a friend):

Baroque & Hungry joined us for the Behemoth version of Eli August & The Abandoned Buildings

You can't tell, but I was making a <3 symbol w/ my hands...

Here's some photos from the rehearsal that preceded the show:

I missed Alex in this one... he was probably drinking anyway...

Robare playing accordion while Mell writes out lyrics for Eli

Catch ya on the road!!

Tales From The Road #6 - Wicked Faire

I am now home from my second Wicked Faire (first one I was officially performing at).  The weekend of most EPICNESS ... It kicked my ass & I kicked it's ass right back!!

Had a ton of fun the entire weekend & played 12 sets in 3 days on 2 cellos, plus jammed with people, plus sat in w/ This Way to The Egress on a tune ...

Last year was my first Wicked, and it was one of the most amazing weekends of my life ... there were many highlights, but The one that still stands a year later was catching Ego Likeness while being very bouncy & drunk & having that moment of realization "This is Home, These are my People" (Last Wicked Faire was also the first time I started playing with Eli August)

This Wicked Faire was very much the same ... except, in addition to that, I was officially performing in 4 acts - (The Wandering Cellist, Eli August, Psyche Corp, The Rose West), so everything was just non-stop, from the moment I got there Friday (I didn't even have my first actual break until the middle of saturday!!)

I was really enthused by everyone who turned out for my sets - the Lobby show was a perfect way to introduce myself to the con and filled with all the usual geekiness, the Mirabelle Stage featured my full band setup & was well into the drinking hours ... at one point the cello cut out & I did an acappella version of Game of Thrones... Sunday mornings set was probably my favorite... I actually played cello sitting down & when I showed up to play there was suddenly a whole band of people on various instruments Mandolin, Dounbeck, Violin & Clarinet to accompany me... I also had my energy & voice back by this point, and sang some powerful renditions of Scarborough Faire, Moorlough Shore & Rains of Castamere ... it was really inspiring and the reaction I got from everyone was great


The sets with Eli were great too... They just had an amazing energy of fun, and our sound was great live ... huge crowds too ... so far the reaction to the new CD is *very* positive!!  Then there were the Psyche Corp. and The Rose West sets & those all went awesomely... Rose West featured the electric cello (and I had to keep switching pegs b/c of a broken peg all weekend)

Muses Well was nice enough to host my wares!!

Saturday night I did actually get to watch a few people ... got to dance to Platform One & This Way to the Egress before playing my set... there were moments during Saturday where I was asking myself how I was going to make it through the rest of the performances (b/c 12 performances is *very* demanding ... especially the way I play/jump around like a madman during band sets) ... lots of alcohol & 2nd, 3rd & 4th winds were in order...

All in all, it was a weekend of amazingess (and I recorded an EP 2 days before!!)... Now it is time to decompress...

Tales From The Road #4 - NERFA Recap

This past weekend was a weekend FULL of awesomeness I have not experienced in a *long* time.

I was up at a folk convention called NERFA, with Eli August & The Abandoned Buildings.

It was like being a little kid in a room full of toys ...

Full of musicians jamming everywhere, showcases, cool people, DJs, promoters, great panels, great vendors ... it was just non-stop talking, jamming, etc.

I ran into some folks I knew from the NY scene - Allison Tartalia, Anna Dagmar, Carolann Solabello, and Laura Joy (who I met *years* ago at a random gig in Yonkers ... the same gig where I first met the guys from The Rose West who were then called Tryptic) ... I also ran into the folks from BOBTOWN, who I had met just a week ago & got to meet Madalyn Sklar of GoGirlsMusic ... Rob of EA & Rob of ilyAIMY had a bonding moment over Coheed & Cambria

I was playing mostly with Eli August, but also joined Allison Tartalia for an instrumental set, after she came down with laryngitis

There were also a ton of cellists up their with their respective bands ... think there were 10 of us in total!! (I did not meet everyone this year, but there is talk of a Collective Cello Jam/Showcase next year!! I *can't wait* for that!!)

Didn't take too many pictures at this (Mell of The Abandoned Buildings took some more...) but here's a few:

The Army of Basses!!

Sleeping Mell

Full band shot taken by ilyAIMY

The sign outside one of the showcases...

Playing some music in the Lobby

Late night Cello Jam - featuring Kristen Jones of ilyAIMY, and Katie Chambers of Victoria Vox

A moment of humor

Robare playing some guitar

General Thoughts/Reflections:

LOTS of people from Philly & NYC area

Met a few folks from Nova Scotia

HARP!! (though we didn't get to Jam)

NO SLEEP

I LOVE JAMMING

The Sound in the Main showcase room was *amazing* ... the setup actually had depth to it & was *so clear*

Panels were rather cool

EPIC

I need to learn more fiddle tunes

We stayed at a Dude Ranch

Cool or interesting Bands:

ilyAIMY

BOBTOWN

Rick Drost

Deni Bonet

Rorie Kelly

(Many More...)

Bands with Cello
Eli August & The Abandoned Buildings
Miles to Dayton
Putnam Heights
Victoria Vox
ilyAIMY
(There's more too...)

Tales From The Road #3 - What do a Turkish Cafe, A Fantasy Ball & A Cemetery Have In Common?

I decided this past weekend would be a good one to do some touring.  So I grabbed Robare of The Rose West & headed off to Philadelphia to go play at Cafe Fulya.  We left New York around 5 & got to Philly just in time to start playing.  The show ended up being a small, intimate performance full of geeky and improvisational music, as well as some Rose West tunes & even an Eli August cover (that I really hope someone caught on video!!).  Of course, there was also good wine and *amazing* food.  I particularly love the Baklava there!!  This was the first time Rob & I have played as a duo & we decided it worked fairly well & that we should do more!  Favorite moments for me were getting to play a melancholic improvisatory version of Hava Nagilah, and having a passer-by listen to the music from outside and later tell me that my music had relieved her headache!!

After the Fulya show, we drove down to Baltimore to stay with Eli.  Rob & I spent the day doing some light rehearsal and then heading over to Ellicot city to browse the shops (ostensibly to pick up a mask for the gig later)… We found this one place that was just full of everything Fantastical and amazing … the sort of place you could spend hours in & still not be done … full of pirates and fairies and masks and action figures and tapestries and all sorts of things … I picked up a Frog Wizard and Bootstrap Bill to add to my slowly growing collection of these things.  There was also an *amazing* Antique Mall that was so big we didn't even explore the whole thing!!  We also ran into Brennan (one of the Abandoned Buildings members) at the music store he works at! (completely by accident)

(The Cluttered, but slowly-growing collection of Action Figures)

After the fun shopping was over, we got in a little more rehearsal and headed to the MS Fantasy Ball - one very awesome event.  To start with, any event with an Open Bar & Free Food is off to a really good start.  On top of that, friendly people and good music.  The night started off with Spider Lilies, Followed by Red This Ever.  Then it was Psyche Corp's turn.  There were some sound issues (not on our part), but we did the  best of it & rocked out & that was that.  Red This Ever saved me by lending me some cables when I discovered that mine had been misplaced (I found them later).  Both they & the folks from Spider Lilies were awesome.  The event was finished up by Danny Blu, who put on a good performance as always.  The MS in front of the Fantasy Ball stands for Multiple Sclerosis - the entire event was a benefit!!

On to sunday, we'd been hearing about this Hurricane all weekend, and we weren't sure if the Cemetery Potluck was going to happen.  It did in fact still happen - NO HURRICANE STOPS THIS CELLIST!! - and Rob & I brought Eli along to play some tunes.  It was QUITE cold, which made playing a little bit challenging - no matter ... I appropriately ended "A World of Drones" with Chopin's Funeral March (a melody that's been prominently in my head since the day I discovered Metallica's S&M), and we alternated between my solo playing, dueling with rob & playing some of Eli's tunes.  I have to confess, I didn't pull out my Black No. 1 cover, or my new song based on Ruby Gloom (they just weren't ready yet) If you're in the DC area - the Cemetery Potluck is definitely worth checking out (happens once a year, around Halloween).

Dr. Who Medley from the Cemetery Potluck

Feria Cinerum by 2/5s of The Rose West at the Cemetery Potluck

From there, it was hanging out, eaten' pizza & sharing good music on the (rather peaceful) car ride home.

For those who don't know - Eli & band (The Abandoned Buildings) are fundraising for our first FULL BAND ALBUM: https://www.indiegogo.com/eli-and-abandoned-buildings

Also, I've got a  new video up: 

See you on the road!!

Tales From The Road #2 - Here I am ... On the Road Again... (Steampunk World's Fair 2012 Report)

So my life lately has been taken over by Steampunk ... this is a very good thing!

Recently that has meant:
Dorian's Parlor
Watch City
Steampunk World's Fair

Dorian's Parlor: I am the house musician.  There is general awesomeness.

Watch City: A cool outdoor event with a strong historical aspect to it, as well as cool vendors, musicians & panels!  Some things could have been organized better, but all in all, a very cool event.

Steampunk World's Fair: What an experience!!

I'd been looking forward to World's Fair for a long time ... and especially so since Wicked Winter Renessaince Faire (Wicked Faire), which was basically comparable to a religious experience for me (the culmination of which was seeing Ego Likeness)

Steampunk World's Fair was wicked and more ... there were many moments of epicness.  I had sets with Eli August and Psyche Corporation, and saturday night, I got to participate in the most epic parking lot jam with Painless Parker, This Way to the Egress, Magpie Kiljoy (of Steampunk Magazine), other members of Eli's band. and of course Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band, who we met across the parking lot in Showdown Style.

I largely missed the panels I wanted to go to (though I did get to catch one of Mark Donelly's panels on archery) ... particularly I'd been hoping to catch Victorian Sexuality, and Steampunk Emma Goldman, and Jaymee Goh's panels... only so much time in the day though!

Anyway, here are some cool photos from the epicness. Please note: None of these photos were taken by me - they were all publicly posted on FB.

From the 2nd Psyche Corp. Set

"Pound Your Bones Onto the Table..." The beginning of the epic parking lot jam

Bass Lady - Britney Frompovich, who I discovered by accident when she was playing beautiful music in a vendor's room

Shhh, it's a secret

Jamming with Levi Ali (on percussion) .. out of site are the dancers from The Cavalcade of Fancy Ladies

From the first Psyche Corp set ... not so sure the goggles are my look, but damn do I *love* blue lighting

Open door rehearsal for Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings ... first time we'd all met each other!

More rehearsing

Eli August in action ... also Robare Pruyn-Bush on Clarinet, and Elliot Peeples on Floor Tom

Mike Darnell - the bass player for Eli August