New Demos

I've been working on a few new demos recently and thought I'd share what I've got so far -- hope you enjoy.

"Mountain (Demo)" Click Here


"Gatsby (Demo)" Click Here


love,
derek

PICS (SXSW and OTHERWISE)

A SXSW Summary... of Sorts

So, I'd wanted to have kept a day by day blog summary of our time in Austin for the festival but that quickly went out the window due to late nights and constant running around town.

All in all, it was a really good time.

Here's my attempt at capping things off:

Tuesday: Got into Austin, went out for Thai, went to Vice on 6th street to see Max Justus do a set. A good introduction to the festival.

Wednesday: Saw a really good and free Surfer Blood show at the excellent record store Waterloo Records (this place had some great stuff). Ate good diner food with cats from the record machine. Later that night we met some really great people from Springfield, MO at Vice who had the misfortune of dancing and drinking a tad bit too much — so we shared PB&J, water, sympathy with them and they turned out to be some of our best friends the rest of our stay in Austin.

Thursday: Slept in at the hotel, went down to the Jackalope to see our friends/label-mates Capybara and Cowboy Indian Bear play. It was a really good show and people looked stoked about the free beer. Jon and I went to 6th and San Marcos to see the Morning Benders and/or Danielson but upon arrival, the echos of "Did I Step On Your Trumpet" signified our late arrival. Still, we were just in time to see the very great Here We Go Magic who made staying on one chord never sound so good. Afterwards, we went back downtown and met up with Jon's friend from Olympia named Charlie. Charlie was really fun to hang with and so were his great friends. We headed back to San Marcos to see GZA of Wu-Tang fame. Everyone had their W's swaying from side to side. Afterwards, Scott arrived and we met up for a hot second in a crazy loud bar before heading back to the hotel. A good night.

Friday: After sleeping in, we drove to our super-friend Bill's (Scott's old buddy who we met and stayed with the last time we were in Chicago) and greeted a room filled with sleep zombies who'd been partying until 5 AM. So, we let Scott and Co. get their beauty time in and ate some good early lunch a local spot. Afterwards, we did a couple quick ultra-acoustic run-throughs before scoping out our first venue: Casa De Gallo. Which was, in fact, a casa.

Being a casa (ie: house) show, we decided to just have as much fun as possible, which, I think we succeeded in doing. Really good vibes. Later that night, we walked downtown with a herd of various people before setting our sights on Mountain Man — a three-woman group with enrapturing vocal harmonies. On the way, we conveniently met up with our old friends from Vice who were in much better health and happiness than when we last saw them. It was a trek but it was really fun walking around and the MM show was really special. Despite whatever incompetence on the part of the sound guy — feedback, etc. — the group decided to sing a cappella and it was unlike anything else I'd heard at the festival or in a long time. There's talent and then there's something that borders on supernatural. This was the latter.

We ended the night with more walking before hitting Thai Passion for a second round of eggrolls, rice and Thai Iced tea.

Saturday: Being the only ones awake before noon, Jon and I met with our friends again for some good coffee, good conversation and goofy drawing at Spider House Cafe before parting ways. We'll miss 'em. Still, we were hanging out with our great host Bill and his buddies. We went to a BBQ diner and ate some of the best food I'd had in years — breaking my vegetarian diet, if only for this moment, was well worth it. After seconds of the best tasting Pecan Pie ever made, we eyed an amazing Jurassic Park logo on the back of a jeep — pictures will be shared soon enough.

The show at Canvas that night went well, although I had a lot of trouble sound-wise — it's the chance you take when borrowing gear, I suppose. Nevertheless, it was so cool to have all our friends there to support us and even my mom — a ringleader of sorts — seemed to have a good time. Motorboater and Max Justus played after and it was seriously inspiring to hear music both bumpin' and personal.

The hardest part was splitting ways with Jon and Scott — we'd been seeing a lot of each other the last few weeks in Berkeley, San Francisco and Mill Valley. But we ended things on a good note and plans are already brewing for the springtime and summer.


So, when it comes down to it, South By isn't just a place to see a lot of good shows and events, but, for me, it's a place to encounter new people, new ideas, and most importantly, BBQ (?)




signing off,
derek

Cow-Town

Jon and I just got into Austin today after a midnight flight and morning arrival — slept for five hours in the hotel where I dreamt of Stephen King's IT torturing me with Jello (?!).

We're both currently watching American Idol half-ironically and half-seriously — you never can get enough pop sludge...

But anyhow, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the week, exploring TX's capital city and seeing some new and old friends. Planning on hitting downtown for some Thai food — why not?

Take a look at the pic for details about our upcoming shows and stand by for more stories, pics, etc.



-derek



p.s. oh, and if you're not already in Austin, get your arse down here already.

Longtime Comin'

Well, obviously, it's been a while.

Since last post, I've still been living in Mill Valley, CA where I've been working, writing and doing some music. For a while, I had been very discouraged musically and felt I had lost my ability to play the guitar. Somewhere in the last two months or so, I've regained confidence in this area and I'm happy to say I've been playing a lot more and have been recording some new demos — which I hope to share very soon.

But more importantly, this past week Scott Brown and Jon Thompson came to California and we've been rehearsing for our performances at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, TX. I've never been before and I'm very excited about the shows as well as the experience.

All in all, it's been great to see my boys again and I can't wait to play more music with them. If you or anyone you know will be in the Austin, TX area during the festival, please come out.

The dates are:

Friday, March 19th @ Casa De Gallo (2604 Diaz St.), 7 PM

Saturday, March 20th @ Canvas, 11 PM


Also, I'll be doing my best to update this thing more often — take care of yourselves.



Love,
Derek