Been pretty crap at posting updates, but I have kept up with the media pages in the meantime! There are a couple new little video clips over there, both of jams and ideas as well as gigs.
I guess I haven’t mentioned new projects – James & Black is a great soul/funk duo out of Texas who’ve been touring Europe nonstop for years now. I’ve had the pleasure of sitting in with them on Germany dates and the occasional Netherlands gig, and it’s been great fun. Love hanging with fellow Americans over here in Europe, and they’re genuinely great people to boot. Been able to play a couple big festivals with them, like Swingin’ Groningen and the Baltic Soul Festival (getting to see Sister Sledge perform “We Are Family” from backstage was a trip).
I’ve also begun playing with Bluespam, a blues/funk/rock group with some incredibly talented musicians… hearing an absolutely shredding guitarist trade solos with a ripping harmonica (!) player will never get old. After our first gig together, an older man said to the guitarist that he had tears in his eyes during our take on “Little Wing” – “Jimmy Hendrix was here tonight.” That’s amazing to hear!
I got asked to sub for The Urban Turbans, a great ska/balkan jazz group out of Muenster, as their drummer’s broken his hand. While I wish him a speedy recovery, I’m enjoying playing some music that’s quite on another planet from what I’ve done so far! Really fun stuff and looking forward to the three gigs we have coming up together.
I got to reunite with Bill Dwyer Band and do a tour with them through Germany, France, the Netherlands, and England… felt like home! And there’s another EU tour in the works… also been doing a little touring with Mr. Kowalsky in the last year; how many things exist that can top playing ska on a boat in Paris with good friends?
Shubangi‘s still rocking, gearing up for some fresh gigs and festivals this spring and summer. Last year had some real highlights, like Juicy Beats! Feeling super fortunate. Shubangi is working on an EP now for which we’ve even recorded a couple acoustic drum layers. itshappening.gif
Also had the chance to play at Skater’s Palace 16 year anniversary party with AzudemSK, which was an absolute blast. There will be some more ASK gigs this year, and I can’t wait!
Also rocking with some friends here in Muenster and hoping to get some videos and recordings going this spring/summer, so will post about that when that’s underway. I’ve felt really fortunate to have met some folks who are not only incredibly talented and share some musical ground with me, but who are also great people and fun to work with. Not something to take for granted, one is reminded as the years go by. Here are two examples – these guys agreed to perform these pieces with me at a recent exam I took at my university, and we’re going to be doing videos for them in the near future. But to have been able to rock these songs was just a real challenge and pleasure. Great music and great performances: Alex Rosenhof’s “A Sleepless Night” and Andreas Liebrecht’s “Who’s Chasing Me?”
