Lilly's 10/20: We, Wicked debut

after a few rehearsals trying out a brand new tune about a gator reporting an amnesiac arsonist, mr. josh hambrock and i played our first set together as the starts of a new and highly exciting project called We, Wicked & the...

The rest is yet to come and maybe one day it will, but for now we played a strong three-song set at beloved Lilly's where Justin Greene keeps the drinks cold and host Landon Keller starts the night off with some real acoustic soul. the new song was too big to upload but can be found on the facebook page. in the meantime here's the rest of the set in video form. cheers -- w,w&

Shoo Baby, Bulletin the Gator, Why Don't We Do it in the Road

Lilly's 10/13

been looking forward to this one for a while. when kevin, steve, and i visited at the beginning of july to find an apartment we stopped by lilly's and it's an awesome bar. two-storied, stage with a gong and a piano, wrap around bar, tons of soul in this place. last night was a chilly one but a lot of fun. it was the bartender justin, the host landon, their buddy jack and myself, no one else and that was just fine. we talked about vegan and raw foods for a while and when it seemed that no one else would be coming (depaul's midterm week) i went up for a 6-song set with two tunes on the piano which ive only done once before and it was at lilly's in july. singing into a mic without moving your head back and forth over the keys is an adjustment but one i look forward to learning better. played a new song from the spring called Hey, Hey, Hey, this was its technical debut and im excited to keep it around even on guitar. it's a quiet little song and is going to be the final cut on the new ep coming out this winter. cheers.

Bones/
Bones Part Two (Radio Soul)
Hello, Beast
Elephant Box
Hey, Hey, Hey
Mary-Sue

elbo room 10/5

it's nice to decompress some after a long show. the elbo room gig came and went and was an interesting time, a crazy room with lots of noise but a lot of friends came out and it was some good practice for some old songs. the cut at the end of the night helped too. played some real old tunes, some that havent come out in 4 or more years but it was nice to bring them back. mid-40s in chicago right now, 4 layers is enough to keep me happy

set 1: sole, and the world spills around us, projector, hello beast!, no one's alone, the cellar, hot chocolate, the piloteer, grayson, things i never said, the carol, and the lion, i me mine/let's be happy

set 2: the broadcast, coral rings, we wicked, shoo baby, whose fault is that, she came by, portico, the seller's song, autumn washington, don't leave her hungry, local ghosts, fingerprint child/dock of the bay, i thought it was dead

set 3: the darling curtain, bones/bones part two, elephant box

encore: mistaken

Sep 28th Town Hall Pub

Third monday at the town hall pub and the biggest house yet. got to catch up with my good friend eric radoux who's in town after a chicago stop at The Orphanage along his midwest tour. eric and i have been working on producing his 6-song acoustic ep this summer and after the tour we'll finish up the mixings and re-mixings, he's an incredible musician and a fantastic songwriter so catching up with him was a real treat. brought the banjo over tonight and started the set with a new tune from this week called "we, wicked". last thursday i was recording for the new ep and took the 'jo out to do some tracks on And The Lion when the new song accidentally came about. another fun night, good friends, good drink, cheers:

We, Wicked

Grayson

Elephant Box

Mid-Late-September

it's been a largely grey week in chicago which i like a bit, tend to keep things cool and comfortable, good for walking or looking out windows. spent some hours last night working on the new ep and got a lot of good work done between the 12-string, nylon, banjo, and a wooden box for beating on. i'll write about the ep soon. the big recent news is i got booked for the acoustic lounge at the elbo room, a really popular music spot in the city that can draw a hell of a crowd. i saw the place for the first time at a battle of the bands featuring our friends in The Cell-Phones, an incredible band, and the place is impressive. ive been given the 9-12 slot on monday october 5th ($5 cover) and if i can bring in at least ten people they will ask me to return again for bigger shows. very excited, and the 3 hour set (with optional breaks anytime i want) has me digging out songs long-forgotten. a lot of tunes from the original high school ep's are likely gone for good but a few of them i've been working on today along with some songs from the time that i never recorded but found demos for tucked away in music folders. i'm excited to see how the old blends with the new and how quickly my fingers fall off. i give til 10:54.

Tuesday night open mic at Vaughn's on Sheffield

tried a new place last night, steve and i took a breezy walk down sheffield for about a mile until we found vaughn's on the left. awesome bar, great feel with a nice little stage in back. we sat in a booth with a couple of beers while the place filled in a tiny bit, small crowd but nothing wrong with that. tony was the mc, great guy who opened with his band Diver, they played some covers with bongos and harmonies, two things i hadnt yet seen at an open mic. then it was my turn and i got three tunes which tony really liked, got some lovely feedback and got to play another three song set a little later in the evening. vaughn's is a solid spot, definitely recommend it, the bartender's great and the mood is solid. looking forward to going back on another tuesday soon. oh! and i just got booked for monday october 5th at the elbow room! 9-12 in the lounge and hopefully i can get 10 people to come, looking forward to it very much.

Mistaken

Bones Part Two

Elephant Box

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The Darling Curtain

Tea & Toast

And The Lion

Monday Open Mic @ Town Hall Pub

after last week's open mic's it was nice returning to town hall pub which was easily my favorite spot. the crowd was smaller tonight but the room had the same quiet magic about it where the tv's are turned off and the people who are there listen. i was lucky to have some very good friends show up, what a pleasure it was to share a beer with good mates. ryan suzuka started things up again and the guy's fantastic. you hear a lot of people at open mics but he's got something about him i really dig, very honest, the voice is strung to the instrument itself and the effect is tremendous. i brought the 12-string and got to play two sets because i let two others gents use the guitar on their sets. fourth open mic and i feel better with each, real good night

And The Lion
Fingerprint Child (Dock of the Bay)
Portico
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Hello, Beast!
I Thought It Was Dead
Don't Leave Her Hungry

Thursday night, open mic next to wrigley @ Murphy's Bleachers

a walk down addison, a right at the stadium and then it's murphy's bleachers for a thursday night open mic. pretty nice spot, the stage is in a room that used to be a garage but was then re-furnished into a bar area. Stolie was the mc and we struck up some conversations along with a man named tony who smelled like beer and had some joints on him he was proud about. he plays drums but he liked looking at the guitars too. he kept asking if i was good but missed the set because he was smoking somewhere out back. i told him it was alright.

Hello, Beast!
Bones
And The Lion

To N. Lincoln, Open Mic @ The Shire 9/15

the next night another open mic, this time a little further off -- a turn down roscoe a turn onto lincoln (the second we turned onto sheffield steve and i heard the boom of an announcer coming from the open roof of wrigley a couple blocks down where the cubs were about to bust lose from a 5-5 tie. at the end of the walk they were up 11-5). the shire's a handsome spot, clean and shiny with a sweet little set-up in the corner. many thanks to dan the mc for being so welcoming and to new friend dave sheehan for the pat on the back and the hamm's in the hand. lots of different sounds tonight, a noisier room than town hall pub but after the long wait to play it felt dang good to be up there. played a three song set and was requested a fourth from dan and co., encore's always welcome. tremendous thanks to the thomas siblings for waiting it out tonight, an open mic roster can be a funny thing:

Sole
The Broadcast
Grayson
-- Shoo Baby

Open Mic at Town Hall Pub 9/14

monday night's at the town hall pub are open mic nights and i made it to my very first last night. the second i walked in the door a gentleman named dennis shook my hand and said he would get me on the list. he then immediately bought me a beer and introduced me to ryan the mc, really good guy who played some beautiful tunes on a tiny guitar. this place is a great hole-in-the-wall spot that i'd recommend to anybody, it's got a lot of soul about it and the people treat you right. saw some great 3-song sets and a couple of stand-up sets that got the place going and then i played the 12-string for a few songs. very excited to go back in a week, more thanks than i can begin to give to dennis, ryan, and julia for keeping the pitchers coming and to my friends for being there for the first chicago set:

Shoo Baby

Local Ghosts

Let's Be Happy

Local Ghosts

friday i finished recording a new song, another single following "the broadcast" and this one's called "local ghosts." back in july i found a short, rough recording on my computer called "holiday" and i had no memory of playing it or ever singing or recording it but it was mine and the tune got stuck in my head so i picked out the chords and wrote words around the spouts of gibberish in the first recording. it turned into a song about made-up people and apparently the things they can't yet fully escape. maybe it's about crazy people. this is local ghosts.

http://www.yousendit.com/download/YkxLT201YUkwMEh2Wmc9PQ

he spoke like papa's angel from the side of his head

while dorothy's on the range and you're calling up dead

i know it's on me now, the celebrations must begin

it overwhelms me, but it's all alright we sing

come our holiday, all our holiday, it's your holiday

stay the play is ended by the gun in his hand

oh walter's all a-daze and he's pouting again

the ghosts are riding by, all sitting side by side in line

all things returning, all things desert me

on the day, my holiday, all our holiday, it's your holiday

james the way you coiled up from my cigarette,

you wrapped around my brow, we dizzy up and how,

how it burned it burned until you turned away

funny the things that disappear, but you won't see me on the day

my holiday, my holiday

is chicago is not chicago

two weeks in and the personal blogs are underway. kevin richert anderson and steven ross thomas and i had tremendous plans to create a 3521 n. reta ave. blog but seeing as no inspiration followed the unavailability of threemenandababy@blogspot.com it seems we'll be going with our own individual ones. the apartment is outstanding, now that all three of us are here and living as close as we are to some of our closest friends, the throbbing heart of boys town feels more and more like home everyday.

the sleep schedule needs some repairs, a 6am bedtime necessarily leads to a 1pm wake-up but i'm happy to brush it off as celebrating the return of hometown favorites josh and steve, on a friday no less. lots of walking, lots of jewel runs, much exploring, a cheery waitress who called us all "my babies", job apps into whole foods, trader joes, caribou, giggle, and a profile on sittercity, and yesterday the completion of recording a new single.

it's a good home.