My friend Chad Ainsworth was in town last week with his fancy HD videocam. I threw a couple dollars at him and he shot my whole gig last week and stuck some of it up on YouTube. Thanks for the promo Chad-

If you need a videographer (weddings, music video...) shoot me an email and I'll get you in touch with Chad- He does great work and (perhaps more importantly) he's a great guy to work with.

I'll stick a couple of these vids up on the YouTube page over the next couple of days.

After using the same PA system for the last 10 years, this month I finally took the plunge bought some new speakers. I suppose that most people won't even notice any difference from my old PA, but since I have one of these new Italian speakers pointed at my head for about 15-20 hours each week- I notice a huge difference. They sound so much more clear and transparent, and they seem to throw the sound alot further than my old speakers.

The speakers that I've used for the last 10 years still sound great, so I installed them inside at Steamer. There are now 4 Mackie SRM 450s and a 15" subwoofer hanging from the walls and ceiling in the raw bar- it sounds awesome. Now I won't have to schlep speakers inside when it's too cold/rainy to play outside on the deck, and Steamer parties can rock out with the inside PA system - win, win...

This year is the 11th year that I've been playing at Steamer (hard for me to believe as well)- you'd think I'd have installed permenant speakers before now...

I get sketches drawn by 3 years olds on the Steamer Kid's Menu just about every night, but last night I got this painting in my jar. Suffice it to say that the bar has been raised for paintings in my tip jar.

I don't know the name of the artist other than "Jenny", but I think it's amazing that she just painted this on a 3x5 card while I was playing. You know you are a serious artist when you carry your watercolors with you when you go out to dinner...

thanks Jenny! Shoot me an email and I'll put a link to more of your paintings up here.

It's spring on HHI, and that means that I've got new shirts for sale. The whole MuxTape thing (see 2 entries below) got me thinking when I was making this year's shirt. That's pretty much what I do every night- I make a mix tape of the music that people want to hear. Except there is no tape- it's just a "live" mix tape. A mix tape without the tape.

I just came across this vid this morning. The concept of this application is beyond something that I could have imagined. I've watched this several times and I still can't believe that it's true. Switching the overall harmonic tonality of a performance in a single wave form???? Are you kidding??? My favorite part is when the guy manipulates the key signture of that classical guitar piece- insane... just like "meaty" (I think he means MIDI).

Where do you go to find new music? When was the last time you bought a CD from a new artist?

Based on the stats, you and I aren't buying as much new music as we used to. Maybe it's because lots of people just rip tunes of their buddies' iPods, or Limewire, or whatever, but the sales of new music are down.

And let's face it- music isn't the multimedia experience that you can find in other areas of entertainment. For 99% of people, a new track from your favorite artist from the early 90's isn't as exciting as beating your high score on Guitar Hero or whipping your friend's ass in Wii Tennis. Music is having trouble competing in this world where there are so many different forms of media that want to entertain you. You spend your time online checking your email, reading random blogs like this, looking at Facebook, shopping for shinny things, and watching YouTube. I understand, there's lots to see on the web and it's exciting stuff.

So what's my point? My point is that great music is out there- now more than ever, you're just not hearing it because you're busy. And I'm not judging you- I'm busy too and new music isn't easy to find online unless you really go searching.

Enter Muxtape.com. This site is awesome. It's a site where people are controlling the content. No ads, no fees, just new music- its simplicity is fantastic. A 3 field sign-up and your uploading your "muxtape". One click and you are listening to other people's music. Brilliant.

This site has only been up for a week or so, and its the best way I've found to discover new artists and new music. Keep it open in a browser window when your working and I promise you will find something that you dig. When a track catches your attention, you have iTunes to preview and buy the album. It's all wrapped up in a neat little package for you... And let me point out once again that it's 100% free.

Here's a muxtape I made this morning... my username is "jookbox". If you like some tracks- buy the records. It costs musicians money to record and they deserve to be paid for their creativity and work. After you buy the CDs, go out and see one of these artists live in concert- that's what music is all about.

The other cool thing about MuxTape is that it is dynamic. Now that I have set up my account, I can change it at anytime, so if you like the tunes I have up there, bookmark my muxtape page and check back in a couple of weeks for more new tunes (unless the RIAA shuts this site down before then- oh well, it was good while it lasted).

If you make a muxtape with stuff you think I should hear- shoot me a link. I'm listening...

It seems to me that recordings are becoming invitations to experience music in person. Digital media will never compete with the thrill and energy of live music.

And BTW, Costa Rica is amazing except for the fact that there was only running water for 2 hours a day in the town where we stayed. That being said, the carribean coast is definitely where it's at...

This "Hey, Obama Barack Me" thing is starting to get it's own life. I actually heard from the BarackObama.com Headquarters yesterday- Crazy. Go vote it up on YouTube and forward it to your friends!

I won't be at Steamers this week. My 2 brothers and I have this tradition of droping off the face of the earth and going surfing in a different spot in Costa Rica for a week every year. This year, we're heading to Playa Cocles on the Atlantic coast. We always go to the Pacific coast- this year will be something new for us over on the Atlantic. That photo is the actual house we'll be staying at.

I know it's a messed up thought, but I always think about the movie "Return to Paradise" when we go on this trip (you should add this to your NetFlix cue if you haven't seen it- one of my fav movies). We'll stay away from the hash- I'm not really into being hung.

I'm kinda OCD about checking my email, especially now with this Obama video and what not. Unfortunately, I won't have a computer next week, but I'll have my iPhone, but who knows if that'll work down there. This is where I'll be if you need to reach me. Good luck...

The idea for this tune first came to me about 6 months ago, and then the other day when I was cycling the song just about wrote itself... It was that kind of thing that I couldn't ignore. So I finished it, and here it is.

The original chorus to the song was called "Mamma Rock Me". It was written by Bob Dylan but never finished. Old Crow Medicine Show finished out the verses and now it's a big hit called "Wagon Wheel" (just about every college kid in America knows this tune). If you haven't heard the original Old Crow Medicine Show tune, here's a link to their Wagon Wheel video on YouTube.

Click here for the original lyrics to "Wagon Wheel", and here for the lyrics that came from my noggin.

I know how much YouTube I watch these days (far too much), so I when was tracking this tune, I set up a DV cam and made a fancy little iMovie to post up as well. It was originally going to be an MP3, but I think the video has a cool feel to it, so I just left it as a video. The tricky part about tracking in front of a camera, is there is no "punching"- you can only keep one take so you have to nail it for the entire song.

Who knows, this song could have a life of it's own- maybe even help sway someone's decision... Every vote counts. I think it's a catchy lyric- we'll see what the people of this strange land we call "the internet" think... If you dig this video, please post a comment on YouTube and feel free to copy and paste the YouTube URL all over the web!

Go Barack!

Steamers has done some major renovations over this off season... The changes they've made are really cool- It's going to be a good summer. I'll probably do a posting about all of the changes on the SteamerSeafood.com site sometime soon with better photos and stuff, but in the meantime- the big news for me is...

Wait for it...

They built me a new stage. OOOOOOh, Fancy!

It may not look like much to you, but in my little world, it's pretty cool. So this is how it feels to be a rock star- now i know. Now that I'm famous with my stage and everything, I promise no to let it go to my head...

If it's warm enough, I may play outside this weekend. I guess I'll have to break a bottle of champagne over on the corner of the new stage at the first gig and give her a fitting, sea-worthy name.

Stop by if you can.

I stuck a track I recorded today up on myspace. It's a junky day and seemed like a good tune to play around with. Not too much thought went into it- I Just set up mics and recorded straight into GarageBand w/o effects or nothin...

This tune gave me an excuse to record with my uke and upright bass. Click on the MySpace link to check it out...

I don't buy lots of guitars, but I just bought what is quickly becoming my favorite guitar that I've ever owned.

Working at Benedetto, I got to see amazing instruments everyday, but I never got a lot of one on one time with the guitars. I wasn't able to sit down and play for a long enough time to really fall in love with a particular guitar (I suppose that is why they call it a "Real Job").

I always had my eye on this white "Bambino" model guitar. It's completely a one of a kind (white isn't a standard color and this particular model usually has chrome hardware- mine has gold). For all I know this may be the only white Benedetto archtop that Bob has ever made- cool...

But beyond the way it looks, I cannot believe how this guitar plays. It is flat out inspiring. I'm practicing like a freak - hours and hours... Benedettos are the most amazing guitars on the planet- end of story...

Added bonus: I got my 5 minutes of fame on the Benedetto News Page . Thanks Cindy!

Every couple of years I rediscover how amazing Stevie Wonder is and this morning I'm obsessed with his music.

This is kind of sloppy (ok. it's really sloppy...) i cut it straight to YouTube. Why not post it? The point is... What a melody...

NAMM was amazing. I mean there are more music gadgets and guitars than you can ever imagine. I bet I walked 15 miles each day looking at everything from carbon fiber guitars to capos to juice harps- exhausting...

This year more than ever it seems that every manufacturer at NAMM is producing their own guitar. Any given company that only sold polish, or strings, or amps, or whatever last year is offering 5 different guitars at a $500 price point this year. It's weird- I dont think that there's any way that the industry can support all of these different guitar builders- the big boys (fender, gibson, martin, taylor) sell so many guitars every year- How many guitar players are there out there? And with the perfect storm of cheap labor in China and the development of CNC technology where solid body guitars can be made so quickly and cheaply, the big companies with marketing departments and advertising budgets can build guitars in China for next to nothing. It will be interesting to see how many of these cheaply made chinese guitar companies are around in 5 years.

I think if I had to put my finger on the one thing that I really took from NAMM is that the difference between "guitars" and "instruments" is widening. You can buy a guitar for $300, but in 10 years it is worthless (maybe useful for firewood) and you won't enjoy playing it as much as you could if you were playing a guitar that was really well made. If you buy an "instrument", you will have it for ever, and it will very likely appreciate in value. Not to mention that a real "instrument" will actually make you want to practice more because it sounds so damn good.

But I digress...

The coolest experience that I had at NAMM wasn't seeing all of the latest and greatest innovations involving 6 strings and piece of wood, it was getting a chance to hear John Mayer play. After all, this industry is nothing without people who inspire us to make music in the first place. I scored some free tickets from a Martin Sales Rep (thanks Tom) for an event that Martin put on in a 500 seat venue. What a killer show.

I've never heard John Mayer live before (I'm usually working nights...) and he lives up to all of his hype. There is no hiding when it's just you, a guitar, a mic, and an audience- it quickly seperates the men from the boys. John Mayer deserves every ounce of praise that he has ever gotten. He makes me want to practice...

I was clicking through my iTunes and found some old recordings that I made a couple of years ago so I just stuck them up on my MySpace page. The first 2 are originals, but aren't quite cool enough (or complete enough) to put on a CD. A couple of weeks on MySpace is about all the exposure these songs will ever see, so here they are. If you want to read more about these little throw-away recordings, I have a little blog entry on MySpace about them.

Who wants to hear some more exciting news about my vocal surgery???!!!! OOOh me!!! Probably not- but I'm writing about it again anyway.

I was back at Steamer this weekend on Friday and Saturday nights. Damn I've missed gigging...

Friday I was playing bass with my buddy Damon from Benedetto. Damon loves country music. I mean- he lives and breaths this stuff. So Damon made it country night at Steamer for sure. Waylon, Willie, Hank, Hank Jr, Hank Sr, - you get the point- that was our set list for the night. "3 chords and the truth".

Country night slowly turned into Jack Daniels night. Saturday morning I remembered why I don't drink Jack Daniels.

At this point it's been 1.5 months since my surgery. I've been singing and practicing at home, so Saturday was as good a night as any to give singing a gig a try. Steamer was cool with the idea of me doing only a 1 hour gig at this time of year, so I set up my stuff and played and sang for one hour.

It went surprisingly well- i feel better than ever, but I have ZERO endurance and I wasn't really comfortable because my voice feels dramatically different than it did when it had the polyp (I suppose that's the whole point of surgery...). I was spent vocally after an hour of singing, but at least now I know that my voice is going to be OK. I'm going to keep practicing at home and this Friday, I'm hoping to make it for 2 hours. It's a muscle like any other muscle and endurance will take time, but it will come back strong.

I have my final doc follow up on Thursday of this week.

I've been working on some new tunes and I'm hoping to finish them up and stick them on my MySpace here in the next month.

It will be nice to be able to have music to talk about instead of always writing about this surgery. Thanks again to everyone who has helped me through these last few very strange months...

I've been getting lots of feedback from people reading this blog page recently. People have landed on this page from searching "vocal surgery" and "bar singer vocal problems"-who know exactly what they are typing and how they are finding my site, but I'm hearing from singers via the contact page. It's cool to speak with people who are considering getting this surgery or have already had this surgery. The internet is a pretty slick thing.

At this point, I'm blogging about my surgery mostly so that other singers can learn from my experiences with surgery. If you click on the images above, you'll get a bigger image and you can see the stages of my recovery. Some people think it's disgusting- I think it's kind of interesting...

So, I didn't talk about my voice the other day because I was really bummed out about it. Things didn't feel good, talking was really difficult and by about 1:00 in the afternoon everyday, my voice was so tired that I could hardly speak.

It was really frustrating- I thought did everything right after surgery and therefore recovery would be quick and painless. I did the 2 weeks of insanity with vocal rest, took my medicine, and it seemed to be getting me nowhere. I really felt like I was never going to sing again a couple of days ago.

But that was 3 days ago. It's amazing how quickly things can change.

I went in on Thursday for my 3 week post-op visit/scope and things are looking dramatically better. The cord is looking white and healthy and smoothing out. It's still super tight and kind of inflamed, but she put me on a monster steroid (yes- yet another steroid. I'll likely never be able to have children after all of the roids that I've been on for the last 6 months) and it's really made an amazing difference.

I'm doing my vocal exercises and trying to do all that I can to speed up my recovery, but apparently my recovery is going a little slower than I expected it to go. I had originally hoped to be able to play a gig on October 4th- 3 weeks after surgery. OK- maybe that was a little overly ambitious.

Now I'm scheduled to be at Steamer on Oct 12th and 13th, and that too is seeming overly ambitious. Gary is going to fill in for me next weekend.

When will I be able to gig again? I'm really not sure, but I'm going to err on the side of caution. I'd much rather focus on my recovery this fall since there are only 5 weekends that I'm slated to play at Steamer from Oct 19th thru November 17th, than go back to work too soon and do some damage to my cords before they're fully recovered.

Not sure- Every day is a new adventure in my vocal recovery. Today I sang a song for the first time in a month. It feels weird and tight and uncomfortable, but I can tell that the polyp is definitely gone. And that is an amazing improvement...

It's not often that I get this much time off from gigs, so I've taken this opportunity to get some long over due guitar work done on my old Larrivee.

I'm a pretty loyal guy- some guys spend their musical lives chasing the "perfect" tone, or the best neck, or demand an immaculate set up and action. I'm not one of those guys. If it works and sounds good plugged in- I'm not asking too many questions.

I bought this guitar back when I was 18 (let's see- that was, er... nineteen ninety... um... let's just go with it was a long time ago...), and it's seen better days. People always ask me about the "repaired" section of this guitar. The rectangle area where the tortoise pickguard should be on most guitars is actually protected by a clear pickguard on my guitar. So the rectangle area that looks like it has been repaired is actually just protected from my out of control strumming by the clear pickguard. I answer that question just about every night at Steamers...

But that's just ascetics- who cares how it looks? I think it looks good- it gets used. That's what they build guitars for- to be played.

Working at Benedetto has taught me how little I know about guitars. I'm learning so much every day at that job. How cool is it that I get to hang out with and work for a legend like Bob Benedetto? Very cool...

One of the perks of the Benedetto gig is that I have access to the best luthiers (that's guitar builders for the uninitiated) in the country. Every luthier in the shop has to pass Bob's personal inspection of their work to get a job there. All I had to do was bring my Larrivee into the shop and the guys gave me a laundry list of all the things that needed to be done to my guitar.

So I gave my guitar to Matt Eady (who used to be the final assembly guy at Gibson's Custom Shop in Nashville) for some repairs. A couple of hundred dollars, new frets, new saddle, new nut, and a re-radiused neck later- I have a brand new guitar. This guitar is amazing. I can't believe that I've been playing this guitar for 10 years and it could have sounded like this all along. Never again will I play a guitar that isn't set up to maximize it's potential.

If any local musicians want some repair/setup work done, drop me a line. I can hook you up with some master luthiers...

So when I come back to work at Steamer, not only should my voice be all fixed up, but my guitar should be at the top of it's game as well.

Distance running is easy. Triathlon is a piece of cake. Working 80 hour weeks- sinchy. If you want to try something that is difficult, try not speaking a word for 2 weeks.

For argument's sake, let's make it easier. Try not speaking for one hour. Just an hour. And for that hour, carry on you life as you normally would. When you try and order a coffee at Starbucks, or pre-pay for gas on pump #5, or drop off dry cleaning, or try to explain to someone you work with how you need for something to be done- you will quickly realize how much you take speaking for granted.

Keeping my mouth shut for these 2 weeks after surgery has been one of the hardest things that I've done in a long, long time. I know that sound overly-dramatic, but it is true. It just doesn't stop. You don't get a break. Not just a whisper here, or a sentence there- total silence.

And I've really been going through with it. I mean, if I'm willing to take off work for a month, lay out all this cash for this operation, and risk surgical complications- your bet your ass I'm going to do everything that the doctor tells me to do to help my post-op recovery, regardless of whether or not it costs me my sanity.

I went through stages over these 2 weeks- The first couple 2 days I was all codined up, so those hardly count. After that, I realized that the dry erase board is the best invention known to man. Then, it was fear that something may have gone wrong in surgery. Then, it was frustration and wanting to tell my doc to go to hell and I was going to talk anyway. And now it's just acceptance. I know like I sound like I'm talking about the death of a loved one or something, but I really went through these feelings in a big way.

And at this point I'm so used to not talking that I really have accepted my status as being a mute. So what- strangers look at me like I'm some kind of freak when I shove my dry erase board in their face and tell them what I want, but I've gotten used to it.

The good news (for me) is that it's over as of tomorrow at 11:40am. That will make the grand total 15 days of silence. This appointment can't get here soon enough.

I have all sorts of weird things in my head now. The only thing that surgery can guarantee is that whatever the surgeon operates on will not be the same after surgery as it was before surgery. For better or worse I suppose. And that kind of talk scares the crap out of me. This is my career we're talking about here...

So- when they scope me tomorrow: Will that polyp still be there? What about scarring and potential stiffness in my vocal cords after surgery from scar tissue? Will the laser burn on my folds have healed? What if my surgeon missed with that laser and caused some damage to areas of my vocal cord which were totally healthy before the operation? And not to mention the biggest question- will my voice still sound like me? Well, no use in beating myself thinking thru all of the "what-ifs". I'll know tomorrow.

I have learned a lot in these 2 weeks. Mostly I have learned to listen very, very, very well (and I'm pretty good with a dry erase board too). At this point, I'm not as much worried that I have forgotten how to talk. I just hope that when I start talking again, I'll remember all that I've learned about listening over these last two weeks.

My favorite thing that I wrote on my dry erase board last week is:

"the less you talk, the fewer opportunities you give yourself to prove to everyone around you that you are an idiot."

- todd

So- it's done... They chopped that thing off my vocal folds. Let's hope my doc knew what she was doing. I feel pretty good about the whole thing- after the surgery my doc seemmed pretty pumped about the procedure. I'm not in any pain or anything. I can actually feel that the bump is gone from my vocal folds. Pretty sweet feeling.

But, there's no way to know anything for certain at this point. I'm on "voice rest" which means that I'm not supposed to talk at all- and I'm actually doing it. Nothing has come out of my mouth in 4 days- That's not easy for a guy like me... It's really frustrating- for all I know, my voice is totally destroyed from the laser and I'll sound like Tom Waits for the rest of my life, or my voice could now sound like some 12 year-old soprano boy- I really don't know and I won't know until September 26th. That's when my follow-up appointment is and that's when they'll stick that scope down my throat and have another look at my vocal cords...

It's a weird spot to be in. So for now and the next 2 weeks this little dry erase board is my mouth and my only way of communicating.

Email, IM, and text messaging- what would I do without you?

(If this is the first time that you've been to my page, this entry won't make a whole lot of sense. If you want to know why there is a pic of a surgery table on this page - start about 7 blog entrys ago and read up the page... )

It's official. I finally decided that I can't wait any more to have this surgery on my voice. It just doesn't make sense to put it off any longer. Here is my thinking as to why September is as good a time as any to have this surgery on my voice:

1. All of the college kids are back at school in September

2. All of the families that come to HHI for vacation are back at home in Ohio putting their kids on the school bus and doing normal family things...

3. There is a constant threat of hurricanes through out September that often scares off vacationers from coming here.

Couple those reasons with the fact that my body can't take any more massive doses of steroids (i've been taking these for the last 3 months- they control the inflamation on my vocal folds and make it possible for me to sing when I probably shouldn't be singing. They make me a better singer but the steroids also make me a pain in the butt alot of the time as well...) and you see how I arrived at the conclusion that now is the best time to go ahead and get this surgery over with.

So, on September 12th, I have an appointment that will hopefully put this summer of vocal trouble behind me. It's going to be a quiet month around my condo after the surgery. I'll be on 100% "vocal rest" which means ZERO talking or whispering for 2 weeks after the surgery so I'll be doing lots of practicing guitar and hopefully a little bit of recording.

Check out the "Calendar Page" for gig info. As of now (and this is not set in stone), I'm planning on taking the whole month of September off, then coming back for Thursdays and Saturdays in October, and Fridays and Saturdays in November.

The more that I learn about this procedure, the less nervous I am about having it. The whole operation is completely out-patient, and I should be back at home by noon after surgery with my head filled with a comfortable cloud of morphine (mmm... morphine...)

Summer 2008 should see a return of high dearly missed high falsetto notes to my singing- I'm looking forward to that. I'll post more after the surgery, but I hope that I won't have to blog/think/talk about my vocal problems any more...

If you know me at all, you know that I'm no good at sitting still. Emails, t-shirts, web stuff- I do all of this stuff not as much because I feel that it's necessary for a bar musician, but I do it because I have an inexplicable need to constantly work. It doesn't make sense to me either.

Now that I have every afternoon off (since I'm not working the Tiki Hut this year) and I also am only working 4 gigs a week at Steamer, I had to find something to do with all of my free time (it's a wonderful problem to have...). I can only learn so many tunes a week, and unfortunately, working harder at my Steamer gig doesn't directly translate into $$ to pay my bills. My mortgage company doesn't accept applause...

So, I've taken a job a couple a days a week over in Savannah at Benedetto Guitars. I suppose I should give a little bit of the story of how this whole job fell into my lap.

Benedetto guitars are the Ferrari of guitars- and that's no exaggeration. They are the finest guitars in the world. Up until now, they have almost all been built solely by Bob Benedetto on a very limited scale. I've known about Benedetto guitars since I was about 16- they are the deal- especially for jazz players.

I have a friend named Howard Paul who is a regional jazz guitar icon and also a business tycoon (formerly from Chattham Steel in Savannah) and he and Bob Benedetto have been friends for years. To make a long story short, Howard convinced Bob to move down to Savannah and open a small guitar building facility where Bob could continue to make his high end guitars ($65,000+), but also where they will make professional instruments for working musicians ranging in price from $3,000-$20,000.

When I started having my voice problems this Spring, I called Howard on a whim to ask him if I could get a tour of the new guitar making factory. Fast forward 2 days and while I was on the tour of the Benedetto facility, Howard offered me a job working 4 days a week.

I've been working at Benedetto for about a month now and at this early stage in the company, there are only 4 of us working on the admin side (Bob Benedetto, his wife Cindy, Howard Paul and me) so we all have to wear a lot of different hats to get all of the different jobs done. There are 17 guitar builders and they're hiring more all the time. This company will be sucessful- I'm happy to be associated with Benedetto in any way I can.

Surprisingly enough (at least to me), I like the balance that I get from working in the day a couple of times a week and then playing guitar 4 nights a week. Who knew??? I would have never pursued this opportunity if my voice were strong and I was still working 6 nights a week, but the timing on this job was perfect for my needs when I had to give up gigs at Steamer to avoid damaging my voice further. It was one of those strange coincidences- Howard needing someone with my skills, and me needing a job a couple of afternoons a week.

I did have to cut back from my Tuesday night gig at the Jazz Corner for a little while- so no cruise for me. Oh well... Now my schedule has me working during the day at Benedetto from Monday through Thursday; then singing and playing at Steamer from Thursday night through Sunday night. It's keeping me busy- but I like being busy...

Check out the Benedetto site to get a feel for what this company is all about.

As far as my vocal "issue" goes, the bad news is that the bump on my vocal cords is not getting smaller, but the really great news is that it's not getting any bigger. That basically means that I'm not hurting my voice any by singing with a polyp on my vocal cords. The Doc doesn't see any "sympathetic damage" (aka- damage to the other vocal fold from getting hit by the vocal fold with the polyp) and cutting my gig schedule back to 4 nights a week seems to be working. It's still hard on my voice, but giving my voice 3 days off to heal after the weekend seems to be allow my folds the time they need to recover.

I'm still going to go through with the surgery to remove the polyp, but I'm going to wait until November when I won't be missing so much work from Steamer. I just may have to cut back on singing maybe 10% of the tunes that I usually sing that are at the top of my vocal range till I have the surgery. That's hardly the end of the world... I'm still rockin over at Steamer- it's just a whole step lower than I usually rock.

Why is there a pic of Rod Stewart on my site? The pic is up here because with the bump on my vocal folds, I'm sounding more and more like our friend Rod everyday. However we are different because: a) I don't have a sweet green sequin leotard b) I don't have a haircut that looks like some kind of botched mullet that was cut with a "Flow-be" c) i haven't sold 10,000,000 records (oh yeah- that...)

I just wanted to have a pic for my blog and that was the best pic/story that I could come up with for this blog entry. I'll try and do better next time. Here's the latest installment in the on-going soap opera of my relationship with my vocal folds...

When I left my appointment with the ENT in Charleston 2 weeks ago, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to sing that night since I hadn't really spoken since a couple of days before the appointment. It turned out that the gigs over Memorial Day went OK and I was able to sing through all of them. My voice sounds a little scratchy and a little deeper, but after changing the keys to a couple of tunes and picking material carefully, things went surprisingly well.

But, as far as I'm concerned, my voice is not quite right. You may not notice when you hear me sing, but I definitely notice. I was describing it to one of my friends like this;

It's like running a race with a big pebble in your shoe. You can feel it and you want that pebble out. The guy running next to you can't really notice, and your race time wouldn't necessarily be substantially worse, but you know that you are using slightly different muscles to protect yourself from that pebble and you know that it's affecting your performance.

So, I've decided to cut back my summer schedule. I'm giving up Monday and Wednesday nights to the capable and talented hands of Robert Ingman. With the demand as high as it is for quality entertainers on Hilton Head, Steamer is very fortunate to have found a sub like Rob on such short notice. Check him out- you won't be disappointed.

I'll still be out at Steamer singing and looping on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. I haven't spoken with my voice doc about this schedule. I'm just making decisions based on how I feel and I think that giving my voice 3 days of rest every week is going to help me make it through the summer.

As far as the surgery goes, I've decided to put it off until November. By scaling back to 4 nights of singing, I think I'll be OK to get thru this summer and that will allow me to have the surgery when I won't be missing as much work.

The big question that I have is- am I doing permanent damage to my voice by singing with this thing on my vocal folds? I really don't know- I certainly hope not. I'm trying to get a better answer than that, but for now I don't have any good answers. I'm going with the singing in moderation approach. I think it's going to work well until I can have surgery in the Fall.

I suppose I should take a moment and thank you (reader of this strange blog) for your support throughout this little vocal trauma episode that I've been having. I've received well over 50 emails from people offering kind words, prayers, and support. It's completely overwhelming and really comforting to hear from people that I hardly know. This gig at Steamer has been really cool because it's given me a chance to not only entertain a bunch of people, but to also become of a part of their lives when they are on vacation. To most of you who are reading this, I'm like some sort of crazy uncle that you see once a year. We know each other by face, but don't ever talk more than a few passing greetings. After 10 years, I'm really starting to know just about 1/2 of every audience that I play for on any given night at Steamers. When I say "know", i really mean "recognize", but still- it's some sort of strange relationship that works well for both of us. The point of that huge digression was to say that I really appreciate your emails and concern for my situation.

So- that's the deal... Rob on Monday and Wednesday, and me on Thursday through Sunday... see you then.

I went to the ENT today in Charleston who specializes in singers with vocal problems. She is very cool and definitely over qualified for my needs (her clients include Dave Matthews, Darius Rucker from Hootie, and many rock icons who sing improperly - at least from an academic and technical perspective).

And what did she have to say?

Well, it wasn't exactly the news that I was hoping for. Basically, I have a hemorrhage on my vocal folds. It was caused by trauma (a.k.a. singing too hard, for too long, too frequently). Most singers with vocal problems have "Nodes" or little calluses on the vocal folds that are tough form slowly over time on a voice that is consistently beat up- they are the voice's way of toughening up and protecting itself. A hemorrhage is an instant event that occurs at a specific moment. When was this moment? I'm not sure. Nothing really stands out as a traumatic pain, but there has been a dull pain for a couple of weeks.

How did this happen? Want my guess? Here's what me and my doc think.

I went off my little allergy steroid spray this year. It just seemed like a good time to try and get away from it. Less drugs= healthier person. Anyway, I think my allergies have been a little out of contol this for the last couple of months, and this has given me a post-nasal drip. The PND has been running down my vocal folds and irritating them all Spring. I think that's why I haven't felt like I've been singing with my normal voice for the last couple of months- it's been covered in mucus-y post nasal drip.

So then I was taking this irritated voice, and trying to push it to hit notes that I've been able to easily sing for the last 6 years or so. My voice didn't like it and it got beat up. The irritation of PND, made worse by my vocal abuse (i can call it that i suppose) coupled to weaken my vocal folds and made them susceptible to infection. My guess is that around this time is when a blood vessel on my vocal folds ruptured (hemorrhaged) and gave me that sweet bump on my folds.

10 days ago, i came down with Pharyngitis- an infection just above the vocal folds. I took 4 nights off, then sang last weekend when the infection had cleared, but after 2 nights of singing, my voice was just as messed up as ever. The big bump is still there and apparently it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

A hemorrhage on the vocal folds looks kind of like when you pinch your skin and you get a "blood blister". You can see it on the left side of the image of my vocal fold (click on the pic above and it will get big). It contains blood inside it and will eventually heal on it's own if it is allowed to rest. Sounds good- right? Just rest it, and it will get better... Except that the "rest" is 60 days of 100% vocal rest- no talking, no singing, no whispering, no nothing... and usually polyps like this don't respond to rest- they usually require surgery.

There are 2 kinds of surgery that you can have for this condition. You can either take the hemorrhage off with a scalpel, or with a laser. The laser is a newer technology and the recovery time from surgery is (get ready for this) only 3 days!!! (I don't often use multiple exclamation marks, but there it was necessary)

So when will the surgery be? I'm not sure. This vocal doc wants to wait till July because she'll be out of town for 2 weeks in June and she wants to be around to monitor my post-operational recovery. She also wants me to go to a vocal coach every week until then to ensure that after we fix this problem that it will not come back again. After all- this injury is caused by misuse. (i personally believe that the PND was a bigger issue than the misuse, but i'm not a doc)

My problem is I don't know if I can afford to wait until July. If we know what the problem is, and we know exactly how to fix it, LET'S GET IT DONE. I'd rather do vocal therapy on a healthy voice rather than try to sing properly when there is a huge bump on my vocal folds. Does that sound reasonable to you? Good- me too...

So, I'm considering getting a second opinion. Years ago I visited an ENT at the Georgetown Voice Clinic in Washington, DC. I may head up there next week if I can get an appointment.

The other thing that I got done today was extensive allergy testing. If the hypothesis that my doc and I came up with about my allergies and post nasal drip auis correct- the allergy test will tell me for sure.

After surgery, I won't be 100% for a while, but I'll be able to slowly build my voice back up until eventually I'll be strong enough to sing for 3 hours a night, 6 nights a week. I'm working on scheduling a sub for Monday and Wednesday nights for the entire summer, and then building back slowly from 2 nights a week to 4 nights a week by August.

By September, I hope to be back to my old self- singing all the time. Up until now, I have never been a big fan of the break, but since my doc insists that all voices need a bread every 45 minutes to hour, and this surgery is going to cost me close to $10,000, I'm going to take the doc's advice from now on. Breaks will happen. I can't afford to abuse my voice.

It looks like this hiccup in my health will slightly modify for my previously scheduled (and heavily promoted) 2007 Summer Tour. If you want to buy a shirt to help me off-set some of the costs of this surgery (and all of the income that I'm going to lose this summer from canceling gigs) that would help me out. This sickness showed up immediately after I recieved shipment of all of my new 2007 t-shirts- how's that for timing. It's tough to sell Concert Tour t-shirts when your playing all of the dates on the "concert tour". If you do decide to purchase a t-shirt, I can promise you that your $ will be put to good use.

It's during the period from now until July that I'm uncertain as to what to do. For the short term, I need to figure out if I can get thru gigs with this thing on my voice. I'll know tomorrow. The ENT couldn't give me a good answer on whether or not I will be able to sing. I my voice will sound breathy, and I know I will only have about 30% of my previous vocal range; the question is whether or not I'm going to have the endurance to finish the gig. I'll find out tomorrow. The doc gave me a huge shot of Steroids in my ass cheek (steroids reduce inflammation so my voice won't get all swollen up when i sing with the trauma), and I'm going to give it a try this weekend. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights- i'm gonna be there. I may end up being a DJ with my iPod, but I'll be there at Steamer in one form or another.

Advice to Musicians: Don't try and be a hero and sing straight through a gig just because you can do it. This kind of damage can happen in a moment and can put you out for months...

Thanks for reading this- It's cathartic for me to write what is happening throughout this process.

I just sent out my yearly email to everyone on my list. I try not to spam people with annoying emails too often, but once a year- you can count on getting an email from me (unless you unsubscribe in the email- of course).

If you want the short story, here it is:

-I'm back at Steamer again making this my 10th year of working at Steamer on Hilton Head Island. Come out and have a beer and a listen sometime.

-I'm also playing at the The Jazz Corner this year on Tuesday nights with a quintet (guitar, piano, bass, drums, and Bob Masteller who doubles on Vibes and Trumpet)

-I've got new t-shirts for sale on the "BuyStuff" page. Check em out.

-As you may have noticed, I built a new site.

Now you can go back to doing whatever it was before you got my email, or you can read on for the long story if you're interested...

Here's the deal with the new site. My old site was fancy with the little guitar picks and sounds and what not, but it wasn't very useful at presenting info. So, when I did my new t-shirt, I had my designer make images for this new site and my girlfriend Meghan (who is an amazing web developer/code monkey) made it all work.

Some cool new things I like about this new site:

- Calendar - The calendar is published thru my .mac page, so whenever i edit a calendar on my computer at home, the changes are immediately upload and implemented on my calendar page of my site. That's really cool. I'm going to be traveling a lot this winter and playing gigs out of town lots- so this will be a feature that i'm gonna use lots... If you see a date on the Calendar page- you can count on it- i'll be there.

- bio - More than you ever wanted to know about me and how I got to where I am today.

- no more mp3 page- Myspace does it much better than having an MP3 page. I just started a myspace page, and it's amazing how many people are up there. Myspace really is changing everything about how people learn about new music. Power to the people... and yes, I'd love to be your friend...

- youtube vids- These vids are lots easier view than having to load mpgs before you can watch them. Youtube has made video easy. These vids are from 2005, and I'm going to post some new vids whenever I can convince my girlfriend to come out and shoot video (she says it makes her feel like a stalker/dork). I try and spend more time on YouTube these days instead of watching TV- It's better than TiVo (except for the crappy quality). Check out my YouTube Channel and see some of my favorite vids.

- Contact- This page makes it way easier and less formal than writing a traditional email- already people are dropping me notes. Pretty cool- and the spam spiders can't find my email address, so less spam is better spam.

and that's the deal. No real update on my voice- I'm still shutting up and resting it- that's why i'm getting so much computer work done...

This pic is maybe a little over the top, but my google images search for "quiet" led me to this painting- and I think it's cool. Don't worry- i'm not all depressed and sad- it's just a painting that I liked... besides- i don't even have a duck so i have nothing in common with this guy.

I was hoping to get into see an ENT this morning, but perhaps that was a little optimistic considering that I didn't have an appointment. I did get in touch with a great ENT in Charleston at MUSC who specializes in singers with vocal problems and I got an appointment to see her on Thursday. She's gonna her stick that camera-scope thing down my throat and have a look at my money maker (a.k.a. my vocal folds).

I've decided that looking into possible causes, cures, and scenarios on google for my own diagnosis and treatment is a complete waste of time. It just gets me all worked up. I just need to chill. This whole hoarseness thing is probably nothing more than an allergy that I have to my new dog, and... Wait- there i go again- with my own diagnosis... Dooh! Whatever it is that's screwing my voice up- the docs know more than I do, and I'm sure I'll be fine in a couple of days once they do whatever it is that they are going to do.

I have to say that I've been really lucky to be able to find awesome players to fill my shifts while I've been sick. Gary Pratt, Bruce Crichton, Rob Ingman, and John Bruner have all stepped up and filled in when I haven't been able to perform my job as singer-guy. I owe them all lots of thanks.

So, it's just me and my girlfriend hanging out at home and I'm not talking at all- pretty boring when you can't communicate. This sickness has shown me that I talk entirely too much. When I'm not running my trap- it's pretty peaceful and quiet around here.

I took tonight off, I'm playing at the Jazz Corner tomorrow (because I just play guitar and I can be a mute and nobody notices), and I'm taking Wednesday off again from Steamer. Unless my throat is bleeding or flames ar coming out of my mouth- I'll be at Steamer Thursday night thru Sunday night this weekend.

I've gotten a couple of really nice emails with words of support from people I've never spoken with before- thank you for that- It's really nice to hear from you.

Well- I'll update again on Thursday or Friday after I talk to the doc.

I'm scared. I did everything I was supposed to do. I shut up for 4 days off on total vocal rest, I took all of the crazy antibiotics and steroids that the doc told me to do (which I hate doing- It seems like whenever go to a doc with anything wrong from a stubbed toe to an earache, they'll just put you on antibiotics and steroids and tell you rest- I won't go into that now)- and where has it gotten me? Unfortunately- No better. I feel great- I can workout, live my life normally, I'm just having trouble with the only thing that I can't tolerate having any trouble with- my voice...

I felt better on Friday and I had a good gig Friday night. I felt hoarse after the gig- but I thought I was just tired after jumping into 3 hours of singing after not speaking for 4 days. I slept it off and didn't speak at all yesterday. Then last night- i'm back to that feeling of not being able to sing in all of my normal vocal registers. It's sort of painful, but not really- it's just kind of a raw feeling on my vocal cords. I'm not being a baby- something is wrong with my voice.

This isn't cool. Singing is how I pay for my life. I'm really scared... I'm taking tonight off and I'm going to see an ENT in Charleston in the morning. I know I shouldn't do this, but I sit up at night and Google all of the possible things that could be wrong with my voice. Here's my favorite- Parasites??? I don't know if this guy is serious, but it's like the 5th highest hit on google for "Chronic Hoarseness", so someone must believe it- sounds a little vague for me.

I'm going to stick to traditional medicine- let's hope there's a simple explanation for my hoarseness. Tomorrow they're going to stick that scope up my nose and use a camera to look at my vocal folds- I'm hoping for good news. Maybe I'll have to take a week off or something, but I really hope it's nothing more than that. (If you're coming to Steamer when I'm not there- I'll make sure that they have a sub to cover my shifts when I'm sick...)

Life is full of surprises... I just don't need this surprise now- wish me luck at the doc tomorrow.

This spring has been weird on my voice. First, I got really sick at the beginning of April and kind of limped through my gigs for a couple of weeks, and now- Pharyngitis... Dooh.

I went to my doc today after having serious problems with my voice all weekend. I don't feel sick, but my upper register of my vocal range just isn't there... It's really weird. I'm all hoarse and breathy and I can't talk easily. Singing is easier than talking on a voice, so I'm finding myself not talking all day, then going to my gigs at night and praying that my voice will some how come back and I'll be able to sing.

Anyway- the doc said he can see this sweet white infection on my Pharynx, so I'm out for a couple of days. At least I know what's wrong.

That means no gigs- no talking- nothing- I just have to shut up. So much for not having a night off till October. I feel sorry for my girlfriend- I've decided that it's funny to carry my laptop around and let it speak what i type. I feel like Steve Hawking (except maybe not as smart). That reminds me of this awesome Steven Hawking gangster rapper parody from a couple of years ago. Maybe I can bring my laptop to my gig and have my computer sing the songs while I play guitar?

Maybe not- i'll just take a couple of days off and see you again on Friday night...

Yep- they're in and ready for delivery- buy impulsively and in large quantities... I don't know who this dude in the pic is, but i slapped my t-shirt logo on his shirt and it made him look 100% cooler... (actual results may vary)

Occasionally, Dale (the owner of Steamer) rents out the back dining room to different groups. Tonight he rented it out to the "SAE's" from the Louisville, KY. Good times. I'm always on the fence about frat parties. I've had some really bad experiences with frat boys being really rude in the past (like maybe 10 years ago - I know, i should get over it...) but these guys were really cool. The kids just keep getting younger and younger every year- It can't be that i'm getting older- Oh no, no, no... that's impossible...

It was a dance party- you know the drill. Hope you guys had a good time- see you back down here this summer....

No more early gig at the Jazz Corner- for a while at least.

The solo Jazz Corner gig was super cool while it lasted, but I'm afraid it's over as of this week. I was playing from 5:30 till 7:00 before i played with the band. It seems really early since the time has changed to Daylight Savings. It won't be long before it gets dark at 9, and trying to get people to come and eat early at 5:30- it's a tough sell. After all- this is the beach and at 5:30, people are still getting tans on the beach in July.

So, long story short... I'm not doing the early gig at the Jazz Corner any more on Tuesday. Early music on Tuesdays will start back up in the Fall when the time changes back and 5:30 doesn't feel like lunch time anymore.

I am still playing jazz with the quintet from 8-11. Come and check that out. The group is sounding really good these days.

I always kick myself at this time of year. Spring always sneaks up on me. Now it's warm, there are people around, and I don't have t-shirts to sell em! Dooh... I always swear to myself that i'm going to be on top of the new shirts- this year's always going to be different, "I'm going to get the shirts done by February...", but I never do....

I finally got around to getting my shirt design finalized for this years "tour". I found my designer through one of my new favorite musician's websites. Dave Barnes- he's really great. Anyway, on the DaveBarnes.com site, I clicked on the "Credits" and it lead me to the guy who did my shirt this year - Otterball.com.

They are pros... Here's the design that we've come up with over the last few days. Hope you like it. I should have shirts and tanks to sell by May 1.

oh yeah - and happy tax day.

My life is strange- it's weird to realize that i haven't played a gig at a venue other than Steamers in something like 3 years. I mean, i've played at private parties and weddings and stuff, but a bar gig in a different town or venue?- nope... That is until I got booked to do a strange early gig from 5:30-6:45 this last week when i played last tuesday and thursday at The Jazz Corner here on HHI. Apparently they have great food and have a 2 for one special when you come early (or something like that), but whatever the case, there were people there and they were listening. Its a different kind of club than i'm used to playing. It has a real stage, lighting, and people come there to listen to music. I'm not saying it's a big break or anything glamourous- at the end of the day, it's just a gig, but it is a whole different kind of venue than the last 10 years that I've played at Steamers. The thing that surprised me the most about playing at the Jazz Corner was that I had kind of forgotten about the energy of a new room. Your voice sounds different and your guitar mixes with your voice differently in different rooms. I know I'm not saying anything that every musician in the world doesn't already know, but it is almost unacceptable to me that I have forgotten the simple pleasure of playing in a new venue.

Anyway, the gigs went well and the Jazz Corner wants me to start playing for them on a regular schedule. They are going to let me do whatever I want to with the gig. No strict limitations on what I can or can't play (they're cool with my uke, high-strung guitar, singing standards and originals or whatever). I've been looking for a gig like this for the last 10 years, but I don't think I was ready for it until now. It's weird the way things work- I stopped playing at the Tiki Hut this year so I can work on more of my original music- and out of the blue I get a call for this gig. It'll be interesting to see what happens when i'm put in a venue where they encourage original music. I'm the kind of person that needs a deadline to deliver results. It's putting some fire under my ass to write...

Look for the gig at the Jazz Corner to start in mid-march. This means that I'll be working 7 nights a week for 6 months straight without a night off, but I'm excited for the challenge...

Break's over - back to work... I've been practicing lots over the last couple of weeks trying to learn some new tunes for 07 and so far this month I have about 10 learned. Since I'm not working at the Tiki Hut this next year I'm going to have more time to stay on top of learning new tunes during the seanson. Learning 40 new tunes in the off-season hasn't dominated my practice like it usually does in the winter. I'm trying to pick tunes that take a lot of work to really loop well. These days it feels like I'm a "live producer" as much as i am a "live performer"- I'm looping in 3-4 layers of different tones and beats and vocal harmonies into as many tune as I can tastefully get away with. Lots of button pushing- I practice my button pushing choregraphy with my feet as much as I practice playing guitar. Anyway, I'm having fun with the new tunes and I think you'll dig em.

The new puppy Pooch is keeping me and my girlfriend super busy. Every hour - outside we go to take Pooch out to piss. Every single hour of the day- practice breaks with the pup (except at night when he's sleeping). It's lots of work, but he's the coolest golden doodle ever.

I recorded a cover of "When You Say Nothing At All" the other night. I was messing around with my Uke and practicing the vocal harmonies for that tune and decided it wouldn't be too tough to record it since I was working on the parts. It was all done in 3 takes so don't get your hopes too high- one take for Lead voc and Uke, one for 2nd harmony, and one for 3rd harmony. So check out the myspace page for that tune.

Other than that- I hope to see you Friday at 7PM at Steamer for my first gig of 2007...

So I got up with my little pup this morning and walked to the beach for our morning playing at the beach and the beach was closed. What? Closed? Come on now you can't close a beach- but they did. It turns out that every 7 years, the Town of Hilton Head does a "Beach Re-nourishment" project and sucks tons and tons of sand from the ocean floor 1 mile off of Hilton Head's coastline and dumps it back on to our beach. I live on a barrier island and these islands are supposed to be pushed around be the ocean and change their shape constantly, but we have a lot of people who have invested a lot of money to live on this beach, and they don't feel like having their beach wash away. So they put this pipe out, suck up the sand and then have bulldozers push it all around. In one day, the level of sand in front of my house has gone up 5 feet. It's amazing. Yesterday, the high tide came up to the dunes, now, there is 100 feet of beach at high tide. And this happened literally overnight. Amazing to watch- check out these pics that i took this morning. So, Pooch has to play behind the dunes for the next 4 days until they finish with our 1/2 mile of beach and move all of the construction north of us.

It is an interesting little side note that the last time they did this "re-nourishment" a big North East storm came in the week after it was all finished and washed away 3/4 of the sand that they had just put onto the beach. Dooh- how many millions did that cost? Oh well. Let's hope this sand stays around for a while so that Pooch and the vacationers from Ohio can enjoy the big beach- even at high tide.

I recorded a cover of "When You Say Nothing At All" the other night. I was messing around with my Uke and practicing the vocal harmonies for that tune and decided it wouldn't be too tough to record it since I was working on the parts. It was all done in 3 takes so don't get your hopes too high- one take for Lead voc and Uke, one for 2nd harmony, and one for 3rd harmony. So check out the myspace page for that tune.

Happy new year from the beach. Hope everyone had a good holiday season, and now- back to work. Well- for you guys- not quite for me yet. I don't start back at Steamers till February so I have some time now to relax and practice. In my guitar practice, I'm really digging into trying to change my technique to using a thumb pick. It just seems to make more sense to me, and a lot of my guitar heros (Tommy Emanuel primarily) swear by these things. I'll let you know- but for now, i'm limiting my practice to only using a thumb pick when i play guitar. This technique change probably won't make it thru a gig, but it's working well for me in my practice... Time will tell.

The other news in my life is my new addition to my small family- Pooch. I got him at a small breeder in Tennessee and he's the most wonderful dog ever. He's a golden-doodle (a golden retriever bread with a standard poodle- the poodle part is supposed to make him not shed), and the cuddliest, smartest, funniest dog I've ever had. Back when I was in college at USC, I had a golden retriever "Daisy" that i rescued when she was 1 year old. She was awesome, but since I got Daisy later in her life, I didn't experience the whole puppy thing. Having a pup is really cool, and really exhausting. Living in a condo with a puppy that has to pee every 2 hours is - shall I say "challenging", but it's worth it. He's gonna be a great friend. I got a link to all things Pooch on the links page.

I know I'm not the only one saying this, and it's kind of lame to talk about the weather, but the weather is insane down here in HHI. It feels like spring. I could have been playing outside for the last couple of nights. The low tonight is 67 and the high tomorrow is 78! Is this global warming? I'm no authority on climate, but I have personally noticed a big change in the ocean temp this year. Every year for the last couple of years, a group of triathletes get together and do a "polar bear swim" on Jan 1st. The water temp for the as long as anyone can remember has been right around 50 degrees- this year the water temp is currently 62 degrees. Google it- i'm not exaggerating- scary stuff. Let's hope we can reverse whatever we have done to our planet if indeed we are responsible for this warming... now that i'm a dad of a dog, i gotta make sure this world is gonna be around for pooch's pups (if i weren't getting him neutered which i am- but you get the idea).

I just got back from a gig with that Billy Joel/Elton John band in Cincinnati playing for some mutual fund firm. They have too much money- I'm serious... So here's the set up- they took a Olympic Pool (50 meters), put a tent over the whole thing, then submerged a scaffolding thing that held up plexiglas under the water. The stage and dance floor were clear, so you could see the water thru the dance floor. Dancing on water- Ooooh, fancy... It was confirmed that the spread cost over $600,000 for the whole set up (unfortunately, the band's cut was not a substantial percentage of that figure...) We played well and the people were happy- I suppose as happy as you can be after throwing a $600,000 party. That's a hangover i never will experience...

The best part of that gig was performing with this guy named Matt Cusson. He's a sick jazz pianist/vocalist/dancer/general bad ass, currently on the road with Brian McKnight and just finished touring with Christina Aguliera (do i really need to link to her site?) who played string parts at this gig in Cincinnati. At the level of gigs that I'm used to playing, all you hear are lies when people talk about their credentials, but this guy is the real deal. I really think this guy could break and you may hear him on the radio this year. I hope to work with Matt again sometime. Check out his myspace.

Yesterday was a bittersweet day- my last gig at the Tiki Hut. Every Saturday and Sunday from 1-5 for the last 10 years, I've been playing my guitar/bass/upright bass out on the beach. It's been a good run- that gig helped to buy my little condo, but I decided around July that this was my last summer at the Tiki Hut. I want to focus my energy on my solo gig. 8 gigs a week (2 afternoons at Tiki and 6 nights at Steamer) for the last 10 years has been good for some parts of my life ($), but my ironically guitar playing has suffered. It's hard to strike the right balance between practicing and gigging- too many gigs, and your not practicing enough- too few gigs and it's hard to find the incentive to push yourself in your practice. I hope to use the time I used to spend performing every week to practice more and learn/write lots of tunes. Here's the set-list from my last gig at the Tiki Hut with Jo-Jo Squirrel and the Home Pickles.

A couple of weeks I posted about the plans to tear down the Tiki. It's tough to know what's going to happen, but if you want to learn more about it, check out SaveTheTikiHut.com. There's info and a petition you can sign.

just got a gig playing for Phillip Myers in NYC next week. it's working with this billy joel/elton john band that i worked with a couple of years ago in cancun, boca raton, and new orleans. it's always fun to play with these guys and it gives me a break from my "rainman-esque" routine of playing the same spots at the same time every night of my life. i don't get to play bass as much as i used to, and these pop tunes have such beautiful and melodic bass lines- gonna be a fun gig. it doesn't hurt that i get to travel up to NYC and play rock star for the weekend (sold out shows, little sandwiches backstage, 65 year old women who love elton john and billy joel tribute bands- you know the drill). anyway- i won't be playing at steamer on September 8th and 9th while i'm in NY...

the timing of the NY gig means i'm not going to be able to race in the upcoming Hilton Head Triathlon. it's a bummer that i'm not going to race my favorite tri of the season, but this trip actually comes at a good time- i hurt my back two weeks ago and my training has all but vanished since then. oh well- i'm not a kid anymore- when my body says "stop", i guess i have to listen. i gotta give a shout out to my friend/triathlon rival from Chattanooga, TN who always gives me a run for my money and then comes into Steamer at night to hear me play at steamer after the race. i fully expect you to take first in our age group since i'm not gonna be there ;-)

hurricanes spinning in the atlantic mean one thing for me- my life is going to start to get easier as the weather gets cooler. two days off each week will be a welcome change after playing 8 gigs a week for the last 4 months. looking forward to getting a chance to work on my music some more...

I couldn't believe what I read this weekend on the cover of The Island Packet.

Hilton Head without the Tiki Hut??? It's hard to imagine, but it looks like it's inevitable. Are more time shares really what we need on Hilton Head??? I've played at the Tiki since 1996 - 10 years of my life- every Saturday and Sunday afternoon from March thru October. It's been a good gig while it's lasted, but nothing lasts forever. At this point, all of this is just in the planning stages, but if these plans go thru, a Hilton Head landmark will be gone forever. Here are some old pics from Tiki Hut gigs.

I ran a tri this weekend and did pretty well. I got 10th in my division (39 and under). Check out this link for the results. I'm training lots this month trying to get ready for the September triathlon here on Hilton Head.

Besides the big news about the Tiki Hut being destroyed and replaced with time share property, things are going really well with my music and my gigs this summer. Learning songs at a steady pace and not getting burned out... Looking forward to the fall for writing and recording in my condo.

Stay cool in this heat and keep your fingers crossed that we make it thru another hurricane season here on Hilton Head Island...

I recently had a gig performing for Burt Bacharach at his niece's wedding. It was a once in a lifetime chance to get to meet and hang out with one of the greatest songwriters of all time. He's an extremely cool, soft-spoken man who choses his words carefully. He said to me, "Hey man, you're really good...", or maybe it was, "Hey man, you sound good", or maybe, "Hey man, you don't suck as bad as I expected you to"- whatever it was, it was a compliment. Doesn't sound like much, but coming from a man who has had 52 top 40 hits, it sounds pretty damn flattering...

It's not everyday that you email 5,000 people... I just sent out a mail to everyone that has come in to Steamer over the last 7 years. The web is so amazing- it's such a cool time to be alive.

If you got the email you know that the 2006 world tour t-shirts are here. This year, i have 5 different t-shirt styles to choose from and now you can purchase the shirts on this site via paypal. Check out the buy page and buy in bulk. Get yours today, all the cool kids will be wearing this t-shirt and supplies are limited..

spring is here. tourists are everywhere and it won't be long before schools will be out for summer and i'll be working 8 gigs a week again. no complaints here- this off season was amazing for me and i'm excited about getting back to gigging and training for more races. i just ran this st. patrick's 5k and got a personal best (now i gotta run under a 20:00 5k this year...) and i'm training hard for suntrust triathlon that is coming up on april 22nd. work hard, play hard...

i'm also working on learning new lots of new tunes for this year. i've learned about 30 new tunes so far (check out the covers page) and my goal is 100 new songs for 2006- ambitious, but not impossible.

as most of you know, for the last 6 years, every night i take photos of people that come to hear me play at steamer. I email the photos out each week and at this point, i have sent out over 8,000 photos. what do i do with all of these pics? up until now, they have just sat in a folder on my computer, but last week, i figured out something cool that i could do with the photos. Click on the image at the top of this entry- it contains about 5000 images. this is a super low res version, but there is a huge, high res, framed version that is hanging in steamer now. it's cool- check it out next time you're in steamer and see if you can spot yourself...

i've also updated the calendar page. my younger bro is getting married this year, so i'm heading out next weekend for his bachelor party. I'll also be out of town the saturday and sunday of memorial day weekend for his wedding. i'll be playing at steamer on thursday and friday, so if you're in town for memorial day, stop by on thursday or friday. my buddy gary pratt will be subbing for me on saturday and sunday.

home, sweet, sweet home... what an amazing month of travel. four countries in one month- france, monaco, italy, and costa rica. that's some jet setting stuff for a folk singer who is used to playing guitar at a seafood restaurant 6 nights a week. one extreme to the other... but as nice as this last month has been, i have to admit that i'm pretty damn excited about not having to live out of my backpack for the next couple of weeks.

so, the whole reason i went over to europe in the first place was to run my first marathon in monaco. the course was brutally hilly, but i motored thru it somehow. my goal for my first marathon was to finish in under 4 hours and i finished in 3:52. I'll take it... if you have 30 minutes to kill and you wanna see a very, very boring video that gives you some idea of what the race looked like, click here. my results are here. my advice on marathons is this- don't run your first marathon while on a backpacking trip in a foreign country- a 40 pound backpack is very uncomfortable after running a marathon... store that little nugget of wisdom away somewhere...

the highlight of the trip for me was hanging out with my musician buddy michele rosati (that's a guys name in italian pronounced mi-kel-e) in perugia. one night that stands out in particular a night with michele, his girlfriend, my girlfriend and me hanging out after dinner just sitting around a table, passing one guitar back and forth for about 4 hours. i know it doesn't sound like anything extraordinary, but it was some of the best music that i've been a part of in a very long time. it reminded me why i love guitar and music...

right after i got back from europe, i went to costa rica with my 2 brothers. we got a little house on the beach in santa teresa and surfed for 6 days. every morning, i'd start the day on our porch, sipping strong coffee and writing a new tune on my guitar. I just recorded one of them tonight and stuck it up on the mp3 page. Check out mp3 "#5". i also posted a few new pics on the multimedia page...

as for now, i'm loving USA and happy to be home...

word to your mom,

- todd