Jimmy Atto's Journal

latest mailing list update

2011-11-10T16:20:00.000-08:00

Since I don't send out e-mails to my mailing list more then 3-4 times a year, I thought I'd share this one with the blog viewership. In Denver today. riding out the home stretch of the Fall tour. I've been very busy since middle August and am looking forward to a little consistency with where I sleep, starting late next week and on through the holidays, when being home matters most.

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Hello and Happy Autumn! You might forget about me, since I don't send out that many updates throughout the year. But as the year winds down, so do the remaining HighMay performances. I'm in the home stretch of solo shows for the next 2 weeks (in Wichita, Denver, Boulder, Wyoming), and I have one final, big HighMay full band engagement back in Detroit on December 30th.

INTRO
I just took some time to sift through all of my old e-mail list signup pages, and make sure that I've added a lot of the new sign-ups for this Fall. Hopefully I typed in all of the e-mails correctly. A lot of times, the hand-writing is too messy, what can you do? I just want to "WELCOME!" the new sign-ups, and give everyone a big thank you for supporting HighMay music as I don't actually force people to sign up on my e-mail list. Sometimes I'll just write someone (another artist/musician) a personal, individual e-mail, and not only will they NOT respond to my e-mail, but they will just add me to their e-mail list automatically. I think this is rude, and I only enter the e-mails in my system of people who write their own names down at shows. As always, you can reply to this e-mail with "unsubscribe" in the subject line and I can remove you, especially if you don't remember ever signing up in the first place... maybe my music put you into a trance and you blacked out and signed up in haste... it happens, and no one here is judging you.

ALBUM NEWS
In actual news, I wanted to mention that, upon my return back to Detroit after these shows coming up, I will be swiftly attempting to record the final couple of tracks for the album (yes, the same album I have been talking about since 2009 - yup, that one). I can't wait to finish - not only because of my enthusiasm for creating quality music - but just because of the long time it's taken to fine tune this collection of songs with full band arrangements and the producers of course. This is my first ever album recorded under the guidance of producers (and damn-well qualified ones at that) - and it shows. As soon as this album is done, I plan to launch it for free streaming on bandcamp.com. You all will be the first that I notify. So right around the new year, be on the lookout.

WANT TO HELP DECIDE ON NEW MERCH ITEM(S) ??
I'd like to get a little bit of feedback from anyone who is interested (if you love throwing your two cents in, even when NOT asked, this one is for you!). I would like to develop my merchandise a bit. For years (since 2002-2003 is when I started out - do the math people), I have only had modest merch offerings. No t-shirts, no hats, underwear - nothing cool like that. Although there are still some chaptsticks, and frisbees laying around in someone's garage/storage... If anyone has any input as to a specific item (not so much a design, but just what item would be cool to design/develop) to sell, that would be great. I got an idea from a girl at SUNY-Canton one time... she liked the line in one of my songs 21st Birthday, "I ain't got many leaves left on my tree." So I thought that might be a cool quote to put on a poster/hat/tee, something... So if you have an idea, just shoot it over to me at jjatto@gmail.com and I'll try to compile some ideas. Thanks!

REMAINING SHOWS - 2011
Tuesday, November 8th - Riverside Perk - Wichita, KS (800PM)
Wednesday, November 9th - Wichita State Unviersity - Wichita, KS (1100AM-12:30PM)
(AM) Thursday, November 10th - Metro College of Denver (downtown) - (1100AM-1PM)
(PM) Thursday, November 10th - Lion's Lair - Denver, CO - (900PM)
Friday, November 11th - Laughing Goat - Boulder, CO - (800PM-900PM)
Tuesday, November 15th - Northwest College - Powell, WY

*(Potential) Album Release Concert (HighMay FULL BAND - Plugged in)
Friday, December 30th, 2011 - Pike Room - inside Crofoot (Pontiac, MI)
Advance tickets can be purchase through HighMay directly ($6) or online at http://www.thecrofoot.com/events/1690.html

OUTRO
Well it's been a really great year in terms of shows. There have been some great ones, and of course the occasional bust. As I did secure quite a few shows this year, I must admit that after about 9 years of cracking the touring whip, it has been something that I am realizing may have to come to an end eventually. I love touring and performing and driving, and filling my cooler with ice, and gas station cappucino (don't worry, I don't drink THAT many). Alas, I have rolled over 31 years in age, and as much as I love spending my hard-earned money on gasoline and bags of ice, and water, and way more oil changes, and tire rotations than anyone should ever have to provide, I think that, about a year from now, I will have to tone it down with the touring unless something breaks. The level that I have been touring with, in terms of mostly exposure and budgets has been quite a struggle at times, and the struggle has been pretty consistent itself. I am currently really amping up my energy on putting together as massive of a tour schedule as possible for late Winter and into Spring 2012. Come Summer, however, and the subsequent Fall, I will definitely have to focus more on the Detroit area/midwest performing and try to establish some stability on a personal level. A lot of times with performers, you only think of them as having the entertainment facet of their lives, but everyone has a personal life, and people like me are fortunate enough to have amazing families, and great friends, which I often times miss out on. It's not about the missing out, it's about missing out on a great occurrence in lieu of a show that might not have been worth it in the long run. Obviously it's not a money thing. I have never played music with the intention of making a bunch of money, and if the past 9 years has been any indication, I definitely would have toned it down a long time ago, because I have never made money touring, only spent it - which I have been happy to do. Now, looking back at almost 10 years since I graduated college and started this journey, I am wondering if I am behind a bit in the game of life. I don't regret any of it, and the reason I can come to this realization now is that I have given it such a run the past 8-9 years, that I feel I have really fought the good fight to the best of my abilities, with essentially minimal-to-no help of any kind. I have been booking, writing, performing, producing, managing, promoting this musical project on my own since inception, and just can't justify continuing on with these results. I need to sustain a personal life at home, in Michigan, and shift my priorities a bit in the future (the next 6-8 months).

Again, I will be putting forth all I can muster in terms of booking a steady and massive Winter/Spring schedule. So I hope to meet more people like you all along the way, and provide you all (and everyone else in the world) with a great album. So it sounds like a conclusion of sorts, and we'll have to just see how life plays out. But the point here is, thanks for signing up on the e-mail list, because just a little scribble with a pen has been enough for me to always say "I guess I should keep touring, because someone out there is interested." Believe me, I know how to take a hint, and if my first ever tour (in Fall of 2002) was a disaster, I might not have tried another, ever. But someone in Oklahoma, or Winona (MN), or Massachusetts, or Virginia was digging it at some point and always kept me motivated to continue and keep trying. I am still highly motivated musically, with the orchestration of the new HighMay full band this year, and some rockin' shows. I just will have to focus on rocking out the band closer to home...

-James (HighMay)
Off The Records

Slackin' So-Low.... yet not...

2011-09-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

A big "word up to your muthas" to you and yours. I am in Albany, NY. Sittin' at a little coffeeshop here in town, listening to the locals put their talents on display at an open mic. The owner, Anton, was nice enough to let me open up the long open mic list tonight with an extended set as a featured performer, and it went pretty well. Met a few cool peeps, and got some good feedback.

I also sat down on a stool tonight. Haven't done that in a long while. I usually like to stand up and rock the best I can... as it turns out, I think it's still possible to rock sitting on a stool or chair. So my final conclusion is that it went pretty well.

This is my solo stint out east, labeled the "heading to Whitney's wedding in Maine" tour. Not many people know that, but I am able to plan my shows around my personal life sometimes, and what better way to make a LONG trek to Maine, than with shows on the way there (though not on the way back... boo hoo). By the way, the proper response to someone who says "poop" in defeat, is "pee." Nice to reciprocate, but also show that you are listening when a friend expresses a bit of angst.

So I wanted to mention that I met an awesome band the other night in Rochester, NY. They are called Tallahassee. #1, extremely polite and gracious upon first meeting/introduction. #2 Great musicians, great show. #3, their great manager, Dave, actually put me on the bill to open up, and then even had the nerve to pay me part of the door, as an extreme outsider. I bought their CD and it literally has been spinning uncontrollably in the Yela-ment since that night. It's really Rootsy Rock and with great production.

A side note about the band is that their manager, and possibly some of the band members are in a side project called "The Rabbit's Red Thread." and they are working on an album currently. Furthermore, they played a song during the Tallahassee set, which was so amazing and catchy, but I don't recall the name of it. The chorus has been stuck in my head since the show on Sunday night. Today is Thursday. It has even inspired me to write a little guitar lick which I hope becomes a song, even though there's no way to do their song justice even in an "influential" kind of way...

SO please go and check out Tallahassee . I will hope to set up some shows on the road with them if at all possible in 2012. Great band to be around, both personally and musically.

Well after two college shows since that show, and an opportunity to hang out again with a Couch-Surfing friend in Pittsburgh, I am here now in Albany (make sure you pronounce it right, Midwesterners = "ALL-Bany."

Tomorrow I'll hit up another little cafe in Vermont. I love New England in the Fall!

Then my friend's wedding. I hope my gift/check clears... I would have given cash if I owned any... don't get me started. I actually stiffed a couple of friends on a wedding check one time years ago. It's okay, I got them other more sentimental gifts as well, and they still talk to me... so whatever... get over it.

Another side note... I got a van. A real van... a conversion. When I was young, my dad would drive my brothers, and I and usually a couple of teammates out on long hockey trips (at least we thought they were long) in the comfort of his Chevy Conversion Van. This one is obviously for Music/Tour purposes, and through a personal loan from a friend, I was able to secure one at a pretty reasonable price. My only hope is that (aside from the thing functioning properly) we get a lot of miles on it, and that I book enough shows to warrant its existence. I know it will be comfortable and powerful enough. (Hell, I might even look forward to occasionally sleeping in it).

I am excited, though the transaction went down earlier this week when I was in PA. I was waiting final word that it was picked up and headed back to the confines of suburban Detroit... and I looked at my phone later in the night and just saw a text that read: "The Eagle has landed." So it was pretty funny. I dubbed the pickup "a mission," and it was accomplished.

So be on the look-out for a 1999 Ford conversion van coming through your neighborhood one day, with a suspect-looking rusted out (though patched up with sheet metal) trailer attached to the back, and a bearded, Jesus-looking fellow in the cockpit. Then, and only then, you will know that HighMay has arrived.

Bless you all, my children... and God Bless the Lions. I am firmly and regularly applying the Detroit Lions Honolulu colored, and coconut scented butter... just lathering it up.

Midwest Wrap-Up

2011-09-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Whew. What a long drive back to MI. This took place about 3 days ago. But let me tell you how I got to that place...

I last checked in with you Wednesday morning, I had a double header in North Dakota, my 3rd and 4th ND shows for this stretch. Minot State Univ. has been nice enough to have me I think possibly 4 times now. Great little afternoon set in the Beaver Dam. This time, a wonderful young lady (who is in charge of entertainment) presented me with a little Minot State bag of goodies, including a cool t-shirt, a pizza cutter, and some great snacks. If you know me, you know I love sugary treats on the road. More geared toward the sugar and sour type, than chocolate, but I'll throw it all down in the end.

Fargo has become a place that I believe I can really make a dent into, in terms of future exposure, and especially with the band. After the afternoon show at Minot State, I cruised down to Fargo, and was lucky enough to get a couch-surfing host(ess) for the night. She didn't make it to my sparsely attended performance at a cafe right on NDSU campus, but it was still a cool spot. It was just a Wednesday night and I think a lot of the students were just getting to school and moving in, etc. Either way, hopefully I'll be able to rock it more next time through.

So After this show, I met up with Jen, my hostess for the evening, and she said that there's this cool band in town, called BoomBox. So she's a major bicycle enthusiast, and she says, "want to just ride downtown?" I said sure, even though I don't own a bike, but that's why they say, "it's just like riding a bike." It was a really nice, cool night, and we we just cruising the streets of Fargo, until we got downtown. Then we found the bar, and went to the upstairs club, and it was SOLD OUT. FUCK (right?) But wait, Jen is a woman of the town, and she knows people, and not only did she get us in to a SOLD OUT show, but for free, to boot.

It was not my typical type of show, but they were bumping all kinds of energy throughout this place, and everyone was dancing the entire time. Sometimes I love that feeling of a small club, really hot, sweating, people all around you, good vibes, good energy. It was a lot of fun, though they played for a while, and I was coming off of a double header and tons of driving, so by the time we hit the sheets it was pretty late, but I knew that I would sleep well that night regardless of what time my head hit the pillow.

The next morning, I Jen took me to a nice breakfast cafe and I was happy to buy her a quiche, and a coffee, and we bid one another adieu. Jen is a totally warm, and wonderful girl, and had been going through some stuff recently, so I'm glad to have taken part in what seemed to be a therapeutic evening for her. Hope to see her again in my travels.

Then on to Duluth, MN for what was supposed to be a gig as part of a local art opening. Well the "art opening" didn't show up, much like in the movie "My Cousin Vinny" the store had the flu. So I played to another sparse crowd. The silver lining in this day was that (1) I got to meet a kid, Tony, from UMD and he brought a contract for this show that we have been talking about for months, and we got it all signed and squared away. Hooray! Finally! and (2) with the way the evening went, I got a chance to speak with the owner of Beaner's Central, Jason. I had been trying to set something up there for a couple of years, and we thought we came up with a good way to get me in the door there, but with the art opening FAIL, it didn't work out too well. Jason has so much insight into the industry, especially what I have been trying to do with my music for the past 9 years... NINE YEARS... and he gave me some good insight, ideas, stories about what he has been through, so he could totally relate.

After couch surfing with Andy (a 2nd non-consecutive time this tour), it was on to Winona for the grand finale. The Acoustic Cafe is a cool spot, though not so "grande." I really think that this cafe is the lone venue that I have played way more than any other stage since I started touring around '02-'03. I don't know how I found it all those years ago, but they are always cool young people working there, they are nice, polite, positive. Good little stage, and a pretty decent crowd, depending on who walks in.

This day, it started with very few people. With a long set (around 2 hours of music), it's not uncommon to see people stick around, come and go, and rotate in a later crowd as the night goes on. What was cool about this night is that it started kind of slow, but as the night wore on, more people worked there way in to the music side of the cafe, from the quieter side, and they stayed until the end. That's always a good feeling, and they were attentive and listening, so it was a nice little show to cap things off with.

Back to the top of this post, with the long drive, etc... remember all of that?

I really wanted to make it back to jam with the band by 1pm Saturday, just because we have some shows coming up this month and I didn't want to set us back any further. So I had about a 3 hour window of "how long it takes to drive home" vs. "how long it will be until band practice." About 3-4 hours. So I began my drive, hoping that just continuously eating over time would allow me to stay alert and awake. Not eating much... just snacking, sunflower seeds, candy, maybe a sandwich... At one point in WI, I became quite tired and got a big coffee. But I am immune to caffeine. I have always been, I just got it because it was hot, and it was something to occupy my hand, mouth and brain. So it started off okay for the first couple of hours... then I became quite tired, fought through it. My goal when making a drive like this (in this direction) is to always just GET THROUGH CHICAGO. As I got toward the exit of Wisconsin, I knew Chicago was about 60-80 minutes away. It was a struggle, but I finally made it through chicago and then my next goal was just make it to the MI state line. then I know I have 3 hours left.

So no sooner did I cross the "PURE MICHIGAN" sign, than did I hit my wall, and found a nice little plaza to crash out for about an hour. I got up around 7am I think, and made it home by about 10-1030am. Good news, enough time to sleep some more before jamming with band. So I set my alarm, and just spent the rest of the day trying to get my whits about me... you know... showering, etc. Whew. It was a rough one.

Some goals coming up here as the year begins to wind down:

-Finish the RECORD!
-Buy a conversion van for the band touring
-Book tour dates for 2012

All right, as I can be sometimes, this entry is long wind.

Day 8 - On the Road... to recovery

2011-08-31T06:07:00.000-07:00

Today is August 31st. The final day of August yes, there can not be more than 31 days in a month, thanks Einstein. Well the recovery of my stomach from the MN State Fair escapades was seamless. In fact, we ate with such self-control and moderation/pace, that we actually ended up ordering pizza that night for dinner, cos it wasn't all that bad in the stomach ache department. After that little experience and a fun MN State Fair, I had a pseudo-off-day on Monday. My show for the night was in Minneapolis, where I was staying. And it wasn't until late in the evening. So I had a lot of the day to kill.

I got a slow/lazy start, as I was pretty much addicted to watching the first round of the US Open tennis. I decided to get off my ass and run around the nearby lake that we ran around on Sunday. It's about 3 miles around, so I'm told. So I trucked around it pretty comfortably, using runners ahead of me on the path to push myself a little harder. I got one time around, and took a little breather for about a minute - and was feeling ambitious. So I decided to go around again. I guess that was 6 miles, and running two days in a row on the road is something I can't say I've done too many times ever. So I am pretty happy about that.

Now onto today with a double-header. I have an early afternoon college show at Minot State, then an evening show back down in Fargo, as I close in on the final few shows of this solo trip. I am very anxious to get home, and jam with the band again and get ready in the next 2 weeks to really fine tune our set and get it ready for our first show in mid-September at Univ. of Indy.

I had heard a brief blurb a few months ago about flooding here in Minot.

Read an Article here

I feel like it didn't get as much press as it warranted. It's also possible that I don't watch the news very much. But it's sad, because natural disasters of this type happen every year, year after year. The Souris River rose beyond control, and I really had no idea how bad it was. As I was trying to find a hotel (weeks ago) in Minot for this very visit, I had zero luck. In years past (I believe this is my 3rd or 4th time playing here), I would just call up a hotel right down the street from the university, and book a reasonably priced room - no problem - voila. This time it was virtually impossible. it seems that so many people have been relocated, that there are no vacancies in any hotel anywhere near Minot. This was the first indication, to me, that this was far worse than most of the country was exposed to via the media.

When I was trying to set up/confirm this show, I had trouble getting in touch with my contact at Minot State. She finally got back with me via e-mail (I can be quite persistent in the booking sometimes), stating that things had been very crazy this Summer with the recovery efforts. It's been about 3 months since the flooding, and I can't believe that they are in such a state of disrepair that they had to do everything in their power to actually make sure they can start school on time this Fall (which I suppose they did, since I'm here). Not that my little afternoon acoustic set is anything that will aid them in terms of morale, but it will be nice to see everyone moving along - business as usual - even if it's just on the surface, and they are trucking along, like most communities would, just fighting through it, and taking it day by day. Nice to be in a resilient community, is what I'm trying to say.

My evening doubleheader is a return to Fargo, which may become my new HighMay tour hotspot. As I may have mentioned in my last entry, there is a woman in Fargo who is very willing to help me out to more appropriately break into the Fargo scene, and you may be thinking "So what, it's just Fargo!" But breaking into a city - any city - is good, as long as they are receptive to my music, and so far, they have been (see "Red Raven" performance recap).

After this double header, I venture back to Duluth (see "Day 1" of this tour) for an actual performance this time... then back to one of my oldest stomping grounds: The Acoustic Cafe in Winona, MN - before heading home, trying to make it back early enough Saturday to make band rehearsal.

Home stretch everyone - don't lose your composure!!

On the Road - On a Stick - Day 6

2011-08-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well Well Well. After a couple of days of eating like a champ (and I don't mean healthy), I awoke this morning ready to write an update on the escapades... Let's backtrack. I'll start with yesterday. I am currently staying in the VIP luxury suite at Casa D' Craig (My friends of several years; AND the friends who have hosted me at the most different cities in the US - 3 - chicago, philly, and now Minneapolis). I woke up, and found them sitting on the nice, soothing back patio, with their cappuccinos and reading the paper. I joined them and sat out there reading a great article in a NY Times insert about tennis rivalries. This article also featured photos of Andy Samberg dressed up (and quite convincingly) as specific tennis players from the open era and those respective player's biggest rivals. (Sorry if I'm boring you with this, but) McEnroe - Borg - Agassi - Sampras - Connors. We then got dressed up for a quick 3 mile run around a nearby lake. it was really nice and even their little dogs made the run. There were a ton of people running/biking/rollerblading around this lake and it was a perfect day for it. Then we came back and got showered up for a nice day at the main attraction - MN State Fair. I'm excited because last year Mike D and I were in MN during the fair as well. We ate so much fried food and on sticks and it was a fun experience. SO I felt so lucky to be back in town during the fair again this year.

Aside from people watching and just walking around, looking at different products/machinery/cars/tools/booths, the food was our main goal so here is a recap:
-Deep fried pickles - I never thought this sounded good, but they actually tasted great, and just like pickles
-Fish Taco
-Asian Fusion Carnita taco
-jamaican jerk seasoned french fries
-Chicago coney dog
-Pronto Pup corn dog w/ mustard
-Spring Grove Lemon Sour soda
-Deep Fried Milky Way on a stick (AMAZING)
-Cheese curds (could only eat 2 pieces at this point, but they were good; saltier than I imagined)
-Root Beer float on the way out the door (after letting things settle for a while)

I think we had the right approach. Since I was a 3rd wheel, that means there was 3 of us. We decided to just pool our stomach resources and just split/share everything. This would allow us to try more and not get full/sick too quickly. It worked out well. After our initial surge of eating 5-6 items right off the bat, we were satisfied and pacing ourselves well, this allowed us to walk around for a good portion of the fair. We capped it off with a couple of late treats like the cheese curds and the root beer float. Just an amazing time. The cash adds up for sure. And special thanks to my friend Brian for paying for most of it (aside from all of the other perks he has afforded me in the last two days). What a great time, if you have never been to a large state fair, I strongly advise you to do so.

All right, on to YESTERDAY. My friend Em was nice enough to take time out of her busy weekend to hang out with me on Saturday. I scheduled things in advance and when I realized that not only were the Tigers playing the Twins this weekend in MN, but Justin Verlander was pitching Saturday and going for his 20th win!

We also decided to pig out at some point. It started (for me) with a quaint, hot pretzel, one of my major weaknesses. Then I had one of my favorite ball park concoctions: I called it a "Dillemon." (we actually came up with that name together). It's a big beer (must be in a plastic cup) from any ballpark, usually costing around $8. Then purchase a frozen lemon chill/lemon ice cup. Let the lemon ice thaw out a bit (or if it's a really hot summer day, just drop it right into the beer after drinking it down and making room for it. Patiently let the beer engulf and embrace the lemon ice as it melts into a consistent texture, and then enjoy your citrus, refreshing beverage. Anyway around halfway through the game we were ready for the main course. I got a chili dog, and Em impressed me by getting a polish sausage with BOTH sauerkraut and onions! Then we split a grande nachos which was actually really good and the toppings were ample and perfect. >br>

Then we walked around Minneapolis after the Tigers victory and chose to wind it down with the sun... laying in the grass at Loring Park as the sun went down.

So Saturday was another fun day on the road. I would have loved to play a show every single day, but if I can't, then I had the best two alternatives for Saturday and Sunday.

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Let's not forget about Friday folks. My last post was Friday, but BEFORE my show that night. I wanted to recap that night. I rolled into the Red Raven and started setting up. There was a local, named Adam, who plays as "The Prarie," which is an interesting blend of music using backing tracks and some cool backing arrangements (I think I heard some recorder in there). He opened up the show and brought in a good amount of peeps. When this usually happens I feel it can go either of two ways, (1) when he finishes playing everyone will promptly leave or (2) everyone will stick around. Fortunately it was the latter. This was one of the best audiences that I had ever played for. I did a nice, solid 45 minute set, and they were so attentive, quiet, and receptive throughout. After I finished, I was packing things up and talking to Adam, and then a woman showed up very late (whom I had met the night before at the wine bar). She missed the whole set but wanted to come, and brought a couple people with her. So I proposed to play her a couple of songs unplugged. So I pulled up a stool, and there was also a table of kids hanging out that also wanted to hear more. I played two repeats to open up the "unplugged set." "Stay 4 Hours" + "North Milwaukee" by request. Then I rattled off about 4 more, and I think everyone was quite satisfied... even me.

This woman, Jane, is all about helping me break into the Fargo market, which I am excited about, and I actually need to call her up today and talk about some things... I love when complete strangers are able to receive what I am giving, and actually believe in it, also while offering to help down the road; a pretty nice payoff.

I think my backtracking is now current.

Today is now Monday, and it feels like a day off, but that's just because I don't play until 11PM tonight. I will probably be falling asleep by the time I start to play, but I'm sure I won't play a sleepy set. After that is the homestretch: driving to and from Minot, ND, and then Fargo, Duluth, and Winona before heading back home for just a few days...

Kudos if you read all of this...

Blog 2 - Day 4: Fargo, ND

2011-08-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

No people in woodchippers (yet). Just another sunny day in Fargo. I have set up camp in a local Caribou Coffee today to try to catch up on some e-mails and tie up a few loose ends on some shows which are in limbo.

I had my first ever gig in Fargo last night, at a wine place called Uncorked. It's actually a pretty cool concept. You can actually make your own wine at this place, and drink it, or make your own labels for your wine, add the yeast yourself and cork it... and get this... for the middle of the road deal, you can get 30, YES THIRTY bottles of wine that you can make yourself (and don't worry, they have pros that will do most of the dirty work), and you can make your own labels, and name your wine whatever you want... for $225. That is $7.50 per bottle of wine and you get 30, it's called a "batch." Also they serve food, apps, and sandwiches and stuff, and you can just go there for dinner, etc. All 50 wines that they have there, they make in house. So it's a pretty cool concept.

So I played a nice little laid back two sets over there and it was pretty cool. Not a ton of people there, but the one thing that counts, is that the people who were there gave me some good feedback and hopefully I'll be back in Fargo again soon. Oh wait. I'm playing in Fargo again tonight! Yup, another new spot, and Oh Wait! I'm playing in Fargo again next week. I'm really trying to firm up my Fargo market and corner the music scene here. hopefully I make some headway with these 3 shows here on this stretch of the solo tour.

2 nights ago I visited Winnipeg, Manitoba. Home of the Winnipeg Jets. I ended up hooking up with a couchsurfing host(ess) named Lindsay, and she was awesome... she has been to over 35 countries, and shows no signs of stopping that trend anytime soon. On my way there, I was held up at the border (as expected) and they just asked me some questions about my gig and if I was getting paid, etc. I didn't have to fill out any type of permit, so after about 45 minutes I was free to go. It was cutting pretty close to my time to get to the venue and perform, so I quickly met Lindsay, and then rushed out the door. My phone did not work at all in Canada which was a bummer, but fortunately Lindsay stayed around for me when I was running behind. So she looked up the bookstore (Sam's Place - awesome indie/non-profit bookstore/cafe), and navigated my route to perfection. We walked in (she even was my roadie + groupie) and she lugged around my guitar for me. I did a quick soundcheck, scribbled out a quick setlist and jammed it out for the 18-20 people that were there. Nice intimate place, nice stage, good sound. I'd like to thank Heather again for having me.

The local girl I was opening up for was pretty good too. She had a guy kind of sharing the stage with her, who did some harmonies, and they fed off each other, with one or the other singing the leads, and their own songs at different times. So she busted out with this cover song and it sounded so familiar. It was "push" by matchbox twenty. When I was in high school I really was obsessed with this band, and they really got me in the mode of wanting to write songs, well before I ever got the chance. I remember the first time I heard "longday" on the radio, when I was coaching hockey schools in Ohio, Illinois. I was driving to/from Sylvania (I think) one of those days and cruising the highway with the windows all the way down and radio blaring (as I used to do) and I heard this song... it was so amazing, and rocked, and I just somehow gravitated toward it, and was asking myself "who is this?" That was actually their first single, before "Push" came out. I bet not many people know that. But then when "Push" did hoist them into stardom, I knew which band I heard a few months before on I-75.

So when Rachel was singing this song, it really just reminded me of high school, a timeframe that I seldom think about anymore. Me with the really short-buzzed hair, playing hockey, tennis... chasing the girls around... I loved Matchbox Twenty, and while I don't think they're officially retired or broken up, I wish they kept things going a little more constantly like bands like Counting Crows, Pearl Jam, and other bands of that 90s era. The Rob Thomas solo stuff is pretty good, but I'd really love it if Matchbox Twenty was still rocking, and touring every year. I used to be in their fanclub and had seniority on awesome tickets to shows, and now they don't even tour. It's a shame. Come on guys, get the band back together!

I'll leave you with a fun little photo I took just before having the 2nd best gelato in the US that I have ever had. The theme of the photo is: "TORN"

and we're baaaack

2011-08-24T06:48:00.000-07:00

I think I've used that title for a post in the past, but hopefully no one will notice.

I don't know which day to consider Day 1 here for Fall tour. Yesterday I drove 13 hours from home to Duluth, MN where a gracious CouchSurfing host, Andrew, has let me stay, and provided me with some good conversation and company last night. This guy has a small "music room" with guitars, ukelele, bass guitars, and a electronic drum set, keyboard... AND he's not even a musician, he just likes to dabble, and states that he "can't pass up a good deal on Craigs List." Kudos to him. I wish I could spend more time here in Duluth, but I am excited to get to Winnipeg, to meet my next CouchSurfing host, and also play my first ever show in Canada.

This girl has been to like 35 different countries, and I am so jealous. I look forward to talking to her about how to make that happen. I do a lot of traveling here in the US, but she has been to more countries than I have been states I believe. Or it is pretty close.

Yesterday I knew I had a long drive. I wanted to do something different to get back into the swing of traveling, since I haven't toured since April or May. So, seeing as my oasis for the night is Duluth, MN (way north MN), I decided to drive through Michigan's Upper Peninsula to get there. This way I can see way more scenery, great natural marvels, including the coasts of the Great Lakes + I can avoid bull shit Chicago traffic, and have a more relaxing drive overall. It was really nice. I tried to take some photos while driving (really safe right?).

So I am now just looking forward to a nice hot shower, and a short 7 HOUR drive to Winnipeg. I hope I don't get held up at customs!

As the coke-head at Grapevine Furniture used to say: "Beautiful Day, Great to be Alive!"

-JA

100th Career Blog! What a Milestone!

2011-05-31T09:27:00.000-07:00

thank you, thank you... no, thank you. no I insist. please everyone be seated, settle down, you're too kind. yes, today, my 100th blog. If everyone could just block it out of your mind that I've had this blog for like 7-8 years, then it would seem that my entries are quite few and far between. but to those naysayers, I say, "you shut your mouth when you're talking to me."

OKAY then... So I didn't decide to write this blog today just to reach the milestone. No, no, I am that selfish, but no... I have been working sporadically, however diligently, on a full-length debut album for HighMay. For anyone who has not checked in with me since circa 2009, HighMay is my musical entity/project. After a little hiatus from touring recording in the mid-2000s, I came back with a lot of new material, and have still been touring and performing these songs since '08-'09 and through just this past Spring. But many of these songs have not been recorded, other than basic demos.

So Today, and probably for a few weeks, I would like to make available to the 3-4 people who read this blog - a special sneak preview of 3 new tracks which are completed (but are NOT mixed). In music terms, these are called "ruffs." which means that there is no real mix applied to all of the various sounds which have been recorded. these sounds can me exponential depending on a given arrangement from song to song. My songs (if you have heard the "Belong EP" by HighMay last Fall) have been a lot more elaborate in production compared to years past ("Time is Right" & "Low Carb LP"). Given this approach to production - and working with some amazing producers (both musically and personally amazing) - The idea of a rough mix might not sound all that good to the average listener, or it could sound amazing to an average listener. You might think, the vocals are too high, or that guitar drowns everything out, but that's just how recording goes. Then when I pony up the big bucks, and pay my producers what I owe them, they lock themselves in the control room for 20 hours a day and keep listening to the same couple of songs over and over and over and over and over again all day, until their heads explode.

... and that is how an album is made... in layman's terms.

So here is a link I just created on my website where you can hear these unfinished, and unpolished, raw new recordings of songs that you may have heard before, live, or solo, but never in this capacity. Needless to say I am terribly pumped about the music that has been created thus far for the album. We have 8 total songs completed in terms of recording, and some just need to be mixed, and mastered, and we have to record about 3-4 more before it's all said and done:

http://www.jimmyatto.com/previewtest.html

You can not access this page from anywhere on the jimmyatto website, only by pasting or manually typing in this link.

So I hope you enjoy this, and there is much more to come I can assure you.

----

In other news, I have been working hard on putting together a steady live band. Yes a band of musicians that play HighMay music; and we will be going steady with one another, in a sort of musical romance collaborative. This stage of the process is a long time coming, and some have seen a couple of thrown together band shows over the past few years, that - in my opinion - were kind of rough, but still got the point across. This setup, however will be quite the opposite: tons of rehearsals, tons of song development, and the right attitudes above all else: playing music to play music and nothing else matters. Sounds cliche, right? Cliches are cliches for a reason.

So come the Fall, we already have some full band HighMay shows scheduled across the country, at a couple of colleges, and wherever else the dots connect in between. So keep an eye out for the live Fall schedule (some of the dates are already posted up on HighMay's Reverbnation page: http://www.reverbnation.com/highmay )

Also, as an extreme side note: I have a Twitter account. Mostly due to immense pressures from my sister. Regardless, I have two followers, and hell, I am a goal-setting man, and my ambitious goals for my Twitter account will not be conservative. I want to have at least 7-8 followers on Twitter by 2012. Let's do it America (and Europe too, I guess)!

In closing, I'd like to quote another great James that I know:

"love, peace, and jimmy atto hair grease..."

-J.A.

P.S. Do you like the new Off The Records logos?

woe woe woe!

2011-04-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

Hey there, casual blog reader. I started a Twitter account today. I don't expect to have any followers except for my sister. She's been at me to start a Twitter account for like a year.

So I can't believe I haven't put up a blog since February WTF, me?! What are you doing, ME?! Jerk! So I guess maybe I was so depressed or distracted by my automobile issues which took place not too far after my previous post, that I didn't have the wherewithal, or motivation to keep up to date on this thing. I have always liked blogging, but I am not the consummate regular blogger. I have irregular blogs. I think that I pretty much need "blog Activia" to regulate my blog frequency.

Since my speed dating experience at Binghamton, I had a slew of other fun shows. Lots of driving, lots of "me" time. Let's skip ahead to today, why don't we? I am going to be leaving home just for a couple of days tomorrow morning, to drive to Wisconsin. I have a show at Ripon College as part of their end of the year Springfest. It should be cool. I played an end-of-year show at Hamline in St. Paul a couple of years ago and it's always better when there are people everywhere and the spectacle of music is always an attraction at these shows, so I'm looking forward to it.

More importantly, is what comes after I get home from this show. I'll be back Sunday, and no, watching my friend's dog is not the most exciting, though he is a good dog. Monday and Tuesday I get to go back into the studio and cut 3 more songs for this everlong record I've been working on since '09-'10. I've been talking a lot of jive about the record for a couple of years, and yes, HighMay did have an EP last Fall, just to hold the tide for a little while, but this thing is something I want to be done, just so that when I tour, I can have recordings of ALL of the songs I am playing at these shows. Can you imagine when you play a long set, and 75% of the songs you played are not recorded? and then people want to hear that song and maybe buy a CD - yes people still buy them - and I have nothing to offer?? DUDE!

So I am pumped. I am actually going to be utilizing some real string players for these couple of songs. Another great addition to the HighMay band project. Right now it's just a part of the studio crew, but I am not opposed to working them in to the live shows (local I suppose, these kids are still in college). It all started when my friend, Mike, bought a cello on a whim from someone he knew, and it was cheap, so he can't pass up a deal. Then we had a couple of my pre-existing songs that we thought might sound cool with cello and acoustic. Skip ahead - from back in the future - and he did a couple of little duo tours in 2010, maybe 3-4 mini trips, and I think they went over really well. Oh by the way, he's not a cellist, and it still worked. He's classical guitar all the way.

So strings going on. We have a "possible" female vocal added on to "stay 4 hours." Lots of fun stuff going on... I can't wait, and given the infrequent views of my blog, I might just straight up post video or rough mix audio of our progress...

I need to edit up my little car expedition when I was alone on the road a couple of weeks ago, doing some of the most ridiculous driving of my life. 3,100+ miles in 6 days. what's that, all you math majors out there? what's the average? over 500 miles a day... and throw in some gridlock traffic and a blown tire at 2am in the middle of nowhere (on the interstate) and voila: point being I need to edit the little video clips together to make it all on one file... that should be fun for some people to watch, but not for me to relive per se.

All right. I just started Twitter so if anyone reads this, check me out, my first post may have been funny.

sunday funday - speed dating

2011-02-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

and here we are again, on our own. I'm sitting at a Panera somewhere in NJ. Panera is one of my top road hangouts, mainly due to their hot green tea and free wireless internet. I'm about to meet up with my cousin who lives in NJ, and offer her an old laptop that I never use anymore. Haven't seen here in years.

I am in a relaxation mode today. I just completed 6 shows in 7 days. many of those shows being of the 90-120 minutes variety. I've thrown in some added covers to compensate for those extra minutes, but the voice has been holding up pretty well, I have been surprised at my own vocal ability at times. Last night at Binghamton was pretty fun (always is). Right after I finished playing they put on a speed dating event in the same area. it happened that there were almost 2:1 girl to guy ratio, so that asked me to step in. For the sake of the success of their event, I stepped up!

I had never done anything like speed dating before. These college kids probably don't meet their soulmate in under 2 minutes, but I was just thinking, that is a good gauge to find out if someone is a dud or not. If you get any moments of silence for more than 1-2 seconds in a 2 minute speed date, then someone is either a stutterer, or pretty bland in the personality department. I lost my voice I was talking so much. Given that I was not a student, much older than all of these girls, and from a land far, far away, I conceded these facts right away with all of them (most of them saw me singing earlier anyway) and my ultimate goal was for them to feel comfortable talking about themselves, their interests and ambitions.

confidence for some doesn't come so easily, even into adulthood. I remember the moment I gained my confidence. I was pretty shy, and at the age of 15 went on a vacation with my mom and brothers/sis. we went to myrtle beach, sc. had a hotel right on the beach and had a really great time. while we were there I met this girl who was 18 at the time and going off to college in ohio. Before I had met her, i hadn't even really had any thorough conversations/flirtations with a girl. after just a few days, a lot of "firsts" occurred and almost at the flip of a switch, I became more confident in my skin and outside of it.

When I got back into Michigan from this vacation, I immediately started flirting more with girls and in high school must have shows a lot of confidence, because for a little while there I was beating them off with a stick. asking girls out, even though I knew they would never say yes. I asked the most popular girls at my school to prom, knowing that they were going to go with the blonde haired football player type, but I figured what the hell, it was good practice, and you never know. In fact, I cannot even imagine the number of times I have been turned down in my life. There have been a lot of times I have chickened out as well, but I swear there must be about 50 times when I asked a girl out just to go on a date or something really casual and "talk to the hand." But I don't think I let those get me down too much, cos if so, the number would never had reached that height.

in college is when I really learned how to communicate. it was part of my studies. that was one factor, but some other partial factors included observing those in close proximity to me for the majority of college and seeing how poor they were at communicating and at life in general. partying and socializing is quite different than what I am referring to right now. So at this speed dating thing I tried to keep these young, impressionable girls interactive, and in tune. It was actually pretty tough, cos we could be in the middle of a sentence and the buzzer goes off, and see ya later. It was fun though, and really I was just biding my time til the veggie pizza came... but don't tell anyone.

-----

In a separate rant, I'd like to touch on couchsurfing.org. I recently was in Maine, where I kicked off the trip with 2 shows. I ended up hooking up with one of the leaders of the portland CS group, Shannon (a guy). I mentioned him in my previous post briefly, as I had just arrived at that point. Throughout my stay, he showed me around portland on foot, since he doesn't have a car, and that is his preferred mode of travel anyway. it was a really cool town. portland has a lot of qualities of a downtown city but without all the crime, congestion, and other various annoyances. definitely a spot I'd love to visit when there is not a flowing river of melting snow gushing over my feet at every turn (lots of steep hills there oddly enough for a port town).

I had a gig following an open mic there. Shannon had not performed, other than busking, for a while and he had at least a good dozen songs done, so after some light coaxing from me, he decided to play the open mic. he did a good job. playing two originals and a radiohead cover I had never heard before.

the bar was pretty cool and it was pretty light in the crowd due to the superbowl. congrats to the pack by the way.

the night of my departure, there was a portland group CS event at a local bar. I figured I'd hit the road from there to waterville cos my performance the next day was at 11am! so we met up with about 10-15 CSers from the area, ate a little, drank a little and played some darts. this place, Rosie's had some legit dart boards and darts. no electronic, plasticky shit here. i teamed up with a girl named lindsey who happens to live up near brunswick, very close to where my good friend Whitney lives. So she was very familiar with gelato fiasco. I know I always mention it when in Maine, but you know how the saying goes, "when in Maine, must get gelato."

so we busted out of the cool CS event and drove up to the Fiasco and I got 4 flavors in my little cup, overflowing and licking the sides like an ice cream cone. we talked for a small while, but she was tired, and she had a lot of papers to grade or something (being a teacher). She has hitchhiked all across south america and also i believe in Africa somewhere, can't remember the state/city. I am so envious of those who travel with the backpack and stay with strangers, but I guess I do it too. the other countries kinda freak me out though sometimes. She told me that she stayed with CS people in all of those countries and they are all very gracious and like to feed travelers.

So i will leave you with some photo mementos of the trip so far (from my phone)...

Some great wisdom from the people of Canada

this is my host from CouchSurfing playing at the open mic

some horrible driving conditions heading from Maine to way upstate NY. It is worse than it looks kids

this is the type of conditions I have been dealing with since the first day

I guess I'm celebrating being able to see the actual pavement and the sun. nice cruise, albeit only temporarily

Kick off (Superbowl Sunday)

2011-02-06T11:31:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Maine today in one piece. Surprising, considering how yesterday afternoon began. after leaving home and proceeding through Canada from one border to the other without any delays, dry roads, and no snow fall at all, I arrived at customs in Niagara Falls, and the snow started to fall. Then my car began to overheat. So I plugged in a search (after waiting 1 hour in line at customs) for a mechanic shop on my gps. Found a place, and the snow was really hitting the fan at this point. Got some coolant - I guess my home mechanic shop needs to review their checklist during oil changes and actually give me coolant next time. So as soon as I got back into the good old U S of A, the weather turned horrible... and then the sun went down, further exacerbating the situation, allowing the moisture to freeze quicker. I must have seen at least 20 different cars strewn alongside I-90. It was a very tense drive. My neck was sore from being so tight, as I was wicked focused on the road, and sometimes that's not enough. My wrists and fingers and hands were also very sore every few minutes from gripping the wheel. Very icy, slushy and wet the entire way. and it didn't stop. So I ended up driving very cautiously, at around 30-40mph on this highway all the way through upstate NY. "If I can just make it to Albany." It took forever, but I did, and then made it somewhat into MASS.

After a much needed nap, a sleep in the car never alleviated more tension before. I made it to my couchsurfer host's place this morning. We talked for a bit, he fried me up a fried egg and cheese sandwich, and I shared some of my delicious veggies and dill dip that my Aunt sent me off with.

Today is Super Sunday, as some may call it. We went for a walk around Portland, Maine to grab some bread and I forgot my usual plates/containers from which to eat. So I had to get something to eat the vast amount of prepared foods I cooked up just before I left. My cooler is packed full and with some ice, so the Winter should keep everything fresh when the car is stationary. I can only hope, cos I have some very fresh, and delicious food. the highlights include, salmon filet, turkey sliders, turkey bbq meatballs, cous cous, redskin mashed potatoes, and much much more.

As much as I'd love to be home, watching the big game today at my friend Andy's house (he always prepares the best food in the world) - I will be playing at a new spot in Portland (new for me) tonight). This will be the kick off to what I deem to be a brief winter/spring tour. I'm kind of bummed I don't have more shows setup, however, i think that if I look back on past blogs from years back I probably always would have wanted more shows. More... More... More? More... more?

My couch surfing host, shannon (a dude) is really cool. we are hitting it off and are about to head out on the town to walk around and explore. we just did a jam between sentences. He played me the first song he ever wrote.

anyway I think i'll cut this short since we are drinking some mysterious lizard juice (definition possibly never to come), but it tastes good and it's cold.

anyway, getting psyched to get a back into performance mode tonight and for the next few weeks.

Also, I did a video for a local sports channel contest recently with Cort Johns of Digitelio. I will attempt to embed the video into this blog.

Hope you enjoy, drive slow, and breathe fast.

-j

this damn year

2011-01-03T09:03:00.000-08:00

hey... happy new year to all and to all a new year. I'm not crazy, that was a quote from Santa Claus. anyway. here we are in 2011. Last year was a good year of touring for me. But I don't want to be limited to just touring and performing this year. I was disappointed for not having completed my full length album in 2010 (not even close). So I am sitting here, trying to figure out how that is going to happen. I am also confirming shows and filling in some gaps for touring coming up in just a few weeks.

some of my musical goals this year are:

-work on getting song placements in tv, film, commercials, wherever
-work on radio promotion (I sent out 200 cds prior to the holidays)
-do some in-studio performances, interviews
-practice banjo and mandolin more
-work on my video editing skillz, and take more road videos
-FINISH THE ALBUM?! <--- seemingly least realistic, since I am 0 for 2 the last 2 years with this goal.

What are your goals this year?

2010-10-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

-Houston, TX

I am currently sitting at my cousin's apartment in Houston, eating eggs and sausage and veggies for breakfast. one might think: "man, that cousin sure knows how to treat his guests." Oh contrare; I know how to treat myself. Although I should say that he made some curry rice, homemade last night for my arrival and it literally tasted just like it does at my grandmas house, so that was amazing, I had two bowls.

But this breakfast is part of my new road nutrition and food prep movement. since a year or so ago, I have been traveling with a cooler, and basically using it for drinks, perishables, and leftovers. but this year, has turned a new leaf. In order to save money, and eat better, I have been shopping at grocery stores all over the country. about once a week or maybe longer, I buy some vegetables, meats, and other miscellaneous jive, and either cook them, or prep them so that when the stomach growls, it will be quick and easy to feed my belly.

So this latest installment, I was in GA visiting my buddy garrett for a couple of days. We went to the local supermarket (which was about 30 minutes away from his house) and I found some nice marinated chicken breasts, as well as a 1.5 pound filet of mahi mahi (for $5.55!!!) so I ended up spending like $70, but this is going to last me for the rest of the trip most likely.

Anyway, I am happy to be eating food that I bought and prepared myself, and as long as there is a microwave around, I tend to eat pretty well...

So as for the 4 weeks between blog entries, I can't explain it. maybe just too busy driving and playing shows, but I was back home for a week or so, and I should have posted something about the remainder of the September trip. In a nutshell, we played a few more shows, and they all went really well. We had this horrible drive back from our final show (near Boston) heading home. I got tired, and pulled over to sleep, but them Mike heroically proceeded to take the wheel, and drive 10 straight hours, from 1am to 11am to get us home safe and sound.

This trip I am rolling solo. I never was paying Mike enough to make it worth his time, but in the 3 stints on the road that we had together this year, we got to see a lot of the country, play some awesome music, and catch up with a lot of old friends that we don't normally get to see. Mike went back to play on cruise ships with Carnival, so if you are ever on a ship and make it to the big band shows that they put on, with the dancers and all of that jive, then he will be the guitar player.

This trip had a few more openings in terms of days off, so this allowed me to do some visiting of my own. I started with a triumphant return to Villanova University near Philly. I had played there for the first time about a year ago, and thankfully Selena, whom I met that time, was nice enough to bring me back to play this Fall. After the show, I treated myself to some frozen yogurt and one of the toppings was marshmallows; one of my many kryptonites. Also while in town, I got a chance to crash and catch up with one of my brother's friends, Adam. They had a really cool place, and a great dog as well that warmed up to me after like 3 hours.

I then headed to D.C. are to hang out with an old high school friend. This was an amazing visit. I rolled in on Friday night, and we just chilled to the tune of a bottle of wine, and watched a little t.v. My kinda night. On Saturday, this was my show day, but I didn't play at Goucher College (baltimore area) until 10pm. So Kristin decided to take me to D.C. to see some of the sites. Something I had never done all these years of driving up and down the east coast. Here are some photos.

[The Capitol - from a distance]

[this is Constitution blvd, or ave, or drive. can't remember. ]

[cool looking statue. didn't take any time to figure out its significance]

[that monument... ]

[the money shot.... as I like to call it: the white horse. (and look at that nice turf)]

So that, again, was a great time, and I was so psyched to catch up with my friend. We also went to the local watering hole in D.C. to watch the U-M vs MSU football game, and MSU was victorious! I have no allegiance to MSU but everyone else who was there did, so I went with the crowd. Go Broncos!

SO the show that night was awesome at Goucher College. I played at this little campus coffeeshop type place and there were a lot of students and their families hanging out, cos apparently it was family weekend. I got set up quickly, and brought Kristin with me to experience a brief glimpse of what I typically go through, driving to a show, setting up, loading in, putting up the merchandise (pretty sparse anyway) PLUS she had never seen me perform before. So that was the kicker.

The show went very well and I ran into a kid who came up to me just before I started, I can't remember, but I think his name was Gil or something like that. He has a band, and they are called "By June." So he just says, "You're called HighMay and I'm By June, I just thought that was funny." He was right. I chuckled. and after my set was done, I took a seat with my vanilla milkshake and listened to one of his songs.

I had a wicked craving for some 5 Guys Burgers & Fries. The only other time in my life that I had been there was a couple of years ago, in D.C. with Kristin. Alas, after my show ended, they were closed. So maybe next time.

After I left VA, I headed to Johnson City, TN for a little gig at the Acoustic Coffeehouse, and I had played there before. Had some music, a beer, and a great sandwich and then began my 8-9 hour drive to Ole Miss. I love Ole Miss. Every time I play there (and have been for many years) it's sunny, beautiful, and everything runs smoothly. I checked into the Inn on campus the day before, and just chilled, practicing my banjo in the hotel room. I have kind of a song on banjo, but I definitely need to play it more, along with more mandolin, and more cowbell while we're at it.

After the wonderful afternoon show at Ole Miss, a girl approached me who is the music director at the campus radio station. So we walked across campus and I did a very quick and impromptu in-studio interview type thing, and they played "Belong" off the EP. Taylor was really nice, and a definite neo-hippie I think was her words. As we walked around campus, she saw a pick-up truck with nothing in the bed of it, and said, "What are you hauling?! What do you need that big truck for?!" I don't think the driver heard her though.

From Ole Miss, I drove to see my good friend, Garrett, in Moticello, GA. This is the town where "My Cousin Vinny" was filmed. We ate at this BBQ/soul food place called "Dave's" I believe, and many scenes with Joe Pesci were filmed in this very restaurant. Even when the door opened, this bell rang, and it was totally the exact same one as in the movie, so they must have been going pretty authentic when they filmed this movie. the food was amazing. I had some greens, ribs, steak & gravy, and corn bread. OH, and I can't forget that amazing banana pudding. OHHH and sweet tea was amazing as well... what a meal... ended up being two meals actually.

That same day we were trying to figure out what to do, so we decided to go golfing.

[the beginning]

I had not been golfing for at least two years, though I wish I did. But I wanted to have a nice relaxing day, and the weather since I left MI has been amazing. Of course amplified as I get further and further south. This day was no exception. Before we teed off, I wrote my goal on the scorecard. The par for the course was 72. I said, "If I shoot a 120, I'll be happy."

[this was a legit score, with penalty strokes, and all the putts. no cheating. ]

I wrote that 120 goal on the top as you can see, and beat out my goal by two full strokes (thanks to a legit par on 17, with an amazing one-putt).

Okay, so I'm almost caught up now. After GA, I played a new venue (to me) called 8th & Rail in Alabama. What an awesome venue. great sound, great system, nice people, and of course being my first time ever playing there, not much of a turnout. But there were a few peeps there, and I got some good feedback from them. I'd love to head back there to play sometime. What an awesome place. Art all over the walls, and some great ambiance.

After a brief visit to New Orleans (since it was right on the way) I played at an old coffeehouse I used to play regularly in past years, called Neutral Ground. Same as I ever remember it. I had a nice crew of young peeps that hung out and chilled while I was playing, and made a little tip money to boot.

Now, that brings me to today. Houston, TX. My cousin moved here about a year or two ago and got a great job with Chevron as an environmental engineer. This is the first time I have seen his place here, or been to Houston at all in many years. I got in last night, and parked my car on the street, and when he came down to meet me, I said, "This looks like a nice neighborhood." He said, "yeah... looks can be deceiving." I locked my car instantly.

We had some wine, ate dinner like champions, and watched some football and playoff baseball. Today I have the whole day off, and I play to maybe walk downtown to his building and meet him for lunch. and tonight there is an open mic at a great songwriter venue here in Houston that I have been looking forward to checking out for a long time.

Then tomorrow on to Austin, and from there I hope to keep you updated as this portion of the tour winds down, as well as my touring for the rest of 2010. This is my final trip of the year, and I hope to set up a couple of shows in Detroit this Winter, and work on the album some more.

Read more: http://www.myspace.com/jimmyatto/blog?bID=539991997#ixzz12io3ROst

My Maine Town

2010-09-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

We're in Maine now. Have been for a couple of days. this is our last day here. as will smith once said, "max 'n relaxin all cool, and all shootin some bball outside of the school" well at least the first part. i don't know how enjoyable it would be with Mike and I playing basketball... maybe frisbee...

so I've left this blog before. over the years. hanging out in Maine, with my friend Whitney. I met whitney in high school and she was good friends with my cousin at the all-girls school. whitney is one of the girls at the school that I did NOT date.

Last night, as I like to do to show my appreciation for her open-door policy (to me at least), I cooked her (and Mike) dinner. she had a late day at work and how tedious it would be for her to work 12 hours and then have to cook up some dinner...

I made some tuna steaks, and chicken with assorted sauteed veggies and cold pasta salad as a side dish. the pasta salad was pretty easy for me to prepare, since, just before we left a week ago, my Aunt gave me a container full of delicious pasta salad and if I had to guess, it was about 5lbs at least. So I've been eating it, about a bowl a day for a week and barely put a dent into it. So I went to the grocery and bought a few things for dinner, and for the remainder of my trip. I spent $80 fucking dollars. stupid!! I'm supposed to be frugal dammit. Yes this food should last... only about half of it is perishable. but anyway, I doctored up the pasta salad with some new veggies and a bit more dressing and it was a nice side dish to dinner. gotta have some carbs for energy right?

so we've been here two days, and of course, two visits to Gelato Fiasco . last night I had cinnamon + tiramisu + peanut butter & jelly flavors. Night 1 was Apple Cider + cake batter + bourbon vanilla. yeah that place has the knack.

as we near the final portion of shows for Leg 2, I wonder how I have been able to survive this trip, with only about $60 in my pocket when we left. Yes of course, I use credit cards, but mostly for just gas, and a couple of meals. Mike and I have packed our own coolers full of delicious and fresh food in order to save some loot in the long run. So I attribute this amazing feat to the gracious audiences that have been buying cds at the last few shows. This trip has been great so far. Great colleges, great venues, great audiences. Especially our last show at the Barge at Colgate. We went through a ton of jive and communications to finally confirm that date, and the crowd was instantly silent as the first chord was struck. I even played 2 full hours, without stopping (only speaking of a potential break) and 80% of them stuck around for the whole long set... and in spite of Yin Yang twins having a big show at a frat party nearby (anyone remember them from the 90's?) I just remember the name... how did these college kids even find them?

I'll likely have to hit an ATM by the time we get home, cos we have a tentative plan to visit Cedar Point on the way home from our eastern coordinates. I bought an EZ pass tag, which is for tollways, so that you don't have to stop, dig through your pockets for cash and change... now I just drive through the EZ pass booths and just slow down a little, then it automatically charges it to my EZ pass account AND I get discounted tolls to boot.... TO BOOT!

This will have been (and already is) a very nice refresher considering our first trip we had a string of about 10 shows in 12 days, then to start this trip was I think 7 in 9 days and tons of driving, so I was pretty beat from driving... it was a nice omen, when we arrived in Brunswick from driving from 10pm-6am, that the Brunswick Diner was open right at 6 and we were able to pig out on eggs, and chocolate chip pancakes. I was pretty delirious at this point and have slept like a baby the past two nights after being reunited with my pillow and fleece hoodie (both which I left here on my last visit). My dad once told me: "Son, you would lose your dick if it wasn't attached."

Yes, I forget things.

A nice 4 show stretch to close out Leg 2 of fall tour. East Stroudsburg, and Binghamton (where I have been before) and Towson University (a new one), along with a Borders Books in Mass... and then the I-80 shuffle.

I don't know how that 1st video blog was received or if it was received, but I felt the need to hone my video skills a bit more and maybe try it at a later time...

all right, I need some breakfast... and to prep my fresh groceries for the duration of the trip... discounted ground veal for $3.50!! over a pound!

-sincerely,

satisfied deal-monger.... nom nom nom nom

Pilot Video Blog Attempt

2010-09-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

I kill butterflies / steal iPhones

2010-09-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

So... yeah... lots of driving during that first leg of the Fall touring. Technically yes, it was just late Summer. get over it.

Well my windshield was just pelted with dead bugs/flies you name it. It was disgusting. Mike thought it would be a good idea to clean the windshield at one of the gas stations. what a guy, what a guy... so about 1-2 hours into the next drive, the windshield is filthy again... it's the thought that counts.

When we stopped to play in Winona, I noticed something in the grill of my car... I thought it was some sort of 4-leaf clover, but when I inspected closer...

Yup.... butterflies... It's not my fault animal activists.

So we made our way to chicago to play our final official show before going home... we ended up visiting Mike's friend Melissa at the Hard Rock hotel where she works up in the offices... so we play our show, and everything is fine and dandy, and as we're about to crash on Melissa's floor for the night, Mike asks me: "You didn't happen to see an iPhone when we were at the hard rock earlier, did you?"

"No... why?"

"cos I guess one of Melissa's co-workers had hers stolen while we were there visiting (using the bathroom)."

So talk about it, and we determine that neither of us stole the phone...

NEXT MORNING:
Melissa is at work and Mike ends up talking to her on the phone, and it ends up in my hands... She tells me that the security team has been reviewing all the camera tapes of our visit to determine whether or not we stole the phone, and that they'd like to ask us a few questions when we come in to drop off her keys...

they said they got me on camera seemingly playing with an iphone... right in their office... as if I stole the phone, then immediately and openly began playing with it trying to figure out the sex offender app or something... "geez, how do people work these things? they seem complicated... maybe I should just return it... oh wait, that would be suspicious... maybe I'll just drop it in a dumpster in the alley... yeah, that's the ticket!" they also ruled me out because #1 I actually do not own an iPhone, and #2 cos her's (the victim) was a different color than mine. WHEW!

We get there. I put extra money in the meter so that we could endure the bright interrogation light, maybe get stuck in a small, hot room with a 1-sided pane of glass where police observe our mannerisms. Perhaps get handcuffed, or even better still... tasered...

So we walk in, and BAM! She tells us that they ruled us out as suspects because they have us on video leaving their office just before the girl last saw her phone. Hence, we could not have taken it... bummer... no interrogation...

why were we suspects? A couple of interesting looking musicians, hippies, long-hairs (well just me I guess) with beards/mustaches...?

Oh, well I think I figured it out. It was probably Mike's jorts that he was wearing... if you don't know what jorts are, you're probably the only one, but here is a photo...

made it home safely after a visit with some family on the way home, and we did a quick living room show for some local teens... Mike did a very nice solo piece on my acoustic and made it sound like a guitar is supposed to...

we were well fed, and made it home at a reasonable hour. Leg 1 completed...

Gonna be chilling here in MI for a few more days until we kick off leg 2 in Grand Rapids on Friday.

Locally, be on the look out for tomorrow (Labor Day) a free show at Goldfish Tea in downtown Royal Oak from 530-630pm.

Thursday, we will be on UM-Dearborn radio from 5-6pm, but you can only listen to it streaming online... here: to Listen Live: http://www.wumd.org

Otherwise, check out our schedule on Myspace, and if you live in, or know someone in the many cities we will be visiting, then come on out or tell someone else to come see us. It's been fun, and after a great set in Ann Arbor last night, we want to keep the momentum rollin...

"got about a dollar (got about a dollar) /
got about a dollar in the bank"

-gryphon sheperd

*see ya around, jimmy

midwest tour - leg 1 Update

2010-08-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

hidey ho neighbors. Mike & i are in minneapolis and we are in day 4 of our midwest portion of the fall tour. it's wierd cos I'm still confirming shows for just weeks from now. when you're on the indie tip, the biz is kind of weird sometimes. I booked shows months ago for this trip, and, for instance, last night we played at this coffeeshop in St. Paul. I ended up booking the show a week before. I had played there years ago, and then it was also right across the street from Hamline University where I played a couple of times in '09... so my friend, Sam, from Hamline came out and she was buzzed up off of a camping/tubing/boozing trip. this trip reminded me of a trip I took with some friends up in Omer, MI last summer almost exactly one year ago where we boozed it down the rifle river (i think).

anyway I also got to catch up with a friend of mine, who has always been a great supporter of my musical endeavors, as well as my need for finding somewhere to crash. this time, we didn't need his couch services, but I haven't seen him and his wife for at least 4 years when they lived in Philly briefly. So after we played, Mike & I, and Gayle, and Brian and his wife Amanda, decided to go to Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge, which is a great bar if you are in twin cities, a must see. great drinks, fried food goodness, and the atmosphere is the best part (drinks coming in at a close #2).

Their drinks are one of a kind. pertty huge, paradise-tasting, and potent. Mike and I split one.

earlier in the trip, to recap, we started in Kalamazoo. Yes, not very far from home I know... but we went to check out a semi-new venue and also visit with my Aunt (who also has a big house and many extra beds, hot showers, and home-cookin (just a side note). So we visited, and were treated like royalty. We had a home cooked dinner. and we slept well...

...we treated ourselves to a very good 6.8 mile run through kalamazoo early on wednesday morning... we showered up, got packed up and then were greeted with some homemade crepes. yes, crepes. amazing... so we also were given thermoses and we departed on a bright sunny day, "my nigga DOC and my homie dr. dre."

every day has been so beautiful weather-wise since the day we left (tuesday). Just beautiful. We chilled in a park nearby the coffee shop in St. Paul yesterday, I laid in the grass, but was eaten by a few mosquitoes. Mike did some exercising and practiced his cello skills, which showed through during the performance...

So yesterday before we came to MN, we stopped at a couple of guitar shops and I was educated on electric guitars, both by Mike who knows a lot, as well as the guys who work at the guitar shops. there were two locations. they are called Bricktown Music (I think). I think they are at bricktownmusic.com Bricktown Music. very cool gear, and very knowledgeable.

finally, we come to the food. My aunt prepared for me a nice cooler full of fresh vegetables, bread, cheese and some homemade lentil soup (which I forgot at home, but its vegetarian so I think it will still be good when I get home). we stopped at the farmer's market in Eau Claire as well, so I took a photo of some of the goodness after I trimmed and rinsed it here at Gayle's house this morning...

On to Winona, MN today in an hour or so... this is one of the venues I have played most in my life. several times over many years since I first started touring. I like Winona a lot, and hopefully we rock it out tonight. my voice has been hoarse, since playing a really long set in Eau Claire, and a 90 minute set last night, tonight might be a long one, but one thing I said the other day on stage was: "My voice is more hoarse than a giraffe..." and only i thought it was funny of course. last night to replay the joke, I said: "My voice is more hoarse than a donkey."

have a good day and enjoy the transition into Fall...

-Jimbob

Jim & Mike - on the road in Wisconsin

HighMay | MySpace Music Videos

"Belong" Single / Fall schedule

2010-07-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

Just an update. The single/EP (whatever you want to call it) "Belong" will be available Thursday August 5th at the Hard Rock Cafe performance in downtown Detroit.

It will also be available at all live shows this Fall nationally, and hopefully soon online as well.

You can listen to the entire single on Myspace (including all 5 additional unreleased tracks).

www.myspace.com/jimmyatto

Please also see the Fall schedule as it is constantly developing, and see if there is a performance near you this Summer/Fall.

Thank you.

-JA

surfing couches (NY)

2010-02-21T11:40:00.001-08:00

So I recently registered on the website Couchsurfing.org

I first found out that it existed about a year ago and checked it out, but didn't give it too much attention for some reason. Little did I know that this like the absolute dream come true for me. It's meeting a bunch of really nice, cool people and saving money on hotel rooms, as well as avoiding the discomfort of sleeping in the car occasionally.

So the first time I used it (kinda) was when Delorean and I recently did our midwest tour in January. I booked a show at this cafe in La Crosse, WI and the girl that booked me, has actually joined the website, and her sister had an account, so we crashed with them, and it was awesome. They greeted us with a cold, delicious wisconsin beer and it was quite pleasant thereafter.

So my second, and truest experience was a couple of nights ago. Sometimes I overlook the little things, and I ended up contacting this guy, Glenn about a few hours before I was headed up to NY from PA. He actually ended up calling me that night, but it was pretty late and I was sheets already. So the next morning I meet up with him at Panera (my new hangout nationally; I should see if I can get an endorsement). He handed me the keys to his place and I headed over there.

I went for a run (and almost died). Map My Run needs to have a 3-D topographic feature on their website. I was plagued by a very hilly run, and actually like 1.5 of the first 2 miles was due uphill at about a 30% grade. I almost died, and while I didn't stop in frustration, I kept my feet moving, but I figured it would have been moving at about the same speed had I been walking, but whatever.

I made it to my turnaround point, and then I knew I had a mostly downhill run on my way back. Well this seems great, right? but when you're running up hill you're mostly in control and it's easier to get traction. When you're running at a steep grade downhill, you're trying not to gain too much speed, so there's a little resistance and it's also snowy and icy and there was no sidewalk, did I mention that? yeah a stupid run... but I made it. and it was as satisfying as ever.

So after my treacherous run, I had some downtime and watched one of my favorite 1980's flicks from when I was young: Howard the Duck This guy Glenn, had some sort of rig where his X-box was tied into Netfilx and there was literally hundreds of movies and TV shows all with instant access. Most of them were pretty lame or I had never heard of them, but there were some gems in there. Speaking of which, remember that song I wrote a couple of years ago: Henry Poole. Well it was for open submission for the soundtrack to this film before it came out. As you may know, my song was not selected, however, I still play the song live all the time.

Long story longer, I finally got to see the film, and it was really good. I liked seeing Luke Wilson in a different role than his usual sheepish, timid, naive character. There were elements of that, but he showed some real emotion in this film. So I suggest you check it out (even though the cocksuckers didn't use my song. They must have never heard it, cos after viewing the film, my song applied more than ever. it would have fit the closing credits perfectly.

That night Glenn and his roommate Lexi had some friends over for a little drinking social hour(s). It started off with a little "asshole" (which I became both of the first two games) but I rebounded to just finish in the middle of the pack the final two games. then came beer pong. Mind you, I don't actually drink a lot. I love my coors light and my manhattans, and my Oberon (and now New Glarus (WI)), but I'm not in college anymore, and I am hanging out (at 29) with these 18-21 year olds. I think I fit in pretty well with them, and I do throw a mean ping pong ball into a cup of beer. So I had the esteemed pleasure of playing on Glenn's team and we ran the table, and went 5-0 to start with a couple of close calls. Then his good friends (and his usual partner) knocked us off in their 2nd try to take control of the table. We later played a couple of more games, and as I recall, i think we were 6-1 or 6-2 on the night. you play 7-8 games of beer pong and you're having a good time.

So after passing out around 4am on the best couch available (seniority I guess) we hit up another upstate NY gem, the SKylark (motel/diner). it was delicious and wicked reasonable. So I bought glenn and lexi their breakfast to thank them for their great hospitality. Ahhh if only I was 18-21 again.

--------- Backtracking a bit------------

Did I mention how awesome the ELizabethtown College show was on weds night? This got postponed from LAST wednesday cos of the blizzard (which I drove through on my ridiculous drive back to MI, spinning out THREE times on I-80 that day). So they had their Valentine's theme, even though V-day had passed, they still had everything from the previous week, so it works. I colored a valentine heart with crayons for a nice young classical piano player, named Maggie I believe. AND (tear) someone made me a valentine that said: "HighMay musician guy... I love the shit out of you" How romantic. I wonder where that is, I wanted to put it on my fridge. oh well.

Also I met my future manager. CHelsea is the girl that booked me for the show, and she was super cool and has her hands dipped in almost every department at the freakin college. She's a busy body and only has 3 jobs this semester (her senior year) as opposed to 5 jobs, like last semester. She is studying I think marketing/promotion I think she wants to promote and manage bands, so best of luck Chelsea!! I will hire you once you get your feet up under you.

Also at E-town a young student opened up for me. Her name is Chloe Beveridge. She's a great songwriter and singer, and plans a little piano too. Very easy on the eyes, so keep an eye out for her music...

I just blew a bunch of money at a music store here in Vestal earlier today. I planned on just buying a guitar stand and a guitar cable. This ended up being those two items + another guitar stand + Them Crooked Vultures CD + new Vampire Weekend CD + a 2-disc DVD of The Who from 1977 (one of Keith Moon's last shows with the band).

whatever music stores are beginning to become my kryptonite. I need to learn how to play that banjo, someone remind me.

all right, I have a couple of days in NJ coming up, playing a late show in NYC tuesday night in Brooklyn. then return to Seton Hall and down to NC where I may or may not need to wear a jacket. I always get my hopes up. At least I'll get to hang out with my buddy/cousin Jon. He introduced me to Bojangles fried chicken. I might have to do a little extra running before I get down there.

-piece out

a new instrument (2/06/2010)

2010-02-21T11:39:00.000-08:00

We wrapped up our little midwest swing this past Sunday in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I kinda utilized my new couchsurfing.org membership saturday night after our la crosse show. But it was cheating a bit. The girl who booked us at the Root Note (awesome cafe by the way) is also a member on couchsurfing, so we hooked it up and it was technically my first experience with that "website" but not with crashing on a couch. it was a futon actually.

Alex and her sis Christina were amazing in putting us up. We weren't there long, but they made us feel right at home. Mike and I walked in and were instantly handed a cold beer and we talked and just listened to music for a while. Did you know Bon Iver is from eau claire, wi? neither did I. see, the things you learn in WISC.

Our show the night before was at UW-Eau Claire and this awesome little venue right in their student center. Its called the Cabin. Great stage and sound. Katlyn and I think Rob (sound) hooked everything up and it was smooth. We played to a very sparse crows, but I think they were quite appreciative. I am sad to learn that they are ripping down their current student center to build a new one and, hence, so goes this great venue, but surely they'll be building a new one.

The Root Note in la crosse, is amazing, they feature a very healthy mix of foods/snacks, all obtained locally and all organic. They have an awesome stage and sound system, and the people there are super nice. so I can't say enough about it. Our show was a noon (ish) show. we were late, cos christina and patrick cooked us up a nice fresh, healthy breakfast and we were enjoying it too much. Fortunately, Alex, who booked us and was in charge, was at the breakfast table with us, otherwise, I would have been much more inclined to be punctual.

So I've been back in the D for the week. Looking forward to the Superbowl tomorrow and I actually have a Michigan show tonight. Up in Saginaw, it's about 90 minutes north of here and I haven't been there either ever, or since I may have played hockey up there when I was younger. So on one hand, it will be nice to play a show that is ONLY a 90 minute drive each way, whew what a godsend... most people don't think the way that I do...

I'm psyched to meet with one of my producers, Vernell tomorrow about the song DUST that he/we have been working on for the past several weeks, and then I have a couple rendezvous in between that and the Superbowl, where I make my trademark, chili con queso. Then after the game, I leave town to get a head start to Massachusetts for the shows out east this week, but it's a nice light, efficient load. 3 shows in 3 days. who could ask for more. I wish I could schedule that way every trip.

OH by the way, the whole point to the title of this entry, I almost forgot. As we were about to leave LAX to make the long trek home (which ended around 230am), we stopped in a music store while my Yellament was warming up, and I saw a lonely, used banjo for $100. We added the cargo with the last few dollars in my pocket and barely made it home. Thanks Leithbolds Music.

anyway, I'll hopefully check in this coming week about the shows.

Hello, goodbye.

Oh Claire!! (from 1/30/2010)

2010-02-21T11:38:00.002-08:00

hidey ho! neigbor. we are coming down on the homestretch for our 2 week stint in the midwest. It has been very cold, but just like home pretty much.

our journey started in madison, wisconsin on MLK day, and was not a complete disaster. I mean, we got there, set up, played the show. We were fortunate to play to 2 people. We also had a good time. Michael Delorean has accompanied me throughout this trip, if you are just tuning in, he is my string'ed instrument extraordinaire. He plays cello on about 5 tunes, mandolin on 2 and electric guitar on 3 (i believe).

After Madison, we had a day off and I was SO SO SO fortunate to get in touch with a friend from college who lives in milwaukee. which was only just over an hour away from Madison (as well as an hour and change from our next show in Beloit, WI). He and his lovely wife Danielle welcomed us into their home for two days and nights, and we were well-rested, well-internetted, and well fed, (they even cooked us an amazing dinner). It was all capped off with a visit to Kopp's, a legendary fixture in the frozen custard industry in milwaukee. I also ended up writing a song in pretty quick fashion.

I woke up with this melody in my head. and it stuck with me, so I got up pretty quick, and went downstairs to grab my guitar and penned out the whole song within an hour. This is pretty rare (to write a song that quickly and truly finish it), but after sleeping on it and playing it periodically in the days after, it is finished and it is tentatively titled: "North Milwaukee" it's a pretty stripped down and slow acoustic number kind of in the vein of ben kweller (when I wrote the chorus). here are the lyrics:
____________________________________________________________________

North Milwaukee

I got a postcard from my brother
looks like the boys began to grow
I got an invoice from another
and then some tears began to flow

I tried to be a New York Ranger
but they said I'm much too slow
I sold a textbook to a stranger
and then the dumb began to know

I'm sorry yesterday I missed your call
Maybe when we get back home
I can kiss your eyes and recognize
that without you I am alone

i scored a gig in north Milwaukee
and then my drummer didn't show
seems he was getting kinda cocky
and then he drank and hit the floor

got written up for 15 over
but still was driving pretty slow
I hit a 'dillo down in Houston
and now it's lunch time for a crow

I'm sorry yesterday I missed your call
Maybe when we get back home
I can kiss your eyes and recognize
that without you I am alone

I drove my tank right down to empty
and then I really had to go
I got my haircut by a lefty
and then my years began to show

__________________________________________________________________

before leaving milwaukee, I had to spend a little time with my friend, Rose, who goes to Marquette. I pursued Marquette University as a possible place to play when I found out that she went to school there, and was lucky enough to get 3 shows there the past 3 semesters. As it happens it just didn't work out this time around, but she was soo awesome about helping me promote my shows with all of her friends and she brought in crowds to see me at the Annex, which is a really cool place to play. and if you search back through previous blogs, then you'll see how much other fun I had while hanging with her and her peeps on previous visits. We just walked down to a little empty bar, had a beer, and that was it. but it was nice to catch up. and her drunk friend brought to my attention the School of the Americas (which I am not going to touch on, cos that's another debate) but it's some intriguing stuff nonetheless. I never had heard of it or its controversy before this night.

We made our way from Milwaukee to Beloit to play the college there (the caughy haus) for the first time. I nice downstairs, dingy, dark kinda place, but with tons of character. We set it up and rocked it the best we could and there was a nice little crowd there. I'd like to thank Kyle for making that happen with us, cos we really enjoyed it. Hope we can swing back through next time.

This was the tough night. we left Beloit around midnight and had an early NOON show at southern illinois university (and had to be there by 11AM) so we booked it from there and drove into the night. Mike was nice enough to sleep the entire time as I got drowsy and really helped me to stay awake by being annoyed. Also the sunflower seeds helped as they always do (thanks bro), and we made it to about 2 hours north of edwardsville and I had to pull over so we wouldn't die (at least from a driving accident). we awoke around 9am (surprising, since we were sleeping in a car) and got some quick wendy's breakfast (yes they have breakfast now, it's hot or miss) and moved. We also hadn't seen the sun since we left Michigan and it was raining pretty steadily all night the previous night and all day Thursday (our show). We arrived at SIU just a bit tardy after 11am and quickly loaded in and got set up. Thanks to Jesika for helping us get situated and also thanks to Emalie for booking us!

It was one of those nice lunch time hour gigs in the middle of the student center where people are just hanging out, or eating, or studying, and we were a bit wired, and tired at the same time, but played a pretty good show. then Jesika hooked us up with a nice lunch and they put us up in a hotel for the night, and we found it and hit sheets for a few hours.

(sorry I'm so behind, I'm just gonna keep rolling with this...)

After that night we headed up to Chicago. The couch crashing gods were with us again, as I have a friend who lives in a pimp house in chicago. turns out he and his wife were going to florida for the weekend, and we happened to need a place to stay for the weekend AND they needed someone to watch after their pets and we were very happy to oblige. We got to stay from friday til monday morning. What a huge gesture that they let us crash and it was just a huge help to us on the road saving money and living in great comfort.

NOW, this is why I'm not going to ....Chicago.... every again. we were playing our show at uncommon ground. let's recap first. Two visits ago, I had a little incident where there was a fender bender (which is an overstatement) and this guy caused me to make an insurance claim while I was on the way to my show at IL State and ended up being late. Last visit to chicago, car broken into at night, instruments stolen, had a show in milwaukee that night and had to sort everything out on this rainy day, and made it to milwaukee for the show, new window, police report, insurance claim, new instruments, etc. Big fucking annoying ordeal. Now onto this visit. playing our show at uncommon ground. everything was going well, we played a great show. Matt Crews brought in a lot of people himself so we got to play in front of a nice crowd. We were hanging out afterward with one of Mike's friends and about to leave. so I go to grab the car a few blocks away, bam, broken window again! glove box ransacked. they got my Nav, xm radio, and Mike's iPod. Fuckers!

so that's 3 visits to chicago in a row where I have had to make a claim with my insurance company and they don't actually reimburse you for personal belongings that you had in your car, just the car damage only, so anyway... NEVER GOING TO ....CHICAGO.... - INDEFINITELY. we are not on a break. we are over.

SO onto greener pastures, and by greener I mean much colder. We headed up to minneapolis where my friend, Gayle, lives and she has been so gracious as to put us up for a couple of nights earlier this week. we came on monday, just to cut our drive to North Dakota the next day to 9 HOURS. CUT THAT DRIVE DOWN TO 9 HOURS.

We left early and made it to Minot, ND at a reasonably evening hour. got a hotel room and before leaving wisconsin the last time, picked up a 6 pack of New Glarus honey bock beer for a special occasion. I guess north dakota was a special occasion. we ordered Domino's (They re-invented their recipe so we had to find out if it was better) and it WAS. I actually liked it and Domino's has always been my least favorite pizza joint, ranking above Sbarro at the shopping mall (not that I ever go to malls... just saying). so we enjoyed it very much and drank our beers, though I just found out right now that we still have a beer or two left in the cooler. fortunately it's been so fucking freezing that we just leave our food in the cooler with some ice and it doesn't even melt.

skip a couple of lounging days at Gayle's in MN and this brings us to last night, at the Acoustic Cafe in Winona, and we played really well I thought but there weren't too many people in the place, which was a shocker, cos every time I had been there before (which has been several; by that I mean 6-7 :) there had been many more people milling about. must have just been an off night. but fun nonetheless.

Today we are sitting at the Acoustic Cafe, though a different one, in Eau Claire, WI. I guess it's the same owners as the one in MN, and we're killing a little time before our final two shows this trip. 24 hours from now we will be driving back to MI and exhaling a bit to get back to our respective realities.

This could be the longest blog of my life, but only do to my sporadic blogging nature and neglect toward Myspace.

I'll end it here, and wish everyone to wear safe, hybrid boots which are fashionable but also prevent you from slipping on the ice, and stay warm, cos the spring is coming.

as always, piece out.

-jimmy

Milwaukee (from 1/20/2010)

2010-02-21T11:38:00.001-08:00

Hi. No flip flops were packed on this trip. well actually they are packed, but that's mostly just in case we run into a shower that doesn't look too welcoming.

for the first time in history, I have embarked on a tour with another musician. He has only been featured in the past at local detroit area shows. and his talents are endless. but don't ask him to play cello after 4+ glasses of wine. his name is michael and he has been joining me on select songs playing guitar, cello and mandolin, no less. We have only had one show thus far, but have 3 in the next 4 days. So it was kind of a warm up show in many ways in Madison monday night.

We left around 730am on monday morning to try to make the entire drive from Detroit. Didn't really find a nice landing pad sunday night, so we made the drive pretty seamlessly actually (aside from like $10 in tolls, fucking bastards). We rolled into town, had some spicy chicken gumbo and then loaded in to The Frequency. Just Darwin (the guy who booked me) and the sound guy (Teddy) were there. Teddy got us set up and the sound was pretty good. now all we need is people.... hm... I said ALL WE NEED IS PEOPLE!!!

The Frequency, Madison

is there an echo in here? yeah, i kinda didn't figure that all the students from UW would still be on break AND it was MLK day, which means that Madison is pretty much shutdown for the day. OH well. We played virtually our whole set, cos what the hell else are we gonna do? and then just as we were about to finish, two young ladies showed up, and then we did some repeats, dedicated to them. arts must support the arts. one of them was a visual artists and I told her "we have to stick together."

So that was that, and since then we spent all day yesterday and today at my friends place just north of milwaukee. him and his wife were gracious enough to let us into their home, and provide each of us with our own room and bed, which is quite a luxury. Last night they cooked us dinner and then we went to what they said was quite a legendary dairy place called KOPP'S. They have great frozen custard there. I got a flavor called maple syrup and pancakes and I added some blueberries to it. let me tell you, it tasted exactly as advertised.

Kopp's Frozen Custard

If you're ever in the milwaukee area, I highly recommend it. i'm sure they have a website. also there's a huge walking type of mall in this area. don't know what it's called, but they have every national chain you can think of. Mike and I stopped at trader joes to grab a few snacks and then a bottle of wine for our hosts (which is already gone) but it was some good stuff. I need to visit trader joes more.

TJ's as I like to call it.

Tonight our 2nd show of the trip and 2 out of 2 on new venues played: Beloit College; the Coughy Haus. Should be fun as all new and old shows/venues are.

Tonight we have a wicked long drive (for a night drive) to edwardsville, IL which is at least 4-5 from Beloit. Why the night drive, you ask? well our show tomorrow is at 11am. so we have to be there in the morning... will let you know how that pans out.

fortunately we have a hotel booked for that evening so whatever sleep we miss out on, on the way down there, we will have a chance to catch up with...

first blog in a while! can I get a hoo ha two for tuesday!

-jimmy

Back in Mich-again (from december 6th, 2009)

2010-02-21T11:37:00.000-08:00

Hi there. Alissa and I did a nice little afternoon gig a week or two ago at MSU in east lansing, and we met this cool little reporter chick, named Agnes.

She did a little write up or I guess photo slide show type of thing after the show. and it can be viewed here...

http://spartanedge.com/2009/11/24/photo-essay-noontimes-concert-series/

Hope everyone has a great holiday season as I already have and continue to...

Shows for 2010 are starting to arrive to keep checking back.

piece out

-james

http://spartanedge.com/2009/11/24/photo-essay-noontimes-concert-series/

Binghamton Cold (from 11/7/09)

2010-02-21T11:36:00.000-08:00

my non-girlfriend ingrid michaelson referenced the "binghamton cold" in a song, "the hat" and I think I know what she means; my hotel room is really cold here in Binghamton and the thermostat doesn't seem to be working. I suppose she was in the same hotel room when she wrote that song...

since the break-in in Chicago a few weeks ago, I had to cut that trip short. I still went to Wichita, and played a nice afternoon thing at Wichita State, and then ended up moving up an evening show that weekend to the tuesday of the WSU gig, so a doubleheader, which I do every once in a while...

it was pretty cool, a nice quaint little coffeeshop, and I met a really cool barista there too, who kept my tea nice and warm throughout my long set. apparently one of the guys there has a friend who saw me at WSU last year and got my cd from the friend, and had been listening to it a lot, so i got to play for someone who was familiar with my tunes, and also sold a few other CDs to some takers in wichita, so I am looking forward to going back.

so with new (used) guitar in tow, and a new lease on life, i ventured out last sunday for this, my last trip of the year. it started with a nice little open mic in cincinnati. i reconnected with a girl I met in Michigan one time who was up from Cincy, and we stayed in touch, and we got to hang for a little bit, and I played the open mic, trying out my new fx pedals, and it went off pretty well...

I stopped in Cincy to cut my drive to Mississippi into two parts. so on the way to MS was nashville. I discovered that Ingrid Michaelson had a show in nashville on this night (monday now) and decided to stop by to see if I could get a ticket. as I found the venue, it said it was SOLD OUT, so I was dejected... then it got worse...

I noticed a tour bus pull around and a bunch of young hipster musicians wandering around the venue. just a few days earlier in detroit, i saw Ingrid and Allie Moss perform a free promo gig for some people at the hard rock cafe, and i struck it up for a little bit with Allie, and just talked about some other cool musicians, and touring, etc.

so I see her in the group in nashville, and she's surrounded by the rest of her crew, bands etc. after pacing back and forth for a minute, I approach, and just say, Hi, i'm the guy from detroit, i met you at the hard rock last week. blah blah blah. so all of a sudden I notice everyone around her is kind of staring at me, and I didn't look to creepy, just wearing my shades, a t-shirt, typical musician right? just chillin right? so I beckoned them to see if there was any way they could throw a fellow musician a bone and find a ticket or a way for me to get in to the show that night, and they shot me down...

I just felt really awkward, but they were still pretty cool nontheless, and finally mentioned to them that if they were not on the road on (this coming) monday, then I have a show in NY (where they're from) and I invited to them to come out. but they said they have a show that night.

so I left, feeling like a creeper, stalker, and I'm sure that wasn't their intention, but their reaction to me was a bit standoff-ish. After this wierd, awkward interaction, which I thought would have gone much better, I said fuck it, and I'm going to Mississippi.

Ole Miss, sunny and great as always. I played a cool set with the fx, which I hope can be a mainstay into my set for a while. and being well-rested, I needed it, because I had to drive 10 hours to NC for another afternoon gig at App state the following day.

App state was cool, I played there a year ago, and the guy who books me there is a great guy, who has been doing it there for like 20 years or something, and he helps to teach the student programmers about professionalism, promotion, being thorough, and many other life lessons, and they seem to follow through, cos they are known to bring some great names to campus... last year after my afternoon performance there, BJ Novak (from The Office) had a stand up show that night, so I paid for a ticket and he was hilarious.

that morning as I was cruising into Boone, I remembered about someone I knew in Charlotte. cos I had the next two days off and nowhere to go or to be. so I called up my buddy Jon and he told me to stop on by. so I did after the App state show, and we went out to a great smokehouse for dinner (McKoy's = delicious) and we just caught up, and his dog, Izzie, loves me (like all bitches do). and we just hung out, smoked a little, ran around town to take care of some errands. OH I finally joined CDbaby.com, so my CDs will be easier to buy online and will be available on iTunes. I just added the Low Carb LP to cdbaby right now, but i'm setting the table for the new HighMay album to be added, hopefully pretty soon.

just jumping around here...

let's see, after two great relaxing days in charlotte, I headed up to Binghamton, NY where I am now. just chillin before a late night show tonight Binghamton Univ, right across the street from this hotel. gonna be playing past midnight tonight. and it should be fun. New school for me, and new music for them. what could be better??

after this I head to Hoboken for 3 days, to work on mixing and finalizing the first two songs of the album, with my producer, John Seymour. in the middle of that on MOnday, I head to the big city for a show at Googies, where I played back in september, and I'm hoping to have a better turnout this time around...

all right, closing in on the final couple shows of the year. chillin. peace out.

broken glass

2009-10-11T14:26:00.001-07:00

I'm still pulling broken glass out of my ass. it was all over my driver's seat on Friday morning, on a rainy day in chicago. I planned on sleeping in, on my friends bed, which was very comfortable. I was woken with: "Hey... was your window broken when you got into town yesterday?" hmm... purturbed, I knew so I headed downstairs and out into the rain to investigate. well i knew before I got out there that my navi was gone and my xm radio. i was hoping they were in a hurry and didn't see the guitar and mandolin in the back. but they had. no guitar, no mandolin and everything electronic was gone. even my phone charger. (THEY'RE NOT UNIVERSAL, DICK) or Dick(s) as it were, a neighbor mentioned he had seen a couple hoodlums (fittingly in hoods) hanging out at the corner, and surely it was them that "got" me. I wish I had the forethought to take pictures so I can share my misery with you, but elected to clean out my car, and get it fixed as soon as I could, since I had a show in MIlwaukee this same night...

This is how the healing took place, chronologically:

-call and file police report
-make a claim with insurance company
-Vacuum out car
-get window fixed
-buy new phone charger (Sprint blows my ass by the way)
-buy new guitar and mandolin at Avenue N Guitars on North ave. (they really took care of me there) http://www.avenuenguitars.com/

Made it to Milwaukee with wet shoes and feet from running literally around rainy chicago all day, and just in time for soundcheck. Got situated (still havent put new strings onto the new Takamine EAN 40c yet, but should). My friend Rosemary, my official Milwaukee mother figure and promoter, brought out a bunch of peeps and the show went on, with an aggressive, tension-relief kind of setlist. and it started off with a shot of Maker's from rose's beau, Joe. Great way to start, and rocked it out. All was well, except the knots in my back from being tense and pissed all day.

got the chance to frolick around with the |Marquette kids and have a few cold ones. Then as the night wound down, I was informed of a run that was taking place early Saturday morning. at 10am. but we had to be up at 830 for breakfast... I seemed to have remembered bringing my running gear, even though I secretly never thought I would use it. so I pulled out my asics running shorts, and nike shoes, and was ready in the morning for the 5 mile run (or 8k?). it was in support of children's hospitals of Milwaukee, and though I didn't register, I still made it without stopping, and in 45 minutes. so 9 minute miles, which would have been slightly better had the course not had a full mile (mile 4) all uphill. so having not run virtually all summer, and the only times being indoors on a treadmill, the road kicked my ass and I am sore for it. but felt good that I got some exercise on the road and helped support a good cause in a very small way.

After I got cleaned up, drove across WI to Winona, MN to the old acoustic cafe that I am so fond of. got there a few hours early and was just chillin, waiting to set up and perform. but the wild card was this zombie pub crawl that I wanted to take part of, which was from 4-midnight on this night and winona is 3 hours from twin cities, which i quickly realized, and now I have to see if I can return all of the accessories I bought before leaving town (white makeup, fake blood, fake teeth, decorative moss, black liner, and fake brain) maybe next year zombies...

well i'm still getting over the loss of my guitar, which I played soooo sooo soooo many shows with. I was very comfortable with this guitar, and will miss her very much. lots of miles and lots of shows... I hope the crack that the thief bought with the money they sold my guitar for fucking kills them... I used to have an alarm in my prior HOnda Element but when I hit the deer and totaled it, that is one thing that was not recovered... the deer is still haunting me...

anyway, cutting the trip short by canceling the final two shows in Kansas just so I can cut my losses from this mishap and go home a few days earlier and sort things out with the claim, and money, etc...

life goes on.

upon entering Indiana

2009-10-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, anyone who knows me won't take this the wrong way...

So I'm cruising down to Indiana to play at Anderson University yesterday, and saw something I had never noticed before... just as I crossed state lines, I saw a couple of interesting billboards. they were for two different bar/restaurant/club type places...

one huge billboard read: BUTT HUTT. which I didn't think was THAT wierd, but a little...

then the 2nd one was for a place called, simply: "GAY'S"

hmm... indiana... more liberal than we thought, eh?

the show at Anderson was cool, just like the past couple of visits. one perk is that they always set up someone, usually a student to play before me... and this one was really good. her name is jill potter. she was awesome and had a 3-piece set up with a banjo player and her friend singing harmonies. some great songs...

now I am in chicago, day 2 of the midwest swing. I have today off and am hanging at my friends awesome house. tonight i may go visit my old pal Stolie who is a great musician from chicago and she hosts an open mic in town tonight, so I might head up there and hang... tomorrow, round 3 at Marquette University @ The Annex... super excited. I hope some peeps show up. the first time through was awesome, the 2nd time was a bit rough, just a handful of people were there, but my friend and personal promoter is back in town and she always rounds up the troops.

my first visit featured getting scolded by a college girl for filling up my dixie cup at the wrong keg, which was followed up by my most accurate game of beer pong ever. so those two events were a wash... this one ought to be fun, who knows what will be in store when I am pretending to be a college kid again...

Saturday, a nice return to Winona, MN to a place that I have been playing I think since first tour, or even when I was still in college.... after that I am looking forward to my first ZOmbie Pub Crawl. i bought some makeup and accessories and i'm going to try to be a zombie somewhere in st. paul i think... after I play in winona, which is a bit of a hike, but who cares. you only live once, right? unless you're a zombie I guess..

then I hope to stop in Ames, IA to watch Vienna Teng perform on my way to Kansas. its not out of the way at all, so hoplefuly I make it...

as for the recording, in case anyone is interested, we have 4 songs done (almost). each song needs one element added or fixed aside from general editing and mixing, so once we do all of that, we'll have the album (essentially) 25% done? i don't know how many songs will make it, but we have at least 4, so that will be decided I guess sometime very far off from now. the songs we have laid down so far include: "Belong" "Conversation" "Peculiar Things" and "Stay 4 Hours."

and they are all sounding like the best recordings that I have ever been a part of, by at least 10x.

so as soon as we get a cut done which is mixed and ready to rock to, I will post it up on myspace...

-have a good one.

Late Road Installment #1

2009-09-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

howdy ho. as mr. hanky would say. so i have been meaning to type up this road entry for a few days. I left MI last MOnday, Labor Day for the show at Point Park in downtown Pittsburgh. I bought a pair of cheap shades at the rest area cos it was sunny up until that point. well... after 4 days of rain and some cold later, I am in Maine. i didnt leave my "place" today. my friend has lived out here for years and this is a most welcome visit (for me) and i seldom leave her place when I come here. I usually just relax, watch tv (i don't have cable at home). today i watched the williams sisters win another grand slam title, and a great match as the men's Open final, Juan Martin Del Potro a 20 year-old, knocked off the best player in tennis history roger federer. It was a great match.

the shows have been spotty, but i have enjoyed the trip so far. i left my guitar stand in NYC, but plan to swing through on Weds and pick it up on the way to NJ. I'm also going to get to hang out with my estranged producer john (PJ as I call him). he's been a busy guy and i want to hear what he thinks of what we recorded since he left detroit a couple of months ago.

So between my shows in pittsburgh and east stroudsburg, pa, i stopped in at this little restaurant in the middle of nowhere. i was gassing up and saw it across the street and thought I needed something light. so I drove across the street and got a little chicken salad and a coffee (i usually only drink coffee in the morning and with an egg type breakfast t dish). so i got there apparently pretty close to when they were gonna close, and the place was pretty em,pty to begin with. the girl behind the bar counter was cool. and i was just happy to watch some sports on cable. and we got to talking:

she told me that when she was with her ex-husband they lived in the midwest. in southern indiana. there was no work in PA so they moved to where the work was, and they fell in Indiana. she told me that in southern indiana there is TONS of drugs. drug trafficking, and everyone uses. she said crystal meth was the drug of choice in this area. I then told her about my incident in kokomo, indiana last year (refer to journal entry monday, October 20th, 2008). I told her how an Indiana cop once told me that there was tons of drugs in kokomo (maybe that's why the beach boys wrote that song about it). and i didn't believe him at the time, but what this girl was telling me just seemed a lot more real. she said her ex was engulfed, and was just throwing everything away for the stuff.

then when i was served my chicken salad, the guy who made it came out and told me to let him know how it tastes, cos this was his first time making the chicken salad. i was a bit confused, but i could tell that it was made from scratch, cos of the texture and the time it took for them to serve me and this was something good in my mind. so he went on to explain that he's not usually a cook. he's a steel worker, and he had been laid off. poor guy. everyone there was really nice and i couldn't help but instantly think of the parallel between pittsburgh (and PA) and people of Detroit and Michigan. i was listening to them just kind of disclose a lot of their personal stories to a complete stranger, and it was like they didn't care, like they were talking to an old friend. I usually don't appreciate when strangers disclose personal information to me, but this wasn't disruptive. like i said it had the tone of someone just chatting up with someone they might feel comfortable with.

there was a 3rd guy working there. i don't know if he was a cook or what, but he was telling me a story about his ex-wife. I looked down the counter, and was watching him poor himself a HUGE cup of coffee, and he was emptying several creams and several sugars into it, the wrappers surrounding the cup on the counter. I asked him, how about some coffee with your cream. he chuckled, and told me this paraphrased response: "I used to drink my coffee completely black, and I used to say, 'i like my coffee like I like my women, strong and black' as a joke. then i found out that's the way my ex-wife likes her men, strong and black, and now she's married to the strong black guy that she was cheating on me with. so now i'll never drink plain black coffee again." as comfortable as he was in telling me that, and as funny he was in telling the story, i couldn't help but smile. he then told me that now this man and his ex-wife live together with his kids. this man treats his kids right, and that's all that matters, he said. he also went on to say that he has befriended this man, for the reason that he's great to his kids, and also because he can relate to the man, since he thinks his ex-wife is cheating again on this new guy and he knows what it's like to be in those shoes.

i thought, that takes a certain type of man. this guy sleeps with your wife while you are married, and now they're together and your marriage is over, and yet you found the bright side of it. its hard not to think highly of a man with that type of philosophy.

so all the people I met that night at this little restaurant (i can't remember the name) had their own stories, and i thought they all kind of had unique stories and have experienced things that some and none can relate to, so I thought I'd share them with you.

i get to meet a lot of interesting people on the road. that's have the enjoyment for me, well at least 49%. i really love playing music.

I also got the chance to hang out briefly with a girl that I have not seen almost since high school. she goes down as one of the only girls that i ever blew off, as I usually am the one to get the brush off in a romantic dating scenario. we dated back in high school, and i was older, so I was going to college and she was staying in high school obviously, and I said basically we've had a nice summer, i'm going to college, let's just leave it at that. and at the time, of course, i did the less than nice thing, and she handled it well, just took it for what it was, and that was that. furthermore, i wrote a song somewhat inspired by that whole scenario, but you might not ever know it. it's on Time Is Right album, the 1st CD i ever recorded, when I was a senior in college.

anyway we had lunch in NYC, where she lives and works, we caught up a bit. and it was really warm. it was really nice. Now she's married by the way, so let me get that out of the way. but even though we basically had seen each other once or twice in the past ten years (none of them recently) it was kind of like just catching up with an old friend but there was still the sarcasm, the fun and no awkwardness at all. and the sushi was good.

so i'm in Maine now, and leaving tomorrow. did a lot of e-mailing this week for booking for next year, and hoping that i can surpass this year and set new goals for 2010.

i hope to visit googies lounge again on my way to NJ from Mass on weds to pick up the guitar stand I left at the club. fucking hate forgetting SHIT. see it makes me so mad, that I use all CAPS sometimes!

i need some gelato to calm down...

have a good week.

bee better

2009-04-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

did i spell sobatical correctly? i used to be the best speller. when i was at st. regis for K through 4th grade, i used to win all the spelling bees, and it would usually come down to me and my friend dustin. i still remember the school wide spelling bee, with all of best spellers from each class. i was in 3rd or 4th grade and we were competing with 8th graders and they were dropping like flies. i thought i had a chance... then the dreaded word came /fl-ah-wur/ and i did not ask for it in a sentence, i quickly reeled off the correct spelling for "flower." god dammit! fuck. she pulled a fast one on me... it was FLOUR. I hated our principle that day.

anyway... on to bigger and better days... i'm over it... somewhat...

i have been off the road for a few weeks now and am gearing up for the final shows of the "school" year. some good colleges, and i believe I have been to all of them before, last Fall, so thats a great omen... a couple specific ones I'm looking forward to are Marquette and Hamline to finish off the season of shows for me...

while i've been in MI, i've been scraping by and slinging food to hungry people at a couple of local establishments. but in the productive category, i've sent a couple of songs to a licensing agency out east to try to get some music from low carb lp placed in tv and film. we'll see what comes of that...

also the ball is officially rolling on a new album. it's been 4.5 years since i have put out a collection of new material. while in the meantime i have posted a variety of demos of new songs and recordings, this has just not done the songs justice... so i met a producer out east, and he's going to help me develop some of the many songs I have written over the past 5 years and we're going to see what comes of it... i get to meet with him and jam it out when I head out east next week, and am looking forward to it.

i've never worked with a producer before. i once was speaking with a local songwriter and singer from detroit sara celina at a bar and she told me how she hired a producer and it cost her a ton of money per song, and I said, "i could never do that" and i hope she didn't take it the wrong way, because i meant that i could never AFFORD that. i was thinking, how could she afford over $1000 per song, what about the studio time, what about other factors, expenses?? AHH, it all sounded so crazy. but in the end, i think there always comes a time when you have to come to terms with yourself as an artist and say, "self, i think someone else might be able to make this better. I've laid the foundation, and i need something to take it to another level. a level of unspecified territory... "

i'm real happy with my past recordings, given the circumstances and the timeframes involved with each of them... but today is a different day and now is the time to put something out there that I can hang my hat on.

and i don't yet have a hat rack...

in other news, i am happy to hear about how tristan prettyman is inspired again in regards to music. i was reading her blogs periodically and she writes some great blogs, and is so honest and true with her feelings and words, and with all she's been through with her major record label, and all that jive, i think she's coming out of hibernation... i once played a show with her before she was signed, at twiggs in SD, and she's really cool and laid back... anyway, she's a solid songwriter and seemed to be a little lost for a while... but i think she's back on her feet... if anyone has time to seek out new music, check out tristan prettyman here on myspace...

piece.

madness i tell you

2009-03-12T14:13:00.001-07:00

madness i tell you
sorry for anyone hoping for a profound entry today... i am referring to march madnses. one of my favorite sports times of the year. i look forward to going onto espn.com and filling out my maximum available brackets and trying to best the competition of millions who do the same... iwo ke up today in wichita, ks. played at a school there yesterday afternoon. one time years ago, I was crusin through kansas, and didn't have anything going on that night... and i stopped at wichita state to use some internet in their library. (must have been pre-laptop) and i discovered just minutes later that they would have a big basketball home game going on, so I decided it can't be that hard to get a ticket. so I walked down to the arena, where the hords of people were headed. then to my surprise the game was sold out. so some guy sold me a ticket for like $5. So I went in. by my lonesome and just observed the game. the Shockers started off very strong against northern iowa this night. they were up 10 at halftime. it looked like I was going to witness a sure victory. the shockers sustained their lead well into the second half, but as most sports go, there has to be a comeback. northern iowa started surging and got within 2 points with under 3seconds remaining. but they had to inbound the ball from halfcourt. so as I started my descent from my nosebleed seats I ended up in the corridor area trying to beat the rush nad the place was buzzing. all of a sudden, I just heard complete silence, and masses of people filed quietly out of the various sections. northern iowa hit a miracle halfcourt 3 pointer to win the game by one. at the buzzer.

i was never really into college basketball when I was at WMU. I did go to a few football games. and those were always fun... in retrospect i wish i would have been a better supporter of WMU sports and gone to more games. especially the D.1 hockey games. I played for the club team, and we got to play most of our games at lawson arena, but we didn't get much of the crowds.

side note: if you notice a ton of typos, it's not me, it's this wierd delay of the internet. I'm accessing my home computer remotely right now. anyway.

but i love watching all of these bball games, the NBA doesn't really do it for me, i love making brackets on two different websites, and getting into pools with my friends. (i don't have a workplace pool to enter, cos I don't really have an office).

after i get home asturday iw il lhave over a month off (of travelling) before i get back to my final string of shows in late april-early May. i'm thrilled to have a break from driving, but not thrilled to have a break from playing shows.

Also, in toher news. I may possibly be getting the ball rolling on a new CD. i know i have not put one out since '04, and it's about 3-4 years overdue. but i'm hoping i will be able to do it, and not only that, but do it with a producer for the first time... more news to come on that as things develop. but if you visit this page you will know that i have been putting up tons of songs over the years that are post-Low Carb. i probably have over 40 songs which i would have to narrow down and really put some thought into including on the next album, as I expect a new recording, with a producer to be epic.

also if you've seen a show in the past 2 -3 years you may have heard a bunch of the songs that may be included on the next future record. so i'm pretty psyched about the prospect, but much needs to be worked out in the meatine. m

see that last typo? crazy... that M was wayyy late...

all right, I'll be in des moines playing tomorrow, playing in hays, ks tonight and then back by the weekend...

rockin rolla coca-cola.

subjects (a sort of stream)

2009-02-24T21:58:00.001-08:00

so i guess there's no real reason to post this blog, but i haven't posted since I was in maine. that week I performed i think 5 days in a row... i say days and not nights since one of them was an afternoon college show at good old JMU, thanks to Shari for getting me back in there. i left her a gift (parking ticket) upon my departure. someone remind me to change my license plate sometime between now and Fall...

well i've been keeping really busy here in the F just a block or two from the D... i have been slinging food at a couple of good establishments and gearing up for another great set of shows for March. a few colleges, some old, some new, and some great new places in alabama and in kansas. otherwise, you know I'm just about to start hitting up colleges for Fall shows.

this thing, you know it never ends...it's a somewhat tedious cycle. the payoff is what makes it all worth it. i never find myself hating what I do. ever. sometimes I need to stretch or take a lengthy break from like e-mailing the 1,000th person for the day. no lie though I send hundreds of e-mails some days... not spam y'all, like freakin e-mails and some cutting and pasting, but it's part of the gig. and like i said, once the shows come it's always worth it.

i changed the name on my page today and started a facebook for High May Music. High May is the name change. it's still me and my songs, my music, lyrics, shoddy singing and guitar-playing. but i just decided, like yesterday or today and was like "fook it" so it's High May now. I figure i'm well overdue on an album or two, and if I do end up doing a record this year it'll be as High May. and I've been writing down every good album title idea that I dream up from time to time.

i bought these little notebooks from barnes and noble, somewhere in MA i think earlier this month. their blank page, pocket style and i guess are based on what some people used to use in the old days. obviously it's hard to recreate things like that, but i used to have these journals, notebooks filled with scratchings, setlists, notes, phone numbers, addresses, names, lyrics, titles, and anything that I had to write down while on the road. i don't know what's happened to them. i think they're in a box somewhere in my basement. but i thought the pocket size might work out well here...

i was recently playing in PA at this music conference. i saw a great band called Vulgarrity www.myspace.com/vulgarrity and they are playing in detroit i just noticed.... but FUCK, I am in Maine that night playing at Thomas College... what the frick man... anyone reads this, check out their page and go see them. a brother and sister tandem, with electric guitar loops, drivng bass, rockin drums and most importantly, killer HARMONIES.... they both can sing! and their name is pretty sweet too...

my bro is having twins. i'm pretty excited to be an uncle. uncle jimmy i think i'll be called although my bro calls me james most of the time. they are going to be sick hockey players. the next henrik and frederick sedin. I think those are the names of the twins in the NHL on the canucks... can someone verify this for me?

i recently got back in touch with an OLD friend from my hockey youth through facebook. i started my page a few weeks ago amidst a ton of peer pressure and general ridicule. most of which I can take, but when I went to sign up and was finished signing up in 3 minutes, i thought this can't be THAT bad. reconnecting is cool, and I get to choose who to reconnect with, and its not just me trying to compile as many "friends" as i can. i started a High May facebook page just to keep things separate. you know even though i don't have a personal myspace page, i changed the name because i kinda want this to be mainly used for music. music is what I live for, and what i am very proud of. and now that i have this fucking facebook page, people I know can write me little stupid messages, and i can use myspace for music shite.

i'm going down to ATL this weekend to play the eddies attic open mic. i also am hopefully going to catch up with at least one of 3 friends who live down there whom i have not seen in years and also whom I would really love to catch up with... they are all very good people and the type of people i value while not really being that close with... i put value on people. i value many people in my life differently. sometimes I put more value on someone I haven't seen in 5-10 years than someone i see on the regular. but on the flipside, maybe i don't choose to see that someone i see on the regular, and am thrown into it, so you get my drift?

i have been sleeping in my sweatpants all winter. i don't like to turn my heat up too high and sometimes wear sweatshirts too. when I wear socks to bed, I always have dreams... my socks are like dream catchers. it's wierd. i awoke this morning to sunlight and thought I had vastly overslept when I saw brightness, but it was still an hour before my alarm was set to go off, so naturally i went back to sleep but was kind of shocked. spring is coming and I am excited. i also awoke this morning with a couple of random names in my head and immediately e-mailed my brother to tell him that these must have been possible names for his soon to be twin boys. the names are damon (or daman / damen) and denny. i think denny sounds cool only because ben folds has a son names Louie. and those names sound really similar and equally cool to me, even though these names probably only came to me because I kept my socks on last night.

i work hard. and i hate when people imply that I am a lazy musician or that i "don't have a job" I always leave the room when someone says something like that even if I know that they are joking.

i have a newfound respect for some of my friends upon reading things that they disclose about themselves on the facebook. just things I never knew even though I thought I was tight with them. i like to support local businesses but always consider myself too broke to support nearly as many as i would like. i love sleeping. i should be sleeping right now but i consider myself to be on a bit of a roll right now. tomorrow I get to jam with one of my best friends whom i seldom see even though he lives only about 20 minutes away, and who gave my my first guitar and is the reason I have a myspace music page right now. i'm excited for that. i hate the fact that some people i know are fighting to keep their jobs and they hate the grind of the corporate world. i wish i could help them.

in college i took on a position to help raise money for children's miracle network. i only ended up raising a few thousand dollars but found it very rewarding and even though I felt I was sabotaged sometimes by the people around me. i still intend to be a philanthropist one day, but for some reason I can only see myself doing it on a GRANDE scale. i don't know why. i will seldom, if ever, hesitate to donate my time, especially for music, for a good cause. i still play free shows on the road every once in a while even though I can't afford to.

i do believe i'm gonna hit the hay right now.

this brings me back

2008-12-09T19:40:00.001-08:00

i remember back when i was in college. about 6-9 years ago and i had homework... well i'd like to share with you something that was shared with me. a nice young lady named sarah was nice enough to speak with me and ask me a bunch of questions after I played at Marquette Univ. back a couple months ago. this was her final project and I like it... maybe i just like attentions... yeah that's it...

here's the link: (it's her blog for today, December 9th)

Read her project here

enjoy...

rat-a-tat-tat

2008-11-29T06:38:00.000-08:00

I know I know I got back from NC a week ago... sue me... the final show at warren wilson was very interesting... I rolled up to this campus kind of in the middle of nowhere, though only a matter of miles from a major highway. I was psyched cos it was the last show of the year for me... not because I didn't want to play anymore shows, but because I was just happy that there were shows this year and that I got to play them and that I was in NC.

I'm just excited for what '09 has to bring. i don't tend to look ahead often, but its only about a month ahead at this point so screw it.anyway this place, warren wilson college... very unique place. part of campus seems almost like a campground. 1 its freezing last friday, and as I'm driving, trying to find the building in the dark, i see a bunch of kids out there with fire pits, and like fold up chairs drinking and just hanging out in various little spots on campus. 2, there was a lot of laughing from these kids on campus. maybe somethings in the water. very positive vibe, I mean like way more laughing than you would expect. I was sitting in this room at the "st. clair guest house" (another unique place" and looking out my window and just seeing tons of kids walkin around all day and laughing it up.

the guest house... geez, it was this really old-fashioned b&b type place, and I'll tell you what, I've never been to a bed & breakfast, but i'm guessing if I had been to one, this is what it would be like. really old fashioned. no tvs in the room or anywhere else in sight. there was a common room with some couches, and then a couple bathrooms on either end of the 2nd floor, where I was. I had a nice little bed, and a desk and a dresser. it was perfect for my purpose, which was to hopefully find internet and a cell phone signal and get some booking work done. I did arrive pretty early.

so the sage cafe is a seemingly student-run coffeehouse/cafe, and the kids there, just as a first impression, were a little rough around the edges. like i said, this place is hard to explain, eccentric isn't the word... but this place is unique. the people are unique, and it was really just a one of a kind show. they set me up, i rocked it the best I could, and i finished off my tea which had turned into just juice by the end and it was a really good time. this show was also the debut of my tattoo...

i'm sure my dad and mom will find out pretty soon, but hopefully not til spring...

By the way, it's on my arm, not calf... and it's still healing which explains all the irritation, which is pale in comparison to the irritation of having the tattoo applied. it's completely normal. must keep applying lotion...

..I got it from Danny Reed at Empire Tattoo in downtown Asheville. I'm quite happy with it. the place is a little pricier than most, but they did a stellar job...

hope everyone had a great givingthanks and are snapping out your food coma like I already have... back in the cold detroit. keeping very busy... guitar center has a big sale today... so I'm off...

throw out the flip flops I guess

2008-11-20T13:54:00.000-08:00

Asheville, NC

you know how people sometimes say, "seemed like a good idea at the time?"

Well my idea to drive down to Boone, NC the other day and leave MI around 10-11pm for a 10 hour drive never really seemed like a good idea at any point. my old habits of nodding off at the wheel had been contained in the recent touring this season. but i knew i had such a small window for sleep and knew I had to get pretty far before actually taking a small nap (2 hours max) in order to make it to Appalachian State Univ for a noon time show yesterday.

Well I got to where I wanted. i got to Kentucky, it was about 3am. I was in rough shape at this point and knew I had max 2 hours to sleep and with no real alarm. somehow I awoke right before 5am, shined up the teeth, got some food and was off again. it took forever for the sun to come up. and I was still pretty tired, but once that sun came up my body adjusted and I was cruisin toward boone. I thought I was closer however, than I really was. I got on a road which stated I was only 30 miles from boone, but what I didn't realize was that this was a slow and winding road which takes forever to get through. I arrived 15 minutes prior to showtime, and set up quickly and was off.

everything went on without a hitch and the show was great as I played to a bunch of lunch-eaters in their student center. afterward I gave away a bunch of discs and played an additional song unplugged for a couple of nice girls who only hear my last song or two and wanted a little more.

so I was unshowered, and on 2 hours sleep. I decided to get a room in boone for the day/night and the bonus was... that BJ Novak (ryan from "the office") was doing stand up on campus this same evening, so I got a ticket. but not before a nice nap and shower at the High Country Inn in boone.

BJ Novak was pretty funny. he was a little late but they had an a capella group sing for about an hour until he got there and ready to make everyone laugh. had some great material and even took questions about the office afterward which was pretty cool. I raised my hand but he didn't see me. I wanted to ask him: What kind of research did you to to protray your character when he was addicted to blow and a criminal?

alas, the question went un-asked. you like that word, un-asked?

anyway... when I left MI i packed my flip flops and some shorts, thinking, this is carolina, it's got to be nice warm weather... upon arrival. just as cold or even colder than MI. WTF?

but thanks to Randy at APP State for bringing me in and he also took a long time out of his busy day after I performed to talk with me about the industry and some of the things he's been through in the 30+ years of him buying entertainment nationally. he told me about how he booked john mayer for $1,500 before he was JOHN MAYER. and just gave me tons of insight.

today was another afternoon show at UNC-Asheville. I especially was looking forward to this one... why? because this show (while being 2nd to last of the year for me) was the 1st show booked/confirmed for the entire tour. I was still tossing around notions and anxiety back in Feb-March of this year: "what if no one books me?" "what if I can't get any other shows in NC?" etc...

but andrew got me early and worked it out and it was at that point several months ago that gave me confidence that other shows would come, and they did, and they mostly went well. very consistent around this country. all the shows had low turnouts but high response. so it's very positive for me going into '09 with booking...

I played at this place called the Glasshouse, which if you're wondering IS an actual glasshouse. apparently today on campus a water main got busted and left the entire campus without water... bummer for them but I'm sure it's sorted out by now. so when andrew asked me if I needed any water, I promptly said, "bottled, please..." with a smile...

it was a fun time, and I brought up a guy named BEN, to play the (what has become) traditional djiembe on "pile of gold" which so many strangers have played these past couple months... and he was awesome... ranking up there with the guy from Rhode Island. he said, "i'm not much of a djiembe-ist" but he was pretty awesome. and I told him next time I come to play at UNC-A he is hired to join me and I'll send him some more music to learn! we'll see if that pans out...

so i'm in asheville now for the night. have spent the last 3 hours or so, working on booking, catching up on e-mails, haven't had any access in the past couple days since I left, but no one really contacts me too much. i just needed time to research the latest pornographic spam e-mails that I've received in order to rank them in order of quality 1st and value 2nd. and I'm almost done... but am getting the wierdest looks from people in the coffeeshop here...

i also might visit empire tattoo here for a consultation... on a recommendation from the male coffee guy here...

off we go... last show of the college schedule tomorrow night!

the most beautiful of days (lost entry)

2008-10-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

*Big news on the Ingrid update: Ingrid did NOT write today...

I don't know if anyone can relate. but i am just having a great day. I just got back into town a couple days ago from a great set of shows... I met Citizen Cope, and got a chance to talk a little music with him. Amazing, inspiring performance from him, and I come home... and to cap it all off.... as if I haven't had a great enough couple of weeks... my roommate moved out today.

I didn't want to speak too soon, for fear that I would curse the act and that something might happen and she would somehow stay, but now, all of the unecesssary garbage and junk, and clutter and dirt is gone... It's unfortunate, that for the last year I had my worst roommate situation ever. as many partnerships, they have the honeymoon phase, and this one didn't last long. and I knew it wouldn't change no matter what. so I stuck it out. bit my lip, and finally this glorious day has come.

The best part is, i'm told she moved across the country, to a place where people like her fit in, because things aren't really real there... and the further the better. Without going into too much detail about my joy and the ridiculous happenings of the past year, I'll just list some adjectives off the top of my head which describe her:

Selfish, inconsiderate, rude, careless, irresponsible, unrealistic, emotional, impulsive, close-minded, immature... and that was just my stream of consciousness list..

ahhhhhhhhhhh (huge sigh of relief)

I've just eliminated the most worthless person that was in my life, and what a feeling. To anyone who may read. I've met a few people in my life that share some of the above characteristics and personality and character flaws. My advice when in this situation is just to sever all ties. I never have to worry about hearing from this person again, and to actually live with someone like this is really rough because when you don't have any sort of a grasp on reality, it's tough to communicate and understand these types of people...

I had to live in a pile of garbage, wrappers, junk strewn all over the place for at least the last 10 months, with no effort whatsoever to change it. Now, that all of her belongings are gone, this place looks like an actual home again, and I intend to make it so.

If you ever know someone who doesn't know what to do when the toilet is running (jiggle the handle??) or who throws actual garbage into a shower drain or flushes trash down the toilet, you know you are involved with someone who doesn't know how to live...

A waiver should be noted, don't worry, we were never an item or anything, it wasn't like a breakup. But as you can see I have tons of resentment for the ridiculous actions that have taken place by someone who, in my estimation, at times didn't even realize she had a roommate...

Good riddance.

Back to reality!

some post tragedy history/motivation

2008-10-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

When I was at Wichita State University in Kansas earlier this month, I forgot to mention the historic site I visited. And once you read the plaque I snapped, you'll understand that dreams do come true...

Poor guys. They sold Pizza Hut for $300,000. But back then money was worth something. I like how they relocated the actual original HUT to show the students what a couple of WSU students could do. The started with $600. and it was borrowed... amazing...
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In other photos I dug up, these were taken as I cruised the highway (really safe I know)

I love what I do. if you read the blog I posted just before this one, I separated them because they have completely different tones to them.

the other one was pretty light hearted, considering people die all the time from hitting deer while driving. I usually don;t think about it, and I do take things for granted. obviously I could have been seriously injured or killed. I think what saved me was that I never saw the deer. I was driving, and then BANG. No preparation. I could have swirved, and maybe rolled over my car or ran into a tree or something. yes this is a reason start praying and shit. but i know it would just be temporary and i would just be going through a phase. I thanked the big man, and hope I don't have to hit another deer again, mainly because I wouldn't want to kill another one. I have no proof this one is dead, but judging by the state of my car, my speed, and the fact that my cars route was not altered at all, I'm guessing I took care of him/her.

it's something that makes you think. it was a big accident. I'm really glad that there were no other people/cars involved. I'll try not to think too much about it...

when I got home finally at 6am yesterday morning, i forgot all about it and smiled widely when my head hit the pillow. it was nice to be home. i love performing, cruising and meeting new people. i'd love to make the road home. I've said it many times. i love the interaction of shows and with meeting the kids who bring me in to play, but the communication i'm missing is when I am driving, hanging in the hotel room, having a beer somewhere or dinner. i'm sure it will come eventually. I just want to keep the momentum going, and thanks to everyone who has made each of these trips either just plain convenient or just plain memorable for me.

it is my pleasure.

Oh Deer! what happened?

2008-10-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

I'll start off the blog with some photos:

and now here's the recap...

After Chicago, and after I got searched by cops and a drug sniffing narcotic k-9 unit. I headed to Anderson Indiana to play a little college show. The little coffeeshop at Mocha Joes in the student center was really cool. nice big stage and great sound... I even was treated to a great taco salad by jessie. So after I played I decided I could make it home by around 2am, and said, what the hell and went for it. so i put on my driving sweats and hit the road. everything was going smoothly. I made it very far, and was not even tired at all.

I think it was aroudn Albion exit on I-94 East, and I had just fuled up for the final hour of the trip, which I was sure to make given I wasn't that tired at around 1:30am. I got me a coffee, even though I didn't need it. just for the hell of it... got back onto the higway. found a great XM radio station... was jammin, singing, and then-

Oh the horror... I didn't know what happened. one second I was just cruisin, and the next. All I see is dust, airbags and hear bad noises coming from my car... oh yeah and a huge BANG preceding all that. So I didn't know what the fuck was happening, so I rolled down my windows to clear out some dust. I kept moving forward, albeit while slowing down, cos my gears were gone and was basically in neutral at that point. There were no other cars around. so I got onto th shoulder. and noticed a piece of my car hanging from the front driver side. couldn't figure out what it was though.

Called 911, a police officer showed up about 20 minutes later. I was still in my car, mainly because i was in rural Jackson, MI (not too nice of a town) at 1:30am on the shoulder and no lights anywhere, but also cos of a bit of shock for a few minutes. He examined my grill and told me that I had hit a deer.

so i called up my bro and he answered fortunately. and as expected, said, "i'm on my way".... about an hour drive. he picked up his resourceful friend Andy and they came to the rescue, but not before stopping at a Meijer to drop deuce side by side...

Here are some more pics that capture the night...

Then I gave my wonderful vehicle an almost sure "last goodbye"

Does the future look bright for the "perdiodic table of Element?"

baby why don't we go...

2008-10-19T18:25:00.001-07:00

...down to Kokomo...

well no big updates from me i guess since last trip i took.

this one started with a radio show at Hamline University in St. P. the two hosts of the show decided on this night that, as well as host me for the night, they would each try to drink a gallon of chocolate milk during the show. needless to say, it didn't happen, however it was pretty fun for me to watch them almost throw up a couple of times, and i'm pretty sure their nights weren't as smooth as mine.

during the show, I got 3 texts worth of directions to my friend Gayle's place. this was my couch for the night. hadn't seen my old pal gayle in a while. she bought her own house. pretty excited for her. even though the heat wasn't turned on yet, i still slept well... just add a blanket baby...

The show at Hamline was cool. the group that brought me in, HEAT, also hosted a free coffee and caramel apples night. they offered fresh apples, caramel sauce and a variety of sweet, sugary toppings. everyone who was there seemed to enjoy it. the show was fun. this guy Guthrie jammed before me, and was pretty good, although he was ill. i jumped up real quick during his medley of classics, and sang a few harmonies for the lyrics, "don't know much about history, don't know much biology, but I do know that I love you..." etc. great song...

then he was nice enough to be my honorary band member for the night and he played "pile of gold" with me.

I like Hamline and look forward to returning in May for their party...
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Now we have Winona... OHHHH winona... well the turnout was reminiscent of when I first started playing there. alas, of the crew that initially made winona so magical for me, only 1 remained. kelly. she came out and brought a friend and the rest of the people stuck around for either the 1st hour or 2nd hour. so it was cool, and afterward they told me they were heading across the street to see this cool local band. so I packed up and met them up there. this band was awesome. it was actually the opening band... AND this bar (i think called draught house) NEVER charges cover and always has bands! what an amazing deal...

anyway the opening band was called "we are the branches" and they were really good. I especially liked the song, "i think i'm dead." though they had many other great ones. plus the lead guy had long curly hair and a beard, so how can you not like that?? I made a couple new friends that night, and slept on Nate's couch (the guy who set me up at Acoustic to play).
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Chicago, IL

got to catch up with a friend from college, my old linemate from the WMU club hockey team. unfortunately I quit on him my sophomore year, but i think he forgot about that. he and his wife erica have a 20-month old boy and this boy is the cutest. he took a liking to me, much like female dogs do... (not comparing the two of course) and showed me all of his toys. I found a couch once again. my friends have really been coming through for me this month. I really fucking appreciate it!! I hope not only to see them again soon, but to see erica act. she's in a production of "the producers" right now somewhere in chicago...

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bermuda, jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to key largo montego, baby why don't we go to... kokomo, where I got pulled over and my car searched by an officer and a narcotic sniffing dog!

TRUE.

Yeah I wanted to get pictures with the nice officers and the dog that sniffed out my car AND ACTUALLY BARKED, WHICH MEANS IT SMELLED NARCOTICS!! the officers were both really nice, and they suggested I check out this place Mike's Pizza in Kokomo, Indiana here where I have been using their internet for like the past 7 hours. sorry for the girl who was waiting on me, but Im giving her more than 20% tip and i ordered a pizza... even though I wasn't hungry... but it was good anyway...

One more SHOW for this leg. Anderson University in Indy here tomorrow night...

no couches tonight though... what the frik.

check out:

-We Are The Branches
-Mara Levi

good music... support indie music!

go away

2008-10-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

*Ingrid Phone Call Log for Monday, Oct. 6th: Ingrid did not call today

It's freakin pouring outside right now. I'm in wichita. just played on campus at Wichita State this afternoon. It was a pretty cool afternoon gig. Similar to the Ole Miss deal but this one is inside... they put me up in this great room/apartment on campus. I walk in and everything's nice and then I look around and there's a kitchen, fridge, microwave. There's 2 bathrooms, and an office... it's actually technically student housing, but i guess they use this particular unit for out of area guests, etc... so it's pretty sweet. the unfortunate part is that I have all day here now and it's nasty outside. I don't feel like going out there at all.

yesterday, in order to get here, I had a 12 hour drive from Milwaukee. That, too, was nasty. it wasn't as rough as it could have been, but I just listened to the XM radio all day and tried not to get too bored. the gig at Marquette was awesome. I played at this place called the Annex. It's technically on campus i guess, but the campus is like right in the city of milwaukee almost downtown area. AND the Annex is literally right around the corner from the couch I was crashing on at my friends place...

a shout out to all the ultimate frisbee peeps and all the others who showed up for my first ever milwaukee show. I really had an awesome time and the singing the audience did during "the line" was pretty solid. right after the show I got the chance to speak with a young journalist, sarah, who writes for the marquette tribune, and she asked me all these questions that no one has ever asked me before, and it's not like they were crazy questions, it's just that no one asks. i don't do a lot of press. I wish I did, but, as I told her, I put all of my time into securing shows, cos if you don't get a show, then there's no reason to set up any interviews or anything... so it was cool. i kinda forgot how I got to this place, i mean from the beginning. why do I play guitar? why do I write songs? it would never have happened if I never received a SEARS guitar as a gift on my 18th b-day. so I have not forgotten that...

Friday night after a long day of ultimate frisbee and driving around milwaukee i decided it was time to get back to my roots and pretend I'm a college student. so I went out with rose and her friends and we just walked around and did a little party tour of marquette. a couple apartments, a couple of parties. played a little beer pong (and I was on fire by the way; only missed like two shots). then had a late night gyro and made fresh guacamole before passing out. just like old times I guess... i wasn't that drunk or anything, but, well... i wasn't sober. it was a freezing night too, and the weather is changing all around...

One thing I'm really excited about right now is that I am going to see citizen cope play a solo acoustic show in kansas city tomorrow night. he's one of my favorite songwriters and has influenced a couple of my newer songs: "dust" and "stay 4 hours." I got a 7th row ticket. I hope it's in the closest section to the stage. I can barely afford the freakin thing, but it's a nice pit stop directly on my way back home, so after that show, it will only be A 12 HOUR DRIVE. That's all. I just did one yesterday, so why not two 12 hour hikes in 3 days...

... fuck

Ultimate CROCS (and fuck politicians)

2008-10-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

whew. need to rehydrate.... why, you ask? well just gone done running around with the baddest ultimate frisbee group between lake michigan and the mississippi. i played at IL ST last night and it was a pretty cool little coffeeshop, Cage II they call it. A great sound crew, including a closet drummer, Andrew who sat in with me on 'pile of gold' and played his heart out. and he didn't even get in trouble for it.

so after being treated like royalty in chicago my Hello Himebaugh, I ventured down to Normal, IL to play at Illinois State. Finally found the campus after making a few wrong turns. Still sporting the Crocs. I initially set up and soundchecked and was about to start until this freakin politician walked in with her big entourage and some ass-kissing followers. I think she is running for congress in IL and her first name was debbie. It was just hard to watch, she was saying all these political lines and it was such a cliche PR atmosphere and nothing seemed sincere at all.

I was worried that her politicking and all the people following her around would scare off all the students who might want to hear some music, so I jumped on stage and started in an effort to clear them from the room. as if my look wouldn't steer them away, I opened up with my song "backside" which is about the worthlessness of government in certain situations and how they are just a bunch of white guys sitting around, hanging out and making noise... and then followed that up with "the line" which has the lyrics: "you're really being a tease / for someone who's got a disease."

mission accomplished.

they filtered out and the students "flocked" in. there was a usual crowd for this tour of about a dozen. we clarified the proper response to "danke" in german, which is "bitte schon" thanks to the girl in the white for confirming that for us all...

i met a cool guy names d'andre (spelling?) afterward also and he's a pretty good singer and tells me he plays piano and has gained the attention and worked with some grammy award nominated artists... and he gave me a good tip on a cool open mic to hit up in Chicago next time I'm through town.

Now, to the current day. i got in touch with my friend Rosemary who has a radio show @ marquette and also she has a couch, so I got in touch with her and met up with her just in the nick of time to join in for her radio show with her two bros. her official title is traffic correspondent, but they don't really do traffic, so it';s just an excuse for her to have to talk less on the air, and cue up music when need be.

they had a great announcement in their booklet about my show tomorrow night on campus and they let me perform "backside" live on air since their topics of conversation on their 'talk' show was covering political topics. and they also played a couple of songs from low carb lp. it was an hour show and I got to chime in on a couple of topics as we passed the two microphones around for the 4 of us. and it was a great experience. ALSO, i met Selvin, the music manager afterward and he got my CD into their regular rotation... sweet....

so after the radio show fortunately rose didn't have any classes so we went to the hardware store to buy a hose and funnel and put a bong together. fun times, never done that before. I mean when I was in college the bongs were already purchased and assembled. and all for under $15. nice deal, eh?

she told me she's with this ultimate frisbee group who has practice today, and I decided to get a workout (as if 3 free games of bowling at illinois state wasn't enough; broke 100 all 3 times) so I went along to the ultimate practice. armed only with my crocs of course, since I still have no shoes for this part of the trip.

One of her friends loaned me a pair of his shoes, and upon chasing around this kid named Luke who totally schooled me a few times, the shoe ended up tearing open and my foot was like falling out of it, and I told him next time I'm in town, I'll hook him up with some footware. NOTE TO SELF: never come to Milwaukee again for this reason, or unless you are rich and can afford to buy him a new pair of shoes.

the practice was cool and everyone was really nice to me, and knowing I was playing in town tomorrow and just welcomed me in to their group and when push came to shove, at the end, I finally caught a pass, and made a pass to an open teammate for a score. I then promptly announced my retirement from ultimate frisbee to the group. it was a sad, and emotional announcement, but with all the memories and ups and downs, I decided to just go with my heart. And being in wisconsin, there's always that chance to pull a brett favre and reinstate myself and my decoy skills to the game... i have a lot to give...

we just got back from some free freshman dorm cafeteria dinner, and everything tastes better when it's free. i told all the crew I was rose's uncle, and a couple of them believed me I think. especially when I went to put some coco puffs into my frozen yogurt for dessert and actually couldn't figure out how to dispense the cereal. yeah its been a while...

touch base tomorrow or sunday after the show... thanks for tuning in with this edition of "To Catch A Predator, uhh I mean songwriter"

bitches love me

2008-10-02T08:55:00.001-07:00

Ingrid Update: Ingrid didn't call yesterday.

OK, I made the drive a couple of days ago (13 hours) to Ole Miss University to play outside the union for their Union Unplugged series. This is one of the few shows/schools that I have played before, that I will be hitting up on this back and forth touring. Typically a nice day and this one was a little cloudy and brisk (which is fine by me) but I still got hot while playing... no matter what you do, if you're a musician, and play the devil's music, like I do, then you most likely will sweat up there...

So I thought that I was coming down before "Miss Ole Miss" was crowned. Last time i swung through there, they have a girl in a red dress, and a girl in the blue dress, and they're like campaigning to be Miss Ole Miss. So while i was driving down there I thought to myself, I'm going to write a limerick for the Ole Miss show, reflecting my admiration for the school, and especially the two gorgeous ladies who are running for this prestigious honour. <---- I love canada

anyway, so when I started playing, I mentioned the campaign, or whatever you call it, and they said it already happened last week, and the winner was chosen. I don't remember which color won, red or blue, but here is my limerick:

"I once played a gig for Homecoming
and the red dress, and blue dress were both stunning
but i voted for brown
and got run out of town
when I come back, you'll know I'm not slummin' "

In "things I forgot to pack" news: As I drove 13 hours to mississippi, and then checked into the hotel, and made several trips to the back of my Element to unpack things, etc... so not until the morning of my Noon show on campus, did I realize, while wearing my comfie CROCS for the drive, that I forgot all of my other pairs of shoes on my steps at home in detroit. This includes flip flops. So my big goal for this next week is to make the CROCS work for every show, and for everywhere I go in the next 7 days. 6 days now I guess...

So with crocs on feet, I was driving up to Illinois (a couple days early) from Mississippi and had now real destination. I texted my buddy Mike, from the well-known HELLO DAVE in Chicago. fortunately he texted me back and after getting the proper paperwork and sanitary clearance to have a guest (who was deemed a little hairy) I was granted not only a roof to sleep under, or a couch on, but a bed, AND.... wait for it... my own personal bathroom.

It started with my endless drive (Illinois is a huge state when driving from south to north) and when I finally arrived, I ended up waking up Daisy with the buzzer, so when I came up the steps she wasn't too happy with me... and Mike and I were both pretty exhausted, so we had a man embrace, and both said, "yeah I'm going to bed." so what happens first thing the next morning??

I'm walking down this long hallway and so is Daisy out of the room, and I startle her, so she freaks out and is about to attack me. Fortunately Mike was right behind and settled her down, and now Daisy and I are tight. To be honest: Bitches love me. I have a ton of great female dog relationships.

-My brothers dog, lola, loves me... absolutely goes crazy when I come around and wants to play with her favorite toy ever: my left hand.

-Bubs' dog, chloe, also gives a great whine and runs around in circles when I come in... but they moved to Denver, so I don't get to see her anymore. But if I ever make it back out west in the coming months, i'm sure she'll be happy...

See... bitches love me... and now daisy is the next on my list for me to woo endlessly until she can't wait til my next visit. I suppose the real task would be to get my own little bitch running around... we'll see... i need a road dog...

Headed down to Illinois State today to play there for the first time... sounds prety cool. Will be in touch some time in between tonight and tomorrow, when I head up to Milwaukee to play and hang out for my friend's radio show at Marquette to promote the show for Saturday...

Piece.

james

hitting on servers is tacky and classless

2008-09-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

hitting on servers is tacky and classless

The show at east stroudsburg was pretty tight. thankfully, there were students around and hanging out at the common grounds, and after loosening up a bit, the show took off and was pretty fun. I had a chick names samantha I think come up and play the djiembe during "pile of gold" and she's not a drummer, but she played her heart out, and I think it was all right. I hope she wasn't too embarrassed about being up on the stage.

*I forgot to mention about the guy that played the djiembe at URI. I think his name was Dean. great hand drummer. he was doing all these great fills and the ending of the song had never been tighter. he was all over it. I told him I'd hire him for the next tour*

anyway, so afteward at esu the gracious kids who stuck around all came up and bought some cds and helped themselves to some jimmyatto swag. you know, the frisbees, the cups, stickers... and I only had TWO chapsticks left. so they all had a rock-paper-scissors tournament to see who would get them. it was single elimination best 2 out of 3. it was pretty fun to watch... then they took a bunch of good photos, and i wrote them a few little messages all over their newly acquired items... YOU punks are supposed to send me pics!!

they were really cool though. then, as it was the last show for a couple weeks, I went and had a beer at a place called FLOODS. it was pretty cool.

Drove back home yesterday morning from 9:30am til about 6:30pm and arrived just in time to meet up with my friends for dinner. at the restaurant they were trying to decided whether or not our server was cute (a girl) and once I rejoined the table after scattering sunflower seed shells all over the bathroom, I put my two cents in. she is cute. so my friend adam is married, and my friend KG, she likes chicks, but they both decided that I should be the one to hit on her... for whatever reason, maybe cos I'm single... seems pretty simple I guess... so I just started making an ass of myself and was reiterating to my friends that flirtng with a bartender/server at a restaurant under most curcumstances, is really tacky... especially if the person doesn't initiate the flirtation <<<------ just invented that word.

*Besides, I'm taken... I'm with Ingrid now... (see profile picture) Note to self: make sure to notify Ingrid that you're with her now! oh and record the song you wrote for her!!

put your two cents in... I look forward to hearing from you.

undies

2008-09-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

mmmm... a hearty hello to you from East Stroudsburg, PA. If you don't know where East Stroudsburg is... to give you an idea... it's juuuuussssssttttt east of Stroudsburg, PA.

arrived in town really early today. I thought I had like a 5 hour drive in front of my (stopped in NYC last night) and it turns out it was like 90 minutes.... so fortunately I got to check into this hotel here early, and finish my sleep... let's recap:

After Maine, I travelled down to Kingston, RI and played at a coffeeshop on the campus of URI. The kids there were great. There were a couple of bands opening up the show, and I enjoyed them both...

Aldridge: (I don't know if they have a myspace)
Bathe & Hint: www.myspace.com/batheandhunt

So I was thankful that these guys opened up, because they brought in some peeps for me to play for. and to the ones that stayed all the way through on a monday night... THANKS!

I played pretty hard and was sweating pretty bad by the end of it, but as I said in Maine, if you go to see a band or singer and they're not sweating, they ain't trying...

So after Kingston, I decided to head down to NYC to visit a couple of friends. I got in touch with my friend kelly, who works at a men's underwear company... and seeing as how I am running low on boxer-briefs this trip, it was a perfect idea. I visited her office, and she showed me alot of mens underwear and gave me a goodie bag full of great items to try... but no european style guys, cos well, i would just never wear them, unless I was dating some european chick or something...

after that we headed out to the crocodile lounge to get some beer and free pizza! If you're in NYC you know about this place, but i didn't and we walked up to the door, and the guy said, "sorry we are currently closed, power is out" which totally sucked, so we scoped out the 176 other restaurants which were on the same block, and decided on a sushi place. This place was funny, they say "sushi is always 50% off every day" but they just list their normal price at 2x normal prices and i guess it sucked us in, and there were a lot of people there so i guess it works... good sushi... and edamame... pronounced /ed-uh-maym/ bitches...

so after sushi we were walking by crocodile lounge again and decided to go in there cos their power was back... kelly bought me a beer and the pizza that came with it, and I ate it all of course... right after the sushi settled. and she sent me on my way back on the subway, all alone in the big city...

I then took the train back north and met up with my friend Andy, whom I had not seen in a while, but whom I have crashed with on a couple of prior tours... he is an actor out there, and is in a Musical Improv Group called "VEAL"

www.myspace.com/vealimprov <-------- check 'em out

tonight is the final show of this leg of the tour... i'll be back on the road in about 2 weeks heading down to Ole Miss, and then back up for some midwest flava...

see ya...

1-2''

2008-09-07T14:18:00.001-07:00

yeah... or should I say, "Sheah!" its just yeah with a "sh" in front. i sometimes answer my phone "shello!" usually when it's someone close to me...

so I found this little college yesterday called Thomas college in waterville, me. It reminded me of just like a large high school. when I got their for dinner, they took me into this dining hall, which i believe is the only one on campus. I passed the student center right when I pulled into campus because it came up so quickly, and I knew I passed it because soon thereafter, i was at the end of the campus.

while we were eating (we = my escort, amber, and I) it;s like she knew everyone around us. I thought, well maybe she's just a popular cat. but actually it's more like everyone kinda knows one another. not really well, but you probably know the face if you don't know the name....

on toward the show. i wanted to catch a screening of "don't mess with the zohan" that they were playing, but it was cutting it too close to soundcheck, and I didn't want to leave an adam sandler movie early.

I forgot to mention my introduction for the show at Orono on Tuesday:

"And now, the only player in Maine hockey history to take his skate off and try to stab someone.... Jimmy Atto"

which leads me to the Thomas College introduction by a guy names Dayton:

""... and now for your viewing and listening pleasure, a 3 hour lecture on british literature between the years of 1879 and 1917. Here is Jimmy Atto."

I needs to think of a good one for the next two shows of this stint, and also the midwest shows coming up at the end of the month.

it was pouring though last night. the forecast was 1-2'' of rain, which did fall, and didn;t help for the attendance, but a few brave souls walked to the student center and stuck a round for a while... some until I finished. I performed my first mandolin song live at Thomas as well. (Note: i had a mic set up and my mandolin ready to play this song at Orono, but simply forgot to, sorry Black bears)

Now today, Sunday, I did shower today, the remarcks on Low Carb LP about never showering on Sundays... well, i think things have changed in the years since that album, so yes, nice and clean today, although just sitting on my ass all day and watching baseball and FOOTBALL. 1st week of the season today, so I'm pretty psyched like a lot of sports fans out there...

LIONS LOST!! They suck, and always will, but i always secretly pull for them. What do you expect when you spot the falcons 21 points in the first quarter, that's like the ultimate worst possible scenarion in a quarter of football, so surrender 21 points and score none. the only thing worse than that would be to somehow score negative points in a quarter, and although this has never happened in NFL history, if there was one team to finally do it, score negative points in a quarter.... it would be the Lions...

My aunt has season tickets, and when she invites me, I never turn it down... so what does that tell ya? I like watching sports live... hopefully their opponent will be good when that does happen this season...

i wrote my song for ingrid michaelson. It;s completed, and a great song. I intend to record it somehow and sometime soon, and then send my sis to see her when she plays in ann arbor in November (I'll be in carolina), and convince Ingrid to either date or marry me...

i think i have a chance...

Periodic Table - Tour Intro

2008-09-04T10:02:00.001-07:00

hiddely-ho neighbor! from Jim Flanders over here. Hanging at my hideaway in brunswick, maine right now. Playing a couple colleges out here and catching up with my friend, Whit, who went to college out here and found no reason to leave upon graduating. and I cannot blame her. It's a beautiful peaceful town, and really just asthetically beautiful anywhere you look. Yesterday, working my way down from Orono, where i played Tuesday night, I sold something on eBay to a guy from Maine and decided to hand-deliver it to him, so I did that, which to me is kind of funny. I didn't meet the guy, not that i care, but he probably may have been surprised to see a bearded fella with a honda element pull up and drop off his item.. and not a UPS man or someone like that...

Went down to the little dog coffehouse for some internet and smoothy action in downtown brunswick, and then to Joshuas (our old stomping grounds) for some dinner, and finally made it back to the hideaway...

the show at Orono was pretty sweet. I had an amazing grilled cheese with tomato and bacon, and some great soup, but the capper to the meal was this new thing I discovered, called a whoopi pie. it's like two soft chocolate type cookies I guess, with some sort of white cream in the middle... and dang was it good. apparently they're pretty big in Maine... I had never heard of them until now.

The actual show started off with some technical difficulties, but once the crew switched out the mixing boards, we were off to the races. and what an honor it was to actually kick off the CAB programming schedule for the semester. Karl and Melissa from CAB were great, and even gave me my own "java jive" coffee mug. so I repaid them with some jimmy atto official chapstick (which are running low, so I can't just give 'em away to the masses anymore)....

This was my only repeat school of the fall's current schedule. I'm really excited to be playing at Thomas College this Saturday, cos I've never been there before, and hopefully it will lead to some future shows down the line...

let me list to you all of my "firsts" that have taken place in Maine:

-first and only state I have ever been snow-shoeing.
-1st time I have ever had a whoopi pie
-1st and only state where the students in the audience pulled out their cellphones during a song and waved them back and forth in unison during what was deemed as a "ballad-esque" or "lighter worthy" song. and apparently with the school frowning upon open flames, as well as the students likely lack of lighters, the cell phones are now the new lighter. (it took place during "dust" by the way... newest song)

now that I can understand some words from the kings of leon singer, I hereby recommend the song: "fans"

enjoy.

M - Bare - Assed

2008-05-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

no, I'm not bare-assed. But embarrassed. I just went to log into my blogger account and i noticed that I had not posted anything since january..... of 2007. Holy crap!

Man, to be honest, i don't know if anyone ever reads this. but I've got to give a shout out to blogger.com for not completely de-activating my account due to massive inactivity.

I'm not going to attempt to catch up here with everything that has happened since january '07. One, because I can't remember, and two, because I don't think anything that significant has happened. I'm trying to warm this thing up, this blog, for things to come. I may have some stories, some shows, some pictures.

It's not big breaking news or anything... but daddy is getting back on the road. Yup. I initially thought, "let's ease into this, maybe just do the midwest..." but screw that. i'm hitting more schools than ever. Yes, it will mainly be a college tour, but if there are open dates, I'm going to try to fill them just to perform. The way I see it, and any other indie touring musician may be able to corroborate, any day off on the road is losing money. It's not a huge swing or anything... you know there's always gas (which, don't get me started, nice timing to get back on the road) and there's meals, and miscellaneous things. But if I go ahead and fill in an open date with any old coffeeshop or club show, then I'll probably make a few bucks and hopefully just break even for the day.

so i've been working on this tour for a while, and it's coming together, as usual... slowly. the icebreaker was UNC-Asheville and a nice young kid named Andrew booking and contracting the first show of the tour. and now i'm working on blocks of shows in the northeast, virginia, maryland... all over the freakin place.

I won't be releasing dates until about a month in advance, just because (1) no one needs to worry about getting tickets in advance and (2) i'm still going to be filling in dates up to the wire, probably even early september. And (i know i'm jumping around here) i'm trying to see if I can find an in for a couple shows in Canada. Maybe toronto, london, I don't know where to start, but i've asked a few reputable toronto artists for some help so we'll see where it goes.

i'm really excited about this and can only hope against hope that it's not an isolated tour and that I can work it out for winter/spring and keep it rolling like I used to... only better!

okay i got sidetracked. lost focus, and i think this blog is over.

Slew...

2007-01-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

hey people. just got through setting up a little barrage of local shows. the midwest trip last month was just fabulous. so i'm gonna work on some local flava this month. starting next weekend. a homestand at the new Beaner's which is technically already open, but they're having a Grand Opening at the location right by Oakland University. (You remember OU right? the team that got into the big dance a couple years ago on a last second shot!?) So i'm playing there on friday and saturday night and sunday afternoon too. Free wireless over there for all the students, come on out and I'll help you with your homework, I'm only 4.5 years removed from college...

Then on weds, the 24th, i'm playing at this cool loft party that i've gone to a couple times last month. just a bunch of people who are interested in a grass-roots effort to revive the city of detroit. a couple times they have a sushi chef, they've got drinks, food, art on the walls, sometimes they have DJs spinning. On this night I'll be playing and KG will be toting her trail mix all around to be the #1 substitute for beer nuts in the world.... so check it out. if you have any f.a.q.s drop me an e-mail...

happy year.

Uncommon

2006-12-20T14:32:00.002-08:00

after a beautiful night of sleep where I almost melted, cos KG turned the heat on full blast (and wears like 5 layers of clothing and two blankets), my shirt was somehow removed some time during the night, though I can't recall when... I woke up earlier than usual, cos like I said, I've been sleeping quite efficiently lately.

**OH, let me tell you about this debocle that happened when we checked in**
So I walk in, and I got a couple great deals on the hotel rooms for this trip, cos I had points saved up from my prior touring and hotel stays. so I walk in and what I'm expecting is: I walk in, give 'em my name, and they give me the room keys. But what happened was, I walk in, give 'em my name, and she says, "yeah we had you a room booked for last night." Oh boy... the stupid woman on the phone who I booked the rooms with, booked me a room in Winona, MN for the same night as the first room that I booked in Des Moines, IA. two states, one night... what the hell? I can't believe what I'm hearing, plus I used up my valuable points which are not reuseable in an instance like this... they're gone!! So judging from the expression of frustration on my face, the girl at the desk, Robin, totally hooked it up and made things right. I mean I only stay at choice hotels when I tour, and they just can't fu*@ me like that... So super kudos to her. I actually called her later on at the front desk and offered her a drink or two or anything for saving my ass, and she politely declined cos she had another job early sunday morning... dang... yes she was cute too...

So that was the debocle... but anyway after a nice night's sleep, I awoke and headed immediately to the Perkins 24-hour restaurant connected to the hotel, I didn;t even have to go outside! upon check-in I got a coupon for $3 off breakfast so how could I pass it up. I had an surprisingly good turkey and asparagus eggs benedict dish with a muffin... totally hit the spot. and while I was doing that KG was hitting a spot on the throne in the room (it had been days I tell you).

So we had another little detour between Winona and Chicago. Due to our early start, we had a little time to make another stop. This was (oh boy) at the Jelly Belly factory in Wisconsin. You know... the jelly beans?? the best ones int he world?!? I've got to get these pics so I can post them and show you all how I achieved a life goal... (it was a young goal, but achieved nontheless).

We met KG's friend and her family there and did a tour and bought candy, and saw Santa, and it was all pretty keen. I have like 15 pounds of defective (discounted!!) jelly beans still in my car. Someone needs to take them off my hands....

On to Chicago... we arrived in plenty of time, even though we didn't have directions. I was somewhat doubting my navigator's skills for a few moments when she panicked and started calling friends who had internet. But we grew some balls and just drove in the direction we thought it was at (I mean chicago's not that big a city, right? we'll find it) and we did. Once I found an illegal parking spot which I didn';t receive a ticket for, i loaded in, hung out in the basement of this place to warm up my voice a bit, cos the throat was seriously taxed from the first two shows... and then a cup of green tea w/ honey later, I was on. The show actually is archived on the Uncommon Ground website. You can do a search for jimmy atto and I think listen to all the shows I;ve ever played there... it's a great system they have. I've been itching for a recorded version of "return" for a while and since I couldn't afford to do it in the studio, I guess the live one will have to do for now, I may post it up on MySpace pretty soon...

I did a little rocking out, sweated a bit, because it was the culmination of the weekend, final show yadda yadda yadda... so I let it all out and it was fun... especially the post-show escapades. A friend of my brother (whom I had never met before) came out and we ended up having drinks at the bar along with KG, my pal and tennis partner from h.s. Marc and his new fiancee and Brendan from WMU. We munched on some of the great menu from UG and had a couple drinks and some did whiskey shots... whew! Brendan passed by the MARS Cheese Castle in Wisconsin (which we considered stopping at earlier in the day) and he told us all about it. talk about your all-time regrets.

After all the reminiscing went down, we had to leave to get back home to MI before sunrise, so KG and I hit the road... said goodbye to the windy...

I drove most of the way, but KG sucked it up for a good hour or so while I took a nap about mid-way back, cos I was about to doze off. then I kicked I-94s ass from K-zoo home (a very familiar route for me). back in my bed by 4am, and that does it.

Pictures will be coming soon from the trip, I hope to have another one soon...

thanks to everyone who came out to the shows, and who entertained us throughout the miles, cos there were many. In fact, I need an oil change... thanks for reminding me...

Happy Holidays... dont forget "harder to leave" aka "holiday song" is on the Low Carb LP. buy/steal it for a loved one for a stocking stuffer...

peace. JA

perceptive are we?

2006-12-20T14:32:00.001-08:00

if you hadn't noticed, yes this blog is posted on the same day as the previous one, however this one has entirely different content... I mean, including Iowa and Minnesota in the same blog would be like, eating peanut butter with your salad, would it not? (Note: previous analogy excludes thai cuisine)

So we drove up to Winona but before we got there I made a quick stop for some Chipotle with my friend Gale. And she brought her friend April who coincidentally went to Winona State for college and was very fond of the acoustic cafe and their grinders (and also chooses Chipotle over Qdoba any day of the week). So we had some good eats and cool treats and departed from the holiday inn parking garage in st. paul out to winona...

...we got to the hotel in some good time and I had just enough time to get showered up, go to the acoustic cafe, and set up (we almost had a scare where no one knew where the PA was). So I set it all up, went back to pick up "kitty-kat" (as she's known in some circles), and we were off...

Winona is a special place. It's among the first places I ever played. I don't even know how I found it, but each of the several times I've played there, there's been at least one good memory. The people of the town are so nice, the workers at the cafe, the crowd is always very receptive, and then I've got my own little fan club there. They've been continually prodding me to come back even though it had been like 18 months since my last visit. Thats true devotion right there. so I felt I owed it to them to come out, and that was the true reason for the trip in the first place. I just decided to set up some other shows to make the trip more efficient.

Afterward I met up with all the crazy babes and I think there was a guy or two in the mix, and we did some pictures (which I'll hopefully ad to this post at a later time) and chatted it up about the local hotel bars in town and about Michigan's economy... Julie and Val helped me carry out some of my crap to the Element (which still needs a nickname) and KG and I got some hoagies to go for "next day's function / high class luncheon / food is served and you're stone-cold munchin" (reference anyone?)

Had a nice little drink or two at the hotel lounge with the bartender, Bobbi. She told us a bit about Winona, and we told her a bit about ourselves and which one of us couldn't poop for the last couple days, and then I took a couple photos of flowers and red bull and I can't really remember much else... oh Bobbie told us that in Winona (or anywhere else) once the alcohol comes out, any female can instantly turn into a lesbian for a night. and on that note... we past another note... then turned in...

catch me up

2006-12-20T14:32:00.000-08:00

So last time you heard from our heros, they were in Iowa somewhere sipping on wine... well that didn't stop right away... let's pick up from where we left off...

So we made our way to Java Joe's in the surprisingly dry and not-too-cold Des Moines. I was the only attraction for the night, and there was a come-and-go (or should I say KUM - N - GO) crowd throughout the long set. Per usual I didn';t take a break and my voice was worse for it. I dont know why, I just don't like taking breaks when I play long sets, unless it's somehow over two hours or something, but who wants to perform for that long (w/out a band at least)?

So I realized that they sold wine at this place and musicians get a wicked discount. So I nursed a couple of glasses of a merlot and some water in between and jammed des moines for the 4th time in my history I believe. I sold a couple of discs, but the set was so long that I didn't really get a chance to speak with any of the interested patrons cos I was up there playing for so long, and when I was done, whew damn did my ass hurt. two hours in the same positions without moving much, I paid for it.

Jess and the crew over at JJ were great, they made us some great food, and I ended up pawning off the only frisbee I brought on the trip to a nice stranger as they made their departure after paying me some kind of compliment.

On to Winona... birthplace of Winona Ryder I believe... so they say...

Here in IA

2006-12-20T14:31:00.000-08:00

So. yeah here we are, my friend Katherine and I, in Des Moines. We decided to split up the drive from the D to Des Moines, so we left last night and made a little pit-stop for the night in Chicago. We both know plenty of people there, so finding a nice, comfortable couch was no problemo.

I spent the night next to this tiny kitty who wasn't feeling well, so she didn't really move at all. She did make her way over to me (and my down throw) in the morning and set up shop. Pretty nice sleep. I've been sleeping really well lately. Every night I wake up in the middle of the night (some time between 2-4am) and I look at the clock feeling refreshed like I've had a full night of sleep, and it's so early, so I just have what feels like two nights of sleep in one.

So we had tons of snacks in the car. and have been snacking while driving the last couple days. popcorn, trail mix (Katherine is CEO/founder of Urban Trail Mix Co. ) and vegetables, and focaccia bread all kinds of good stuff. excuse the punctuation here...

So the first show is tonight, at java joes, and we're about to head out. just sipping on some cabernet franc in a nice plastic hotel cup and taking a load off after a failed mission to find swimwear for the hotel. Just poor planning on both our parts. the hotel tomorrow night has a pool also, so I'm sure we'll be searching if we have time. It'll be worth it, I'm in the market for some new swim trunks anyway...

Update tomorrow...

SAD SAD SAD day

2006-10-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

It became official yesterday. I handed a large check to an older man who was delivering my Taurus back to me. Are you confused yet? My taurus, or TaurBus as it has become known, has taken me all over the country. That car treated me well and I'd like to think that I treated her well in return. She had some breakdowns on the road and in MI, but 5 years people! 5 YEARS, and I bought it with 7,000 miles on it. Now I reached a milestone of sorts with her. She didn't know where I was driving when she rolled over 150,000 miles last weekend.

I was driving to a car dealership to look at- and it's still hard to say out loud sometimes- a new vehicle. It was a Ford dealership though. My Taurbus felt right at home. Which is why I didn't hear her crying when I left her there for a new vehicle. Oddly, the new vehicle is not a Ford, but a Honda.

This will mark the first time in 10 years, since I've been driving, that I have not driven a ford taurus. yes, it's pretty rare, but I have only owned 2 cars in my life since I turned 16. they were both tauruses and they both lasted 5 years each. So now a new chapter for me. the Honda era. I bought it, not cos I have a bunch of money to blow, cos we know that ain't true. but it was just time. I went there without the idea of buying something right away, and they just had this lonely Honda Element in a jungle full of Fords, and my brother also owns the same car, so I was familiar with it. I decided to take it home with me. Now this week, it's official, the Taurbus era is over.

I will be posting pictures of this vehicle soon. as I am proud of it, but let us all have a moment of silence for the Taurbus. For anyone who has ever seen me live, on the road, in far away lands. The Taurus carried me there. I'll never forget her. I may have shed a tear... but it came after a long yawn, and that sometimes happens... oh screw it, I'll mark that tear up to sadness for the taurbus. I still own it. I'm thinking of selling it. I don't know what to do, it's all happened so fast. I have to clean her up and get some of her dents and bruises fixed, so it'll be a while until she's presentable again. What a loyal vehicle she was.

There will forever only be one TaurBus.

rally round the family, pocket full of shells

2006-09-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

after all the dust had settled, and we packed up all the gear, and scraped off the excess wax from tables and chairs, it looked as if no show ever happened. the lights were up, the tables put back, the room empty. Xhedos on saturday night was the culmination of many hours of thought, rehearsing, writing, and a touch of sweat. It was also the result of much support; moral and physical from the closes people to me. Of all the shows I've played, especially those I built up to be "special," this one actually met the hype.

The room was packed and remained packed for most of the evening. Sara Celina, what can I say? Her look alone is engaging. her songs and her performance (along with my boy drew phillips) really set the stage for the way the night would continue to go. She looked like she wanted to jump up from the chair she was sitting in, banging her foot down on the stage to the beats. However one might not know that she primarily plays with a full band and stands upright.

I was delighted to have to run around the venue looking for extra chairs because all of the ones in the entire room were taken. This was not so much of a surprise as it was a bonus. Bubs and I laid down an entire new front row in front of "old front row." and they filled up nicely. From the patrons, to the sound person (my boy tim williams), to JULIA (goolia, who booked the show for me and catered to my needs to make sure everything went off without a hitch) to my friend Katherine, who sat like a soldier at the door collecting the cover and pushing the cds, etc... people just rallied around me.

Not to mention the two other musicians that agreed to play and rehearse with me for a month before the show. Mike Komives had been rehearsing with me since he met me, which was just over a month ago, and agreed to do a show (the likes of which he hadn't played in years) with basically a stranger, and without having heard any of my music ahead of time. Of course Bubs, whom I've known for several years since college (but not as long as I've known his woman, Debbie). He never lets me down. he knows when to step it up and clear his schedule for me. Us three huddled in the cat-piss smelling confines of his basement. Bubs had a fan on him, and my regular spot was virtually on top of the littler box, but it didn't matter when the beats were a-flowing.

My brother Jeff brought a bunch of people out and I had some unexpected family show up for the show and stay the whole night through. It was such a bonus. All of thee stars seemed to align, what I was getting at before was that all of this came together with over 2 month of planning without anything resembling a blunder or major setback. Things just fell into place...

the songs seem to write themselves these days. I have enough now for a 2 disc release and plenty of live recordings for a possible live album. so much production and when i think of how seldom I've been touring in the past 18 months, I wonder if these songs would have ever been conceived if I was still out there focusing on directions, venues, driving, selling cds, hotels, maps, tolls (fucking TOLLS!!) and other distractions on the road.

Though I usually choose to thank people in person, I sometimes foolishly forget to thank some, so for those who don't receive the direct "thank you" e-mail or phone call, thank you for any and all support, for carrying the guitar stand, for grabbing me a water, for all the little things, and the big ones. saturday night was really one to remember. luckily, thanks to test pattern pictures, (kirk, sarah and the crew, thank god that i like to drink at the emory) we won't have to remember as much of it as possible, cos we got it on tape. I can't wait to see how it comes out, and what we can do with it.

all i can say, as somewhat of a consolation, to the peeps who have been sending me messages and support from far away is that i think every day of what i can do to get back out on the road and when i've put enough thought and energy into it, it usually comes through in some capacity.

all right, this was just a spur of the moment post. whenever i think of something that I left out, i'll just make an amendment.

uh-huh, all right...

jimmy

"this is the best song in the world"

el septembre

2006-08-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

i always knew I learned something in spanish class.

I set up a show here in the detroit area for september. at the time i thought it was just gonna be a regular old solo show, nothing special. However, since conception and confirmation, I have decided that this show is going to be a rock spectacle; a show of massive proportions. Everyone's just gonna have to wrap themselves around it. I locked in a great solo artist, Sara Celina to open the show, and I'm excited to see her live after listening to her songs online.

We're going to videotape the show (most likely), using test pattern pictures. a highly touted local production company themselves, they agreed to work with me on this show. the word is being spread like west nile, but not as deadly. you never know. I might rock some people into oblivion. Bubs is going to be on drums, and I'm waiting to lock down a 3rd musician to share the stage with us. I still have tons of new songs, but only 4 to share with you on the myspace page. you will hear many of these new songs at the xhedos show.

Saturday, September 23rd
Xhedos, downtown Ferndale, MI
8pm. Sara Celine plays at 8.

If you want to be on camera, get near the front. or just storm the stage, preferably between songs.

mark it in ink. believe it.

wouldn't you know

2006-07-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

can you believe it. I checked in here twice in the same week.

Just wanted to give the heads up about a slew of new songs. Binder and I cut 7 in the studio yesterday and I put four of them up on MySpace, which is linked to the homepage of jimmyatto.com. So feel free to check 'em out and give some feedback... but please be constructive, artists are sensitive...

JA

summer of absence

2006-07-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

it's so common, I wonder if it's become cliche: the summer of love. Love has been absent, or at least severely tardy for me this summer. Also, I've been absent. absent from the stage, but not from the craft. and not from under the sun. and not from the ice rinks. touring kind of took me in a direction I never thought existed. It dramatically altered my life. I feel like I used to be normal. then once I hit the road, life became different. i didn't even put out any resumes after I graduated. and the one or two that I did send out some time in the first year I prayed I wouldn't get called back on, and they never did call. there's a lot of uncertainty for me right now. luckily I can vent these feelings now, cos I feel like this blog has been so outdated that very few will read it. I'm in the process of recording demos for some sort of new project. I don't know what the project will include. for the first time I'll have to actually choose which songs will and will not be included. before it was mainly all the songs I had at the time were all recorded and maybe one got left off, cos it sounded like crap.

i thought i had that staying power, but I took myself off the road. money is money, people can do without it. i took myself out of the scene, whichever scene that was. in hockey I always used to clean up. so i'm just going to do what I can to clean things up and try to start it up again. its like when you stop your internet or phone service, but you don't cancel it entirely. the phone company still charges you the shutoff fee and the re-activation fee, but it's not cancelled... oh no...

im going to have to take on more than just fees to come back, but I'd like to surf the net again... it's not like I ever intended to stop. It's not like I ever intend to. that would be the life. it was the life. but it was cut short.

I'm going to try to salvage a very small string of dates in fall. probably stay in the midwest, play some familiar places. we'll see...

i was never absent in school, I came to every class, that's how i passed. I wasn't much of a test-taker and I didn't do much homework, but I always showed up, cos where the hell else was I supposed to be at the time?

JA

time of madness

2006-03-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

hi there again. it's been a couple months in case anyone was keeping track. no great touring stories to speak of, cos there hasn't been any great touring.
I did, however, come storming back last saturday with a show in my hood. it was a solo show, and to go along with the local flavor, I had my buddy josh clemens from BLEND play a solo show as well, because it's such a rarity to hear him play acoustic. you can check out BLEND's myspace page or blendmusic.com for some good tunes.

anyway... back to me me me. with my absence from the road starting this past fall season, I got involved with my first ever passion, which was hockey. i decided that it was time to give back a little to the game which gave me so much in my youth. as mentioned in previous entries, I took part in coaching a 10-year-old travel hockey team, and I must admit, the season started off kind of rough. they group as a whole is great and they love to play, but we just didn't win many games before the turn of the year. as of late, as the season winds down (and it really is almost over), the team took on its own personality and started really showing us that they have a lot of fight in them. so now we're in the playoffs, where we weren't expected to advance, and we're just a couple of games away from a magnificent journey to Joe Louis Arena for the finals. so that's what I've been doing mostly in my time stationary.

on the music tip, I've got tons of new songs, so many that I really cant even keep track of them all. I played a few of them at the show on saturday. the show featured my incredibly hoarse voice, because that same afternoon we had a playoff game and I was screaming until my voice was almost completely gone. five cups of tean later, I got through the show. it wasn't a superb performance, but everyone kind of understood the circumstances and it was as if I was playing top notch. some of the new songs I played were: COLLAR (which I wrote about 2 weeks ago), SIDEWAYS, CRIMINAL, TEN O'CLOCK NEWS, and Josh and I did a couple duets including POISON IVY and 3x5 by john mayer. it was a nice finale. fun times. and 3x5 is definitely a song I would cover in the future, now that I know how to play it.

anyway I mixed up the songs on my Myspace page, just to offer something new, and as soon as I demo any of the several new ones, i'll be putting them up on that page. so keep tuned in. if you need me call me.

JA

and many many many many...

2005-12-25T18:56:00.000-08:00

of all the things I do to annoy myself (and there are many) one of them is not keeping in touch. and I don't know if y'all have noticed, but I've been incommunicado for months now. i'm not even gonna lie... I wasn't able to tour this fall for the first time since I graduated from Western three years ago. it was a tough decision, because the last three autumnal seasons it wasn't even a decision. I just did it. another thing I do is think too much. so I thought too much about it and decided it might be tough to go out on the road and make it worth the time. My trooper Taurus has been with me since the first tour, and is still with me, but it's starting to struggle now with the cold and I just have no idea how many more miles she can take me. also, I really don't know for sure the gender of my car. since I ride it, then I just assume it;s a girl. so the car has about 140,000 miles on it now and it needs some things to help me to feel safe about taking it back to colorado, or texas or florida. one thing that is bittersweet about TX, is in my last two visits to college station, the shows have always been tight, and people dig it, but two times ago, I had to get a new rack for my engine (the thing that holds the engine; pretty important) and the last time I actually "needed" 4 new tires, but only got the two important ones replaced. so these instances have held me back for this fall and I'd love to try to put something together for Spring in terms of a tour, but again, there is much uncertainty.

Daddy's not giving up here. I've been writing in my down time and have a lot of new material. as I mentioned back in August, I've been trying to teach myself a bit of piano but it's slow going, but the piano songs are killer. I'd have to re-teach myself the piano song which I cut from the Low Carb LP after we finished recording. it was pretty embarassing once I listened to it a few times. but the idea and effort is there.

pretty soon I'm going to demo some new songs and put them up on the MySpace page. I'd like to give a quick shout-out to anyone who has sent me an e-mail in the last few months since the last tour, thanks for keeping in touch while I'm not doing my part.

It's been so long since I've posted up here that I don't know if anyone checks for updates anymore, but hello out there anyway.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday season as I have. go easy on the egg nog. and go easy on me next time I see you.

jimmy

a little birdie

2005-08-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

hello... hello... something something something vertigo!! I can still sing. I haven't been singing out much lately, but I can still carry a note and a half. how's the summer treated you? me? well not so bad. anyone who had met me back in '02 or '03 knows that I don't tour much in the summer. it stands true, it doesn't really work out for me economically. if there are any logistics or economics majors out there, feel free to send me some insight on how to be more efficient.

well what have I been doing you ask? same thing I do most summers. I've been hanging out at the lake, getting some sun, being hot and humid in the uncomfortable confines of Detroit weather. but it could be worse, the weather I mean. I've got a bunch of new tunes I've been working on... including some piano tunes, so I roughly taught myself and there are two that I'm pretty fond of right now. also I decided to act on all of my censored language urges that I've had for the past few years. Anyone who has the Low Carb lp and has heard some of the outtakes knows what I'm talking about. I have written about 5-6 songs which would appear on something more of a comedy-type cd, with one of those "adult content" labels on the front. amidst that collection would also be a little parody of an ashlee simpson song, called "smaller on me." and originals, such as "driving through the ghetto," "(somebody please kill) my lady", "baseball players," "subtlety," and a couple others. the content varies, but the humor is consistent and appears conveying themes that virtually anyone can relate to. I think I would have to release it under a different "act" cos it doesn't really fall into the 'jimmyatto' category of past releases.

also I've played more golf in the past 4 weeks than I had for the previous 3 summers combined. I used to golf about once a year. the past 4 weeks I have golfed 4 times. it's pretty fun, and initially I dreaded the fact that I had to get up before 8am for a tee time between then and about 8:30 on a sunday morning (when most people sleep in or go to church.) however, I have consistently been at the course and ready to go in time, unless I was dragging some slackers with me. I even made it two weeks ago, when my good friends got married the night before and I didn't get home til about 4:30am and I woke up at 7, the next morning to meet up with my bro for the round. the highlight of my new hobby was last week. we only play 9 holes usually, (1) cos some of us don't want to use up our entire mornings golfing, because we usually go out to breakfast afterward anyway, and (2) cos we play public 9 hole courses, so there are no more holes. so last week I hit my first tee shot into the fairway (for the first time this year including 3 prior rounds) and I thought, "GREAT!" Little did I know that my second shot, a 4 wood would also be hit straight and although short of the green, was only a few yards short and right in front of the pin. my short game is iffy at best, but I made a nice pitch about 8 feet from the hole and sunk it for my first par that I could remember in many years of scarce and sporadic golfing. now that 1st hole made my round. it was the first time that after any number of holes I was playing "par golf." little did I know that after a couple of 7s and 8s on some wicked bad holes, I would approach a par 3.
While I was on the tee, my brother made a comment that he didn't think I'd even get the ball off the ground, let alone hit it on the green. well after I struck the ball, he must have just been thinking, "touche.... touche... " cos it landed within ten feet of the hole. and I sunk the birdie putt somehow. it was amazing. a birdie and a par for me in the same round of a 9 hole course was just miraculous. the golf gods were shining down on me last week. hopefully I have some more in me. cos this is among my proudest of athletic achievements. i still love tennis, volleyball and hockey, but this was a memorable day for me and I just wanted to share it with the internet... yes, the entire internet.

speaking of hockey, another way to occupy my time has been the new task of coaching a ten year-old travel hockey team. i got a call from a guy who knows a mutual friend of ours, and he heard that I was interested in coaching, and I told him I'd be happy to help him out. we had our first practice last night and I hadn't skated in almost a year, so my feet were killing me, cos my skates were as stiff as ever. it really hurt, but I hid it well. I want the kids to look up to me, and not see a weakling, who was weeping inside as his feet went numb half way throught the practice. anyway it was great, and that's the story of "what's jimmy been up to?"

there's a little more but I don't know if it's any of the "internets" business... personal inquiries only...

have a hot one...

JA

never good at titles

2005-05-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

I've been writing... and every time a new song comes along, the title is usually not among the first written in ink. anyway, so this entry's title expresses my lack of creativity in this area...

anyway... played a show yesterday. some of my favorite shows have been the outdoor afternoon college shows. yesterday was no exception... especially because I could play the show and then be home for lunch within the hour. it was at Wayne State here in Detroit. Bubs played with me. he's getting hitched soon, and I haven't hung out with him in a while, so that was cool. the weather was perfect. sun shining, yet not too hot, with a nice cool breeze blowing through our little tent. Yes, they gave us a tent this time. it was a treat just watching them put it up. and once we got the sound squared away and I moved my car per a police officer's suggestion, then we got underway.
our biggest conflict was that of the missing shaker. I've got this fruit-shaped shaker which is great and has been used in the past, but we forgot it... probably on Bubs' coffee table. anyway we told Zemen, our right-hand girl that we forgot it, and we might have to cancel the show for this reason. so she recalled that they had a couple of toy plastic marracas up in the office, and she brought them down. they didn't quite hold a torch to the shaker, but they got us through and later we defaced the marracas and I affixed a jimmyatto sticker to one of them, and donated it to Zemen for being such a good sport for bringing us back to play wayne state for a 3rd time... I think we might see some pictures eventually, mainly a couple of us with the marracas, because that seemed to be the running joke of the set...

thanks to all who came out to soak up the sun and the tunes... i look forward to my first ever trip to Vegas...

JA

my duty

2005-04-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

just a couple of months ago when I was doing some shows, i got an e-mail from my brother saying that I had an official looking document from Oaklans County and he thinks it's jury duty. I had never been summoned before for jury duty. even when I was in college, and I could be excused from it, I still was never able to pull that veto out and use it. he held it up through the envelope and read the phone number to call. and it turned out to be coming up very soon after I got back into town, so I pushed it back, and it was just this past tuesday. I had to wake up a bit earlier than usual, and be there at 8:30. I know the working people will tell me, that's not early! I wake up at 5am every morning and sit in traffic for an hour.

well I had no traffic. and I was a couple minutes ahead of schedule so I picked up my favorite #3 combo at dunkin donuts, with cream in the coffee and a blueberry muffin, 'cos I'm a huge eater. I rolled in, and had to take my belt off at the security checkpoint, which sucked, cos my beltloops were really tight on this particular pair of jeans. I think they're my express jeans. you know the ones I bought last time I went shopping like two years ago... i went with my little sis, she helped me to decide what's hip or not. anyway, that's another story.

so I walked in and found the jury room, and there were so many people, and it's kind of cool, because you have to assume that no one there knows anyone else in the room. yet, after a few minutes, people found their little table-mate and struck up a conversation, or over at the coffee makers. that was a hot spot. I of course had my own coffee, but I warmed it up with some fresh stuff when it got cold. then I realized that I might possibly be sitting there from 8:30-5pm. so I went to grab my laptop, and that meant the security checkpoint again, so I had to take off my belt again, and re-route it... but no big deal. I wrote a verse to this new song I've been working on called "you you you" and I actually was able to draw some inspiration from looking around the room at all of the faces.

I was a bit let down that I never even got called to even be screened for a possible jury. I figure, I had nothing going on that day, and I wouldn't have minded sitting around and actually experiencing it for once. but no big deal. they let us go just before 12 which was kind of a shock, and I just packed up and was on my way... jury duty was not an imposition. although I was quite amused to see everyone in the room clap and cheer when the announcement was made that our freedom had been granted...

this experience also reminded me of an old "Friends" episode when Chandler was interviewing for a job, and it went very well, and the interviewer told him so. then as he was walking out, he said that he usually says things that are pretty stupid, or juvenile, and he was so surprised he didn't blow it in there... then at the last moment, he said something like: "I almost couldn't contain myself when you said 'duty.'" and the potential boss was puzzled. chandler said, "come on... duty... dooty... dooty... get it? you know... poop" then he left...

I served my duty, and am proud to have done so...

god bless the west wing on Bravo... marathon on mondays...

JJA

Spring

2005-04-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

finally the spring weather is here... and finally I got off my ass and decided to type in a little entry for the journal. basically, I've been taking advantage of some time in MI, working on house that I'll soon be moving into. it looked like hell when we first checked it out, but it was relatively clean. then we trashed it by ripping a lot of it out, and now it's worse. but i guess that's just the price you have to pay to improve on something... it's pretty cool when I think about the potential of the house, and it's a nice area, and i alreay plotted out a nice 1/5 mile running route.

other than that I got to go to opening day for the detroit tigers which was exciting since it was the most beautiful day of the year at the time, and the Tigers won by like 10 runs... there was an extraordinary amount of whiskey and hot dogs consumed that day, but I got to serve up some of my patented chili-cheese chip dip, and my own salsa con queso. me and that cheese. I just can't get away from it when it comes to superbowl parties, or tailgating. I fee that urge to contribute. and it's usually a big hit. maybe I'll do a homemade specialty dips tour sometime in the future. I might have to make extra, cos I've been writing some new tunes, and I might be travelling with a band in the future... who knows when...

i wish i could afford to tour in the summertime, but it's just not really that productive when I've done it in the past... i miss the road. even though my taurus has been in need of some repairs. my goal was to get a van this summer so I might need to order a new personalized plate. any ideas? just e-mail them to me. maximum of 7 digits...

soak it up

JA

flushed

2005-03-30T17:36:00.000-08:00

I should blush I'm so embarassed about how long it's been for an entry. well I guess atlanta was my last entry...

I made a great return to UNF in jacksonville and I booked myself a hotel room for this night. the woman on my hotline told me it was 3 miles from the university. turns out it was like 22 miles from the school and right next to the airport. and the bastards didn't even hook me up with a free continental breakfast, however the $8 buffet wasn't all that bad. as for the show. it was fun as usual. I usually have a small group or loyal pals who hang out when I play at wackadoo's. and there's only one or two to my knowledge who have seen each of my 4 visits to UNF, and I think one of them is a girl names Leslie. forgive me if I'm wrong, I hope I'm close. anyway, so I decided to bust out a stool and sit, because sitting was a recurring theme of this tour and I was quite comfortable with it.
by the end of the show my denim ass-print was perfectly sketched into the surface of the stool. it was quite remarkable. and afterwards, i ran into a bit of a problem where I had run out of stickers and this one chick really wanted one... so i told her I'd mail her one, which I'll have to do tomorrow, now that I remember...
and as a bonus, I busted out, for the first time, my official frisbees and cups to the wonderful crowd that stayed all the way through for me. it was a fun show, and I'm glad I could keep coming back...

then we had a show at a new town, hoboken, NJ. this place called the goldhawk. i just took a minute to thank the guy who booked me the show. anyway, it was such an awesome room. with these couches and chairs, and tables, and it was dimly lit how I like it. the set was fun, and i was just glad that i found a parking spot at a parking garage 5 blocks away. but they validated my ticket, so it was cool... now hoboken is not just fun to spell. it's a fun place to be.

finally there was JMU. and as usual, it was a hit or miss crowd. although I love to play there. sometimes it's packed, and sometimes it's slow. but once I started playing, some cool peeps sat down and hung out the whole time... i took it as a compliment when someone came up and told me that they thought it was a cd playing on the speakers, so they dug it...

it was my final bearded tour show, and I liked the beard. I've been growing beards for probably the past 4 winters, and I must say I never had the beard longer than this winter. I had it for a couple months before christmas, and then again for about 3 full months, so I stuck with it, and I found that I could still sing with the beard, which I never thought would be possible... seriously?

yeah... so I think I'm getting in tune to this myspace thing, I've had many offers of support from people I've met on the road, so they must know how to do everything... so it'll be okay...

Pistons are kicking ass right now. I'm going to opening day for the Tigers on MOnday... life is good y'all...

ja

outkast

2005-03-14T13:54:00.000-08:00

i'm in the ATL, and have been for two nights now, going on three... the fact that it's been so perfectly sunny here makes me wonder if the conditions would be similar when I make it back to the D. I called in a sports radio show the other day as I was driving to see what the host thought of my western michigan broncos chances of making the NCAA tournament. he almost laughed me off and told me that if they win their conference tourney, then they might be a terribly low seed... anyway, the bronocs didn't make it, although they do play tonight on ESPN for some reason, maybe they made the NIT.

anyway, this rant started 'cos when he took my call on the air, he said, "okay, now we have Jimmy from The D..." so I'm going to be heading back by the end of the week here...

i get to stop on an off monday into Eddie's Attic tonight to check out their famous open mic. i think i'll play some new tunes tonight. I'm pretty excited about these two newer songs I wrote a month or so ago. "criminal" and "sideways." I've played them a couple of times and I can't wait to record them sometime...

anyway, I'm pretty glad that my last couple of shows this trip are at places I've played before. there's always the anticipation of new venues, but these couple of college shows have had me back probably 3-4 times each in the past two years, and they really help me make it on the road. so JMU and UNF, here I come... and I'm playing on st. patty's day for the first time ever. that should be interesting. I might have to bust out some kind of irish jig song... if I can learn one in time... luckily I'm just opening up for someone, so I don't have any of that pressure to please the people as they get more and more drunk...

just wanted to check in y'all... hit up the message board...

"fight on fight on for western.... da da da da da da da da da..."

it's okay because

2005-03-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

I'm in everyone's favorite state to spell...

played at the university today and decided to play my outkast cover, and my new parody called "smaller on me." if you heard it, you'd understand... a girl asked me if I would ever record that song, and I told her of my secret ambitions to record a complete comedy cd, with not just songs, little sketches, like adam sandler used to do, back when I owned all of his cds, before some beeattch at my high school stole them all... serenity now!!

anyway, on one hand, my cell phone has no signal, but that's okay because the battery is dead... and I got to break out my flip flops for the first time since last summer/fall... I'm so glad I brought them... I'm looking forward to hopefully a nice home stretch to this little tour. with my unprecedented 4th (i think) show at UNF, and at JMU. I'm so grateful to these schools who continually bring me back semester after semester. it really helps me to pay the gas bills... i'm so glad I found a place with some internet. this little eatery called san francisco bread co. usually when you see a "bread co." it's either a straight up "panera" or it's just named after the town that it's in. like when I was in st. louis, "st. louis bread co." and atlanta, you know the drill. well I don't think I'm in san fran right now, but the weather would beg to differ... either way I'm here, chillin with a nice turkey sandwich and some chips and some good old internet surfing. I'm going to go see a movie tonight too...

--(oh man just glancing at CNN and it said that in the phillipines there was an improperly prepared snack for schoolchildren and it killed them all, that's terrible)--

I think I'm going to see "be cool" tonight. if anyone has seen it and didn't like it, and has my number (oh wait no signal) somehow try to let me know... maybe with a skygram... you know, those airplanes that make messages in the sky with smoke... I'll pay you back if you save me the $8 on the movie ticket.

I hope to have some good candy there... I've really been binging on laffy taffy the past couple days. when I was in auburn hanging out with my friend G. I've got a lot of friends who I call G. I need to sort it out. anyway, then I got gas today and just grabbed a handful of laffy taffy, and not because I like the jokes:

-why can't cats carry money?
-'cos they don't have pockets (SERIOUSLY)

-what did the horse give the man?
-a buck (KILL ME NOW)

terrible jokes... some of them are more just answers to questions, rather than jokes... but damn that shit tastes good... mmmm...

I think I'm going to have my friend G contribute to this journal with a review of our time in Auburn and the amazing jim brewer, mitch hedberg show we saw while I was there... so be on the look-out for that...

word... munch munch

JA

Me likey the C/S

2005-03-05T10:24:00.000-08:00

here in Texas... they call it C/S. some people may call it the best place on earth. otherwise known as college station. home of the texas a&m aggies. after a little layoff from shows, I finally got to play at the northgate music fest here in c/s. (note: I also learned that they call houston "h-town.") it was a nice little place... I guess it's usually a pretty rowdy place, the groove. but on this night it was a songwriter stage, and the bouncer guy told me what a relief it was to have a nice change of pace with some low key action for the evening. it wasn't low key for long. I knew that there was something special a-brewing. when tons of people started filing in for the bob scneider performance I thought it was a great time to debut my new song called "smaller on me" which is a parody of the ashlee simpson song, pieces of me. it went over pretty well, and I rocked out Poison Ivy and then did a new (real) song called Sideways.

the people here are always nice. now the flipside to that lately is that my last two visits to c/s I've had to spend over 1000 dollars on car maintenance. this either says a lot about my visiting c/s or a lot about the current state of the taurus... so I got two new tires and I'm ready to roll.

Also I stopped in austin out of the way to c/s and discovered a place (from my aunt's beckoning) called Tom's Tabooley. it was great. I small place on guadalupe. I can't even really believe I found it. I met the owners and they're pretty nice. so if you're ever in austin, check it out...

my friend from auburn, G, and I were gonna hang out on tuesday and she said, "oh wait, Mitch hedberg and jim brewer have a show on campus that night" so I asked her to see if she could get me a ticket, and not only did she, but it is only $5. so I'm wicked excited about that...

all for now...

JA

it's been a week? what the hell?

2005-03-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

yeah I didn't even realize it...

so let's be frank... okay, you be frank, and I'll be James... but anyway, there are some times when I go out on the road, and I have a prior opinion about how a show might be. there are some I think are going to really rock, like in Winona, and it always rocks... and there are some times when I'm playing a new town or venue and I'm a bit anxious because I either have low expectations, or don't know what to expect altogether...

well three bonuses this past week... on thursday I played at University of Colorado, and while it is officially named as I typed it with the U before the C, some people swear on their mother that it's known as CU... anyway, it was awesome... and I wasn't really allowed to "sell" cds per se, but my homegirl Kayla helped me to find a loophole where I could simply give away cds and accept "donations" in return. but don't tell anyone from CU or UC...

then I drove all the way to Madison, WI for another first time city and venue, the union at university of wisconsin. I got to play with two great and cool bands, Polydream from Madison, and Epic Hero from Minneapolis. Epic Hero was a three-piece for this night, and they usually play with a lead guitarist, but I thought they sounded really great even as a 3-piece, no offense of course to their K-zoo raised guitarist... anyway the show was awesome and I got to play a solid 40 minute set. the place was packed, and I just had a great time. I hope I can visit there again soon...

then another one of those iffy shows. I hadn't played des moines, iowa since I played Drake University a couple times back in 02-03. so I didn't know how it would turn out. I started my reunion with des moines with a brilliantly arranged turkey swiss sandwich and a cup of tomato basil soup. then I capped it off with some wireless internet research and e-mail catch up. and, oh, the show... yeah...

I sat down on the stage (as I've been doing a lot lately, sitting down that is) and all of a sudden the place was just packed... mostly with these seemingly late high school to early college ranged kids and they were a lot of fun. they helped me to ramble between songs like I always wanted to. they facilitated my banter with some of their own, and they promptly filled up the remainder of my mailing list pages, and just started writing e-mails all around the white edges of each piece of paper on my little clipboard... so that was fun... plus I got to hang out with one of my bros from when I was in Utah back in college... we're having a reunion soon... 5 years... yup, that makes me feel young...

as for me? right now I'm in oklahoma... I usually don't get hotel rooms when I don't need to or if I don't have a show, but this was such a killer deal, and as you can tell, they have wireless internet... just watching some college bball on tv, and I'm going to try to get a cheap ticket if possible to the OSU vs. TX A&M game here in oklahoma tomorrow night. If I do get a ticket, I'll secretly be cheering for vast underdog A&M, because not only have I had some great times in college station, but that's where I'll be playing this friday. and I've always been treated well in college station...

then as I swing through the south to the southeast region, and as I soak up more sun in the past two days than I've seen all winter, I will long for my last pair of sunglasses which so tragically drowned in the ocean off of the island of st. thomas while on a cruise for the holidays...

now after three shows at new places, I will go on a streak of shows that I have played before and I've been lucky to have so many of these repeat performances... which leads me to believe that I must be doing something right. but i'm stuck with a lot of extra thought and reservations about how much longer I can keep doing this...

'Rado bra

2005-02-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

I don't know how to type out phonetically the sound that people sometimes make when perhaps referring to, or impersonating a burn-out, hippy, but if I had to try, it would go something like this... awh-awh-awh-awh-awh-awh Note how there is only one "w" within each 'syllable' which denotes the definite break in between the continuous repeating sounds; also which signifies short, swift, sounds strung together... i guess you have to make fun of a stoner or hippie to know what I'm talking about... this sound usually comes at the end of what seem like sentences, but which usually aren't.

Anyway, that whole rant really had no point. I've never met anyone who actually makes that sound other than someone who is making fun of a stoner. nevertheless I am in rado, and it's been surprisingly nice outside. I actually haven't been wearing a jacket, because while it is slightly nippy, the sun has been shining unobstructed for the past two days since I've been here. sucks that I'm leaving tomorrow morning. but I do finally have a show to play at UC in Boulder, a town which I have never visited, and my friends tell me it will be a place where not only I will be accepted (especially 'cos of the beard) but that will be accepted by me as somewhere I would feel comfortable.

otherwise I've just been crashing on my friends couch, playing Beirut, which is 'beer pong' where I'm from. there's this bar in town that has beirut tournaments every single tuesday. this is actually the third time I've participated in my career. the first time was i think in '02, maybe '03. my friend and I were partners, and we were drinking quite heavily before the tourney started. for those who don't know... this is a drinking game... so anyway, it's two game elimination, and we lost our first game, so we thought, shoot, we're not going to get very far. but we ended up getting to the semi finals. we were later disqualified and escorted out of the bar because I threw up in a nearby garbage can. welcome to greeley, jim.

let me also state that there are usually at least 20 teams, usually 30-ish or more, and last night there were over 50 so we went 3-1 last night, and there were so many teams left that they are going to finish it off tonight, so we're going back. not as drinkers, but competitors. lat night was fun though. the only problem is that there was just way too much consumption going on. first we went to this little italian place and ate too much, I had this huge mixed drink they called a bazouki or something like that... maybe bazooka... and then we went to another bar, had another drink and shot, then started drinking at the bar where the tourney was...

and that was after the guy at the door took my ID and said it was a fake, even after he pulled out the ID manual for every state ID in the country. he put them up side by side, and said, "this is fake, I'm keeping it" this was also after he asked me to show a second form of photo ID, and I pulled out my old WMU student ID, which has my photo (although not as clear as my driver's license, and he said it wasn't me. Then in a miraculous change of heart. he just all of a sudden admitted that he was wrong after like 10 minutes and he just said that a lot of people come into this bar in greeley, colorado with fake Michigan IDs... ridiculous. However, I wasn't bitter because as I stated to him, I used to check Ids at a similar bar at "WESTERN MICHIGAN WHERE I JUST SHOWED YOU MY ID FROM" and I understand that the bar could be shut down if you let under-agers in. so i told him I understand... (and that he's in for a surprise once he starts up his car later... ) well I thought about saying it at least...

anyway I don't mind going back today to finish our march to the top of Beirut dominance, because they have hold 'em poker at this bar on wednesdays, and I think it's free, so that's right before the beirut thing anyway... so why the hell not?

anyway... I use the word "anyway" and the ellipse alot... see... I should try to cut down... for anyone wondering what my new year's resolution is... you've found it... see...

JJJJAAAA

1 to 2

2005-02-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

holla'atchaboy!!

The thing about the midwest is... well... the weather sucks... it's cold, snowy, windy... I walked about 4 blocks last night to this restaurant/bar to get some eats after my show and I wasn't that cold, but my ears were freezing. they were catching wind like the sails on a boat. that was most definitely not wicked...

anyway the chicago show was great. I got to see some friends whom I had not seen in such a long time. one is married now. he used the word, "wife," and I thought he misspoke, but it was not an error. they all got caught up on the new disc. that's how long it had been, Chicago used to be Low Carb-less, but now they're swimming in it. afterward we all crowded the new bar at the UG and had some cocktails, I sat with my pal Stolie, and we talked about a lot of music jargon, most of which the average reader wouldn't understand... words such as: guitar, singing, money, bullshit, Portuguese, camping... yeah I know what you're thinking, what the hell language were these two speaking in, well I warned ya. we alsy fantasized about our futures, and writing songs, and travelling, and hopefully our dreams will come true. I decided that her dreams would come true if I gave her a loan, and she's so sweet, that if I had the money, I might give her some...

then I bounced the next morning heading to MN. I bitched at every 80c toal booth (there were at least 5) from freakin chicago, which is near the border to WI, to the state line... made it to Winona, nice and early. I found out that the acoustic cafe has the wireless internet now, so since I'm a junkie with my wicked laptop, I endulged.

there's a lot of love in winona, MN. I started playing there a couple years ago, and I don't even remember how I stumbled upon the place, but I'm sure glad I did. there's this certain group of wicked people who come out every time I play there, and not only that, but they always bring at least one friend with them who has never heard me play before. they're really up close, personal, and all that. they even shouted out their first request (for one of my songs!) so that was nice. I tried to play 'comfortable' for them, cos I know these two babes really like it. and I busted out my new alicia keys song, which has been almost as much of a hit live than the original... well...

so that was cool, a great time was had by all, and afterward there was the usual signing of someone's arm, a girl's purse, and some posters, photos, hugs, and all kinds of affection. like I said, there's a lot of love going around in winona. and I wanted to hang out in town for the night, but my friend, G, told me that she'd be up late in st. paul, so I made the couple hour drive and she left the light on for me like Tom Bodette...

I've been sleeping in this little room, which isn't even a room, there are no vents, and it's cold outside, and the walls are thin, but they gave me like 7 blankets and comforters, so it actually is quite comfortable, especially with the wicked air matress that I'm dreaming on...

last night I played here in town at Ginkgo... it started out pretty empty, but sure filled up quick about half way through, and I met some cool peeps who bought cds, and very much appreciated the stickers I offered them... oh, by the way, the chapsticks are a hit. I've already run out after like 3 shows, so I'm, screwed, but so are these peoples lips. I might have to send out for some more from the box at home...

this is my impression of that one song, "back to one" I think it was brian mcknight or something...

1, you're like a dream come true
2, blibbity, blabbity, blue
3, I think I have to pee
4, I'll never kiss a whore
5, I think I lost my shoe
6, no longer have to poo
7, that lobster ravioli is through
8, and poo is never fun, we're back at one...

isn't that how it goes...???

I think I swallowed some toothpaste while I was brushing today... and it was just straight up toothpaste. it was like the foaming combination of toothpaste and saliva... I almost hurled... luckily I hadn't eaten breakfast yet...

but I am going there now... which is why we must say goodbye...

JA

Chi(lly)-cago

2005-02-17T18:16:00.000-08:00

if someone can figure out how the title of this post makes sense, please enlighten me...

I'm chillin at the new and improved uncommon ground. I can't believe the massive renovation that this place underwent. Massive. it has the same old place, and then they extended all the way to the corner, which used to be some kind of sports bar I think... but it's a really awesome bar-area that they've added. and it's clean, dimly lit, and really classy. and it's quiet, not smoky, and it's just somewhere that I would sip drinks at if I lived in chicago. in fact, to prove it, I'm sipping on a manhattan right now... and it's wicked... my word for the week... wicked.

anyway the first act is probably playing now, and they charged me $3 for the hour of internet usage here, so I figured I'd try to do something with it, like post a little hello from the first evening show for me in a while.

I brought out the chapsticks for this one, the people in this town can certainly put it to good use. heck, I may just be handing them out at the door. if I did that, people would think I'm wicked. wicked.

right right... I got to sleep in a bed last night, and eat some good thai food at 'once upon a thai.' they even have a website www.onceuponathai.com great thai rolls and pad thai. it was wicked. and I had some this afternoon for lunch, leftovers of course. I don't think I'd be able to find the place twice in a row without directions.

well I think I'm gonna go listen to 'new harmony indiana.' who knows? they could be wicked...

it's freakin freezing in here mr. bigglesworth...

JA

on the m-iz-orrow (ebonics version)

2005-02-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

**the english version of the following is below the entry**

Yo buss dis. "I'z leavin... on a TAURBUS... ain't noed when I'll be back a guen" I do has an idea uh when I'll be back... jus ain't noed exactly what time an' what not... well it all kicks off tomorrow afternoon wit a bad assed old college show. I'z so thankful to de schools who continually has me back semestuh aftuh semestuh, year aftuh year. See what I'm sayin? It really keeps me cruisin.

rappin uh cruisin', I had to take care uh some maintenance befo I left... as usual, shit hits de fan right befo I leave town. my computuh died, so I had to put a new one togethuh, which has a cool case, wit a window an' headlights. I tried to git a PC case wit spinners, but dey wuzn't in yet (or invented yet). but it's appearance be only overshadowed by its current efficiency, an shit. my crib computuh be so important, evun though I has dis here laptop.

also I went to git an oil fix today so I'z ready to cruise de highways at high speeds... an' when dey axeed me to start huh up, she wouldn't go. so dey had to charge me up, an' told me dat my battery wuz juiced, so I went directly to de auto zone, leavin my hoopty runnin, an' proceeded directly home an' changed my firs battery, an shit. it felt so good. I almos wanted to start up a mechanic shop but felt dat it wouldn't do very well because I would nevuh be dere, an' all I noed how to do be fix Ford Taurus hoopty batteries...

the bad assed news be dat my illness has subsided, an' I'z ready to serenade... I'z especially psyched fuh de chicago show dat has elluded (?) me fuh so long. de firs one at MSU be likes a bad assed warm up... I think I'z goin to go to chicago weds night, an' hang out durin de day thursday instead uh skressin myself out gettin into da hood thursday an' dealin wit de terrible traffic dat nevuh ends unless it's 'bout3am on a sunday mornin... an' dat's not evun a guarantee... please feel free to pos messages on de forum on de website... I'd love to see posts less than a month apart... but beggars kaint be choosers, or whatever...

thank you 2004 fuh de 10 pounds...

JA Sheeit!

on the morrow

2005-02-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

"I'm leaving... on a TAURBUS... don't know when I'll be back again"

I do have an idea of when I'll be back... just don't know exactly what time and what not... well it all kicks off tomorrow afternoon with a good old college show. I'm so thankful to the schools who continually have me back semester after semester, year after year. It really keeps me cruisin. Speaking of cruisin', I had to take care of some maintenance before I left... as usual, shit hits the fan right before I leave town. my computer died, so I had to put a new one together, which has a cool case, with a window and headlights. I tried to get a PC case with spinners, but they weren't in yet (or invented yet). but it's appearance is only overshadowed by its current efficiency. my home computer is so important, even though I have this here laptop.

also I went to get an oil change today so I'm ready to cruise the highways at high speeds... and when they asked me to start her up, she wouldn't go. so they had to charge me up, and told me that my battery was juiced, so I went directly to the auto zone, leaving my car running, and proceeded directly home and changed my first battery. it felt so good. I almost wanted to start up a mechanic shop but felt that it wouldn't do very well because I would never be there, and all I know how to do is change Ford Taurus car batteries...

the good news is that my illness has subsided, and I'm ready to serenade... I'm especially psyched for the chicago show that has elluded (?) me for so long. the first one at MSU is like a good warm up... I think I'm going to go to chicago weds night, and hang out during the day thursday instead of stressing myself out getting into town thursday and dealing with the terrible traffic that never ends unless it's about 3am on a sunday morning... and that's not even a guarantee...

please feel free to post messages on the forum on the website... I'd love to see posts less than a month apart... but beggars can't be choosers, or whatever...

thank you 2004 for the 10 pounds...

JA

road warrior-dom (ebonics version)

2005-02-09T07:48:00.000-08:00

**the regular english translation of this post precedes this post**

I th'o't I've got uh disease... uh fever! an' da only prescription fo' muh ma fuckin fever, aside from mo' cowbell, iz ta jet muh ma fuckin hometown, an' travel ta sing fo' some peeps.

an' it starts next week. I've been so mastabatin since I last came back from da road in november. da last trip wuz fine ass fun, an' dis here one don' gots as many shows unfortunately, but it'sstill uh trip an' uh reason fo' me ta just wing it like usual. I'm hitting up some usual suspects, an' dere iz uh couple new places I'll be visiting, like Hoboken, NJ. Never really scoped out dat scene, but I got hooked oup by uh really tight talent buyer from uh venue in philly area, so dat wuz uh nice bonus. an' then dere wuz some peeps who said, "heck jaa, we's totally wants ta book ya, let'sdo it!" (yes some wiff an exclamation point), an' then never heard from dem ag'in afta two months... so dis here trip has uh tint o' darkness ta it. It could gots, an' should gots been bettah, but it wuz all in muh ma fuckin hands. an' dis here factor iz somethin' I've been trying ta chance fo' quite some tyme now, I don' really wants dis here certain aspect o' muh ma fuckin rap entity ta be in muh ma fuckin hands, wierd as dat sounds. what I really need right now iz an agent ta schedule muh ma fuckin shows fo' me. an' I don' care what percentage dey take, or if it starts off slow. I just wants ta be able ta tour constantly. dis here huge gap between shows crap iz really getting ta me, an' I th'o't it'sholding me back, an' it'snot really in muh ma fuckin control.

so I had ta throw in dat rant, but I can assure ya, I'm still gonna be rocking out da fly suckers who did confirm shows wiff me, an' I've got some new, fun material coming yo' way, just th'o't ta "stop an' smell da roses... uh little bit closer..." cos it'sgonna be fun. I'm just going ta gots ta really th'o't hard about what da heck ta do wiff myself on non-show dates... which iz posted on da website... check 'em out y'all...

all right, I just wanted ta peek muh ma fuckin head in an' say wha da dilly yo?... it all goes down next week, an' then I'm off... through March, an' maybe uh bit o' April... I'm on da run... an' nahh one can catch me, besides, it'snot like I post muh ma fuckin whereabouts on uh website or anythin'...

JA

road warrior-dom

2005-02-08T07:17:00.000-08:00

I think I've got a disease... a fever! and the only prescription for my fever, aside from more cowbell, is to leave my hometown, and travel to sing for some peeps.

and it starts next week. I've been so bored since I last came back from the road in november. the last trip was pretty fun, and this one doesn't have as many shows unfortunately, but it's still a trip and a reason for me to just wing it like usual. I'm hitting up some usual suspects, and there are a couple new places I'll be visiting, like Hoboken, NJ. Never really scoped out that scene, but I got hooked oup by a really cool talent buyer from a venue in philly area, so that was a nice bonus. and then there were some people who said, "heck yeah, we totally want to book you, let's do it!" (yes some with an exclamation point), and then never heard from them again after two months... so this trip has a tint of darkness to it. It could have, and should have been better, but it was all in my hands. and this factor is something I've been trying to chance for quite some time now, I don't really want this certain aspect of my music entity to be in my hands, wierd as that sounds. what I really need right now is an agent to schedule my shows for me. and I don't care what percentage they take, or if it starts off slow. I just want to be able to tour constantly. this huge gap between shows crap is really getting to me, and I think it's holding me back, and it's not really in my control.

so I had to throw in that rant, but I can assure you, I'm still gonna be rocking out the wonderful suckers who did confirm shows with me, and I've got some new, fun material coming your way, just think to "stop and smell the roses... a little bit closer..." cos it's gonna be fun. I'm just going to have to really think hard about what the heck to do with myself on non-show dates... which are posted on the website... check 'em out y'all...

all right, I just wanted to peek my head in and say hello... it all goes down next week, and then I'm off... through March, and maybe a bit of April... I'm on the run... and no one can catch me, besides, it's not like I post my whereabouts on a website or anything...

JA

ps

2005-01-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

by the way. I done cut my hair off... a month ago, but I got haircuts in consecutive months for the first time in about 3-4 years. crazy...

martin sheen

2005-01-17T17:08:00.000-08:00

i've got a shot... a legitimate shot to meet the president... well not the real president. and no, I don't really have a shot... however, if I ever did have a chance to meet a president of the united states, it would be martin sheen. he plays one on tv. the west wing has become my favorite show. even moreso (and hear me out) than the O.C. I really like the O.C. and I record it when I'm away, I'll admit it. also, I take the extra effort to capitalize both of the main letters in the name when I'm typing journals. but I've been watching the west wing lately, and often. I've always been fascinated by the writing of the show. the writers must be brilliant. and sure I write some wicked good lyrics sometimes, and I've always been interested in writing and being versatile to that effect. but I don't always write properly. for instance: "to that effect" in the previous sentence; and that semicolon I just typed. are those errors in structure? syntax? what is syntax? I used to think that it was just a computer error, because on our family's first ever computer, the Apple IIE, the most common error message I remember was "syntax error" because commands always had to be typed properly in order for the machine to understand.

**special note: MC Hammer is now receiving royalties on a commercial that used his song "u can't touch this" for a purell hand sanitizer commercial. Also Hammer has recently received a cameo mention in my latest song concoction, "driving through the ghetto." this song was debuted at Colby College in Maine during my first show of the year a couple of weekends ago

...anyway, back to the topic that I've forgotten about or never knew in the first place: writing. ahh yes. I've even gone so far as to turn off the current basketball or football game to watch the west wing. I'd only have a score check during commercial breaks. I've always wanted to write a script, or screenplay, or funny bud light commercial, or any funny commercial... oh and a musical. I'm not jiving either. I'm /sur-ee-us/.

if anyone has not watched the west wing, or claims that they have, and turned it off after the first segment or two, you have to give it a chance. watch the full episode, or two full episodes. I can't stand it when people pop in a cd, especially when they themselves haven't heard it before, and then have the nerve to skip to the next track or over the next track before the end of the song. please be patient. especially if you're riding in the car with me.

well this entry has certainly covered a wide array of topics. which I'm fine with.

I like to jump around,

skip lines, and I wish I posted more. when I hit the road again, I'll be as diligent as i was in fall, I promise. please feel free to facilitate such future entries by giving me some inspiration in the form of inquiries and the always popular, "quenstions, comments, concerns, announcements." which are always welcome between songs at any live show. 'cos they're still so damn intimate...

about 7 degrees today in michigan, my car was frozen shut, but I got in, my windows are all frozen shut, I don't feel like scraping the back windshield, cos it's iced over, and who needs the back windshield anyway? also, I need to get one of those remote starters, but I won't need it so much if I just move to the carolinas, or san diego. but seattle, I'd definitely need it.

how bout you?

exhibitionist

2005-01-10T22:12:00.000-08:00

so the performing year is officially underway. I made the long trek to Maine to play the first show of the year this past saturday. the drive was hell-ish, but I got by with the help of David's sunflower seeds. I forgot to bring any cds with me, so I had to rely on periodic radio signals on the fm dial, and the always inconsistent am radio trying to listen to the lates in playoff football. a side note, my stereo is not a stock sytem, so for some reason it really doesn't pick up any am stations, and not only that, but for every station that it doesn't pick up, it makes this terrible screeching static sound. so that sucked, and every time I go through instances like that I tell myself that I'm going to get XM radio soon. and I will... so I say.

the drive let me cut through canada, which I always enjoy. it reminded me of the friends I made on the holiday cruise that I was on recently. on the way back home, as I drove down the 401, I thought, maybe I'll go visit my new canadian pals. then I realized I don't really remember what town they live in... but they were the coolest canadians that I had possibly ever met. they knew about the popular hamburger stand that we used to frequent on the way up to hockey camp every summer, and they knew about the resort we used to waste time at, just before we went up to the camp. I think shania twain is from somewhere close to that town. that's what I heard at least. the guy who told me that (I remember it so clearly) was on my starting line when I played my one and only all-star game in college. he was canadian, so he knew, yet he was playing for iowa state. probably not so different from where he was brought up.

so the show went okay. I would have loved to pack the place up, but the dedicated base of people who stayed around for my sub 2-hour set was gracious. so I rewarded them with new 'jimmy atto official chapstick.' which went over really well since these people live in a cold and snowy climate and probably go skiing a couple times a week. I didn't bust out the frisbees, or the stadium cups, those will come out some time soon though... just axe me...

it was a good warm up show. as you may or may not know, shows are being set up for a good old spring tour. I hope to visit your town, wherever you are... my voice held up, which I was surprised about, cos I hadn't been singing too much over the last month or so. and I didn't screw up many words or chords on the guitar. my favorite addition to the set is my new "d" harmonica. as some may know, my previous harmonica in the key of D crapped out on my in winona, mn last fall. it had done so on several previous occasions, and winona was the last straw. some lucky young lady has that harp now. my new one played flawlessly in its debut, and will surely continue to do so, as I see a long and healthy partnership between me and my new harmonica.

get your chance to meet and greet the new harmonica at a spring show. they'll be posted soon. check ya later...

JJA

... and a happy happy happy happy

2004-12-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

Yeah so I’m co’ chillin’ on a jet plane right now. So that’s what a cruise is like, eh? Wow, was that fun. Not to rub it in or anything, but being my first cruise, I have to share the joy that I experienced the last seven days. When we left, I was pissed, because our flight was at 7am, and we didn’t go to bed until about 3:30am. So that didn’t leave much room for dreams. (which reminds me, I had this weird, crazy dream the other night, I hope I remember it for a while). So we catch the flight early, and luckily I was able to sleep for 90% of the flight to florida. We had to wait for some big greyhound bus to take us to the port, so I was taught a new card game called Egyptian rat screw (ERS for short). It was pretty fun, and I have never won. Kind of shameful actually. So we made it to the big ship, and went through all kinds of annoying forms, checkpoints, counters, and finally entered, hitting up the buffet as our first order of business… naturally. The sun wasn’t so prevalent early on, but it came out and we laid on the deck a lot, co’ chillin, drank frozen adult beverages, swam, hot-tubbed, ate like royalty, and it was great. We visited a couple of beautiful islands, st, Thomas, and st. marten. We were going to visit an island called pricess cays, except it recently disappeared from the map amidst the latest hurricane season. Bummer. And we heard about that tsunami while we were on the ship. It’s wicked sad what happened. This has just not been a good year for mother nature. She’s on much of the world’s shit lists right now, and well-deserved. Yeah, I said it. Oops, battery only has 6 minutes left. I’ll have to finish this one sooner than later.

-----------------------------------

now for the continuation. back in detroit... gearing up for what's sure to be a chill new year's for me. I'm going out, but don't plan to get ridiculously wasted or anything. for those who don't know. I'm not the most crazy night owl you'll ever meet. it's been known to happen, but it happens quite seldom. my friend's band is playing at a local place and it should be off the hizz-y. I'm not sure about my resolution yet, but I did catch a glimpse of the fitness bug throughout november, so it might have something to do with that. please share your resolutions, for those too lazy to establish one, it might help give them an idea...

I'm excited to be kicking off the new year with a straggler show at a college in Maine. it'll be a nice warm-up for the year to come. the years have just been flying by, but I have a feeling that they could move even quicker if things get busier...

so everyone party safe... and remember the motto: rock n roll-a, coca-cola

JJA

cruisin

2004-12-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

in hopes that I will be doing a lot of cruising in the future, I wish all readers a happy holiday season. i'm pretty behind in my packing for the official 'cruise' which takes place on wednesday. with an early flight, my earliest that I can remember, and a sea journey for about a week. this is my first time hitting the sea. I've been in the ocean only a few times, but on both coasts. i've heard and read that there are so many things to do on these cruises... especially eating. I'm going to do my best to control this... maybe where some kind of collar that zaps me if I've already treated myself to the eating areas 3 times for the day. surely that would cost extra, the collar.

Also, I've been on haitus from my running regimen which spanned the month of november. it's unfortunate, but it's just too cold here for me to keep it up, and I could run indoors, but I just don't like running inside. I like to breathe fresh air, and have something to look at. so I hear they have a track on the ship, so I', going to bring my running shorts.

I'm going to be doing some crusing just after the new year also... I've got a random show at a college in Maine, which was the first place I ever went snow-shoeing. I don't know if I'll be able to do it again, but it should be like home for me in terms of weather, etc.

then in february, I get to fire up for what will hopefully be more than a one show engagement. well I know for a fact that it'll be for more than one show, but I'm still confirming so many of them, and it's my favorite time of year when I travel, and tour and play shows, and meet new and old peeps. I like especially like it when I come up with new quips, jokes, commentary, stories, to share with peeps. plus by that time there will be no more Lions football, so my spirits on sundays will be exceedingly higher than during the football season. joe harrington is depressed, and surely more than other fans are, but how can you not be depressed when you watch what happens week after week.

anyway, so I look forward to cruise #1 this week. it seems like everyone's been on a cruise before, except my and my siblings. now I'll have a story or eight to share. feel free to share your cruise stories with me, unless they're horror stories.

have a great quanzchrismakkah...

god bless the O.C.

oh by the way, on the cruise ship, they have a cruise "idol" competition, and I've officially taken my name out of the running for that one... even with pressure to participate... this position I will not budge on... fo sho'

long time no talkie

2004-11-30T18:27:00.000-08:00

yeah yeah yeah, so I'm a slacker... I spend more time reading other musician's journals, than contributing to my own... right now I'm watching the michigan state vs. duke bball game... it's pretty crazy MSU went up by ten early, but now it's close again. I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving, as I did... if anyone cares... it was pretty standard, but you get to see all the family, and no one misses thanksgiving...

I woke up early on thanksgiving morn'. about 6am. I got up because I've been on this running kick, and even though I take days off now, I still consider myself someone who runs regularly. Anyway, I got up to run a 10k in downtown Detroit. it was tough, I ain't gonna lie. that's the longest I may have ever run. well, maybe 2nd longest ever. so usually I only go about 3 miles, and this was about 6. but I made it in under an hour, which is all I could have hoped for. I was just proud of myself for actually getting up that early to take part. honestly, I thought about running it last year, and I got up, but then I went back to sleep, and I had been regretting it for about a year... so now I'm over it and have to find something new to regret... I'll have to sit on that for a while...

so there hasn't been much going on. all I've been doing is working on setting up shows for spring, and there's not much interesting in the booking process, so maybe I've been bored with that, and maybe that's why it's been weeks since my last post to this wonderful blog. I forgot how great it is...

I've also been jamming a lot no doubt... no diggity, been working on a couple songs one called 'appetizer' and one called 'green light.' they've started off well, but they're both incomplete, so I need to really make sure I finish them... 'cos one time john mayer told me to finish all of my songs, even if they suck... so whatever he says goes I guess...

let's go STATE. U of M got killed today... so I have to root for state now... and western michigan, my broncos got a win the other night... obviously I've been getting my fill of sporting events... I get to go to the lions game on sunday... hooray!

peace in and out

JA

attacked by...

2004-11-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all... I never say hello or greet you in any way, I usually just get to the rants... some people might prefer it, but if anyone has seen the different ways that I present myself in the past couple years, you know I mix up my appearance occasionally...

anyway, I was just cruisin ben folds' website, and I like listen to the music from his site, it's pretty soothing, 'cos it's mostly solo stuff... anyway, he sells his merch through a website called "attacked by plastic" I think... or something close to that... and speaking of which, I wanted to share with everyone a bittersweet story...

ever since I started running, I've been feeling great about myself... 10 days strong... 27 miles later... i feel great... but one thing that inclines me to run during daylight (which is before 5pm now) is that there are sooooo many dogs in this neighborhood, and recent experiences have supported these fears. I was attacked briefly by a dog on the corner. there were two of them... they both came at me barking, but didn't really attack. they calmed down after a minute and I petted them and spoke in my extremely high doggy voice... then as I tried to get them to follow me back toward their house (because I learned that if I run, then they attack), then one of them jumped up and bit me very hard on my tricep. for those who are unfamiliar with muscle locations, this is on the upper arm. pretty high for a not-so-big dog. it hurt, but I took it like a man, and told the woman, "tis okay, I'm fine." and once she had them secured, I started my stop watch again and proceeded on the run. the hard part was that this was literally 10 seconds into my usually about 26-27 minute run. so it was haunting me the entire time. I was wearing a rather thick hooded sweatshirt, and after further inspection after my run, the dog did break the skin in two spots on my arm... just a bit of blood and two very small cuts. wow. I couldn't believe it. I also couldn't believe that someone who has dogs that attack on-goers (I've heard stories of many instances) don't keep their pets restrained or with an electric fence...

-the other one happened even later at night. I was just cruising along... and this dog starts barking and coming at me. it's on leash... now this one is even more interesting because it was restrained on the leash, but rather than pull her aggresively barking dog back, she lets the dog reach me, all the while repeating, "he's nice... he's okay... he's nice" as it bites my sweatpants about 4 inches from an important organ, and almost pulls them down to my knees... luckily he didn't get such a good grip...

yeah, he's fucking nice.... shut up... and pull your dog back so I can have children someday...

I can vent, can't I?

said

2004-11-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

a certain afforementioned college keeps sending me notices for a parking ticket. this school just so happens to be the institution whose apparel I currently sport, after being forced to purchase clothing because of my lack of belongings at the time. please, save yourself the paper, and stop sending me these notices... they travel all the way across the country, only to be thrown away. At first I felt threatened, but "said" school only threatened to keep me from registering for classes if I don't pay it... well I'm here to say... I am quitting school and not registering for classes... yeah I said it...

running update: 3 miles today; 9th day in a row...it'll be so much harder to keep track of once this month ends, since I started on the 1st...

saw a movie today which will most definitely be a stumper for next tour's 'movie trivia.'

word...

my hangups

2004-11-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

so what would be one of the first things for someone who dressed up as ALI G for hallowee to do? did that make sense?

anyway, I decided to invest in a collection of dvds. so far my entire collection includes:

-JOHN MAYER - Any Given Thursday
-The Family Man - (Nicolas Cage, Tea Leoni)
*new additions*
-ALI G IN DA HOUSE -
-The entire first season of ALI G SHOW
-Entire first season of Chapelle's Show

so 5 total, but it's about quality... remember that...

so I ran 3 miles today, day 8 in a row. man it's so much easier than the first day...

All right enough about that. So I'm home now, and when I'm home I have time to think. between e-mails I send to colleges and venues, and random people IM-ing me, I tend to let the mind wander. oh, these come between meals I've been cooking for myself since I've been back. I've been cooking meals of chicken breast with vegetables, salads, fresh fruit, and I even bought for the first time some brie. I've had brie (is that spelled right?) on the road or at nice occasions, but never at my residence. I highly suggest it to all... with some wheat crackers...

anyway, so I'm done touring for the calendar year. this is always the hardest sentence to speak. done for the year. it would be one thing if it was late december, but it's early november. it sucks. but I gots-ta set up these shows for spring, 'cos me don't have a booking agent yet. I'm working on it. believe you me.

one thing I've learned since I started doing this is to be patient. patience is such a quality to have. I never used to have any. when I was in college I was about to graduate and still a late 21-year-old. I told myself, "shoot, john mayer didn't blow up til he was like 23. so I figured I had a year or two to get there. but I don't think it's happened yet. don't get me wrong, things aren't going wrong, it's just happening so much slower than I anticipated, and because of this, I've realized that I'm just going to have to wait it out. and I can only hope that it won't take too much longer. you know, sheryl crow had many-a-crisis when she got a late start. she started I think later than me, and by the time she blew up, she was probably late twenties or thirty... she looks good though, damn... but she always had all these regrets about not starting a family, she wanted kids... blah blah blah. Maybe women have different hangups about babies. don't get me wrong, my goal in life is to be able to build and support a family, and have kids (who look like their mother mostly), but my dreams of becoming a young hip, parent may go out the window, or at least the window is open, and there's an outward draft, but they haven't quite flown yet.

so I have my hangups just like anyone else. I'm no sheryl crow, but i might not have a problem being the male version of her. especially if I can keep this boyish figure when I'm that age... shoot, good for her... and if anyone knows her, tell her I'm still available...

dum dum diddy diddy dee...

ja

running update

2004-11-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

Yo... just wanted to say that I did go running on nov. 1st, and yesterday, the 2nd, and I plan to go again today... if someone wants to be my running partner, let me know...

I can do this!!!

me is here wif me main man...

2004-11-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

I was ALI G for halloween. We went to a party and before we got there I said, "my biggest fear tonight is that there will be someone else dressed as Ali G and that they will look better than me. well my fears came to fruition. However, the bright spot of the night was when I bumped into a guy dressed as Borat from Kazakhstan (spell?). He was freakin hilarious. His look wasn't totally on, but the way he spoke and the things he said were dead on... anyway it was a fun last night in SD.

I've obviously been jumping around with these posts. I'm just glad to not be waiting weeks between them... no one promised any chronological entries in terms of content.

Well today is the day that I said I would start some things. Number one, is scheduling for spring tour... #2 start running. I haven't run consistently in probably over a year. those who see me regularly can attest to this, just by observing my flucutating male figure... after all, I've got a cruise to go onto during x-mas and new year's. so as Ali G would say, "me needs to get back into shape... so me can hang wit' all the bitches..."

so entries will be shorter, because, you know, they take so much time... but I need to go running, and I must start today... I've got these big thick sweatpants, and the weather is right for them... so I need to go prepare myself...

it's like a new year's resolution in november... do any other cultures celebrate a new year in november...? hmm... luckily I also hav a full bag of halloween candy to the tune of sour patch kids sampler pack... 50 packs... I can't wait to eat them... oh but this won't interfere with my new diet which I'm also going to start this week to coincide with my new found desperation exercise.... anyone with dietary tips can forward them to me through e-mail... I may even run on saturdays and sundays, cos after all I'll never miss the entire U-M football game or the entire Lions game...

BOOYA- KASHA!!

Jimmy G

LAY- over...

2004-10-31T16:55:00.000-08:00

leaving the friendly confines of San Diego wasn't easy. the sun, the tide, the comfortable couch... the birthplace of Mraz (well musically at least). I had a nice relaxing week. I loved Seattle. I got to hang with a friend, with all of my belongings after the airport debocle... I ended up selling lots of discs in WA like the first time I visited... a great time and I was even bought a smoothie.

so the flight, including connector wasn't too bad to SD, and I was puzzled by the moisture all over the ground... I guessI brought some of the weather with me from MI, and people noticed right away. I thought I was getting some glaring, wicked looks from strangers, cos I looked like a person who was used to crappy weather... no, not that bad. but I was self-conscious.

I'm at the airport in KC right now, in the midst of the longest possible layover: 3 1/2 hours. I never thought it was possible, but with southwest, anything's possible, as evidenced by the baggage situation on the way to SEA.

just found out my younger cousin won their first high school playoff game ever. so I'm finally going to get to see a game when I'm home... they usually don't play after october. but they pulled one out this last weekend just for me I suppose... NOT...

well I have to head to my gate, maybe I can type more from there...

soaking up something...

2004-10-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

I thought for sure I'd be soaking up the sun... so far, I've merely been soaking up the wireless internet, alcoholic beverages, and a wonderfully comfortable couch... but not much sun. I'm staying at my cousin's place here in SD. I went to the store earlier today and noticed they were shooting a tv show just outside, which was kind of cool. it was fora show called veronica mars, which I believe is a UPN show. it was interesting to watch the production of it, considering tv production was what I studied in college.

after some very rough travels to seattle and back, I finally have more down time than I know what to do with. which is fine. I wish I was one of those people who are always busy. always have something to do. never sit on my ass and watch tv, namely football all day on saturdays and sundays... it may not change, but soon something will. I am determined to get back on the horse and go running for some added exercise.

I'll add more later. I'm about to head to the mountain film festival to watch some outdoor films. it's at the San Diego Natural History Museum... and it's sold out, but my friend scored me a ticket.

check ya later...

THE RED SOX WIN THE PENNANT!! THE RED SOX WIN THE PENNANT!!

2004-10-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

"Oh what a night" as the high school prom song goes. I'll take you through my past couple of days backwards, because I'd like to start with the joy. let's see... well I had the evening show here at CWU in ellensburg, wa last night and they totally revamped the place. last time I played here, it was just a games room, with a couple pool tables and some popcorn... now they've got this little pizzeria, and a huge screen tv on the wall where everyone was watching history being made for the Red Sox of Boston. I was thrilled when I got there, because I knew that they were up 6-0 by the 2nd inning from checking online at this here coffeeshop. I love this wireless internet thing. I love my new laptop. I hope it stays with me forever. Anyway... so some peeps were watching the game, and it wasn't over by 8pm which was when I was supposed to start, so the girl said to me, "gee, I'd hate to turn this off when you go on.." I said, "are you kidding? I don't want you to turn it off... just turn down the sound, so I can play, but I want to watch... for shizzle" okay, I added the shizzle part, but you get the idea...

so I started jamming out, opened up with "longday" by mb20, for reasons which you will realize shortly.

(just before that)

I got a call to my phone, saying that my belongings had just arrived at the hotel I stayed at the previous night. So I had to go pick them up so I would have clean clothes and my own guitar for the evening show (remember this entry is going backwards). so I went to the comfort inn, and picked up all of my belongings, clothing, etc, and my guitar and harmonicas... everything... and then on my way back to my new one-night residence, I dropped off this guitar I rented at a local guitar shop called Boogie Man...

(just before that)

I awoke at around 8:30am, thanks to a wake-up call, after about 6 hours of sleep. I knew I had to get ready and figure some things out. so I showered, brushed my teeth with a complimentary toothbrush from the front desk, complimentary toothpaste, and they gave me a little stick of deoderant too... after cleaning myself up, I had to put on my same clothing from the 20 hour, 4-flight trip from the day and night before, and head out into the world of ellensburg to look for a guitar and some clothing. I was referred to a little guitar shop, but I guess it had been completely closed... so that sucked, but then I found a place called the Boogie Man, which didn't open til ten. I had to be there around 11am for the afternoon show at the SUB. so I waited, and as soon as the guy unlocked the door to open the store, I followed him, probably scared him, and informed him of my situation. He said they don't typically rent guitars out, but he could sell me one, then buy it back for a reduced price. I had little choice, so I accepted. I went to play the afternoon show in the exact same everything, including flip flops, "don't mess with texas" t-shirt, and playing a slightly out-of-tune guitar, which was different than my baby, with no harmonicas, and just a stool (guitar strap was with everything else). Somehow it came out all right. the wildcats of cwu understood my situation, and treated me okay, even though I had no cds to sell, just stickers and the mailing list.

(my situation)

I got up in Detroit about 8:30am ET. got a ride to the airport from a nice gentleman named Al, who works for a transportation company. it was nice vehicle. although not a limo, I still felt pretty cool sitting in the back seat and all. trying to shut my eyes for an additional half hour of sleep if possible. Arrived at the Detroit airport for a quick flight to chicago, to catch another after a 2-hour layover to San Diego. first flight wasn't so bad, but I knew I had a long day of travel in front of me. Caught the 2nd flight to SD. Many crying babies the entire time. I had trouble sleeping even though I was tired, and I'm always reluctant to recline the seat when there's someone behind me. I mean they could have a ginger ale on their tray table or something. hot coffee... it could be anything. so I struggled through that, the longest flight of the day. arrived in SD about 6:35pm ET. then I had to claim my baggage, and immediately check it back in for my flight to SEA, which went through sacramento first, another connector flight. So I got my bags. checked them in, just as my cousin Kevin rolled up to the terminal.

so I walked outside, and we went back so I could check out his place in the hour I had to spare. checked out his new place, ordered some middle-eastern food from a place called Alladin. we ate quickly, cos we took our time and I didn't want to miss my flight. so I made it back in time. we boarded. everything was going fine until... I noticed we were waiting a while to take off. Now I had a connector flight 25 minutes after this one was supposed to land. We were delayed 30 minutes due to weather in sacramento. so I thought, great, I'm going to miss this freakin' connector, and be screwed, 'cos I had to not only make it to seattle, but get my rental car, and drive 2 hours to ellensburg, and perform in just a number of hours after I land on the campus at noon. Good news. they held the connector flight because there were 14 people on our flight relying on this connector. so once we landed in SAC, we walked straight across from our gate, right to the other gate (it literally took less than a minute, and we found seats, and were on our way promptly. Not only were there more crying babies on this flight, but there was this apparent child mollester right behind me. he kept talking (very loudly) to this young girl, must have been like 6. her mom was just sitting there, and the guy wasn't even saying anything to the mom, just the girl, asking her what school she goes to, where she's from. I thought it was very inappropriate, and caught a couple glances from the mother, her face showing a bit of confusion... so once the lights went down, he finally stopped interviewing the young girl and shut his trap. We arrived in seattle, and I thought my journey is almost over.

waiting for baggage claim was routine. they always tell you which baggage claim station is for your flight, and it's always the one next to that one, but we figured it out. I noticed niether of my bags came through; my bag of clothing and everything else, and my guitar. in looking around, I noticed 13 others still waiting their bags (the connector). I knew I wasn't getting my bags. they decided not to put them on the flight from sacramento. I mean, I guess when you see a guitar, you figure, "this guy probably doesn't need this, let's just send it in tomorrow morning." Well they also assumed that everyone was staying somewhere near the airport or metro seattle area. I had to drive two hours east to Ellensburg, and I let them know where I was staying, and that I need this stuff now, let alone asap. I wasn't angry though, I was kind of laughing. I wasn't surprised either. so I went to Hertz to get my rental car. after confirming the reservation, and presenting my ID and credit card. the guy says, "ohhhhh... hmmm... you're not 25, are you?" No sir, I'm 24 and 5 months. "yeah... we can't rent to anyone under 25."

Are you kidding me??

so I had to go down the line to every rent a car place and find a place that would rent to me, with a $25/day fee for being a YOUNG DRIVER. I finally settled on Alamo. they said it would be about $55/day total for 4 days. plus tax of course, no big deal... little did I know that in WA they charge 30% tax... THIRTY PERCENT. $70 extra in taxes... unbelievable. so I again had no choice, and added to my growing credit card balance.

so there I was driving to Ellensburg to my hotel. when I called for the reservation, they said they only had one room left, and it was a suite. it was over a hundred bucks, and I knew I was arriving late, so I knew I wouldn't even be able to take advantage of it, because of the limited sleep I was to get, especially given the journey I had to take the next morning to find a guitar, and clothing. again... no choice, I'll take the room... so that basically brings us up to speed in the "why me?" story of making it out here for the shows at Central. in the end, everything worked out okay.

After the evening show, I ended up selling close to 20 cds... also close to a new record, the first of which was started right here at CWU during my first ever afternoon show last fall... as a bonus, a young man bought me a strawberry-banana smoothie after the show. so thanks Tor. It's swedish for thor.

anyway, last night was the first ever "freeze tag" theme show, and also the first ever "jimmy trivia" rather than the traditional movie or game show trivia...

whew...

JJA

one more thing I forgot

2004-10-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share the info from my website server which was sent to me. this is info about which locations (countries) have been accessing my website. we goin' worldwide wit' this sheeitt...

Top 26 of 26 Total Countries

# Hits Files KBytes Country

1 184394 97.53% 182480 98.53% 3477462 94.88% Network
2 2107 1.11% 1371 0.74% 77192 2.11% US Commercial
3 1791 0.95% 1030 0.56% 81635 2.23% Unresolved/Unknown
4 456 0.24% 200 0.11% 12763 0.35% US Educational
5 101 0.05% 86 0.05% 10571 0.29% Netherlands
6 74 0.04% 65 0.04% 517 0.01% Hungary
7 41 0.02% 41 0.02% 1713 0.05% Greece
8 21 0.01% 21 0.01% 631 0.02% France
9 18 0.01% 6 0.00% 363 0.01% Old style Arpanet (arpa)
10 12 0.01% 12 0.01% 491 0.01% Non-Profit Organization
11 12 0.01% 10 0.01% 799 0.02% United Kingdom
12 7 0.00% 5 0.00% 236 0.01% Germany
13 5 0.00% 5 0.00% 278 0.01% US Military
14 5 0.00% 5 0.00% 283 0.01% Mexico
15 5 0.00% 5 0.00% 188 0.01% Poland
16 5 0.00% 5 0.00% 44 0.00% Slovak Republic
17 4 0.00% 2 0.00% 1 0.00% Seychelles
18 4 0.00% 3 0.00% 4 0.00% Taiwan
19 2 0.00% 2 0.00% 7 0.00% Canada
20 1 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% Belgium
21 1 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% Czech Republic
22 1 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% Finland
23 1 0.00% 1 0.00% 2 0.00% Guatemala
24 1 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% Italy
25 1 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% Japan
26 1 0.00% 1 0.00% 0 0.00% Sweden

big ups to the netherlands and hungary... I'll be there asap

finally, it's happened to me, right in front of my face, and I just cannot hide it...

2004-10-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

well I sure set myself up for a big let down... with a long entry title like the one above, I sure have to follow it up with a killer entry...

I did my first NACA conference over the weekend... for those who don't know, which is probably the majority, NACA is an association that facilitates setting up various forms of entertainment on college campuses, namely a lot of smaller schools that you may not have ever even knew existed. so we set up a little booth (we = Amy and I), and it went over a lot better than I expected. I thought we'd just sit there, and everyone would just walk by, cos we didn't even showcase. turns out people came up to us and wanted to hang out, talk a bit, and throw a frisbee or two. *Note: official jimmyatto frisbees and stadium cups are now available... for... for whatever, throwing an drinking.

one of the other booths at the conference had all of these live animals. one across from us had a lot of reptiles, turtles, and little lizards (which might fall under the reptile category anyway). the last day I was there, friday, I was walking in to get setup and I saw this little monkey. he was just standing on a table, and we caught one another's eye, and I had never really seen a real live monkey up close before... so I kind of walked up to it, an djust stood next to it, cos I didn't want to scare him or anything, and he just kind of grabbed my arm, and held onto it for a few minutes, it was really cute. I totallu want a little monkey for my own, but I noticed it was wearing a diaper, and I don't think I'm ready to change daipers on anything other than a first-born. (*Note #2: notice I spelled /d-aye-pur/ differently the two previous times I used the word. this was to guarantee that at least one of the spellings was correct, if you do not like it, please get bent, and know that I truly believe that spelling #1 is correct.)

so the conference was cool, and I got to meet a couple head honchos from one of the booking agencies that I think should include me in their next year's roster. but after meeting them, and experiencing the conference, and talking to my buddy jason levasseur, my opinions have changed slightly. so we'll just have to see what pans out from the trial edition of naca for me...

well near the end of my stay there in kentucky, I got the opportunity to meet briefly two people who helped me get through middle school. every day after school I'd run home and watch at least back-to-back episodes of the great 'saved by the bell.' and the stars must have aligned because I got to meet two stars from that show at the conference, and it was such a bonus, and they were really great guys. if anyone can guess which two stars from that show that I met over the weekend, please e-mail your guess to info@jimmyatto.com with "giveaway guesses" in the subject line, and you'll get a jimmyatto sampler platter including both of the cds, a frisbee, and stadium cup, and a bunch of other crap that I can fit in there... i just thought of this now, and since I'm trying to pass myself off as some kind of cross between a musician and "the price is right's" Bob Barker, then I feel this one might be fun. and if you already know, I will know you're a cheater, and possibly send you a package full of dirt...

all right, now I get to go soak up some sun on the west coast. I leave tomorrow. I have two full days of travel, which include tomorrow flying to SD and then straight to Seattle, then driving to ellensburg for CWU (where I owe money for a parking ticket, TRY AND CATCH ME!!! HAHAHA) and on the way back on halloween day/night, I fly out of CA at 11am, and arrive in the D at 11pm. so I might miss halloween completely, but I do plan to have a costume for at least one, if not both of the shows that weekend in san diego.

after these shows, I'm done touring for the calendar year. I've got to fire up the booking for spring, and get some momentum back, hopefully through these lovely naca schools... also I plan to go on a cruise, which I've never done before. it goes from x-mas through new year's. so it should be fun. and fattening I hear. so I have to hit the running shoes, even though it's cold now...

everyone have a great second half of october...

JJA

Minne-show-ta

2004-10-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

just got back into detroit this morning at around 3:30am. after driving all day and night, struggling to find radio stations, trying to avoid traffic and rip-off tolls going through illinois... hence, the abbreviated weekend is now over...

I headed to MN for a two night string. probably among the shortest trips I've ever had... I brought a special guest along. he plays a little guitar, and goes by the name Jeff... not to be confused with my younger brother, who may have been mentioned a time or two in subsequent entries. it was a hellish drive out there, including a three hour delay going through chicago and the remainder of Illinois. they have this tollway there, west of chicago, and I didn't invent tollways, so I don't exactly see their purpose, but I would assume, only as an amateur, that they are supposed to serve as some sort of fast alternative to the regular interstates. and in return for their services, you pay some tolls along the way. well this one I think was malfunctioning. on the way out there, I didn't exceed 50 mph until i got to wisconsin, and we had to stop 3-4 times to pay tolls. (note: stopping does not facilitate travel.) so it was kind of a bummer, 'cos we kind of had to rush when we got into winona and get set up and rock and roll it without having any down time whatsoever. luckily, the show went through without a hitch. abour 2/3 of the way through I introduced jeff to the world as a musical companion, much like when Mufasa introduced Simba to all the jungle. we did a little bit of rockin', got offered some good drugs at a cheap price, politely declined, ate a cup of chicken gumbo, and were on our way up to st. paul for the night.

We did end up hanging out with a select few after the show in winona, which was cool. one lucky listener walked home with my harmonica, because it crapped out on me in the middle of a song, and I promptly threw it at the wall, and cursed it forever. like TRUMP, I said, "you're fired!" to the weak harp.

I've got a couple friends in st. P. so we ventured up there late night after the winona show and met up with them at some late night diner in a train car looking place... I think it's called Mickey's, apparently a legendary place in MN. After that we went back to our temporary residence, and I found out that I was to enjoy the pleasure of an air mattress, which was such a bonus. I passed down my usual couch arrangement to Jeff... but before we go to bed, we must have many shots of liquor. so I did two, which was more than enough, because by that time it was about 4am or so, and that's way past my bedtime... I do, however, recall massive commotion (1) when jeff ended up jumping on my back so we could get some pictures... can't wait to see them, and then (2) when my friend accidentally locked herself out of her home, and was banging, which woke me up. I actually thought to myself throughout the banging "geez, the neighbors upstairs must be hammering something... and at this hour?" then promptly went back to sleep. she was eventually let back in.

St. P was pretty cool too. I felt like a million bucks the next morning as I didn't get too wasted. we watched a bunch of college football... big ups to Michigan for coming back against Minnesota, except we couldn't gloat much because, after all, we were in Minnesota, so I just celebrated to myself. the show was cool, except for a small turnout, but the people who turned out, turned it out... what does that mean? not sure...

we also went out hardcore on saturday night and I visited my first college house party since freshman year at western, so that was a nice blast from the past...

so it's about that time of the year. by the end of this month I will have finished my touring for the year. I'm actively pursuing some avenues to ease the administrative facets of my little juggernaut. I do want to mention that I've got a new catch phrase, and will be debuting this new catch phrase at shows and in otherwise social interactions. then I will try to trademark/copyright/register this phrase, and collect royalties on it whenever someone uses said catch phrase. there will be a legal disclaimer to follow this entry...

**Legal Disclaimer**

Article 1, section I

not!

JA

happy month ten

2004-10-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

yes, autumn is here in so many ways. I'm looking forward to temporarily forgetting about the obvious environmental signs of the new season when I head out west for a couple weeks, in a couple weeks.

no shows to speak of. but why should that stop me from posting? seriously. well I'm not a big drinker, but I ended up going out three times this past weekend. thurs-saturday. I went to check out my friend's band on thursday in royal oak. it was pretty low key, had a nice time. friday I went to a little bachelor party, but no strippers or anything like that. my friend, the bachelor, doesn't drink, so it, too, was a low key evening, which is more my style anyway. the highlight of the evening was when we went to the casino at like 2 or 3am, and I lost a quick hundy, but my brother won like $300 and the bachelor won $400 net after starting with $30. no, that is not a typo.
this is a tpyo.

and last night the craziest of them all. went to watch some seemingly amateur stand-up comedy at this bar on the east side. the first two acts weren't all that funny, and I felt bad, because when they did have a good punchline, the crowd wasn't even into it. I mean, everyone went there to hear some comedy, but it was a rough crowd. the drinks kept flowing and the entire night I felt quite coherent given all the rounds, but I should have known it would catch up with me. we got a room across the street, and I promptly passed out, but upon awakening to a "ROWDY" post-closing-time drinkfest, I made my way to the porcelain puke collector, and made a deposit. my account had previously been empty for quite some time, not many transactions luckily. after that I felt fine. and my friends got up at like 7:30am for some reason to go home. we didn't even get back there til 3 or so. I thought that was ridiculous. and the most unbelievable part of it all is that they didn't even take advantage of the free breakfast downstairs on their way out. but I did. when I tour, I never miss it. sometimes I'll set my alarm just to get the free continental b'fast, then go back, and sleep for a couple more hours until check-out. this breakfast was fantastic though. it actually had hot food. scrambled eggs and sausage patties, along with the usual suspects of danishes and yogurt, both of which I endulged in.

I was a bit bummed today 'cos the Lions didn't play but every sunday from here on out, they will be. so that's good... straight to the superbowl, right?

I don't remember how it was when my first cd came out. I don't remember if I kept writing and writing right after. but I feel like I'm kinda slacking cos I've jammed with my bad self quite a few times, aside from the shows last month, etc. but I haven't really been writing anything new, which kinda sucks. I was on such a roll this past year with new songs, which came to be the 'low carb lp.' but I long for more. and I hate forcing things out, so I don't want to make myself write. I need a little guidance, so if Michelle Branch reads this, please call me and let's chat for some insight. purely a constructive phone call... thanks...

nighty night

JA

browser, not wardrobe malfunction

2004-09-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

So, don't get me wrong. I like this little blogger. and before I go any further, I just want to really invite you to post a message on the message board here on the site under the word, "forum." check it out.

anyway, back to the lecture at hand (I think that's from an NWA song). there's been a couple of times where I've started to post a message, or have actually completed a lengthy one, and then I lost it. so I just want to take this opportunity to tell you to always remember to copy your text before you attempt to publish a post.

so it's been a few days, and I apologize, but I did lose a post, and got frustrated and decided to make a head start back to MI, instead or re-typing a post... so after the UNF show, which kept the streak alive, I made this long trek to Mississippi, which I just realized I alread posted about...

so I thought the streak was in jeopardy, but then, and for the first time I believe, I sold some cds at Ole Miss... it was great, and even though I was disgustingly sweaty because it was a beautiful sunny day and outdoors, I didn't mind, because I'd much rather sweat outdoors than inside anyday. I might have acquired a little skin coloring that day, but it doesn't compare to the left arm driving tan that I had driving up there all day the day before. So after that I decided to drive prematurely down to new orleans to hang out with some buddies of mine called Hello Dave. they were playing two nights at the house of blues in new orleans opening up for pat green, whom I had never seen before, but heard much about from my visits to texas. so I went down there, and got to the HOB just before they went on. I hadn't seen these guys in a while. we kind of have a history. when I was first starting out in college, mike, the lead singer always answered my questions about music, singing, and before I was 21, he got me into select sold-out or otherwise age-restricted shows. i ended up befriending mike and the other members of the band over time. they let me share their stages on a couple of occasions...

we had a little reunion, and proceeded to all share our first pat green experiences with one another. this guy pat green put on such a show. he's not 100% country in my book. he rocks out, and he's is a country rocker, but he has a pretty elaborate band. about 3 guitarists including himself, and just a routy show all the way through. mr. green had to have done about 6 shots while on stage, and that was only what I physically saw. he was wasted by the end of his 5 song encore, and even before that, but the guy can perform. he steps on stage in new orleans, and says, "so... I guess this is supposed to be some kind-a party town..."

fun to watch, and thanks to the merch guy who hooked me up with a steel flask, even after I lied to him about being a drummer... big ups to freebies.

after the show, I went out with some of the hello dave guys. we first went to the foundation room in the HOB, apparently a place where members can go to impress women by treating them to a private restaurant/bar by paying an annual fee. it was pretty cool. some guy had to open an automated gate for us to get to the elevator, then he had to scan some kind of card to send us up there. we had a cocktail, and were on out way to the streets of new orleans. there we made our way to some strip club. I think it was called big daddy's or something. locals can confirm it. it was okay, I bought a round of drinks for $40, which was most of my cash. but it was the least I could do. the hello dave guitarist was pretty wasted by that time. apparently from a bottle of scotch he brought with him to NO. then we saw him a bit later, on the way back to the hotel and the next morning he didn't remember seeing us either time. so it was a good night for him I guess... I had fun, it was good to catch up with those guys. except per habit, I forgot something with them. my washington university (at st. louis) hat. hopefully I'll see them again in about a year or so...

so it was good to hang with those guys and that left me with one more final show in september. this was my first ever trip to play in alabama in Birmingham. it was an 'in-the-round' set, with two cuties from nashville, both of whom were married/engaged. so off limits. anyway it wasn't looking very promising in terms of the crowd... until a busload full of teenage girls walked in all at once. so I was delighted to see that, and promptly divided up my two mini-sets into songs from the first cd, and songs from cd #2. so during the little break between sets, I was completely famished, so I ordered up a quick order or bread and brie cheese. and i noticed some girls over by the merch table. so I went to hang out and see what all the hoopla was all about. they wanted to buy cds, so I gave them a deal, and most of them ended up buying both cds. they had me write things inside, and I still have to e-mail this one girl 'cos she wanted me to write something in both of the cd booklets, but she thought I could have written something better in the 2nd one. so I told her I'd e-mail her something good, or send her a check for $100. and I have both addresses. I intend only to utilize the e-mail, however.

so that was the quick wrap up of the month of september for shows. I had a blast, and hope to return to every place I visited. I can't wait to go through the whole naca process, so I won't have to again in this capacity. at least as just a lowly artist, and not on anyone's roster.

if you've read this far, I'm sorry the entry didn't build to any type of climax or conclusion. big ups to b'ham, and big ups to everyone who let me crash at their crib, especially my slumber party in philly with my friends. we thought about building a fort, but there just wasn't enough room...

see you out in the pacific time zone... this entry is too long to proofread.

JA

happy _____________ day!!

2004-09-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

I found out on the radio today that among many other things. today is no-artificial-sweetener day (only real sugar today), and dear diary day. so in honor of this occasion, I will add to the journal.

I haven't made many drives recently like the one today... I did in the early days when the space between shows was very great. I left jacksonville, fl area around 8am, and arrived here in oxford, ms at around 8pm... crazy. I did stop to eat, a couple gas fill-ups, but otherwise straight cruisin' and the occasional traffic backup.

so treated myself to a little home cookin' or the next best thing: Cracker Barrel, on my way down to Charleston a few days ago... and I was sitting at the table patiently waiting my meat and eggs, and I picked up that little game with the pegs which is on every table. it's something to pass the time. you know, it's a triangle, and there are a bunch of tees in every hole except one, and you have to jump the tees, and take them out one at a time, and you're supposed to only leave one in the end. well... if you do that, it says that you're a genius. so as expected, I figured it out, and am now declaring myself a certified genius. thank you very much. it's a small highlight for the trip thus far.

A great show at UNF last night, wow. I had a blast. I really went all out up there, and from early in the set with "one" by U2, hitting the Bono notes, I knew it was going to be a good one. I'm so glad to see that there were people who came out not only from last time I played at Wackadoo's, but the very first time I played at UNF in this little game room type place, and there was no PA, and it was an unique night. I forgot to do movie trivia, and some people were bummed, but I've got a new line that no one will get. I think the days of giving away cds for movie trivia are numbered.

I'm so disgusting from the driving today, that's all i can focus on, they should sanitize this keyboard after I'm done with it. and the entire unit, they might as well...

might as well...

JA

4 days elapsed & I be slackin'

2004-09-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

wow, 4 days since the last post. and here I was thinking I had been on top of things with this cool new blogger. I got the chance to check out Jason Mraz's journal. I used to read it quite frequently, then I found other ways to occupy my time. but this was refreshing to read his lengthy posts once again. luckily there were only three for the month so it only took me about half hour to get through it. he writes a lot, but it sucks me in. I never think, "wow, this is soo long, I can't handle it." it's easy reading. this guy should publish all his journal entries and paperback it, to add to his merchandise sales. not that he needs it. but it's good reading. he poses some interesting thoughts. and he disclosed something about a mysterious Michelle Branch birthmark that apparently she always hides with makeup in the public eye.

well since the last post i guess the new england portion of the trip was wrapped up, and it went over pretty well with all the new venues and new crowds I got to meet. I was chillin in ATL last night after another one night stint in Charleston, SC. I made a new doggie friend, Jessie. we wore one another out. and it was tough to say goodbye even though we only knew one another for less than 24 hours. I don't want to spoil anything, but I just wanted to address it. there is a current streak going on. and for those who never read these journals on the old website, I used to keep track of many-a streak from my travels. this is the first addressed streak post-new-website and for the tour. I have sold cds at every single show since the low carb lp came out. I was so anxious before I left, like "what if no one wants to buy the cds?!" not only that, but people are also still buying time is right which is such a thrill, cos I thought they were just going to start collecting dust. after all, I only have about 250 copies left (give or take 50). I might have to get a little reprint on those. that would be nice; although not for my pocketbook. yeah I said pocketbook. I have a wallet, but there's never any money in it. just business cards, and casino cards so I can validate my parking any time I'm in the area, and I won't have to pay for it as long as I go up to the counter and flash my card. also there's a blockbuster card, some health care cards which I don't really know what they mean precisely. a debit card, and my old WMU ID. my driver's license, and finally some pictures of my kid sis, margeau.

down to UNF now, I gotta get a move on. three times the charm. I'm glad to be back, even if they keep paying me less and less since the first time. i get some kind of tab at the little bar/restaurant on campus where I play. It's called Wackadoo's. I wonder if there's a wacka-don'ts. hahaha ooh, I'm so damn funny.

not.

my new shades work well.

I must be on my way. big ups to the lady who logged me in to this computer, wherever you are...

I need a laptop.

JJA

also worth noting

2004-09-17T05:32:00.000-07:00

if anyone pays mind to the actual times that these posts are... umm... posted... you should know that the time attached to each post is about 3 hours and 19 minutes in front of the actual time. by in front of I mean earlier. I could have just said that...

earlier...

earlier...

Hurricane Pudge

2004-09-17T05:12:00.000-07:00

so I'm no longer illin' and I'm just chillin.' but I'm not gellin' though. I'm not THAT cool... about the half way point to this months travels. I frequently use incomplete sentences when posting here... I'm in virginia right now awaiting a show that has treated me so well the past couple of years at JMU. this I think is my 4th time playing at JMU. and it seems like every time I play there, the weather is really crappy... I remember the first time. I guess in VA there's not that much snow. so what we would laugh at in MI, they got here, kind of a snow drift, so they cancelled classes. this was the first trip... a couple people showed up nontheless... then the 2nd and 3rd time I'm pretty sure, I recall some crappy rainy weather, and tonight will be no exception. I hope the kids realize that it's gonna pour tonight so you must stay indoors and I'll keep you safe. (I wonder how to spell: /belee'dat/)

as you may know, I always feel the inclination to talk about some kind of dining experience I've had along the way. yesterday morning I was in philly, visiting, and we went out to breakfast. I ordered what was called a "norwegian smoked salmon bagel plate" or something like that. which was good. but I also ordered a fresh fruit plate, and eww, that didn't really sit well with me jusy by looking at it. Number one, no strawberries, what's up with that? even my friend got a strawberry as a garnish for his breakfast. the canteloupe was all right, at least it was orange, and there was just not much of a color contrast to my fruit, which bothered me deep inside. the thing that scared me the most was that the pineapple was completely white. not off-white, not a little yellow. White. so I didn't try any of it. luckily after we left the restaurant, i got over it. but be weary of your fresh fruit plate my friends. or stick to smoothies... my, they are good...

I'm a little worried about all these hurricanes passing through the south. not only do I fear that some cities I'm scheduled to play in might no longer exist, but that they might exist, and I'll go to play there, and end up in Oz or something. oh and I finally redeemed my hotel points for a free room after like a year. they say most hotels only require "blank" amount of points for a free room, but in actuality, most of them require twice as many as that. but I found a rather cheap room, which for me is free, and I think it might be the best sleep yet. I got this new credit card that gives me hotel points too, as you can see, I'm like Leann Rimes, because I'm all about value.

I must think of a really tough movie trivia line for tonight and UNF, 'cos those crazy kids always want the free stuff. so they have to earn it, like I earned my free hotel room... BELEE'DAT. maybe my phonetic spelling of this word earlier is actually the way to spell it. (*Note: there is no way for me to find a character for the hard vowel sound with the line over it, sorry about the inconvenience, please voice all concerns to the suggestion box.)

(*Note: establish suggestion box.)

Jimmy-Jam

daddy needs a new...

2004-09-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

quickly now... my body's telling me that I'm late for lunch. i sure abuse myself out here...

went to freeport, ME yesterday with my friend, and we got to check out the first LL Bean store, and it's open 24 hours / 365. also, it's freakin enormous. it's like a compound, and apparently local college kids sometimes head out there late night and sleep off their adventures or stresses in the tents which are on display. you could never do that in kalamazoo. also worth noting, they do frown upon overnight sleeping on the display beds. it's a touch less subtle than inside a tent. pretty cool though, and a lot of cool stuff too...

i binged on a new pair of shades, 'cos I lost my 4 year pair (god bless 'em) when I was recording the cd. they are arnette brand, pretty cool... I think they actually make me look a lot cooler, so I'm never taking them off...

oh, and the amber alert for my flip flops is over. I also got a nice cheap pair which are not feminine in any way, also in freeport. so new shades, new sandals, and I'm ready to perform tonight now. I had to go to the university's website to find out where and at what time I'm playing. sweet manager dude...

JA

two under the belt

2004-09-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

I bet after looking at the title of this post, you might be thinking, "man, jimmy got hit under the belt twice?? shoot, I bet he can't even walk right now, and all his singing is extremely high-pitched..." but no, fortunately that's not what I meant...

hanging in vermont. my first time in the state. one of those really unique towns. Burlington is the home of the univ. of vermont, and there's just such a collection of people herre. I would suggest this town for someone to visit if that someone were an avid 'people-watcher.'

mainly I was just looking over the last entry and the part about what I ate that day in NY didn't sit well with me, so I thought I'd compensate by telling you what I ate for dinner in CT. I had a salmon filet, baked, then broiled so it's a bit crispy on the outside but wonderfully tender and juicy inside, with a sherry honey glaze. also with sauteed spinach and asparagus. mmm definitely the best meal I've had so far, and it might hold up as the best throughout the rest of the trip. if any one is in or near Bridgeport, CT, check out Picasso's.

now that my favorite season is getting back underway, I spent some time watching college football yesterday. unfortunately Michigan lost to stupid notre dame, and my homies at Western Michigan lost something like 64-0 to virginia tech. but it was on the road. if we had 'em at Waldo stadium, it might have been 64-7 or 64-13. big ups to the Broncos...

two shows down, several more to go, that's why I must leave now and head to Providence. I'm excited to be visiting Maine (and actually playing there for the first time) after the show tonight. then I get to make my way southward where it's warm, even though the weather everywhere I've been so far has been killer.

i tried to go to the olive garden yesterday before my show cos I think they have some good deals now. last time I ate there was with my friend in Seattle, and they had been doing that mix 'n match pasta and sauce thing for like 2 months, and they day I went in there (since I had been craving it for the entire time, but just never happened to eat there), they said they ended that deal like the previous week. So I'm just trying to nip this thing in the bud (yeah I said it) before I have to tell any other 'let-me-down' stories in the future.

big ups to the garden.

*note, my friend called me (from detroit) to go out this weekend, and left a message. I called him back, left him a message, saying that I was on CT, on my way to VT. He called me again last night asking me if I wanted to go to the WAB, and I elected not to call him back right away. please my friends, listen to your messages before you call a brotha back...

this is paul harvey, signing off...

JA

wasabi

2004-09-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

now the shows get underway. I just wanted to drop in a say hello. why? because I can. i'm out east now, and the new england region shows start tonight. I'm playing with this band called "the saucers." we met in atlanta, and we both were kind of outcasts from the eddie's attic shoot-out in june, so we consoled one another and decided to throw a show together. I didn't even realize it at first, but these first four shows are all in brand new venues and brand new cities. this makes it even more cool, and scary.

my illness is getting better every day. I guess the illness itself isn't getting any better, it's dying, but I'm getting better. Now I only occasionally cough up stuff that looks like wasabi, rather than frequently. made a stop in schenectady, ny last night and had possibly the best hot dog ever. it was one of those spicy ones, and then I had this little burger, but it was a sausage patty, instead of regular beef, and it, too, was fantastic. it was like a slider but with sausage and peppers and onions. so as you can see, I continue to eat well. this morning I woke up with some Auntie Anne's soft pretzel sticks. mmm. I guess it's a massachusetts chain.

well three straight with shows, and then I've got monday off... what should I do...?

any ideas, let me know... I'm still on a quest to find $5 black Old Navy flip flops, to replace my fallen pair which lasted over two years with excessive action. if anyone finds a pair, put them on layaway for me, I'll getcha back. if someone shows up at a show with a pair. I don't know what I'd do.

JA

illin' (part deux)

2004-09-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

*please note that in addition to the content of the below post, the original of this post was lost, so I had to re-type it, and I received a speeding ticket today.*

so I'm still sick, but recovering. I got to hang out with a couple of friends in Ohio over labor day and yesterday. a couple of things occured throughout my departure from the D that are worth noting.

-half way down to OH, I realized I forgot my atlas. I need atlas, so I turn around.
-get back home, find atlas in garbage. oops.
-on my way out the door, I take a glance at my computer. computer breaks. no time to worry about it. I call my younger brother and let him know.
-step outside, my flip flop breaks. it is beyond repair.
-I still be illin'
-I arrive in Ohio in one piece, cool...
-it rains. I can't sleep, cos I'm illin'
-I get a call from brother about computer: "I turned on your computer, but it started burning and smoke came out... good news is I took your hard drive about before said burning"
-I say "wow"
-he says, I have some spare parts that I can replace for your defective ones. they are used. "beggars can't be choosers," he says. he is correct.
-computer is temporarily fixed. I contemplate buying a laptop.
-next day I spend three hours looking around town for new flip flops. no one has any. I am referred to an old navy about 20 minutes away.
-HARK! I find the Old Navy.
-Old Navy is out of flip flops.
-I settle for a new zip-up hooded sweatshirt. *note, nothing will ever replace my gray WMU hooded sweatshirt which was lost in san diego last time I played there*

so the initial signs for this tour were not so welcoming. I'm just waiting for my car to blow up or something. otherwise, I'm looking forward to these first 4 shows all in cities and venues that I have never before visited. so it should be interesting...

I also missed out on beack volleyball cos I had to waste time getting the atlas. but I need the atlas or else I'd never find the beach.

all right. soon you will have updates or actual performances...

JA