Crow Crash Radio-Luna's Cafe, Sacramento CA; 5/20/19

As is usually the case, it was after a leisurely drive along I-80 East that I found myself in Sacramento a bit early for a Nebraska Mondays gig at Luna's Cafe. I'm still a bit vexed at the California capitol city's weird parking regulations, but oh well, not much I can do about that except for sit in my car for a while and look out for parking attendants.
Despite having been playing together for about eight years (seven with me), Crow Crash Radio's set in Sacramento marked the farthest afield that we've gone so far. I guess it's in keeping with the slow growth model that we seem to espouse. itlookslikeablackhole's drummer Todd graciously let me use his really nice drum kit for a back line. Some of the usual music lovers showed up, which was very gratifying. Crow Crash played about seven songs for what felt like a somewhat short set. Still, we managed to get our Psych on, stretching out for some extensions. We also played a few songs a bit more shortly and to the point, which was interesting. Things felt good to me, even though at one point it seemed as though I was playing a different drum beat than the song we were doing! All told, a fun, low key night of music at a favorite venue.

Below: Crow Crash Radio rockin' Luna's Cafe (photo by and courtesy of Russ Tucker, thanks, Russ!)

Crow Crash Radio this Monday evening in Sacramento!

Crow Crash Radio will head up to Luna's Cafe in Sacramento this Monday.
Details:

Mon., 5/20/19
Nebraska Mondays at Luna's Cafe
1414 16th St.
Sacramento 95814
7:30 PM
Crow Crash Radio
itlookslikeablackhole
 free

Hopefully it won't be too hot out there yet! 

New digital release from Brandon Evans and me!

Check it!

Reflections on early May 2019 shows

The last couple of shows were great, what more can I say? Some reflections....

Surplus 1980-The Uptown Nightclub, Oakland; 5/9/19
As requested, I got to the Uptown really early. It was definitely a "hurry up and wait" type situation, as Surplus 1980 got no soundcheck. So, I had some time to walk around the Broadway/Telegraph area of downtown Oakland. It's changing so much. The Oakland that I knew, 2004-13, is changed forever. That's life, though, obviously.
Surplus 1980 got to play a nice 45 minute set on Uptown's great stage. How nice to get a good vocal monitor mix for once! It seemed to me that we played really well, maybe a few sour notes and slightly missed cues here and there, but on the whole, solid. Cool to have a pretty sizable audience to play for as well.
I know that video footage was taken, so hopefully I'll be able to post it soon.
Free Salamander Exhibit, what a great, tight band. Yowza!

Below: Moe! and Surplus 1980 hitting at the Uptown

The Percussion Pit-KFJC, 5/13/19
One thing that I do know: percussion players show up on time and work together. As I arrived at KFJC on the beautiful Foothill College campus, pretty much everyone was doing the same. Tatsuya Nakatani, Karen Stackpole, Jordan Glenn, Patrick Telesfore Jr., and myself all managed to get our various percussion rigs set up with a minimum of fuss and great flexibility within the Pit. Such a humbling experience to share a space with some of the best drummers that I can think of! We proceeded to do one whole group piece which was followed by smaller groupings, solo sets, and interviews. KFJC host Max Level was nice enough to allow me to plug my upcoming shows along with various recordings, along with a brief solo percussion set. The latter felt really nice: I was able to use the small set up that I had (waterphone, snare drum, slide whistle, box of rocks) to make what felt like a coherent statement. Tough to do after Tatsuya's incredible statement! I was happy to have tried, though. As usual, KFJC's staff were incredible. What a solid group of people. Such a grand afternoon spent among people that I admire.


Below: my small rig; setting up with Jordan (photo by Karen Stackpole), the crack KFJC staff

Coming up, a new digital release and Crow Crash Radio in Sacramento!

Upcoming shows!

Got some cool ones coming up!

Thu., 5/9/19
The Uptown
1928 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland 94612
Free Salamander Exhibit
Surplus 1980
Slombis
8 PM
$12-15
21 and over

Mon., 5/13/19
KFJC
www.kfjc.org
The Percussion Pit: unscripted percussion adventures. Live sets by percussion artists in the KFJC Pit, collaborations, improvisations, relevant recordings, conversations with the artists, and who knows what else will develop. Join us as we listen to the sounds of objects being tapped, rubbed, bowed, shaken, pounded. Scheduled to appear: Tatsuya Nakatani, Jordan Glenn, Karen Stackpole, Mark Pino, Jennifer Wilsey, Patrick Talesfore Jr.
2-6 PM Pacific Time

OK, I have to go and practice now.