The Only Bruce Springsteen Solo Performance at MSG!

Recently, I hit some sort of jackpot. I was lucky enough to be part of a house band to play the Pete Seeger 90th birthday/benefit concert @ Madison Square Garden. This event was beyond words. I will blog about the whole experience another time, but to name a few of the artists that performed/I played with:

Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, Ben Harper, Dave Matthews, Emmylou Harris, Tom Morello, Warren Haynes, Roger McGuinn (the Byrds), Taj Mahal, Steve Earle, Richie Havens, Band of Horses, etc.



One of the craziest things about this whole evening was the fact that I got my own SOLO Bruce Springsteen performance WHILE he was performing as a duo! Here's the deal, he played a song w/Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), but I got a solo performance out of this! How?? read on..

For this event, all the artists/performers were sharing the same line/cable to plug their guitars/instruments into. One of these lines happened to be excrutiatingly loud in my monitor (that's a speaker that is set in front of me with my own personal mix of whatever I want going on onstage). I asked the monitor guy to turn the volume down on this one acoustic guitar. The ironic thing is that he turned down the wrong one, A LOT. So, by the time Bruce played "the Ghost of Tom Joad" with Tom Morello, Tom had plugged into the same line that I asked the soundman to turn down. And Brunce's acoustic guitar, vocal and harmonica were SOOOOO F'ing LOUD in my monitor. Here I was, Tom moving and rocking like nobody's business, but he was completely in-audible to me. haha. Quite a sight. Then, There was Bruce. Literally, 5 feet in front of me, as I sit onstage at MSG, with his voice, guitar and harmonica blowing my face off in sheer volume. I will never forget the crispness, the intensity, sheer volume of that man's music blasting out of a speaker by my feet. It filled the entire Garden.

But my song was different. The Garden got a duo. I got a solo Bruce Springsteen performance. The only person that night. That is something I won't forget.





photo credit- Robert Sasso

2 Weeks in LA

I just was out in LA for a 2 week trip while SNL was on hiatus. This has become somewhat of a regular thing. I have a writing partner out in LA named Ross Golan in the fabulous band Glacier Hiking. We been doing the writing/production thing for a little while now and in fact, you can follow us on twitter as "the Sophomores".

This trip, Ross was out SXSW so I had a few days of hanging with my sister in Silverlake, eating loads of Thai food, and constant recording/editing work on Pro Tools. There's always things to do! I knew once Ross was back we would kick into high gear, as we did. I won't go through the details of everything, or an account of each day. I would like to talk about some highlights however...

Ok, first off..I JOINED TWITTER!!! I gave in. And I gotta say..I love it. So glad I did. Follow me on Twitter HERE

Secondly- there is the best thai food by my apt in Silverlake. and they DELIVER! Lots of that, and great mexican as always. This trip was more about the random taco stands that seem suspect, but in fact...RULE! So that was the food thing. I love food, so yeah, it gets listed first

Onto the music.

HONOR SOCIETY- We finally got down some vocals and synth stuff from the boys in Honor Society to finish off our demo for the song we all wrote. Everyone's super excited about it b/c the tune is HOTNESS! Hopefully, it will make it on the record, then you all can hear it. They are signed to Jonas Brothers mgnt, doing a record with the huge producer John Fields (Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Switchfoot, Rooney, Demi Lovato, Andrew W.K, Backstreet Boys, etc), sold out Irving Plaza (in 4 DAYS!), and are "crushing" it, as they say.


JONAS BROTHERS/HOUSE OF BLUES- We also saw HS rock the House of Blues this trip. I have known those guys all my life, so I was stoked for them. Got to hang with the Disney crew- old friends Brian Malouf (my old A&R guy @ RCA), John Zonnars (Disney A&R, used to work at SNL), Fields, and my new super bros- the guys in the Jonas Brothers band. They are the best dudes. After the HOB show, actually met THE Jonas Brothers. We did one of those "oh, yeah, hey man" head nods b/c we all saw each other perform when they did SNL, and also had some real convos. All three are super nice. Very diff personalties. Talked to Kevin and Joe the most. You would never think they were the hottest band in the world by the way they acted. Just super nice and awesome dudes.



JOSH HENDERSON- the Sophomores also finished some writing with the uber-talented Josh Henderson. You might recognize the name and face from the show "POPSTARS" which he won (it's like american idol before it came on the air). Also has made appearances on Desperate Housewives, the new 90210, and "Step Up" (as a singer in that movie). And seriously folks- the kid can sing. He has a SICK voice. So, the demos are done on my end ( I produced it all), and just gotta get him to sing. That will be the next trip. But very close to done!



FANNIUS- We got some vocals down for the 2nd track we wrote and I produced for her. She is this amazing, dirty-mouthed, radical, feisty, funny, outrageous rapper chick. Kind of like a Beastie 'girl'. Go to her myspace and check out the song "Lemonade". It's un-mixed, but I produced that track and Ross and I (the Sophomores) and Fannius wrote it. It's HOTT (yes, one extra T).

JOHN TAYLOR/GARBO- you might know these guys as faces behind the Jonas Brothers on the millions of concerts and tv spots they do. But let me tell you, I have been hanging hardcore with them and they are incredibly talented, hilarious, fun to be around, musical as hell, smart, super nice dudes. They have become one of my "go-to hangs" in LA. I love these guys. Always a great time with them. John Taylor and the Sophomores wrote a tune together the previous trip and we started demoing it at Wooks studio. It is sounding soooo badass. Can't wait to finish it, then pitch it. It will definately find a home I think.



THE WOOK- Wook is Dorian Crozier. So, like i said, went to his studio and it was AMAZING. Dorian is a world-class drummer who has played on a MILLION records (Pink, Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, David Cook, Switchfoot, Aly and AJ, Jordin Sparks, Taylor Hicks, Backstreet Boys, Five for Fighting, Jewel, Gin Blossoms, Ryan Cabrera, etc). Hadn't seen him in 7 years when he worked on my old band Carbondale that was on RCA. Was sooo great to see him again.



CREATIVE RECREATION- What LA trip is complete without a trip to Creative Recreation where I get all my rad kicks that I wear on SNL. Love Sara, the artist relations girl. She rocks like nobody's biz.



SHOWS/HANGS- Saw some amazing shows. "Ten out of TENN" blew my mind. It was 10 artists from Nashville that were touring together and playing 1 show where they act as a rotating band and each artist plays 2 songs. It was incredible to say the least. Butterfly Boucher was one of the faves. Saw Matt Hayes from Aqualung @ Hotel Cafe. great show. Talked to him a bit after and we may write together. Also, saw Brett Dennen @ HOB then hung/jammed with him and some peeps @ an afterparty in the Hollywood Hills. I did find this Star Warz helmet in the person's place and had to take a pic!



RUNNING OUTSIDE- I finally did something for the first time in my life. I ran outside, as oppossed to a treadmill. I wa scared to do it for so long. Fear of looking like a complete retard or just people staring and feeling like I am being judged. But, the Silverlake Reservoir is right by my spot in LA and it's soo gorgeous. So with no car to take my ass to the gym, I walked to the Reservoir and did the walking/running path. It was LIBERATING. I loved it. I will continue to do this everytime I am in LA. It made me feel completely ALIVE.

So, that's about it. I am sure there is more to say, but that's that for now. Thanks for reading, listening, judging, and wasting your time with me :) See on the tube every Saturday Night...LIVE

Creative Recreation is Killin' it!

A few months back I was in DESPERATE need of some hot new kicks. I started venturing out in NYC and came upon a cool store called WEST that had some great sneaks. I had been basically wearing vans for years. Was time for a change. Fell in love with a brand called Creative Recreation. Bought a pair hadn't taken them off for a few months.

Came to LA after that and I ended up meeting the Creative Recreations gal who is the SHIT!! She hooked me up with some major kicks and I been wearing 'em ever since. I also rock a diff pair for every SNL episode!

Hooked up some of my boys from Honor Society and Jonas Brothers band with them too. We got a big crew representing them now :)

Went yesterday and Creative Rec hooked me up with some more for the summer. Love this shit!! Being on TV has it's perks you can say :)

http://www.cr8tiverecreation.com/

Ok, I'm here too.

I did it. I gave in. I joined Twitter and now BLOGSPOT. I am a full on internet machine. I did it b/c well, I don't get out much. Hence the name "the Ghost". I stay in a lot, work on music, order food delivery, stay up to the early morning hours, etc. I watch my TV show on the Computer and I am back and forth from NY to LA all the time. I get a lot of "Are you alive" haha. So, yes, I am very much alive and well. In LA, working my co-writer the wonderful Ross Golan. Check out his DOPE band called "Glacier Hiking"

www.myspace.com/GlacierHiking

Not sure how to post pics yet, links, etc so bare with me. I will have to ask one of my computer-literate friends later.

So, back to a day of writing/tracking in LA with Ross (we call ourselves either Narco and the Ghost or the Sophomores) stuck inside on a beautiful day. But, progress is the key right now. Man on a mission.

I will prob change the title of my blog. So, I'll keep you alert to that. If I can figure out how to do all that.

Laterrrrrrrz