Songs Of The Week, pt. 4
Welcome to a long-overdue edition of “Songs Of The Week,” a series of articles whose name I should probably change at some point since I haven’t actually followed through on posting weekly. However, I have an excuse! Big things have been going on since the last one of these I posted. I wrote a bunch of tunes, practiced them solo acoustic and with a band, wrote some more, and I even played a show on February 4th that I think went really well. Oh, and that one other thing: I’ve been practicing all of the Grateful Dead tunes I know for a huge run of shows with Phil Lesh and Friends at the new Terrapin Crossroads in a month. So yes, busy busy. But not too busy to listen to tons of music! So here are my 5 favorite tunes since I last picked 5 favorite tunes.
(Remember, I won’t post write-ups about songs unless I can find live videos of them on Facebook. So hopefully even if you know these songs really well I can still point you in the direction of some new versions.)
Phil Lesh and Friends Terrapin Crossroads Opening!
So, the exciting news broke yesterday. Terrapin Crossroads, the awesome (trust me – I’ve seen it!) restaurant, bar, and music venue that my parents are opening in San Rafael, will be launching with a 12-show Phil Lesh & Friends run starting on March 17th! And I’m going to be in the band for all 12 shows. Whoa. Anyways, when that news broke, I figured I’d take a quick break from working and woodshedding like a maniac (as Ryan Adams once said about Phil & Friends, “you need 6 fingers to keep up with this band”) to post a little bit about these shows.
First, I’m not exactly sure how much I’m supposed to give away, so I’m going to err a bit on the side of caution. But you’ve all seen the lineups for the 12 nights, and I think I can hint at some other tidbits. Those lineups are pretty insane, huh? Chris Robinson, Jimmy Herring, Jackie Greene, Warren Haynes, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams….(*whew* /takes a wheezing breath)….John Kadlecik, Joe Russo, Jeff Chimenti, and Jaz Sawyer. Oh, and Bob Weir for the opening night. And little ole me and my little brother Brian (ha…I called Brian “little”. He’s like 6’4″) will help out as well – Brian for the 1st 2 shows and me for all 12. Obviously, not everyone will be playing at the same time, so we’re working hard to make sure that every night we’re able to spotlight the guest du jour. I’ll be working my butt off to help make the various bands better in every way that I can. I’ll mostly be playing rhythm or acoustic guitar and singing a ton of backup vocals, but I may have a lead vocal or guitar solo thrown in every once in awhile. Also, Brian, my dad, and I will also be serving up an extra helping of the 3-part family harmonies that we’ve been working on these past couple years, and we think those will sound real nice.
I know that it has been hinted at on the Terrapin Crossroads website, but we are in fact preparing a few acoustic sets in the restaurant and bar part of the Crossroads. I can’t say when, for how long, or with who (and I might get yelled at for confirming it at all), but it’s something I’m excited about and I want to mention it here. Those gigs will obviously be free to all restaurant go-ers, and it will make for quite an awesome night as the food will be delicious and the music will be very fun.
I hope to have more updates soon for anyone who happens across this little corner of the Interwebs (I have noticed a bit of an uptick in traffic since yesterday’s announcement), but for now that’s all I have for you! I’m going to try to get some exclusive content for this site from rehearsals and whatnot, but no guarantees. My best advice? Stay tuned to TerrapinCrossroads.net to be 1st to hear the newest news 
-Grahame
ps: 1 last thing. At the end of the run, everyone will join up for a 20 verse, 60 minute Sugaree-off. Everyone who has ever covered Sugaree with Phil & Friends, Furthur, or any other Grateful Dead family band will get a chance to sing a verse of Sugaree. At the end we’ll vote on the best one. Also, this isn’t actually happening, but it’d be pretty damn funny, huh?
pps: Don’t forget to watch the Phil Lesh & Friends webcast tonight featuring the PLF band that will be playing the Broomfield, CO shows from 2/16-18. Phil, Warren, John Scofield, Jackie, and Joe Russo. It’s gonna be smoking! 6pm PST on TerrapinCrossroads.net for free. More details here. Hurry! It starts in 1 hour!
Concert Recap! Feb 4 @ the Little Belgium (Auburn, CA)
This gig was bucket loads of fun. Really, that’s all that needs to be said. I opened for the Dry Creek Rounders at the Little Belgium Deli and Beer Bar in Auburn, CA, and got to enjoy fantastic food, drink, music, and company courtesy of the Deli and their very gracious patrons. Seriously, the Little Belgium’s sandwiches were top notch (I had a reuben), their beer was delicious, I had a ton of fun performing (I did mention that already, right?), and the Dry Creek Rounders rocked the house.
In between all that, I played a 45 minute set that featured mostly new tunes that I’ve written in the past month or so. A few of them I’d never performed before, so it was quite fun and informative for me to finally show them off to an audience. I plan to work on a few demos this week, so hopefully anyone who stumbles on this site via the wide world of the interwebz will be able to hear them soon as well!
Here is my setlist:
Two Drink Minimum (Chris Cornell cover)*
San Francisco (Gregory Alan Isakov cover)*
Cannonball (Damien Rice cover)
Ashes and Fire (Ryan Adams cover)*
*(1st time played)
I also have 2 videos of my set, of the 1st 2 songs, so check them out below!
WHO I WAS
LONG ROAD
Good times! Next up, Feb 29th at the Iron Springs Pub in Fairfax, CA.
-Grahame
Songs of the Week, pt. 3
Welcome to this week’s installment of “Songs of the Week,” where the rules are made up and the points don’t matter (oh wait, that’s Whose Line). No long intro this time – just some music!
ps: All tunes have live versions embedded. For fun.
5. Two Drink Minimum, by Chris Cornell
Listen, I love Chris Cornell, but even I can’t really apologize for Scream, the album he did with Timbaland. It potentially could have been a cool, genre-breaking experiment, but it just sounded like Cornell screaming over uninspired Timbaland beats. However, it did contain one hidden gem. That would be this tune, which as added as a bonus track to Scream. A slow-burning blues tune with some awesome guitar licks and lifted-from-a-Western-movie harmonica, this is the kind of tune Cornell’s voice is made to sing.
4. Love Like A Sunset, by Phoenix
While Phoenix might be known for catchy, pseudo-electronic indie pop, this tune is basically 80% instrumental weirdness. Split into pt. 1 (instrumental) and pt. 2 (1:30 min pop song), when you listen together it all fits perfectly. Though as cool as the instrumental part is, pt. 2 might be my favorite thing Phoenix has done. Soaring, pounding instrumentals with a cool hook. Really too bad it’s only a minute or so. Read more…
