Tuesday, July 14, 2009

in anticipation of the summer tour, here is a handful of songs from Good Watermelon along with some demos from 2003-2009. i hope you enjoy them. see you all very soon!


Monday, July 13, 2009

the TOUR

i'm leaving in a few days for my summer tour. i can't say i'm prepared, musically or just with getting the stuff together. i've been lost in the world of songwriting until very recently and am currently lost in the land of doing demos in my apartment.

but i'm starting to tackle getting everything in place. it's all coming together. the trick is to not leave it all to the last minute.... my resolution for this tour is to leave myself a lot of time so that i'm not rushed and stressed.

anyway ... before the tour starts, i want to give a special thanks to the following people who were instrumental in helping me get these shows happening:

matt smith (club passim, cambridge)
noam weinstein (sharing the stage, nyc)
kelly and dan perry (house concert hosts, colchester, connecticut)
leilani wolfe (lansing, michigan)
emily galer (schuler books, michigan)
colleen fitzgerald (house concert host, canton, michigan)
corey hallwachs (house concert host, grand rapids, michigan)
bob and ellen paulus (house concert hosts, belgium, wisconsin)
noah ginex (house concert dude, chicago, il)
shelby raiser (house concert host, buckeye lake, oh)
mike grimes (the basement, nashville)
the one and only bill davis (sharing the stage, nashville)
catherine devine and berkeley (house concert hosts, carrboro, nc)
the chromatics (sharing the stage, kensington, md)

it's been a lot of fun scheming with these guys!

okay, i'm gonna get my hands on a camera so that i can start posting some photos here too.

wish me luck.

mike

Thursday, July 9, 2009

pondering

it's been a while since my last post. i've been busy living life in summer montreal. saw stevie wonder at the jazz fest last week and it was very moving as he made the show a tribute to michael jackson. some people were taken aback by him just letting michael jackson recordings take center stage at times through the show and with a medley at the end ... he and the band just stood there on stage and listened and sang along with the audience ... but i thought it was so beautiful. very communal.

well, i've been writing a lot. there are a lot of songs that i haven't posted on youtube yet, and i hope i get a chance to, but my computer has been very slow lately and it's been hard to allow it all the time it needs when i'm grabbing an hour here and there in cafes. all in all, i'm taking time to be without the internet whenever i can. it feels good. i understand that a lot of a musician's career unfolds on the internet these days, but i don't think it has to be like that all the time. and generally, it really blocks me up and i lose sight of what's propelling my art ... life and people and the outdoors and the city. yes. and the country too. so i'll do what i can when i feel like and sometimes when i don't feel like it too, but it won't turn out as good. so mostly when i feel like it. like right now.

i've got my 3 week us tour coming up. i'm very excited. yes. now i am. i wasn't excited when i was going to be away for 3 months.... but 3 weeks suits me at this point. i'm sure i'll go out for big tours in the coming years. i'm sure of it.

this might be my last tour ... actually it will definitely be my last one .... with traveling by myself in a car with my piano. it's lonely and taxing on me and i've done it for 5 years and i'll be looking to expand the operation. other pianos. ... we'll see what the fall brings!

i've got two periods of 5 days or so during my tour where i have nothing planned. so i'll be looking to go camping or something like that. something very different from sitting in a car on interstates. if you have any suggestions, please let me know. it's between nyc and detroit and also between michigan and wisconsin.

looking forward to nashville!!

anyway, i'm in the middle of uploading some more songs onto myspace. internet promotion stuff.

and ...

don't know where that and was leading to...

really into cat stevens these days.
i want my next album to be in the spirit of his early solo albums.

okay.... more to come.
i'm going to see a comedy improv show with my youngest brother this evening...

see ya on the road, if not this summer then soon.

i want to see all of you!!! i want to travel everywhere!!!
lovin' the world, and i haven't even seen most of it yet.

how is it?
will i be disappointed?

okay,
i'm leaving now....

bye,
mike