About.me.com

As you all have been following, The Mad Maggies just finished their 2012 Alive and Squeezing Tour of the Pacific Northwest. We have posted many pictures, videos and audio on several sites. I have uploaded my own share of A/V material all over the net. The best way to track down all my social network sites is through a brilliant webpage called About.me.com. My particular link is http://about.me/shuttupian  It is a great way to follow all my shenanigans. I first learned about this site as a campaign through Bzz Agent.com of which I am a Bzz Agent.  If you have a big mess of social networks sites, you should try this and organize all your site links into one convenient page. It has helped me keep my peeps in touch with my latest ongoings.  I will fill in more about the tour later. In the mean time, check out About.me.com!

the Mad Maggies -- Making Way

The Mad Maggies -- Sweet Lorna

The Mad Maggies -- Heaven on This Earth

Old World Deli in Corvalis Oregon

We arrived n Corvallis around 6pm with just enough time to unload our gear at our motel get to the gig two blocks down the street. Adrian did an awesome job of backing the huge van down a small alley way with 3 people directing him from outside the van and Maggie within.  We were greeted by a man who handed us $30 as soon as we walked in the door.  He sad he loved us the last time we were here but we were apparently too loud.  We were mistaken for Those Darn Accordions and when we told him we weren't them he too $10 back.
     The Darn played 1st and we had a pretty rocking set.  F'ed up a few times but was better than Seattle. Paul continues to make me laugh.  We had another issue with Dumbass on the Mountain. Apparently the dude who wrote the book this song was based on was from Corvallis. Ha!
     The Maggies came on about 8:45 and played till past 9:30.  We had a great response. With all the confusion I forgot to eat. The kitchen was closed by the time I got packed up.  They were nice enough to give me a salad. YUM!
     After the show we stopped at Safeway and picked up some beer and all 9 of us crammed into Lewis' room. We hung out till Lewis passed out standing up against the wall. The party then moved to the room Tim Tait and I were sharing.  After 2:30am the party cleared out and to our surprise it began to snow.  It has been snowing ever since.  Ugh

     Woke up about 7:30 and by 11am had loaded up the van and then walked down to Broken Yolk Cafe. The food was GREAT!!! Very hospitable people who had no problem dealing with our gang.  After breakfast we stopped by the music store 2 doors down so I could get more sticks. 90 minutes and $100 later we emerged successful. Nothing crazier than 6 musicians in a music store.
    We are now n Eugene awaiting our gig at Sam Bond's Garage.  Load n s at pm so we have some well earned leisure time. Or should I say recovery time. I forgot to mention the snow ball fight that covered 49 miles. It got quite ruthless at times. Anyway... more tomorrow. We head to Portland.

We r playing at The Old World Deli. Tomorrow will be Eugene. Lots of rain today

The first hour goes to The Darn, the 2nd to The MMs. 7-9pm. Staying in a motel 2 blks away. Any1 close by say hi. Towne House Motor Inn

We are now heading south to Corvalis, Oregon for a short 2 hr gig

Seattle Circus of Mayhem

Lets begin at the beginning shall we.  First off the show at McMenimans on St Patrick's Day was AWESOME!!!!!!!!  The place was packed and full of energy. The sound was fantastic also.  Getting there was quite a challenge.  It was almost a 9 hour journey full of extremely disgusting and juvenile conversations. Let me tell you, stuck n a small space for that long with that many musicians creates quite a unique dialogue.   We covered everything from the German language to broken penises.  
     On Sunday after getting a great night sleep at the Best Western Plus in Troutdale Oregon we took off for Seattle. Little did we now what we were headed for.  We arrived at 3pm at Deborah and Pepper's house, friends of Maggie and Gary. We took a load off and had a wonderful dinner prepared by Debbie and the headed off to The Central Saloon for our first gig with our touring buddies The Darn. The Central Saloon was built in 1892 and seems to be n ts original state. A huge room with booming acoustics the Saloon sound s loud.  We all arrived around 7:30pm assuming we start setup at 8pm and start playing at 9.  Well the sound guy did not show up until 9pm. So we had time to kill.  I walked up to the bar where Paul and Lewis (from The Darn) were splitting a French Dip sandwich to say hello to them and was approached by the bartender. She was a awkwardly exotic young woman with a blue Mohawk and a low-cut shirt.  I wasn't planning on drinking  before I played but she asked me with assertion what kind of beer I wanted.  Being the professional I am I blindly asked what her favorite was. She answered and I sad okay give me one of those.  Paul looked at me with confusion and asked me if I liked flavored beer. I said no why?  He told me I just ordered a Blackberry Porter. Ugh.  It arrived and I paid her and took a sip.  Paul leaned over and asked if I liked it. Nope but I drank t anyway! What a dork! 
     So the sound guy finally showed up at 9pm.  It took about an hour to set up everything then he had to have a cigarette before he did sound check.  By this time all the people that come to see us had to leave.  The Darn started at 10pm.  Ths was the first show I played with the Darn and t went better than expected.  There was one funny thing that happened during the set. We had just finished a song called Dumbass on the Mountain which is about people who climb Mt Everest to prove they are studs and end up dying. It is a funny song. Anyway after the song one of the bartenders approached the band with three shots of whiskey. She handed them to Paul and said these are for my boyfriend who died on Mt Everest.  Paul replied with a low "awkward".  She then continued that she has a rule that she buys a round for anyone who can offend her. Paul responded with "if that's the case I'll be drunk n 20 minutes"

     Due to the fact the computer I am using to type this is missing the ( i   k  ,  8) keys it has taken me an hour to write this much by cutting and pasting and continuously spell checking. I have had enough for one day. I will continue with more tomorrow.

Just arrived to seattle. Through rain snow and sleet. Staying at a friend of Maggies. Dbl gig tonight. Sweet!

Now at the 102 mile marker......I just heard a request, or a plea, for a pee stop. Wait for it..........

We are currently freezing our asses off in Weed,Ca....25 degrees!!!!! WTF!

Ugh...Day 2 under way....Oregon brace yourself

     Last night was an awesome show. The people were great.  Lots of good beer and great music. People were very responsive and seemed to have a great time. Lots of beer and good music was the theme.  Somehow we mustered up the stamina to play 2 hours.  The real fun began after the show. They fed us some de-lish-us food!  Then there was the task of breaking all the stuff down and trying to piece t back into the van from whence it came.  After that was accomplished we headed off to our stay at the world famous Bridgehouse Bed and Breakfast .  if you are ever in Redding  highly recommend you stop by an stay here!!!!!
     So we arrived to the B&B @ 12:30am which was just enough tme to shred down and steal  hours of sleep.  Up at 4:0 am we all got t together and were back n this van by 6am heading to McMenamins Troutsdale Oregon. We have  hours to get there. Downbeat s at 4pm......TBC

We have arrived in 1 piece! Time to unload

One hour away from Redding. My Android phone hates the van wifi. Cant upload photos. The volume levels are decreasing. Everyone slowing down

All loaded and ready to go! We r on sched waiting only for Maggie....go figure.

Okay all done with my last stop. I am now leaving morgan hill and going to head up the east corridor. May the road warrior gods be with me

Allright check hollister of the list. Off to morgan hill. Apparently it's starting to rain there. Still on schedule. Rock 'n' Roll!!!

Just thinkin.... I have a beautiful and wonderful girlfriend, awesome friends, and a great band. Trifecta! Life is good!

A little note about these mobile phone uploads. I'm using voice recognition to post them. Its interpretation of my words is sometimes let's say creative

Salinas went off without a hitch of the hollister. Still no rain but clouds are darkening. Yau...

I just finished my third stop in monterey and now heading for salinas. On schedule no rain so far.

Let the games begin! A series of mobile blogs from my supersonic bionic phone.

Twas the night before Redding

1 day to go. Decided to fuel up on some sushi while chillin in Monterey. The weather is nice down here. No rain and about 71 degrees. Nice. The main event for 2 day is to get rest and gear brain for traveling in a van with 6 other unstable of musicians. I am so wound up I cannot relax. I am tempted to slam 3 or 4 sakes but I fear a hangover to start the tour would be not only bad form but would also invite trouble from the others. So now here I sit at my secret hang out in Seaside California awaiting my sushi reward. Then I will scamper back to my room pull closed the blackout curtains and begin the sleep ritual. Tomorrow requires a 3am awakening to complete my 218 miles delivery route and arrive back in Petaluma in time to get back to the van and begin a long trek to Redding, California for our first gig. A nice kick off show. A 2 hour gig starting at 8 pm. Part of the compensation includes room and FOOD! Alright, my food has arrived! See ya!!!!

Birthday Rain Destruction and Gas

     Happy birthday Adrian! The awesome sax player of The Mad Maggies celebrates a secret number of years on this planet today!    
     Well I survived today by a thread. I had a little incident at 3am when I first arrived at work that ended in a massive turrets outburt. But MF'er if it didn't feel good. I got so much crazy energy building up inside that I needed to bust out in vocal tirades.  The rest of the day went fairly smooth except for all the crazy drivers out there! People, rain=slow,,,WTF?!!  I passed an accident almost every ten miles. I'm not talking fender benders. I'm talking demolition derby! Some of the cars looked like a Decepticon picked it up and threw it across the freeway. What are these people thinking? Now they are not only super late, but they need a new car, too. That is if they are still alive, holy crapnards!
    I think I am ready to go. It seems to me that I have a lot of shit I'm bringing with me on this tour. F! Well, I may have overdone it but it will give GDub something to load...haha! Rock 'n' Roll!!!!!
     Thanks to everyone who helped us reach our goal  of $500 (actually hit $800) for gas at the The Mad Maggies Reward Your Fuelish Ways campaign at Rocket Hub. We really appreciate it!!!
   2 more days!

The Mad Maggies meet Photobucket

     It has just been brought to my attention that a photobucket account has been set up for the upcoming tour.  To access this site and keep up with all the madness as it unfolds, click on the following link and enjoy.  The Mad Maggie's Album. This album, I assume, shall be packed full in no time.  All 7 of us will have camera. Some of us like to snap and post EVERYTHING......hee hee.  There will also be plenty of video footage also.
     Well, the rain is here. I am soaked already. Buts I do loves the rain! Bring it. 

The Countdown Looms

     Four days away from the launch of the 2012 Alive and Squeezing tour.  Just finished checking the weather reports for the shows we are playing and it goes as follows:
March 16 - Friday - 8pm - Vintage Wine Bar & Restaurant, Redding, CA  Rain High 57
March 17 - Saturday - St. Paddy's Day - McMenamin's Edgefield, Troutdale, OR Showers 48
March 18 - Sunday - 8:30pm - The Central Saloon Seattle, WA Few Showers High 47
March 20 - Tuesday - 7pm - Old World Deli, Corvallis, OR Showers High 51°F 60%
March 21 - Wednesday 9pm - Sam Bond's Garage, Eugene, OR Showers High 52°F 60%

Well, you get the idea.  I can only get the 10 day forecast but I'm guessing....mmmm....rain  No worries, a little water will separate the witches from the crew! I pretty much got every thing ready to go. Just a few loose ends. I wonder what the infamous "one thing" will be that gets left behind. So long as it's not too important I'm okay. 
     The hardest part so far is trying to rent a car for my Breezy with a debit card.  Not pretty. It looks like it could be a $300 deposit, depending on my credit check. Good luck with that. Enough said, if anything was said at all....it is time for me to shut up. But wait.....

Photo of the day!

Firing it back up

     Well, a year has passed and , holy shit, if everything hasn't just gotten soooooo much better! When I left off, I was auditioning for The Mad Maggies band http://themadmaggies.com/. Needless to say, I got the gig and had one of the most entertaining and creatively challenging years of my musical career! We played about thirty shows last year including The Santa Rosa Fair http://www.sonomacountyfair.com/fair/sonoma-county-fair.php, The Cotati Accordion Festival The Cotati Accordion Festival and three shows in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (BrewNost(http://www.ncsml.org/Events/20110923/80/BrewNost-2011.aspx), The Accordion Symposium(http://www.thinkingoutsidethesqueezebox.com/) and The Red Baron).
     We are now gearing up for a nine day, eight show tour from Redding, California to Seattle, Washington. Maggie rented a cool custom van from http://bandago.com/ and all seven are going to embark on a crazy journey starting March 16th. Out of the gate, it should be an interesting tour. Hopefully I will keep y'all posted on the shenanigans! Of course the new tour will require new equipment. It has been 15 years since the purchase of my last drum kit. Don't get me wrong, that kit is still totally relevant and kicks ass, but hey, I got an excuse to get new gear...carpe diem! So If figured I needed a more compact drum set as to not hog all the room in the van. My current kit consists of i large 20" bass drum case, 2 tom cases (12" & 13") one 14" snare case 1 drum caddy full of 95# of hardware, 1 cymbal bag, 1 bass drum pedal suitcase, 1 stick bag, 1 carpet and 1 fan! Oye! Imagine loading and unloading that every freakin night. Especially after playing for three hours at 2am. Not fun, but that's the glamor of music.
     Anyway, you get the idea. Smaller is better....well sort of. What I found was this amazing drum kit made by a true artist. The Man is JT Whitney, and his drums are known as Whitney Drums (Fat in the middle). He has some brilliant ideas and has created a wonderful sounding light weight and down right beautiful kit. If you get a chance, I recommend checking out his sight. http://whitneydrums.com/wp/ I can go on days about the ingenuity of these drums but it is best left to the master, JT, himself to tell you. I went to the site, picked out what I wanted, shot him an e-mail.. He wrote back and told me to call him, which I did, and he was very helpful in assisting me in designing the kit that would be best for me. This was early January. I told him I needed them for my tour in the middle of March. He told me he could do it and holy shit if he didn't come through. He builds each set to order, and let me tell you, so far, this kit is the bomb! All, I mean ALL, the drums fit in one case and weigh 35#!!!!!!!!! No joke! HEAVEN! A big thank you to JT!
     I also had to get some more new gear, of course. I bought a new Axis Hi-hat longboard pedal(http://www.axispercussion.com/longboards_L-HH.html) I had to get a travel case for my cymbals(http://www.gatorcases.com/p/4127-1355/gp-pe302) , and I needed sleeves (http://www.cymbag.com/?content=secciones_contenido&idSeccion=1) to protect the cymbals in the case . And no drummer is complete without the proper footwear!!!!(http://www.drumshoes.com/) And that concluded my shopping spree. I wanted a new bass drum pedal, but the funds ran out!! Next time.... So now it's off to the races. Five days till we leave for the tour and I still have a lot of shit to do. So here I go. Later!