A great line-up tonight at Yoshi's in San Francisco, CA.

Tonight is going to be a really fun evening of local, independent music here in San Francisco at the prestigious Yoshi’s Jazz Club. Starting at 7:00pm, I will be performing a short, but sweet acoustic set with Dan “D-Lucca” Parenti on upright bass and Boone Spooner on percussion. We’ll be playing a number of new tunes along with a few of our favorites from “Something Out There”. The stage is outstanding and the sound is killer over at Yoshi’s, not to mention the sushi. (Mm…) I believe a few tickets are still available to purchase in advance at $9.00 or for $13.00 at the door, so scrap whatever plans you have for tonight (who makes plans on Mondays anyway?!) and make your way on over to Yoshi’s at 1300 Fillmore Street in San Francisco, CA for some great music this evening. And don’t forget… the first fifty (50) people to sign up on my e-list at the show will receive a FREE, limited edition ChiMcClean.com pint glass. (You need one of these…)

Milk does a body good... So does your ChiMcClean.com pint glass!

Also joining us on the bill this evening will be Megan Slankard & Jeff Campbell, Francesca Lee, Matt Luce, and Garrin Benfield. For more details or to purchase tickets in advance, click your way on over to the Yoshi’s website. See you all tonight!

Enjoy your favorite beverage in Chi-Style. NOTE: Beer not included.

The ChiMcClean.com pint glasses have arrived! And just in time for my set at Yoshi’s in San Francisco, CA on Monday, March 8th at 7:00 PM. Speaking of which, the ONLY way to get one of these limited edition ChiMcClean.com pint glasses is to attend my show at Yoshi’s. That’s right, people… I only made a small run of these babies and I’m giving them away, absolutely FREE, to the first fifty (50) people that sign up on my e-mail list at my merch’ table on March 8th at Yoshi’s in San Francisco, CA. As many of you know who were stuck outside in the cold trying to buy tickets for my set with The Bryan Brothers Featuring David Baron, Eoin Harrington, and Forget About Boston, my last show sold out at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco, CA. So, don’t risk another night out in the cold while I rock away the evening on the main stage of one of San Francisco’s coolest venues with Boone Spooner on percussion and Dan “D-Lucca” Parenti on upright bass. Buy your tickets now to the show here and relax knowing that you’ve secured your tickets in advance AND have locked in your limited edition ChiMcClean.com pint glass [just be sure you're one of the first fifty (50) folks at my merch' table to get one or you'll miss out].

A HUGE thanks goes out to my friends at Way To Be for helping put together these pint glasses on short notice. If you need any promotional items for anything, be sure to check in with these guys before going anywhere else. They rock! Visit their site at www.WayToBe.com for more information.

WXVU 89.1 FM Website

Leading up to the interview, they gave “Something Out There” a spin and later, after wrapping up the questions, had me introduce the closing song “Rocketship” on air with a little WXVU 89.1 FM shout-out. Apparently, the album is doing pretty well on their station and listeners from the Villanova college students to locals have been calling, texting and e-mailing in about the music, and more recently, the interview. (Now, THAT’S what I like to hear!) Sounds like a I need to play some shows near Villanova, soon!

Thanks to Smokey and The Bandit for hosting me on air!

Thanks to Smokey and The Bandit for hosting me and for introducing me to the WXVU 89.1 FM audience. I had an awesome time and look forward to doing a live, in-person performance/interview the next time I’m in the area. In the mean time, if you’re interested in checking out the station, you can stream 24/7 online by following the simple instructions here. Smokey and The Bandit go live on Tuesday evenings starting at 11:30 PM EST.

Lauten Audio Horizon Microphone

I wrapped up a really cool recording session yesterday at Broken Radio with the folks from Lauten Audio. These guys make killer mics (I’m using their Horizon mic at my home studio for pretty much everything from vocals to acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and percussion) and it was a treat to sing and play a bit of acoustic guitar through a number of their mics and a few different preamps from their partner Summit Audio for some testing and web features that they are planning. We went through everything from the Horizon to the Oceanus to the Clarion and the Torch mics from Lauten Audio in one full day at the studio. All of them sounded amazing with each capturing a slightly different perspective or character of my voice and an assortment of acoustic guitars (this reinforced my love and absolute commitment to my Taylor 814ce  and my Elixir Phosphor Bronze strings: the combination sounds INSANE through these mics and, moreover, is just such a joy to play by comparison to the other acoustics/strings I played yesterday). I’m not sure when the feature video will be up on their site or when the sound files will be up, but stay tuned at www.lautenaudio.com and you can be sure I’ll keep you all posted here on my blog.

Up Close & Personal with the Horizon Microphone from Lauten Audio

Thanks to the team from Lauten Audio, Summit Audio and Broken Radio for inviting me to participate in the session. It was a ton of fun to work with them, as always, and I’m looking forward to hearing the tracks. Be sure to check out their sites for some killer recording tools and stay tuned here for updates. Keep making music, people!

Sold Out Show, Great Line-Up

Thanks to everyone who came down to Cafe du Nord to check out our set, and to those that were turned away, don’t fret! We’re playing again soon on March 8th at the legendary Yoshi’s San Francisco as an acoustic trio. Tickets will be available in advance for this show, so be sure to get on the stick and buy them asap so you don’t miss out. Just visit the Yoshi’s ticketing website here and make it happen. What could be better than great music and sushi? See you all soon.

A Not-So-Secret Spot in Santa Cruz Doing Its Thing

In any case, I managed to get a quick surf in at a not-so-secret spot before the gig to get a little exercise in and try to clear out this cold that’s been lingering since last Saturday night. For a while, it worked! If nothing else, I also got a couple of great waves with my buddy Jonathan who drove down from San Francisco to grab a session and see my set.

Thanks to everyone who made it out to my three shows this week! I had a lot of fun reconnecting with both old and new friends and really enjoyed performing some of my newer material along the way. Hope to see you all again very soon! In the mean time, if you or anyone you know will be in San Francisco this weekend, be sure check out my set with the trio at Cafe du Nord this Saturday, February 6th. I go on from 9:00-10:00pm and it’s going to be a hoot. Joining us will be Eoin Harrington, The Bryan Brothers featuring David Baron, and Forget About Boston. It’s going to be a great night of music and tickets are selling out fast, so if you or someone you know would like to come, be sure to visit TicketWeb asap to purchase your advance tickets and secure your spot at the show.

Hope to see you soon!

The Second Act at The Steynberg Gallery Last Night

After wolfing down some chow, I high tailed it up the coast to Santa Cruz where I will be performing a solo acoustic set from 7:00-9:00pm at this groovy little spot called Asana Tea House. Admission is free and it’s a really great spot to hear every word, phrase, and guitar line - the acoustics are good and the venue is pretty intimate. Parking is aplenty in the evenings, so come on down and check it out!

Genghis Cohen: World Class Sound, World Class Food

Last night was an absolute blast at the BMI showcase down in Los Angeles, CA at Genghis Cohen. I shared the stage with three other talented singer/songwriters for an hour’s worth of music in front of a packed house. The sound was outstanding, the energy was electric, and the talent was really impressive, not to mention the post-show dinner (you have to try their salted soft shell shrimp - INSANE!). In any case, it was great to see everyone and catch up with some friends from far and near.

After a quick drive, I made it up to San Luis Obispo, CA this afternoon and am sitting in a coffee house getting ready for a singer/songwriter showcase at The Steynberg Gallery this evening at 6:30pm. It should be a blast and, from the looks of the bill, there are going to be some great writers/performers there. If you’re in town, check it out! Address, directions and more information can be found here.

Score Sheet from West Coast Songwriters January Songwriters Contest in San Francisco, CA

Last night, I cruised down to Cafe Royale here in San Francisco, CA where the West Coast Songwriters host their monthly songwriters contests. I’ve been to just a few of these now, but there are generally 15-20 different songwriters that each perform one of their original songs. From what I can tell, the judges (generally producers, radio folks, professional songwriters, etc.) come up with a final score based on creativity, originality, melody, music, lyrics, performance, etc. In any case, I showed up with one of my newer, pop(ish) songs “I Know” and gave that a whirl. To be honest, I felt as though it probably wasn’t my best performance (these songwriter events make me strangely nervous in a way that playing to 200 random folks in a club doesn’t) but, somehow, the judges last night were into it enough to award me with the “Best Performance” award for the night. I was pretty psyched and surprised at the same time. There were some really talented people in attendance at the contest and it was an honor to win this award. Plus, I got some cool prizes!

For more information on the West Coast Songwriters, check out their website here. It’s a non-profit organization that supports independent songwriters all along the West Coast with guest song reviews, contests, educational workshops, seminars, and an annual conference. It’s a great, great resource and, if you’re a songwriter or an independent musician living along the West Coast, you owe it to yourself to check them out.

The Supa-Trem & Full-Drive 2

So, I’ve been starting to play more and more electric guitar these days. I’ve been wanting to change up my live show a little bit (especially with some of the newer material I’ve been writing) and I randomly had this hunch that I needed to check out a tremolo pedal. I did some research online and found a couple pretty cool options. I had great success with my Fulltone Full-Drive 2 overdrive pedal so I thought I’d give their Supa-Trem pedal a try. It did not disappoint. The rate knob is pretty sensitive, so it’s taken me a while to get the hang of how to adjust the rate, etc. on the fly, but after I got the hang of it, I found that this pedal is pretty darn cool. Add a little overdrive (or a lot) and click on the hard tremolo option on the right stomp switch and you’ve got this machine gun like stutter that turns ordinary chord progressions into something pretty worthwhile. Like anything, I’m sure this effect can be overused, but in terms of adding some Nashville vibe to my electric, this no-frills pedal is definitely doing the trick. Be sure to check out my next full band set at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco, CA on Saturday, February 6th to hear the Supa-Trem in action on a few new tunes.