Chi McClean

Last night was a hoot over at Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles, CA. Shane Cooley (Virginia) and Adam Smith (Tennessee) were on tour and invited me to join them for an “in the round” performance and it ended up being a ton of fun. To be honest, I’m generally not a huge fan of that format as I personally think it’s hard to get a groove going, but last night ended up running pretty smoothly.

Shane Cooley accompanying Adam Smith on one of his songs last night at Genghis Cohen.

It was great to see some friends out and about and, I have to say, it made the night. A big thanks to Onnie for pulling together a great crew for the performance. Thanks also to one of my most loyal supporters (and old friends) Jesse for posting. (You never cease to impress, man!) In any case, we went for about 75 minutes or so and just had a great time. After packing up and saying my goodbyes, I cruised up to Motel 6 in Hollywood (decent rate, decent room) and crashed.

When the playin's done and the crowd has gone home, it's all that remains.

I woke up pretty late this morning and, after checking out, dragged myself out for breakfast at this killer little spot that a buddy and amazing Los Angeles-based jazz guitarist Eric Jensen introduced me to, recently. It’s called Fred’s 62 over on Vermont Street towards The Greek. In any case, I ordered up this amazing meal and pigged out for my one meal a day tour regimen. On the waiter’s recommendation, I got this heaping plate pictured below:

Nothing really needs to be said about this one... Wow.

With a huge surge of energy after consuming the world’s largest breakfast ever, I cruised up to do the touristy thing and checked out the Hollywood sign from the Griffith Observatory. Pretty cool, actually!

After however many times I've been LA, it was fun to finally check this out.

After admiring the view of the sign and downtown LA and the massive sprawl in every direction, I stumbled into the Griffith Observatory to see what was going on inside. The telescopes were closed for public viewing until the evening, but they had a ton of pretty neat exhibits including this amazing Tesla Coil. One of the attendants fired the thing up and gave us a little background on the thing. Apparently, this guy (Tesla) wanted to “free” electricity from the confines of wire/cable and developed a way to conduct electricity via the air without the use of a cable or wire. Apparently, it never caught on, but I understand this technology launched the technology we use today in a variety of hydro-electric power plants, etc. across the country. Pretty cool, but I must say, it seemed just a tad dangerous… you be the judge of that, though.

It's... ALIVE!! Can't help it... doesn't this remind you of "Frankenstein"?

Anyway, there were a number of cool exhibits on the solar system, namely our sun, and then some other neat things like this crazy gamma ray scanner (reminded me of Predator’s heat-seeking vision) that you could walk in front of and see your hot spots, so to speak. I was probably one of the oldest “kids” in there (lots of school field trips wandering about) but I had just as much fun as any those little guys checking this stuff out, making sound effects and all.

I... am... Gamma Ray Man! Rrrrawr!! (Insert Transformers sound effect here.)

After I cruised through just about every exhibit around, I decided to start making my way to Long Beach, CA for my gig at Viento y Agua Coffee House tonight from 7:30 until 8:15pm. I battled a ton of Friday commuter traffic (x’s 10 given the LA reputation) but finally arrived in Long Beach, safe and sound. It’s now about 5:20pm and I’m just chillin’, updating my blog, and scoping out the venue. Pretty cool! Lots of cool artwork, random instruments lying around, and, of course, great coffee and, for me, Chai! If you’re in the area tonight, come on down. It’s going to be a neat spot to see the show, I guarantee…

The thing about being on the road (for me, at least) is that I get to eat at one of the greatest California treasures almost anywhere up and down 101: In’N’Out. Oh, yes… give me the double-double, animal style, and you better make sure there are fries with ‘dat with a frosty cold beverage (preferably, Coke).

How do you spell love? IN'N'OUT

In any case, I kicked off this little mini-tour yesterday with a day-time gig at the Redwood City Plaza in Redwood City, CA for a two-hour outdoor session. It sounded great, the crowd was tons of fun, and the weather held (no rain!) which made the gig. Plus, I met up with an old friend from Liquid Audio – now Walmart Music – who helped add me to their featured indie artist page today. You can check it out here. (Thanks, Chris!)

Afterwards, I scrambled down to Santa Barbara to set up and play a 7:00 PM gig at Live Culture Lounge. The Redwood City Plaza gig ran a bit late, so I really had to hustle. Long story short, I got pulled over just 20 minutes outside of Santa Barbara for driving 81 in a 55 with just about 20 minutes to go. (Oops…) The good news? The CHP officer let me off when I explained the situation (“I’m late for my gig, man… er, I mean, sir.”) Anyway, a huge thanks goes out to that officer for being so cool. When I arrived, I set up quickly and enjoyed one of the best sounding monitor mixes I’ve ever had. This place has an 11′ high stage (which is pretty cool alone) but the sound is tops. Darin and Sierra who run the joint really have poured their hearts and souls into making Live Culture a great live music venue and it truly shows. (Thanks, guys!)

Afterwards, I ran into my buddy Mark who I met on my last Cali’ tour in April. Mark is involved in the biz in a variety of ways as a songwriter, tour manager, promoter, vocal and performance coach, etc. and, fortunately for me, is a big supporter of what I’m doing. Long story short, we jammed for a bit outside the venue, then cruised up to his pad way the heck on top of some mountain east of Santa Barbara. To be honest, I was getting a little worried when we were driving for like 30 minutes and didn’t see a single car (or much evidence of any homes or people, for that matter) but we finally arrived at a killer spot where he and his girlfriend live. He’s got this little ranch way up in the hills and it’s so darned cool. Talk about a songwriting retreat!

This was my view upon waking up this morning. Niiice.

When I woke up, Mark and I jammed a little more and worked through some agility exercises on the guitar, some singing drills, and traded a few original tunes. It was a fun way to kick things off, but after finally getting to bed at 1:00am, it was a little bit of an effort to do all of that music stuff at 6:45am. In any case, I learned a bunch and had a few good laughs (thanks, Mark!).

Later in the day, I headed out to grab a breakfast burrito and checked the surf. Not much along the coast in Santa Barbara or Ventura, but I did find a nice little (and I mean little) wave at County Line in Malibu. I actually got a ton of waves and enjoyed being in some warmer water. Afterwards, I met up with LA-based songwriter Karen Besbeck to try out some co-writing on the main lawn in front of Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. We had some fun after a few false starts and actually got some music together at the end of the exercise which sounded pretty nice.

Come for the killer food, stay for the killer sounds... Genghis. Mm...

Now, it’s hurry up and wait here at the Starbucks in Malibu while I update my blog, Facebook, etc. and get ready to head to Los Angeles for my gig at Genghis Cohen tonight from 10:00pm until 11:00pm. I’ll be playing with two great writers from the East Coast: Shane Cooley and Adam Smith. I met Shane by chance at South by Southwest in Austin, TX earlier this year and ended up putting together a few shows with him on his summer tour. I’m psyched and am really looking forward to hearing these guys tonight. It should be a blast.

Well, that’s all for today. Stay tuned for more updates this week and be in touch if you plan to be in LA, Long Beach or Santa Barbara over the next few days. I’ll be headed to Long Beach, CA tomorrow to play Viento y Agua Coffee House, then back to LA to play Dakota Lounge on Saturday, then up to Santa Barbara to play a fun outdoor gig at Borders on State Street on Sunday, so spread the word to your friends and family. Would love to see ‘em!

What a weekend! I had an amazing time playing a few shows with the trio this past weekend in New York. We were hired to play private events on both nights and had an absolute blast, but man… was it hot and humid! Even though I grew up in Long Island, I just wasn’t used to the heat or the humidity after living in Northern California for so long. I mean, it was summer out there, for sure. Thinking about taking a shower? Don’t… you’ll need to take one again just five minutes after you get out. Just save the water…

One thing about playing New York is that I get to enjoy Mom's home cooked meals! Tasty!

Anyway, we played great, enjoyed having Malcolm Gold fill in on bass (he always rips it up big time), and even debuted a few newer songs I’ve been working on. All in all, a great time… Tomorrow, it’s off to do a few shows down the California coast from San Francisco down to Long Beach and back. As soon as I get back, it’s back to New York to do some shows and check out Nashville, too. In the mean time, I’ve got a little writing inspiration after some time away from California and I’m using it to write, uh… country! We’ll see how that all turns out, but this will be the second or third distinctly country style song I’ve written recently… don’t know what’s gotten into me, but maybe it’s  a good thing I’ll be checking out Nashville soon.

Just had to document this: I've got two Taylor 814ce's in hard cases in one overhead bin with room to spare on a 757. Doesn't fit, huh? Hmmph!

Flying there and back, we were met with all sorts of obstacles and hurdles to overcome. It was a true test of my patience and diplomacy skills. I’d like to think that I handled myself admirably (I managed to get two guitars and a bag of cymbals above deck in the overhead bins each way) but at times, let me tell you, it was trying on the spirit. The fact of the matter is: it’s just plain hard to travel with instruments these days on a major carrier. Actually, let me rephrase that… it’s hard to pass through the TSA guardian wall with instruments. I mean, those guys mean business! “Only two carry-on pieces allowed! Sir that laptop counts as a carry-on piece… no, cymbals are not considered a musical instrument. You can’t bring those on board…” What the?! Oh well… live and learn, right?

Tonight's show is going to go off... be there from 9pm-10pm PST!

I’m pleased to say that we’re headed back to San Francisco’s coolest upstairs venue, Rockit Room, tonight from 9:00pm until 10:00pm. What’s also pretty darned cool is that Billy Johnson (studio and tour drummer for Carlos Santana) will be joining us on stage in a trio format. On bass, Daniel “D-Lucca” Parenti will be tearing it up as usual. On guitar and vocals, yours truly… We’ll be performing some newer tracks in addition to a few of the stand-by’s from “Something Out There”, but in a stripped down, acoustic trio format. It’s going to be a great time and I can’t wait for you guys to hear Billy rock the drum kit. So, if you’re looking for a really fun way to kick off your holiday weekend, come on down to Rockit Room at 406 Clement Street at 5th Avenue in San Francisco, CA and join us! We’ll be waiting…

You don't need much to make some noise at home!

I’ve been busy lately writing and recording some new ideas here at my home studio. Well, actually, my studio is really a mobile, compact setup that generally sits somewhere between my kitchen table and my bedroom where my amp and my Rhodes electric piano are. In any case, I’ve discovered that you don’t need too much to record some good sounds at home for songwriting and arrangement purposes. Along those lines, my setup is basically a MacBook Pro, a Lauten Audio Horizon microphone, an MBox 2 Pro, and Pro Tools 8. Of course, I’ve got my Taylor Guitars, Elixir Strings, Fender Rhodes keyboard, and my midi keyboard (and an assortment of some hand percussion), but that’s the mini setup at a glance.

I’m happy to say that it’s been going well! I’ve got two new tunes this week that I’m touching up, but am really happy with ‘em. I’ll be debuting those soon at an upcoming show to crowd test them, so to speak, but I’m pretty psyched on them as they stand. If you want to hear some of the tracks from “Something Out There” and some of my other newer tracks in a trio format (and you’re in San Francisco, CA), swing on by Rockit Room tonight, May 28th from 9pm to 10pm and rock out with us! Otherwise, have a great weekend, everyone!

Man, what a fun show at Moe’s Alley this past Tuesday! The sound was outstanding (thanks, Brent!) and the stage was comfortable, the crowd was warm, and things just seemed to flow pretty darned well. You gotta love venues like this: well run, professional, and just really warm and friendly…

My Taylor's set up and ready to go for my set at Moe's Alley on 5/18/10.

After I wrapped up, Wally Ingram & Jerry Joseph took the stage for two sets and wowed folks with they’re gypsy-trance-groove-acoustic rock. For two guys (Wally on percussion and Jerry on vocals and acoustic guitar), they got a huge sound and had people dancin’ the noodle dance and just about everything else. Very groovy stuff and pretty fun to watch it all go down in a venue like Moe’s Alley.

Side-stage view of Jerry & Wally doing their thing...

A song or two into their second set, Wally Ingram & Jerry Joseph invited me up to play some lead guitar with them. I scrambled up there, pretty surprised and flattered at the invitation, and proceeded to have the time of my life. We rocked through maybe 5 or 6 songs and were joined by one of their buddies, Mookie Siegel, on accordion. Very cool… Mookie and I traded licks and had a few laughs trying to follow Wally and Jerry. At the end of the night, we had the audience pumped up and tearing up the dance floor. Tons of fun and so cool to be up on stage with those guys. (Thanks, guys!)

Next up, I’ve got a set at Rockit Room in San Francisco on Friday, May 28th. Come on out and say hi! More on that later… until the next time, take it easy and enjoy the weekend!

Heading down to Santa Cruz, battling rush hour traffic, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel… and it’s Moe’s Alley. From 8:30-9:00pm, I’ll be playing a solo acoustic set opening for Wally Ingram & Jerry Joseph. It’s going to be a fun show at an outstanding venue, so don’t miss it! Tickets are $10 at the door. For more information, head to the Moe’s Alley website. See ya there!

Come on down tonight... killer show at Moe's Alley.

Woah! So much fun yesterday afternoon at Cava Wine Bar in Capitola, CA. After a really great time doing a live, on-air radio interview and performance at KPIG, my buddy and temporary guitar tech/roadie Aaron and I got a quick surf in over at The Hook in Capitola, then cruised over to Cava Wine Bar to set up for a little acoustic gig. I was a little concerned when I got there and not a soul was to be found, but as soon as I started playing, folks started stopping in and checking it out and tappin’ their toes. It ended up being a really, really fun crowd for a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I think it’s fair to say that we all had a great time.

A shot from the stage early on in the performance at Cava Wine Bar.

What was supposed to be a two hour gig ended up lasting more than three hours. They kept calling for more and I was happy to oblige. Heck, good wine, a fun audience, and good acoustics? Why not? Afterwards, I scarfed (did I just say “scarfed”???) some pizzas with my buddies Aaron, Michelle, and local celebrity Lee Salomon while catching up on fishing, surf, and general antics in the area.

Good friends enjoying some grub and wine after my set at Cava Wine Bar.

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the show and to KPIG for promoting the event on the live show earlier in the day. I have to say, yesterday was probably one of my all-time favorite days: radio interview and performance on KPIG in the morning, a huge breakfast burrito, then a fun session at The Hook in Capitola followed by a great gig at Cava Wine Bar later that night. Wow… California Dreamin’!

Yesterday, I escaped the madness in San Francisco (Bay to Breakers) and slipped away to the Santa Cruz area to do a live radio performance and interview at KPIG Radio with the host of “Please Stand By”, Sleepy John. After spending more than an hour trying to get out of San Francisco (the streets were a mess with “racers” for the Bay to Breakers event, streets were closed, traffic was crazy, etc.) and breaking more than a few traffic laws en route to the station studio, I finally arrived at KPIG.

If you don't listen to this station yet, you're missing out! Click over to KPIG.com and listen now.

When I got there, Sherry greeted me, showed me the way to the green room, and made sure I felt welcome and was well fed! (Thanks, Sherry!) After tuning up and warming up a bit, I was escorted to the main studio, introduced to the engineer, producer, and, of course, host before doing a really quick sound check. This was the most pro radio event I have ever done: two, slick condenser mics on my guitar, one really nice tube condenser mic on my voice. The sound was killer!

Performing "Thought I'd Never" on-air at the KPIG studios in Watsonville, CA.

Sleepy John was a riot. I’m not sure which was more fun: playing my tunes (“It’s Alright”, “How Long”, and “Thought I’d Never”) or just goofing around with him. The radio world (and the world in general) needs more people like this guy.

In any case, we wrapped up the show, said our goodbyes, and I went on my merry way after having a ton of fun down there. Thanks to Sleepy John and the rest of the folks at KPIG, I now have an outstanding live recording of the entire show which I will post very soon online for you guys to check out, just in case you didn’t get a chance to hear it live on the air yesterday or online.

Hanging with KPIG's Sleepy John after the show.

Last but not least, a big thanks needs to go out to my good friend Aaron who made the trip with me and acted as my guitar tech and assistant leading up to and during the show. It’s amazing how much help he was and how smoothly things went as a result of his support – thanks, Aaron!

Bes ure to check out this intimate evening of acoustic music from these two great musicians (and me!).

Man, I’m so pumped for this show… This Tuesday, May 18th at Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz, CA, I’ll be opening up for Wally Ingram & Jerry Joseph who are on tour supporting their new record. It’s going to be a really slick, intimate night of acoustic music kicking off at 8:30 PM with me, then the main event: Wally Ingram & Jerry Joseph. If you haven’t heard of these guys, maybe you’ve heard of Widespread Panic, The Jackmormons, The Stockholm Syndrome, Sheryl Crow, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Crosby Stills & Nash, etc? Between the two of these guys, they’ve played with a ton of amazing acts (not to mention their own projects) and bring a wealth of music and talent to the table. This show will be a unique chance to hear the two of them jamming it out in a stripped down, acoustic setting. It’s going to be sick.

Doors open at 8:00pm, then I hit the stage at 8:30pm for about 40 minutes or so, playing solo acoustic versions of some songs from my album “Something Out There”, as well as some songs slated for my next recording. Afterwards, these two guys tear it up.

Tickets are just $10 and you can find them here in advance. This show will sell out, so be sure to get them now while you can and make it a night to remember. See ya soon!