There is a nice music community here.

I had a real nice time playing and listening to music at the Make-Out Room last night. We (Mercury Falls) seemed to find some interesting new routes to take through the tunes after 8 weeks of fermentation. Maybe it's just having an attentive and engaged audience and sharing the bill with such inspiring musicians but it seemed like a little taste of the good ol' days on 22nd street. With improvisational music you're often rolling the dice. Will we have a good show or a transcendent one? This was somewhere in between but it felt like a success. We were able to hear each other and the samples, good. We alternated short sets with Shimmering Leaves, very good- there was a subtle exchange of ideas happening between the bands. We were relaxed and open-hearted, so the music spoke. Thanks to Porto Franco for supporting local music.

Mercury Falls CD release Thursday 9/16

Mercury Falls will be alternating sets with Dave Mihaly's Shimmering Leaves this Thursday at the Make-Out Room. This is a Porto Franco Records CD release event for both groups. I'm looking forward to revisiting the Mercury Falls music a couple of months after our summer tour.

Many (S)Miles

4617. Imperfectly precise. That is the number of miles I have traversed in various vehicles in the last 3 weeks. Moving very quickly while staying mostly still. Close quarters with various comrades. Hurry up and wait. New languages of insanity. This is the life of a band on the road. In late July I spent a week playing shows with Mercury Falls. We made our way up and down the left coast- as far south as LA and up to Vancouver. One of my favorite aspects of touring is the meeting and hanging out with new, great folks. We had plenty of that on this one, especially in B.C. where we played a couple of shows with The Inhabitants. They were impressive and inspiring and Skye and Karma were kind enough to host us at their idyllic home in the country, as we fortified ourselves for the punishing non-stop trip back to California.

After a brief trip to SD to spend time with family and celebrate Bomma's 89th b-day, I flew to Chicago to begin another mad-cap run with the Dina Maccabee Band through the Midwest and Northeast. The characters change but the script is strangely similar: in the first 24 hours, a secret language of references and gestures is developed. This will be the glue that binds us together when the road shows it's teeth and showers are sorely missed. Music is shared and gives added meaning to the monotonous or beautiful landscape. The vehicle starts and stops but mostly just goes and goes...We arrive just in time for load-in and then wait, wait, wait. Jargon is flung about: strike, check, wedge, downbeat. Then find a place to crash and start it all over again.

Amazingly, I almost always come away feeling inspired and renewed despite being roadworn and sleep-deprived. Generous people, seeing new cities & lands, getting to know your cohorts more completely, and playing music every night is a beautiful thing. When do we go again?

Their Sun Is Not The Same as Ours

I think about how to be silent, and then don't practice it. I love the visceral fuzzed out noise set against tropical rhythms and acoustic textures. Pretty voices singing prettier melodies. Gilberto Gil '68-'71. Desperate songs that sound happy. Low hanging fruit. Killbossa is playing Pirate Cat Radio today at 6:15 PM. We'll wing it as always, probably play unplugged. After, we'll do a set at The Knockout, 9PMish.

Schoolhouse Rock

May brought just the right job to mix things up: making a record in Kentucky. Thunderstorms, farmland, midnight bike rides, bourbon, isolation, great people. We spent about 10 hours a day recording in an old schoolhouse just a couple of miles outside of Hodgenville, birthplace of honest Abe. No truck or tractor passed by without a nod & a wave, but many pulled off the road to say hello, share a story and see what we were up to. There was a steady drip of the KY brown wine, jokes good & better, and the sometimes daunting task of making music with strangers sound like you've been at it for years. We got it done and had a good time along the way. The logistics of this kind of undertaking can be staggering. People coming from California and Tennessee and meeting in the middle of nowhere. Transporting all kinds of gear and instruments and renting everything else that is needed. We slept in a beautiful old farmhouse and lived real, true porchlife each night. Ghosts were seen. What a beautiful thing.

Killbossa on MissionLocal

Deia De Brito produced this cool little video about Killbossa.

Killbossa opens for Extra Action Marching Band

In what is sure to be a freak fest, I am pleased to announce Killbossa's upcoming show at The New Parish in Oakland. Saturday, May 8th. 579 18th St. Oakland, 94612.