Tour Blog

Well I'm back from my first mini-tour...

and I totally FAILED at Blogging ~~

I don't even have many photos or videos from the trip, but I have some great memories.

Here's the basic rundown:

Phoenix was gorgeous --- I played at the Pride Festival with a great drummer and bass player that were recommended through a friend. They were really groovin and the set was awesome - then I wandered around the park, met up with friend Ryan Pinkston, and generally lived it up at Pride.

I drove my rental across the desert to San Diego, where I stayed for a few days with good friend Tori Roze. I performed on a bill with her band, Tori Roze & The Hot Mess, at the Ruby Room in San Diego - I wasn't totally comfortable because of some issues with the keyboard I was using, but it turned out ok and I met some cool people.

The next night I played at the open mic at LeStat's, great venue in San Diego. However, the next day, after taking a Bikram class, I started feeling really ill. I stayed in that night and rested all day Wednesday before my gig at Portugalia in Ocean Beach - I rented a keyboard for my Portugalia gig, and I felt comfortable and it went well - had some friends from San Diego come out to see me, and saw Tori's brother and sister again and made some new friends. However, after the set, I started to feel ill again and went home. The next day, I could barely swallow, and I just had a feeling I had strep throat.

I went to the doctor, and sure enough, I had strep - they gave me antibiotics and a steroid to help the swelling go down - and by that evening, I started feeling good again.

Friday, I drove up to Los Angeles, where I stayed in Hollywood with my friend Tyler Parks. I had a good day of taking dance classes & going for sushi. I rented a keyboard for my LA gig, and found someone to touch up my design - also made it to Room 5 Lounge for a few performances, including my incredibly talented friend Jen Hirsh, and Annie & The Beekeepers, who I saw for the first time - even though she actually lives in Brooklyn.

My gig Monday night at M Bar in Hollywood went great - they actually had a grand piano in good shape which I used for half of the show. I had Wesley Cole on bass and Enrique Lara on drums (both from Berklee), and invited Jen Hirsh up to sing with me on "Seed." Audience was great, including some friends I hadn't seen in YEARS - was great seeing them along with some new faces. Was a great way to wrap up the tour.

Now I'm back in NYC - and I have to say, part of my heart definitely belongs to NY. I can't wait to tour more and go back to LA, but NYC will always be a home to me.

PHOENIX

I have finally arrived in sunny beautiful Phoenix:

Yes, that is just a random image I googled. LOL.....but there are cacti and Palm trees EVERYWHERE - it's gorgeous!!

Sitting outside at a Starbucks right now - and figuring out what I will do for the rest of the day.

So excited to be here!

Plays & movies, movies & plays

I saw two great movies and one awesome play this weekend -

1. Source Code - starring Jake Gylenhall this is one of those mind-f&*# movies - a soldier wakes up in the body of an unknown man, later to realize he is part of a mission to find the bomber of a train - hard to explain - but fun fact, Michael Arden, who stars in the film, was an old friend from Interlochen Arts Camp - I had no idea he was in it till I saw his name in the credits at the beginning!

2. I've begun to get comps for some Broadway shows - and I was lucky enough to get to see The Motherf**ker with the Hat - a wonderful play starring Chris Rock & Bobby Cannavale. Bobby plays a recovering alcoholic, and Chris Rock is his sponsor - In the first scene Bobby's character gets a new job and comes home to celebrate with his girlfriend (who is an addict) - They are about to have sex and while she is in the shower he discovers a man's hat on the table - of course he is immediately suspicious that she is having an affair, and the action ensues - wonderful play and AMAZING acting from Bobby Cannavale & newcomer Elizabeth Rodriguez.

3. New movie Hanna - AWESOME - it features an icy Cate Blanchett and wonderful young actress Saoirse Ronan - who also played Susie Salmon in "Lovely Bones" a few years ago 

Rocco Blog Posts

A friend of my girl Alex Dill has a blog called Rocco's Pop Revolution.

She posted two delightful blogs mentioning me:

1. Rocco will go to see Adam Shenk tonight

2. Adam Shenk is the Swag Master

Check them out - so much fun to read :-)

FIGHT TILL THE END

Had a show tonight at the Bitter End - hopefully got some pics and videos to come -

Been really thinking about who I am as an artist - the kind of music I want to make and what I wanna do with it - a little bit of an identity crisis - but so grateful for some great conversations I've had with my friends -

My friend Demond wrote me on facebook chat:

this is a jumping spot for you

dont fear it

don't live in fear !!!!

everything will be ok

I KNOW THIS!

just keep on pushing throught

you got this!

your songs will get hread!

heard

BELIEVE THAT!

hold fast to that

you are amazing!

you shine brighter then anyone I know

and most importantly is you are loved!

you have great people around you who love and support you!

if you fall...fall into that !

fall into the support that is around

DON"T EVER GIVE UP!

FIGHT TILL THE END!

Trust

Tonight I went once again to see Baby Wants Candy at the Soho Playhouse - musical improv at its best.

Tonight the title was Somali Pirates of Penzance...

Amazing of course.

Then I went to see the movie Trust. It's about a girl that starts an online relationship with a boy she thinks is 16 initially - and then they meet up and he is MUCH older - really interesting, creepy subject matter - the parents are played by Clive Owen and one of my favorite actresses Catherine Keener (who I served when I was bartending at a Tom Stoppard play a few years ago) - and the acting in the movie is really superb.

Insidious

Great writing session today with my new friend Raquel

Worked on a song called "Confidential" - pretty hot shit I think

Has kind of the John Legend / Estelle vibe

Then tonight I played for another musical improv show, this time at the Pit (beautiful improv space)

It was led by the wonderful musical improviser Ashley Ward - you could say I have a healthy obsession with her - she has got it going on - amazing voice, she can really wail - and super funny improviser and person. 

I was hanging out with my girl Melissa Guttman all night - we had also gone to see my friend Rebecca Muir play a set at the National Underground.

And we went to a late showing of Insidious. Quite a scary movie - it was kind of like a thrill ride, cuz I definitely screamed out loud numerous times, along with the rest of the audience. If you like scary movies, definitely check it out!

Tour!!

I absolutely cannot wait to go on tour to Phoenix, San Diego, and LA!! Check out my new tour flyer:

Tonight I played 2 songs at the Songwriters Hall of Fame "Writer's Showcase."

Did some good networking with songwriters - have a writing session tomorrow with a girl named Raquel, who I met through SongHall

Till next time!