Wedding #2 - I Make A Toast!

Well, my second weekend out of town in a row turned out to be a good one. My oldest friend (not in age, but the amount of time that I've known him) got married at the Seaview Resort in Galloway, NJ. Fun times.

Friday night after the rehearsal and dinner we hit the Borgata in Atlantic City for some blackjack, but of course I didn't win. At one point I was up maybe $40, but I put it all back in. I played for about 4 hours or so. But two of my friends - one in particular - had a very good night. And he got wasted on the free drinks they feed you while you're gambling. He couldn't stop counting his winnings in front of us. He then slept on the floor and felt terrible all day on Saturday.

On Saturday, we got together around noon to start taking pictures and doing things. Between noon and 1:30PM when we left for the church I had 3 beers and a shot of tequila. We then stopped for pizza on the way to the church, and the guys working the joint didn't even mention the fact that we were all in tuxes. Though honestly, that's how we dress every day. The wedding itself went well and we stuck around to take pictures, then hopped in the limo for a trip to the Atlantic City beach for some more. We must have looked odd - a big group of people in tuxes, formal dresses, and flip flops. But that's just how we roll.

The reception was a freakin' blast. Our friends The Big Shoe played the party, and everyone had a great time. The crowd was ready to go from the moment they started playing and the energy in the room was fantastic. And I gave a toast (I think I lived up to my wedding toast reputation). I did a cool Mad Libs thing, and I will try to get the video to post soon. People who liked my speech included the people at my table, the bar staff, the father of the bride, and a guy in the bathroom who said to me, "You know I've given best man speeches before, but I never talked like that." At least, I think that's what he said. Which brings me to my next point: after a Jack on the rocks and a Sam Adams, I was drinking wine all night. Need I say more? I also sang "Sweet Caroline," complete with wireless mic. Have I mentioned that I badly want a wireless mic? Recently?

Sunday after checkout we hit the boardwalk for some lunch and light gambling, then headed home. And by the way, thanks to New Jersey I now know what a "Silver Alert" is - but did I really need to know?


Work it, work it...


Reading the Mad Lib that I put together with the help of the wedding guests


Three of the groomsmen - me, Seth Rivers, and Steve Peluse

Wedding #1 - 882 Miles

Here are some highlights from this past weekend's trip to my old stompin' grounds, Western New York:

-Having my first trash plate in probably 4 years, which I admittedly forgot how to order. I got it from Charlie's in Webster, and believe me when I tell you it was dynamite. My friend Tim thinks I set some sort of speed record. Maybe it was a personal best.

-Saw my grandparents. It's rare these days that I'm in the area, so I made a special trip to see them.

-Crashing the rehearsal dinner at Shadow Lake. OK, so I didn't really crash it, but suffice to say that I was not in the wedding party, and "crashing" sounds more badass.

-Two of my closest friends from college - Dayle & Scott - got married! I got to see all my closest friends from my Geneseo days and a handful of people that I haven't seen in years.

-The food at the reception was out of this world. It was on-site barbeque catered by Smokin' Hot Chicks. I really can't say enough about it. The bride and groom really did their homework on that one and it was amazing.

-And of course, I went to Wegmans. It is by far my favorite supermarket and I miss it dearly. Anyone who is familiar with it knows what I mean. Over the course of three days I made two trips, and got a three-berry muffin and "Danny's Favorite" wrap. It's like I never left.

Here is some video that I took at the wedding reception:



This upcoming weekend I'm in Atlantic City for the wedding of my oldest friend. And I'm in this one. Giving a toast. Look out.

2011 SongHall Induction

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to attend the 42nd Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Gala, thanks to my friends Jason Kingston and Peter Bliss. Here's a rundown of the night - a bit more in-depth than my twitter posts:

The event was held at the Marriot Marquis Broadway Ballroom in Times Square, and my ticket was for the balcony. I arrived around 7:30 after grabbing a hot dog and failing to find a street vendor with any knish. Sad day. I met fellow infamous "B Group" member Melvin Vasquez there, and we went in to find seats. Sadly, the way the seats were set up if you didn't get one of the first 3 in any row then you couldn't really see. But I was not to be detered. Luckily, I was able to finagle a seat that allowed me to see most of the stage, and practically all of it if I stood up (there was no one behind me). Then after some investigation I was able to procure a program for the event. Rock on. I snuck from my flask and prepared for the show.

After a brief welcoming introduction by SongHall Chairman Jimmy Webb, Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly opened the show with a performance of their song, "Like A Virgin" (gee, who sings that?). They were then inducted by Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde, who gave the crowd a fantastic version of "I'll Stand By You." This was the first of numerous times when I got chills. There are some serious people in this room.

Dwight Yoakam then came out and performed "Superstar," which was co-written by Leon Russell. Leon emerged with a white maine, sat down at the piano, and performed a beautiful rendition of "A Song For You." Afterwards he dedicated his award to his friends in the crowd who work to help him with his hearing problems, but who also work so hard to help hearing-imparred children receive the gift of sound.

Boz Scaggs inducted Allen Toussaint, and since I'm not really familiar with either of their work I'm not sure what song he performed first. However, the two of them did join together on a duet of "What Do You Want The Girl To Do." You know a song is great when you've never heard before it but can remember it the next day. I have some homework to do on them.

Dominic Chianese (Uncle Junior from "The Sopranos") gave the Towering Song Award to "It Was A Very Good Year," an his performance of the song was impressive. Jimmy Jam presented the Hal David Starlight Award to Aubrey Graham from "Degrassi: The Next Generation"...I mean, Drake. He performed a song that I didn't know, and to be honest it's not really my thing, so let's move on.

Skylar Grey did a great medley rendition of "Crazy For You" and "Human Nature" to begin John Bettis' induction. I guarantee that he's written so many songs that you know. He was officially inducted by Paul Williams, then performed "Top of the World."

Trisha Yearwood performed a medley of Hal David songs including "Do You Know the Way To San Jose," "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," "What the World Needs Now," and more as he was given the first Visionary Leadership Award. Sam Moore & Bill Medley then gave the Johnny Mercer Award - the SongHall's highest honor - to Billy Mann & Cynthia Weil, and performed a fantastic duet of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling." And let me tell you, when the band slammed into the chorus after the breakdown the place was absolutely electric. More chills. Sam and Bill were actually really funny with their back and forth bickering. They should take their act on the road. Valerie Simpson then presented the Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award to Chaka Khan, who performed a rousing version of "I'm Every Woman."

The night's last inductee was Garth Brooks, inducted by Billy Joel. Garth was incredibly humble at the award, especially since he confessed that he's never considered himself a songwriter. He gave a fantastic performance of "The Thunder Rolls," then invited BIlly back on stage for a show-closing performance of the Billy song that Garth took to the top of the country charts - "Shameless."

The show was about 2 and a half hours long, and afterward I ended up in the elevator with Valerie Simpson. Cool. Watch a short video about the induction here.

I never did find my knish.


The Red Carpet (It's the only picture I got. Sorry.)

2011 SongHall Abe Olman Showcase

It's one of the worst parts of the music industry. If you play events or showcases you undoubtably suffer from hurry up and wait. You also suffer from it trying to get good concert tickets or when flying, but that's not what I was doing last night.

I showed up to the theatre just after 2PM and was able to soundcheck with Jason Kingston very shortly after that (we only had two run-throughs of the song, by the way). Then we had time to kill since the event didn't start until 6PM. So, we walked around Washington Square Park and got some food, then went back and were asked to prepare programs! Haha. But it was cool - after all it was a SongHall event and we were the SongHall representatives in the showcase, so I was more than happy to pitch in to help make the event as smooth as possible.

Jimmy Webb arrived around 5:45 and immediately went backstage. His master session interview began around 6:10, conducted by Phil Galdston, and it was good. He gave some great insights into some of his songs such as "By the Time I Get To Phoenix," "Up, Up, and Away," and "Adios," as well as the music industry and life as a songwriter. He ended the interview with a performance of his song "Where Words End," which is on an album released last year.

During the intermission we hurried backstage and then...waited. Again. Each award recipient was introduced and given their award. In my opinion, some of the intros dragged on a bit but for the most part it was good. Then we finally got to play, and we were the first performers. Now, if you ask Jason he will probably talk up my piano playing, but the truth is he's the one that really killed it last night. He's got a great powerful voice that can just knock you on your ass...and it did. I think we did our job of setting the bar very high for the other performers, and I'm hoping to have video to post soon. Some of the other performers that I liked from last night were Rachel Brown, Markeisha Ensley, and David Marenberg.

Afterwards a few of us went out and ate some average college food. Nothing fancy. But how's this for funny: my parents came to the showcase and a guy approached my mom and asked if she wrote The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I think she should've said yes.

Below are a few pictures from the evening:


The award winners posing for pictures with their awards.


Jason Kingston introducing his song, "Lucky," while I futz with the damn piano bench. (Yes, I know the picture is terrible quality. Suck it up.)


A mini-reunion of the infamous SongHall Workshop "B Group." Me, Jason Kingston, SongHall Activities Coordinator Peter Bliss, Melvin Vasquez, and Loriel Leander.

Prepping For The Tony Awards

Sometimes being a musician and knowing people can lead to some cool opportunities. The drummer who played on my first CD is a guy named Chris Snykus. I've known Chris for over four years now; he's currently the drummer for Perfect Thyroid and The Big Shoe, and he's the shop manager at Firehouse Productions in Red Hook.

Firehouse Productions is a live sound company that handles sound for major tours and events such as Neil Diamond, Peter Gabriel, VH1 Storytellers, and the MTV Video Music Awards. This Sunday they are handling the sound for the 2011 Tony Awards at the Beacon Theatre in New York, and in an effort to test out some new equipment before it was all loaded in this week, I was asking to come be part of a small jam session last wednesday night. Very cool.

The equipment was actually a tractor trailer that is already completely wired to run sound for a live show simply by running little more than a few cables to the stage. It's compact, it's organized, it's easy to set up, it looks cools, and we got to be the guinea pigs. We set up on the complete other end of the building - Chris on drums, Eli on bass, Brett on guitar, and me on keyboards. We were miked, given in-ear and floor monitors, and basically told to have at it while they worked out any and all kinks that appeared in the system. We started out with some jamming and soon dug into legendary versions of "Too Hot" by Kool & the Gang, as well as "Careless Whisper" by Wham! And they gave us pizza and beer ("Steeeella!"). Needless to say my first trip to Firehouse Productions gets two thumbs up.

I wonder if they would let me move in.

So, what do you think? Too many links? I went a little happy here.

The Same Two Cops

Saturday night I went out to New Paltz to have food and drinks with some friends. I got there around 9PM, we hit up McGillicuddy's (great waffle fries) and P&Gs (where at one point we were pretty much the only people in the place), and I left around 2:30. And that's when the night got interesting.

In an attempt to bypass any law enforcement encounters, I decided to stay off 299 for as long as I could and opted for a side road. But I soon had headlights behind me, and I knew it was a cop. Sure enough, the lights go on. State trooper. I pull over, turn off my radio, roll down my window, and wait. The following is the encounter as best I can remember it.

The cop first asked for my registration, which I fished out of the glove box of him. He told me that he had pulled me over because my license came up as suspended. I assured him that I had no reason to think that was true. He asked for my license and double-checked with me that the information on my license and the registration were correct. He gave my registration to the second cop who was with him, then abruptly asked me, "Where do you stop at a stop sign?" I was somewhat befuddled by this question and thought it was some kind of trick. I slowly answered, "At the stop sign." "Not in the middle of the intersection?" he asked. "No," I said. He then asked if I was in a hurry to get home. I told him that I had to work tomorrow, but other than that not really. Then it really got good.

The second cop came up the other side of my car and the cop I was talking to asked me to unlock my passenger door. I did, and the second cop opened the door and reached down by my backpack. I thought he was going for my spray-on sunblock when he brings his hand up, looks at his fingers, then shuts the door. Then the first cop says to the second cop, "Is that cocaine?" WHAT?! I get asked directly, "Is there cocaine in your car?" "Absolutely not," I respond.

"Be honest," he said, "how hammered are you right now?"
"I'm not hammered at all. I had a couple beers with dinner around 9PM, but that's it." (Close enough for jazz.)
"On a scale of zero to 10?"
"I'm a zero."
"When was your last drink?"
"Probably around 10PM."
"Four hours ago?"
"Yes."
"Alright, please follow my finger with just your eyes." So I did.

At this point the second cop comes back with my registration and saying something about letters being mixed up. The first cop gives me a funny look, hands me my registration and says, "Clerical error. Have a good night." The cops do a u-turn and head back the other way, while I continue going straight.

Nine miles later, I went through the toll plaza for the Mid-Hudson Bridge at the same time as another car - I immediately went into the left lane while the other person stayed in the right. All of a sudden I had two bright headlights behind me, and then the flashers went on. I was getting pulled over AGAIN! And not only was I getting pulled over, but so was the other car. I was trying to think of why we could both be getting stopped, and could only come up with both of us driving a little too much over the 25mph speed limit. I pull over, turn my radio off, roll my window down, and wait.

The cop comes up and says, "License and registration, please."
"Sure - it's in my pocket."

I hand him my license and he says, "Have I seen you already tonight?"
"Well, I've gotten pulled over already tonight, but I don't know if it was you."
"Are you the typo guy?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Have a good night, boss."

SERIOUSLY? I got pulled over twice in one night. By the same cops. Nine miles apart. And do I have cocaine in my car? What the hell is that all about?

The Lobster

It seems I have to learn the same lesson every year.

Saturday was a beautiful day and I decided to spend most of it outside. First, after a Friday night that saw me crashing a Vassar party (say whaaat?) and going to sleep at 4AM, I chose to get up at 8:30AM and go to Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery to help place flags in preparation for Memorial Day. After 2 1/2 hours of walking around, examining grave stones to determine if they should get a flag, I ran home, took a shower, and then went to a picnic at Waryas Park. Burgers, hot dogs, salads, chips, dips, watermelon, jello shots (which melted from the heat), very little shade, and the Hudson River. For about 3 1/2 hours.

Later that night as I was getting ready to go see The BIG Shoe in New Paltz, I noticed something. I was a little red. A little redder than I anticipated. I'm reminded of this movie scene. And I should've known better, but it always seems to happen once a year. The sun does not like me, and on Saturday it attacked me from both the sky and the surface of the river.

I think the lesson has been learned for 2011.