So, Kin to Stars. Straight up, I was nervous as hell. Nearly - but not quite - puke nervous. I thought I was just dehydrated and had been drinking what seemed like gallons of water beforehand, trying to shake it off. It wasn't until I sat down in front of the full-house crowd and started tuning up one last time that I realized it wasn't dehydration but sheer, mute terror. My god! The lights! The people! The tuning! Thank god Jerin took the lead, introducing us to the crowd and making happy intro chatter, before some piteous mewling escaped my lips.
I didn't start to loosen up until the fourth song or so. I assume we did well up to that point since I do recall hearing excited applause through a bright, gauzy haze of panic. Then I finally got a grip and started enjoying the ride.
We played eleven songs, eight originals, two reworked solo tunes (one mine, one hers) and one cover song. The crowd was with us, and Jerin and I have done enough shows together pre-KtS that between-song banter comes pretty easy. The show was recorded, so with any luck we'll make some live tracks available soon.
Starting what we hope will be a tradition, we put out comment cards for people to fill out, and encouraged them to doodle during the show. We just posted a gallery of some of them on our Facebook page. All of them are awesome! Some are both awesome and worrisome! Dragons, archers and locomotives? Was the spirit of Ronnie James Dio in attendance? I'd like to think so.
In any case, not bad for a first run, test-your-sea-legs show. We have a better idea now of what worked, what could be improved, and where to go with it next. So, many thanks to everyone, for your listenage and feedbackery. I think it's safe to say there'll be a Show #2.
As for rhinos and hippos -- you kind of had to be there.
Walking around at lunch last week I found this ghost bike memorial for Mike Wang, who was struck and killed by an SUV while biking home from work. Police are still looking for the driver, who fled the scene.
The influx of new businesses and upscale restaurants, shopping and residences in the revitalized SLU area of Seattle have immensely increased the danger to the (likewise) growing number of cyclists and pedestrians. At rush hour, hundreds of impatient drivers pack the streets near Mercer and the I-5 ramps, jockeying for position in brief fits of road rage.
Seattle has a reputation as a bike-friendly town, but suffice to say, I am less and less interested in biking around my city these days.
Via Mike Barbre, a nice snap of us (Explone) playing at the benefit for Tracy Dart at The Bridge, which despite its dive-y exterior had a really classy menu (bacon-wrapped dates, you guys!) and awesome selection of IPAs on tap. There were like a gazillion people in attendance so I hope they raised a ton of cash for Tracy. She is well-loved.
I -- probably should have buttoned that top shirt button...
I meant to write a recap of the Kin to Stars debut show here today, but I'm dead knackered after a (literally) hot weekend of folk and/or rock, and it's back to normal life on Monday. So, more to come on that.
Felicia Day: Mogul In The Making. Forbes feature on how the creator of The Guild built her mini-empire on the web after most studios turned down her script.
This Saturday 8/6 is the live debut of Kin to Stars, my urban-folk-pop duo project with Jerin Falkner. All the details are here if you're still thinking of coming, which you totally should.
Then on Sunday 8/7, Explone will be performing at the "We Heart Tracy Dart" benefit, to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer activist and survivor Tracy Dart, who is fighting the disease for a third time. Also on the bill is In Cahoots and Pete Seäzle of West Seattle Funblog will be MC'ing. Also: door prizes! If you're local, we hope you'll check it out.
My new city-folk project with Jerin Falkner Kin to Stars just released its debut single "Hello Ohio", a quiet roadtrip down a darkened midwest highway:
Our debut show is this Saturday 8/6, and hopefully we'll get a decent enough recording to allow us to post some live tracks. Until then, we hope you enjoy the single -- maybe enough to, ahem, share, or perhaps like and or even tweet, although I fear it may be terribly out of fashion these days to ask for such things directly, which I totally didn't do just there.
My band Explone just released three extra tracks from the Dreamers/Lovers sessions. You can grab them for free right now at the Explone website, for a limited time, after which they'll be available at the standard digital goods outlets.
It's hard to pick a favorite, but our cover of The Devil Whale's "You Were Good" is the clear frontrunner. My ego, on the other hand, insists that "Hard To Keep A Secret" deserves merit for the meaty, all-weather-traction bass riffage.
