There’s an old saw that goes something like this: once you find a happy relationship, you can’t write good songs because you’re not miserable. And it’s certainly true that my songwriting output has dropped rather precipitously of late. But I can’t attribute that to my delightful spouse, She Who Must Be Taunted, because I’ve written lots of my best songs since I’ve met her – in fact, virtually everything I perform regularly was composed after we got married. So let’s put the last nail in the coffin of this particular old saw. And yet, there’s an element of truth here – it’s just not the element of truth you might think. Read more »

I seem not to be writing these newsletters very often nowadays, mostly because I’ve been conveniently ignoring the gig-booking portion of our program in favor of the suffering-through-the-recording-process portion of our program. Read more »

For those of you who missed our last episode, I’ve been obsessed, for many years now, by the concept of a Gurian cutaway. Although one of my musician friends condemns them because “they’re not shaped like women”, for me, a cutaway guitar, with the bite taken out of the body right below the neck, has always said “rock’n’roll” – play a cutaway, and you’re already cooler than the guy next to you. And the combination of the craftmanship of Michael Gurian, luthier extraordinaire, with rock’n’roll godhood, well – let’s just say the prospect left me inappropriately giddy. And Tall Toad Music, in Petaluma, CA, had one in stock. And I – my, how the coincidences seem to pile up – was on my way to the Bay Area. Read more »

Just in case you were wondering what I do in my spare time… Read more »

A couple weeks ago, I went to see my pals John McAuliffe and Susan Levine (among other notables) at Giuseppe’s in Gloucester. I hadn’t seen Susan in quite a while, and we had a lovely chat, and afterwards, she “liked” me on Facebook, with the accompanying message, “I didn’t know you were on Facebook”. Read more »

A couple days ago I was at the Lizard Lounge open mike, which I’ve raved about on numerous occasions in this here newsletter – just packed with talent, and your gracious host Tom Bianchi is just the bee’s knees, host-wise. Read more »

Many years ago, a splash was made by a small, round troll of a comedian named Sam Kinison. I don’t know whether I ever saw him do a full stand-up routine, but his signature bit was part of the ambient environment at the time, an era which featured, among other things, the latest incarnation of the Ethiopian famine. “You live in a desert!” he bellowed (because bellowing was, apparently, his schtick). “Go where the food is!” Read more »

My pal Rob Siegel wrote a book – a great, great book called “Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic”. You’ll notice that it has nothing to do with music (well, it has a little to do with music, but not much, really) – it turns out that in addition to being a marvelous songwriter, Rob is a car guy, and he’s been writing a column about cars for 25 years. I can’t recommend the book highly enough – it’s charming, deeply engaging, funny, beautifully written. And (I hope you can tell, because of these monthly missives) my standards are pretty damn high. Read more »

A while back, my pal Jon McAuliffe recommended me to the “Local Music Rocks” show on Westford Cable Access Television, hosted by Ike Keltz. For quite a while now, Ike’s been hosting local singer/songwriters in a half-hour format with music and interviews, and I was grateful to have the opportunity to do his show. Read more »

1986. I’m on a plane to Seattle, and the Seattle airport is fogged in, and we’re diverted to Portland. I’ve been minding my own business for the last six hours, but for some reason, at this point, as the plane lands in Portland, I strike up a conversation with the woman across the aisle from me. It turns out that the way they’re going to get us up to Seattle is by bus – yellow school bus, specifically, you know, the ones with enough leg room for 10-year-olds. Read more »