In light of the whole Amazon/Macmillan Publishing debacle, I, along with my fellow Phaze authors, am offering selected free book(s) for the remainder of the weekend.
I've decided to give away Three Days in New York City, the first book in my "Sins in the City" collection.
Grab a copy right here. And if you enjoy it, don't forget books two and three in the series, Another Bite of the Apple and Bitten to the Core, respectively.
ETA: From last night's show in Rhode Island and now I see what Eric meant about the stage decor. Very cool.
Good morning!
Well, let me start off by saying: HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY JULIE SLICK!
Sigh...I remember when she was just a young lass of 23.
Wasn't I just 24 yesterday? Arghh...where are the years going? Ah well. I'm one of the lucky ones. Life is good.
And life is especially good for Eric Slick right now, who, if I am to believe the powers of Twitter, had another most excellent show last night.
@CarolineRCook: "Frankie thanks for the great show! Dr. Dog's amazing!" And she posted this pic:
@JawsForJesus: "Dr. Dog! In concert! Fuck yeah!"
@taylordukes: "Dr. Dog is quite fantastic."
@nabokovsnose: "Dr. Dog: Totally fucking excellent. Never put on a bad show, these guys."
In the Buffalo News, an article by brililant music critic Jeff Miers regarding the band's upcoming show Monday, February 1 at Mohawk Place in his fair city: "CLUB CHATTER BY JEFF MIERS NEWS POP MUSIC CRITIC Published: January 29, 2010,
Dog days
Formed as a freaky home-studio project in Philadelphia, Dr. Dog might have remained a local legend — or perhaps just a place for the band’s intellectual but decidedly irreverent members to store all of their wildest fantasies, via digital bits and bytes — minus the intervention of old-fashioned luck.
Dr. Dog started getting very good very quickly after forming in the late 1990s, as members Scott McMicken, Toby Leaman and Zach Miller set about honing the studio craft represented by the indie releases “Psychedelic Swamp,” “Toothbrush,” “Easy Beat,” “We All Belong” and “Fate” through beaucoup touring. Somewhere along the line, some benevolent angel slipped a cassette compilation of Dr. Dog tunes to My Morning Jacket singer/songwriter/ guitarist Jim James, who quickly fell in love with what he heard and signed the band to open its 2005 tour.
Now, Dr. Dog is signed to the coolest of big time independent labels — Anti-, the home of Tom Waits and other folks who are almost as cool. The band has a new drummer, too. Certainly, it won’t hurt these guys to be playing with the skinsman who, for my money, is the finest his particular generation has yet produced — one Eric Slick, known to Buffalo audiences for the blistering performances he’s offered as one third of the stellar Adrian Belew Power Trio.
Slick is still a member of the Belew Power Trio, but he’ll be with Dr. Dog when the band debuts material from its upcoming release “Shame, Shame” in Mohawk Place at 8 p. m. Monday. The Growlers will open the show."
Jeff Miers has the honor of being the writer of my favorite review of the Adrian Belew Power Trio EVER so it's really cool to see him now writing about Dr. Dog...here's a link to that article, which was written in September, 2009 following their performance at the Tralf Music Hall.
Here's some more press out of Buffalo, brought to you by ArtVoice: "Dr. Dog On Monday (Feb. 1), Dr. Dog will bring their sixties-influenced pop-rock to the Mohawk Place. The Philadelphia-based quintet mixes lush vocal harmonies and jangling guitar chords like some bygone AM radio station, spelling out summertime with hopeful songs about the breeze, sunny days, and dreams. The band formed in 2002 with lead vocal duties shared by Toby Leaman and Scott McMicken, who also play bass and lead guitar, respectively. Other band members include Frank McElroy (rhythm guitar), Zach Miller (keyboard), and Eric Slick (drums). Dr. Dog found their first major success with the release of 2007’s We All Belong, which made its way onto Rolling Stone’s Best Album and Best Song lists that year. Their song “My Friend” was featured in the trailer for Judd Apatow’s Funny People, taken from 2008’s Fate, released on Park the Van records. The band has since found a new home at ANTI- records, and 2010 will see the release of the new album Shame, Shame, out April 6. The first single, “Shadow People,” will be released only when the band’s Facebook page reaches 20,000 friends (so go to http://www.facebook.com/Drdog and become a fan.) Monday’s (Feb. 1) show at Mohawk Place will likely be a showcase for the new album’s songs fresh from the studio. Special guests will be Long Beach, CA’s the Growlers, supporting their album Are You In Or Out.
—peter vullo"
So that covers Buffalo...tonight the band is playing in Syracuse, New York at the Wescott Theater and if you want to purchase tickets, here's the link to make it easy for you.
Okay, it's still pretty early and I'm sure more stuff will pop up during the day. As usual, I'll come back to this post with my ETAs ("edited to add" for those of you wondering what the fuck I'm talking about) and keep you all up to date. But for now, more coffee awaits.
ETA #4 added - photo of Eric's drums adorned with flowers....see below
Meh. Not much to talk about.
Oh, I'm kidding. But I've been working on my new book and kind of distracted so forgive me.
Wait. Stop. ETA: Fantastic video of Ms. Julie Slick:
Wow. Okay. I am really smiling now.
ETA #2! Dr. Dog updated their website to include Eric, whose official band name is now "TEACH" which I think is highly appropriate on so many levels it's ridiculous. Here's what they have to say: "Tour Kickoff!
With a horseshoe balcony offering fans the choice to be right above the action or down on the floor in the thick of things, Revolution Hall was an ideal place to start tour. The crowd responded to the new songs with applause and shouts for more new music. The band was on fire from the start, and Teach aced his first official Dr. Dog show on drums.
The kid wails, and it’s going to be a blast watching him grow with the band.
There were many, highlights, but “The Pretender” stands out as being extra special. The crowd was mixed with young fans like Annie, who has been to 3 shows and said,”This was my favorite one!” to older fans like Clayton, who attended his first show (based on a recommendation from his buddy) and left clutching prized copies of Fate and We All Belong on Vinyl and fond memories of his first Dr. Dog show.
Make sure you’re following us on Twitter @drdogmusic for our daily updates!
Love, Forrest January 28th, 2010"
ETA #3: As tweeted by @drdogmusic: "Meet "Teach" who now mans the drum kit. Killed it last night. This kid mastered the catalog in record time."
So yes, as Forrest says, last night Eric began his first tour with Dr. Dog, and as usual, I'll be stalking the internet today for reviews. If I find any, I'll come in and add them to this post. I did find a bunch of people tweeting from the show, which was at Revolution Hall in Troy, New York (where Eric has played with both Project Object and the Adrian Belew Power Trio) so here's that:
@mmmaatt: "Dr. Dog concert last night was tons of fun. Rev Hall is a solid venue." And he posted this twitpic from the show:
@christenerowicz: "Dr. Dog was awesome! Best Wednesday night ever?"
@BTPete: "Seriously good show last night by Dr. Dog. If you can go see them."
@RidingWithJG: "Dr dog was amazing."
@Gruberama: "Dr. Dog is absolutely amazing! Best concert EEEVAR!!! And orange juggling too!"
@Phantogram: "Dr. Dog is so rad live!" And he posted this twitpic:
I did have a chance to chat briefly with Eric this morning and he told me he was having a blast. He said he was psyched by just the energy of the show, the good food, the low stress, and the incredible stage production with flowers and tiger heads everywhere. Of course I had to ask about the tiger heads, and he told me that yeah, every night, their stage is decorated with flowers, mascot heads, crazy plants, flamingos...he said it was pretty astounding. I will have to be on the lookout for a photo...I'm sure one will pop up and I'll insert it here. I think you can sort of get an idea in the first pic I posted above.
ETA #4 - Here you go...wow, I see what Eric means. That is amazing!
Tonight the band is playing at Higher Ground in Burlington, Vermont, and there's a cool newspaper article about that right here. They were originally going to play the smaller room at Higher Ground but they sold it out so awesome news, they've been switched to the big room and there are still some tickets available.
On Saturday, they will be in Syracuse, and here's the press for that.
Before Eric took off, Tuesday evening we went out as a family for an early Julie Slick birthday celebration (the actual event is this Saturday, January 30) and we ate at our absolute favorite vegan restaurant -- maybe even our favorite restaurant, period -- Horizons. We decided to just share everything which was a most excellent call because every dish is better than the next and now that we are all vegetarian, there pretty much isn't anything one of us won't try. Here's what we had:
Pan Seared Peppercorn Tofu creamed leeks, peas, and maitake mushrooms, braised black lentils, smoked tomato jus
Grilled Seitan yukon mash, grilled spinach, horseradish cream and roasted red pepper tapenade
Tame and Wild Mushroom Plate portobello shepherd's pie with deviled oyster mushrooms & truffled celery root 'crust', braised black trumpets, sage & grain mustard emulsion
Hearts of Palm & Curries hearts of palm stuffed crêpe, crushed saffron cauliflower, green chutney raita, spiced yellow split pea mulligatawny
If I had to pick my favorite out of each course, it would be really difficult, but what the hell, I can do it. The smoked eggplant empanada, the hearts of palm and curries crepe, and the chocolate stuffed beignets were pretty much to die for. Yeah, yeah, naturally my favorites were also the most fattening. So what else is new?
Anyway, the bottom line is, if you live in Philadelphia or come for a visit, Horizons restaurant is a must. Oh yeah, they have a great bar, too. Julie and I had the usual insane crazy cocktails made with weird spices that somehow taste fantastic and knock you on your ass, then Julie and Eric switched to a great red wine but I'll have to defer to Julie on that one (hopefully she'll blog it, I mean) because I have no idea what it was...just know they were both glowy happy drinking it. Ha.
In other Julie news, she's busy recording her first solo CD and I've heard a couple of tracks from it -- I have to admit, my jaw dropped. Who knew Julie could write such amazing music? Is there anything she can't do? Also, I know Eric has a brief window in his massive tour in mid-February and a few dates open in March so they are definitely going to try and book a few Paper Cat gigs...beyond that, I'm staying quiet for now because I don't want to jinx things.
Julie and I have decided to go full steam ahead with our cookbook, which is going to have the same name as Julie's blog: Having My Bass and Eating It, Too. We're considering the self-publishing route because we want to get it out quickly and be able to offer it from our respective websites, Amazon, etc. I thought about going the traditional route and sent out some queries but truthfully, I know only too well how the publishing world has changed and maybe in this case, putting the book out ourselves is the way to go. In any event, Julie has an awesome array of recipes she's concocted from restaurants and cultures in cities all over the world and we both have some serious food porn and personal photos...anyway, it's going to be a total rock and roll cookbook heavy on the vegetarian and full of anecdotes from the road..between the two of us, we have many, many stories. So we're thinking we'll do a print and digital version, and in a perfect world, we should have it ready within the next few months.
By the way, be on the lookout for the launch of Julie's fabulous new website. We'll both be pasting billboards all over the internet when it's live.
Speaking of writing, as I've announced a few thousand times, the third book in my "Sins in the City"series, which is called Bitten to the Core is available for sale by clicking the link on the book or over at Amazon, Smashwords, Fictionwise, AllRomance, and more. Night Owl Romance just gave it a stellar review which you can read by clicking on that link - there's an excerpt, too -- but I love how they wrap it up: "I recommend this easy and delightful read if you like your erotica with a funny leading lady and an absolutely charmingly sexy love interest."
Ah, that was nice. I could use a couple more reviews like that if anyone is so inclined. (insert smiley face emoticon here).
So that is it for now. I'll keep checking for Dr. Dog updates and if I find them, I'll be back.
So as you should all know by now, yes, Eric Slick is the new drummer for Dr. Dog and it's damn exciting. Last Monday they had a photo shoot for their upcoming tour, and this is the first one published.
Here's a review of Ninja gig at Johnny Brenda's last Thursday...some additional photos and nice comments posted there, too.
And oh man, here's the "partial" tour schedule...more dates on the horizon, one of which is incredibly exciting.
Wed 01/27/10 Troy, NY Revolution Hall Thu 01/28/10 South Burlington, VT Higher Ground Fri 01/29/10 Providence, RI Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Sat 01/30/10 Syracuse, NY The Westcott Theater Mon 02/01/10 Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place Wed 02/03/10 Pontiac, MI Pike Room Thu 02/04/10 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom Fri 02/05/10 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon Sat 02/06/10 Iowa City, IA The Mill Mon 02/08/10 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room Tue 02/09/10 Rock Island, IL Rock Island Brewing Company Wed 02/10/10 Cleveland, OH The Spot @ Case Western University Thu 02/11/10 Bloomington, IN Video Saloon Fri 02/12/10 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall Sat 02/13/10 State College, PA State Theatre Fri 03/05/10 Los Angeles, CA Museum Of Natural History Fri 03/12/10-3/12/10 (exact date TBA) St. Augustine, FL County Fairgrounds Wed 04/14/10 Toronto, ON Lee's Palace Thu 04/15/10 Ann Arbor, MI Blind Pig Fri 04/16/10 Chicago, IL Metro / Smart Bar Sat 04/17/10 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Cafe Mon 04/19/10 Aspen, CO Belly Up Aspen Tue 04/20/10 Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre Thu 04/22/10 Boise, ID Neurolux Fri 04/23/10 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom Sat 04/24/10 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall Sun 04/25/10 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall Tue 04/27/10 Los Angeles, CA Music Box @ Fonda Thu 04/29/10 Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe Brewing Company Fri 04/30/10 Dallas, TX The Loft Sat 05/01/10 Austin, TX Emo's Sun 05/02/10 Houston, TX Warehouse Live Mon 05/03/10 Fayetteville, AR George's Majestic Lounge Wed 05/05/10 Birmingham, AL WorkPlay Theatre Thu 05/06/10 Nashville, TN Cannery Ballroom Fri 05/07/10 Louisville, KY Headliners Music Hall Tue 05/11/10 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club on sale 1/22 Wed 05/12/10 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club on sale 1/22 Thu 05/13/10 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory on sale 1/22 Fri 05/14/10 Washington, DC 9:30 Club Sat 05/15/10 New York, NY Terminal 5 Sun 05/23/10 Berlin, Germany Magnet Club Mon 05/24/10 Cologne, Germany Blue Shell Tue 05/25/10 Amsterdam, Netherlands Paradiso Wed 05/26/10 London, United Kingdom The Tabernacle Thu 05/27/10 Paris, France Nouveau Casino
Appearing at "San Miguel Primavera Sound" Sat 05/29/10 Barcelona, Spain Parc del Forum
Meanwhile, how cool is it that Eric gets to play the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, where his Dad saw his first concerts at age 15. We saw Jeff Beck there last May and I started having the fantasy back then though little did I know it would be Eric with a new band.
By the way, before he takes off on this gargantuan tour, Eric has two gigs this week which will be awesome. Tomorrow night, he is on the drums with Ape School and here are the details as published by the City Paper: "Ape School is futuristic, but not in an entirely nerdy way, even though there are some moments in their oeuvre that can only be described as “beam me up” music. With Savior Adore, Circadian Rhythms, and New Motels, $8, 7:30 p.m., Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919."
On Friday night, Eric is playing with Lithuania at The Ox which I personally would love to see since Eric and Dom Angelella share vocals but um, I'd kinda feel like 90 years older than everyone there so I will have to take a pass. Bleh.
And then next week, the Dr. Dog tour begins.
Oh, another thing I wanted to mention is that the Dr. Dog show in New York City on May 15 at Terminal 5 is on Eric's 23rd birthday. We're going to have to come up with something major for that. All ideas welcome!
Finally, please friend the band on Facebook. You'll understand why when you visit their page.
In Julie world, she had a blast at NAMM. Here's a couple of photos - one which bass player extraordinaire Tony Levin posted on his website...
So yeah, Julie schmoozed with rock royalty at NAMM and she's going to fill me in (finally) when she swings by here today or tomorrow, but the harsh reality is this: The music business is such that unless Julie is out there actively touring, she isn't earning a living. So in case anyone reading this is looking for a kick ass bassist willing to travel the world, Julie is your woman. Here's a link to her EPK: Click!
This wraps up part I...part II to follow. Hey, I do have a writing career of my own!
The first ever group of School of Rock All-Stars perform their final concert of the 2004 west coast tour in Las Vegas - it was Julie's swan song - she was 18; Eric was 17 with one more year to go -- and you will see Eric with very long hair on the congas first song in. And Julie and Eric wrap up the finale with the Beatles.
The kids playing King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man are 15 years old. That's Julie's boyfriend, Matt, on bass. He's also on bass on Black Magic Woman and Theme from Italian Restaurant.
Eric is on drums on the Devo song in case you can't see that.
I'm totally freaked out because I did not know this video existed. By the way, this Vegas show is chronicled in vast detail in my latest book, Daddy Left Me Alone with God.
Well, I'm still under a gag order, which really sucks because I have so many great stories I'm about to burst but I think by Friday morning I'll be able to spill all.
By the way, you have no idea how disturbing Google images can be when you try and find an illustration/photo of "gag order". Trust me on this. Don't do it.
Here's what I can say: Yeah, Eric is now the drummer for an already established band and yesterday he had a photo shoot because they are about to go out on a brief two week tour and release a new CD which will then be followed by a mammoth tour. Bah! I hate not being able to say more. But I admit I like being able to say "My son had a photo shoot yesterday" though Eric will probably want to kill me when he reads this. Sorry, Er!
One thing Eric did not tell me so it's a good thing I stalk him online; he met with Markus Reuter and Tim Motzer at some point yesterday regarding yet another project. Here's what Tim tweeted: "wonderful day_Eric & I picked up Renee and Markus at Philly international...listened to Goldbug album and on to dialogue re: Art life. Tired" and here's what Markus tweeted: "Got to Philly OK. Hugged Tim and then listened to great Goldbug album mixes with Eric, Tim and Renée. Then blue chips and hanging.. Now bed."
Okay, so what I'm getting from this is that somehow Eric found the time for yet another project in between the photo shoot and "secret" band rehearsal yesterday...and apparently the band is named Goldbug. I just found some info on Tim's MySpace site: "Goldbug-Journey to Eskeopia (1k016) a new project featuring Eric Slick (drums, percussion, instruments), Barry Meehan (bass, instruments), Theo Travis (tenor saxophone, alto flutes, loops), and Tim Motzer (baritone guitars, piano, laptop and other instruments). a journey in groove exploration, textures, and orchestration cut up, mis-aligned, and re-imagined for the wandering ear. coming early 2010."
(I guess that was written before Markus came into the picture but holy cow, what a line-up!)
Yet another thing to look forward to in 2010. Life is good.
Also, Eric is pretty excited about another project he is in with guitarist Dom Angelella (you gotta click on that link!) called Lithuania and here's a link to listen to their music...Eric does vocal harmonies with Dom and both Dom and Eric write all the music. Hey, this is some great stuff! Listening to it now...
So if basically having to wear the gag regarding Eric isn't bad enough, I really wish I could tell you about an interesting experience Julie just had but that one has got to remain in the vault -- like probably forever. Let's just say it involved someone who has won a Grammy or nine and who knows, the future may hold something interesting. Lucky Julie gets to fly to California tomorrow where it is 77 degrees to hang out at the NAMM Show for five days so expect an obnoxious but fun name dropping post from me on Monday morning.
Regarding both Julie and Eric as well as guitarist Robbie "Seahag" Mangano, the Paper Cat fan base continues to grow. Here's an awesome review of their latest CD by Mike Inman and thanks so much to Tony Thompson at Digicast International for spreading the word as well. You can friend Paper Cat, Mike Inman, Tony Thompson, and Digicast on Facebook and as well you should! I am not sure if Facebook links work if you aren't a friend of that person already, but you can go to my Facebook page and friend them that way. Cool? Cool!
Whoa. I just had a look of some of Paper Cat's friends on Facebook. Impressive! The latest to join is Chuck Negron, and thanks to Mike Inman for turning him on to their music! I really can't say enough about Mike. He's been such a supportive fan of Julie and Eric's career and he takes the most amazing photos. Here's a link to some incredible shots he took of Julie, Eric, and Adrian when they gigged in Asheville this summer.
As for me, I will probably do a separate post about what's going on with my writing, etc. I think wearing the gag order is a good thing for some "to be revealed" reasons but I hope to have some exciting news soon.
I know I said 2010 would be an interesting year but it's already ridiculously cool and I'm pretty excited but I've been told I'm not allowed to say anything about anything yet other than report the news which is reportable. Bah! Thwarted again, but I suggest you tune in a few times daily because once the ban is lifted, all bets are off!
Anyway, what I can tell you is this: If you are anywhere at all near Princeton, New Jersey tonight at 9:00 p.m., you have to make this gig at the BT Bistro -- Chris Harford and The Band of Changes -- which is a loose jam every Tuesday night featuring Chris and bassist Dave Dreiwitz and this week Eric Slick will be the special guest on drums.
To further whet your appetite for this show, and I use that term in more ways than one because the menu at this venue looks fucking incredible, here are two outstanding You Tubes from a lunchtime concert at WXPN Radio...well, the show itself was brought to you by XPN/NPR (and that's a link to the entire one hour podcast) but was actually downstairs at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia on 12.8.2006 and features Chris Harford, Gene Ween, Dean Ween, Dave Dreiwitz, Scott Metzger, and Eric Slick. Wow. I just realized this show was three years ago already, before Eric had all that time with Adrian under his belt. So you can imagine how he'll kill it tonight. But these You Tubes slay me...Chris is an unbelievable songwriter and to me, these are two of his best. "Teach Me" was either in a movie or television soundtrack...I'm pretty sure Google will tell you if you are so inclined to find out.
Speaking of Eric, another vintage You Tube surfaced yesterday - this one a really short, fun drum solo he did while on tour with Project Object in November of 2007 and yes, that's Zappa alumni great Napoleon Murphy Brock on stage. I adore this - Eric is so loose and obviously having a blast. I hope everyone is going out to see Project Object on their current tour with drummer Jim Ruffi ably filling Eric's shoes...there's been some really great press about this current run which you can read about on P/O's website.
And of course it's a pretty exciting day for me, too, because, as I've been posting billboards all over the internet, the new Smith Magazine six word memoir book published by HarperCollins, which features six words of not exactly wisdom by yours truly, is now available at a bookstore near you or via Amazon and naturally I'll give you the link and post the cover one more time because it's just so damn pretty. But first, here's the international debut of the book's trailer!
How cool is that?! Does anyone know who is responsible for the soundtrack? I love it!
"It All Changed in an Instant More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure By Larry Smith, Rachel Fershleiser
Price: $12.00 On Sale: 1/5/2010 PRE-ORDER HERE! “A perfect distraction and inspiration, and a collection that begs to be shared. Be warned, though. If you plan to lend out your copy, start out with two. Once it leaves your hands you’ll never see it again.” —Denver Post (on Not Quite What I Was Planning)
The editors of the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning are back with its much-anticipated sequel, It All Changed in an Instant. With contributions from acclaimed authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Frank McCourt, Wally Lamb, Isabel Allende, Junot Diaz, Amy Tan, and James Frey, and celebrities like Sarah Silverman, Suze Orman, Marlee Matlin, Neil Patrick Harris, Ann Coulter, and Chelsea Handler,(and Robin Slick!) It All Changed in an Instant presents a thousand more glimpses of humanity. . . six words at a time. In the vein of the popular Post Secret books, It All Changed in an Instant, in the words of Vanity Fair, “will thrill minimalists and inspire maximalists."
There. Now go and buy this book. You know you want to.
In Julie Slick world, well, she has a new blog post up with some awesome photos and next week she heads to NAMM out in Anaheim, California as an endorser of GK Amps...I offered to erm, make the sacrifice and go with her but she took a pass. Drat! All of her pals will be out there, though - Tony Levin, Bryan Beller, Marco Minnemann....and I think even Adrian will be there on behalf of Parker Guitars but I'm not sure.
By the way, Julie's interview with No Treble Magazine was voted #1 interview of 2009!.
Okay, I better get out of here before I blab something I'm not supposed to...and there's this book I'm busy writing...so...
