Saturday!

This Saturday I’ll be traveling to my beautiful hometown, Portland Or-re-gon to play a show with my absolute favorite punk rock band, Secnd Best. I’m excited about this and you should be too…

Sunday Matinee…

Heads up everyone, I’ll be playing a matinee show at The Skylark Cafe on Sunday April 29th at 3 in the afternoon. The show will be all ages but, never fear my alcoholic friends, there WILL be a full bar if you bring your trusty ID. Looks like the cover is $5, I promise I’ll make it worth your while….I may even end up recording this show for a future release. Get your witty remarks ready for in-between song heckling, I’ll keep ‘em in the recording if they’re funny..only if they’re actually funny. 

 

Sunday Afternoon With My Best Pal…

Thought you may want to watch my cat, Elliott, drink beers with me…

You know, because, funny pet videos rule.

If you’re looking to buy beer for my cat, he prefers microbrews (the hoppier the better)

Natural Disaster

Today, I thought I would share another video from my performance at B Side Records back in January. Of the songs I’ve written, this is one of my favorites. Natural Disaster is a song about perseverance. It’s about being alright with who you are right now. We all hide from our past, because of this we forget that the past is what brings us to this moment. I hope you have a moment to take a listen to this song and I hope you enjoy its message.

XO

He Is Very Happy…

Yesterday, I got some work done at Albatross Tattoo in Portland and I’m beyond thrilled with the results. Trevor Ward does amazing work and you should definitely check him out if you’re looking for some ink…

I think its an amazing honor to be able to mark milestones in your life with great art. This one is of Ferdinand the Bull and I feel it’s finally complete. Trevor and I started it two years ago on my 29th birthday, It’s a constant reminder for me to seek peace in my life every day and to appreciate the blessings that I’ve been given. I have a children’s book here at home that tells the story of Ferdinand and  the last line of it reads “he is very happy”. Today, that’s how I feel…my hope is to remind myself of this every day I see this piece in the mirror.

There’s no reason to fight with the other bulls when you can stop and appreciate the simple things in life…like the scent of a rose.

 

Hello, are you out there?

Last night I played a set at Steve’s Bar and Grill in Bellevue, which is situated nicely in a strip mall off of Bel/Red Road, a road that shoots you deep into the suburbs. Naturally, I was concerned that this location would not be great for my ‘punk rock’ cred. But, then again when you decide to write music that falls firmly between the genres of Adam Duritz and Rob Thomas, you kind of give up on the idea of punk rock cred. Also, I’ll be 31 next week so, who cares anyway? You probably won’t be seeing my mug gracing the pages of (insert cool blog/internet site here) anytime soon…even if I get the Justin Beiber hair plug special I’ve been eyeballing lately. 

Where was I? Oh, yeah…so, my lovely, patient and supportive fiance and I walked into this bar in the suburbs situated in the middle of a strip mall. I was not expecting this to go well. At all. Last time I played a place like this, I ended up singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to a group of Russian girls from a stage with no PA (not something that will go on the Bobby Heinson highlight reel). Still, I’ll play almost anywhere because having a bad story is better than having no story at all. So, we walked in and the funniest thing happened. The place was awesome. The staff treated me with respect, payed me very well and even comped our food and drinks. It will go down as one of the best experiences I’ve had in the 7 or 8 years I’ve been seriously playing music. Garrett is trying really hard to create something over there and I’ve gotta say I have tremendous respect for what he’s doing and hope to have the opportunity to support him. A quick Google search has also led me to his website, where it would seem he has a book and cd to offer for your enjoyment. I know I’ll be checking both out soon.

The moral of the story is: a) you should go visit Steve’s Bar and Grill in Bellevue, WA and b) treating people with respect goes a long way in life. Especially in music, the staff at Steve’s made me feel like I’m on the right path last night. Between this show and my fantastic show at B-Side Records a couple weeks ago, I have a feeling that I may just fall in love with the Seattle music scene after all. 

Also, huge props go out to Paul, who followed me last night. Dude was f’ing hilarious. If he happens to read this post he needs to contact me soon so we can play again…I’d tour with the guy in a heartbeat.

XO

Open Doors

Last night I played a show at B-Side Music with States and Minds and Fountains of Circles, both are really cool bands you should consider checking out. Also worthy of your attention is B-Side Music, I had a great time talking about records with Josh over there…hopefully, one day my shameless promotion of this place will yield a deep discount on the very mint “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” vinyl hanging on his wall.

Shows like this one make me very happy and make this whole idea of performing music worthwhile. In recent years I have found myself becoming increasingly jaded after playing venues where indifference ruled and every band seemed to be in competition. There was something very different going on last night, something refreshing. Music was being played without ego getting in the way. Thanks to everyone that made that possible and thanks to B-Side for facilitating this environment. There is something special going on at that record store and I would urge anyone venturing through Seattle to stop in and check it out.

Now, on to shameless self promotion…

Here’s a video of me from last night. I’m playing a new(ish) song called “Open Doors”, written by me, Gabe and Phil in the late, great (we were) Gravity.

Enjoy