Little Man - What I Say blog

The Perricelli's go to Sicily

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 13:23:48 PDT

Sicily!!! My gosh what an adventure. My wife and I traveled to the Mediterranean to visit the Italian island with my mother, father and sister for 8 days to celebrate my folks 40th wedding anniversary. Some of my family is from Naples on the mainland but most of my lineage is from Cattania, Caltenassetta and San Cataldo, Sicily. We got to visit these towns and literally feet the magic. We saw my mothers maiden name on a nearby shop and enjoyed some pizza from a local bakery which was very similar to to they style of pizza my grandfather, father and I make. It was really fun to see that and have a taste. Buonissimo!

Sicily is totally beautiful and blew my expectations away. We flew to Palermo, met up with our guide Alfie and headed straight out after an 8 hour flight from New York's JFK (got up at 4 am to catch our flight from Minneapolis). Being in the airport I could practically feel Italy and got excited as we were surrounded by Italians and the sound of the language. It seemed like we were at a big family reunion with distant cousins.

Sicily is very mountainous, there are towns in valleys, sides and on the very top of mountains. Lots of palm trees and cactus. Very similar to California and Mexico. Quite hot in the mid 90's this September. All sorts of hazel nut, almond, pistachio, fig, peach, orange and olive trees. Plenty of wine vineyards. We zoomed around the city in a private passenger van, caught the sights in the historical area including beautiful church, a catacomb full of hanging skeletons and had our first taste of Sicilian food at a trattoria on Mondello Beach. Straight away we did it up with a Prosecco, pasta, aracini (a delicious large fried rice ball with meat, sauce, onions and peas), seafood and local wine. Stray Sicilian cats crept by once and awhile and we saw them throughout our visit. This was a great first meal.

From there we traveled east to Castel De Tusa and the medieval town of Tusa up above. Strolled through town as we seemed to be the only tourists around and hung out at a little deli for a panini and a beer. Then it was off to Cefalu near the water for another walk through town and a swim in the Tirreanean Sea.

Our guide Alfie Orlando

Day 3 found us in the port of Messina, from where you can see Italy's mainland, to watch an amazing clock turn noon with a Negroni cocktail, antipasta and an excellent pepper pasta in the town square, then over for a cannoli at a nearby bakery.

We drove up and up and up, winding and zig zaging to the little town of Savoca where some of the movie The Godfather was filmed. They shot the wedding scene here, as well as a scene at Bar Vitelli that we took a little break at. Again, we were the only tourists up here, it was totally peaceful and beautiful and got to hang out with some of the people that were actually in the movie. Another plus to having a guide was that not only do we travel to places not very many people visit but also that he's there to tell us the history, help with the language and have conversations with locals.

Taormina is a beautiful seaside resort town. We enjoyed a cocktail at the famous Wunderbar, had pizza for dinner, people watched and walked through town at night. Toaromina, Messina, Caltanassetta and Cattania were notably hip on fashion. There's clothes shops everywhere and people especially like to get dressed up in the evenings for a stroll. Italians love there shoes and it showed. Mostly high heels and wedges, short skirts and dresses on women. The men donned high collared polo's and thin pants often colored solid red, purple, light blue or white. Also the Sicilian football team's colors are black and pink, so a man in a pink shirt was frequently seen.

We visited Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano and had the most delicious lunch way up there that seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere. Stripped bare trees and crumbly volcanic rock surrounded the place where we ate and just next door they were rebuilding from where the lava had totally engulfed the previous structure from a recent eruption. This was the best meal ever. I exclaimed that I was in "gastronomic ecstasy" with a truly wonderful tomato sauce macaroni and a BBQ dish with a delightful red wine.

The typical day was breakfast at the hotel, then a hop in the van for fast windy road traveling to our first destination. A walk about town with a cocktail or espresso at a little bar, back to the van for more travel and another walk through town or a swim in the sea. We saw many Norman castles and strongholds (1100's) and visited very old churches and Greek ruins dating as far back as 585bc. Lunches were around 2 or 3pm and we ate dinner at about 8:30, 9pm usually. These were big events. Dinners finished with lemoncello's, the popular lemon liquor, often on the house.

We were in such awe by the sheer beauty of Sicily and how delicious and fresh the food was. Everywhere we looked was good enough for a postcard. Every little narrow ally with hung clothes, smells of Parmesan cheese, flowerpots and cobbled streets was SO Italian. Most of all it was fun to be together as a family and to actually be in the towns where my relatives lived. I think we'll be back.

The plane trip home was exhausting. We flew from Palermo to Naples (45minutes), then sat in the plane, on the tarmac for 3 and a half hours(!!) before taking of tho New York. This time it took 10 hours and Air Meridiana was not the greatest. Lot's of the amenities on the plane didn't work, like my seat that wouldn't stay in the upright position or the tv screen built into the seat that flickered. The flight attendants and everyone on the plane spoke Italian. We got back to the USA as everone applauded at touchdown. Coming in 5 hours late we missed our connecting flight to Minneapolis so we had to grab a hotel room and catch the first flight back to Minnesota in the late morning. Whew, what trip and well worth it!!

Fat Rocket!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:26:22 PDT

I finished building an effects box for my guitar. I call it the Fat Rocket. It's the BYOC Large Beaver, a clone of the classic Big Muff. This distortion pedal has been around since the early 70's made by ElectroHarmonix. You'd be familiar with it if you've heard Pink Floyd, Dinosaur Jr and The White Stripes among countless others. It's a very thick and heavy guitar tone with lots of sustain. My first build was the BYOC Fuzz Face clone (see earlier blog post) and loved not only the sound of it but the experience of building it as well. I haven't had a hobby like this since I was a kid building lots of airplane models. It's great to get back into something so detailed. Something my mind can be present with. To be focused on something, to zen with.

Although easy to lots of builders, this one was just a step more complicated than my previous build. I started with preparing and painting the case first. I had never done this before. My other one I covered in fuzzy fabric, this one I spray painted red layers on, over and over again. Then I figured out a design and got some stickers of a fat looking rocket and some gold stars to put on there and hand panted the name I came up with. Very steady hands!! I had the words painted on there so nicely until I tried to make one final touch with one of the letters and a big drop of paint fell from my paint pen onto it. I was so upset!! Why did I have to perfect something that was already good! Ugh. I quickly had to wipe it down and spray paint over it. In my rush I completely sprayed my hand that was holding the case. Even after trying to wash it off, my hand looked like it had been bloodied after a killing for a day or two.

While this stuff dried I started soldering the components to the board and then added the pots and jacks. You can build this to the Ram's Head or Triangle versions of the Big Muff. I went for the Ram's Head. The trickiest part was wiring this thing. It took a little while to get my soldering skills up to speed too. Some of my first soldering attempts were pretty sketchy and I knew that if this thing didn't work, that was probably the problem to be looked at. I worked on the pedal on and of and in bits over a couple of months.

And then I finished it. ooohhh ... will it work?...what will it sound like?...what's going to happen? I got all excited to plug it in and step on it! Plugged it in. Turned on the amp. With it off, I got clean signal going through it. That's good. Then, the moment of truth, I strummed a chord and hit the switch and POW!! We have lift off!! It worked!! What a great feeling. It really sounds good.

First Avenue Show with Ike: Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:43:28 PDT

This was an electric, magical show that felt like everything was in it's place and proper time. I had seen that the Ike Reilly show was booked in the paper. I texted Ike about it and without hesitation he asked if Little Man was available. I'd make us available! (see previous blog post) Things didn't confirm for a few weeks though and I was stressed about our bass player Brian being out of town. He was going to be in NYC teching with the popular band Bush. Luckily he was able to arrange to fly in that day and depart the next morning - real rock & roll like. In the mean time drummer Sean and I rehearsed with a fill in and spread the word about the show.

There's alot of Ike Reilly fans who recognize me from guitar teching for the band in the past as well as making appearances on stage with them on a song or two when there in town and even filling in on guitar for a whole night once. "Why aren't you up there?!" they'd say and, "Are you playing tonight?" So when I got the opportunity to play with my band and reveal my own tunes to his fans, I get excited and very thankful.

The anticipation was killing me. Took the day off to rest as I'd been fighting a horrible soar throat for two days before. Thankfully the day of the show it disappeared but I could feel that singing full out would be difficult. Sound check was great. The First Avenue staff is just tops. "Welcome home" says Greg the moniter guy to me as we set up. Conrad the stage manager is always happy to see me. Lee was running the sound board and does a really great job.

After soundcheck I met up with Ike and the rest of his band at the fancy D'Amico down the street for dinner. Really cool to hang out out before the show and joke around a bit. Ike tossed a piece of food from about 9 feet across the table, in one shot, to birthday boy drummer, Dave's mouth. The table roared with the bullseye!

Fellow locals BNLX opened the evening with a massive fuzz guitar/light show attack. Real interesting stuff and Ed and Ashley Ackerson pulled it off with the greatest of ease. I've been wanting to play a show with them for months.

It's fun to play on the big stage at First Avenue. The place is a state landmark made famous by Prince's (Minnesota's other little man) Purple Rain movie. I've been fortunate enough to have been familiar with it over the years. My favorite thing is when the lights go down and the screen that's in front of the stage goes up. Sean started with the burly beats of Found Is A Passion and we were on our way. The band was all on the stage floor together instead of having our drums on the riser. It was great to be closer on the big stage. I enjoy feeling the bass and drums.

We played all of the new EP Orbital Amusement along with some songs from Soulful Automatic, Of Mind And Matter and even some newer ones. I had gotten a gong to be on stage right next to my amp. Musk incense was burning with my Buddha statue. The lights shined down bright and we just kept on cranking the vibe up and up. We played really well together and I felt the huge crowd was turned on and engaged. This is exactly what zen is to me; being in the moment, performing, connecting, singing, guitaring, Chris-ing. Approaching the gong here and there and just having it there added to the anticipation. This show was just full on, giving it everything we had. Finally with a great thunderous ending to one of the last songs I grabbed the mallet, pointed it to the air, and then gave it a mighty swing. BWWAAAANGGG!! Then again and again! I was having such a blast. The crowd was roaring. Just an all around great energetic, happy feeling. A couple more fast paced songs and a final gong hit, then with a bow to the gong and too the audience we were off. Conrad gave me an approved big smile and a pat on the back on the way off. Whew!

Ike took the stage quickly there after. They played their entire Salesmen and Racist album with their original line up and then played a second set of newer tunes with the help of Ike's most recent members of the band. It's fun to watch these guys play. There was a good mix and match of everyone playing which I thought was really cool. Ike had me up to help on guitar and vocals for Put A Little Love In It which was super fun. Shared the mic with Ike and had a blast. They're an amazing rock and roll band. It shows that they have been together and working it for over 10 years. The loyal crowd was with them all the way and it was a joy to watch it all and be a part of such a monumental show.

I think I totally pushed my self to my physical limit though. Luckily I had a window of healthiness to do the show. The days following this my health plummeted with an upper respiratory infection. I often wonder if the stress and anticipation of the show had something to do with it. Possibly. Resting up for the next show!

Pics #1 and 3 by Shane Flannery.
Watch a full video of the song Orbital Amusement by Debbie Donovan HERE.

Little Man and Ike Reilly 2001: Backstory.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:57:09 PDT

2001, young, 100 pounds, pre mustache, naive and stars in my eyes I hopped into the tour buss that was converted from an old-folks home transportation vehicle we called the "Geezer" or the "Geeze" for short. It read Senior Adults On the Move on the sides. These are just a few pictures I took on the road.

I lived in Chicago and my band Little Man had just put out an album called Core of Discovery. My drummer Dave Cottini was getting more busy since his other band got signed to Universal. That band was Ike Reilly.

Since my band was dismembering and the opportunity came up for me to tour with Ike as a guitar tech/roadie, I took it. I was already good friends with Dave and their keyboardist/guitarist Ed Tinley was a college friend who recorded that first Little Man full length "Core" album (and many more following that). I quit my job and hopped on. I jumped whole heartedly into something with no idea as to what would come of it. For a person that is more introverted and uneasy in some social situations, I thought this would help me come out of my shell a bit. Massive adventure.

This band was already a tight knit band of brothers before I got on board. If it wasn't for Dave and Ed, I wouldn't have been able to handle it or felt a part of anything, but these guys took me in and I got to know them all better as time went on. Phil was a wonder to hear play guitar every night, we hung out a bit and he showed me the first ZVEX pedal I ever layed eyes on. Tommy played bass with enormous enthusiasm. Off stage and on the buss he played guitar that blew my mind and he kept us entertained with some great songs along the way, real cool and laid back person. Dave and Ed I spoke of already. These guys loved crossword puzzles on long treks and stuck them finished like trophies on the inside walls of the buss. We all used to shout "TOUR!" when something great happened on the road that was tour worthy, were sloppy drunk or was just having a really good time. Then there's Ike. A lyrical sparkler not much taller than myself who had a contagious laugh and led this whole group of marauders. He drove the buss sometimes and in traffic jams he'd change into his running shorts and take a jog ahead of us until we caught up with him. He wrote alot on the road and usually had his acoustic guitar with him for strumming out ideas. I payed close attention to how he made this all work and what he had to go through to make it happen. These guys really rocked live and put on a great show. I was usually behind some amps making sure everyone got what they needed, tuning and switching guitars.

We also traveled with a sound person Fred, the "bull," Han who was usually pretty quiet but very cool and a tour manager Manny that year. Manny was super difficult for me to travel with. Yelling at me, pushing my buttons, then we'd be pals, then it was back to some sort of power game or something ridiculous. Not very fun when your on tour with some good friends. We worked things out though.

All of them rolled pretty heavily on Coors Light, Vodka and Red Bull and who knows what else. Wine woman and song as it goes. For the most part, while I certainly partaked in such, I was hired to work and usually most of the beer was gone by the time I got done loading out.

The band toured for the album called Salesmen and Racists. We played some big shows and to some very well attended clubs and venues across the country mostly Midwest, south and east during this time. We were on tours with and opened for Blues Traveler, Chris Whitley, John Mayer, Bob Schneider and Keanu Reeves' band (got to meet all these guys. Keanu was great. I introduced myself at sound check "Hi I'm Chris." He shook my hand and in his best surfer voice as you can imagine returned with, "I'm Keanu."). I also got to meet Sandra Bullock, as she was dating Bob Scheider at the time.

New York City was magical. (We were there just before Sept. 11th.) Stopped at a bluegrass jamboree in southern Ohio. Started an impromptu sing along on a front porch of some locals on a hot night in Cincinnati after a show. Strip clubs (it was a bit surreal when we saw girls dancing to one of Ike's songs as we walked in to one one time). Sang songs outside the White House gates. Practiced in hotel rooms. From Boston to Austin Ike and the band gathered devoted fans. We then moved into a real tour bus I called the Black Stallion with a new sound guy and tour manager. The buss and it's driver, Rodney the "Lightnin' Rod," just came off a Puff Daddy tour.

I left my own band, guitar and songwriting to tour and see the country. I tuned guitars and lugged gear with hopes that I'd meet some key music industry people and get to use the experience as a jumping point for new endeavors. I learned a ton about being on the road and had an amazing time with these guys. But it was very difficult for me not to be playing. I got to see alot of different music scenes. The Twin Cities was a favorite to all of us. The band was best in this city and the people were like no other I'd met anywhere. Live music is a passionate thing to do and see to many people here and it shows. I met my wife in St. Paul and she used to take me out to see other bands and sent me off with local favorite albums so I got to know the scene really good and was amazed at the caliber of music that was being produced there at the time.

As things slowed down with the tour I was anxious to get back to my own music. The Twin Cities felt like a second home and I was up for another big change. Late 2002 brought me back to St. Paul and I've been there ever since. Ike pressed on and is continually putting out great music. When they're back in Minneapolis for a show it's good to see these guys and help out on a song or two or whatever they need.

July 29th 2011 my band Little Man opens for the Ike Reilly Assassination at First Avenue's mainroom in Minneapolis. We're celebrating 10 years since the Salesmen and Racists album. Ike will be performing the album in it's entirety! Tickets are available HERE.

EP Release Show - How it all went down (then back up again)

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:43:20 PDT

After months of prep and hard work this became one of the best release shows I've done, but it certainly came with it's pitfalls. The Tower Tarot card symbolism had it's presence for sure as things started to fall apart, though ultimately The Sun prevailed.

The day before the Little Man Orbital Amusement EP release show the Red Pens, our middle slot band, had to cancel because of a serious medical emergency. I'd been wanting to play with them for quite some time and it was about to happen and then this unfortunate mishap came along. Luckily this person is ok and doing pretty good now. I had to find a replacement fast though and was super bummed out about it. Couldn't sleep.

Then it was the morning of the show. The very first e-mail I read was from the other opening band, The Rockford Mules. It was a message saying that they had to cancel because their drummer up and quit the night before! Apparently they did everything they could to have him stick it out for one more show, but still couldn't make it work. I seriously thought this was a joke! There was no way both of my openers could cancel within 24 hours of one of the most important and heavily promoted shows of the year for me. These bands are both quite popular and I had them in all my promos. It was such a great bill! I was so let down and completely worried. Believe me, I got in some extra meditation time that day to stay sane. I kept telling myself that at least my band was still on the bill! I hit the phone and the e-mails right away and was full on stressed about it until 4pm the day of the show. I was able to confirm Is/Is, a great three woman rock act that I've been digging lately and also my long time faves, The Beatifics. It's very strange. This would be the third time The Beatifics have opened for us for a release show. What a weight lifted off of me after that. I had a few hours to chill out a bit before heading to The Turf Club.

From there things just rolled on great. The openers were fantastic and people kept on coming in through the door. It was very well attended. Alot of people, and everyone was attentive to all the music.

Little Man hit them hard with all the songs of the EP while two beautiful girls, Natalie and Nicole (who I called "The Cosmonettes"), hula hooped on the front corners of the stage. They were great! We also had a projector and an oil lamp along with some other cool light effects to help make it more of a special thing. It was really cool. I enjoyed every minute of it and just let loose. It seemed everyone there was very much into it. We also played some key tracks from previous albums as well as some even newer material.

Everything worked out in the end. It was a very good night and a great celebration for my sixth release.

Click here to get the new Little Man Orbital Amusement EP!

Hot Show!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Mon, 16 May 2011 10:47:53 PDT

Loring Live is a monthly show at the Loring Theatre in Minneapolis. It's an amazing old movie house that's currently being used for theatre, concerts and all sorts of artistic events. This particular show, that I was lucky to be a part of, was called Tease. It was a mix of musicians, burlesque, aeriel acrobatics and live painting and comedy. They also included an artists bazaar in the lobby. Yet another artistic endeavor that can bring an eclectic community together in this town that was completely impressive. I enjoyed being a part of something like this. The vibe was friendly, sultry and fun. I met some wonderful people. Attendance was really good too and everyone's performance was top notch. On the left is the beautiful Elektra Cuete and performing with me on the right is lovely Jessica Chamberlain. I sang my song Not Quite So High as she danced above me. Perfect, it was so great!! One of the coolest shows I've been a part of for sure. Photos by Ephraim Eusebio. You can see more about the other artists and performers on the Facebook invite.

Local Businesses Sponsor Little Man Release

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Tue, 10 May 2011 10:53:12 PDT

I was absolutely thrilled when I got the e-mail regarding The Current wanting to present the Little Man EP release show. I'd forgotten that I'd sent a request and had already printed posters. So this came as a surprise and I had to head back to the printers!

The Current is one of Minnesota's public radio stations. They play a huge mix of music without commercials and has become a powerhouse of the Twin Cities. It survives because of listeners like you. I've gotten to know many of the DJ's over the years and their continuous enthusiasm for music is contagious. The greatest thing is that they play local music at least once an hour. It really binds the community in realizing that we have some seriously amazing artists right here in town. Check out the local live stream.

You can actually see my place from The Blue Door's front windows. This little local pub has been around for just a few years or so but has really been making a name for itself. They've earned Best Burger from The City Pages and it's always packed. Owners Pat and Jeremy have done very well here in St. Paul at the intersection of Selby & Fairview. They only spin local music here too. Isn't that fantastic!? The food is very good. My wife and I walk over there on the off hours to score a seat at the window. Excellent beer selection as well.

Speaking of beer, one of the places my wife and I like to go to pick up "adult beverages", is over at Marshall Liquors across from Izzy's on Marshall Ave in St. Paul. This "mom and pop" store (literally) has a huge selection of just about everything and it's a convenient stop to or from MPLS/St.Paul. Richard is our go-to guy over there. He's the young son of a Korean mom and pop who are always happy to see us and greet us with a big smile. Richard has been a kind shop keeper to us for years. We bought all our wine and hard liquor there for our wedding. He always chats us up at the counter and the radio is always on The Current. He knows when Little Man gets airplay and always mentions it.

My locks are kind of long. I'm a bit picky on my hair cuts. When my regular hair cutter moved to Portland I was unsure as to where to go. My wife's friend Amy recommended Kelly McMahon at the Groveland Barbershop over on St. Clair and Cleveland. Happy to have met her, she's beautiful. "Couple inches off - shag it up a bit" is my usual request. She does great work. If you've seen my pictures, you know!

Joe is the shop owner, another fantastic barber who's honed his skills over the many years being there. He's a huge music lover and he even became a guitar student of mine for a while. Always curios on how things are going with the band, he's been a great person to get to know. This is a hip place. I also have to mention his big black dog Austin who immediately greets you at the door wanting all your attention first and foremost.

Click the links and visit the shops. These businesses are home-grown, local, and owned and run by really cool people who add great character to this community. I'm especially thankful for their assistance in helping me promote the release show at The Turf Club (May 27th) as well as a thank you to all the other shops and people who are helping support the event in other ways.

Promotional Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:44:30 PDT

Photos and design by Emily Utne. Clothed by Up Six.

I'm so excited about these! Emily produced some amazing shots to use for promoting the new Little Man EP. The coats from Up Six were absolutely perfect.

To see more go to my Facebook gallery.

Gil Elvgren Lecture

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:31:45 PDT

I had the opportunity to check out a lecture at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul given by Sarahjane Blum-Murphy last night. The event was called History of Hip: Minnesota Naughty? Sarahjane is an expert on American pin-ups and is co-owner of Grapefruit Moon Gallery. She focused on Gil Elvgren, one of the most recognizable pin-up artists and illustrators of his time. The lecture also began with a history of Munsingwear advertising from Susan Marks.

I've liked Elvgren's art for some time. The picture on the left is one of my favorites. Playful, beautiful, brilliant colors and an interesting scene with the wind up alligator. I was happy to learn that he was from St. Paul, Minnesota, so I felt it was a privilege to be able to attend such an event in his home town. Known for his All-American, girl next door, stocking clad, "ooops" expressioned, leggy pin-ups, Elvgren was also hired for Coca-Cola among other companies to draw for their advertising campaigns. His work is most notable in the WWII era and up through the 1960's.

I was hoping there would be some original paintings of his at the lecture and there were!

"Aw-Come On" (1953) and "This Doesn't Seem To Keep The Chap From My Lips" (1948) were the original oil on canvas paintings on display along with a few vintage pin-up calendars.

Photo Shoot - Behind The Scenes

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:50:45 PDT

With a new album called Orbital Amusement on the way, I'm working on getting things in motion for it's release. This past weekend was a photo shoot for promotions and possibly for part of the album artwork, which is currently being created by Dan Horan. These pictures were taken by my wife Brigid.

Friday I had an appointment with Megan over at Up Six, one of the vintage stores up the street I frequent to. We had talked about the album art concept we were going for and so she pulled some clothes for me to check out in my size. My favorites were a short waisted black fur coat and a floor length black robe with gold embroidery.

Saturday my wife and I met up with the photographer Emily Utne and headed up to a small studio/office for the shots. Emily shot our Of Mind And Matter cover and I was just so happy about that picture. She's artistically creative in everything she does and gives great direction. We also share similar interests and communicate well with each other about accomplishing the looks of certian shots. Emily's done a lot of cool band press shots as well as a ton of fashion photography.

She brought in a projector so we could shoot some of the pictures with an outer space background and then we did some shots with a white backdrop. After that we hopped over to the Mall Of America and got some tickets to ride the carousel. We had to wait in line and race to the horses we thought would be best for our shots. Emily rode next to me on an ostrich and we shot as the carousel went round and round, we were going up and down and the circus music was playing along with it. Really a good time! I guess I could say it was highly "amusing?" Haha! Oh well...

Just getting some pictures back now. She got some amazing shots!

Seasons Greetings

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:07:29 PST

Happy holidays everyone! I hope that you'll be able to be with your families and loved ones this season. For those of you that may be far from each other this time of year, keep your loved ones in your thoughts and just know that time will pass and that you'll be together soon. Remember to be thankful for who you are and what you have.

I've written a soft and sweet Little Man holiday song for all of you, so please download it for your personal music libraries. Share your comments and share it with others.

Listen and download it here:
FREE Little Man Holiday Song

Sincerely,
Chris

Little Man Recording Session 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:31:22 PST

~~~~~~~~

I've got a group of tunes that I've written recently that have a general thick fuzziness (see New Sounds with ZVEX in a previous post) to them and wanted to get into the studio as soon as I could. So I had an opportunity to get down to Chicago to the old Ike lodge, with long time producer Ed Tinley, to start the process of getting them recorded. The studio has new wood flooring so I was excited to track drums in there.

Drummer Sean Gilchrist was able to come along. The process for this album was for me to first record basic guitars and then we'd add on from there.

We arrived on a Saturday evening and got basic tones and things ready to roll. Sunday was all guitars and vocals were tracked in the evening. Monday we finished up guitars and got Sean in to lay drums. We did things a little differently so we could use the entire big room for drum sounds so that Ed could design and shape the tones we were looking for with particular songs. After a full work-out of drumming we continued with vocals. Dinner breaks included classic Chicago faves such as pizza and Italian sausage sandwiches.

The lodge is great. Some of Soulful Automatic as well as most of Of Mind and Matter was recorded there. Ike Reilly was gracious enough to let us us it and camp out there too. My sleeping arrangement was this little nook up in a tiny loft. I felt like a gnome crawling up there after each night and then descending out of it in the morning. There's an old record player there with a bunch of great albums, so I would get the morning started by playing an LP and getting the coffee going. It was great to listen to early early Rolling Stones, the stuff they recorded in Chicago for inspiration.

I took a break one afternoon and stepped outside to the wooded and grassy yard. Beautiful out. Suns rays peaking through the trees. And out comes Ike from the bushes with a rifle. I know he likes to kid with me but I seriously didn't know what to think about this! He walks his way over to me and said he's been tracking and hunting some critters that've been getting into the house. "There's one." I say mid conversation. "POW!" "Thanks Squanto." he replies.
Back to work.

We were able to track drums, vocals and guitars for 6 songs in about 30 hours. Whew! A fantastic session. We are in the process of adding bass tracks with our bassist Brian Herb as well as laying down more overdubs here in the Twin Cities. Things are coming along really great and it's looking like it will be an EP. I can hardly wait till we get this out. Hopefully this spring.

~~~~~~~~

It takes alot with recording expenses rising and all the work that goes into releasing a new piece of work. If you are wanting to be a part of the project and want an opportunity to help, you are welcome to leave a donation of any amount. I'll put your name in the liner credits as well as send you a free copy for your contribution of $20 or more. Of course your donation can also be anonymous.

Meditiation with Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:40:35 PDT

I had gotten to my meditation spot for zazen, lit a stick of musk incense and sat on the black zafu pillow cross legged, set a timer and began. This is the usual format for my sitting meditation, but sometimes the cat comes into the room. Now I used to find this distracting and it's also good practice to do zen in the midst of things going on around you, but now I see my cat's entrance a little different.

Fiona is my cat's name, A.K.A. Funny Bunny because she's mostly black with one white hind leg as if she has a lucky rabbit's foot. She spends most of her day sitting in an empty plastic salad bowl. She sits right in the middle of it like a big bowl of fuzz, sometimes with her rabbit's foot sticking out. When I see her it reminds me of the zen saying to "empty your bowl."

I first sense her as she walks in, rubs up against my arm as she quietly passes and turns to sit in front of me. My eye's are partially open so I can see here there. I imagine our conversation:

Cat: Hi, what are you doing? You're sitting still on the floor.
Me: I'm practicing zen here so beat it. You're distracting me.
Cat: Pet me.Me:("Ignore her," I say in my head)
Cat: We'll I've been doing sitting around all day. (sigh...) I'm gonna explore the room for a while.
Me: Your ruining my zen time.

These feline visits got me thinking about my practice and how my mind reacts to the experience. First there is the sensation of touch when she walks by and my mind thinks "fur" and then "cat" then to "she's going to bother me" to "do I need to be on guard if she tries to take a swipe at me." The next sensation is sight by which I see and think "Fiona Cat," then one thought leads to the next and to the next. The zen practice here would be not to label the experience. Let things happen without your mind jumping to describing and categorizing. It's not direct experience anymore when doing such thought. Very difficult to do. Reel yourself back in. Thinking of what "could" happen with the cat in the room is not being present either.

She wants to be pet.
Well, like a Bodhisattva, I do not want to neglect her. I want to show love and compassion for all beings and in cat language, petting does the trick. I also think of action and reaction. She's letting me know that she's saying hello and I should return the greeting. She acts, I react. If she somehow gets angry of my stillness and lerches out with a quick sharp clawed paw, I lean back in reaction like a Judo master. I extend my hand breaking the sitting pose and mudra hand position and pet the cat a couple times. Back to my position. Spontaneity is a key point in Zen. The thing here is to be clear in mind before, during and after the action/reaction experience. No thinking. Naturally React. Empty your bowl.

The cat sits upright in front of me closing her eyes slowly.
Look at her posture, she's in her own zen pose! She reminds me to check my posture. Straighten up, chin tucked in a bit, no wobbling on the cushion, eyes partially open. Thanks Fiona.
Her tail moves back and forth in a constant random movement. This is a true Zen moment. Does the cat think about it's tail and how to move it? No, I doubt it. The tail's movement is another form of it's body language too. Watching the randomness of the her tail movement helps me not to settle my mind into predictable patterns. To me here it's just movement.

The cat rustles around the clutter in the room and then leaves unnoticed.
Again, instead of saying in my mind "what's that sound?," "what is she getting into?" and then imagining all sorts of things from there that the cat could be doing, just let the sounds themselves penetrate. Instant sound without the reverberated thoughts that follow. Like clouds that come and go across the sky. Like our thoughts that come and go. Like a mirror that reflects an object but doesn't hold the image once the object moves past. Non-attachment.

Lastly, there is no cat.
This is the non dual philosophy of no "other." When we live with the perspective of Oneness we realize that all things are interconnected, ultimately making them one thing. An organism cannot come to be and live without it's environment. The conscious mind opens it's eyes to the world that is it's self. It originally sees the reality of things as they really are before ego gets involved. The great cause of suffering is the belief that we are separate. We are all One but don't realize it.

My meditation is a practice on being present. Being with the reality of now without assessment. Just sitting, with cat.

Little Man makes it to the Majors

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Tue, 18 May 2010 09:57:04 PDT

Lifted Me Like A Curse,
a song from Little Man's Of Mind And Matter album, has been added to the Minnesota Twins Target Field playlist.

The uptempo, acoustic, back woods, sing-along found it's way to the ears of Twins baseball music director Kevin Dutcher, "I'd love to play "Lifted..." at the park, it's a great tune!".

The new major league ballpark has gained interest in adding local music during the games and is working to develop a Local Music Spotlight as well.

----"Just when I thought it could get no worse, you lifted me like a curse and I flew higher than expected further than directed...yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...ah, ah, ah, ahhh."

Listen Here or just scroll down at the playlist over on the right side.

Purchase on iTunes
Full Album on CD

Fuzzy Face

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:21:15 PST

My meetings over at ZVEX gained my interest in the building of guitar effects pedals. What I was hearing and seeing I was totally fascinated by. I had taken an analog electronics course in college too and wondered if it could be something to get into as just a hobby. I spent some time on-line reading about build-your-own kits and decided to go with the ESV Fuzz Face, a clone of the Arbiter Fuzz Face at buildyourownclone.com. They say it's good for beginners and it's a classic fuzz tone that Jimi Hedrix used. Sounds good to me.

The kit comes with all the electronic parts, hardware and metal casing. You download the instructions on their website. I went out and got my self a soldering iron and some tools. I spent some time reading about soldering electronics and made sure I understood the directions of the kit. Excited to have a project and to delve into something new, I got right into it.

It's a pretty simple design. I took my time and worked on it in stages. Meanwhile I thought about how to decorate the metal casing. Most people paint the box so I got some paper and a pencil and drew out some ideas. I knew it was going to cost me more to go out and get the paints and brushes I needed, so I thought I could glue on some fabric instead.

It's a Fuzz Face so I wanted it to by fuzzy like a muppet. I searched the fabric stores for something furry but no luck with matching what I had in my head. Then, while thrifting, my wife and I found an old fuzzy orange teddy bear. Perfect! After playing around with the happy bear and giving it a personality, I said goodbye, but that he'd be sacrificing for a worthy woolly cause and would be immortalized in fuzzdom. In with the scissors!

I glued it on, cut the wholes for the hardware and added some eyes to make it more like a fuzzy face. Then I soldered it all and connected the wires and gave it a test. Plugged my guitar into the box and was excited for the result of my hard work. Stomped on it. Nothing. Could be the battery, I knew it wasn't new. I thought to myself, well this is a good learning experience if it doesn't work, then I could learn why and have a better knowledge of this thing.

Before I got a new battery, I plugged the box into an AC adapter. The light went on, and off I sailed into a wicked guitar lick. SWEET it works!! Really nice. That familiar fat and fuzzy tone was there and I was so happy about it. Got a new battery in there too with the same good results. I'm calling it the Fuzzy Face. Check the video to hear what it sounds like.

New Sounds with ZVEX

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:17:51 PDT

I played a show at a brand new club in Minneapolis called Sauce Spirits and Soundbar in the Uptown area. With some help of some very good opening acts, it attracted plenty of live music lovers, hipsters and some of the Twin Cities most respected musicians such as, Heath Henjum bassist of The Hopefuls, Jonathan Freeman of The Magnolias, Ed Ackerson who heads the popular guitar driven Susstone record label and Adam Levy of The Honeydogs.

It was a really great night, lots of people in a fresh new atmosphere. Afterwards I got to go out to meet and talk with people who came to the show, sold cd's, T-shirts and stuff. One guy introduced himself as Zach Vex. He owns a boutique guitar effects company called ZVEX. I've heard about his products and know quite a few people who swear by them. His products are wordly renown. Among many others, people like Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Joe Satirani and Jack White use his effects pedals. Each of his stomp boxes are hand painted and signed.

Zach said "I watched your performance and thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought it would be a good idea if there was some ZVEX on your pedal board." I was totally amazed and honored. In fact I had a hard time sleeping the next couple of nights thinking about the opportunity to visit the company and try out some pedals.

After a few e-mail exchanges, I found some time to get over to ZVEX. I didn't even know he was local. Zach's assistants set me up in a room with a beautiful Vox amp and two pedal boards with about 12 or so effects on each. I got to plug in my guitar and and try them out one by one. Most of them were fuzz and distortion. Some impressive octave and wha-wha effects as well. Really fun getting to play them and have each explained as I pressed through them all.

What I liked most was a fuzz pedal that worked similar to a Theramin. When it was on, as my foot approched the pedal, without even touching it, the amount of effect got greater, or lesser as my foot backed away. It was incredible. There where a couple of others I also found very interesting. I was looking for something unique, modern and versitile to create with. Zach said he was hoping I'd use them live at shows. After the test session my ears were ringing and I was buzzed with excitement. Zach gave me a special deal that made my jaw drop and I got to take my favorites home with me. Since then I've been spending alot of time at home and in the studio experimenting with the new sounds. Totaly inspired.

It's experiences like this that remind me to always give it my all at a show. I'm grateful that people want to come out and see the band play. You never know who could be out there. Thanks Zach, I'm thankful to have the generous support of ZVEX.

Whirlwind Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:54:14 PDT

What a fantastic week! It began on a thursday to record The Local Show that would be aired on Minnesota's public radio station The Current. I was invited by local columnist/musician Jim Walsh, who hosts a show called the Hootenany in Minneapoils. He get's a handfull of musicans together to do an intimate show in which they all share stories and songs. This was a promotion for photographer Tony Nelson's Hoot photography and pictures artists in there place that they like to do their songwriting. He took a picture of me walking in my neighborhood. I like to take walks and come up with ideas for songs.

The radio show was great. I played a song called Not Quite So High from the new album, which is about hubris, being ego-less, the stress of promoting yourself and the tarot card The Chariot. The song became The Currents "Song of the Day" on June 26th.
You can listen to the entire show HERE.

After the radio show I packed up and headed over to the Turf Club for sound check with Ike Reilly. My good friends were back in town and Ike called me up last minute to join them on leads guitar for the evening (see previous posted blog). We got to go over a bunch of songs and then hit the stage at 10:45pm.

I think the club was sold out. From the stage I saw people backd up to the entrance door!

We played really well and the people loved it. Having been the second official show as guitarist for these guys, I felt alot more comfortable in knowing my parts, so it was mostly having lots of fun and enjoying the moment. After the show, Ike invited me on for the rest of the tour but I had to be in Seattle the next day (or should I say that morning!). We stayed up late and caught a plane out west just hours after the show.

My wife and I flew into Seattle and then drove to Portland for her brother's wedding. We spent some time checking out vintage stores like we love to do (see a previous posted blog) and got to visit the Jimi Hendrix memorial. What a feeling. It was really cool to be standing where his body is. That physical form that been to so many places and "experienced" so many things and was the home to a real unique talent we called Jimi Hendrix. He was a huge insperation to me. Emotion through a feedback guitar changed how I approached my playing. Surrounding the grave were some of his lyrics in his handwriting on big flat marble stones. It was raining. I got out a peice of paper and wrote the first thing to come to my mind, "Love, Always, Love" and placed it on a spot above his graved to be burned into the ether.

Brigid and I took a limo from Portland to the coast with the wedding party. Her brother was passed out while my wife and I shared shots of vodka witha man we called the Mad Russian.

In his thick accent we toasted and he continued to tell us, with many stories, that "life is short". Not sure if I told him my band's name was Little Man. Anyway, when Brigid and I got to be on the ocean beach together, in the wee hours of the morning, we seriously thought about that theme and enjoyed the moment.

Next morning we headed up the coast back to Seattle to catch a plane home. Lots of white knucle driving up and down and around these seaside roads, beautiful view, hardly any sleep. But we made it to the airport just in time, sank into our seats with a sigh of relief and came home. What a whirlwind!

Buzz Show!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:33:22 PDT

Bio:

“Buzz Dandlewick is a former Junction City anchorman whose coworkers called him "Dandypants" because of the outrageous pants he'd wear to work, so during broadcast, the public could never see his bottom half, but it was a running gag at the station. Buzz is known for his keen observation skills and a profound patience for getting all the right answers. Hence, his ability to wait in a closet for hours just to get that last question in. Today he lives in Minneapolis with wife Gertrude and cares for his nephew Myron, who Buzz calls son, because he gets a tax break. (Myron’s folks have been pogoing from South Africa to Siberia and haven’t been heard from in years.) While trying to find more work in these difficult times he's been doing interviews of people he finds interesting to keep his skills up to par.”

The husband and wife team of Alan Pagel and Laura Wilhelm, of Mad Munchkin Productions, created these characters and I sat with them to discuss some possibilities of the idea of having one or two of their puppets interview me as Little Man in a bunch of different scenarios. We turned on the little Flip-Video camera and recorded these videos off-the-cuff and unrehearsed. As you’ll see the result was hilarious and fun. I also created the Buzz Show theme song which you can get on your cell as a ringtone! People have been loving that.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE PARTS that include:
Part 1 - "Greetings"
Part 2 - “In Bed”
Part 3 - “Cooking”
Part 4 - “Over for Dinner”
Part 5 - “Guitar Lesson”
Part 6 - “What to Wear”
Part 7 - "Meditation"

My Books!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:22:30 PDT

I'm a big reader. Although I do like fiction and sci-fi like Herbert's "Dune" and Heinlein's "Stranger In A Strange Land", I mostly read non-fiction. I like biographies on musicians and resource books on symbols. There is also a collection of classic myths and folklore. I usually read a few books at a time. It’s kinda like changing a channel on a tv.

My most intense reading and what I find most fascinating are books of religions and of non-dualistic philosophies of the East, like that of Zen, Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta and Hinduism. All of which (in a nutshell) focus dropping your ego, the transcending of the world of opposites and present moment living. This stuff is always challenging my way of thought and it’s the hardest thing ever to verbally explain this sort of thing to people. Reading and experiencing it is one thing, sharing it with others is another. I find it best to express myself through my music and a lot of what I write is inspired by such material. Others point to the way verbally very easily. Check out Alan Watts, Joseph Campbell and Sri Nisargadatta among others.

If you’re interested in this sort of thing I’ve set up a library on the right side of the blog console. It contains a number of books that I read often along with some other things that pertain to the blog. It’s created from Amazon.com, a place I like to search and buy books from. If you see something you think you might like, buy it through my bookstore in my blog. Let me know if you’ve read any of the books in my library and we can discuss some of it. You can use the Amazon search engine here to find something else that interests you. By doing so you’ll be helping me in supporting my websites. Take a look.

Bring It On Home

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:53:12 PDT

In an effort to get to know some folks better that come to see me play with the band, I thought it would be cool to play directly for them at their house. I call it a parlour show. It’s been a long winter and sometimes it’s hard to get out of the house. Some people have kids that haven’t had the opportunity to come see a show or have never been exposed to live music like this. I wanted to entertain with my songs and maybe inspire some kids and adults to play music too. Families could create small dinner parties and get-to-gethers and I’d play for them solo acoustic in their living rooms. People seem to know me from the media or shows, but to be closer to them is a good artist/fan relationship.

The response was really good and I got to play for a variety of families and their friends. From a family of 3 to a party of 20 these people were generous and very attentive with all sorts of questions about my music and what I do, and I got to know a lot more about them in return. Instead of being up on a stage without the personal interaction, I was right next to them in the welcoming environment of their home.

The most rewarding was playing to a family of which two of the members where visually impaired. The smiles I got back from them while I played were huge and I found it difficult to get though some of my songs because it made me so glad that I was making them happy. The whole family was just thrilled to have such an event at their own house. They wrote back, “For us, it will always be a night to remember!”

This is the Menard family.

I hope I can do more of these. If you’re in the area or close by when we’re on the road and you’d like to host something like this, you can contact me.

Mick S. wrote, “…you were very friendly and very down to earth. Most rockers wouldn’t even bother to do what you did. For that I hold you in very high esteem.”

Thanks everyone for your participation!

Little Man plays with Ike Reilly

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:19:59 PST

I had the privilege of joining Ike Reilly for a show at Minneapolis' historic First Avenue as lead guitarist on Nov. 26th 2008. Our releationship goes way back to when I lived in Chicago and toured with Ike as his guitar tech./roadie for close to two years. Drummer Dave Cottini used to be Little Man's drummer and Ed Tinley and I went to college together at DePaul University. Both of them, including Ike, have continued to be a part of supporting Little Man recordings in various ways. (Shot from the first row, this video is a little shakey at first!)

In 2001, I had set Little Man aside to be on their national tours in hopes to gain some touring experience and meet some industry folks. Although it was really fun to be traveling on a bus all over the place with friends, it was difficult for me not to have the release of playing a show every night and to be on the sidelines.

With the absence of Phil Karnatz for the Thanksgiving Eve show, Ike invited me to take his place along side bassist Tommy O'Donnell. The show brought back some good memories and a feeling of fulfillment for me. It was a one hell of a show.

In addition to helping out on guitar, Little Man got to open the evening to a fantastic crowd.

See all the pics by Alexa Jones HERE and See some of the Little Man set in video HERE.

Of Mind And Matter Album Release

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:44:23 PST

Of Mind And Matter is available now!!!The band celebrated the release with a fantastic show to a packed crowd at The 7th Street Entry. The band was enhanced with a guitarist/keyboard player and two female back-up vocalist to help recreate the albums sound. Little Man performed the entire album from start to finish.

See VIDEO.

This picture was taken by Darin Back.

Click here to see PHOTOS by Alexa Jones.

Little Man's forth full length album Of Mind And Matter is a strong companion to 2007's acclaimed Soulful Automatic. While still a good mix of acoustic and rock songs this album has more lush layered vocals, guitars, organ and strings that create a dynamic landscape. Produced by Ed Tinley, it was recorded in an old hunting lodge and a little house in Chicago.

Read an article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Of Mind And Matter is a digital release. The amaizing cover photo by Emily Utne can be yours. You'll recieve by mail the special edition cover art card that contains the code to download 12 songs, 2 documentry videos, pictures, lyrics and liner notes. LISTEN to some of the tracks. Order yours HERE now!!

Little Man makes news with vintage.

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:34:30 PDT

I like vintage clothes. Thrift stores, yard sales, vintage clothing shops are all the sorts of places my wife and I go to find unique clothes. We brought Minneapolis paper, The City Pages, along for a vintage shop about town. Emily Utne took some great pictures. It was an effort to help promote the stores we shop at often. These stores and there owners have been super kind in helping me find clothes that fit and look great, so we wanted to give a little back to them by telling everyone about these great neighborhood shops. We visited Rewind, Up Six, Lula (1587 Selby Ave St Paul) and Go Vintage (1560 Selby Ave St Paul) The feature ran in this past weeks City Pages. You can read it here: Fashionably Yours.

In the studio

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:15:12 PDT

I packed up all my gear and headed down to Chicago with new bass player Andy Ferkinhoff to record with producer/engineer Ed Tinley. Past Little Man member, Dave Cottini, joined in on drums once again. Ed has been a part of the past three Little Man albums and both he and Dave are in the Ike Reilly Assassination , a band I used to help out in the past. Ike was more than kind enough to let us record at his place. It used to be an old hunting lodge, it’s beautiful. We tracked the band live to tape there and were able to get down basic tracks for 10 songs in two days which is pretty damn good. Ike popped in on the second day and introduced a song to us that he’d been working on, so with a few practice passes Ed hit record and we got something down. Really pretty fun to be a part of that. I played slide guitar.

The second half of the week was spent at Ed’s place, it’s just a little house on the north end of the city. When your tracking guitars and vocals there’s really no need to be in a big studio. Ed has all his equipment there and he really knows how to get some good sounds no matter where we are. We did track some super loud guitar parts that could be clearly heard from across the street, so at a house like this in a neighborhood, we had to be cool with the neighbors once and a while.
It’s very comfortable here and it’s great to take a break and cook up a meal or grill out. We’ve easily been doing 10-12 hour days. Ed’s cat Willis is an old grey and white cat that walks around always looking to be pet. Sometimes he’d curl up at your feet while your recording, but we mostly kept him out of the way because he likes to talk once and a while. So things went really good. We are working on 14 songs. Huge vocal parts. I have to go back to track some more later in the summer. In the mean time I got a new band here in St. Paul. There’s Andy ,as I mentioned above, and drummer Sean Sauder. We’ve been rehearsing a ton to get back on track. My most gracious thanks to Ben and Ryan for making the band sound so great in the past.

Bowie Night

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Perricelli) — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:23:23 PDT

The 5th annual Rock for Pussy show took place at the legendary First Avenue in Minneapolis. It’s a show that benefit’s the Minnesota Humane Society’s “no-kill” cat shelters in town. Local guest singers perform with an all-star band to perform their favorite David Bowie songs. This is always such a great event! I’ve participated for the past 3 years I believe. This year I sang “Hang On To Yourself “ and “Star” from the Ziggy Stardust album and I also got to play guitar on a whole bunch of songs, so it was really cool to be a part of the band this time. You can see more photos by Steve Cohen HERE!! Holy cow! Check out the review!

"...one of the real stars of this year’s show was no doubt Mr. Chris Perricelli – Little Man lead singer and guitarist who is both Marc Bolan of T Rex and Bowie combined. Featured on multiple songs, especially notable is his treatment on “Hang on to Yourself,” with his vocals full of Bowie panache and with a guitar prowess was as close to Mick Ronson himself as you could possibly get in his blistering guitar solos on “Ziggy Stardust” and “Starman.”

Jen Paulson, City Pages. Read the full review.

The same night my Cheapo TV episode (mentioned below) was aired. I didn’t get to see the episode that night but I taped it to view later. They did a really good job with it! Wish you could all see.