Little Man - What I Say blog

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 9 Dec 2024 13:16:00 -0600

Song: As One

Single and Track 3 from In Between The Lions album

Available to add to your playlists, share, buy and stream.

Cosmic connections and the energy felt. A majestic intro by John Fields launches this dreamy psych rock tune with a Dandy Warhols and George Harrison vibe.

"Eyes can be the tether,

That connects our worlds together.

Feeling our attraction,

And the chemical reaction.

It's a joy to be as one.

Scouting like a ranger,

You're no longer like a stranger.

Now and then forever,

From a spark, to flame, to ember.

It's a joy to be as one.

Eyes can be the tether,

That connects our worlds together."

Recorded and produced by John Fields

Chris Perricelli - vocals, guitars, slide, tambo

Sean Gilchrist - drums

Brian Herb - bass

John Fields - mellotron, piano

Cover art by Phaedra Odelle Collage

“As One” beautifully combines the sounds of jangle pop, Britpop, and raga rock" - The Diversity of Classic Rock by Angie Moon

Available on Apple Music

Available on Bandcamp

BLVD by Little Man

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 2 Dec 2024 12:09:00 -0600

Song: BLVD
Track 2 from In Between The Lions
Listen, watch, share, add to playlists from the links in comments.
Definitely watch the video!

This one came through one day out and about on a walk as you could imagine with the tempo. A summer anthem of sorts. A hot meet up scenario. This was the very first song recorded with producer John Fields. Special Minneapolis guest Mark Mallman helps out on piano to carry it home.

Meet me on the BLVD,
I’d rather see you than talk.
We could drive but it’s a quarter to five,
And baby I’d rather walk.

Let them say what they wanna say.
We’re gonna get together anyway.
So I called to tell you

Meet me on the BLVD,
I wanna see you some more.
We can feel, we can touch,
But it don’t add to much,
Until we get through the door.
Meet me on the BLVD.

Produced, recorded and mixed by John Fields.
Chris Perricelli- Vocals, Guitars, percussion
Sean Gilchrist - Drums
Brian Herb - Bass
Mark Mallman - Keys
John Fields - Synth

Eric Kassel - Cover art design and videographer

This track is on "In Between The Lions", buy the album for your personal library on Bandcamp.

Enjoy the song? Leave a tip to help support my creativity by buying me a coffee

Heartburst by Little Man

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 19:02:00 -0600

Heartburst song by Little Man

Purchase on Bandcamp Add and share on Spotify

Love the tune? Tips are appreciated!

This song provides an empowering energy boost with an attention grabbing fuzz guitar riff with amplified heart energy. A rise out of ashes push. Want that feeling?!

Song link in comments

Minnesota Wild hockey loves it at the stadium

Classic Rock Magazine says it "stomps and shimmies."

"Heartburst stomps and shimmies along like Typhoons-era Royal Blood hitting the floor with the Dandy Warhols, at a 70s club night." - Classic Rock Magazine

Heartburst, recorded and produced by multi-platinum producer John Fields (Soul Asylum, Switchfoot, Jonas Brothers) is a powerful uplifting song as an encouragement of self-expression and rising out of difficult times. Perricelli pulls from themes of dark to light, from suppression to being free, from depression to hope with courage and courage to be yourself. It’s a song of breaking free and liberation as the energy of a “bursting heart.” Muddiness becomes clear. The Sun shines through the clouds. Using heart energy and self-love to raise oneself up and express without fear with an energy that is ready to do so. This authentic heart shining is the shining of unique personal purpose in the world which is not only a gift to one’s self but in so doing, a gift to others.

lyrics

Heartburst
Lyrics by Chris Perricelli

All this body can feel is a heart,
That is breaking down the walls,
So high you can't feel,
Where it ends and begins again.
Hear me talk about what is real,
With a force, with a power of love.
It's a sign so bright you can deal,
With the dark and the night,
That it's all, here, now,
In a time and a space that is raw, real, burnin'
From a core exploding.

Shine so bright from your heart,
You're empowered, no restraint from a place of,
Love from which you will heal,
From the muck, you were stuck,
In the depths so heavy pulling the weight,
Until you release the fear,
And you rise up out of the ash,
From the flames, your tail's still on fire,
And you're all, here, now.
In a time and a space that is raw, real, burnin'
From a core exploding.

credits

released August 8, 2022
Recorded & Produced by John Fields at Creation Audio
Chris Perricelli - vocals, guitars
John Fields - bass, keyboards
Sean Gilchrist - drums, percussion

SEE that energy in the video!

By David Kurtovich

Features the distinct guitar effect the

"Fuzz Probe" by Zachary Vex at ZVEX

Listen, share and add to your playlists if you want this sort of song in your ears.

Screenshot and add to your Spotify search bar.

Also available on Apple Music and others.

#rockmusic #guitar #MusicMonday #rock

11:11

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 14:46:00 -0600

Little Man music, song: 11:11

Show your support with a purchase on Bandcamp

Love the song, leave a tip! Treat me to a coffee.

11:11 is a strong shout-out pop rocker by Little Man out of Minneapolis that was recorded and produced by multi-platinum producer John Fields.

This song encompasses the power of spontaneously witnessing 11:11 and the theme of synchronicities in life and especially with significant others that point to powerful connections, supportive “yes” paths and alignments as signs from the Universe, Spirit, Higher Power etc. 11:11 points one to take notice of what is happening and that it’s significant. It’s a sign that beckons people to pay attention, that whatever experience you’re having has importance in Divine timing. It is symbolic and reveals balance of duality as well as karmic bonds for which this number sequence is commonly associated with the Twin Flame relationship. Often wishes are made upon seeing 11:11, as well with its link to physically manifesting them.

11:11 visually is like two sets of pillars on either side not only representing two people and the energies of duality as one element, a Union, but also of a spiritual portal, an evolutionary gate or cosmic gateway of transformation for which the two go through together with and from each other like two keys that have to be turned exactly at the same time to open a door or launch a rocket! 11:11 is also a symbol of the present moment and the Zen like awareness of the ever present and power of NOW. We meet there.

lyrics

11:11
Lyrics - By Chris Perricelli

I'm a rose punctured through,
The concrete avenue.
Through the cracks, from within,
The dark dirt Earth had me in.
I'm a jewel tucked away,
To manifest some day,
From your heart, you had wished,
And back again we came.
And there was 11:11.
And we are 11:11.
We meet there 11:11.

Well we can't deny,
Our fate so why ask why?
We believe, when we see,
The synchronicities.
As above, so below,
A love that's oh so bold.

And there was 11:11.
And we are 11:11.
We meet there 11:11.

We can't believe it, when we see it!
We see the signs recognized every time baby.
We can't believe it, when we see it!
We see the sign, a YES YES flashing by,
Recognized every time baby.

credits

released November 11, 2022
Recorded and produced by John Fields at Creation Audio in Minneapolis.
Chris Perricelli - vocals, guitars, xylophone, percussion
Sean Gilchrist - drums
John Fields - bass, piano, synths

#syncronicities #love #1111 #rockmusic #connection

Sometimes Solitude

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 19:03:00 -0500

Sometimes Solitude is a mostly acoustic psych rock song turned heavier with classic rock elements that take the listener on a mystical journey. On speaking of the Holy Grail, one of my favorite writers Joseph Campbell quotes " ‘They thought it would be a disgrace to go forth in a group. Each entered the Forest Adventurous at the point he himself had chosen, where it was darkest and there was no way or path.’ You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path; each human being is a unique phenomenon.
The idea is to find your own pathway to bliss.” Read more about this HERE.

Sometimes, being by myself is a way for me to energize. It's the place where creativity comes out of. It's a place to listen and hear your spiritual essence. A place of accepting yourself and where you are and yet also to be moved from.

This song is magnificently produced by John Fields at Creation Audio in Minneapolis. I was unsure on how to proceed if at all with this song because I felt my home made demo was really good but John was totally the right person to lift this song up from where it was and make it truly epic.

The song starts with the sound of cicadas which are the tracks I recorded from home of actual cicadas outside. With a wash of cymbals comes the acoustic guitar and we're off on our own journey. I brought a mandolin in for the session hoping that we could somehow incorporate that and luckily I was able to figure out a simple part. We wanted a Led Zeppelin percussive tap tap tapping like Ramble On so Sean Gilchrist beat on his chest for that effect.

Sorry for the poor video quality here!

I sing in a lower register like Nick Drake or another one of my favorites Liz Phair and the detuned acoustic guitar melodic line makes it more mystical. John added wonderful Mellotron strings and it's just perfect. Fields also plays bass here too.
With John's direction I built up the vocal in the second verse and the band hits full. Here I played a12 string electric through a little amp and WOW YES soooo good! Loved that sound we got with that. Perfect! Alot of elements giving forth a Zeppelin II or IV feel with this song which I love.

This is also a moon song which becomes evident in the bridge. I find the moon to be one of the most fascinating things of nature. I'm always looking for it in the morning or at night heck even sometimes it can be seen in the day! This song touches on the phases of the moon and it's journey from dark to light and it also symbolizes to me the dark and light elements of ourselves that each of us has and to recognize and accept those parts of us that make us a complete human being.

This song is great for remembering your individual path, your own essence, your essence that, although is of it's own, is part of something much bigger. It's perfect with your morning coffee, a walk or run by yourself, a car ride, traveling on your own. So proud of this song and the work Fields brought to this. Sometimes...enjoy solitude.

We love that you stream this song wherever convenient but please purchase this song to support us as artists at Amazon, iTunes, Bandcamp etc

When I think about,
All you do for me,
Every day of the year,
You're everything to me,
Nothing more to be,
I keep on showing my self.

When I'm traveling,
To or where or when,
I keep on telling my self,
Sometimes solitude comes across as rude,
But I feel good when I'm there.

Well when the moonlit sky gives birth to midnight,
It all begins from here,
From the dark to light.
I once thought about how sad I'd be,
If I never heard the sound within me.

Early morning rise,
Coolness in the air,
Heading out on my way.
'Cause sometimes solitude,
Energizes me,
To be alive everyday.

Hear also on Pandora

“Something I can relate to.”(What I’ve been listening to) - The Diversity Of Classic Rock

"Sometimes Solitude” delivers nostalgia to music lovers who have experienced an immersion into the sea of Classic Rock and carries an education for Indieheads without that experience, but who have a respect and appreciation for the roots of today’s music. Better yet, it does so within a vehicle having a polish that reflects modern day sensibilities. In “Sometimes Solitude,” Little Man captures the soul of the acoustic classics…” - Indie Obsessive

"An innovative magic of energy...the construction of the song evokes memories of Led Zeppelin. What a ride." - Comeherefloyd.com

"Just gorgeous" - Andrea Swensson DJ 89.3 The Current

For further reading on solitude, check out this article by Brent Crane in The Atlantic magazine.

Little Man Produced By John Fields - New Music!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 May 2018 17:43:00 -0500

I am super happy to announce that Little Man will be releasing new music this year! On top of that it's even more exciting to have John Fields a well known top producer collaborate with me and take the reigns as producer, engineer and mixer.

John has worked with Soul Asylum, Jonas Brothers, Jimmy Eat World, Miley Cyrus, Pink and so many more artists you've heard of. You can expect a good mix of rock, acoustic and psychedelic rock with these new songs keeping the classic Little Man vibe yet nudging a little more modern here and there and interpreted through John's lens. John is taking these songs to new heights further than I could have expected. Things are sounding amazing so I can't wait for you to here them!

Finding someone to record your songs can be a difficult thing. As an artist I find it difficult to trust my songs in another person's hands. The albums Little Man has put out in the past sound fantastic and I wanted to keep moving in that direction and give these songs the treatment they deserve. I've got an album's worth of songs demo'd out and it was a matter of finding the right person to interpret these songs in a bigger way. I wanted more than just the band rocking, these songs need more realized elements and those production tweaks and additions are important especially for some of the more laid back songs. While trying to spread the word that I was looking for someone to record our upcoming album, a few people recommended John Fields. I wasn't too familiar with him but I had heard his name before as a top producer here in Minneapolis. We met up and had a great meeting talking about classic rock and bringing in more modern aspects to my music. Fields brings in an element that is all his own in a creative way that bumps these songs up so many more notches. It's so fun being in the studio with Fields working out the new material. He has great recording techniques and is very creative in the process which makes it a joy to be involved with all that. Below is the first track we recorded. There's so much more to come plus the BLVD video so sign up on the Little Man Mailing List and we'll keep you posted!

Are you ready?! Here's the first single!

Send us a reply, how would you describe the new song?

Click the cover below to get BLVD from your preferred music source

Chris Perricelli - Vocals and Guitars

Sean Gilchrist - Drums

Brian Herb - Bass

Mark Mallman - Keys

John Fields - Synth

Creating a Bowie Inspired Costume 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 07:00:00 -0500

It's been an honor to join so many of my local musician friends to play a tribute to David Bowie at First Avenue called Rock For Pussy every year to benefit Feline Rescue Inc. in Minneapolis. This year I worked with local designer Megan Zwack to create a Bowie inspired costume for RFPXIII!

Photo by Tony Nelson

Photo by Paul Lundgren

A person’s fashion, especially a great costume, beams out energy. To me, it’s a catalyst to playing a role and inspires a good performance. Wearing a custom design is entertaining and fun but it can be even more so for the audience. I wanted to pull in a local designer to be a part of the Bowie tribute as collaboration between local music and style scenes. Music and fashion, especially if we’re talking about David Bowie, certainly go together. His music has such a wide range and so does his style. So many people, both performers and audience members get dressed up for this show.

Megan sewing up finishing touches

Dr. Zwack is Megan’s own clothing brand and we connected on social media first. Music has been a major part of her inspiration.

Photo by Emily Hooper

“I have never been conventional in my approach to design and have always felt like a black sheep in the design community. As a designer I have always found it difficult to create in terms of industry standards and have been completely uncomfortable with terms like ready-to-wear or resort wear. Each of my collections or individual pieces is a song, a story, an album, or the soul consciousness of a musician or group ranging from Bobbie Gentry to Black Oak Arkansas. The Dr. Zwack Lake Street collection is inspirited by the Wolfmother album Victorious. The creative process starts with a song and I use my design skills, with fabric as my medium, to bring that song into physical form as a musician would use an instrument to create the song itself. I have known from the start of my design career that my soul purpose is to dress musicians and singers for stage performance. After cutting my teeth in the local fashion design world, garnering skills and expertise, I am fully ready to branch out. When designing for Chris Perricelli, inspired by Ziggy Stardust, I was very careful to amalgamate and ennoble the soul of both musicians while carefully riding the line of sophisticated design and costume ensuring that the story of both talents were represented.” – Megan Zwack

I had a feeling I should just contact her about making something special for this show. I sent her a message and she was thrilled for the opportunity to create something so we made plans to get together about it.

Hopping over to Eat Street Social we sat at the bar and flipped though one of my David Bowie books for inspiration. We discussed costume possibilities and she was eager to work on a fun glam rock project.

This was my first time meeting her and we hit it off quite well talking about music and style. She’s got an early 70’s vibe and a great personal style herself.

Photo by John Botkin

Megan’s first design concept came from her drawing:

She bought Italian silk material. One with a kind of a snake skin pattern for the jacket and the other was silvery metallic for the pants. She also scored some red vinyl to be displayed on the inside

and along the back of the collar of the jacket. After measurements and a session of pinning with a muslin pattern she got closer to pulling it all together. The design morphed into a fantastic glam rock costume that seemed to nod to Bowie from his Ziggy era all the way up to his more modern pieces.

Megan also lent me her hand made and cut Bobbie Gentry Stage Coat fringe jacket to be worn with my star pants that she altered along with a crazy full colored vintage polyester shirt. You can find this fringe jacket and more of Dr. Zwack’s hand made clothes at Showroom and she sells also by appointment on-line.

I wore the star pants, shirt and fringe jacket for the first set and then her full custom piece for the second part of the show. The clothes felt and performed really well with me and I couldn’t have been any happier with how it all turned out. On top of that it was a great show!!


Photo by Charles Robinson


Photo By Joe Teachworth

Photo by Danny Contreras Jr.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 21:43:00 -0500

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Follow Little Man and add your favorite songs to your playlists!

Soulful Automatic Turns 10!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 14:48:00 -0600

Released in 2007 Little Man's Soulful Automatic was the band's debut album on Eclectone Records. Our third full length release. It's hard to believe the time that's gone by with this precious gem of an album. It got great press reviews and earned the band alot of recognition locally and bumped us into the national scene as well that continued with with an official SXSW show and a fun tours that hit points east to New York City and back. Minneapolis City Pages did a cover story as well and named Little Man "Best Rock Band 2007". I couldn't believe the cover story opportunity. It started as a premonition.I practically woke up in a gasp waking up my wife saying "cover of the City Pages!" I pitched promo info to City Pages as soon as I could get it together and hoped for the best. Eclectone had also put in some good words for some sort of coverage.

City Pages sent out writer Pete Scholtes to spend a day or two following me around with band and day to day stuff. City Pages art director Nick Vlcek invited me over for a photo shoot. I had no idea this was to be a cover story up till maybe a day before it was published and I didn't know what the cover would look like either. I was thrilled!! I scooted off to City Pages the morning it came out and watched pallets and pallets of this magazine get loaded out and picked up to go all over the Twin Cities and beyond. My first look at the magazine... "Next Big Thing" it said! "Little Man Singer Chris Perricelli Takes His Shot." WHAA??!! That's quite a statement. A tall order there. My goodness this is crazy! A big flood of happiness overwhelmed me. "Go forth and do your work well!" I yelled at all my faces. Pete and Nick did an amazing job with it capturing an honest look into myself and what I do. So grateful for the opportunity to get the music I created with a cool bunch of people out to so many more people and to be supported by the label and the city as a band, songwriter and musician.

Eclectone Records was a Minneapolis based label run by Scott LeGere and Martin Devaney. It was awesome to have a team behind you helping with promotion, direction and support. The record was already recorded and I wanted to get it out as soon as possible.

I shopped it out to many national labels prior. There was even an interest at Atlantic Records for a short time up until my A&R contact got laid off. Eclectone was new and local run by good friends and I couldn't wait to release this record.

I worked with four different producers to fully realize songs from demos I had previously recorded. I wanted to work with producers I had admired and wanted them each to record specific songs. At this time, along with myself, Little Man included Ryan Otte on drums and Ben Foote on bass as the core band. The Soulful Automatic sessions used many more musicians to help.

Here's some thoughts on the making of the record:

Producer/Engineer: Ed Tinley
Songs: Come Undone, Prize Fighters, Tire Fire, California Baby
Ed has been recording Little Man since early on. He recorded a bunch of Ike Reilly music as well as Liz Phair who I'm also a really big fan of. He's a great friend and we've built alot of trust regarding Little Man music over the years. Recording with him is one of my favorite things. I traveled down to the Chicago area to record with Tinley over a few days at Ike's Diamond City studio, which was formally an old hunting lodge. A really cool big wood cabin of a place. Opening track Come Undone evokes a Led Zeppelin III vibe. I sing falsetto and use a twelve string guitar here and also added the air organ and xylophone. Ed also suggested we string my guitar with all high strings (Nashville tuning) for a couple of these which created a more chime crisp tone. I loved it. We tracked from the guitars up adding layers of guitars and vocals for this session. Ed played bass and another longtime friend and former core band member Dave Cottini played drums on these tracks. Dave and I gel like musical brothers having an unmistakable, nonverbal, musical connection when we play. Very creative player. These songs have an openness, breathy, velvet character to them. Just beautiful. I get choked up hearing these back sometimes.

Producer/Engineer: Chris Dorn
Songs: Out For Miles, Soulful Automatic, Light Years
Chris Dorn plays in a band called The Beatifics. My wife introduced me to them back before I moved to the Twin Cities and I really dug the songwriting and production of their records. I wanted these songs to be slightly more modern sounding and I also needed help finalizing the songs themselves. Chris Dorn has a great sense of rock/pop songwriting sensibility. He offered great advice and additional parts to these songs. Dorn was also quite creative and meticulous when it came to mixing these. In particular the title track Soulful Automatic. After the song was just about mixed and finished he went back and tracked a compelling background vocal as well as an acoustic guitar. I heard it back and knew I didn't play or sing those parts but man I loved it! Ben Foote's melodic bass line on this song is so memorable. Ben is smart and quite accomplished in the study of bass and offered a modern touch and subtle uniqueness to these songs. In Out For Miles Ryan Otte's drum intro is perfect. Dorn made that huge. Ryan's playing is earthy, rock & roll. He has impeccable timing and feel. We also accomplished getting those Harrison-esque harmonized slide guitar hooks to sound just right. Dorn came up with the chord change modulation at the end of the song.

Listen to my home recorded demo of the title track:

Producer/Engineer: Mike Wisti
Songs: Shag If You Want To, You Love It, Shimmering Stars And The Moon Majestic
Mike Wisti recorded a great local band called Faux Jean and I was fond of the band and their recordings with him. I wanted the songs we recorded with Wisti to have more of a garage rock feel and I knew Mike could do this for us superbly. His studio is called Albatross in Minneapolis. We recorded live together to tape. Ryan Otte and Ben Foote for this session. This was my first time working with Mike. He's very much super knowledgeable about his studio room and the sound we were going for. Very interesting person and has kind of a mad scientist creative energy about him. I played Vox Continental keys on Shag which was pretty sweet. We recorded some backwards guitar for Shimmering Stars and Wisti lit up with excitement mixing this song in particular saying it was so MAJESTIC! Hence, that's where the title came from. Also I should mention that I met our current bass player Brian Herb at this session because he transferred the tracks from analog tape to digital. Good friends ever since.

Producer/Engineer: Jacques Wait
Songs: Undertow, Ride
Jacques was also in The Beatifics with Chris Dorn playing guitar and he also recorded Beatifics music, which I adored, so he was someone I was desperate to work with. Alot of people in town suggested him to produce. He could really understand the classic/modern combination I liked. We recorded at It's A Secret in Minneapolis owned by Dave Russ. Ryan Otte played drums on these and Jacques played bass. I also brought in Pete Hofmann to play electric Wurlitzer piano. Jacques is very precise and calculated in getting great tones and laying down tracks. I think we recorded the basic tracks to tape and overdubbed digital. We did harmonizing lead guitar parts in Undertow and recorded guitar through a rotating Leslie speaker cabinet in Ride. These tunes are clean, sharp rock/pop goodness. So happy to have finally worked with Jacques. Undertow became the popular radio single.

Very different sounding tracks but with the perfect track listing (which took quite a while to figure out) and expert mastering by David Gardner it combined to make a very cohesive, well balanced album as a whole. A great album to hear and experience in it's entirety. This is classic Little Man.

Little Man will be performing most of these songs March 4th 2017 at the 331 Club in Minneapolis. Come help us celebrate!

You need Soulful Automatic in your music library. Here are some options:

Get it on CD at CDbaby
Download it at iTunes
Download it at Bandcamp

Little Man albums Of Mind And Matter, Orbital Amusement and Original Face followed Soulful Automatic. We are just about to hit record for our next one. Stay tuned!

It's fun to mock the rock: Stonehenge!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 17:27:00 -0600

As the kickoff to 89.3 The Current's 11th birthday, the radio station hosted a screening of the movie "This Is Spinal Tap" the classic music mockumentary from 1984, at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Little Man got to open with a half hour set. What a blast!!

I figured to live it up, play the part and have fun with the opportunity. We played our own songs, deciding not to cover any Spinal Tap but played it up in a Spinal Tap kind of way. From my previous posts you know that I'm into glam rock and the fashion of the genre. I wore red satin pants with furry boot covers and had a leopard print long sleeve shirt. I decided to cut off the sleeves to make it a tank like Nigel wore in the movie but botched one side accidentally. So now I didn't have a shirt but saw these cut sleeves on the floor, so I put them on backwards on my arms and they became glamorous glam rock wings! I loved it. I made a necktie scarf out of the rest of the shirt's remains. In addition, my wife helped me with some great make-up. And oh yes, I did have an armadillo in my trousers.

Two days before the show my wife and I brainstormed how we could do something special for the show. We thought it would be hilarious if we lowered a mini Stonehenge onto the stage just like in the movie. Watch the scene HERE. We didn't have much time though!! Brigid said she could make one and thought she could get it done. I really didn't think it was possible in the amount of time we had. The night before the show she got stared while I was at rehearsal with the band. She kept sending me updates but I kept it secret from everyone including the band.

It was looking great. I contacted the theater to see if it was possible to do what we wanted as far as rigging goes and they confirmed they could. (Yes!) The day of the show Brigid was completely determined to finish the monument by the time we had to leave for load in at the theater. She cut, sanded, painted, glued and glittered what would become the greatest stage prop ever! It was to specs too, 18"! She attached it to a base to make the rigging easier, plus we didn't want it to fall apart while it was hanging there. The paint and glue weren't even dry yet. Although if it did fall apart it would have been a classic Spinal Tap moment regardless.

You should have seen the look on Brian Herbs face when he saw the mini monument in the van when I arrived at the rehearsal space. Completely bowled over. Sean too laughed in disbelief. "We're going to lower this down on our last song!" I said and we had a good laugh. It got us really excited.

Sound check photo by Sean Gilchrist

The Fitzgerald Theater is a really beautiful, old opera style venue. Last time I was there was when I worked with Ike Reilly in 2001. Everyone was surprised when we showed up with our prop. Alan, one of the theater tech's, rigged and hung it way up in the rafters. I made sure to tell everyone not to post to social media about it yet. Sound check went very well although it's a little different playing in a theater like that but very fun. Also, it's a little bit of a maze backstage just like the Spinal Tap scene. They provided delicious food from Cossetta's in the green room area. I was a little worried we'd be provided with coldcuts and miniature bread ;).

Mid descent! Photo by Allison Wagner

Brian Herb, Sean Gilchrist and myself. Photo by A.Wagner

Brian Oak, who just recently became a Current DJ, MC'd the evening. They had pre-show Rock Band video game set up for the audience on the movie screen. Brian introduced us and out we went! Really fun to play that stage. The audience was great. I could see many of them out of their seats dancing. The set was a good rock'n 8 songs long. The last song was Sun from our last Original Face album. A perfect closer to accompany our descending Stonehenge. And then it descended on the opening chords of Sun, slowly lowered from the rafters and the crowd went bonkers. YEAHHHHH!! The lowering of the Stonehenge piece turned our show up to 11. It gave us that extra push, you know?! Brigid gets the MVP for sure.

After a standing ovation (Thank you!!) we we headed off stage, with some big laughs. My band mates are awesome. It means a lot to share these experiences with them. Not easy to play such a short set sometimes though. It felt like we were just getting warmed up and wanted to play another. After the monument was unharnessed we got it out to the theater lobby during intermission and people gathered to take pictures with it.

Then "This Is Spinal Tap" started. I hadn't seen it in it's entirety in years. Just hilarious. See it if you haven't! So, so fun to be a part of this. Now what to do with our little Stonehenge??

This drawing by Eric Tretbar was given to me on the Zodiac scene!

Special thanks to Gretchen Webber for the video. If you have pictures or video from that night, please feel free to share them here with us!

There Is A Mountain

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 09:26:00 -0600

I was recently asked by Scott Herold of Rock The Cause to to choose a song to record for a Donovan tribute album to benefit Huntington's Hope. I was very excited to have the opportunity to do so among other local artist and popular national as well. Donovan is a spiritual folk hero in my eyes. I love his fuzz rock stuff too but his acoustic songs strike a chord with me. I chose to do "There Is A Mountain" a song he recorded in 1967."

I immediately recognized this song's Zen content as the ancient koan goes, "First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is." The song carries the wisdom of "thusness," seeing things as they are and accepting that. I've been interested in and have been practicing Zen and meditation for many years (see my previous post on mediation) and I often draw inspiration from that sort of practice to create songs for my band Little Man. So in a similar way, I feel where Donovan is coming from and appreciate his work and was thrilled to have a chance to record it and be a part of this compilation.


photo by Emily Utne

The song is simple just as its content is and I wanted to keep it that way in my version. I didn't deviate too far from the original because of it's natural, organic feel. That's where it should be. It kind of repeats like a meditative mantra. While studying the song I noticed (for the very first time I'm sorry to say) that the melody is the same in The Allman Brothers "Mountain Jam." I had no idea The Allman's got it from this song. I'd been jamming to that song for years as a kid playing right along with it gaining my chops on guitar. So there is a tad of that in there too. You can here my version of Donovan's "There Is A Montain" and purchase the album Gazing With Tranquility to benefit Huntington's disease at Rock The Cause.

First there is a mountain.
You are brought up to know what a mountain is. Picture it in your mind, draw what a mountain looks like to you or go out and witness one. Massive stone object with white cap peaks. Separate from you. But a mountain is made up of so many things; rocks, dirt, trees, insects etc. Where does a valley end and a mountain begin? Show me?

Then there is no mountain.
A mountain is a human concept. It's what we call a mountain. We give it that name, thus we separated it from all that is, from us. It is useful to use language to communicate something but the word mountain is just a symbol. Go past that symbol. The mountain is not separate from you. From multiplicity to unity.

Then there is.
Back to being a conceptual mountain but this time carrying with it the wisdom of no mountain. This is the mystical realization. Nirvana is ordinary life. See things as they are. Thusness or suchness. Living in the world as a part of it and not separate from it is the wisdom. Know the multiplicity in unity. Also there is that spiritual seeking element that comes full circle. One might feel the need or the desire to seek God or Nirvana, enlightenment, spiritual bliss etc. You take that journey and then realize that you can't seek what you already have or are. It's not outside or separate from you. You return. Zen is ordinary life. Enlightenment is here and now. You have the wisdom, living in this world with all of it's joy and suffering and everything in between for which you cannot separate yourself from. It's all you.

But then again that it's self is just a concept... Zen is something to be experienced spontaneously. Experiencing with out labeling. Dropping all concepts is like an empty cup ready to be useful and receive or like a mirror that reflects but does not hold. Music is a great Zen-like thing in that there is no destination in a song. A song IS. Alan Watts said something like "if getting to the end of a song was it's intent, all musical pieces would be finales and the orchestra would be playing as fast as they could to get to the end". You listen and follow along to a musical piece and then it's gone. You physically can't hold onto it. You don't normally suspend that lovely chord forever and want to hear that chord for eternity because it makes you happy. The chord changes and you accept that.

There is so much to read about Zen, Buddhism, Eastern philosophies and all sorts of meditation techniques. This link on The Ox Herder is a good one that fits with my theme here with this song. Look into it if it interests you but while gaining that literary knowledge can be good, doing and experiencing them is at the heart of it all.

FUZZ WAHD™

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 00:08:00 -0500

This is the Fuzz Wahd ™. It's a guitar pedal I made and it's my first creation from conception to the physical box. I love the sound of the Fuzz Face and I wanted it to be a little louder and with more gain to be used as a lead pedal for solos. I also wanted the tone to be able to cut through so I combined all of that with a wah-wah like filter. All this makes a cocked wah sound (like a wah-wah pedal set in one position) with Fuzz Face like tones that's boosted. It's juicy like a big wad of bubble gum. The fuzz itself reminds me of Jimi Hendrix sound from the Isle Of Wight show (listen to Red House from minutes 6-8). I LOOOVE that. The cocked wah tones are like that of Mick Ronson on songs like The Man Who Sold The World and Ziggy Stardust. Super glam rock. (Ronson, by the way used a Tone Bender with wah-wah)

It was actually a DIY Premier Guitar Magazine article that got me off in the right direction in building something like this from scratch. I've been building pedals from kits for a few years now but wanted to try to create one my self and learn more about that process. So with research I combined three circuits to pull this off. I ordered the parts and bought what's called a breadboard to attach them on to for testing circuits. I drew out a detailed schematic and tried to make it all work on the board. A major challenge. This took me quite a while.

I built each circuit separately and adjusted and swapped out components that I felt made it better and the way I liked it with my amp (Marshall 50W JCM 800). After that I hooked them all together in the right combination. In many instances Fuzz Faces and wah-wahs don't play nicely together. In this pedal they do. When I first got signal I was so amazed and happy with my accomplishment!! It sounded so killer! Now I knew how Zachary Vex must have felt when he built his first fuzz.

Getting them onto the breadboard was one thing, getting them off the board and onto something that will fit into an enclosure is another. I had it sounding so good I didn't want to have to take the components off of there. Another hurdle of a challenge. I got a vero board to do this. When you by guitar pedal kits it comes with a PCB board that has everything laid out for you like a map and you just put your components on and solder it up. Here with something like the vero board, you have to make your own map.

Again, my first experience with this thing. I read about how to do it and then drew out a vero board layout. For reference, I also drew out and took pictures of what my bread board looked like. I spent a lot of time checking and checking and checking my layout maps and comparing it to my bread board set up. When I thought I had it right, I added the components and soldered them on.

I ordered an enclosure and a page of decal paper. I added titles to the knobs and added someone blowing a bubble gum bubble to the top of it. Brushed it with Mod Podge. The next step was to put the populated board inside of it and wire it up. Another big challenge. Lots of research on this. Apparently there are many ways to wire up a fuzzbox. I wired it up to my best ability. The LED didn't work. I had to figure that out. Then I got signal and was super happy with that but the pedal didn't work how it should. There was fuzz but I was getting a constant tone coming through and none of the knobs worked. This took me weeks to figure out. Checking my work over and over and just staring at that thing. I got really frustrated at this point. I knew that I had a great sounding circuit but this was just not working. Taking the board out of the box and testing each section of the circuit still baffled me. I came pretty close to just walking this thing downstairs, laying it on the driveway and backing over it with my van. After that I would put it in drive and run it over a second time. Luckily it didn't come to that. I think I was just in a good state of mind when I was looking at it one day, checking my work and I found that I needed to drill an extra hole in the vero board to block a connection. Could that be it??

I took the whole board and tested it on the breadboard and.....IT WORKED!!!!!! Oh man I was so happy and thrilled. Wow, I did it!!! I wired it back up and plugged it in. Boy did I crank my amp for that. Loved it. This thing rocks. Have a listen.
What a cool project. Very proud of myself. Now lets see if I can duplicate it. You might want one.

Inquire at LittleMBD@gmail.com.

Special thanks to ZVEX for the inspiration. Chase Bliss' Joel Korte for the education and KJ Audio's Kris Johnson for the confidence. One small leap for a little man. One giant leap for mankind.

Opening for Billy Idol!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 16:59:00 -0600

photo by Tony Nelson

What a crazy opportunity!! My band Little Man opened up for Billy Idol and Steve Stevens! This hand picked show by DJ Mary Lucia for 89.3 The Current's 10th anniversary was hard to keep under wraps when we found out about it three months prior. If you haven't heard it, you got to tune in or stream Mary Lucia's Rock & Roll Radio. It airs at 10pm on Friday's but you can always check out anytime on-line.

This show sold out in mere minutes as the club's capacity is only about 350 people. The Turf Club in St. Paul holds a special place in my heart as it was my first introduction to the music scene here. I first got familiar with it from countless shows with Ike Reilly. I also met my wife there too. Since then the band has kind of made it our home spot. So it meant alot to be a part of this show at this particular venue

Our sound check was excellent with a top live sound engineer Jay Perlman running sound for us. Upon arrival we expected Billy and his guitarist Steve Stevens to have been there already and sound checked but that was not the case. People gathered early at the back door for autographs. I was happy to sign one for Jim Ashworth, a well known autograph collector who had a couple newspaper clippings of me to sign.

In the basement of The Turf Club the green room was reserved only for the main act. The other openers Tropical Depression and us gathered in the hallway waiting for our cue to head up to the stage for our sets. "When was Billy Idol going to arrive?" we all wondered.

As the first band played I changed into jeans, a black and white print polly vintage shirt, an orange waist length fur coat and my new white boots that had just arrived two days before in the mail. Even our drummer Sean put on his best threads for this one with a black and white suite and tie. Brian our bass player, of course, wore his overalls. No one rocks them like he does!

The Current's Mary Lucia introducing Little Man and my boots. A pause of gratitude.

photo by Tony Nelson

We were able to get on stage a little early which was good since we were told to cut our set a little short so now we could get our whole show in. The house was packed and we were totally ready to bring it on. I started with he riff to The Builder, a song off the new Original Face album and we ran with it. The band was very

Sean Gilchrist

well received. I could hear lots of "Little Man"s from the audience and a couple of "nice mustache"s. We kept the energy up rolling right from one song into the next and gave it our all. I had been nursing a cold so I felt my voice wasn't quite were it should have been but the adrenalin cleared me up some and I was able to muster up the energy to pull it off.

"How the bloody hell am I supposed to follow this?!" What I imagine Billy Idol is saying re: Little…" Star Tribune's— Chris Riemenschneider (@ChrisRstrib) Tweet of Little Man.

On stage from the corner of my eye I could see Billy Idol among his entourage being ushered in. There was no mistaking his blond spiky hair."There he is!" I thought while crushing out a guitar lead. Our set was really rocking and we where all pretty happy with our set.

photo by Nate Ryan "the boots!"

From the stage I headed down to the basement. Billy Idol was locked away in his green room but his manager and guitarist were hanging out in the hallway outside the green room door. I kind of shuffled over to Steve Stevens pointing at his shoes and mine. We were both wearing white boots. He was impressed. In addition to our boots we talked about his touring guitar rig and effects pedals. We met just about eye to eye as he himself is not that tall of a person. Real laid back and cool to talk to for a bit.

photo by Jim McGuinn

Billy's green room door opened to let the Current staff in for a group photo so I hopped in not to miss the opportunity for a group photo.

Soon it was time for Billy and Steve to head up the narrow stairwell to the main floor and nearby stage. I was the last person up, so at the top of the stairs was Billy, Steve and me. I got to wish Idol a good show with a handshake. I stood with them as Mary introduced the two and that was a real memorable moment for me.

They got up to a screaming crowd and played an acoustic set. It was a quick one. Six songs! White Wedding, Kiss Me Deadly, Sweet Sixteen, Eyes Without a Face, To Be a Lover and Rebel Yell. No encore either. He signed autographs from the stage in between songs. This was mostly a radio promotion for him and that's how they do it. He was ushered back down to his room for a short while and I got to shake both their hands on their way out. They were escorted out of the club for more autographs out back door and then they shuttled off to an awaiting private jet.

All in all a really amazing night!

Check back, I'll post video of our set when I get it!!

A few quick reviews of our set:

“The three men create an aural assault of rock, combining a punk attitude with ‘70s glam. Herb’s bass playing is fluid and his harmonies soar. Leader Perricelli’s blistering guitar playing is somewhere between Mick Ronson (one of my heroes who played with Bowie in the early ‘70s) and Jack White. They let the music do the talking all set, quickly moving from one song to another recklessly. It was quite the experience.” – Erik Ritland, Curious North.

“rip-roaring ’70s rock aficionado” – Andrea Swensson, TheCurrent.

“Little Man hammered out an energetic and entertaining set supporting the idea that big things come in small packages.” – Patrick Dunn, TCDaily Planet

Chorus Pedal Build

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 16:00:00 -0600

This is the BYOC Mega Chorus/Vibrato. It's a guitar pedal kit you assemble and design the casing for yourself. I've done a handful of other effects (see previous blog entries) and really enjoy it. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to make this pedal for someone else. This one is for Joel Korte of Chase Bliss Audio. He's been making some fine effects. You should for sure look into them. He wanted to get some feedback on how this pedal sounded and it also gave me a chance to prove my building skills.

I love how this one turned out especially the casing. A chorus for a chorus! What better image to have on such a pedal? I Mod Podged the kid's chorus to the face of the pedal and paint-penned the knob descriptions. It took a good while to affix the photo and have it look ok. Alot of patience for sure.

The build it's self wasn't too difficult, just took a fair amount of time. A bump up in difficulty from your average fuzz pedal.

It sounds quite good! The rate gets really fast. Along with your classic Chorus and vibrato sounds, you can get some cool de-tuning effects and the tone knob is very effective.

Hard to send this one off! But it's in good hands. Thanks Joel.

Bandmate Appreciation: Thanks Guys!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 15:02:00 -0600

photo by Becca Sabot

With the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner I wanted to give a special thanks to my current Little Man band mates. While the band name is Little Man and could be associated with just myself, I couldn't do it with out my band mates. There is nothing like the sonic power and and energy of playing in a rock band. Drummer Sean Gilchrist and bass player Brian Herb have been a part of Little Man since 2010. They have been the longest running bass/drums band mates I have ever had. I started Little Man back in 1996 and have been lucky enough to have alot of talented musicians be a part of this band over the years to keep things going. This family, extends out to all the other musicians that have been in the band as well as fill in players, engineers and producers or anyone who has helped on an album. That's alot of people over the years!
Thank you!!!

There is that unexplainable feeling when you play with a drummer that is just right. I'll have it no other way when having a drummer play in this band and I've been grateful for playing with a good handfull of such folks over the years. Sean Gilchrist is one of them and has become a good friend and a great person to work on ideas with. We got to dig in while traveling to Chicago together to record Orbital Amusement. Driving in the van, spending long days working out parts and recording. His rock drumming style reminds me alot of Black Crows drummer Steve Gorman which I really dig. We work out parts together trying different things until I feel he's got the groove and he's been capable of coming up with so many drumming variations. Recording with him is a snap as he nails entire passes of songs in a take or two.

I first met bassist Brian Herb when I needed someone to transfer audio from analog tape to digital for the Soulful Automatic sessions. Just about the friendliest person you could meet. Brian, foremost, is also a really good drummer but he offered to play bass or drums for me when I met him if I ever needed the help. When I did need help on bass, I called him. He's great on bass! Brian has an awesome energy and stage presence and his own signature fashion style - always wearing overalls.He also built me a killer pedal board which I am forever thankful for.

photo by Becca Sabot

Us three playing together for the first time was so relaxed and right on. You get that feeling. And I know musicians know what I'm talking about but for the non musician, it's like pedaling a three person tandem bicycle or something like that. When playing a song, we communicate in a different way. Listening to each other and not just or own parts and watching for for subtle physical cues. Sometimes we'll all travel together on a jam in a particular direction just magically. It's a cool thing and that's the feeling you get when playing in a band.

Both Sean and Brian communicate with me very well, no one's egos get in the way. They come up with some cool arrangement and harmony ideas too but never get angry if things don't make the cut. They never take anything personally and want what's best for the song and the band as a whole.

Touring with them is a blast. We get along really well together like brothers. Van conversations have been both honest and hilarious. They love to seek out awesome food stops and help out with driving and tour managing. Brian is a long time tour specialist, so I feel especially at ease having him along.

These guys are great, not to mention, as you can see, they're both big guys which works well in contrast to me and the band name. That just happened of it's self in a good way! Excellent musicians and hard working guys. Being all together to record Original Face was a wonderful experience as well. Thanks for being a part of this band and helping me express the music! I appreciate you every rehearsal and every show.

photo by Charles Robinson

The Magician

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 15:50:00 -0500

This is the Build Your Own Clone Leeds Fuzz. It comes as a kit with all it's parts and a plain metal casing. You can decorate it how ever you wish. This guitar effects pedal is a clone of the Vox Superfuzz made famous by the great Pete Townshend of The Who heard on the Live At Leeds album.

Here I decoupaged a copy of one of my favorite Tarot cards The Magician (this one is from the Rider-Waite deck) on top and painted the casing yellow to match. I also replaced the stock black knobs for red ones to match the artwork. It has a switch that changes it's settings from a tighter wooly harmonic fuzz that sounds great playing two notes at once, to a wider aluminum heavy sounding fuzz. I find that the first option cuts through in a live band setting and this has got pretty good volume too. I used this sound on Little Man's song I Know Who You Are off the Original Face album. (in the video I state using it on "We Understand" but that is not the case.)

Here's a little Tarot lesson on The Magician, but first take a look at this image and see what your gut feeling is about it. Trust THAT. The Tarot is for you. It is card number 1. The number of unity. The connector of the many to the one. The Magician takes things out of thin air and makes them appear just like a songwriter takes ideas out of the ether and brings them into reality. The conscience between sub-conscience to cosmic-conscience. He has everything he needs to perform. Awareness of dreams. Captivating performer in the moment. Infinity, not of time.


From the Marseilles deck.

This is a fun hobby for me. I like to listen to my vinyl collection and work on stuff like this and them test them out and get creative with the sounds through an amp and then with the band. You can check out my other builds The Fuzzy Face, Fat Rocket and the Tube Dreamer if you're into it.

A Trip to the Badlands and Black Hills

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 22:06:00 -0500

I'd only heard about the Badlands but never have been. It's been a busy summer and I didn't have any days off either with work or the band so my wife and I set aside some time for a little road trip of our own. We hopped in our little car and headed West from St. Paul, MN. On interstate 90 you cannot miss the signs for Wall Drug, one of the most famous gift shops in the country. I think we counted some 40 cartoon-like signs on the 8 and a half hour trip. "Cowboy Up - Wall Drug," "5 cent Coffee at Wall Drug," "Free ice water - Wall Drug," and the many mile count downs to the place. The ride is pretty flat until you get further west, then you start to see some big rolling hills and acres and acres of yellow Sunflowers which was a real beautiful site to see.

Near the end of our trek across South Dakota we saw our first glimpse of "Badlands" style formations about the size of a few cars. "Oh look there's the Badlands" we joked and laughed. "There it is. Lets turn back." But then then we turned our heads to the other side of the road and saw these HUGE vast formations and we both fell silent and then "WOW!!" Really cool to see stuff like this for the first time. It is like they say about it looking like the surface of the moon or some strange sci-fi landscape. Now I was getting excited to see more. We approached the national park and had a couple hours before check-in so we drove through and walked a couple trails and fed some Prarie Dogs. Apparently they love peanuts. It got really hot here and we found it difficult to follow some of their trails as some of them were poorly marked but we found our way.

Our first night we stayed in a little cabin of our our in Wall, SD. We walked down to Wall Drug of course and spent some time there checking out all the jewelry, leather goods, shirts and knick knacks. After that, we grilled some brats and watched the sun set.

The following day was spent hiking more Badlands trails and then driving up to Hisega. We stayed at the oldest lodge in the Black Hills called the Hisega Lodge. This bed and breakfast was located right on a river in the woods. Just a gorgeous location. The owners were very kind and told us of the history of the lodge as well as some of the paranormal experiences which my wife and I were very eager to hear about. We spent the evening on the second floor front porch outside our room eating take-out and playing dominoes with the loud sound of the river just down below, waiting to see if an apparition of women in white would walk by.

Breakfast at the Hisega was amazing. Some sort of delicious peach cake and a breakfast pizza. We sat all together at one table with the other guests and got to know how everyone else's trips were going. From here we traveled north through more of the Black Hills and met up with a woman who would take us on a horseback ride for a couple hours. It was just three of us so that was pretty great. I've been on a horse a few times and really liked the experience so I thought it would be cool out here too. Our guide Barbara was awesome. I learned about Western geological words like "Gultch," "Bench" and "Butte." She took us through the woods and up the side of this huge hill that opened up to this great overlook of the land below and also saw Deadwood in the distance. I was pretty overwhelmed looking out at this point with a really intense feeling. Some sort of spiritual "fit" to the experience and the surroundings. My horse was named Scarlet and Brigid rode a wheezing horse named Doc.

Barbara gave us some tips on were to go from there to get to Deadwood so we followed her directions on 14A through the Black Hills.

Alot of "wow"s from Brigid and I passing through here. Rivers, creeks, mountains and forests on these hilly winding roads. We stopped for an "Indian Taco" for lunch. It's basically a Native American fry bread with taco fixin's on top.

We arrived at the famous wild west city of Deadwood.

It was really cool here. Settled in a neat valley. You might know Deadwood from the TV show too. We just started watching it the night we got back from this trip. Wild Bill Hickok was killed here. Calamity Jane lived there and Seth Bullock was the sheriff. This late 1800's era town used to be home to cowboys and miners with lots of brothels, gambling and daily murders. I wore my western wear and someone asked me if I was part of the reenactment that happened 3 times a day in the streets. I think my longish hair and mustache helped on that point. Still alot of slot machine casino stuff here. We wanted to get up to the old cemetery but just didn't have enough time.

We stayed at the Bullock Hotel that Seth Bullock owned. The Bullock is also famous for being a major haunted location. Of course we had to stay there! In fact the whole city has been known as the "City of The Dead" as so many people have witnessed paranormal activity in most of it's buildings and houses. Kitty corner from the Bullock is The Farimont Hotel which is also notably haunted (check out Dead Files and Ghost Lab TV shows). We were so lucky to get our own ghost tour at The Bullock and later after hours with Fairmont owner Bob Rousseau! Brigid and I came prepared with a video camera, EMF detectors and voice recorders.

In the Bullock we got to spend some time alone in the basement at the end of our tour. Brigid and I sat at the bar. At one point I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and Brigid got the same feeling and as this happened we got a couple good readings on our EMF detector. It was for sure an odd feeling that lasted quite a few minutes. We explored other areas but this was the most significant moment for us.

In the Farimont we walked through the building after closing time with the owner Bob. At one point, we stood on the 2nd floor in this big long open room where renovations were being made. We all heard something that sounded like a woman real quick from the next room! Both the 2nd and 3rd floors had a spooky feel to them in spots as well. I kept looking over my shoulder having the feeling that someone else was just behind me. We also hung out in a room were a woman had jumped out the window. Bob also showed us the documents of the day signed by Sol Star (partner to Seth Bullock) describing the suicide.

While in Deadwood we got our pictures taken at one of those "old west" photo places!

I felt like I wanted a steak and a whiskey in this old town so we got some food and drinks later in the evening, walked the streets and played some slot machines.

In the morning it was breakfast at Bully's at the hotel and then we got in the car and headed back. 10 hours to home. Really great time. We packed alot in! I think we might head back some day as there is so much more to see including Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument as well as some other key haunted locations.

Three States and No Brakes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 1 Sep 2014 21:01:00 -0500

The Mad-Dub-Chi Tour
Little Man headed out on a small regional tour this past weekend hitting Madison, Dubuque and Chicago, supporting the new album Original Face. It's pretty fun to hit some cool cities over a long weekend and build up more fans and sell some albums. Brian Herb and Sean Gilchrist and I hopped in Walley the Waldoch van and headed out on the road. Meanwhile Brian is in the back asking me about this window shade that has been broken for a couple days, so he took the time to take it all apart while we were in route and totally fixed it! Brian is a true problem solving engineer. I should leave something broken in the van the next time we head out so he has something to do on the drive.

Our first show was in the Madison, WI area, to a place called True Coffee.

First time there, in fact all the clubs we played this time were firsts for us. True Coffee is indeed a coffee house. They roast, brew and serve their own coffee. I was a little unsure about playing there but they say they book all kinds of music. On the bill were a couple solo acoustic acts and a teen trio. It was all ages so the audience was pretty mixed but there were alot of people at this show, so we were very happy. Super small stage for us but we did our thing and enjoyed the set. The headliner brought up his guitar student, who was only 10 years old, and he sang and played his own song and was AMAZING!! The staff was super nice there.

This show was fairly early so we headed back to the place we were staying which was Sean's sister-in-law. Really fun spending time with her, her husband and 3 young girls. That home environment is a good feeling on the road for sure. They have great place across the street from the big lake so we grabbed some beers and hung out lakeside. So nice.

Buying breakfast groceries.

After a big home made breakfast we headed for Dubuque, Iowa and rolled into the Holiday Inn. Nice place! Only two blocks from the club. We also met up with our friend Bryan who was at the show in Madison and wanted to help with gear and merch. We got some press here too so that was cool to see! For food we got a tip to have a burger at Paul's bar so after load in we walked over. This little place was full with taxidermy! All sorts of animals and it was all in these blue lit glass cases that were showcased up high. It was only 8:30pm and people were already lit here. Got bumped into by a couple people walking by and the whole bar stared at me as I sat alone waiting for the guys to return from a smoke. "Who does that guy look like to you??" one guy said and kept pointing and yelling. Johnny Depp was the first response. Uhm sorta, gotten that before so that wasn't so bad. Zappa almost always. Guys get back here already!

Back at The Lift, the show started off with a guitar and vocal duo and fair amount of folks here too. We played two sets and the crowd ended up dwindling but this one guy stood right up in front the whole night dancing.
At one point he dragged over this huge 3 foot or so log to the front and danced with it. It was just hilarious. He was having a great time and so were we!

Photo by Bryan Ludwikoski At The Lift!

After a noon check out, breakfast was at a diner a block from the hotel towards the river. "Sunshine" or something like that it was called. It was just what we needed. Good, very inexpensive food. Sean got the catfish which was deep fried and served to him whole without the fish head. After he was done, all that was left was the full fish bone skeleton and he said he felt like Heathcliff as he held it up for us to see.

At 1pm we roll on to Chicago. 20East out of Dubuque towards Chicago across Illinois is an absolute beautiful drive in the summer. Lots of big rolling green hills and farmland with cool little towns to pass through. I loved Galena, the home of Ulysses S. Grant. This river town was so civil war era looking. I was telling the guys that and then we passed U.S. Grants house and was like "see!!".

So we're driving along on the highway, and Sean was driving, and I look over and the brake light on the dash was on. "Did you hit the emergency brake by accident Sean?" I asked. "No" he replied. After pressing on the brake pedal we knew we had a problem. - "We have no breaks!! (pause...we each looked at each other) "AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" Deepest secrets were confessed at 70 mph. -

Well it didn't quite happen like that but it was a bit scary! We were able to exit and get to a gas station to inspect further. We needed break fluid. Bought that, put it in. But then we checked underneath and when we pressed on the brakes it sprayed out the back axle area. This was a bigger problem. Brian got on the phone right away calling service stations. Most were closed. Two were open and one of them had the part we needed and it was 15 miles away in Rockford.

We had to get there quick because they closed in an hour. We knew we could make it if we were very careful. I took the wheel and could press the brake pedal almost to the floor with hardly any resistance but enough to stop the van given plenty of space. Seat belts on and back on the highway. Never hit the brakes. Coasted onto the exit to the stop light. Three stop signals to go! Slowly and giving plenty of space between us and the car ahead, we made it to the service station. The whole brake line needed to be replaced. Staying after hours they were able to do that for us. Whew!! We were so thankful. Still going to make the show. We left them an album too. Chicago or bust!!!

Walley and me

It is so fun for me to return to Chicago because I lived there for 8 years and started Little Man there. Tonight we play The Green Room which is a part of The Abbey Pub. The Abbey's main stage was a Mexican Wrestling event. Rock and wrestling. Our openers were really good with a ripping Chicago blues sound and the headliner was and excellent Americana rock style musician Benjamin Cartel with his band. Real nice people from Brooklyn. Super songwriting skills. Our show was great too. We rocked it. Also big thanks to our Brian Herb for fixing another situation as there was no sound man here!

It felt real good to play in the city again and a group of friends of all of ours showed up to see us. Real happy to see and hang out with old friends. Afterwards we headed over to The Long Room as I know the owners Clark and Jason. It was so cool to be there again. Love stopping by after a show here. Great to catch up. After that we stayed over at my good friend Dave Cottini's place and stayed up late with more friends.

Little Man at The Green Room Pub

Great photo Deb Sonzo!!

Thanks Beth for this late night or early morning Instagram shot!
In the morning we got up pretty early and headed back up to the Twin Cities. Walley surpassed 140,000 miles on the way home! This trip was just over 1000.

My band mates are the best. They are great musicians. I love touring with them and am thankful for their friendship and that special musician band bond comradery. We could have gotten into a serious accident but made it to all our destinations safely. Thanks to all who came out and supported us on this little run. Until next time!!

The Making of a Bowie Costume

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 18:32:00 -0500

I've been a part of an annual David Bowie tribute at First Avenue in Minneapolis for many years. Created by 89.3 The Current's DJ Mary Lucia, the show is called Rock For Pussy as it is a benefit for feline rescue. Local artists come together to play and sing their favorite Bowie song on the big stage. I've been a part of the band as a guitarist and I also get to sing some as well. So many people come out for this show and get dressed up in their favorite era Bowie styles and lots of make-up is applied by many of them. Getting glammed up can be a good time. Bowie fans and cat lovers unite for this once a year. It's a really awesome show!

This year I wanted to recreate one of Bowie's tear away costumes as well as a suit. If you've seen his show in London at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1973 towards the beginning of Ziggy Stardust he has two people on either side of him run up and tear away his outer layer costume to reveal a new one underneath. I thought one of his Japanese capes looked really cool. I also liked his suits that were made with just one patterned fabric. In addition I liked some of the styles that his guitarist Mick Ronson wore.

I can hem my own pants (I'm not that tall so most of my pants have to be hemmed) but this was way beyond anything I could do. Plus this was way more than just finding some cool clothes at the thrift store as usual. I wanted to do something I hadn't done or worn before but I'd need help making my idea a reality. I needed to find a designer.

With some sleuthing with a few phone calls, e-mails and postings I was able to be connected with two University of Minnesota fashion design students who were up for the task. Sarah Forsythe contacted me first and she thought she could team up with classmate Lee Tran to make some costumes. We got together and I showed them the video of Bowie's tear away and we spent alot of time looking at pictures of him and glam rock fashion in general. They took my measurements and were enthusiastic about the project. We decided on a couple of ideas. A tear away cape with buttons on the front and back and a two piece suit that could zip half way with a big collar and bell bottomed pants. Now out to the fabric store.

This place we went to was HUGE! It 's called SR Harris. So much to choose from. Luckily Sarah had some ideas for where we could start. We picked out materials and designs we thought would be best. It was a visually appealing experience plus I couldn't help but touch everything I saw, stopping here and there, getting lost and loosing my place with Sarah. After quite a while we decided on a red, white and black big floral print for the cape and a green and shiny gold almost paisley pattern for the suit.

Then we met up again at my place and Lee and Sarah had me try on a basic pattern and measured and pinned me up. It took a couple of fittings to get things just so. We were able to do a test tear away at my place, other than that, my final fitting was at the show.

Test tear!

My first costume for the night was a slim fit silver pair of pants with a matching silver long sleeve shirt along with my cool maroon side zip boots (see my "Vintage SHop Hop" blog post) I had just picked up at a local vintage shop called Up Six. I got my hair poofed out in all directions and some green and silver eye make-up as well as a gold star painted on my chest by a hair styling salon that sets up shop at the show called Moxie.

After the first set I had help changing into the green and gold suit, huge suede platform boots and finally the cape.

I had asked the designers to be the tear away helpers but Sarah couldn't make the show so my wife Brigid helped with Lee. She was so excited! The song I was going to do this for was called "Star" from the Ziggy Stardust album.

I took the stage and played a couple songs on guitar with my cape on and then it was my turn at the mic. As the chomping chords of "Star" on the piano started the song, the background singers sang "ooooh aahhhh..." and the guitar strummed it's first chords, I raised my arms to full outstretched length (which was the signal for my helpers to run towards me) to show the full cape and Lee and Brigid approached me as fast as they could from opposite sides of the stage. They grabbed the cape and tore it off me before I started to sing the song. It worked!! It was great!!!! So so fun. The audience loved it and the song went on and I had a blast with it. I felt like Bowie, Bolan, Rod Stewart and Jimmy page all at once with that two piece outfit. Rock!!

Here's the video of the tear away!

It was so cool to have an idea, see it through and have it work so well. That felt real good to me. I'm sure it did for the designers too. Sarah and Lee did a great job and it was really fun to work with them both. More photos and videos of all the performers on Facebook.

photo by Charles Robinson

photo by David Tanner

With Reed Wilkerson photo by Amy Wilkerson

Meditation Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 9 Apr 2014 23:48:00 -0500

I do zen. The sitting meditation is called zazen. Do you meditate? Is it something you've heard about but never took the time to do? You can read all about it but most importantly zen is something you experience directly.

I start my morning sitting on the edge of a cushion called a zafu. Any cushion will do. Crossing my legs to the quarter lotus position is best for me with my knees down and back straight. (I might not be sitting as straight as I should be here in the video but I was trying to be more in the frame) This is a solid grounding position for me. Half lotus would be one foot on one thigh, while the full lotus position would be both feet resting on opposite thighs. See if you can do them. The hands are placed just below the navel one on top of the other with thumbs touching. The mouth is closed and the eyes are almost shut. I consistently sit daily for 15-20 minutes, sometimes longer.

The first way to practice is to count your breath. For every in and out cycle of the breath you count as one and proceed from there. When you find your mind wandering, start over from one. Keep bringing yourself back to the breath. Don't regulate your breathing, just breath naturally from your belly and observe that. Are YOU breathing or is your breath breathing you?

Once you get good at that sort of meditation, do just like you did before but without counting your breaths. Just notice and be fully aware of your breathing as it is. When you find your mind wandering, bring your mind back to the awareness of your breath. Practice this. This is being mindful.

Now how about just sitting? It's as simple as that. Just sit and breath. As a thought comes into your head, acknowledge it and witness that but don't hold on to it or follow it further into daydreaming. Don't judge what comes into your mind. The mind has thoughts and we can take them for what they are but don't cling to them in meditation, let them come and go. After a while, thoughts slow down and the intervals between thoughts will be longer. It's like swirling around a glass of dirty water and when you stop swirling, after a while the muck settles to the bottom and above it the clear water remains.

This is how I do zazen. I recommend choosing one of these methods for each meditation period. There are so many ways to meditate though in general. Some people chant, some do yoga, gaze at a candle or do walking zen. The ego mind is concerned with the past and future. It does not live presently. Have you ever realized how often your mind thinks about the past or future? Practicing in these ways awaken you to the present moment which is always here. This is reality. This is the practice of meditation and mindfulness.

Taking meditation further into your daily activities you become those activities you do whole heartedly. This is zen in action. Or better still, you realize you are the activity or the expression of the Universe itself and are not separate from it. This is Self-realization. Your ego consciousness gets removed from say "I'm brushing my teeth" to just "brushing." You are not separate from your activities. Zen is direct experience. No words. Experience without concepts and judgements. The more we talk about it the further we get from it.

I am in no way a Zen master but I do practice. A good portion of the music I write deals directly with this sort of experience so look into it if your interested. If you have any questions, I can try to answer them!

Vintage Shop Hop!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 19:07:00 -0500

I like interesting clothes, the polyester, cool designs and cuts, '60's/70's style. One of the rewards of the Little Man Kickstarter campaign was to go vintage shopping with my wife and I. We really enjoy thrifting and hitting the vintage shops. We go often and find some really unique clothes and other old stuff. In St. Paul, around our neighborhood, there are a good bunch of such shops. For the Kickstarter campaign, Up Six Vintage and Everyday People participated in our "Vintage Shop Hop" for which people who chose this reward from the Kickstarter campaign got to come shopping with my wife and I with a discount on their purchase in addition to the new Little Man album on vinyl.

We started at Up Six and upon arrival our backers got a Little Man button pin

to distinguish who was with us. Megan, the shop owner has been clothing me for many years through her shop. Alot of the clothes you see me wear in photoshoots has been from her. She also has amazing furniture and other cool vintage stuff. Megan has been a big supporter of my music and a good friend over the years.

I found these great maroon boots and a cool pendant necklace.

Afterward we headed over to Everyday People. This shop is newer to the area and I have been getting over there often. Store owner Kitty is super kind and has a great sense of vintage style herself. She has a good balance of vintage mixed with newer thrift clothes. Both shops have awesome storefront displays so you can't miss them.

Rolling Stones t-shirt and a vintage sweater!

It was a fun small group of backers and everybody was able to find something cool. Seeing what other people were into fashion wise was fun to see and it was great to see people out of the dressing room with smiles because of their new finds. It's important too support these locally owned independent shops. They bring a great vibe to the community. They are great people and they are recycling cool unique clothes.

"V" is for Vinyl - Little Man Launches Kickstarter Campaign for a Vinyl Pressing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 11:32:00 -0600

Little Man has got this new album called Original Face and it's already recorded, mixed, mastered and ready to go. We even have CD's coming. The album is just the right length for an LP and it's something we have dreamed about doing but never have because of the high cost. Luckily through the website called Kickstarter we can have that chance. In return for a pledge we can offer you the lowest cost digital download, signed LP's and some really cool premium rewards, like home pizza's made by me delivered to you, a "vintage shop hop" with me to local vintage stores Up Six and Everyday People in St. Paul with a %20 discount, hair treatment at the new HiFi Hair & Records at a discount plus many more.

A vinyl pressing is a very special thing to us and with Kickstarter you can connect with us in a special way.

Please take a moment to visit our campaign through the link below and help us reach our goal of $4000 before Feb 13, 2014:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/littlemanmusic/v-is-for-vinyl-little-mans-new-album-original-face

Little Run: On the Road with Little Man

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 19:05:00 -0500

Little Man got out for a little tour run this past week hitting Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago trying out new songs and promoting Orbital Amusement. Here's what all went down.

DAY 1: A van of drummers and me.
My old Little Man drummer Sean Sauder came along for tour help. It's great to have someone to help with driving, moving gear and to sell merch. Happy to have him along. Then there's my current drummer Sean Gilchrist and my bass player Brian Herb who is also an accomplished drummer. Packed up gear and drove to Milwaukee. It wasn't until a couple hours in that I realized that the van conversation was all drums and that I was surrounded by - drummers. I have to say drummers are usually interesting characters. You probably know some crazy folks. They might be drummers. These guys here in the van are great. I love 'em. Thankful to have them help me out and be a part of this band.

It's a beautiful drive across Wisconsin from the Twin Cities in the summer. We made it through just fine with a stop at the good ol' Subway. Swarmed in the parking lot by an entire high school cheerleading squad. I so wanted them to spell out the band's name. L-I-TT-LE...M-A-N! That would have been fun.

We played a place called Club Garibaldi in Milwaukee. Cool spot. Very Minnesota "nordeast" feel. Carved wood, brass and vintage looking stuff about the place. Very nice staff. We really enjoyed hanging out and having dinner outside over at The Palomino.

The Cactus Club is just next door. First night out was slightly rag-tag for me starting off, but then we rolled right into the set real good. Plus I got try out a guitar pedal from ZVEX I brought along straight from their office called the Machine which gave me some inspiration. Big room, meet some real nice people here. The night ended at The Sleep-In. This hotel was really great. Plus we got the big handicap room to pile into. Whiskey party.

DAY 2: Celebrate with The Mel's and the ghost's.
Headache. Perfect place for lunch was Glorioso's. An amazing Italian deli in Milwaukee. You HAVE to go there.

It poured rain at this time. Hop in the van and on the road to Madison. We got to spend the afternoon at Sean's sister-in-law's place not too far from the club. It was really nice to have a place to chill out, sit on the porch, grill and nap. Beautiful day.

Here's me at the cool little shed out in the back yard.

The club was The Frequency. We had played here before not too long ago. Love this place. Great rock & roll club. Staff is awesome. So I'm sitting at the bar with my feet tucked back on the stool rung and I thought someone's foot bumped into mine. No worries. Then it happened again about 2 minutes later and I look back to see who's kicking my foot and NO ONE WAS THERE!!! Here's when I asked the club manager Darwin about paranormal activity. "Oh yeah," he said, "this place used to be a funeral home." He's seen a couple strange things including a little girl. That could have been who was playing with me. He's also heard voices as clear as day in the basement. Pretty neat stuff.

Our friends from back home, The Melismatics where on the bill to celebrate the release of their new album. It sounds great. All of the people in this band are really very cool folks and it's always great to be on a bill with them. They put on one hell of a show. Fun to get in a slot hockey game with bassist Mark in the haunted greenroom basement. 5-3 me. I love those things. Also Garbage guitarist Duke Erikson was in the club and we got to talk a bit about guitar gear. Very cool.

We played a great show here and it was a fun audience. After bar we shared a bottle of Prosecco on our host's deck till the very wee hours. Salute and bouna notte.

DAY 3: My old residence, Chicago!

After a great home-made breakfast we headed to Chicago, Illinois. Sometimes I miss this city and it feels real good to roll in with the band back to the place I lived for about 8 years. Tonight we play at Reggie's Music Joint for their 6th anniversary bash. Real cool to be a part of that. We played with some great bands including The Ghost Wolves out of Austin.This is a fantastic place with a great vibe. Lot's of people here all night. Got to meet up with some great friends. Some old friends even from way back when I lived here, and most of them saw Little Man right at the very beginning of getting the band started in the late 90's. Real strong show hear and I loved every minute of it.

After the show we checked out The Dictators next door for a few songs. Then we loaded out and headed for my good friend Dave's place. You know Dave? He was one of my drummers with Little Man when I lived in Chicago. He plays with Ike Reilly now. We're musical brothers. Our beer run on the way to Dave's took us four tries at the late hour, but we found some. At Dave's apartment we got to listen to new mixes of ours and Ike's. Great to hang out with him, but yes, now I'm hanging out with four drummers. Old Style (hey we're in Chicago!), PBR beers all around and more whiskey.

DAY 4: Travel
Continued party till 4, up at 8. Drove home to the Twin Cities. Construction was hell. It took us an hour to get to the freeway. We couldn't even make it onto the free way before the guys wanted to stop and rest at the Dunkin' Donuts. Construction still on the freeway and tolls on a very hot mid 90's weather with no A/C made for a longer trip back, but boy what a fun time. Great run. TOURRRR!!!!!

My Experience With The Cult

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 8 Aug 2013 21:51:00 -0500

No I didn't run off to join some sort of cult. I got to go see one of my favorite bands - The Cult!

Back in high school, I was starting to play guitar and was in a band, TWO bands! One with high school friends, which we played a mix of covers and originals and the other playing out in clubs with a classic rock cover band with guys twice my age (mom and dad came along to shows I think because I was under-age!). Both super fun bands. A real growing experience.

My friend Seth and I both started playing guitar around the same time, good friends. With him especially, we listened to Van Halen, Metallica, AC/DC, Ozzy and The Cult among lots of others. We were into the Love album, Electric and Sonic Temple. I especially liked the hard rock of Electric and often played along to the entire album. It was good education. Billy Duffy's guitar parts were excellent. Couldn't get enough. Plus this was the time of MTV and actual music videos. The Cult had videos out and I loved to watch lead singer Ian Astbury. He looked cool, awesome vocals and a great performer. Salt shake-uh...rrrrratlesnake rrracket...baaaaaaby...whaow! Tambourine. Just a real cool delivery.

My high school band covered The Cult. We played Peace Dog, King Contrary Man, Wild Flower and a couple others I think. Real good rock songs. Seth and I got to see them. I was mesmerized by Astbury.

Fast Forward to 2013. I'm still playing guitar, in a band, influenced in many way's by Duffy and Astbury. The Cult return with a tour playing their Electric album in it's entirety (I missed there Love tour reunion the previous year unfortunately).My buddy Sean and I got tickets. Very exciting.

Did you know the Electric album was recorded at Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland studios?

The show was at The Varsity Theatre in Minneapolis. Sold out. We wiggled our way up front and almost center about 3 people back. They kicked in with Wild Flower. YES!!! Really great to be there. Astbury looked cool in his fur lined black leather jacket and "Bono" style black sunglasses. Still mesmerizing. Not as animated though and I could tell he was taking it easy on his voice. More of a Jim Morrison style performance (he did tour with The Doors for a reunion stint taking place of Morrison).

Really neat to see and hear Duffy play his parts. He played out of a small Matchless amp which sounded amazing. The band plowed through Electric and then continued to play on. Probably close to a couple hours. As a shorter person it was tough to find a good spot to stand. I like to be up close and see the band in all of my sight. It was packed up front but I was able to see just fine between people and if I couldn't see, all I had to do was look up as most people had their cell phones out recording video or taking pictures. Someones cell hit me in the head as it fell out of their hands. Then I got moshed and tossed around on one of The Cult's big hits, She Sells Sanctuary.

The show was a blast for me. I wore my concert t-shirt from when I saw them last in the early '90's on their Sonic Temple tour. Afterwards I ran into my friend Vu and noticed his backstage pass. He gave it to me! So as the crowed cleared I stuck around while the set tore down. I got to talk with the opening act and then hung around hoping to see Ian or Billy. I missed Ian but guitarist Bill Duffy stepped out with his wife. We had some small talk and he was thrilled to see an old concert shirt. His wife took our picture. Real nice people. He gave me one of his guitar pics and headed out to the bus.

I'm so glad I got to see this show. Alot of fun for me to revisit the music and see them again. Totally worth it!

Little Man in the Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:59:00 -0500

Over the past many years here in the Twin Cities, I've always wanted to record at Flowers. It's an uptown recording studio owned by Ed Ackerson. I've admired Ed's work and the many popular bands he's played in as well as his Susstone record label. I also had the chance to check out the studio a couple times and had tried to set something up in the past, but things hadn't quite worked out. Kris Johnson, who fixes amps and electronics at Twin Town Guitars, engineers at the studio. Timing had been right with him and me seeing each other out and about at shows and such, talking about the studio and the new music I've been writing. He's been a fan of Little Man and was always enthusiastic about the possibility of recording us. After a good conversation with Ed and KJ at The Triple Rock I really started to lean into make this happen.

The studio is one of the coolest I've ever been in. They have a very tall ceiling live drum room, all sorts of vintage gear, instruments and guitar amps, a Trident mixing board and a neat atrium decked with a fountain, plants and places to sit and relax in between takes. Lots of orange and yellow colors everywhere and kind of a 60's mod space age decor.

Not only is KJ in a guitar player couple local bands and is the go-to guy here for repairs, he also builds his own guitar amps and outboard gear (KJAudio). For me to be especially particular with guitar tones, I thought KJ would be a good fit for these recordings. We're using alot of his own gear and things are sounding great.

Our first session together was just him and me at his own modest studio tracking acoustic and electric guitars for four specific songs. A week later we got the band together, with Sean Gilchrist on drums and Brian Herb on bass. These guys have been with me for a couple years now. We've been doing very well with our live shows so we wanted to track live in the room all together. For most of the songs we tracked without headphones (an interesting process we hadn't really done before) to really play together and capture alot of that live energy. It felt as comfortable as a rehearsal. Our goal was to track 9 songs together as a band, bass, drums and one rhythm guitar and then to track bass and drums to the pre-recorded stuff we did the week before.

We all worked really hard on making this happen. It was a great success as we achieved that goal! The next step is to overdub more guitars and add in the vocals. These are very interesting songs. Some of them are songs the band has been playing live for a good while but have never recorded, some are a bit more acoustic, delicate with alot of background layered vocals and others are rocking real good. Very excited to be working on these. Can't wait for you to hear them, but that might take some time!

Buy Original Face on Bandcamp. Also available on iTunes. Get a hard copy on CD.