On Sunday, Jenn and I enjoyed a jog in the park and a picnic afterwards. We have had unseasonably warm temperatures in GA so far this fall. On Sunday our car thermometer showed 78 degrees and it has felt like spring all week. (Which I thought was great, albeit extremely strange.) I haven't given too much thought about the warming trend, but last night we watched "An Inconvenient Truth" with Jenn's parents. If you haven't seen this movie yet, SEE IT! It will change your perspective.

Here's a link to their site. ClimateCrisis.org

Humans are definitely having an impact on our atmosphere, and we need to make changes immediately.

PS>> On a more trivial note, the music in the film is great.

Jenn and I had a great time playing at the Atlanta Homeless Shelter. This was our second year performing and it seems to be developing into a tradition for us:)

Here's a video of Classical Gas. This was filmed at the Great Falls Civic Center in Great Falls, Montana. There was a crowd of 1300 in attendance that night. This was the largest concert of our tour and the energy in the hall was fantastic. It was so much fun to play in Montana again! (This arr. is inspired by Tommy Emmanuel and Vanessa Mae)

Attention fellow guitar nerds:

I broke a nail recently. And fingernails, as fingerstyle guitarists know, are essential to a good sound. I have tried many different solutions, over the years, from pingpong balls, cut up and used as a nail, to epoxy nails. Recently after a concert in Colorado a fellow guitarist suggested "Fingrs Nails". "Fingrs" are basically fake nails you can find in the "womens beauty" section at the local supermarket. I have tried this route before (fake "press on" style fingernails that is...) but they usually sounded pretty crappy. Well, I've got to say "Fingrs" sound great, and they are much easier to apply than cut up ping pong balls.

Here's a link:

http://www.fingrs.com/glueonnails.cfm#p6

PS.. Check out the "Fingrs" brush on nail glue, It also makes life much easier:)

Jonathan

We arrived home last night from our Oct. tour. Our last drive was from Bartlesville, OK. We came through Memphis and then across Mississippi and Alabama. It is a bit surreal to be back in the South, with all of the leaves still on the trees, green grass..and humidity!! We stopped in in a gas station in Mississippi to get gas, and they had some fantastic boiled peanuts there. We enjoyed them over the next few miles as we headed home.

Eating has been a challenge for us. Jenn and I are mostly vegan (for health reasons). Almost no meat, no dairy. Although we do eat the occassional bit of salmon or egg to keep the protein going (especially on the road). It is possible to get all of your protein from plant sources, but out in the smaller towns there usually isn't much selection yet for veggies. Last night we tried a restaurant and asked what the "vegetable of the day" was ( as listed on the menu) However, we found that there was actually NO VEGETABLE offered for that day!!

Here's a pic we snapped out on the road.

We're about 3/4 of the way through the tour. The whole thing has been a whirlwind and hasn't left much time for keeping up with the blog. We've taken pictures along the way so we'll be posting some of those soon. Here's a pic from the southwest as we headed north from Gallup, NM.

The drive up to Ely (E-lee) was great. The color on the trees became progressively brighter the further north we went. There were lots of deciduous trees (maples poplar etc.) The fall colors were amazing and a great way to get started. The weather was suprisingly balmy and felt great in short sleeves. Ely's a very quaint town and the gig tonight was in the auditorium of the local middle school. We had a bit of a learning curve to overcome as we are running our own sound (with a system from Allied Concerts.) We finally got the sound dialed in after some tweaks here and there, and small bursts of stress. It's never easy running your own sound. As you have to run back and forth to make sure that what your hearing on the stage is what the audience is hearing out in the house. It's good exercise though!! Thankfully we also had some help from Peter, who was also the theater teacher and also did a great job with the lights. The show went pretty well,but we were both worried as we hadn't been able to practice as much as we would have liked with all of the driving of the last few days. Once we were on stage though, our energy was up and it was a relief to get back to the part we love. (playing the music!!) :-)

After two days of driving we arrive in Minnetonka, just outside of Minneapolis, ready to get started on our Oct. tour. We just need to meet with the agents that booked the tour, and pick up the rental van for the trip. Jenn and are are really excited about this tour and are look forward to playing our new program for the folks out on the tour. We have added our version of Classical Gas as well as a new version of House of the Rising Sun, which includes some quotes from The Devil went down to GA. Jenn has wanted to play this for a while...

We had a nice trip to Baltimore with Arvin. The weather was good for driving and we always enjoy hanging out with Arv. Both of our showcases went well and we received good feedback from our agents and presenters.

One bummer, was that we got a new dent in the van. The parking garage for the hotel was in the basement of a building that was probably at least a hundred years old. The space was tight!! Backing up I didn't see a fire hydrant sticking out horizontally from one of the walls, as it was perfectly located in a blind spot between both mirrors. Well, we heard the old cruncharoo and got out to look. Unforfortunately, it looks pretty bad. Hopefully it won't cost a lot to repair. We'll see when we get back from our tour in October.

Jenn was glad that it was my fault for the dent:) Now we're even!! :)

Here's a live clip of "Canarios" from our trip to Korea in 2004.

Canarios/Korea

We went to L.A. last weekend for a showcase. A showcase is basically an audition for getting gigs. We had a great time travelling with Arvin (percussion) as he's always positive and a lot of fun to be around. The showcase went fantastically and now we'll just have to see how it goes.

Air travel on the other hand is now a royal pain in the arse, and hopefully we'll be able to string together more dates so that we can drive.

Ha...didn't see that coming

Check out this video clip from 1978. It's a clip of Jack Nicholson talking about his hydrogen powered car? I wonder why almost thirty years later this seems like a novel idea.

Click here to see the clip

We found a good work around to our looper problem. Instead of using two loopers, we are using one looper that is receiving both of our signals through a mixer. This actually seems to work a lot better for us and is a seamless way to loop the two instruments. I got the idea after seeing KT Tunstall. She does some very cool things with the looper. Check out her set up HERE. Click on gigs and then "wee bastard pedal" at the top of the page.

We recently bought another boss RC-50 looper. The only reason we bought another was so that we could both create loops, live. The two devices are supposed to sync together using midi messages. However when we got the units they would not sync up. Finally after reading the manual several times and eliminating any problems we could think of. I called Boss. I found out that the units don't actually sync yet, but "Japan is working on it". *&@#$%^@^^#Q!!!!!!!

Well, I guess it's back to the old drawing board for us....and Boss....

We have also been informed that our CD's will be a little longer before the duplication is finished. They should be on the way soon... (..for all you millions of people that are out there waiting) :-)

J

I've been working with various combos of mic and pickup. It seems that mic with a good EQ, to ring out trouble frequencies, and a little piezo seems to work best so far the only drawback is the need to stay right in front of the mic. The advantage is being able to "work" the mic for dynamics. I've thought about trying the amt mic for guitar, but I'm not sure if I would like something attached to the guitar.

People don't believe what you tell them.

They rarely believe what you show them.

They often believe what their friends tell them.

They always believe what they tell themselves.


..from Seth Godin's blog

We'll head to Charleston, WV tomorrow for Grandma's funeral. My Aunt Martha asked us to play a tune, so we will play 'Amazing Grace'. I know it was one of her favorites. We had a chance to stop and play for her a few times when we were traveling through Charleston. The music always brought a spark back to her eyes. I'm really glad we had those visits.

Jenn and I saw 'Lady in the Water' last night. What a fantastic movie. M. Night Shyamalan ( the writer) has a wonderful sense of weaving important ideas and elements into a story, without getting preachy. The acting was also fantastic. Check it out.

My Grandmother died yesterday. She told me during our last two visits that she was ready to go. I am glad that she has found peace. Jenn's Grandfather passed earlier in the year. It is remarkable how unromantic the event can be. It simply is...finality, no one on this planet can change it. It has forced me to examine everything. Today I stumbled across these words from a site called Wind Horse Zen (http://windhorsezen.org)

“Great is the Matter of Birth and Death.
Life slips quickly by.
Time waits for no one.
Wake Up! Wake Up!
Don’t waste a moment!”

These words, traditionally inscribed on the han, or
wooden block, go right to the heart of the spirit of Zen train-
ing. To grapple with death-- the inevitable death of those we
most deeply care for and the inevitability of our own death,
of this body-mind—this slices right through all our superfi-
ciality, all our triviality; straight to the core. It cuts right
through to this Black Hole of wonder, of mystery in our
depths-- not just some negation, but a living, unnameable
Nothing-something beyond all words and thoughts. Grap-
pling with This directly, we tap into the force within us to
truly fulfill our vows to liberate all beings. Can we keep this
keen edge in our lives and in our practice? This can be our
greatest ally, this inescapable fact of death.


-Jon

Click the link below for a free download of the the Title track from our new CD "LIFT".

LIFT - FREE DOWNLOAD

You can also pre-order the CD for only $8.99, plus get an instant download of the entire CD. Click Here for more info

PS>> Jenn is playing a Steinberger (6 string) electric Cello on this track.

Also from OTTMAR

Wired Blog-Autopia
The Europeans just enacted a carbon tax on air travel. The auto carbon tax won’t be far behind if we are to have any chance of preventing the melting of polar ice caps. Try selling Expeditions, Yukons and Hummers when you’re paying $5.00/gallon plus a carbon tax. It’s coming, folks. The writing is on the wall.

PS:

EDrive FAQ
Plug-in hybrids offer the best chance of transitioning away from fossil fuels towards a renewably powered transportation future. Full sized electric vehicles suffer from limited range and may require up to 3 times the battery capacity of an EDrive equipped plug-in hybrid and still not be capable of satisfying 100% of a person’s driving needs. At present, hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles suffer from astronomical cost (over $500,000), limited range (80-180 miles), low efficiency (compared to batteries) and most notably a lack of economically priced and widely available fuel. Plug-in hybrids however can be built today and provide a no-compromises solution that moves us away from fossil fuels.

-----------

Jenn and I also fueled up many times last year on our midwest tour with ETHANOL made from corn. This should also provide at least a temporary alleviation to fossil fuel consumption and contribute to our economy to boot.

Also, here's an interesting .pdf about the rising cost of gas. Click Here.

Today Jenn and I ran the peachtree Road Race. 6.2 miles of pure bliss (with 60,000) other people. We have been working up to this for a while and although it was pretty tough, thankfully, it was not anywhere near as hard as I had imagined.

As we trained for the race we ran some courses that wound through woods and natural places, which made me think more about the current state of "modern" life. This excerpt from Ottmar Liebert's blog articulates it well.

Thoreau says “give me a wilderness no civilization can endure.” That’s not difficult to find. It is harder to imagine a civilization that wilderness can endure, yet this is just what we must try to do. Wildness is not just the “preservation of the world,” it is the world.

The Chinese spoke of the “four dignities” - Standing, Lying, Sitting, and Walking. They are “dignities” in that they are ways of being fully ourselves, at home in our bodies, in their fundamental modes. I think many of us wold consider it quite marvelous if we could set out on foot again, with a little inn or a clean camp available every ten or so miles and no threat from traffic, to travel across a large landscape - all of China, all of Europe. That’s the way to see the world: in our own bodies.

Imagine a world in which technology (roads, building etc.) are not imposed on the landscape but seamlessly integrated.

We're head to PA tomorrow for a last minute fill in gig. It should be lot's of fun. This is our first "flying" gig with the band, so logistics have been a bit tricky.

We have a few more tweaks on the Cd due to technical issues so the release will most likely be pushed to late July...

The mix for the album has been going great. John Nicholson is the mastering engineer and the clarity and dimension he is able to acheive is fantastic. We had a few technical problems with bass parts, but luckily, Darren Michaels was able to come to Nashville and record a couple of the bass tracks again. (Thanks Darren!!)

We're mixing on a Neve board. The studio purchased this board from Sony Pictures sound studios in California. Interestingly enough, this is the same board that Movies like Jurassic Park and Jumanji were mixed on! The Analog sound from the board and preamps do great things for the sound. :)

-J

We had a great time at the Youth of Unity summer camp, where we played for the youth group. They all danced for the first hour while we played upbeat tunes and jammed on material from our next album. This was the first time we have played for a dance. It was a blast! Then we slowed it down and led them into a meditation with slower tunes like "Canyon Breeze" and "The Edge of Night". It was a great bonding experience for the band as well. The loose atmosphere opened up more possibilities for improv and gave me an idea of what it might be like to compose with Darren and Arvin, Can't wait....

Today, we're in Nashville and eating breakfast in the hotel room. We'll had over to the studio in a few minutes to start mixing. Yippee. I'm excited nervous, and a little scared:)

-Jon

Here's a video of Malaguena. The quality isn't great, but you can get a feel for it. This was taken in Silver Spring, MD. Jenn came up with the idea of using the ending from a previous version we had done. We worked it up a few minutes before the show and it came together OK. Let us know what you think...

This is amazing!! Check how the resonating sound waves affect the rice.

Here are some pics from our recent CD release party with Darren Michaels (bass) and Arvin Scott (percussion). These pictures are taken by Cindy Sheffield Michaels, a fantastic artist. Check out more of her stuff here.

Miracles? Do they exist.
What is a miracle, but an event that exceeds current perception. An event which exceeds our belief in reality. However, if our perception is expanded does the event still seem miraculous, or does it take it's place as a part of "everyday reality".

For example, you've seen, in the movies, the story of the natives deep in the amazon jungle that believes that when their picture is taken that their soul is trapped. To them, seeing their image on polaroid paper, is a "miraculous" or supernatural event.

What is a greater "miracle": ...a misunderstood event... OR ...an expanded perception?

-Jonathan

Overnight success?
What's the opposite of that? An Overnight failure?

The idea of an overnight success is relatively new. Joan of Arc, Robin Hood and Sarah Bernhardt were not overnight successes. It took media (the old kind, like TV and movies, and especially the new kind, like Google video) to create the overnight success. My friends Pomme and Kelly are overnight successes. So are some of the characters on American Idol.

Along the way, some people have trained themselves to believe that the only kind of success worth having is overnight success. That if you don't hit #1 the first week, you've failed. That if your interface isn't perfect out of the box, or if you don't get 5,000 people standing in line at the opening of your new store, you've failed.

The Times today reports on Kathleen McGowan, easily considered an overnight failure. She spent years researching and writing a novel. She went to the annual book convention on her own nickel last year, trying to pitch it. Day after day was spent slogging her way to any person willing to look at it. This year, of course, she's back with a million dollar plus advance, feted by booksellers, the whole drill.

This excerpt is from Seth's Blog. Click here for more

Here's to steady plodding!! -JA

The shaman and the musician have in common the ability to transform suffering. For the musician suffering transformed becomes increased depth. If natural talent and dedicated practice are the height and width of the matrix in which the musician places her/his notes, suffering transformed gives this matrix depth. Suffering does not have to mean great illness or life-threatening injury, it can mean alienation, separation, despair...

from Ottmar liebert's blog

This was from a blog post about the Dalai Lama. I don't know if it actually from him, but great things to think about nonetheless.

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s: Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Thanks to everyone for making our CD release concert a success and a SOLD OUT show!! We had a lot of fun sharing the new tunes with you and we look forward to doing a full evening with the band soon.

The Cd release limited edition was mixed by me (Jonathan) and mastered by Glen Schick in ATL. After more thought and consideration we have decided to have it re-mixed for the final release. The final mix will be done in Nashville in mid June, so we hope to have the final release ready soon after that.

We'll get some pics posted from the concert soon.
-J

We are progressing nicely with the CD project. Darren Michaels laid down some sweet bass tracks last week and we have a tracking session with Jerry Fields for Mon. Can't wait to get these parts together and start the mixing process!!

Jenn's electric cello has quite a different sound and we have been experimenting with some different techniques for getting it to "tape". We have tried miking our amp as well as direct. So far, I like the miking techniques the best as they add a little more "air" to the sound.

We also recently got a Genz-Benz acoustic amp and I am really happy with it. It has a full range and a warm sound. At our recent gig in Charlottesville our AER battery powered amp crapped out on us. It started making all sorts of hissing and popping sounds (due to the battery dying). The next day we called several music stores and settled on getting the genz-bens amp. It was a third of the price of our other amp and has twice as many features. Can't beat that deal!!

-Jonathan

We are making good progress on the new CD. We have been able to record several new tracks in the last few days without many interruptions. Floyd (the neighbors dog) had a barking fit tonight (right outside the studio window), but other than that it's been smooth sailing. Buddy (our dog) went out and had a talk with him at the fence. They seemed to have gotten it worked out as we didn't hear from Floyd for the rest of the night...

We've laid down about 6 tracks so far and hope to have the guitar and cello parts down before the end of next week. We'll see..



Buddy - our trusted studio companion

We had a really fun time at Arts Place in Indiana. The crowd was fantastic and very responsive. We'll look forward to the chance to get back there. Also, I tried wearing a hat for the first time on stage. I stopped by Wal-Mart on the way to the gig to try and find some cuff links. No links, but I found a rad hat for $3.88. It was a white derby hat with blue stripes. That night, we video taped the concert and from faraway (on the video) the hat looks like a white blob on my head. It could also perhaps be mistaken for a bicycle helmet. Heh, heh maybe I'll try that next...

Well we start recording tomorrow for our new CD. We'll be using a new recording set-up too. Here's the breakdown for my fellow gear nerds: We'll be running through a new Motu Ultralite unit into Jenn's laptop (ibook g4). We're using an Earthworks preamp and Nuemann TLM 103 mics. (I'll probably use a Schoepps small diaphram on the cello too). We haven't used the ibook yet for recording, but I have done some tests projects with it and it seems to be up to the task.

-Jon

We arrived last night in Portland, IN. We awoke to a covering of light snow, as promised by our friends at the weather channel. We are looking forward to the show and hoping for a good turnout. The promoters did a great job and we were able to do interviews with local radio, TV and newspapers in Ft. Wayne.

Today we'll also get a chance to rehearse with our friend Thaddeuss Rex. Thaddeus is a childrens performer and has a great show for kids. He's playing in Suwanee, GA later in the spring and we're looking forward to sitting and adding some backup on several of his tunes.

Thaddeuss Rex website.

Here are some good quotes ... things to think about:

"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument." --William G. McAdoo, American government official (1863-1941)

"All great truths begin as blasphemies." --George Bernard Shaw

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." --Salvor Hardin

"Luck is when opportunity meets preparation." --Eric Beheim

"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away." --Tom Waits

"I don't know the secret of success, but the secret of failure is to try to please everybody." --Bill Cosby

"You can accomplish nearly anything--often it just takes one phone call to the right person."

"Just because you believe something doesn't make it true."

We will be releasing our next CD on Friday, May 12th, 2006 @ 8:00 PM @ The Red Light Cafe in ATL (it is on Amsterdam Ave. just off Monroe Dr.)

The concert will be a double bill with the Jeni Fleming Acoustic trio from Montana. Jeni's voice is in the Nora Jones vein and Chad and Jake are both fantastic musicians as well. You do not want to miss this concert!! CLICK HERE for their website

We will be playing with our band (percussion and bass). Darren Michaels will be playing bass w/ us and we're working with several percussionists right now.

Jeni Fleming Trio and Montana Skies.

Jeni and Jenn

This weekend we're indulging in a mini movie marathon. We recently upgraded our netflix rental from two movies at a time to three. Last night we watched "The Recruit" and "Big Fish".

"Big Fish" was fantastic and is highly recommended. It is a real heart warmer..just what we needed

Here are some other recent movies we thought were good:

House of Sand and Fog
Big Fish
The Constant Gardener
The Corporation (Documentary)

We also just returned from the Red Light cafe where we saw Jeff Talmadge's CD release. Jeff is a great guy and great songwriter, he moved to ATL from Austin a couple of years back. Check out his stuff;

CLICK HERE for Jeff's website

Well, we just returned from a gig in Overland Park, KS (back to ATL). We drove straight through on the way home..and I think that is about as far as a human can possibly drive in one day. :-) It was about 15 hrs.. ( with a few stops for food and breaks..) A bonus of this gig was visiting with one of my first cousins, Susan, who I hadn't seen in almost 20 years.

-Jonathan