Beginning of second 'Semester'

Herro. I'm back.

I just arrived in Ottawa via airship last night at about 1 in the mornin'. I had a wonderful flying experience with Delta Air...or not. I had to fight to get my Taylor acoustic and the Tele in the cabin on the flight from Minneapolis to Detroit. A monster-lady tried to get me to check the Tele which was residing in its SOFT CASE. Idiot. After negotiations (me punching her in teh face) she caved to my wish to bring it on the plane. Magically, I managed to fit the Tele and my Taylor in the first class coat closet. Win! Following that escapade, I sat in Detroit for several hours waiting for the crew to show up for my connecting flight to Ottawa. Turns out they were stranded in Albany, NY...good thing I had some Legally Blonde folks and LOST to keep me company at the gate. We departed at 11:30ish and got to Ottawa at 1. I'm just glad it didn't get cancelled...there were some people in other gates making beds for themselves. Whew.

I don't know how I can follow up that riveting tale, but I'll throw some more words at you. I'm happy to be back working, though I will of course miss home (my week long Christmas layoff was excellent). This second leg of the tour is going to be a lot different than the first; we will be doing many week long engagements...the first of which is Ottawa. I don't even think we have a bus until March. Yus. Hopefully this change of pace will allow some more practice time...I'm thinking it should. Also, Canada will legally serve me alceehol. All in all, it's gonna be ballin'.

Pictures!

Cool theater in Grand Rapids MI: Pt 1

Cool theater in Grand Rapids, MI: Pt. 2

This and below are from my hotel in Ottawa

Dem Canadian folk make some funny buildings, i say. Must be the flapping heads.

Time's flyin'...

Hello! I am slightly disturbed by that fact that it has been a real (non-fake/full length/about 30 days) month since my last post. It honestly feels like a couple days...the last few weeks have been a blur. Since the last post I have been in 17 cities, played 29 shows, and more than likely eaten roughly 32 subway sandwiches...AH! We've been on the east side of the country...going through West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New York, and most recently Pennsylvania. I have tonight off (thank Jesus), we are in the process of driving to Grand Rapids MI.

It may interest ya'll to know that I was in Scranton, Pennsylvania (also known as 'The Electric City')...home of The Office. I shook Steve Carell's hand, got to be an extra in the show, and played some wicked dice with Dwight Schrute. It really wasn't anything special, I'm telling you. JOKE. The true story is that I walked past a building on the way to the theater and saw a wicked looking sign atop it powered by electricity (of all things) that said 'The Electric City'. My hotel also had various Office memorabilia, but I don't care about that show so I declined on wasting my hard earned dough. We also got to play a show at Daytona Beach FL. That was neat...though it was a one-nighter (which diminishes enjoyability of everything good about a place). I did take some splendid pics of it though; it was rather pleasing to the eye. Driving thru West Virginia was also pretty cool; I had never seen Appalachia before. 'Twas beautiful!

Despite this crazy schedule, I am managing to stay relatively sane and have been feelin' fine. In regards to the latter, an extremely incredible phenomenon has occurred; I have gained weight. It struck me about a week ago when I tried to put on my skinny jeans (the really stupid skinny ones that fit me well in my emaciated stage...North Parkers know of what I speak) and I could hardly get them on! I have achieved this success through eating terrible food...all the time. I am truly proud of myself. The crazy diet that I did for half a year must have really sorted out my stomach/digesting deficiencies (for I have not been sick at all)! Yus.

Anywho, I cannot conjure up any more writing (or drivel, in reference to the last paragraph) to continue filling this post. Therefore, it's picture time!

Just a few people waiting for my autograph.

I was literally 5 feet from da humans in the audience at this venue!

Rob Cookman (music director/badass) on left. Mark Van Ziegler (funky bass) on right. We were eating some super baller BBQ in Syracuse.

This picture may confuse you, but it is what it looks like. A belgian waffle with meat on it (and cheese and spinach in the middle). NOM NOM NOM (remember what I said about gaining weight?)! 

This pic and the three above it are from Daytona Beach FL. Very nice.

Alright folks, that's all! Peace!

Gettin' into it.

I am nearing week 5 of being on this tour, and am finally starting to feel pretty comfortable with the whole deal. That statement may be derivative of the three day sit down in Cleveland (in a nice hotel that has a killer breakfast) that I am currently enjoying...though I believe it to be mostly true. I've got the show down and now am trying to edit/put some better sounding things in, I'm getting along with people nicely, I discovered a good way to sleep sitting up on the bus (this was quite an endeavor), and I'm used to traveling around without ceasing. These are all good things.

Another tidbit of news is that I'm keeping the gig through May for sure now! Yus! I just found out a couple days ago, it's pretty great. It goes all the way until May 15th. And after my christmas layoff (Dec 18th-27th) we're doing full week stays in Canada, florida, texas, and other wonderful places. It'll be a much nicer schedule than what is going on now.

My current objectives at this time (outside of the show) are to actually learn how to play mandolin properly (right now I'm...getting by), and get myself some nasty rock/shred/fusion chops (chops = skills). I've been listening to a rock/fusion player named Guthrie Govan that I am pretty obsessed with, as well as a fusion guy named Scott Henderson. They've got some nice stuff. Learning licks from them is a great way for me to build my technique...I'm already noticing improvements in my playing, which makes me happy. Also, I'm trying to work up the courage to shave my beard. It's really a frightening prospect. I just keep telling myself that I'll do it tomorrow...

Picture time!

(From top) Shot from my hotel room. Biggest hotel room to date!

Random shots from the pit. The two dudes lucky enough to make it into my pit photo-shoot are the excellent brass section (John on trombone and Jim on trumpet). The keyboard you see is one of two...between the two of them they make a large portion of what one actually hears in the crowd (they do everything...from strings to brass to guitar parts). Finally, you get to see two important parts of my rig. I consume between 4 and 7 altoids per show, and use my deluxe tool set (enclosed in the ziploc bag) for a variety of applications.

That's all for now...so long!

One night madness!

Today marks the 13th day that I've been on this Legally Blonde gig. I'm sitting at a hotel in Indianapolis, enjoying my second night off so far (though today was a travel day...I haven't had a pure free day yet). I've done 11 (killin') shows in...Columbus OH, Mason City IA, Sioux Falls SD, Ames IA, Davenport IA, and Cedar Falls IA. So far it's been pretty much solid one nighters...new town everyday. Tomorrow we're heading to Portsmouth OH for a show; we'll be in five cities this coming week.

One may wonder how humans exists with such a wild schedule. The following is my day-to-day itinerary.

-Wake up at 7ish in hotel
-Drink Tea
-Get on bus at about 8
-Waste roughly 6 hours of my life in transit
-Arrive at hotel around 2 and loaf/nap for 2.5 hours
-Get to venue and set up my gear by 5pm
-Eat some form of fast food
-Play show/be a robot (more on that in a moment)
-Go to hotel and sleep, possibly have contact with other humans before this
-REPEAT. WITH NO VARIATIONS. Seriously.

That's basically the life so far. I can't wait for having some 3 day stays in a few cities. The nicest stay so far has been (besides my initial stay in Columbus OH) Sioux Falls. It was a win because Jer Werner, his girl Des, Steve Erickson, and Jared and Heidi Peterson came out to the show and we chilled afterwards. It was fantastic! And I got to have one day of not having to ride the bus (we were there for two whole days!).

Playing the shows is a totally different playing experience for me. It is...robotic. By now I have the whole show memorized and the music down (I still use the charts for reference though...it'd be almost impossible not to). I have figured out a routine for myself since I switch through so many instruments/effects. I do the EXACT same thing every show. No spontaneity. The overture starts and I enter the Anders-Music-Robotron zone. It's a mix of auto pilot and muscle memory. I'm pretty sure if I actually started thinking in the middle of the performance I would screw up. ITS WEIRD. Not in a horrible way, but it's not the coolest thing outside of oatmeal with half a cup of brown sugar (blatant inside joke, if you know my eating habits).

Enough with the words, here are some pics!

(Above) Here's life aboard the bus. Yes, that is a grown man with a teddy bear. He gives it a voice (I'm still trying to understand theater folks). And finally a nice view of Iowa.

(Above again) Baller hotel. Dinner of champions. Funny name for theater. Des Moines (we stayed there when we played in Ames, IA). Me completing this blog.

That's all for now! Will have more news next week. Peace!

Did I just drop out of school to go on tour? With Legally Blonde? Yep.

Herro. I just got done with my first day of playing guitars for Legally Blonde the musical! It went very well too, which is pleasing. Explanation:

I was having a great year at North Park. Great friends, great connections, some great gigs (thanks Steve Kelly and Brian Wu), and great classes...ehhh maybe not the last one. Anywho, I was sitting on my butt/eating rice (as is my custom) between classes  on Thursday September 23 when I got a call from a Maryland number. Turns out that this touring company (troika entertainment) needed a guitar player for the Legally Blonde National tour that was happening...their other guy had an accident (I just found out it was a rollerblading accident...how odd). Felton Offard, my funky guitar instructor, had been kind enough to pass along my name to the music contractor that set up the band for the musical. She told me that if I accepted I would start the following Saturday (Oct. 2nd) in Columbus OH. Oh, and they said they would pay me BANK. Naturally, I was bewildered and had no idea how I would pull it off. 

So I said yes!

I dropped out of classes the same day, and had to purchase three new instruments (Mandolin, 12string, and Classical). I had no idea how to play mandolin. Shedding commenced, as well as a frenzy of activity regarding logistics (at one point they wanted me to take the greyhound to the gig with 5 guitars, pedalboard, and luggage...I rejected that idea). Either way, everything got arranged (man that sucked) and I arrived in Columbus on Wednesday (September 29th) in the afternoon. They gave me a pimpin' hotel room all to myself in the Hyatt. 

That same evening, I finally got my hands on the guitar book and some decent tracks and went to TOWN. Then I audited (sat and watched the guitar player filling in until i got there) for two shows (Thursday and Friday). Here's the theater.

And here are some pics of the orchestra pit, it's a little cramped. They have a Mesa Mark V for me (that is a killin amp)! The lighting is bad, but you can get the idea.

There you go. Also, I am pleased to find that everyone in the band is cool. They'll be good to chill with for the next...long time. 

I'm playing two more shows tomorrow, and then taking a bus to Iowa on Monday. So I should probably sleep; I am rather fatigued.

Peace!