The Greenwich Hotel and Las Vetas!!!

It's been another couple of fun days, so I'm going to tell you the stories in photos!!!

Last night (after a great day of thrift store shopping on Thayer St. in Providence) I played with my friends Daniel Chase and Jose Docen (check them out), and we had a great night at The Greenwich Hotel. Again, my name appeared in chalk...I gotta tell you...again it made me feel cool!



We played to a fun house since each of us brought a few people. There's a regular crowd at this place as well so we got to play to a nice full room. Here I am with Vanessa (my roadie for two shows!) and Aunt Judy (she stayed out late drinking Stellas with me...).



Now, lately I've been ending all of my sets with "Peace". I think it's cool to get everyone singing along to a nice peaceful song to end the night. Especially when I'm singing in a bar, it's always one of my personal challenges to see if I can get everyone to participate. Last night was no exception, and I must say, the clientele rose to the occasion. I was actually joined by two men (who had had a few adult beverages) who each decided to grab a microphone!! It was a little crazy, but with a bit of coaching, they both joined in at the right times and somewhat in tune...

Here's adult beverage man #1:



And here's adult beverage man #2:



Crazy times! After hanging out for a while after the show, Vanessa and I took off since we needed to get back to Fairfield, CT this afternoon and we didn't want to be sleepy drivers. I arrived home knowing that today is the last day that I'll see Bryan for a while so I decided to let him open for me tonight at Las Vetas...



Just kidding! But I did enjoy sharing the stage with Beethoven this evening...



It was SO HOT tonight in Las Vetas, so after my piano set I needed to take a small break to cool down, and while I was outside cooling off I was evangelized to by two very friendly young missionaries. Both girls are members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints so we exchanged cards. I think the design work on mine is more professional looking...



Here are the last photos, I promise. As I was finishing up my second set, I noticed a little girl looking at me, then drawing in her notebook, then looking at me, then drawing in her notebook...you get the idea. Anyway, when I was finished she gave me her drawing (which was addressed to "an awesome guitarist and singer"), and it turns out that Christine was inspired by my songs and wanted to draw something for me! Here's Christine posing with me after I was done playing:



And here's a close-up of the picture!



Thanks for reading...so far things are going really well and I'm having a lot of fun! Now I'm off for a late night drive to arrive in Reading, PA. Give me a call if you're up for a late night chat!!

Tour has started...yippee!!!

It's always so exciting to start on a project when you've been planning it for months. I started contacting venues and friends back in February to make this tour happen, and now FINALLY the day has arrived!

So...last weekend I performed at Googie's Lounge in NYC. I'm always really nervous to perform in New York because I feel like there's a lot of competition there and people are judging you. No one's mean or anything (though, if I sucked, I'm pretty sure that people would let me know) but it just feels very stressful for a person who doesn't perform there often. With that said, I'm psyched because I think I've found a nice little home at Googie's Lounge. It's a very low key place, they have a cool, old, white baby grand, and it's in the village, which just makes me feel like I'm a big deal. Anyway, the show went really well, I tried out a new cover that I'm going to be using on tour (you'll have to make it to a show to find out what it is!), and I worked out a good song order that I was happy with.

Plus here's a cool pic...I was on the chalkboard...I know, I know it's not permanent, but it also made me feel like a big deal.



Last night I played at The Tavern Downtown in Hartford. It was a cool place with a lot of great musicians playing. (I was a part of the open mic night.) It's through the New England Megastar Competition that I made this connection with the venue, and I'm so glad that it worked out! I got to see some of my friends from the competition and my friend Mike, and his brother and brother's girlfriend, Tim and Michele (who are now my friends too!) came out to show some love. It was great...and I didn't really want to leave, but last night Vanessa and I decided it would be a good decision to drive to Providence and spend the night here, and it was.

This morning we woke up late and hung out a bit at my aunt-in-law's house (Judy rules!) and now we're driving around and exploring Providence. We've eaten lunch (HUGE falafels) and we're going to hit up a few of the thrift stores here on Thayer St. I highly recommend a visit to this town if you've never been here!

Tonight I'm playing in East Greenwich, which is just a few minutes away, and I'll be playing with a few other people. It's going to be a great time, and I'll have more photos and an update for you later!!

For now, here are a few photos for you to enjoy:

Here's Vanessa and I in front of the 'tour bus' a.k.a. my awesome corolla.


Here are our 'world tour' matching water bottles.


My friend Mike came out to see me in Hartford! What a good guy!!


Vanessa color coordinates her tops with her camera, phone and drinks. (And apparently, that's a photo of my evil twin...)


Here we are in Providence!


And last...here's my amazing falafel...sorry about the Coke product in the photo, dad!