Toms River / Asbury Park

I just got back from my solo show tonight at The Saint in Asbury Park N.J. I'm not known for being the best judge when it comes to my own performances and I'm not about to start now. I can say that I had a great time tonight and although the crowd was small, I fell like I'm starting to get my 'Sea Legs' back. It usually takes a few shows to fall into a groove and with this, the third show in a series of roughly 12, I'm enjoying myself more and more. Concentrating on the emotion I want to convey rather than whether or not I'm playing the right chords.
It's a real treat for me to have Dennis Delguardio up there with me too because it takes some of the pressure off trying to make the sound bigger with only two guitars. The third guitar adds so much to the sound that it allows me the opportunity to focus more on my singing.
My next solo show will be in Nyack N.Y. at the Opus Theater on August 12th and if it fits into your summer schedule, I would love to see you there. We're doing another Soundcheck Package at that show and I have a few things up my sleeve that will make it a fun night.
Last night I played a show with Meat Loaf not 20 miles from my gig tonight. It was a 'one off' to keep the band in check for the upcoming shows in the fall. We had a great time and everyone is anxiously anticipating the release of Bat III.
I have band rehearsals starting tomorrow for the next two weeks that will see us learning new material for the shows in October.
Stay tuned ...

K

Philadelphia - The Tin Angel

I just had a chance to catch my breath from the work of the last two weeks. Unlike most of the civilized world, I work 7 days a week, every week. Whether its my own projects, or another of the myriad of things I'm working on, there is no such thing as a weekend off for me. In the rare case I do have time off, well, I told you the chainsaw story ... Need I say more? Time off is not something I wish for.
So, I just played the second of my solo shows and broke the proverbial ice on the Interactive Soundchecks. I think it went really well. I'll even go so far as to say that the people that participated had a really good time and were glad they opted into the offer.
They saw myself, Doug and Dennis Delguarda set up shop on the small stage at the club, tune-up, run through about three complete songs, and on the spur of the moment, I asked for , and took a request for a song off the top of someone's head. The stipulation was it had to be a song no one has heard me play before (or that I may or may not even know how to play!). We settled on "My Sweet Lord". Easy enough, but I only knew the first verse so I kept singing that over and over. It was fun though.
I'm toying with the idea of a little Q&A period if there is time enough at the next show that I'm offering the Soundcheck package for.
They also got a nice little gift from me too.
Judging from the reactions of the crowd during the show and the subsequent reviews, I think it went really well. Decidedly better than the first show a week before. All I can say about that is, it's a natural progression. Meaning that by the time I've played my 1000th show, I should be PERFECT! IMHO.

This weekend will see me playing with Meat Loaf in Toms River, New Jersey. I know that there will be some of you traveling from great distances to attend that concert and I'm sure it will be worth your time.
You know, the next day (the 29th) I will be doing another solo show not 50 miles from there... (hint hint).
If your travel plans allow it, please try and come to my show at The Saint in Asbury Park, N.J. Both Doug and Dennis will be with me for this one too and it should be lots of fun. I promise not to tell any bad jokes. Well, not on purpose anyway.

K

The Bitter End

Thanks to all who came to the show on Saturday. I'm in LA right now doing some Meat Loaf work. It was especially nice to see all those familiar faces who constantly come out to support me. There were some new ones too. That makes me glad that I chose to do these gigs. The Bitter End is always a crap shoot in terms of who's going on prior to me and, in the case of Saturday, after as well.
Because the show was put on with short notice, I didn't have the luxury of making sure the act following me wasn't a Metal Band! That won't happen again. One of the reasons I didn't perform any new material was time constraints. I only had 55 minutes. This isn't the case in the coming shows and I can guarantee you, next time I play there, I won't be subject to some Neanderthal yapping loud enough to break my concentration. I hated the fact that I even had to address it during my set but it was driving me NUTS.
I'm really looking forward to next Saturday and the shows following. I'm adding another guitarist in Philly. He's a wonderful musician with whom I've worked with while playing in Movin' Out.
I have to mention one thing I'm really excited about. This would be the Valparasio, IN. show in September. We have some special things going on for that particular show, one is the special Pre Show Dinner with a portion of the proceeds going to the Eric Lowan Charity. There are only a limited number of spaces available so if your at all interested in breaking bread with me and helping a great cause, please consider buying a ticket for it.
Thats about it for now.
I'm going to see if I can get some rest here. After the trip I had today, I need it. Right after I took off this morning, the plane had to turn back to JFK because one of the engines decided to stop working! We were met back at the runway with a full contingent of Fire Trucks!
What is up with me these days?

The Story of the The Birch Tree, The Chain Saw and the Pediatrician

Birch Trees are usually planted in bunches of three. So I am told. I can attest to the validity of that given the fact that in my backyard, I have a beautiful Paper Birch tree with three rather large trunks that rise to about 120 feet. The main trunk is straight and true. The other two seem to have a mind of their own, sprouting off in another direction from the base. One of the trunks hangs at an almost 45 degree angle. Precariously close to my garage. It needed to be taken down before a strong enough storm came along and took it, and my garage down at the same time. I asked my neighbor Bruno to come and take a look at the tree and give me his opinion on the best way to cut the one leaning trunk down. Unlike me, he's done these kind of things before.
Bruno: " Awww, it's not a big deal. I got a chainsaw, you got a ladder, we lash the leaning trunk to the main one, get up on the ladder and zip zip zip, it's down."
Kas: "Oh yeah? Cool. Lets do it."
Bruno: "OK, call me at like 7:30 tomorrow morning I'll come over and we'll get it done 1, 2, 3."
Kas: "No prob. Call you in the morning. Thanks Bruno!"
The next morning arrived as was expected but ... I slept past the appointed time by roughly 3 hours. I couldn't very well call Bruno and say "I'm ready! Lets GO!"
I wanted that trunk down, and I could taste it. I mean, why not just go out, get myself my OWN chainsaw and just get it done? How difficult could it be?
I got in my car, drove to Home Depot, Lowes and finally Sears where I found the perfect Gas Powered Chainsaw to suit my needs. Came back home and pulled the 40 foot extension ladder out from behind the garage and started to figure out my plan of attack on the offending trunk. I couldn't WAIT to start up that chainsaw!
The ladder weighs about 200 pounds. I weigh 155. There was no way I could lift it high enough to stand it on the tree. I tied a rope around the top rung of the ladder, threw the other end over a high branch and proceeded to lift and hoist at the same time. Each time I got the ladder a little higher, I would place ANOTHER smaller ladder underneath the larger one to kind of prop it up while I caught my breath to hoist and lift again. It looked like Leonardo DaVinci was inventing something in my yard. About two hours later, I finally got the ladder up and leaning on the trunk about 25 feet in the air.
I was ready for the chainsaw! But first, I needed to get up there and take a closer look at just where I was going to make my first cut.
I carefully climbed the ladder and, reaching the top I said to myself ... "What on earth are you doing? You're going to fall and KILL yourself! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"
But I bought a chainsaw that morning and damnit, I was going to use it.
I got out my pruning pole, picked a few branches that could be reached with it and started sawing away.
I managed to get a few larger branches down. Large enough to warrant cutting them up with the chainsaw.
Those of you who have, or have used a gas chainsaw know that they tend to konk out often, requiring constant priming and starting.
After getting tired of putting the chainsaw on the ground to start it one more time, I was getting brave (stupid?) and holding it in the air while I pulled the cord to get it going.
On one of these pulls, the chainsaw blade met my shin and wound up opening two really nice deep gashes that sent a stream of blood running into my shoe (I have a picture of it but thought it too graphic for this page).
I considered going to the emergency room for a couple stitches but the thought of loosing four or five hours waiting there didn't suit me at all. I would tough it out, put some pressure on it and hope the bleeding stopped. It eventually did. But man did it hurt. Had I started the chainsaw on that pull, this story would have a much different ending.
I had to get a medical form later that day for my Son's day camp and I asked his Pediatrician Dr. Janet if I should have gotten stitches for my wound. She said, "No, but when was the last time you got a tetanus shot?" I couldn't remember so I asked her if she could give me one.
Dr. Janet: "I'll give it to you in your arm but it's gonna get sore."
Kas: "Ummm, I have a show on Saturday, will it affect my playing?"
Dr. Janet: "Then you have to get it in your butt."
Kas: "OK." (She's cute so I didn't mind)

The moral of this story is ... Come and see me play this weekend because the next time I attempt something this stupid I might not be as lucky!

P.S. Bruno came by the next day and the trunk is now firewood which I will be selling on eBay.

How do you put a Giraffe in a refridgerator?

I'm getting dangerously close to my first solo show since ... Was it last year? I can't remember. All I know is to have my first show in a while be in New York City is a bit brave on my part. Oddly enough, I'm curiously calm about it. In the past I might have been a bit nervous. I'm sure I'll make up for it about 10 minutes before I take the stage.
I really didn't expect to have as many solo shows as I have now ( more are in the offing). I just can't seem to sit still for too long.
Like I've said over the past few weeks, I will be performing some new songs at these shows as well as dusting off the older more or less familiar tunes. I promise these shows are going to be ... FUN.
The LEAST I'll do is answer the riddle in the title of this paritcular post. This wisdom was imparted to me by a wise 12 year old.
Hope to see everyone next Saturday at The Bitter End on Bleecker Street! 9:30 sharp guys.

Just Around The Corner

I had a little get together at my place last night. Spent the better part of the evening rehearsing the material I plan on doing at the upcoming shows. There are some new songs I've been wanting to do for a while now and I'm looking forward to seeing how they go over.
Thanks so much to all of you who have given such great positive response to the shows booked so far.
I've decided that Phyllis will be mandated to perform community service in the form of joining me on stage for ALL of these shows. The recent rash of Gum Ball Machine robberies here in the Northeast have been attributed to Her/Him. Rather than see such a talent languish in the hoosegow, I've taken matters into my own hands. I'm sorry to have to subject you to this but it's the only way She/He will learn that a life of crime can only serve to make one ... Famous.
Theres all kinds of things going on behind the scenes here and I'm sooooo looking forward to loosing sleep and driving myself up a wall to make sure these shows the best ones I've ever done.

K