…and I’ll let you know how that goes.  We haven’t played in more than a month, I think.  Practice at 6, hit the road at 8, show at 11 or 12 probably.  If you’re out tonight, raise a glass to my muscle memory…  See my Ultimate Oven Fries recipe posting in a few minutes, if you’re in.  Or, you have time to make them before you go out, really.

I bought Fleet Foxes at Starbucks yesterday, the first time I’ve ever purchased music there.  That disc has been on my list for a while.  Am pumped.

Backordered wi-fi antennas mean that my Mac is still incommunicado with the interwebs, so I haven’t shifted much to iTunes yet. -h

A Man of Many Talents, Eager to Use Them All by Allan Kozinn, October 3 2008 at NYTimes.com

At 28, Mr. Burhans has pursued a career path so logical that it seems almost foolproof. Just sing, compose and master several instruments (besides the violin he plays viola, guitar, bass, keyboards and percussion) and the New York freelance world is your oyster. But this is a new development. Until recently, the conventional wisdom went, musicians with diverse talents should specialize: decide whether they are better suited to composing or performing, singing or playing an instrument, working in classical music or a variety of pop.

And while most young musicians still make the traditional choices and scramble to find work in freelance ensembles until they have established themselves as recitalists or chamber players, others are seeking to diversify. Mr. Burhans’s generation is the third to come of age during the rock era, and where conservatories once taught only classical music, most now offer courses and even degrees in jazz and rock, recording technology and the music industry itself. And musicians who grew up hearing everything from Mozart and Ligeti to Wilco and Radiohead are less inclined than their elders to compartmentalize their passions.

“I was always told, when I was a kid, that you have to decide at some point what it is you want to do,” Mr. Burhans said one afternoon early in his composing break. “And I thought, that’s cool. I’m going to school and study violin, viola and composition, and I’m playing in jazz and rock bands, and when I move to New York, that will decide it for me. People will see what I’m best at, and that’s what I’m going to do.

“But when I got here, I actually did the opposite. I kept doing them all, and I love it. The variety keeps me on my toes, creatively.”

TKTK

…is now online at http://events.greenjobsnow.com/greenforall/reports/8188

Thanks everyone!

-howie

I’ll be playing in my own living room as part of a Green Jobs Now event MFR is hosting along with my folks, the Kiblers, Cari Ann, and probably more!

Click here for event details.  7 PM.  RSVP if you can.  Sign the petition on your own if you can’t.

SEE YOU

-h

I know it’s been a billion years since I put out new music.  That’s changing.

One-take acoustic versions of “Cooky” and “Lost” are coming to “Furious Instance” in the very near future – a couple weeks.  These are brand-new tunes in an upbeat pop style, too new to have been assigned to a particular project in my mind.

For those of you who made a gift to the Mexico trip and received “Songs of -h,” these tracks will sound like the version of  “Major & Minor” on that comp.

I am in rehearsal now (they’re tricky!) and look forward to getting your reactions to new stuff.  -h

Guys and Gals-

I will be joining Dan Jenkins (Ideal Cleaners), Nick Westra (Crush The Clown), and Patrick Bradley (10th Horse, Amalgamators, Tangelo, The People’s Family Band, Pharmacy Spirits and about 50 more I think?) TONIGHT (Thursday, the 18th). It’s a show for Lincoln Calling (http://www.lincolncalling.com), and I am THRILLED. Through the kind, good graces of the other gentlemen, I am able to fill in for Matt Martinofsky, who unfortunately had to cancel.

12th Street Pub (12th and O)

6 pm SHARP (I play first, RIGHT AT 6!)

Free, or cheap, I think.

I will be playing something like 3 or 4 brand new songs! I’m excited.

Join us!

Cory Kibler

http://www.myspace.com/corykibler

Rob Spectre, formerly of Arturo Got The Shaft and currently of (dream) Not Of today, ended his songwriting drought on Monday with “Sarah Palin is Qualified (To Go Out With Me)” via YouTube.

Indeed she is, Rob. And as you sing, it’s the only thing she’s qualified for!

A couple weeks ago on a Monday, Lara and I went to the Nebraska State Fair to see Boyz II Men play for free at the outdoor theater. There was an awning, but I don’t want to get into semantics on a Sunday.

Lara was really excited, because Boyz II Men’s “II” was her first CD, and she spun the living crud out of that bad boy, probably while crying over 12-year-old boys. I didn’t own any Boyz II Men CDs (or tapes?) and I never cried over any 12-year-old boys, but I did know the singles pretty well, and definitely liked them as a youngster. But I don’t think I would have gone to the concert if it weren’t for Lara’s insistence.

We ate some weird food (toasted ravioli, onion blossoms) and drank some 20-ounce lite beers (hurray for the fair!) and stood on the side of the stage to wait for Boyz II Men to take the stage. The place was PACKED. According to a friend, the crowd waiting to get in at 6 pm was gigantic, even though the Boyz didn’t take the stage until 8 or so. But when they did take the stage, Holy Fishsticks; the crowd went NUTS. They started right off with half of “Motown Philly” (which they later played in full as the encore), and people were flipping out and singing along. The crowd was so consistently enthused that the Boyz repeated a few times throughout the night that “it’s been 14 years since we’ve been to Nebraska, but believe me when I say that it won’t be that long between visits ever again!” The crowd was a grateful one.

The perils of being a come-back band at the State Fair is that people want to hear the hits, even if you’ve put out 487 new CDs since your last radio single. However, the Boyz handled this very well. They spaced their hit singles out so that the crowd never got restless, and they introduced new material by saying things like, “We know most of you won’t know this song, and that’s okay; we just like this song so much that we think it’s worth playing it for a bunch of people who’ve never heard it.” And the new songs were GOOD. They didn’t have the same sentimental value as “End of the Road” (graduation/prom, anyone?) of course, but how could they? Give them time.

Apparently, a few years ago, Boyz II Men put out a CD with covers of classic Motown hits, stuff from Smokey Robinson and the like. They played a chunk of about 4 or 5 of these songs at the show, and everyone sung along, especially the older set. During the night, I was constantly amazed at the breadth of age of the people singing along to the hits; there were kids who must have been in middle school singing along to “Water Runs Dry” while their 40-year-old parents did the same. Which proves, I think, that Boyz II Men really did make classic music, even though they were unfortunately grouped in with bands like New Kids on the Block.

Most of all, Lara and I were just impressed with how good they sounded, and how meaningful and awesome the songs were 10+ years later. If it weren’t for that show, I wouldn’t be buying “II” et al in the coming days. And I wouldn’t be planning on covering “Water Runs Dry” and my next solo show. I hope people give their new stuff the same chance that they gave “II” years ago.

“Boyz II Men; ABC, BBD! The East Coast Family!”