We decided to cancel the Asheville gig due to the huge …. amounts of snow that were covering the mountains of North Carolina (and likely still are).  So we came up to Clemson early for Nate to start school today.  We’ve been working on some non-music band related things today, like video and web stuff, and came across a band that hijacked our radio single, “Roller Coaster”.  If you watch the youtube video of their version of the song the parallels become ridiculously obvious … a lawsuit will be forthcoming shortly.  Watch the video for yourself.

On to Anderson this evening to catch up with good friends.  See you guys on Saturday at Corbett’s!

Last night we managed to pull off our appearance as Radiohead.  No less than two people said that we “sounded better than Radiohead” - a comment which doesn’t hold up to scrutiny but boosts my easily influenced self esteem.  The highlight of our set was our closer, “Paranoid Android”, which we rocked out.  There is a video on youtube right now of our opening number and rumors of a video for the closing number but we’ll see.  We’re hoping to add a few, if not most, of the songs into our cover rotation.  Plus, we actually earned some dolores for our performance which was a welcome and awesome end to the evening.

This afternoon I played solo at Five Points Pub in downtown Columbia.  Jamie and Stevo came to support since Nate couldn’t make the age limit to get in.  It was a half cover / half original set that included “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley and “Army” by Ben Folds.  Hearing my voice clearly in the monitors is a true joy that, unfortunately, I don’t get much playing with a rock band.  It turns out that I can actually carry a tune : )

We’re 95% done with a new song that is a little bit of a departure for us in terms of form.  It’s also heavily influenced by our metalhead members - but in a good way.  We’re pretty excited about it and looking forward to debuting it sometime soon.  We have another song almost “in the can”, as they say, and a few more in the development stages.  The albums seems to be coming together.

See you at a local venue soon : )

Technically it’s only been day one for a few minutes, but I’ve been wanting to write a tour diary my whole life so I’m a little eager.  Today was the first day of many miles and hours spent in the ol’ faithful malibu - almost 500 miles and over 7 and 1/2 hours, in the rain no less.  Tonight we’re going to be rocking out a Radiohead cover set at New Brookland Tavern’s New Years Eve show.  We’re all really excited and nervous about it.  We have all be practicing on our own and in various configurations but never as a whole band until today - hence the nervousness.

I personally am coming of somewhat of an emotional roller coaster over the holidays.  Lots of family, several states, and many nights away from home have somehow unsettled me and heightened my typically low-level anxiety.  Tonight was a great alleviator though as we ran through the set before Stevo arrived from NC and spent the rest of the evening playing God’s glorious invention: the Xbox 360.  Call of Duty 4 is just one amazingly beautiful game and the single player campaign is intense, engrossing, and tons-o-fun.  Rock Band, on the other hand, is earning my ire.  As a musician, when I play a rhythm game I expect to be rewarded and not chastised when I play my instrument correctly.  Guitar Hero doesn’t seem to have any problem responding to my playing so why should Rock Band be any different?  It shouldn’t.  It is.  It makes me feel like that egotistical guy that comes over to your house, plays the game for 30 seconds, and then decides that it’s the games fault that he’s not winning … except this time it really is the game’s fault.  But that’s a whole other topic : )

It’s been fantastic to hang out with the guys as well.  I forget how much fun we have together sometimes.  Often there’s only time for business during our visits.  Tomorrow as we start rehearsal in earnest the “good times” might get a little heated but tonight was a nice chance to kick off the tour with non-gigging related R&R.  Can’t wait to rock 4 states in two weeks and to see you at a show.

I am an extraordinarily blessed guy. I haven’t been here long at all but already I’ve learned a wealth of information and gotten to see some amazing stuff. Like today, for instance, I got to sit in on a session at a professional studio called The Sound Kitchen. You should check the link for their roster of clients. Yes, there were platinum albums hanging on the walls in the hallway. Yes, there was a sheik chill room / kitchen. Yes, it was amazing. And yes, I got pictures for you to marvel at the cool opportunities God is giving me.

One of our teachers “canceled” our once-a-week class because he had an opportunity to record a big band at the Sound Kitchen. He turned it into a kind of field trip for us.

We started off the trip with a stop a Wendy’s and, since I’m a ham, I couldn’t resist.

The high-class entrance to the studio.

The aforementioned lounge area.

The magical control room in the “Big Boy” studio.

The required console (custom API Legacy Plus, 80 inputs) shot.

Logo proof of the custom design on the end of the console and stereotypical lava lamp.

More console porn.

Me badly faking mixing on the board : ) I had to be careful not to actually touch something during the recording process or tick off my teacher who was kinda busy doing real work while I was taking pictures.

The beautiful Pro Tools HD and G5 heart of the beast.

The Pro Tools monitor that says, if you can make it out, “Pro Tools HD 7.3.1″ in the top left corner. Those tiny letter and numbers cost so very much money.

Our crack team of graduate students adeptly and enthusiastically observing the session.

A broad shot of the, as they say in the biz, “tracking space”.

Some very cool diffusers/absorbers that did a mind boggling good job of isolating the piano while an entire big band played.

And the tracking space from the other side.

Did I mention how blessed I am? : )