Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnd…

…We’re Back!

First show of the Summer and return to active duty happening Wednesday, July 2nd at Halvorson’s Upstreet Cafe, Burlington, VT. 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Donations to benefit Migrant Justice.

Returning to one of our favourite grounds to stomp, ALB is back in action at Halvorson’s Courtyard Music Series to raise funds for VT Migrant Justice and their ongoing work to “build the voice, capacity, and power of the immigrant farmworker community to organize for economic justice and human rights”. New songs, old favorites and a cover or three – all of it happening Wednesday night! We hope to see you there!

What Happened to the First Half of the Year?!

Admittedly it has appeared rather quiet ’round here for a while, but looks can deceive. If you are a working musician you already know it’s really difficult to book gigs in the current climate. Venues closing, so many folks competing for stage time, not to mention the insular and myopic Burlington music scene have made performing in public on a regular basis near impossible. So, almost every band or project I work within has pivoted to the recording studio. The ALB dropped an EP before Mud Season and the Rough Suspects are hunkered down and working on their next collection of songs (more on that soon!). As usual for late Spring, my “day job” got in the way as well. Now we seem to be back on track and tracking away! There might even be a show or three in the near future.

Rockets

The ALB edition of The Rocket Shop Radio Hour is now online to stream ’till you can’t no more:

Halvorsons

The ALB did it’s first Halvorson’s Courtyard Music Series gig of the Summer tonight and raised a bunch of funds for the Afterglow Foundation (for suicide awareness and prevention). Hottest night of the year (so far) but well-attended. Good to be back and jammin’ on familiar turf and made even better by helping a worthy cause. Thanks to Jason Lenihan and our new favorite waitress Maddy! Andrew and I will be back here with The Rough Suspects in July and the ALB will return for a Fall date.

Stone Document Repercussions

The “revisiting old territory whilst looking forward” frenzy continued with a visit to Garnerville, NY and the Roundtable Brewery to play a gig with longtime co-conspirator Dennis Tirch and new friend Dominic Calabrese. Most acurately described as taking all of the elements of our current musical pursuits (prog+jam+gypsy+jazz+ambient) and approaching an evening of music incorporating them into a performance that used composed classics as springboards for improvisation.

It was the first time Dennis and I played together in front of an audience in about 14 years (although we have played together a lot in that time). Another fantastic weekend of musical exploration. Many discoveries were made regarding how I approach collaboration and my relationship to, and use of, certain instruments and equipment (more on that later). Dom is a great drummer and an attentive collaborator so he was the perfect for this. I am lobbying heavily to get this trio into the studio (with a little rehearsal and prep).

Ghosts

Had a weekend of “let’s throw some paint at the canvas and see if a picture appears”-type jamming and writing with Kevin Peckham (Ghost Ghost) and Mike DeBois (Hijack the Disco and Ghost Ghost touring drummer). Heaps of fun and intermittently cacophonic and even a little productive.

It was all done under the guise of Kevin and Mike’s 25-year college reunion so there was lots of glancing towards the past whilst considering the next steps forward. We also took a little time to visit WRMC 91.1 FM and found the artwork for our Sepomana gig (back when I was auxiliary guitarist) as well as other bits of memorabilia.

TV, part III

LCATV’s Havana Fairfax Connection aired an interview with Arty as well as a single-camera audience shoot of our show at the Double EE on 04/05/24.