The ALB edition of The Rocket Shop Radio Hour is now online to stream ’till you can’t no more:
Rockets
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.
Rocket Shop!
The media blitz rolls on! Arty and I will be on Big Heavy World’s Burlington-centric music show, The Rocket Shop on Wednesday, May 22nd from 8:00 to 9:00 pm (EST).
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.
TV, part II
Arty and I did an appearance on Mounir Khouri’s Media Factory show for Burlington local TV (now available world wide!). Topics included Arty’s history as a broadcaster, the history of WIZN, our history as collaborators and just which Mark I am.
TV
On Monday, April 8th, The Arty LaVigne Band played the entirety of The Getaway on Toni Bassanta’s LCATV program The Havana Fairfax Connection. It’s always a blast to be on Toni’s show and he and engineer Rebecca were both fantastic as always.
Radio
Arty and I did a radio appearance on Toni Basanta’s WWPV radio show The Havana Connection on Sunday. Toni has been a vocal and avid supporter of our projects and his enthusiasm and love of the band is always energizing. We got to chat about our history together and where we are headed next.
