

"Mark Christensen's lead guitar conveys real danger." – All About Jazz
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.
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).
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.
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).
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.