Dr. Pepper's Chinese Democracy

If you hadn't heard Dr. Pepper jokingly said in the press earlier this year that if Guns N' Roses released their album Chinese Democracy this year, then Dr. Pepper would buy a free drink for everyone except, Buckethead and Slash, two of GnR's guitarists through the years.

Well that day finally came. And how could you blame Dr. Pepper for taking a bet they didn't think they would have to pay out on. Chinese Democracy has been some 15 years in the making and has been rumored as coming out by the end of the year for the last 7 years.

It took some patience but I was able to get my coupon from Dr. Pepper for a free drink. I also picked up GnR's Chinese Democracy and I must say that after a few listens I'm impressed.

Thanks Dr. Pepper, thanks Axl. This drink is on me you!

Six degrees

Today I'm in NJ as part of an executive management training program through Columbia University. Tonight we had a great treat and were able to see Chris Washburne and the Sytos Band, a Jazz combo, as part of the program.

Tonight was part of our leadership training and the Jazz combo was used to illustrate team dynamics. Some of the questions we asked centered around how does a Jazz team prepare, what happens if you don't like your team members, how does the team recover from mistakes, along with questions to the band regarding the popularity differences from country to country of Jazz worldwide.

Chris Washburne and the Syotos Band
November 11, 2008
The Heldrich Hotel
New Brunswick, New Jersey

Epistrophy (Thelonious Monk)
Killer Joe (Benny Goldsoon)
I Thought About You (Frank Sinatra / Miles Davis)
Caravan (Duke Ellington)

This combo was as good as it gets, and the environment in which it was presented were ideal including the setting of a hotel bar, 20 ft high ceilings and carpet with only 30 people. This made for the perfect acoustics although in an imperfect environment.

Over dinner the band sat with us and by a stroke of chance I ended up sitting by the drummer, Vince Cherico. We had a fantastic conversation and talked about his experiences, my experiences, and some of his friends including Kenny Aronoff. As we talked I discovered that Rufus Philpot was a bass player that he played with in his past and is someone that I'll be playing with in Seven Seraphim in Feburary. It is such a small world. I can't believe that as part of an executive training course through Columbia University that I met a Jazz Drummer from New York CIty that has performed with a bass player I'll be performing with in Los Angeles. This makes me only 2 degrees of separation from the band tonight. David -> Rufus (1) - Rufus -> Vince (2).

Vince and I exchanged information and I hope to meet up with him next time he is performing in Los Angeles. In addition to seeing him perform I hope that I'll be able to take some Jazz / Latin drum lessons from Vince.

The band was extremely generous with their time and even gave us CD's. I can't wait to hear it when I'm back home.

This week has required significant focus and a lot of work, but after an evening like tonight I feel that I've been rewarded through music which is so important to me, and I've made a connection with many of my team mates that are part of the organization I just joined.

I have one more day left in NJ but I don't see how it can get any better than this.

In NJ

I am in NJ all week. On the flight in I had a great view of the city and was able to see the Statue Of Liberty on the approach.

I am not sure if I will get to see the city this week but it reminds me of how much there is to see and do herem

President Elect... presented by the KISS Army

KISS has been running on their website a Choose Or Lose campaign to encourage people to vote. As part of the campaign they have been selling Obama and McCain KISS Army shirts and will be publishing the winner of the KISS Army vote by the number of T-Shirt sales.

In recognition of the President Elect here is Obama presented in Paul Stanley makeup by the KISS Army!

Enjoy.

PS. Mom - there is always 2012 :-)

Celeb sighting at Molly Malone's

Tonight Jacki invited me to her regular after work hangout Molly Malones. She had a tip that a special guest would be performing there tonight. I was getting in from San Francisco and drove straight from LAX over to Molly's.

Jacki and I were sitting at the bar eating and we saw Dennis Quaid walk in. A few people walked up and talked to him. He was just a couple of bar stools down from us. After our celebrity spotting we headed into the live music room.

The band that was playing was called Ghost Hounds. They were a good blues rock band and the lead guitarist had a very Rolling Stones type style. About half way through the set they even covered Gimme Shelter which was dead on.

They finally announced their special guest and it was Dennis Quaid. He gets up on stage and leads the band on guitar and vocals through a couple of songs. Not who we were guessing would be the special guest but it made for an entertaining night.

I voted

I just completed my absentee ballot and will drop it in the mail tomorrow.

Now on iTunes!

The Superlatives are now on iTunes! Buy it now.

		The Austin Avenue Recordings The Superlatives Release Date: Aug 15, 2008 Genre: Rock ℗ 2008 The Superlatives

Announcing Seven Seraphim at the Keyclub

Seven Seraphim announces their first ever show for Wednesday February 18, 2009.

I joined this band earlier this year, and although I didn't play on the CD that was released I have been asked to be part of the performing band. If all goes well we will record a live CD that will feature me on drums.

Andrew Szucs is an amazing guitar player and is the mastermind behind Seven Seraphim. So if you enjoy guitar virtuosos and like your music progressive then come check out Seven Seraphim at The Keyclub.

I have always set little goals in my sparse music career. Earlier this year I accomplished a big one with the release of my first CD with The Superlatives. This show knocks out several more of my music career goals. This will be the first gig I've booked on the legendary Sunset Strip. A place I made my Dad drive me through when we were out in LA on vacation in 1988. This is the first time I've opened for a national touring act. In fact I have a couple of Powerman 5000's cds. For those that don't know the singer in Powerman 5000 is Rob Zombie's brother.

And this is the first time a band I'm performing with has tickets sold through Ticketmaster. Look at the ticket! I can't believe my band is on the official Ticketmaster ticket. And to make things even better The Keyclub is my favorite venue in LA.

As we approach this show we will be playing some warm up shows and Andrew will be re-releasing the Seven Seraphim CD Believe In Angels through your favorite digital stores (iTunes, Amazon, etc...) soon.

If you can make it out to the show then hit me up for discount tickets. Ticketmaster sells for $27 with service fees. I'll be selling them for $15. So come check out Seven Seraphim and get your discount tickets to Powerman 5000.

Been too busy to post

All though I haven't posted much lately things are good. One of the bands I'm in just landed a big show on the sunset strip. Details will come shortly. Work is good, although extremely busy. It is better to be busy than wondering what's next but I've been working some long hours.

I just returned from Korea, and have been traveling back and forth between the NYC area and San Francisco areas quite a bit.

Once things slow just a bit I'll post more.

The Superlatives release The Austin Avenue Recordings

It's official. My band from Atlanta has released our first and only EP. It is now available as an mp3 download on Amazon.

I recorded these songs with the band in early 2005 right before we moved out to California. We recorded in a home that was converted into a studio on Austin Avenue in Marietta, Georgia. Three years later we are finally able to release these recordings.

Click the below link to buy it now. The Austin Avenue Recordings will also be available on iTunes soon.

The Superlatives

The Austin Avenue Recordings

Release Date August 15, 2008

1. All About You

2. Can't Say No

3. Kiss Me Goodbye

4. The Weather Song

5. Mr. Knowitall

6. The Lonely One

http://www.amazon.com/The-Austin-Avenue-Recordings/dp/B001EIUQDS/

Helio is now Virgin Mobile USA

Today brings a close to the chapter in our lives of Helio. As of today I'm now officially part of Virgin Mobile USA. I'm very excited about my future and Virgin Mobile's future however the day is bittersweet knowing that something I helped to develop from an idea is changing into something not originally envisioned.

With that said change is good.

http://virginmobileusa.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=176

LeRoi Moore - RIP

I just found out that LeRoi Moore from the Dave Matthews Band passed away in Los Angeles today. Coincidentally DMB was on tour performing in Los Angeles tonight although LeRoi had sat out this tour due to complications from an ATV accident earlier in the summer. Due to long work schedules this week I had passed at the last minute on tonight's show.

I've seen DMB numerous times (10+) through the years and I always enjoyed what LeRoi brought to the music. My favorite sax part was LeRoi's bari sax on "So Much To Say" off DMB's "Crash" album. It grooves in a way I've never heard a sax groove.

LeRoi will be missed.

Happy Birthday D

Darian and her friend Laura at D's birthday lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.

In The Big Apple

I'm in NYC for a couple of days for business. I'm pretty sure this is the first time since I've been to NYC since 9/11. The last time I was here was with Jacki in early 2001.

Taking a cab to the hotel I was able to see the Empire State Building and take in some of the skyline. I took a walk this evening grabbed dinner at a small pub and was able to listen to some of the local regulars talk around the bar. The bar was very Cheers like, but the clientele was much older. They definitely got worked up over politics and after the instigator left the bartender said she was going to cut people off if they get out of hand like that again. Great dinner entertainment.

Now I'm back at the hotel watching the Olympics and getting prepared for tomorrow's meetings.

EARTHQUAKE

We just had a 5.8 Earthquake. The building I'm in shook for about 15 seconds and my stomach got queasy. This was the biggest one I've felt since being out here.

Magnitude	5.8 - local magnitude (ML)
Time	Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 11:42:15 AM (PDT) Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 18:42:15 (UTC)
Distance from	Chino Hills, CA - 3 km (2 miles) SW (235 degrees) Diamond Bar, CA - 8 km (5 miles) SE (127 degrees) Yorba Linda, CA - 9 km (5 miles) NNE (23 degrees) Pomona, CA - 11 km (7 miles) S (178 degrees) Los Angeles Civic Center, CA - 47 km (29 miles) ESE (103 degrees)
Coordinates	33 deg. 57.5 min. N (33.959N), 117 deg. 45.1 min. W (117.752W)
Depth	12.3 km (7.6 miles)
Location Quality	Good
Location Quality Parameters	Nst=144, Nph=144, Dmin=8 km, Rmss=0.42 sec, Erho=0.3 km, Erzz=1.3 km, Gp=18 degrees
Event ID#	ci14383980
Additional Information	map with fault names Google Earth KML (Requires Google Earth.) Waveforms Did you feel it? 24-hour Aftershock Forecast Map SCSN Moment Tensor Solution CALTECH/USGS AFTERSHOCK PROBABILITY REPORT Tsunami Information Statement from the WC/ATWC

The Spider Show

I had my debut performance with Spidersuit last night. For a first show it wasn't too bad, and the one song that I thought was rough sounded fine when I listened back to the recording. We had the first slot of the night and went on shortly after 8pm. Not a big crowd but definitely enough for a first show.

Spidersuit
Club Good Hurt
July 19, 2008

OC/DC
Tchopitoulous
Dirty
Lovesick
Trouble With Cars
Pete's 5/8 Special
Isaac Newton A-Go-Go
The Owl
New Year's Dissolution

The songs are short so I'm sure we were on stage less than 30 minutes. So far the songs I enjoy most are Tchopitoulous which was only added into rehearsal very recently, Lovesick, and New Year's Dissolution. There are a couple of other songs that we've been rehearsing that I hope we will be able to add into our next show.

After the set I received the finished product of the 4 recordings I did with Spidersuit back in March. I'm not sure when this will be released but I believe this will be available on vinyl and digitally on places like MySpace and iTunes.

Sunday Rocklahoma 2008 - Setlists

Here are the setlists for Rocklahoma I documented for Sunday day 5. The first band of the day we saw was Zebra. They played their hits including Who's Behind The Door, Tell Me What You Want and The La La Song. Similar to Triumph I had high hopes for this band. They had a few technical difficulties and weren't able to connect to festival crowd so early in the day. However they did get people on their feet for Who's Behind The Door. I do give Zebra the distinction as having the coolest guitar pic at the festival. How cool a guitar pic is that!

UFO
July 13, 2008

Mother Mary
When Daylight Goes To Town
Hard Being Me
This Kids
Only You Can
Baby Blue
Too Hot Too Handle
Lights Out
Love To Love
Rock Bottom

The first set I documented was UFO. I had always enjoyed the song Lights Out but didn't know any of their other material. Watching their set was a bit mixed. At times they sound like two bands, one from the classic rock era of the early 70's and one from the hard rock era of the late 70's. Needless to say the hard rock material was my preference. Highlights from their set were Baby Blue, Lights Out and Too Hot Too Handle.

Ace Frehley
July 13, 2008

Rip It Out
Parasite
Snowblind -> I Want You (ending)
Rock Soldiers
Into The Void
Shout It Out Loud
New York Groove
Shock Me -> Solo (w/ She live ending)
Rocket Ride
Deuce
Love Gun
Cold Gin

I had high hopes for Ace, especially after the challenges of Saturday and I had been disappointed with the line up this year compared to last. Ace delivered and the KISS Army was in full force during his set. I was surprised by the heavy selection of KISS that Ace didn't sing on or write, but Ace knew how to deliver these hits to a festival crowd. Ace had the last day light performance and across the 5 days Ace had the best set during this time. Ace was reusing his KISS Farewell tour pics. He couldn't even spring for an event pic like Zebra did.

Tesla
July 13, 2008

Comin' Atcha Live
Into The Now
Gettin' Better
Hang Tough
Mama's Fool
Heaven's Trail (No Way Out)
Love Song
Little Suzi
Signs
Edison's Medicine
Modern Day Cowboy

Tesla was the breakout set for me on the mainstage at this year's Rocklahoma. They came out, blew everyone away and left the stage much too early. I would have liked to have seen them get an extra half hour in their set.

Queensryche
July 13, 2008

Operation Mindcrime

Encore
Walk In The Shadows
Take Hold Of The Flame
Jet City Woman
Empire
Silent Lucidity

I left the Queensryche set near the end of the Operation Mindcrime performance so I could catch Ron Keel and K2. I saw the Mindcrime performance in Los Angeles a yaear or so back and this was a tour I didn't enjoy. I enjoyed their performance better at Rocklahoma but would have preferred a rock concert as opposed to a theatrical performance. I listened to their encores while sitting at the North Tent. Great band and normally a great show but I'm ready for them to move past the Mindcrime theatrics.

K2 - featuring Ron Keel
Final North Stage (Tent)
July 13, 2008 - (actually July 14 Monday 1:30am)

American Thunder
Rock And Roll Outlaw
Evil, Wicked, Mean And Nasty
Sombody's Waiting
Becuase The Night
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Give Me All Your Love Tonight
Tears Of Fire
The Right To Rock
Lick It Up (KISS)

The K2 set was one of the best shows for me at all of Rocklahoma. I was able to meet Ron Keel in the VIP food tent on Friday and after the storms knocked the side stages down I assumed that K2 would not be able to play.

On Sunday they put up two small tents to replace the fallen North and South Stages. Ron and K2 went on stage after Queensryche's set, the last act on the main stage. When Ron started the show there was just a few of us and by the end of the set he had nearly everyone in the tent right at the front of the stage with him. I never thought I would get to hear Keel songs performed live again and hearing songs like Tears of Fire, Somebody's Waiting and The Right To Rock were incredible moments for me. Ron added two songs to the set that weren't planned and he finished off his set and Rocklahoma 2008 perfectly when he closed his set with KISS' Lick It Up.

Spidersuit at the Good Hurt

I'm not even back a full day in LA and I found out Spidersuit has their first gig with me as their drummer this Saturday at the Good Hurt. The Good Hurt has so far been my favorite venue to play in LA and I'm looking forward to debuting with Spidersuit. We will be playing some new material that I had a hand in creating along with a couple of Spidersuit classics from their album The Owl.

We will play at 8pm sharp so come out early and stay late. I will be loading in at 7pm and will watch one or two of the bands afterwards (as long as the bands aren't bad).

See you at the show.

Rocklahoma is over

Its 3:30am and we are just now getting back to the hotel after the 5th day of Rocklahoma. I'll do write ups when I get back to LA but I have to say I just saw K2 featuring Ron Keel. And to top off a perfect performance he ended his set with KISS' Lick It Up. Awesome!

Wetlahoma

Terry and I are still at day 4. It has been raining for over 5 hours. The only set we saw in its entirety was Lynch Mob. They started over an hour late but were great. We have seen most of the big stage acts tonight but think we may blow off Lita and Warrant.

When the storm blew in it got ugly. We went to the vip tent and rode out the worst of it but it looked like the tent might not stay up. The two side stages were toppled and we heard there were injuries when the south stage fell.

I doubt any of the side stage bands will play tomorrow.

Hopefully day 5 will deliver.

-------
Sent via Helio Ocean