Ghouls and Gratitude
Hi friends. As summer comes to a close I’d like to start this newsletter with a quick public appreciation exercise. This past spring I started touring again, in large part to the extra dedication of my wife Ruthie, the trust of our young daughter that I will return and the confidence of my fellow band-mates in the bands I tour with. I had really missed this aspect of my life during the pandemic and the first years of our daughter’s life and this spring and summer confirmed how important it still is to me. Touring, as you may have heard or experienced, is harder than ever but, unsurprisingly, it’s still as fun as ever too. I was able to see a lot of friends and family in far-away places that I hadn’t gotten to see in years and I hope that I can continue. And, of course, play tons of very elevated shows. Side-note: please go out and support your favorite middle and lower-class touring artists because, while they probably enjoy a lot of what they do, they nonetheless need that support more than you can imagine right now.
I have two announcements on the Nice Try, Kid! residency front. September 30th marks one year since I’ve been hosting this night. It’s growing steadily and I’m grateful to those of you who consistently show up and to Troost for letting me keep hosting this night dedicated to truly experimental music. Come make the 30th a big blow-out!
Second, my band with Kirk Schoenherr and Ari Foleman-Cohen and a newly minted name, Automatic Candy, has a new record and we’re going to be releasing singles starting on November 4th. That night we’ll also play a Nice Try, Kid! hosted at the very studio where we recorded this collection of songs, Lorenzo Wolff’s play-land, Restoration Sound. Details below.
Tour find
Treme’s Petit Jazz Museum - I recently had a day off in New Orleans on the Aaron Lee Tasjan tour and got schooled at this tremendous gem by the great historian Al Jackson (no relation to the drummer) on the history of American music from West African slave trade through the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America to Europe and back again to the gulf states where creole culture was perfected in the Treme, NOLA and finally distributed to all of the rest of us as what we know as jazz, rock n roll, mariachi, salsa and more. What a whirlwind of information and a truly deep experience. If you ever find yourself in the Crescent City with even an hour to spare, do yourself a big favor and visit this treasure.
LP find
The Golden Palominos: Vision of Excess - There’s a lot that I can say about the brilliant and complicated man who was Anton Fier and one day you should corner me at a bar about him but in lieu of that, this record will suffice. I found it on a strange day in Charlottesville, VA at a record store just blocks away from the venue I was playing at and, coincidentally, on the very spot where the horrific Unite The Right rally happened eight years earlier. Graffitti still on the outside of the building, I entered gingerly. When I found the record, recognizing immediately, I knew I had to buy it. I had been listening to it for years. Musically it is hard to describe. Imagine one of the greatest rock drummers ever leading a band of Michael Stipe, Johnny Rotten, Bill Laswell, Carla Bley, Bernie Worrell, Jack Bruce (on vocals), Richard Thomas, Robert Kidney and an emerging Syd Straw…in the year 1984.
Favorite newsletter
Allison Moorer: The Autotelic - Allison is an old friend who I’ve payed music with from time to time. She’s written two incredible books that I highly recommend. Relevant here, she’s someone you immediately know is an empath and is someone who holds steady to her beliefs. Her newsletter highlights these qualities. It’s a refreshing pace-maker in my life that helps me slow down, work on listening and examining. A great antidote to almost everything social media.
Shout out
To Istanbul cymbals, Vic Firth drumsticks and Remo drum heads. I’ve been working with these companies closing in on 15 years and they’re always very generous with me. I recently got a big shipment of heads, sticks and a new ride cymbal for an upcoming Marcy Playground tour that is absolutely killer!
Coming up
September 30th: One-year anniversary of the Nice Try, Kid! residency at Troost in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Guests to be announced soon. Watch social media!
November 4th: Mark your calendars for a very special Nice Try, Kid! studio party and Automatic Candy single release at Lorenzo Wolff’s Restoration Sound Studios. It’s the night before the election and a few days after Halloween so it should be doubly-ghoulish. We’re buying bunting. Come in your torn up costumes if you want.
October 8-27: I’m heading out throughout the midwest and the south in the drummer’s chair with Marcy Playground. They’re a band I grew up listening to and we’ll be sharing the stage with Everclear and Jimmy’s Chicken Shack each night! Quite a treat.
Brushing Up With Rob
Did you know that you legally can’t put a donkey in a bathtub in Arizona? Me either. Thank you Lydia Lunch. Check out her zany podcast, The Lydian Spin!
