Completed my 3 day support tour with Wild Beasts!

The tour took place in America. The plane landed in Philadelphia and as soon as I walked of the aircraft I could instantly feel the vast temperature change compared to London. Philly was so hot and humid, felt like Floridian heat. Jumped on a train to take me to Rittenhouse Square were I met up with Alyssa. Crashed at Alyssa during my one in a half day stay. The following day I did an interview/performance with WXPN Radio. That session was recorded in a studio. The auto harp was plugged in for the set but I  opted to let the violin sing out naturally with amplification coming only from my vocal mic. The interview should hit the air ways and internet in the upcoming months. Next on the list was to do a sound check and play the show at The World Cafe. As for the my performance that night I felt as if it was a 3 on scale from 1 to 5. 

After the show, managed to set aside some time to work and jam with local Philly artist, Jamil Kayin. He makes music and rides a mean bike. Here's a link to his music.http://www.jamilkayin.com

The next morning I toke the Megabus to New York City and the first place I visited was good old Brooklyn. Met up with friends in Williamsburg and made my way over to Le Poisson Rogue for soundcheck.While in New York I played Le Poisson Rogue 2 nights in a row. The performance was also streamed live on the venues website. On the night of the first New York gig friends from high school traveled from DC and Charlottesville, Virginia.

There were only three dates for me to play with the band because I play the Latitude Festival in the UK July 17.

Marques Toliver in New York City performing April 11 and 12th

I walked into a magical place,

                                                             

After a long day of gigs I went to a late night cafe to rest my mind. It was sort of a small place from the outside and very ornamental. Instruments lined the walls along with pictures from the past. I saw I violin positioned on one of the walls. I asked the store owner about the violin and questioned about who use to play that particular. He told me it was a relative of his,an uncle I believe. The violin looked very strong and well aged. The store owner told me that his uncle would play the violin everywhere he went. That was something I could relate to since I take my violin with me everywhere. 


That night I had just played a gig at the Vintage Emporium, located on Brick Lane. The  Brick Lane gig served as my last gig before I left for New York. After the show Kevin Morosky tagged along and we made our way to the cafe. From the outside one could see brass containers displayed in the in the window of the shop and outside there was and old New York City taxi parked nearby. I had always passed by this place on the bus and had always wanted to go inside, that night I did.  


Upon chatting with the employees I mustered up some courage to playa few songs then and there. Little did I know the customers and store owners would give me their full attention. I also had the opportunity to chat with fellow musician Vanessa, but you all known her as V.V. Brown.

photo by Kevin Morosky

http://morosky.tumblr.com/

Because the New Wave Killed the Buzz

After the spoils of Friday night's Zebulon Performance, there was a special invite for friends to attend a secret garden party. Lola kindly offered her garden for a few hours in the afternoon, so we could all experience the intimate sounds of music, without the drones of the new wave killing the buzz.