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.

Williamsburg spontaneity

Photos by  Elliott Easterling

These photos were taken about a month ago when New York was still warm and the chill of winter had not yet made its presecene known. One thing I love the most about Brooklyn is the spontaneity of the day. Whenever I am playing Williamsburg I always bump into someone I know.  These photos are an example of that.

Photos by Ben Parks

·pre·sci·ent

Last Nights Gathering.

Last night marked the return of Marques Toliver and The Sometimes. The show took place in a loft space in Williamsburg. Earlier that day DucksFlyMoon and myself rehearsed two sings on the autoharp. I was still in my underwear by this time and the apartment was like an ice cave. David Reuben was out taking the SAT. Mihir was scheduled to drop by at noon

Once Mihir was at the flat we ran through White Sails, and Place Somewhere(That night I decided not to play "Place Somewhere").4pm rolled around and by then we where at the space on Kent, where the show would be taking place. The night was filled with people that had heard word of the music that night an as a result conversation we sparked and vanquished. My favourite part of the night was playing Anticipation. it served as somewhat as an awakening inside of me and allowed me to take a glimpse at what my sound could possibly become.

At the moment I'm working with what I know. In the future I plan on incorporating more aspects of present day music into my sound, but for right now I like the violins and autoharp. Towards the end of the Night I spoke briefly with Francois Champenois, CEO of LEN INC.

I wanted to set aside some time and have a smoke before I played, but it didn't really work out way.I walked back into that loft, which was adorned with large painted canvases and began to warm up. The music started and eveoryone slowly took their seats. I asked DucksFlyMoon to a play an impromptu 2 chord passage over and over while everyone drifted to their seats. The ensemble had never practiced this particular song I creating, never the less, everything jelled and before I knew the pianist and cellist were weaving in and out of DucksFlyMoon's chords.

Many thanks to the musicians that helped make last night possible.

Mihir,DucksFlyMoon,Dave,and Claudeen.