I am glad that there’s a lot to share from the past ~2 years since my last post, and the good news is that the gap was mostly due to the fact that I have just been really, really busy. For one thing I’m a working stiff, with a couple of (mostly grown-up) kids and commitments that keep me pointed in a certain direction; despite that, whenever my friends ask me if I’m playing any music these days, the answer is that I always have something on the stove.

This is largely because I have friends who are insanely prolific songwriters, and I’m fortunate enough to be considered a worthy collaborator, or at least skilled enough to do their material justice onstage, or in the studio, or both. I’m also extremely lucky to have a partner who supports these activities, shares my interest, and likes hearing about the process (or participating therein — love and bless you to the end of time, Jacki!).

Debased

I went out and joined another tribute band. This time it’s tributizing the Pixies, with Debased, and three lovely people that I am glad to call my friends and bandmates: Nikki Arias (“Nikk Deal”), Bill Leigh (“White Francis”) and Rian Robinson (“Crackity Jones” — I’m “Surfer Rosso”).

We play out about once a month, which is kind of perfect for me when it comes to scratching that itch. I love making this kind of noise. It’s been a lot of fun. People come to the shows, and we invoke the sacred buzzsaws.

Sean O’Brien and His Dirty Hands

I look away and suddenly 10 years have passed since I first started playing with Sean O’Brien. Talk about songwriting machines: For a decade now I have been able to count on Sean to kindly, and annually, dish almost an album’s worth of material my way to record. It’s like the harvest: the sun hits a certain angle, and it’s probably time for me to do some tracking for SOB.

In 2022 Sean invited me and some friends to come with him to Boxer Lodge, in Anguin, CA to record some country and rock & roll music for his zillionth album, The Program Is Morally Good. This was my first deep dive into playing country (maybe “Americana” is more accurate, but still), which was a blast. (Edit: This is finally in release for streaming as of Jan 1 2024, see below)

This was followed rather quickly by Sean’s discovery of yet another trove of songs he wrote long ago, and needed an assist in getting the tunes from cassette tape to guide track. Unsurprisingly, the songs are terrific, and have been coming together over 2023. Meanwhile, here are the releases that I have so far been involved with (with at least two one more full-length albums coming soon):

I love being involved with the Dirty Hands because the material is great, and Sean always manages to rope in a super high level of talent with his projects. The current core Dirty Hands include Kevin Thomas White on bass and Ihor Pacholuk on drums; and it’s pretty cool to be on the same tracks as them, along with a who’s who of local and far-flung heroes including Dave Zirbel, Dave Wenger, Chris Von Sneidern, Greg Lisher, Prairie Prince, Kenny Aronoff, Robert John Tucker, Rick Munoz, Matt Boudreau, and probably others.

Seal Party

More recently my friends in Seal Party have been kind enough to invite me into their fold, which has been amazing and a distinct honor for me. Seal Party’s album debut last year was ridiculously solid — from the songwriting to the performances, production, and across the board.

With that, bandleaders and co-writers Kevin Seal and Chris McGrew earned a reputation as sort of a modernized “Steely Dan” with a varied roster of top-shelf players on every song, including some sh*t-hot guitar players like my old buddy Jon Axtell (from Psychefunkapus and a cascade of other seasonings ever since), Sonny Climes, Isaiah Sharkey, Ben Misterka, Nolan Cook, Tomas Salcedo, and others. This is appropriate because the material is challenging, and playing a set of this stuff allows a player to flex in a lot of different ways.

One more unexpected milestone for me and the band: on August 26, 2023, Seal Party was pleased and honored to support The Headhunters for a show at the Guild Theater in Menlo Park; and I was pleased and honored to be on the gig.

Seal Party has also invited me to join them for the writing and recording of their followup album. So all of this is extremely satisfying, and it’s really nice to be involved in the creative process like this again, a sweet bonus after a long spell in the wilderness.

So I’m thrilled to be joining Kevin (vocals/keys), Chris (drums), Spencer Murray (bass) and Liam Wesley Craddock (percussion/misc) for this next venture.

Seriously, the first record is awesome and I was a fan from the moment the first single was released.