Special show with Grammy winning singer/songwriter Paula Cole on July 26!
Exclusive ticket offers available now through the ThosSounds store
I'm ecstatic to pass along that on July 26 I'll be opening for the amazingly talented Paula Cole in San Juan Capistrano, CA. I've been a fan of Paula's for over twelve years now and honestly think she is one of the most original and inspiring vocalists/songwriters out there (and a heck of a piano player). Most of you may remember a big string of hits she had in the late 90's with songs like "Where Have All The Cowboy's Gone?," "Me," and "I Don't Wait" which was also featured as the music for the hit TV show Dawson's Creek. But great as those songs are, Paula's music gets much deeper as well. She is a true artist who's work has attracted contributors like Peter Gabriel, Tony Levin and jazz legend Herbie Hancock (who also chose to cover one of Paula's songs with vocalist Annie Lennox). She toured as a member of Peter Gabriel's band and is featured in his Secret World Live CD and DVD. She also performed on Sarah Mclaughlan's Lilith Fair tour and (like yours truly) is a proud Berklee College of Music graduate. If you've seen one of Paula's shows before you know what a dynamic performer she is live. If you haven't, do yourself a favor and check out her current tour.

I have a limited number of tickets direct from the venue for the show I'm doing with her on July 26. These are the best tickets available for the show as all seating is general admission. They have a face value of $25, but I'm able to pass them along for just $20 each (you'll also save about $7 each on Tickmaster fees!). While there are really no bad seats at The CoachHouse, they do give "priority seating" if you make a dinner reservation. To do so, first purchase your tickets from our store. Once your order comes through, we'll give you a special number to use when you call the CoachHouse that will help with the reservation. If you have any questions, feel free to let us know: info@thossounds.com Hope to see you on July 26! For more about Paula, check out www.paulacole.com

Paula Cole with special guest Tom Griesgraber Sunday July 26, 2009 doors open at 5pm, show at 7pm The CoachHouse in San Juan Capistrano, CA Exclusive ticket offers available through ThosSounds at www.thossounds.com/store.html

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New Agent 22 Special Edition CD release now available!

Includes four new tracks and all new mixes and mastering for dramatically improved sound quality
order now

Over the past two years, one of the projects we've been working on here has been a vastly "new and improved" version of the original Agent 22 CD. Starting with the original individual tracks, we first ported them from the "ancient" 1998 software we used to record the album into a modern high definition digital workstation (from Cubase VST to Pro Tools HD for the engineering types). It's no secret that computers and software have gotten more powerful over the last ten years. This move gave us audio tools and flexibility we just didn't have back in 98/99. The album was then mixed from scratch by Howard Givens of Spotted Peccary Music. Our approach was to keep instruments and elements in placements that reflect the original album while adding definition, clarity and a sense of space and depth that was just not possible before (for the techies, tools from API, Waves, Eventide, Lexicon, Sound Toys and more were used). But it wasn't all computers and software. Towards the end of the process, Howard also used analog summing mixers from API to bring together the final mixes with something of a more classic/vintage flavor, a step that again preserved more clarity and detail in the audio.

In 2001 the group started work on another album. Scheduling became impossible though as the three of us got busy with other projects, Jimmy going on to win Guitar Center's national guitar competition that year and Ryan touring all over with the B-Side Players and Slightly Stoopid. Some of the tracks that'd we'd started working on evolved into a bit of my first solo album, but some of the best "Agent" tracks have just been in the vaults since then. We decided while redoing the original album that it would be great to now include these at the end. You'll find four of them on there, adding over seventeen minutes of new music to the album.

This was a real labor of love for all of us and I'm thrilled with the results. We'll have more information and samples online soon!

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Monday May 25, 2009 - Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport
I'm flying home today after five days in Vancouver, British Columbia teaching and performing at the annual Chapman Stick seminar there. My good friend Jim Meyer has been organizing the event for many years now. I was last at it two years ago when it was held on an island just off the coast, but this time we were right in the downtown area. As is always the case with these events, it was a chance to catch up with with great friends including Greg Howard and Jim who shared teaching duties.

Our first official event was a show Thursday night at The Cellar in Vancouver, but the morning before the show, Jim and I took a side trip to visit Radial Engineering who are located nearby. It was fascinating to get better acquainted with everything they make. They seem to have an endless list of audio solutions for stages and studios. I couldn't leave without taking a few new toys home to check out of course. The show Thursday night featured myself, Greg Howard, Jim Meyer and Nathan Aswell who I learned actually launched the event years ago. The Cellar is a great venue, but we did have some trouble getting everyone's gear up and running in the 90 minutes they allowed us for set up. But, a few tweaks during the sets and we got things going smoothly.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Greg, Jim and I alternated teaching the beginning and intermediate/advanced classes and private lessons. Our space this time was a building that was actually being converted into a recording studio. One of our rooms was mostly finished with nice wood trim and "mood lighting" but the other was more or less raw cement. Greg also came up with the unique solution to use a staircase landing for a private lesson space. The intermediate/advanced "cement" room did have an advantage over the properly sound proofed beginner room; the windows opened. With the weather getting a little on the warm side Sunday, a joke circulated that having opening windows was something available only to the intermediate/advanced students and beginners would have to work towards that benefit. Not true... or is it? We'll have to see if it helps with Stick players' practice motivation till the next seminar!

The group pose on the left side of the street	The group pose on the right side of the street

Stick player crossing	Stick players stop the traffic

Jim heads off to the first show Thursday	Greg's a unique solution for the private lessons

Saturday night also featured a house concert where almost everyone performed. It's somewhat rare that I get nervous during a show anymore, but watching some of the students give their first performances ever and fight off their nervousness was inspiring. I decided to actually put myself in a somewhat uncomfortable musical position and for my set, included a brand new, still in progress piece we've been working on for the next Agent 22 album. It had a few fumbling moments, but was a fun challenge.

Greg leads a five Stick performance on Saturday night

Greg asked me to get a "REAL closeup picture" of him playing on Saturday night... I hope this is what he meant!	Jim didn't ask, but I didn't want to leave him out of anything...

Now, a three hour wait in Phoenix till the final jet leg home. Thanks to everyone who was a part of this great event!

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Monday April 20, 2009 - Harrisburg Intl. Airport, PA
Waiting to board to start a long journey home today. Bert and I had our last show of this tour yesterday afternoon. We had to wake up a bit early in Elmira, NY to start the drive. It wasn't a terribly long one, but the show was an afternoon one. This last show was a nice intimate one at a house near Harrisburg with a very elaborate "Labrynth" in the garden. I learned a Labrynth is not like a maze.. you don't get lost in it, but just wind around through the twists and turns as a sort of meditation. I think this one is still fairly new and young, but still very peaceful. Our friend Joanne led Bert and I through it, though in the interest of soundcheck, we skipped over the smaller bits on the way out.

a bit of the Labyrinth	ready to go

Back home I know I'll have a ridiculous pile of mail and "things" waiting for me.. but Bert and I are already looking ahead to our next trip together.

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Sunday April 19, 2009 - US-15S towards Harrisburg, PA
We had a really fun evening last night at my cousin's home in Elmira, NY. She and her husband have a beautiful home in the countryside and are experienced "house party throwers" and they did a fantastic job of organizing things. They had family members stationed to help guests with parking and to collect donations at the door, as well as tend bar and help with CD sales. Frankly it was way more professional than a lot of "real venues." Bert and I were a little spaced out from having a long 7+ hour drive to get there, but the mood of the show was very welcoming and light hearted and we really enjoyed it. I enjoyed getting to see my cousin's home and we had a nice outdoor dinner before the show and breakfast with most of the family this morning.

after breakfast sendoff in Elmira (photo supplied by auto timer camera and kitchen counter)

goodies in Elmira	Ticket taker Kaitlyn and merch guy Steven

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Saturday April 18, 2009, I-95 south from RI towards Elmira, NY
Last night's show was in a beautiful old church in downtown Newport, RI. I'm not sure when it was built.. a sign said it was "decorated" in the 1800s, but another said the congregation gathered in the 1700s. In either case, it was old as is much of the town. There is a great "sea farers" quality to the town which reminded both of us of something like the opening scenes in the novel Moby Dick. It just felt like a place where sailors and sea captins set sail from hundreds of years ago... which I suppose it was.

Newport "venue"	...and "backstage"

more "backstage"

Another long drive day today, but so far the roads are very clear as is the sky so it shouldn't be too bad.

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Friday April 17, 2009, I-95 north from NYC to Newport, RI
Fun show last night right in downtown New York City, which capped off what I think is the most road-grueling bit of this tour. Both Wednesday and Thursday we had 6+ hour drive plus shows. I think that's just about the limit a person can do in a day and not start totally spacing out on more complicated pieces.

Wednesday night we played in Rochester, NY at a studio space used both by a Brazilian martial arts accademy and a local church. It was a nice intimate group and we got to re-connect with some old friends we haven't seen in awhile and make a few great new ones.

a Stick player live in Rochester

Yesterday we drove from Rochester to NYC and found ourselves right on Broadway about three blocks from the site of the World Trade Center. Bert's old friend Pietro (from the League of Crafty Guitarists days) and his wife Ornella hosted us in their amazing home there. Life in New York can be so different from almost any other place on earth it seems. We parked our car in a lot that then raised it up on a lift so they could park another car underneath it. The bill was $44 for the night which is actually probably reasonable for that area. A sign said they rent spaces monthly for about $500. We had to unload all the gear in the parking lot before the car got raised, and then Bert left me to guard it while he went to meet Pietro (according to Bert, I'm the more intimidating one and thus better for guar duty).

NYC here we come	underwater into Manhattan

parking... Broadway style	but we could have parked there too

waiting with the luggage...

Pietro and Ornella's home was one of 9 floors in a building that I guess used to be a factory. A guard lets you in from the street to an elevator, and turns a key for the appropriate home/floor, and you then ride up and step out right into the living room. Once we got all the gear set up we walked around Broadway for dinner, stopping finally in a nice little diner and then a pizza place. Foods there are amazing, and often highlighted behind the counters with fancy lighting to really make their colors come alive.

showroom quality NYC pizza

Pietro opened the show for us and played some really nice music with a gorgeous sounding Goodall guitar and two digital Echoplex loopers. His tone and feel were superb. Several other old "crafty" friends of Berts/ours came as well including Tony Geballe and Jon Diaz.

Pietro opens the show	old friends

This morning we went for a quick walk down to the World Trade Center site and found a crazy little cafe for breakfast. It was really like something straight out of a movie or maybe a Seinfeld episode, with sample dishes behind the counter all lit up nice and pretty and cooks shouting at each other and ordering us (the clueless customers) around through the line. It seemed to be a hot spot for a lot of the construction workers working on the new World Trade Center. The food didn't look quite the same when it came, but was still very good. Afterwards, we completed our lap around the WTC site and loaded up for the trip to Rhode Island.

Bye bye NYC (waiting with luggage part 2)

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Wednesday April 15, 2009, Carnegie (Pittsburgh), PA
7:54am and we're up and nearing departure time quickly. We have one of our longest drive and still perform days today and Bert says there's a road in our plans that has been slow for the Trio in the past, so... we're leaving extra early. We played in a gorgeous house last night. The neighborhood reminded me a little of an super ritzy area of San Diego called Rancho Santa Fe. Big houses, lots of attention to interior design, etc. Unfortunately while most of the audience were great, a few people hanging out in other rooms were a bit noisy, but we overcame it. My friend Dave Brosky helped arrange for us to play there, and he and his father have been taking "almost over the top good" care of us. We had a fantastic meal from an excellent local Italian place which Dave brought to his dad's home. We've all been enjoying some wonderful stories from his dad too, who was born in Poland but early on lived here in Pittsburgh. His life story includes chapters of farm tales, being a WWII veteran, spending a week with Pope John Paul II, and working for many years as a Judge where he got to be friends with many celebrities such as Chuck Yeager.

The big house	clean up time (and much study of the Stick player's rig)

Breakfast with the Broskys

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Tuesday April 14, Cranberry Township, PA
We're in route from Cleveland to Pittsburgh and have stopped for lunch. As is often our habit when we have a little extra time, we've sought a spot we know has wifi and basically turned it into our mobile office. Let this be a suggestion to all those restaurants that don't offer free wifi.

mobile office at work (and with soup and salad)

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Monday April 13, 2009 - Cleveland, OH
We had a fun show tonight in a "venue" type I don't think either of us has ever played. It was actually a large photo studio that does product shots for things like food, toys and people. They set up a nice little stage for us, that was surrounded by things like kitchens (used for sets and by employees), a fake family room, a fake shark and lots and lots of cameras and computers. I had the thought (too late) that it would make a great place for some band promo photos. Afterwards we went out with some friends to a fancy bar that had great little pizzas and pomme frittes.

two musicians at K&P Studios in Cleveland (photo by James Popovic)

soundcheck view from the stage...	...and from above

a little "backstage" scenery

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Sunday April 12, 2009 - Greensburg, PA
Easter Sunday... Happy Easter! We had a great show last night in Powell, OH.. then got to bed as early as possible. Brian Lucey and his wife Michelle have a group called Lucey's playground who opened for us. They had a very creative instrumentation of vocals, guitar (crafty tuning), wurlitzer, harp, upright bass and drums. The "crafty" guitar and harp made the chordal role very unique and it was fun to hear our friends play.

Lucey's maze open the show

This morning I woke up early to go to church for Easter before we hit the road. I wanted to come visit family in Greensburg today for Easter, and Bert was gracious enough to go along with the idea, even though it meant 3+ hours in the car both today and tomorrow. We had a nice meal with about fifteen of my family members then went for a walk around downtown Greensburg. It's always a very nostalgic place for me since my mom and I would come here for a month every year from the time I was born till I was about 19. The downtown area is long past its heyday with several boarded up shops that were once bustling department stores decades ago (outdone by the local malls in the 60's I guess). Tonight I found some great photos of the area from as far back as the 20's, the 50's and the 60's, with all the era cars and clothing you might expect. My aunt tells me when she was growing up here, people used to take a bus downtown for $.10 on Saturday nights and it was packed with activity. Also fun.. we walked down a tiny alley named for my family; Hudock Way. My grandafter was the city's mayor for a few year, and I guess the city recently named all their alleys, so.. Hudock way! Tonight a few of us chatted about the family history and my aunt told me Hudock actually means something like "violin maker."

scene from downtown Greensburg	it's basically an alley, but still....

some guy on Hudock way	some other guy on Hudock way

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Saturday April 11, 2009 - I-71 north to Columbus, OH
Friday April 10, 2009 - Lexington, KY
We left Frankfort this morning with a grand send off from 5 neighborhood dogs. We had a short drive day today just from Frankfort to Louisville, so we actually took advantage of the situation and drove the opposite direction for 30 miles to Lexington. There we were treated to a really nice lunch from our friends Ela, Sladana, Mariela and Nadia (who's names I still hope I'm spelling right!).

our big neighborhood send off in Frankfort, KY	the start of an awesome lunch in Lexington

We had a fun night tongiht at a venue called the Jazz Factory in downtown Louisville. I guess it's been closed for a few months, but a new owner is taking it over and we were the first in a new series of shows there. CGT sound man Tyler Trotter set things up for us. The Jazz factory is actually in the basement of a large building which also houses a business called Glass Works which does custom blown glass art. We caught a glimpse of people making glass objects, and took a few minutes to browse through the gift shop. Only one downside really.. the only place we could use as a green room was the Jazz Factory's old (out of use for months) kitchen, which smelled strongly of old grease. I'm pretty sure actually my Stick strings need changing again because of it. Yikes!

Glassworks at work

a bit of GlassWorks works	and a bit more

A man and his CD's (load in time)	our view of Lousiville

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Thursday April 9, 2009 - Frankfort, KY
Terrific show tonight at a cozy little cafe in downtown Frankfort. The owners of the venue spent time during our setup trying to sort out just how many chairs they could fit into the room (always a good sign). The audience were very receptive and we actually added a few pieces to the set. Afterwards we got to spend some time with our friends Ela, Mariela, Sladana and Nadia who are all involved with a local University (and come from three different European countries... so I hope the American typing this spelled all their names right!)

"I think we can fit in a few more chairs over here"	"But Bert.. what kind of introduction do you really want?"

Two guys stare at their hands	Two guys stare at their hands

Tom does soundscapes for Ela

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Wednesday April 8, 2009 - Charleston, WV
Bert and I played tonight at the home of Dave and Debbie D. Dave's excitment for the music of CGT as well as Bert and I has become near legend. When he asks you to do a show, you always know the setting will be great, the food (prepared by sister Margy) will be nearly over the top, and there will be lots of little extras along the way. Tonight was no exception. We also had a nice opening set from Dave's guitar instructor Phil who did some great chord melody arrangements of jazz standards.

Margy's famously themed cooking	so many choices...

our opener in Charleston, WV

Tuesday was a day off, and we broke up our long drive from Harrisburg, PA to WV by routing things through Greensburg where most of my mother's family has lived for generations. It was a snowy drive, very surprising to a southern Californian in April, but I enjoyed getting a chance to see a few family members and go for a walk around the town.

night view of Greensburg

the tour vehicle... but what's that white stuff?	a bit of the local scenery

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Monday April 6, 2009 - Mechanicsburg, PA
Tonight we played at a nice coffee shop just a few minutes drive from Bert and Carrie's home in Mechanicsburg. We had a small, but enthusiastic audience, some of whom showed up very early to reserve their seats and tables. There were many local musicians in attendance who we went out with for a bit afterwards. There was talk of Berklee (one is applying for the engineering major), movies (one is making an indie film) and Carrie getting excited about the "Tar Heels" (North Carolina basketball) on TV.

The Lams-es prepare for the show

Yesterday, being Palm Sunday, we went with Harry and Jeanne to their church in Frederick, MD (after another fantastic meal from Harry), then it was off to Oakton VA for a private house concert at the home of one of Bert's high school friends. The audience seemed to be mostly European people who all work together at the IMF office in D.C. Bert seemed to enjoy getting a chance to speak a little Flemish.

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Saturday April 4, 2009 - Leesburg, VA
Show number two today was just outside Washington DC in Leesburg, VA at the amazing home of Bennett D. Ben is a craftie and actively involved with the local guitar circle, so we had a number of guitarists in the audience. Patrick Smith, a longtime friend of Bert's opened the show for us doing some very dynamic and melodic original music. After the show we had fun checking out Ben's music room. Though he says his primary instrument is bass, he has a great collector of old vintage synth gear including an old Roland GR-300 and Fender Rhodes.

Patrick Smith opens the show	Backstage #2 - Leesburg, VA

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Friday April 3, 2009 - Frederick, MD
We had our first show of the tour tonight; a private event at the home of Harry and Jeanne L. They've been organizing CGT shows in aryland for several years now and I'd actually met them on a CGT tour way back in (I think) 2003 or so. They have a beautiful home in the Frederick countryside which they graciously opened to us, not only for this first show, but also for lodging for a few days and several fantastic meals prepared by Harry. Bert's wife Carrie was able to join us for this first weekend too which is fun.

Bert is excited for the first show	Carrie is too!

Backstage #1 - Frederick, MD

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Monday March 30, 2009 - Encinitas, CA
It's time to pack... Wednesday I'm flying east to start the new tour with Bert Lams. I'm sure it'll be a fun one as always, and I'll try to keep things updated here with some pics and stories. I'm cramming to try to "close up shop" at home right now though while brushing up on the material we'll be doing as well. I've been revising some of the Stick arrangements for a few of the pieces we play lately. They're going to sound better than ever I think.. once I actually get the tricky new shapes burned into my muscle memory! Better get back to it!

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Tuesday March 3, 2009 - Encinitas, CA
I've been dividing my time between several "behind the scenes things" of late, but that usually means some fun things are coming down the pike. Bert Lams and I have been putting together one of our duo tours for April through the North East (PA, VA, OH, NY, KY, WV....) Should be a fun one. We still have a few open dates, so if you happen to live in that region and would like us to come to your area, let us know. It's easier than you might think! Check out the schedules page to see where we're headed.

I've also been working on two recording projects. First up will be a special 10th Anniversary Edition of Agent 22's debut album. Hard to believe it's been ten years, but... there it is. This new edition has been an ongoing project for over two years now. Myself and Howard Givens from Spotted Peccary Music have taken apart the original album and remixed and mastered it from the ground up. Simply put, the audio tools we have to work with are incredibly superior to what I had back in 1998/9 and we've managed to make things sound much much better. But.. probably more exciting is that we're also including four previously unreleased A22 tracks that were recorded in 2001. That brings over 17 minutes of new material to the disc, which has some of my favorite bits that we did in that period. The new album is in manufacturing now, and should be in stores by April.

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Thursday January 22, 2009 - Encinitas, CA
Bert Lams and I spent Monday and Tuesday working on our new album. We've got most of it mapped out now, but the Stick player needs to get some work done. Yesterday I drove Bert to LA and took the opportunity to go by Stick Enterprises and pick out woods for two new Sticks! Very exciting... it'll be several months before they're finished, but it was fun to see them in their infancy.

Namm's Beyer team '09 (minus Jerry Marotta who I think was signing autographs at Yamaha)

Marotta/Griesgraber with help from Bert Lams (photo by Neil Bettencourt)

Agent 22 @ Stick Night 2009	Happy audients and camerman (inc. several of the Chapman clan)

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Monday December 8, 2008 - I5 towards Oakland
We're racing up California from Redlands to Oakland today. We probably started later than we should have, but were maybe just a little too comfortable at our friends John and Sally's home. They have an incredible home in Redlands with horses, a big pool and plenty of room for a few traveling musicians. They hosted our show too in their spacious living room and packed as many people in as they thought they could. The evening also included a delicious catered dinner for everyone.

Happy Redlanders

Redlands "stage"

the tablecloth's view

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Sunday December 7, 2008 - Long Beach, CA
Bert Lams and I are back doing shows again after about a week off for Thanksgiving. This time we're poking around California, which after my week with family in the new snows of Pennsylvania is a nice change of weather. Thursday night we had our first show out here opening for Tuck & Patti at the Coach House. I've been a fan of theirs for almost as long as I've played fretboards and had met them as a fan several times years and years ago. They sounded as good as ever and Bert and I got to talk to Tuck a bit both before and after the show. Both Tuck and Patti are some of the nicest, most genuine people you'll ever find in the music biz.

Last night we played in a fantastic old house here in Long Beach. Our friends Mark and Cheryl are part of a society seeking to preserve old houses in Long Beach. The one we played in is known as the "Bembridge House" after the family that used to own it and was built in 1906. Several different organizations contributed recently to decorating it for Christmas and left us with a wonderfuly inviting and "homey" space for a concert. It reminded me a lot of homes back east. Many of Berts old friends and family came to the show as well and it was great to see all of them again too. As we were loading in, a group of young neighborhood children were following Bert around asking things like "Do you live there? Are you rich? Is it haunted?!?"

Bembridge House	"Is it haunted?!?" (ask the neighborhood kids)

A Bembridge bedroom	Our stage

Our green room

luggage if you need it

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Sunday Nov 23, 2008 - St Augustine, FL
We had our last show of this Florida run tonight at a great house in St Augustine, FL owned by friends of Nelson and MaryAnne. We played here the last time we came to Florida as well and found both times that the room sounds great. It has a very unusual shape to it, but works well for some "double decker" seating.

view from above (ready to go on)	Bert surveys his audience

Saturday Nov 22, 2008 - Jacksonville, FL
We played at a great spot called Wine Warehouse in Jacksonville tonight thanks to the organizing skills of our friends Nelson and Maryanne and the efforts of many more of their friends, some who came from as far away as Oregon! We're staying with them too for the next two nights. It seems they invited many many old high school friends to come to town this weekend for the two shows they helped put together and they're all socializing now in the main part of the house. The Genesis album Duke is cranking away. Nice choice!

"These guys are SOOO great!" (Patrick introduces)

Venue entrance: cleverly hidden and mislabeled

The road to Jacksonville

We had about a 4 hour drive today from Jupiter, FL to Jacksonville. Bert and Carrie picked me up about 9am, just as a large group of Manatees were being very active behind the house. We walked back to check them out for a few minutes. I think they might have freaked Bert out a little. When they would surface for air and exhale Bert sometimes exhaled a "whaaa" himself.

Last night we had our last (of 5!) Jupiter/Palm Beach area shows. We played as part of a "distinguished artist series" in the church Bert's in-laws are part of. They have a strong community going there who made for a very supportive audience. We also had our special guest soprano Laurel Alexander again. She did great as before and it was fun to hear Bert switch over to "old standard tuned" classical guitar so effortlessly.

"stage" view - Jupiter, FL	audience view

In the early afternoon, before heading to lunch and sound check, we stopped by a turtle rescue facility near Jupiter. Our friend Susan volunteers there, so we went in while she was working and had a great private tour, learning about the different types of sea turtles in the Florida area, and getting to see some babies and recovering adults up close.

Bert and friends	"follow the moon!"

"yo"	"is that the moon?"

de-algae-ing the lil ones	almost

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Thursday November 20, 2008 - Palm Beach, FL
Tonight we played at a college called Palm Beach Atlantic. They have a beautiful chapel they use for concerts that had amazing acoustics. I think Bert could have played the whole show with no amplification and pulled it off fine. Not so the Stick player. Our audience was mostly music majors which was fun as I got to get a little more in-depth in explanations to their questions and make even more goofy jokes than normal.

Bert warms up at Palm Beach Atlantic University	almost time to open doors

PBA chapel ceiling	I think I'm seeing lights

the stage is set	PBA library Christmas tree lighting

This morning, our friend Susan that I've been staying with helped me see a wild manatee right up close and personal. She says in cold weather they come right into the canal behind her house because the water is warmer. They like to wollow in the mud at the bottom of the canal, but also seem to like getting some fresh water from her. Most of the time they stay submerged, and you can just see and hear their noses come up for air. But sometimes they seem to be checking out what the two legged creatures are up to a little more.

It followed me home, can I keep it?	ahhhh

mmmmmmmm	glug glug glug

enough for now

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Wednesday November 19, 2008 - Jupiter, FL
Tonight we played in a community center in Abacoa, FL. It was a real "do it ourself" affair with Bert's inlaws even supplying some lamps to help light our stage area, and some people bringing their own beach chairs. It made for a great personal environment though and all came together quite nicely. It's amazing how th sound of a room can affect a performance, but something about the construction of the room tonight made for a much warmer, fuller sound than last night and I think we actually played a little better because of it.

Oh look, a concert tonight!	Merch girl Carrie

Tuesday November 18, 2008 - Jupiter, FL
We had a day off yesterday, our only one of this trip. It was made much nicer by us getting our four hour drive done Sunday night and not saving it till Monday morning. So.. a nice leisurly day yesterday. The view out the back of the house I'm staying at is wild. My host Susan tells me that when she was growing up her, all her friends would use boats to get together, not streets. I guess everyone in the neighborhood has a boat dock, so.. that's just how they would get from house to house. The canal is also something of a winter residence to Manatees, a giant water mammal found only in Florida. These gentle vegetarians are endangered as they often get hit by boats. Today I had my first sighting of some moving about the canal.

house with a view	mysterious manatee

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Sunday, November 16, 2008 - Tampa, FL
Today we played at a Unitarian church in Tampa.. twice! Our real show was in the afternoon, but they invited us to play a little music for their morning service as well. The building was a dome with a great choir loft/second story we could use as a green room. Last night we did a house concert in Clearwater hosted by Gary, a major guitar fan and his family. Gary owns 12 guitas (I think that's more than Bert and I put together!) and has some really nice pieces. He, his family and our friends Wayne and Mandy did a great job of spreading the word about the show to their friends and we had a very nice turnout. It's amazing what a difference perception can make. Just sixty people packed into a small living room makes for an incredibly energetic event!

Gary's guitars in Clearwater	Here come the people - Unitarian dome in Tampa

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Friday November 14, 2008 - Jupiter, FL
Yesterday I flew into West Palm Beach Florida for an all Florida set of shows with Bert Lams. We'll be criss crossing the state playing in a wild assortment of venues ranging from living rooms to colleges, churches and a wine warehouse. Our first stop was in Jupiter Florida where we'll actually be doing several shows. Fighting a bit of a head cold, led to my ears being pretty stopped up after the flight. I felt like I couldn't quite hear things the way I usually like to, but we seemed to play pretty well regardless. I was a bit lazy (tired?) and didn't unpack my camera. Too bad. But, it was a great setting at a place called TSI or Transformational Studies Institute. Normally a pyschotherapy, lectures, and massage type facility, this was the first time they'd ever put on a live music event, but thanks to our friend Kevin who works with them, things were flawless. We also had an interesting happening in that Olivia Newton John and her new husband came to the show. Very nice folks! Olivia even suggested a name for a new untitled piece Bert and I have been playing recently, but I'll keep that secret.. we want to see what other people hear in it too!

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November 7-9, 2008 - Las Vegas, NV
This weekend I was in Las Vegas as the musical guest of a fun group called the Jackstraws. These guys have got to be "the" hardest working musicians in San Diego. The band lineup is a collection of friends and changes with each show, but Loren, their fearless leader tells me they usually average 300-500 shows a year! Yikes! You can often find them playing at places like Sea World and the San Diego Zoo, but twice a year they also head out to Las Vegas for three days at an arts and crafts festival. This weekend they took me out with them to trade sets back and forth as it's an all day event. Fun! The nice part was too that we were done each day by 5pm so we had time to poke around old downtown Las Vegas too, checking out some of the sights including the light show and bands on Freemont St.

The inimitable Jackstraws in Vegas

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Saturday October 25, 2008 - Encinitas, CA
Some exciting news coming up this fall. Bert Lams and I are putting together two tours, one in Florida that is almost complete and one now in December on the West Coast. Dates for Florida are up now on the schedules page.

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October 9-12, 2008 - Santa Cruz, CA
This weekend myself and NS/Stick master Don Schiff were the instructors at a Chapman Stick seminar in Santa Cruz. These events happen all over the globe several times a year and are simply put on by local hosts. This time the host was Neil Bettencourt, an excellent Santa Cruz drummer who is getting more and more proficient on NS/Stick by the day as well. About 15 or so of us congregated for three days, with Don and I usually teaching simultaneously in two adjoining rooms. People were free to wander between the rooms. There's really nothing quite like the sound of a dozen or so Sticks all playing together. The event also included two performances, one a house concert with just the teachers on Thursday night, and the other featured the teachers but also small sets from the students at a wonderful jazz club in Santa Cruz called the Kuumbwa. I'd played there many years ago opening for the California Guitar Trio and it was great to revisit such a nice local spot.

tap tap tap tap ta... wait.. tap tap tap tap	what was that Don?

mysteries of the Chapman Stick explained!!!

Don prepping at Kuumbwa

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Tuesday September 2, 2008 - Los Angeles, CA
Bert and I had a terrific show last night at a venue called The Coffee Gallery Backstage. What a great room! The owner does the best job of promoting shows of any LA venue I've ever played at too. I guess he's been at it for over ten years and keeps a mailing list himself. People have learned over the years that he only books good acts and that if he recommends checking someone out.. they'll be worth the ticket price. So, we had a nice turnout of our own friends and fans and met several new ones thanks to the venue. The setting is just plain fun too with all sorts of perspective paintings on the walls and ornaments around the room to make you feel like you are in a sort of coffee warehouse. There's already a few video clips of this show up on YouTube.

Tom & Bert The Coffee Gallery Backstage (photo by an audient.. but I'm not sure who. help!)

soundcheck at Coffee Gallery

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August 27, 2008 - driving from Sedona, AZ to Encinitas, CA
Long drive day today as we make our way back from Arizona to Encinitas. We stopped briefly in Yuma for some food (I'm not sure whether it was a late lunch or an early dinner). Crossing into California one quickly sees some major sand dunes and we stopped for a photo op. From there the terrain becomes very rocky almost as if the sand left all it's rocks behind. Someday I'll have to learn what that's really all about!

crossing into California

This morning, before starting the drive back to San Diego, we took time out to visit our new friend Ken and see an amazing house he built right outside the town of Sedona. He used an amazing array of techniques to make it very environmentally friendly. Some of the walls are built out of local rock, others of compressed straw. In the garden he has a lawn (in the middle of the desert!) that even in summer he only has to water every few weeks thanks to some special hydroponic crystals he buried in the soil that retain water. Amazing! At Ken's suggestion, Bert, Carrie and I walked down his street a bit and into a gorgeous park for a bit of sight seeing.

wow	Bert cools off a bit

another park visitor

The house Ken built	self-sustaining.. in the desert!

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Wednesday August 27, 2008 - Sedona, AZ
Tonight we played at the Sedona Creative Life Center. The show was organized by my old friend Mark Rownd. Mark is a great musician and composer himself who used to live in San Diego and has albums out on Spotted Peccary Records. He and his wife Darcy moved to Sedona several years ago and this was the first time I've had a chance to see them and Sedona itself. It was really nice catching up with them a bit, and wow.. what an amazing place! We played in a "chapel" at the center which overlooked some of the awesome natural beauty of the area. There's a real magical feel to Sedona and many people who move there just seem drawn to it. A parking sign at one Creative Life Center space read "Reserved for director. All others willbe swept into a vortex!"

soundcheck at Creative Life Center	above the stage

Carrie checks out the rest of the Center

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Tuesday August 26, 2008 - Fountain Valley (Phoenix) AZ
Bert Lams and I are off on another of our adventures. The goal this time was mainly to spend some time in Encinitas, working on our album, but.. to play in some of the material and help fund expenses a bit we're doing some shows in Arizona and Southern California. This is actually our first time taking this duo into Arizona. We usually start in San Diego (my town) and head north up the coast, but thought it might be fun to go east instead this time. Bert flew into Phoenix yesterday and I drove out from San Diego. Our show tonight is a house concert put on by local musician and guitar teacher Scott Hallock. He and his mother made us feel very welcome. They live in a neat area called Fountain Valley, named after it's gigantic man made fountain that goes off every hour. They say that when it's run to its full height it is the second tallest fountain in the world. It's so tall in fact that they only run it to its full height when the weather permits as it's easy for winds tostart throwing water all around.

The fountain from a great distance	wow

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Thursday May 29, 2008 - Encinitas, CA
There's been a ridiculous amount of "behind the scenes" activity here. Mostly it's been recording work for folks like Ryan Moran (Agent 22, Slightly Stoopid drummer who's doing a solo album), Jen Knight (great Berklee alum songstress) and Alyssa Jacey (one of the hardest working performers in S CA). And then there's been some wild corporate gigs; background music performances for folks like The Wall Street Journal with Bill Gates and The Grammy's Trustees with folks like Jimmy Jam, Neil Portnow, Bob Ezrin and Gerald Veasley.

Next week my good friend Bert Lams from The California Guitar Trio is flying out from his home in Pennsylvania. Our plan is to start work on our first album together! We've been doing short duo tours together for about four years now, and every one has been fantastic, so.. now to try our hand at recording! While Bert is out here, we've also set up two very intimate house concerts in the area. One in Chula Vista (way south San Diego County), and one in Encinitas (North County). Events like these are some of our favorite places to play as they truly put the music in one of its best possible settings. Plus there'll be free food and drinks ;-) Details are on the schedules page. Hope you can join us!

Last but not least, speaking of The California Guitar Trio, they have a new CD out and I was honored to make some cameo appearances on it! It's a CD of all cover material raning from Pink Floyd to Beethoven and surf guitar, and also has contributions from folks like Tony Levin, Jamie Masefield (Jazz Mandolin Project) and Pat Mastelotto. It is now available in our store here at: www.thossounds.com/cgtechoescd.html You'll find short sound samples from every track there, though they hardly begin to tell the musical stories found on the disc. Give a click and check it out!

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Sunday February 17, 2008 - Jacksonville airport
I'm waiting in the airport now for the trip home. Bert had a very early flight, so Carrie took him to the airport and then we found a place to ship the heaviest gear home. I now have a a nice long wait till flight time.

Last night we had our final show at a place called Wine Warehouse in Jacksonville. Our friends Nelson, Maryanne and Bill are friends with the owner and they went in ahead of time to transform what was basically a dirty warehouse into a cozy music venue. It was a great setting complete with lots of snacks, wine samples and pizza courtesey of the restaurant next door.

Final night at Wine Warehouse

With the help of two small LED pocket lights Bert and I turned an out of service bathroom (with no working light) into our green room. It was a bit eerie, but I had fun trying to catch the silouhettes.

warming up in the green room (or is that the dark room?)	(compare to seating arrangement for show #1)

self portrait

lunch courtesy of Maryanne

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Friday February 15, 2008 - St Augustine, FL
Last night we did a very intimate concert for our friend Tiffany and her guests. The group was small but there was no lack of enthusiasm.. or fondue and chocolate from her chocolate fountain! Several of her friends were artists and/or musicians themselves and I had fun chatting with them about the "artistic experience" afterwards.

Today, with only about a 1.5 hour drive, we had time to play tourists. Bert, Carrie and I drove to St Augustine early and explored the old city and then a nearby lighthouse.

Playing tourists at the fort at St Augustine	Ready to climb the fortress walls

Our show was held in the home of Nelson and Maryanne's friend Patrick. He apparently jumped at the chance of doing it and managed to fill up the available seats in record time. His wife and family did a great job of making us and all the guests feel welcome. The sound in the room was great, and we had the unusual setting of having audience members on multiple levels.

The stage is set in St Augustine

multi-level audients in St Augustine

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Thursday February 14, 2008 - I 95 North to Jacksonville, FL
....and back north we go. We had a great show last night in Jupiter, FL with a very appreciative and attentive audience at the community center for the neighborhood of Bert's in-laws. Amy, the director made a real event out of it for them, with cookies, wine, candy and lemonade (lemonade distribution support was provided by Verlin at the last minute). There were a lot of laughs, some audible "wows" during pieces and mostly right notes. Bert's wife Carrie is down from Pennsylvania and is joining us for the rest of the tour so.. we now have an offical merch person!

tuning in Jupiter's kitchen

dualing intros

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Wednesday February 13, 2008 - I 95 South towards Jupiter, FL
Today we are driving south about 4.5 hours to Jupiter Florida, near West Palm Beach. Tomorrow we'll actually reverse today's route and head back to Jacksonville. It's raining some but not too bad. Originally the organizer for tonight's show had wanted us to play outdoors. We talked her into having it indoors largely for sound reasons, but now it looks like we may have made the right call for weather's sake as well. No sign of any twisters yet though!

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Tuesday February 12, 2008 - Jacksonville, FL
The adventures continue! While setting up for the concert tonight, we learned that a tornado advisory was in effect for the area! Well.. no tornado came, but there was plenty of rain, thunder and lightning. It seems to have scared off most of the people who planned to attend tonight but a small brave group still made it. We started much later than advertised and spent a bit of time on the front porch watching the weather and waiting to see who might make it. The show actually turned out to be quite nice. As we were getting started, I had the feeling we should do something a bit more "spacey" to start off.. it just seemed to feel right with the rain pounding outside. I never communicated the idea to Bert, but we started right into an improv and he led off with one of his "spacey" sounds. Perfect! I really enjoyed playing pieces where I could stretch the pauses out tonight as well and listen to the rain in-between the notes.

Our hip & funky Jacksonville stage	Watching for twisters on the front porch

front porch camera fun (no flash)	front porch camera fun (with flash)

Greg and Carmen (our Jacksonville hosts) in addition to being avid movie experts are also real animal lovers and have taken in a total of seven cats, a dog and I think two birds. The animals all live up stairs, but don't all get along so they have separate rooms. One room is dedicated to six of the cats who all come from the same litter. It is a bit of a surreal sight to look into a room and see twelve green eyes staring at you from a bed. I tried to catch them on camera but only got five of the six before some came to say hello in person.

five of six	inside the cat condo

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Monday February 11, 2008 - Jacksonville, FL
Bert and I are now three days into our tour of Florida. Things have gotten off to a great start and as always when we play mostly house concerts, we've been welcomed right into the heart of our hosts' homes and get to experience a snippet of their day to day lives in the process. Moving from one house to the next and getting a sense of how different people approach life can be a fascinating experience.

Yesterday we drove to an area near Orlando where Kurt, a music business major at Full Sail organized a house concert with his family. I had a great time with all of them and felt welcomed right into the family. Kurt's fiancee is from the San Diego area and the two of them once saw CGT, Jerry Marotta and myself perform there. Now, on the opposite side of the continent, they put this show together along with Kurt's mother Pam and his sister Stacy. Kurt went to great lengths promoting it, even going so far as to invite friends over ahead of time to make them listen to our music so they would get excited about the show! This morning on a day off, Bert, Stacy and I went to a Bikram (105 degree temp) Yoga class. Bert is a regular practicioner, Stacy had never been and I haven't been in probably a few years. Bert looked like a pro.. Stacy and I cheerfully survived the 90 minutes of poses in the heat.

Bert plays serious music in Ovideo, FL photo stolen from Bert's cgtrio.com diary (and taken by Annie if I remember right)	Kurt, Bert, Stacy, Stick guy photo stolen from Bert's cgtrio.com diary (and taken by Annie if I remember right)

After lunch, we drove about two hours to Jacksonville and the home of Greg and Carmen, two friends of Bert's for many years. Tonight we went out for dinner with them and then came back to watch a movie called "Pan's Labyrinth". Greg is a major movie buff and seems quite capable of drawing movie references out of almost any situation. It's fascinating, though I have to admit I quite often have no idea what he's talking about ;-) I was amazed over dinner when I brought up the movie "Standing in the Shadows of Mowtown" and he hadn't heard of it. Score one for the music geek...

hmmmmm......

towards Orlando

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Saturday February 9, 2008 - Clearwater, FL
Today we drove about four hours to Clearwater, FL where our friends Wayne and Mandy hosted us and organized a concert in their son's school. It's amazing how paths cross and reconnect with a tour like this. We've been running into many people like Wayne and Mandy who perhaps saw the CGT years ago, and a good number who in one way or another saw me someplace else, often even in San Diego. After the show on Saturday, we went back to their house and got to watch a bit of the independent films they've made in the past, one of which revolved around Shakespere and included some CGT music.

string change in Clear Water	the view in Clearwater

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Friday February 8, 2008 - West Palm Beach, FL
Yesterday I flew to West Palm Beach from San Diego to start a ten day tour with my good friend Bert Lams. Bert beat me there (from Pennsylvania) by a few hours and picked me up at the airport with his father in law Verlin. We spent the night with them and this morning conquered the task of assembling all the gear and rehearsing some of the trickier duo pieces. Bert's in-laws did a fantastic job organizing a concert for us in their church which was quite large. The church has a very active music ministry, complete with rehearsal space, music director, sound technician and Verlin, who seems to help out by recording their events and editing together CDs from them. We had a very nice turnout and a great experience and I'm looking forward to heading back there next week!

one of our West Palm Beach promoters	opening night stage in West Palm Beach

Bert's performance was rooted in scripture (or seated on it at least)

...and from the stage (Friday in West Palm Beach)

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AGENT 22 "bulk" CD sale!
Clearing the way for a new version out this summer, we're offering our lowest prices ever on the original Agent 22 studio album (self-titled). Act now and get:

1-4 copies - $6.99 each (plus shipping)
5-9 copies - $6.00 each (US shipping included!)
10-19 copies - $4.50 each (US shipping included!)
20+ copies - just $3.00 each (US shipping included!)

Our hope is that in offering these prices some folks out there might help introduce our music to some of their friends. Remember.. Christmas is almost here! Why not look extra generous and musicially well informed this year ;-)

This offer is open only to our mailing list members, and prices are good just on e-mail and phone orders. If you're not on the list, sign up today! Then, e-mail: info@thossounds.com or call us at 760-942-1031. Thanks in advance!

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Sunday November 11, 2007 - Encinitas, CA
Flew home a few nights ago after spending a week in Portland where my friend Howard Givens and I were working on mixes for an upcoming special edition re-release of the first Agent 22 CD. It's a little scary to think about, but it's been about nine years now since we recorded it! Simply put, many of the audio tools that are available to us today are just much better than what I had at least back in 1999 so we're giving things a nice sonic "windshield washing" and are also adding four previously unreleased Agent 22 tracks to the disc as well. I use the term "windshield washing" because that's the best visual analogy to what we're doing that I've come up with. Imagine looking at a great view out of a dirty window. It's still a great view, but.. wash the window and you suddenly feel like you're much more a part of what you're seeing. That's really how I feel listening to the new mixes. Everything is just a bit more real, colorful and transparent. Plus I'm quite happy to be adding some tracks we recorded around 2001 that have never been released before. This adds over 17 minutes of new music to the disc and features some great group moments. The new edition should be out sometime in the spring.

mixing "Agent 22" in Portland	more mixing in Portland

testing mixes at a high end stereo store

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