This past Saturday, I had a great time at Northern Soul in Hoboken, NJ playing a solo acoustic show. I was able to work two new songs into the setlist and they turned out pretty well.
Here’s a photo of me playing on stage.
And here’s the setlist.
My next solo acoustic show is next Wednesday night at Pianos Upstairs Lounge. Lower East Side, NYC. See the performances page for more details.
I had a great time with double-breasted playing at the Chalfonte hotel in beautiful, historic Cape May, NJ.
The Chalfonte is always great about putting up signs and advertising the performance.
We had a great turnout and an attentive audience.
Here was the view from behind the drums (pre-show).
Here was the setlist.
And here we are after the show in the King Edward Bar!
Bonus: You can watch a clip of our cover of A Great Big World’s “Say Something.” I’ve embedded it below, but in case you can’t see it, you can also watch it on Facebook here.
Sure, it’s last minute. But sometimes last-minute gigs can be the most fun and spontaneous. If you’re around on Saturday, I hope you stop by. I’m going to try out at least one new original song and also a new cover.
Saturday, August 16th
solo acoustic
Northern Soul
557 First Street
Hoboken, NJ
8pm
FREE
See you Saturday? Hope so!
I’m looking forward to returning with double-breasted to our favorite Victorian Hotel in Cape May, NJ to be a part of their Summer Concert Series!
We will be performing in the Henry Sawyer Room, right next to the Chalfonte’s The King Edward Bar.
Tickets are free for guests dining in the Magnolia Room dining room. Otherwise, tickets are $10.00/adults, $7.00/children. Reservations are suggested. Please sign up at the front desk.
Wednesday, August 13th
with double-breasted
Chalfonte Summer Concert Series
The Chalfonte Hotel
Henry Sawyer Room
Cape May, NJ
8:30PM-9:30PM
Can’t make this show? Be sure to check out my Performances page for other gigs happening this month.
It’s sort of funny. More ironic than funny, actually.
A few years ago, I wrote, performed, and recorded a piece of music entirely on an iPad. The GarageBand app had just been launched and I wanted to experiment with it. So for a few days, I used my time commuting on the 2 Train between Brooklyn and Manhattan to compose and record. I liked the way the piece turned out, so I released it online.
The ironic part? It’s the most listened-to piece of music I’ve ever composed.
I had to disable downloads from SoundCloud because they were about to charge me an upgrade fee. It was getting too many! I moved it over to Bandcamp here on this page, so you can still download it if you want to.
But this post is not to talk about one music service over another. Nor is it to discuss techniques for composing music on an iPad. And it’s certainly not to tell you about how many people are listening to my music.
This post is to share the part of the story that is most interesting to me. Why is this piece getting so many listens?
Well, it certainly wasn’t for either of the reasons I thought it might be.
No. Turns out, the reason actually has to do with the piece’s title. It has an intriguing story. The intriguing story led to me writing about that story. And writing about that story is what continues to allow people to find and listen to the music.
I must confess. At the time, I didn’t even know there was an intriguing story to tell.
My piece was an instrumental, so I was at a loss for a title. I happened to be scrolling through a blog called i can read. The blog consists of quotes layered over images in a beautiful way. The day I named my piece, I came across a fantastic quote.
“When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew.”
So I named my piece, “You Smiled Because You Knew.”
After deciding on this title, I figured I should probably know a little something about the origin of the quote. The blog post attributed it to William Shakespeare.
Yet something about that attribution gave me pause. Really? Shakespeare? It didn’t sound like something he would have written. Sure, he wrote plenty about love, but the structure and the phrasing seemed uncharacteristic.
My curiosity kicked in and I discovered that my suspicions were, in fact, correct. The quote is not Shakespeare. It is actually a translation of the Italian libretto from the Verdi opera, Falstaff. Written by Arrigo Boito. Not Shakespeare.
I thought this was absolutely fascinating. Think about all of the years that have passed since the Falstaff libretto was written. All of the years since Shakespeare has lived. All of the technology that allows us to research the written word in seconds! Yet still, we have a misconception about something so seemingly simple as who should be credited for a popular quote.
As a brief aside, the opera is actually based on a work by Shakespeare, “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” So there is a loose connection. It is probably the reason the quote is falsely attributed. Yet Shakespeare never wrote those lines. It was Arrigo Boito.
All of this was so intriguing to me. I couldn’t help but write about the experience. And since my experiment with composing music on the iPad led me down this path in the first place, I included a link to my instrumental piece, “You Smiled Because You Knew.” You can read that post here.
I couldn’t believe what happened after writing that one post. Other people had been curious about this too! They read about my discovery and listened to the piece. Some even reached out to tell me about it. I noticed increased traffic to my website. More and more people were listening and downloading my musical composition. To this day, that one post drives more traffic to my website than any post I’ve written. It’s actually the 3rd search result when you Google the quote!
Yes, it’s sort of funny. A piece of music I wrote and released quickly as an experiment is the most listened-to piece of music I’ve ever created.
But it just goes to show you how far a great story can go.
I’ve learned something valuable from this experience. I hope that in sharing it, you will also benefit. What I’ve learned is this – It’s so important to tell your story. It’s interesting. It’s important. And it will take you places you never thought possible.
So please, go tell yours.
I performed last Sunday with double-breasted to celebrate the Music Den’s milestone of being in business for 30 years. I wrote a bit about the importance of this store as part of my own musical upbringing in this post. It was a humid afternoon where rain was threatened, but it held off and we had a nice outdoor performance for a good crowd.
Here is a photo of the three of us.
And here is the setlist.
Don’t miss upcoming double-breasted performances next month:
Check out my performances page for more details.
On Sunday, July 13th, I’ll play with double-breasted at the Music Den’s 30th Anniversary celebration.
The Music Den has had quite an influence on my musical upbringing. One of the owners was actually my first elementary music teacher. I remember when he left the teaching position to devote himself to the Music Den store full time. Later, as I pieced together my first drum set, I bought many pieces from the Music Den. I bought my first electric guitar there. Most importantly, I took my first lessons on drum set there, studying with John Hvasta. He taught me so many skills that I still apply to my playing today.
It’s hard to believe that the store has been open for 30 years, but I’m happy to help them celebrate and perform a set with double-breasted.
Of course, the celebration is open to the public… I hope to see you there!
Sunday, July 13th
with double-breasted
The Music Den – 30th Anniversary
1030 Route 10 West
Randolph, NJ 07869
3PM
The storm held off and Groove on Grove went off without a hitch. Here’s the group.
From left to right: Justin Sabaj, Christina Alessi, me, and Jonathan Andrew
And here’s the setlist.
Good times.
This Wednesday, July 9th, I’ll be performing with Christina Alessi in Jersey City at Groove on Grove. This is a great outdoor show at the Grove Street Path stop from 6pm-9pm. It will feature three female-fronted bands! I’ll be playing drums for the show, Jonathan Andrew will be playing bass, and Justin Sabaj will be playing guitar.
Show begins at 6pm. We’re on at 7pm. Don’t be late!
Wednesday, July 9th
with Christina Alessi
Groove on Grove
Grove Street PATH Plaza
Jersey City, NJ
7pm
FREE!
Here’s a photo from rehearsal the other night. Jonathan is behind the camera.
Two weekends ago, Ardith, Kristy, and I played under the gazebo for an attentive audience in Wharton, NJ.
Kristy was ready to rock. 
Here’s Ardith making notes on our setlist… an analog equivalent of a “Save As” of our setlist last August.
