Happy Orchestra Plays Tower of Power

Brought out the crew to play through and document some of my favorite music by Tower of Power. Turned out great!

Happy Orchestra featuring:
Tarik Abouzied – bass
Nate Bogopolsky – vocals
Skyler Floe – trumpet
Jory Tindall – tenor sax
Skerik – bari sax
RL Heyer – guitar
Mack Grout – keys
Brad Boal – drums
Tor Dietrichson – percussion

Nick Molenda – cameras

New Song: YeahYeah

A new song featuring Jory Tindall on saxophone, Michael Van Bebber on trumpet, RL Heyer on guitar, and myself on drums, bass, and keys. Watch the full video above and pick up the mp3 from Bandcamp below!

Low-Paying Gigs: Think About Where the Money Goes

I’ll preface this by saying that the majority of club owners I deal with are good people. They love and believe in live music and have handed over their lives to the punishing task of owning and operating a small business. There are definitely snakes out there, but generally they’re hard-working people who took huge risks operating in an industry with a shrinking audience and growing costs. That said, when a venue doesn’t generate enough revenue to pay everyone adequately, musicians are often the ones who bear the brunt of that shortfall.

Most venues that offer door deals or low guarantees have no built-in crowd, meaning the only reason people walk through the door is to see a band. But when the end of the night comes and there isn’t enough money to compensate everyone, musicians are generally last in line to get paid. The staff gets paid, the food/alcohol vendors get paid, the utilities get paid, the taxes get paid, the bank gets paid, and the owner of the building gets paid. This is a common refrain and isn’t surprising to anyone, and I’m not arguing that these people don’t deserve their earnings. But the thing that musicians often miss is that, when you commit your time to one of these businesses without a reasonable guarantee, the fruits of your creative output are being used to pay other people first, including the generally wealthy people who own the building and loaned the business money. But for the music you create and perform, the money to pay all that overhead wouldn’t flow into the business in the first place (The same could be said about Spotify and other streaming/radio platforms by the way). Given that banks and commercial real estate owners are indirectly earning money from your work, you should think hard about whether or not you’re getting something meaningful out of the arrangement.  Continue reading Low-Paying Gigs: Think About Where the Money Goes

Lessons Learned

On Friday I joined Jessica Lurie and Arne Livingston in opening for and sitting in with Victor Wooten, Dennis Chambers, and Bob Franceschini, musicians I’ve been listening to and admiring for half of my life. Here’s what happened and what I learned:

They walked in and sat down to watch just as we started going over tunes at soundcheck. I was nervous to the point of almost shaking but thankfully my body took over and made the music happen. Living Daylights’ repertoire is full of twists and turns and, this being my first time playing their music, I’m glad I studied and had a strong foundation of practice to fall back on. Preparation and time on your instrument always pays off. I give full credit to mega-bassist Damian Erskine for being a shining example of how a pro gets ready for the stage. He plays through the music on his own, marks up charts so they’re extra readable, and makes his own charts when necessary. Whenever I’m prepping for a gig, I always ask myself “What would Damian do?”

After soundcheck I escaped to the green room to pull myself together. When I came out 10 minutes later Dennis was walking back and met me in the hallway. He smiled big, threw his hands in the air, and said he was looking for me to ask about sitting in. I was stunned and the nerves came rushing back, but he was so kind and funny and personable that within minutes I was fully relaxed, hanging and shooting the breeze with one of my idols. By the time we took the stage an hour later I was completely comfortable and just happy to be playing, free from fear of being judged by the incredible musicians I looked up to, and that’s the key. My nerves were an extension of an irrational fear, and getting comfortable with the source of that fear allowed me to get out of my head and enjoy myself. Our set went great.  Continue reading Lessons Learned

Abouzied Erskine Doria Balmer

On a chilly February Seattle weekend I gathered a handful of my favorite musicians for two of days of recording, the first of which featured Damian Erskine on bass, Dan Balmer on guitar, and my long-time McTuff pal Joe Doria on Hammond organ and Rhodes. Everyone brought in a tune, we rehearsed in the morning, and recorded after a break for some barbecue. 

Big thanks to Jason Gray and Nick Molenda for the engineering and camera work, and to Skerik for the space! Watch above, listen and purchase tracks below, and catch the band at Tula’s on Friday, May 18th!