Hey there folks, and welcome to the new site!

The first thing I have to do is say a huge Thank You to Effie Samios and Ilia Startsev from IMC for creating such a rocking place to live on the web. Please take a look at their work at www.istros.com. They are the best- no, really. They are actually the best.

Well, 2006 has already been a lot of fun, I have to admit. I've had the good fortune to have had an incredibly packed, musically gratifying last 4 months. Some of the highlights...

Right now I'm on tour with Erasure in Britain and it's a total blast. Andy Bell and Vince Clarke are top blokes, and their fans adore them. We've been playing to packed houses with a smoking band: Ben Whitmann on Percussion/Drums, the irrepressible Smith Curry on Pedal Steel, Dobro and Banjo, Val Chambers on Background Vocals, Jill Walsh on Background Vocals and a multitude of unusual instruments and one of my oldest and best friends Steve Walsh on Guitar and Musical Directorship (Stevie recently did an incredible job producing "Union Street" by Erasure). Good times.

I have also been playing with the East Village Opera Co. whom have recently released their self-titled debut on Universal/Decca. Rock, Opera, general mayhem...helmed by Peter Kieswalter and Tyley Ross and comprising of a large cast of characters including two of my long-time compadres-in-crime Ben Butler on guitar and the almost unfairly talented AnnMarie Milazzo on vocals. We had the good fortune of having the great Neil Dorfsman (steady...) produce the project, and as per Neil, it sounds amazing!

One of the most fun things I can imagine is touring with a band of amazing musicians who all happen to be great friends, backing up a fun, cool, crazy-talented artist in some of the most beautiful spots on the globe. Well...it kinda happened to me working with Chiara Civelo. Lucky. Very lucky on my part. We have been supporting Chiara's Verve release "Last Quarter Moon", which, incidentally is a gorgeous album. It's taken us to Japan, Italy (finishing up the tour in Sicily - all I can say is: you gotta go), and most recently Jakarta.

In March I had the good fortune of recording an album in San Francisco with Amoeba recording artist Brandi Shearer. The whole thing was a great experience, top to bottom. Brandi is super-cool and super-talented. We recorded at Fantasy Studios, and the band comprised of myself, great Bay-Area guitarist Ted Savarese and two of my all-time favourite musicians and friends Jim Campilongo and Dan Rieser. The finished product will be beautiful!

So, we're almost half-way through the year, and the upcoming half looks to be equally as fun. I'll keep you posted...

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers!

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