Archive for the ‘gigology’ Category

We buy homes

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

Rob, Jon and Ale are driving through nightly, rural Pennsylvania, on their way back from playing at HempFest. John sits in the back, Rob
and Ale are in front.

Jon: "There’s a sign on that pole there that says "WE BUY HOMES". What the f*** does that mean?"

Rob and Ale, in unison: "It means they buy homes".

Jon: "Yeah, but what the f*** does that MEAN?"

Rob and Ale, in unison: "It means THEY BUY HOMES!”

Jon: "Yeah…?!"

Rob: "It means that if you foreclose your home and are ready to die they buy your home."

[Pause]

Jon: "Whatever."

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JT vs. CK

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

I recently saw the James Taylor / Carole King concert. I posted on facebook that I think JT kicked CK’s ass. Sorry CK, I am just being honest. As Rachel Dart said, watching Carole King was like watching Mom-Rock. JT is still awesome. In fact, his voice is better than ever, his song writing is better than ever and his band is amazing. Carole King was just kind of…eh. She sounds great at times and has one or two really good songs. And maybe there is no need to compare but when you watch the two of them together, it’s pretty hard not to. She is mediocre and he is amazing. He’s a Philly Cheese Steak and she’s a grilled cheese made at a lame diner…with soggy fries and out of tune cole slaw.

Mean? I hope not. Just honest. I still am glad they are both out there rockin’. Speaking of that, come watch The Hillary Step rock on 6/24 at 8pm at Local 269.

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Steppin’ n’ soloing at Caffé Vivaldi

Friday, May 7th, 2010

The Hillary Step has a gig coming up at Caffe Vivaldi this coming Friday night, May 14th at 9:30pm. We are very excited for this gig and I am particularly excited because I will be playing some solo songs….5 or 6 to be precise. I am both excited and nervous about this proposition. It is rare that I feel nervous about performing but I am always glad when I do because it means that I am being challenged in a new way. This is not to say that I have never sung songs by myself before but I am still more comfortable sharing the stage with my fellow performers. That being said, I am looking forward to singing some new and some old songs that don’t make it off the shelf that often. Come on out and see how I do!

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Breaking Strings

Monday, March 15th, 2010

“Breaking Strings”

Breaking strings has always been the bane of my existence. I play hard. I don’t play super hard but I play my acoustic guitar with a sense of purpose. That’s what makes the rock ‘n roll come out. The downside is that the strings just can’t take the burn of my deep, deep rockin’ and so every now and then, I pop a string. It used to be worse. Sometimes during a gig, I would break up to 3 strings. Once I broke 3 strings in ONE SONG! However, after adjusting my technique and the type of pic I use, I have it down to a more rare event.

That being said, yesterday in rehearsal I broke a string in the middle of working on the song “Well Anyway”. Usually when this happens, all rocking stops until I change the string. This process generally takes about 1-2 minutes. Yesterday, however, a different process took place. When I broke the string, the band just kept playing the section of the song that we were currently in. They played for awhile and then they started jamming on it. Greg took a solo, Ale got all jazzy on the drums, Eric rocked the keys, etc.. It was awesome. So, we have created a new band sensibility. When / if a string breaks, that is not cause for commotion or stagnation. It is now a reason to jam in the middle of the song until the string is back and we can rock again.

Once again, little tragedies become little gifts!

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Afterthoughts: Fontana’s

Monday, January 18th, 2010

The gig at Fontana’s was a lot of fun. It was great to have so many friends & fans in the audience. It was also great to feel like the band is getting more and more cohesive. These songs have gone through a long journey and are still in the process of evolving. It’s great to hear what the new musicians are bringing to them. A great example of this is Ale’s reinterpretation of the drum part on Olio. He manages to fill it out but doesn’t take away from it’s inherent melodic nature (strange to think of drums as melodic but they can and maybe should be). Another great example is Greg’s added electric parts to Shine All Your Love. He brings a little southern twang to it that is subtle but cool.

Working in the club scene in NYC is a fun and dicey proposition. This time, we ran into trouble with a missing kick pedal for a kick drum that when hit, sounded like it was reverberating in the middle of the grand canyon. It also was doing so in the same frequency range as the bass and thus it was impossible to hear the bass.

And yet, through it all, The Hillary Step persevered. The name ‘The Hillary Step’ comes from a part of Mt. Everest which is the last perilous section before you reach the peak. I suppose then that it makes sense that we should be faced with these kinds of perils…as long as we eventually reach the peak. Hopefully, we are on our way. Come see how we are doing on Feb 5th at Arlene’s Grocery…8pm.

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Things to do (and not to do) before a gig

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Let’s start with what not to do. It’s probably a bad idea to accidentally land a knife on your fingernail and cut through the nail and into your thumb. I’d say that’s bad. Also, it’s probably a bad idea to try and learn two new (albeit previously played) songs on your instrument of choice given that you’re not quite all there with the normal repertoire yet. Things to do…get a haircut. That’s a very good thing. I recommend it to anyone who wants to be able to focus on their performance and not have to think about whether they have wings for sideburns or whether their grey hair is “too visible.” Play the new songs you are learning on your instrument of choice over and over again, I would advise 10 times through for each as sufficient. Lastly put Neosporin (or any other antibiotic ointment of your choosing) and band-aids (or any other brand of removable, adhesive first-aid strip) on any semi-deep cuts you might have received while dicing vegetables and having the knife land straight on your fingernail and cut through to your thumb. And don’t forget to get some good rest. It’s good for the pipes (the vocal ones, I mean).

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One by One, Week After Week

Friday, December 4th, 2009

We are currently in the phase of making this album where we are finally mixing these songs that have been around for so long. A song’s life is made of many different stages. There’s the writing stage when the song is born. There’s the the singing it to yourself stage when the song and the melody locks into place…this is the stage when you figure out that that word on the 2nd line of the 3rd verse needs to go up instead of down like in the previous 2 verses. Many songs don’t grow past this stage.

For those that do, the next stage is the performance stage. This is where you find out how the song resonates with people other than the writers. This stage determines whether the song will become a staple in the set of will just fall back to stage two, where it should have stayed to begin with. The next stage is the recording stage where you work out all those little issues that have always bugged you about the song. This is also where you figure out what the electric guitar really should be doing on that 2nd chorus, etc.. Finally we get to the mixing stage, where the song becomes what it was always meant to be. Things fall into place and ideally the song sounds close to as pure as it did when you were in stage 1.

One by one, week after week, we have been hearing these songs arrive at this last stage. It’s an amazing thing. It is making me fall in love with these songs over again. I hope that you will also fall in love with these songs when the Hillary Step’s new CD, “Note to Self” arrives shortly after the beginning of the year.

In the meantime, come check us out on December 15th at Caffé Vivaldi…more info at www.thehillarystep.com.

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Post-gig musings

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Hey all – here a guest post from last Friday’s drummer, Ale.

Well, where to begin… I had a blast. It’s such a treat to be playing with Rob and Jon, and to be backing them on stage with the help of such excellent musicians – Rick, Greg, Rachel. Although we obviously had a couple of rehearsals, Friday was in fact the first time we played with the full line-up, and I was amazed how well it came together. The music is so much fun to play, but also a little challenging – all kinds of different rhythms, some tricky transitions, lots of changes in dynamics… so it was very gratifying to hear it all click into place so well. And then to have such a supportive crowd – thanks so for coming out and see us play! It makes all the difference.

Greg, Rachel and I will be joining Rob and Jon again for the next gig, at Caffé Vivaldi on Tue Dec 15th. The setting will be a little more intimate, so we’ll be taking it down a notch – but only in volume: no-one ever said you can’t groove without playing loud! :) We’ll be adding a few new songs to the set list – really new ones you haven’t heard yet, and older songs we didn’t play last time. I can’t wait!

So, bring out your gig cards and come and see us – and if you don’t have one, come and get one. People are already trying to beat each other to that free-Hillary-Step-gig-on-the-site-of-your-choosing ;-)

See you the 15th! Ale

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Pre-Gig Mantra

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

I am an acoustic rock warrior. The fact that I’m blogging after midnight, following a grueling day at the job coupled with a gig rehearsal that kicked my ass, and I’m still going strong says it all. Although I am still basically an anonymous speck who might someday show up on someone’s radar, I am still a force to be reckoned with, because I do not give up. I do not give in. I do not break down. And most importantly, I do not let anyone or anything break my will….Repeat 3 times and go to bed.

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