Back from Christmas

Things slowed down a little over the Christmas holiday, but now we're gearing up again.

Matt, Jonathan Mann and Sparky are planning to stop by  Berkeley's Starry Plough the week of the concert and do a little impromptu (well, as impromptu as you can get with 2 months of planning) set to promote the show! On Tuesday, January 11th, Sparky will be webcasting a concert with members of Jonathan's band, the Rock Cookie Bottoms and will be performing some Rodent to Rodent songs and promoting the event (more info on that as it draws nearer).

The web site is nearing completion - a few more sections to be built. Ian Grinstead is doing a great job interpreting his brother and dad's instructions and turning them into internet magic. The Pirate Cat Radio interview will be posted on the site for all to enjoy.

In the end there will be many versions of the songs from Rodent to Rodent floating around - Matthew and Sparky's performances from Pirate Cat, Sparky and the Cookies in January, The Starry Plough set (if someone records it - hint, hint)...not to mention the original album, Matthew's recorded version and the concert itself. The could eventually call for the "Ultimate Rodent to Rodent Anthology". Just a thought.

Bazaar Cafe   5927 California Street, SF

Oh yeah, on Wednesday, January 29th, Mathew Joseph Payne will be performing a special acoustic set at San Francisco's Bazaar Cafe. Will he do some Rodent to Rodent stuff and talk about the show? Why dontcha go and find out! See you there!

Pirate Cat!

Matt and I did a 1/2 hour interview/performance on San Francisco's Pirate Cat Radio on Monday afternoon. It went great although I didn't get any pictures. I did bring my camera, though. Later - maybe tomorrow - we're gonna post the entire thing right here. I have to wait until Ian comes over and downloads it. We performed 3 songs live with me on guitar and Matt on accordion, and we played a couple of recordings. You'll hear it. It was fun.

Also coming up is the Great Curtain Caper. The curtain on the stage at the Veteran's hall is damaged, so Matt's going to take it down and fix it so we can use it for the show. It's going to entail taking that big ol' thing down, transporting it to Hayward where Matt works, fixing the tear on some kind of mega super sewing machine and then returning the curtain to its rightful place. The Veteran's Building staff are pleased that we're (well, Matt) are being so generous with our (well, his) time and talent. But, come on, we gotta have a working curtain!

In the meantime Get Off the Stage! and The Matts are diligently rehearsing the songs. This is truly going to be a great show. If you haven't got your tickets yet - well, what are you waiting for?

radios, recording, rodents

This last week my drummer and engineer Ken Mahru and I spent 26 hours recording the bulk of my Rodent to Rodent in the massive live room/rehearsal room at the university where I work. It was a very successful chunk of time. Everyone in the band came out at some point to lay down their parts - we played with a lot of fun gear and recorded in a couple interesting spaces. Cello and air raid siren in a theater stairwell, flugelhorn, euphonium and accordion in a super resonant recital hall.

Now we must find a place and time to record vocals, handbells and a single missing synthesizer line, and the album is ready to be mixed and mastered. I'm truly excited to bring this beast into the world - it's all happened so fast, but I'm glad to be where we are right now.

Sparky and I will be interviewed today on Pirate Cat Radio. We'll play a few samples from the recordings, including one of the tracks we recorded this past weekend, and we'll be playing a couple live arrangements as a father/son duet - one time only! Don't miss it, you can stream it online at the link above.

Getcher tickets!!!

Tickets for the concert are now on sale! Webmaster Ian Lee Grinstead has istalled thw magic button and you can get your advance tickets for the amzing price of only $7.00!! At the door the night of the show they're going to be the still very reasonable price of $10.00.

My kids are amazing! Matthew Joseph Payne is, of course, my musical partner in this enterprise and the inspiration for this whole thing. He's an amazing musician, arranger, composer and all kinds of musical stuff. Ian Lee Grinstead is the computer genius who's working with me to put the site together. He speaks the language and makes it happen. Plus he puts up my "do this no do that no I meant this" way of organizing. Zachary Charles Grinstead is the drummer for Get Off the Stage! and will be performing in my half of the concert. At 15, he's a dynamic and original percussionist and plays a big part in the band's unique sound. And that's just the boys!

At this moment , I'm writing - or at least thinking of writing because I'm writing ths ha ha - more stuff for the site which will appear online as soon as I turn it over to Webmaster Ian. Things are coming together nicely. There's lots of work ahead, but it's fun work. Matt and I will be rehearsing songs for our radio performance next week - that's Monday, December 13th at 4pm on Pirate Cat Radio. 87.9 on your FM dial. I'm sure we're gonna post the entire thing on the site later.

My friend Jonathan Mann told me that he's going to produce a short documentary on the whole Rodent to Rodent "thing" in January. It's going to include interviews. rehearsals and other goodies. It's another cool thing among many.

Like Elvis once said: "I got news for ya, honey, I made 29 pictures like that..."

Rodent to rodent to rodent to rodent to rodent....

It's amazing how this album - a project that I abandoned over 25 years ago - has returned to life. It's mainly thanks to Matt that this has happened, and it's really exciting to be playing these songs again (once the album is released I'll write all about 'em in the "Every Song" blog). I've just returned from Los Angeles where I did a one-off show with Jonathan Mann's Rock Cookie Bottoms (Matt is also in the band, but he couldn't make the trip) at this dive bar called Mr. T's Bowl. Now it's back to work on Rodent to Rodent! I'm working with the band Get Off the Stage! which features Backorders drummer Jim Usher on bass, Matt's little brother Zak on drums and guitar and my fab nephew Mikey Reznick on lead vocals. I've augmented the lineup with Backorders Robin Famous and Greg Reznick because we need an extra pair of hands - and a couple more voices. The rehearsal schedule is packed into the Saturday slot along with Two Pant Suit and The Backorders. Webmaster Ian (Matt's other little brother) is coming over Tuesday to do some more work on the site, which is coming together nicely - I'm especially impressed with the logo Matt's friend came up with. Tickets will (hopefully) officially go on sale on the 13th when Matt and I do the Pirate Cat Radio interview. Lots to do to prepare for that. Rodent to rodent to rodent to rodent....

A Post from the Other Side

There's a lot going on in the MJP studio, as we prepare for the primary recording session on the weekend of Dec. 11th and 12th, aiming for an album release at the show. The timing is... crammed. Not a lot of room for error. Very excited though - perhaps I enjoy working under duress.

Meanwhile, I'm still teaching the band one or two songs. Got some complex handbell work in one of them - using toy handbells, and lots of them!

I'm blessed with an incredible band full of busy and talented people, all of whom have other projects floating about - Ami Nashimoto, who is playing cello for me, is also now in All My Pretty Ones. We have a show with that band on Nov. 5th at the Makeout Room in San Francisco. Phil Pristia plays with both The Paper Sons and the Phantom Kicks, the latter of whom have a show this very night (Dec 1st) at the Rickshaw Stop in SF.

I'm also beginning to work on some of the more decorative elements of the show. I have two grille cloths to replace and a set of costumes to somehow come up with...