Back to school, back on tour

Ahhhhh, August... The end of summer, kids headed back to school.... And, some years, Marine Band tour rehearsals beginning soon (tomorrow!).... Summer has been great, and we've had a very mild one here in the Washington, DC area.  That has meant less suffering than normal out in the heat and my regular job.  Kyle and I began his new vlog, "Beaches with Kyle" this summer, inspired by a tour of NPR back in May, and I've gained a lot of practice learning some new software for both video and music production.

Another tried and true tradition this time of year is the marine band fall tour. Sousa began the tour during his tenure as the bands director from 1880-1892.  We will head out mid-September for 30 days and will play about 28 concerts while we're on the road.

I've been working hard to get in shape to start rehearsals tomorrow.... We will have 9 rehearsals on 3 complete programs before leaving town September 15.  This year, I've been spending a lot of time doing easy long tones, working on keeping the pitch center down, and on fundamental articulation via Arban and some other stuff.  I find that hyper focus on fundamentals serves me well when the fatigue of travel and being away from home start to grind on me, not to mention the physical stress of playing a 2 hour band concert every night!

Tour is just one more thing this time of year that makes the end of August feel like back-to-school. Getting the kids ready for their new year and starting fall sports for our oldest son also contribute.  This also kind of feels like New Years for me, creatively. I start to look forward to things I have planned or will participate in this year. Valor Brass has some recitals in the DC area coming up this winter, and I'm going to continue some fun projects in the home recording studio. Virtual Trombonist podcasts will surface from time to time as I'm able to interview some more folks I want my listeners to meet.

Many of you have heard me sing the praises of it before, but I just subscribed to the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall, and I plan to make good use of my upcoming bus travel time to watch plenty of concerts. I am especially interested in some of the many interviews and films that are available as well.  Last night, I watched a fantastic concert from the Waldbuhne in June of this year, with Lang Lang playing the Grieg Piano Concerto... just fantastic...

OK, while I'm on tour, I plan to keep you posted through this blog, but also at Instagram with the tag #chrisontour...

Thanks for reading and have a great fall!

Yours virtually,

Chris

Listening of Late, and a Valor Brass update!

Hey readers.  I hope everyone is having a relaxing Friday night!  The photo above doesn't look like much, but it's actually the MASTER of our new Valor Brass album!  That's right!  Ed Kelly finished the mixing and mastering just yesterday, and Matt delivered us each a copy to our hot little hands this morning.  I think it sounds great and I sincerely hope you will give it a listen when release day hits.  I would say we are less than a month out from actually seeing the finished CD!  Very exciting! Also, our good friend and multi-talented guy, Phil Holland, just set up a new website for Valor Brass at valorbrass.com.  Go check it out!

Ok, on to listening lately:

Radiohead - Pablo Honey - I decided I needed to check out some early Radiohead, as I wasn't familiar with it.  I was turned on to this album because it contains the tune, Creep.  I heard that covered by Amanda Fucking Palmer on her amazing ukulele, and I just love the tune, as well as Amanda's delivery.

Speaking of Amanda Palmer, here's some of her albums I've been enjoying lately.  If you don't like people that speak their mind, or you hate punk cabaret, this probably isn't for you! :)  However, she sells all her music on a pay-what-you-will system, so take a listen on her site...

Theatre is Evil - this is the album Amanda made with her million-dollar-plus Kickstarter

An Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer - This is an amazing set.  About 3 CDs worth of tracks, lots of readings from Neil Gaiman, lots of duets, solo tunes by Amanda, and just general fun.  Highly recommended.  I like it so much I ordered the 4 record vinyl set for my still non-existent turntable.

Ukulele Anthem - single tune, great fun

Besides Amanda Palmer...

The Family Crest - Beneath the Brine - also check out their video on Yellow Couch Sessions

Finally, I was very excited to see Death Cab for Cutie has a new album coming out March 31... Kintsugi is available on iTunes as a pre-order, and they've released three of the tracks already if you pre-order the album.  Cool stuff so far!

OK, that's it.  Time to get some sleep!

Have a great weekend,

The Virtual Trombonist

Listening lots lately

First of all, to everyone who has been reading this week, thank you. I have been participating in the Your Turn Challenge - posting daily for 7 days. It's been great and has forced me to just out thoughts to paper daily. To those of you who have generated discussion, my sincere appreciation. That is what my blog is about. Now, on to today's post!

It has been on my mind quite a lot lately just how hard it is to fit in all the listening I want to do. I find myself limited both time wise and from sheer ear fatigue! It sure is fun though!

As life has taken me back towards a music-heavy period, my listening wishes have increased exponentially. I have spent many nights lately after the kids have gone to bed catching up on some things. In no particular order, here's some of the things occupying me:

1. The Black Keys - I saw a couple of their albums on vinyl today at a bookstore...which just increases my wish for a turntable!

2. Ewald Brass Quintet No. 2 - performing it in a couple of weeks, so I've been reviewing it a bit as it's been a while since I've played it!

3. Dirty Loops - I just can't get over the bass player. And the Jerry Hey Horns on a few of the tracks. And the drummer. Dang.

4. Esquivel - both Merry Christmas from the Space Age Bachelor Pad and Cabaret Mañana. Fantastic playing on these albums and some pretty amazing arrangements too. Thanks to Chris Tiedeman for these. I would love to find those on vinyl. If I can, I might have to combine listening to them with a vintage barware set from The Hour. This is one of the most awesome antique places I've ever seen.

5. Jack Johnson - From Here to Now to You. Very relaxing...

6. Valor Brass CD edits. For those of you who have asked lately, Matt has finished the 2nd round of editing! We are getting closer! Probably one more round of minor edits, then we head back to Ed Kelly for mix and mastering.

7. Top secret trombone related project of which I am sworn to secrecy. More later when I can talk about it - I will just say it's a LOT of listening.

8. Results of a late night mouthpiece/trombone testing session conducted with my friends Tim Dugan and Chris Tiedeman.

9. I had the good fortune to sit in the control room on a recording project at work this week. 3 days of Sousa! Our band records fairly regularly and our directors/producers and audio engineers have a great system down to get the recordings produced. Be on the lookout for some very cool stuff on the Marine Band's website later this spring!

10. The Kyle Clark Band - yep, I have a budding song-writer/rocker in my house. As I have been working on learning Logic Pro X, I helped Kyle record a couple of "songs" he came up with on the fly. We cut an "album" and are listening to it in the car, at school, etc. a copy of the CD (entitled Debut) goes everywhere with him!

11. Wheels on the Bus - I have a 2-year-old, enough said.

12. Talking Heads - I can't believe all I really ever heard was Burning Down the House! In reading David Byrne's book, How Music Works (future blog post) and I'm totally blown away. I especially like the album Naked.

Phew! Alright. Time to go find a quiet place to hang out!

If you have something awesome you would like to share, leave it in the comments!

Always Listening, The Virtual Trombonist