DanielSonenberg.com

Wonderful rumblings abound in the studio down the hall. And the oft-maligned camera must have felt the magic, for it sprung back to life to document the occasion. Good thing the Artist doesn't read this particular blog, or this post would be toast.

I'm feeling Portland pride - this local band is GREAT. And they have a new CD out...
Check out Seekonk.
Just came back from their stunning gig at Space Gallery. And they're going on tour (they'll be at the Knitting Factory on Monday, all you New Yorkers...)

Friends, you guessed it: another stock photo. But this one only abstractly related to my subject matter. This photo was taken earlier this month at Art OMI in New York State. But I post it now in celebration of our wonderful Spring Composers Showcase last night at USM. We put on a two-hour concert of world premieres, including 6 by the USM Composers Ensemble. And just as this photo shows something modern in the context of tradition, so our little group (not so little - 11 members) offered some joyous cacophony and inappropriateness - along w/ some genuine urban beauty - in the hallowed halls of the conservatory. People are talking.

This is what we, in the business, call a "stock photo." It's filling the role of a photo of last night's Truth About Daisies gig at Acoustic Coffee, when in fact it's a photo of our early April gig at Free Street Taverna (which has been misguidedly renamed "128 Free Street" and where we'll play again on May 20). Also, you may have noticed that this is only the percussion section - me and the great Burd on conga. I've never been part of a percussion section before - it's loads of fun.

The gig was great. Short - a single 45 minute set, but enjoyable. And there was a wonderful singer from Boston on right before us - Anna Freitas. I shelled out 5 bucks for her CD, which is EP-length and quite good (on her site listen to her song "So Goes the Soul" especially the great setting of the words "platter of gold"). She's a Berklee educated guitarist with serious chops and a great ear for unusual transitions and chord changes. Each of her songs was bluesy in feel, but each had something unexpected and strange - and she's a great singer. Hope she makes it back up this way again.

After us came an open mike for members of the Maine Songwriters Association, and on the whole I'd say the quality level was surprisingly high. Lots of good tunes and soulful voices brewing up here in the North country.

This is sort of an inside joke - but the bottom line is, this license plate IS available. And even though I'm not much of a vanity plate type of guy, I am a Mainer, and Mainers get vanity plates. With such frequency, in fact, that you can actually pop onto the motor vehicle bureau's web page and check the availability of the plate you want. AND get a free preview. How much you wanna bet that you're there right now?
Hey Look: This one's available
But that probably wouldn't do much for the longevity of my car, or my person. Not much sense of humor about such things in these parts, as I've already mentioned in this space.
I'd respect whosoever got pissed off by this one:



But I guess tops would really be:

Why oh why must I have only one car??

With my broken camera and all, and in a somewhat odd mood after my first speeding ticket in about 13 years (I was going "criminally fast") I returned to iphoto and searched the archives for something in'resting to blogger you with. This is the late great Toothbucket, in an ill-fated gig behind Manor House at Bard College in, I'd say, probably 1991. A few months ago I stumbled across this polaroid and actually took a digital picture of it - no scanner at the time. That handsome fellow in the background with the spiff Rick bass is Billy Dechand. We must be playing my song "Tiny Town," which we only played that once. It was the one time I left my perch behind the drums.

Ironically, the band eventually changed it's name to Truthbucket. (The band broke up in 1992, and the name was changed around 1994). It's ironic because I'm in another band that changed it's name to incorporate the word Truth. Truth About Daisies. If you happen to be in Portland this Thursday, we'll be playing at Acoustic Coffee, c. 9pm. If you haven't seen me since the above photo was taken, I've grown a beard. Attitude's generally the same.

This is me at the camera store - Fotoshops (the most mysterious plural I've encountered in Maine), on Congress Street - being photographed with my broken camera. Except, it didn't behave brokenly when I brought it into the shop, as often happens. I took it home and it worked long enough to download the photos that were on it, and now it's dead again so I'm searching the already downloaded collection for real gems, like this one (taken by the Fotoshops lady, of course).

Not much else to report. Coming soon to the Listen section is the complete Art of Eating, and some theatre songs. And coming up in Maine...Truth about Daisies! - A gig this coming Thursday. And a USM Composers concert on Friday the 28th. See the overly-photoshopped (boy that word's getting a workout today!) flier here.

Hey all you blog readers, all one of you, yeah, YOU...pal o' mine. Check it out - more music is up in the "Listen" section. I know, I know, seeing as you're my lifelong friend and lone blog reader you already KNOW all this music. But there's nothing quite like catching the vibe on the web, right?

And just to put you in the mood, I'm posting this lovely pic of three attractive gents in rehearsal for the recent performance of Mejdoub. Left to right they're Tom Parchman, Vineet Shende, and Frank Martin. In my heart of hearts I hope to have at least an excerpt of that performance - in video form - on this website before long. You won't want to miss it.

Hey guess what? The camera is sort of kind of working again. Not so well, and very temperamental, but I managed to upload those photos I mentioned.
Here's the lovely Alex at Art OMI in New York. Here she comes! I gotta run (don't tell her bout this, k?)

The camera - the one that's been bringing you all these wonderful and spellbinding images - is dead. Just flat out died yesterday, and I was all set to put this lovely picture I had taken of Alex at Art OMI in New York up. I'm not, technically, allowed to post her photo. But this was gonna be one of those beg forgiveness rather than ask permission type things.

But anyway - my faculty composers concert took place tonight and it was a scream. We had a pretty full house, and a lot of great energy and good music. I know I sound like an advertising man here, but I do think everybody left in a good mood. And hopefully, everybody left thinking that what we need around here is MORE NEW MUSIC.

More coming soon here too. I've been too strung out getting this gig together to update the listen section - but just you wait.

Here's an exclusive photo of the USM Composers Ensemble doing what they do best - an explosion of propulsive and sometimes silly energy. We're giving a performance on April 28 of 7 world premieres, written and performed by members of the group. I jump back and forth between the drum stool and the conductor's podium, and try (as you can see, sometimes unsuccessfully) to maintain a sense of decorum.

Well, you've seen my sandwich, now see my fantasy shirt (which I don't yet own. This image is stolen.) See, wearing this shirt where I'm at, that'd be a statement. Kinda like the "Yankees Suck" scarecrow I used to drive past on my way to work. As you've learned from this blog so far, the weather and the sandwiches here, top flight. But the baseball? Man. These people take their baseball seriously - as in, without ANY sense of humor. In New York you can walk into a bar w/ a Red Sox hat and you'll get razzed - made fun of, might even get your hat swiped. But you'll probably wind up sharing a brew and reminiscing with some gristly type. Here? Walk into some downtown sports swill hole w/ a Yankee logo on your person and they just freeze you out. Won't even talk to you. If you're interested, have a taste of one of my feeble attempts to find a safe haven when I first moved here. Anyway - baseball season's on and here's what I want for Christmas. Or rather, the 4th of July.

And thanks for checking back! (Hint: Keep your eye on the "Listen" section of this site - I'm adding more stuff as I get permission, and as NMJ puts it up)

Here's my fantasy meal, complete w/ sun-drenched front stoop. It's sauteed (okay, fried) fish w/ salad and garlic mayo on a bulky roll w/ a cold beer. What better way to usher in the sunshine season?

Well, Spring break is fading out in style. And I swear on all that is holy that this will not become the Maine weather blog. But today it was sunny, and then we hopped in the car and drove back out to Two Lights but it rained once we got there, so we drove back home and did some work. I was grading stuff, and Al was painting. Then the rains stopped and the sun crept back out, and the whole apartment was flooded with Krazy Orange Light, and I grabbed Alex's paintbrushes from her and yanked her out the door to go rainbow chasing and there it was...this beautiful radiance. And we counterintuitively ran towards the water, away from the rainbow, thinking that we'd find something even better there, or maybe that the rainbow was kind of like the sun, and that you can't REALLY run away from it. But when we got to the water - the Eastern Promenade - the rainbow had faded and it was kinda dark, and it was raining again too. So we walked back in the rain, past the new elementary school that overlooks the harbor from on high, and then had oysters and fried fish and salad and watched 3 episodes of Battlestar Gallactica - which was discipline, because there still was a fourth on the disc. And I look back at what has been wrought over this week - this website for starters - and I see that it is good, and now, I rest.