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SUPER HUGE, REALLY BIG UPDATE!
Hello one and all. Happy Holidays!
Life is crazy right now and there are a lot of things going on so I thought it was time to fill you all in.
1. The new Spock's Beard CD "X" is well on its way to getting finished. I have completed most of the vocals and Dave was just down here in L.A. from his home in Sacramento to work on the tracks. He was here working with Al on some of the guitars. Things are sounding REALLY REALLY GREAT!!! This is going to be a very cool CD. There are a few things we don't normally do and some very "old school" sounding things as well. Again, thank you so much to everyone who have given us the support to make this new CD. We are excited!
[ keep reading: THIS IS THE CRAZY PART ]
2. I'm am sure that most of you out there have heard of Cirque Du Soliel. They have hired me for their brand new touring show. They have even offered me a contract. I have never had that kind of thing in my whole career. That is awesome!!!
The crazy part about this is not going to work for Cirque. The crazy part of this is that my family gets to go on tour with m!. My wife and 2 kids are packing up and moving up to Montreal Canada (in the middle of January! now that is crazy :)) We will be there for 12 weeks of rehearsals and then about 2 months of shows. That means I will be in Montreal for a good long time. Then after that it is over we move along to Quebec City and then a break (SPOCK'S BEARD TOUR!). After the break we head on over to the EU. I think Amsterdam is our first stop in Europe.
This is a pretty amazing opportunity for me and my family. They get to tour around and see some of the world and I get to provide for them while I still get to play music. That is the best part. Let's face it, times are tough for everyone these days and being a musician is not the easiest way to make a living. You have probably read me ranting about that in the past so I am taking advantage of this situation and going on an adventure.....in the circus! Crazy!!!
This is a brand new show and it is going to be very drum intensive so I will not be bored at all musically. If any of you have ever seen a Cirque show, you know that they are amazing to see and the music involved is always great.
I have never lived outside of the Los Angeles area. I have been to Montreal a few times in my career and I already know that it is a very nice city. If any of you can give me any advice on the town I would appreciate it :) I am hoping to really get around and see and do as much as I can. Maybe even a gig or two or three on the side in between the Cirque thing so if anybody knows of any clubs or places that I might get a solo show happening at then please let me know.
My family is really looking forward to this adventure as well. I am usually the one traveling while they stay at home. Now they will get to do and see something different than they normally would. It will be fun traveling with them and Cirque is all good with it which is what really makes this job over the top. We leave next month. It's coming up fast.
3. I have a great show coming up next week at the Baked Potato. If you are anywhere near the Los Angeles/Hollywood area then you should come check it out. Here are the details:
RICK MUSALLAM AND FRIENDS
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A night of Originals and Improvs with some of LA's finest musicians.
"You never know who will show up !!"
Come out and Join the fun !!
Wednesday December 23rd at The Baked Potato
3787 Cahuenga Blvd West
Studio City , CA 91604
(818) 980-1615
9 pm
Core Band :
RICK MUSALLAM : GUITAR
GLEN SOBEL : DRUMS
TONY PULIZZI : GUITAR
CHRIS ROY : BASS
Special Guests : NICK D'VIRGILIO , JAIME KIME , AND JOHN Z.
Tickets : $15 at the door
Rick Musallam is one of my best buds and a phenominal guitarist. He has put together a series of shows at this club called "The Baked Potato". He, along with his core band, will play the first set. You don't want to miss it--- all of the guys on the band are just great! Then, the 2nd set is reserved for the special guest of that night. I will be that guest on the 23rd. Joining me will be Jaine Kime and John Z. The guys have rehearsed some of my solo recordings along with select Spock's Beard and Kevin Gilbert music. On top of that, there will be some amazing jamming going on.
This will be the last gig I do in the L.A. area for a some time. I hope you can make it out for this special night. It is going to be a blast!!
4. There are a few new CD's (and a DVD) that have been released recently that I have been lucky to have been a part of and I think you all should go a buy them!!!
The first is from the band BIG BIG TRAIN their new CD "The Underfall Yard" is chock full of proggy goodness. They are unabashed in their prog. For all you progheads out there, I think will totally dig it. The fab Rob Aubrey has done another great job recording and mixing this CD. Click on the link above and it will take you to their site where you can buy it. I hope you do.
The second release to note is from the amazing STEVE THORN I have been extremely lucky to have been a part of all of Steve's CDs so far and this one, in my opinion, is his best to release. Steve just writes great songs. I even get to be on the same record with Tony Levin which is always a big treat. Steve has a great feel for music and, along with the Rob, has made another great piece of art. Click on the link to go to Steve's web site and get this disc.
The third is from the late, great Kevin Gilbert. The show we did from the Troubadour way back in the mid 90's has been remixed and the video re-mastered by the amazing John Cuniberti. He did such a great job on this with not the best material to work with. It is very cool to see this show again. I had not heard that performance or seen the video in years. It brought back such great memories. That band sounded great and MY HAIR!! Oh my gosh what was on my head?! I was going for my "Bozo The Clown Dies His Hair Black" look. If you are a fan of Kevin Gilbert, you should buy the DVD/CD set. It shows the great energy we had back then and how Kevin just kicked total ass!
Last but not least, if you are into a classic rock kind of thang, you should check out JERUSALEM. This is NOT the Swedish band but the British band. I met Lynden Williams working at the fab Rob Aubrey's studio in the UK and Lynden hired me to record on some tracks. After a long while and a bunch of sessions, Lynden got his new CD finished and released. Dave Meros (Spock's Beard) is on the disc as well and we rock our hearts out! To me, this material has a kind of Deep Purple vibe circa '72. I don't have an official band web site addy for you but I do have the record companies web site where you can buy the CD.
5. Lastly, some of you may be wondering what will happen to Spock's Beard & Tears For Fears in regards to my Cirque gig. For Spock's, we are still moving forward of course, with this new CD. Also, there WILL BE Spock's Beard live shows! I will need to work around my Cirque schedule. Wiith SB we have always had to work around schedules anyway (which is always a pain) so this will not be any different. The SB guys are happy for me and I am going to work hard at keeping Spock's Beard going even though I have this new job.
As for Tears For Fears, well, they do not do much throughout the year. There is a new tour of Australia set in April/May but the bigger picture here is that TFF just doesn't work that much. If they played enough so I could support my family, then I would not have even thought of taking the Cirque gig. I have to think of not only myself but, my beautiful family. I do hope I get to do more shows with Roland and Curt in the future. I think everybody knows how much I love that gig.
That's it for now people. Thank you for taking the time to read through this. If possible, please check out all the new CD's that I have told you about... come out the gig at the Baked Potato next week on the 23rd... and have a very Merry Christmas!!! If you celebrate something other than Christmas, I hope you have a merry one of those as well.
NDV |
