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Title: Going back to Cali, ta Cali, ta Cali
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Blog Entry: Once again, I'm loading up the Blue Dream (that's the name for the '89 Volvo Wagon I drive…well, one of the names) and heading west for the NAMM show is Anaheim, California. This year, I'm draggin' Scott Bryan drummer extraordinaire with me. I love driving across this country. As always I'm left slack-jawed with wonder when I see how different the parts and people of the USA really are. How we find unity under one name and one law is impressively mindboggling. Sure, there's the sameness of corporate icons whose proliferation has homogenized our nation and a lot of our world, but to my delight there remains local gems of the natural and the mom-n-pop variety that have been valiantly guarded and continue to define individuality. Grassroots will never fully be plucked. As you can see, I'm looking forward to the trip.   At NAMM we'll be doing some playing for the Westone In-Ear Monitor booth. I'm not certain how much playing we'll do, because I heard a rumor that live performance at the booths has a time limit of two minutes. That may or may not affect Westone since the music can only be heard by twelve people at a time (you have to put in their sample ear buds to hear the musicians playing), so we'll see on that one. On the bright-side, Scottie and I will play a few shows whilst we're walkabout. First stop is in Fayetteville, Arkansas at Arsaga's Crossover on Monday, January 12th. It's been four years since I've played there, but it used to be one of my favorite stops as I usually played to a pretty filled room. This time we will be playing mostly material from Cumulo, so I hope some folks will join us for the evening. It'll be good to see Chris Moore and Amy McGraw (almost a Moore), Derek Dague , the McCumbers, Josh Hines , and hopefully a few others. Plus we'll get to visit my favorite studio, East Hall Recording . On Tuesday, January 13 th , we should be in the Albuquerque area. We're still seeking a place to play that night. If anyone has any ideas or would be so kind as to share their gig, I'm open. I'm toying with the idea of swinging through the bay area on January 14 th just because I love the area and will find any excuse to be there as much as possible. Once again, we're still open for a gig that night. On Thursday the 15 th after a day at NAMM, we'll more than likely be hanging out at the NAMM Bass Bash at JT Schmidt's. With some luck, that's the night Bernhard Lackner and Bryan Beller are playing. I'd like to catch their sets. I'm certain the rest of the night will be filled with bass as well. Friday, January 16 th , we'll be playing Viento y Agua which is a happening café-gallery in Long Beach. I had a blast playing there last year. This time around, I have the whole evening, but I'd like to share it with a few solo bass friends. Tell ya what, the first three solo bassists or bass centric folks that contact me can have a twenty minute slot. Remember it will be a shared gig, so please no gianormous stereo rigs or mile long pedal boards that take 45 minutes to set up. Keep it simple, cool? I've already sent a few players a heads up, so don't hesitate or you miss out. Saturday night, I think is open, but it may be spent with the lovely Westone folks. I believe we'll take our leave to head back home on Sunday evening and drive straight back to Atlanta unless other opportunities open up before then. Hopefully, I'll see and meet tons of you folks while we're traveling. Please drop me a line to let me know your schedules, too. I always enjoy broadening my world by getting the chance to peek into someone else's. See you soon!