Archives
Sunday, October 31, 2004
10.31.04
just in case there's any "undecided" voters out there who might need a little summary of what the current administration's accomplishments have ammounted to over the past few years, here's a little help from a friend. enjoy.
http://homepage.mac.com/duffyb/nobush/Menu129.html
just in case there's any "undecided" voters out there who might need a little summary of what the current administration's accomplishments have ammounted to over the past few years, here's a little help from a friend. enjoy.
http://homepage.mac.com/duffyb/nobush/Menu129.html
Thursday, October 28, 2004
10.28.04
I’m remembering back to a year ago, last October, when I first moved to Brooklyn, how the sun, in it’s Autumnal orbit, casts long rays and shadows through our apartment for the better part of the afternoon. it makes for the most beautiful natural lighting. it’s inspiring. however, it’s often misleading. see, it’s when the most sunlight fills the room that the temperature outside is the coldest. now, it hasn’t gotten real cold yet but basking in this afternoon light, I know it’s only a matter of time. there. now isn’t that a lovely, warm, fall image to get things started?
so Vegas. turns out to be a cool thing, albeit last minute and all. I went out there to perform at a couple of industry parties during the Radio Music Awards 3 day weekend. basically, all the nation’s radio stations’ program directors and on-air personalities come to Sin City to celebrate another year of corporate sponsored radio successes. all of the industries’ most well-supported artists come to town to say “thanks” for all the money their labels have spent to get them on the radio and as well, to all the stations that kept them there once they proved to be a profitable “ad” to said stations. it’s a stroke fest. it’s a you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours kind of thing. my label, and dare I fail to mention RMA founder and executive producer of this year’s awards, Von Freeman, indeed scratched my back rather thoroughly this weekend and I came, as a thankful artist, to return the favor. I played at two separate parties on two consecutive nights, gave interviews to over 40 of the nation’s most popular station’s (half of which I performed on-air for as well), and had my video (for “Catch Me”) played on rotation every half hour in all of the guest rooms of the Aladdin Hotel and Casino (and during a commercial break at the actual RMAs on Monday in front of the entire audience, celebrity artists included). suffice it to say that impressions were made and most, if not all of the industry folk in attendance now know the name “Tony Lucca”. I was supposed to play Saturday night and head home some time Sunday. I didn’t get out of Vegas until Tuesday morning. had a bunch of bazaar run-ins, funny anecdotes, and unforgettable moments that somehow all escape me now. I’m sure they’ll all show up in good time.
live in a swing state? still undecided? well, I’m sorry. I think the whole process is quite silly really. unfortunately, it’s the only one we have. for now. so, go ahead, make up your mind and go vote. if you happen to be here in New York, well then I invite you to come celebrate having exercised your right, your responsibility, and damnit, your very reason for being out and about on Tuesday night anyway so you mind as well come on down to the Mercury Lounge, have a drink and listen to some heartfelt music by a fellow patriot. (how was that for a pathetic attempt to shamelessly plug my next show?) no. seriously. if you can, come on down. we’ll raise a toast to hope and to pride in having played our part. we can share stories about our voting experiences. truth be told, this will be my first trip to the poll. I’m pretty excited. we’ll find a TV after and watch the results come in, find out where the discrepancies lie. you know it’s gonna be crazy. anyway. that’s it. I’m done begging. it’s only history. one of those “where-were-you-when...?” kind of moments. just thinkin’ maybe we could all share it together. no big deal. really.
honest.
it’s cool.
I mean it, no biggie.
I’m remembering back to a year ago, last October, when I first moved to Brooklyn, how the sun, in it’s Autumnal orbit, casts long rays and shadows through our apartment for the better part of the afternoon. it makes for the most beautiful natural lighting. it’s inspiring. however, it’s often misleading. see, it’s when the most sunlight fills the room that the temperature outside is the coldest. now, it hasn’t gotten real cold yet but basking in this afternoon light, I know it’s only a matter of time. there. now isn’t that a lovely, warm, fall image to get things started?
so Vegas. turns out to be a cool thing, albeit last minute and all. I went out there to perform at a couple of industry parties during the Radio Music Awards 3 day weekend. basically, all the nation’s radio stations’ program directors and on-air personalities come to Sin City to celebrate another year of corporate sponsored radio successes. all of the industries’ most well-supported artists come to town to say “thanks” for all the money their labels have spent to get them on the radio and as well, to all the stations that kept them there once they proved to be a profitable “ad” to said stations. it’s a stroke fest. it’s a you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours kind of thing. my label, and dare I fail to mention RMA founder and executive producer of this year’s awards, Von Freeman, indeed scratched my back rather thoroughly this weekend and I came, as a thankful artist, to return the favor. I played at two separate parties on two consecutive nights, gave interviews to over 40 of the nation’s most popular station’s (half of which I performed on-air for as well), and had my video (for “Catch Me”) played on rotation every half hour in all of the guest rooms of the Aladdin Hotel and Casino (and during a commercial break at the actual RMAs on Monday in front of the entire audience, celebrity artists included). suffice it to say that impressions were made and most, if not all of the industry folk in attendance now know the name “Tony Lucca”. I was supposed to play Saturday night and head home some time Sunday. I didn’t get out of Vegas until Tuesday morning. had a bunch of bazaar run-ins, funny anecdotes, and unforgettable moments that somehow all escape me now. I’m sure they’ll all show up in good time.
live in a swing state? still undecided? well, I’m sorry. I think the whole process is quite silly really. unfortunately, it’s the only one we have. for now. so, go ahead, make up your mind and go vote. if you happen to be here in New York, well then I invite you to come celebrate having exercised your right, your responsibility, and damnit, your very reason for being out and about on Tuesday night anyway so you mind as well come on down to the Mercury Lounge, have a drink and listen to some heartfelt music by a fellow patriot. (how was that for a pathetic attempt to shamelessly plug my next show?) no. seriously. if you can, come on down. we’ll raise a toast to hope and to pride in having played our part. we can share stories about our voting experiences. truth be told, this will be my first trip to the poll. I’m pretty excited. we’ll find a TV after and watch the results come in, find out where the discrepancies lie. you know it’s gonna be crazy. anyway. that’s it. I’m done begging. it’s only history. one of those “where-were-you-when...?” kind of moments. just thinkin’ maybe we could all share it together. no big deal. really.
honest.
it’s cool.
I mean it, no biggie.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
10.20.04
don’t know why I haven’t made more of an effort to keep y’all posted on what’s been shakin’ lately. I started to write yet another synopsis of my latest trip to LA and it sounded an awful lot like my previous entries. it’s crazy. I started off getting out there once every month and a half, then it became once every other month, then once a month, twice a month, and now once a frickin’ week. I got in from LA on Friday morning and now I’m taking off again tomorrow to get right back. truth is, this past trip was quite interesting. made a lot of great music, had a lot of great laughs. the Kelley, Firstman, Lucca thing is taking on a life of it’s own. we’ve played 5 shows together now and each one proves to be more interesting than the last. after our 9-11 show, we went up to Modesto (which I covered in a previous entry) and laid down the goods for the folks up there. this past trip, Josh had booked a two day festival out in Palmdale that he invited Joe and I to participate in. that was cool. we had the better majority of the Weight (Joe’s band) at our backs and rocked a good hour and a half show, both days. Palmdale’s not entirely too far from LA but after playing all day Saturday we all decided to stick around, get a hotel and make a weekend of it. (margaritas at Chili’s, bowling at Brunswick lanes [where I bowled a 164 to whip ass the second game], a late night Wal Mart shopping spree for some [not mentioning any names, Dave Yaden, Josh Kelley, Double-Down], more margaritas at Chili’s and a long walk to a lame club on the out skirts of town for me, Slim and Joe.) Sunday was cool because we felt we had gotten a bit more familiar with the good people of Palmdale and therefore, took even greater pleasure in entertaining them. anyway, I ended up staying with Josh for the next few days, making a diligent effort to do some writing. came up with a few ideas, finally found a little love song, 3/4 waltz sort of thing somewhere out on Josh’s patio over looking Beechwood Canyon and the setting sun. I remembered just how inspiring that little town can be. here’s a taste:
just like a melody falling from heaven,
you came along and took my breath away.
now it’s so clear to see; it’s love I was after.
it’s love that I’ve found and it’s here to stay.
I’ll be your lover boy, you be my lady.
together we’ll be eachother’s only.
we’ll live out all our daydreams and sew them together,
wave it like a flag, in the name of love,
hoping that the whole world’s gonna see.
I had a most enjoyable show Wednesday night at the Hotel Cafe, was supposed to leave Thursday morning but then Joe was asked to play a last minute gig at a ‘Rock The Vote’ party hosted by Ryan Seacrest and thought it’d be cool if Kelley and I played it with him. needless to say, I stuck around. Ryan was at the screening of the “Catch Me” video up at Costner’s place the night of my cd release and has been a big supporter of the record and my music since. apparently, he and Josh Kelley have hung a few times as well and so the thought of me, Josh and Joe all playing together was totally cool with him. when we got there, Ryan couldn’t thank us enough for comin’ out and supporting the cause. obviously, we returned the appreciation for simply havin’ us. the party was a bit of a Hollywood schmoozer. however, there were a lot of young (18-25) potential voters there and that being the purpose of the party, I’d say it accomplished what it set out to do. very few LA parties can say the same. afterwards, I had to get to the airport to catch the red eye back to New York.
the weekend was cool. we had our friend, Grahame from michigan, come to town and spent the better part of Friday and Saturday showing him around the Big Apple. the kid’s 15 but acts nothing shy of 27. he’s a fellow musician and antiestablishment type so we didn’t have to do much of the touristy sight-seeing shit. Gaby got us tickets to see Stomp on Saturday. that show is amazing. truly. Grahame was blown away. (we sat in the second row, so...) I think he fell in love with the city and I can imagine he’ll be making plans to be gettin back in the not so distant future.
so, really, that’s about it. I’ll refrain from diving into politics for now except to say that I think the debates spoke volumes. unfortunately, I think the media speaks a little louder. and the polls? well they’re quite deafening. it’s so sad to me that an intelligent man who has spent the better part of his life serving his country in an earnest and relatively honest fashion could stand to lose an election, in that very country, to someone who would be incapable of posing as even the slightest competition if not for a cast of some of the most shady characters in modern history. watching the debates, I felt ashamed that our country could have somehow put a fool like George Bush into office in the first place. if you didn’t know he was the leader of the “free” world, you might wonder how in God’s name did someone so unintelligent, inarticulate, simplistic and clueless even get a chance to debate the likes of John Kerry. I’m astounded by the concept of “undecided” voters. I’m saddened by the collective fear inherent in our nation and even more appalled by this administration’s decision to prey upon it for political gain. I am hopeful, however, that the polls DO NOT reflect the current electorate. I’m so proud of the people out there helping get the vote out, registering new voters. I am hopeful that there are enough Americans out there that feel we are not the country we were even 4 years ago, regardless of the impact of 9-11. I believe in the power of change and I believe that if there is to be true peace and freedom ahead it’s going to take some serious reconstruction here at home. it’s going to take a regime change here at home. it’s going to take a fair and honest election here at home. I’m in favor of these things. I’m in favor of John Kerry. I think he’s a fantastic candidate. I think he’ll make a excellent president.
I’m playing at the Mercury Lounge on Election day. I realize it aint the best day to be trying to get people out to a show. however, I know that after I vote, I’m gonna need to step away from the whole thing for a minute. it’s most likely going to be a number of days in front of the TV glued to the news about whatever disputes or inconsistencies might ensue from the election. I figure I may as well get out and celebrate the day with a little music, albeit my own. I’m trying to propose that the $8 cover be reduced to $4 if you bring your voter registration card. if you’re gonna vote, you’ll be out anyway. if you got your registration card on you, you mind as well get a few dollars off at the door with it. anyway... we’ll see. truth is, I don’t expect much of a turn out. in fact, I’m hoping that everyone does everything they can to make sure they get to the polls that day. I won’t be bothered one bit if that means nobody gets over to the Mercury Lounge in time to catch my set. no big deal.
be cool. vote! see you soon.
don’t know why I haven’t made more of an effort to keep y’all posted on what’s been shakin’ lately. I started to write yet another synopsis of my latest trip to LA and it sounded an awful lot like my previous entries. it’s crazy. I started off getting out there once every month and a half, then it became once every other month, then once a month, twice a month, and now once a frickin’ week. I got in from LA on Friday morning and now I’m taking off again tomorrow to get right back. truth is, this past trip was quite interesting. made a lot of great music, had a lot of great laughs. the Kelley, Firstman, Lucca thing is taking on a life of it’s own. we’ve played 5 shows together now and each one proves to be more interesting than the last. after our 9-11 show, we went up to Modesto (which I covered in a previous entry) and laid down the goods for the folks up there. this past trip, Josh had booked a two day festival out in Palmdale that he invited Joe and I to participate in. that was cool. we had the better majority of the Weight (Joe’s band) at our backs and rocked a good hour and a half show, both days. Palmdale’s not entirely too far from LA but after playing all day Saturday we all decided to stick around, get a hotel and make a weekend of it. (margaritas at Chili’s, bowling at Brunswick lanes [where I bowled a 164 to whip ass the second game], a late night Wal Mart shopping spree for some [not mentioning any names, Dave Yaden, Josh Kelley, Double-Down], more margaritas at Chili’s and a long walk to a lame club on the out skirts of town for me, Slim and Joe.) Sunday was cool because we felt we had gotten a bit more familiar with the good people of Palmdale and therefore, took even greater pleasure in entertaining them. anyway, I ended up staying with Josh for the next few days, making a diligent effort to do some writing. came up with a few ideas, finally found a little love song, 3/4 waltz sort of thing somewhere out on Josh’s patio over looking Beechwood Canyon and the setting sun. I remembered just how inspiring that little town can be. here’s a taste:
just like a melody falling from heaven,
you came along and took my breath away.
now it’s so clear to see; it’s love I was after.
it’s love that I’ve found and it’s here to stay.
I’ll be your lover boy, you be my lady.
together we’ll be eachother’s only.
we’ll live out all our daydreams and sew them together,
wave it like a flag, in the name of love,
hoping that the whole world’s gonna see.
I had a most enjoyable show Wednesday night at the Hotel Cafe, was supposed to leave Thursday morning but then Joe was asked to play a last minute gig at a ‘Rock The Vote’ party hosted by Ryan Seacrest and thought it’d be cool if Kelley and I played it with him. needless to say, I stuck around. Ryan was at the screening of the “Catch Me” video up at Costner’s place the night of my cd release and has been a big supporter of the record and my music since. apparently, he and Josh Kelley have hung a few times as well and so the thought of me, Josh and Joe all playing together was totally cool with him. when we got there, Ryan couldn’t thank us enough for comin’ out and supporting the cause. obviously, we returned the appreciation for simply havin’ us. the party was a bit of a Hollywood schmoozer. however, there were a lot of young (18-25) potential voters there and that being the purpose of the party, I’d say it accomplished what it set out to do. very few LA parties can say the same. afterwards, I had to get to the airport to catch the red eye back to New York.
the weekend was cool. we had our friend, Grahame from michigan, come to town and spent the better part of Friday and Saturday showing him around the Big Apple. the kid’s 15 but acts nothing shy of 27. he’s a fellow musician and antiestablishment type so we didn’t have to do much of the touristy sight-seeing shit. Gaby got us tickets to see Stomp on Saturday. that show is amazing. truly. Grahame was blown away. (we sat in the second row, so...) I think he fell in love with the city and I can imagine he’ll be making plans to be gettin back in the not so distant future.
so, really, that’s about it. I’ll refrain from diving into politics for now except to say that I think the debates spoke volumes. unfortunately, I think the media speaks a little louder. and the polls? well they’re quite deafening. it’s so sad to me that an intelligent man who has spent the better part of his life serving his country in an earnest and relatively honest fashion could stand to lose an election, in that very country, to someone who would be incapable of posing as even the slightest competition if not for a cast of some of the most shady characters in modern history. watching the debates, I felt ashamed that our country could have somehow put a fool like George Bush into office in the first place. if you didn’t know he was the leader of the “free” world, you might wonder how in God’s name did someone so unintelligent, inarticulate, simplistic and clueless even get a chance to debate the likes of John Kerry. I’m astounded by the concept of “undecided” voters. I’m saddened by the collective fear inherent in our nation and even more appalled by this administration’s decision to prey upon it for political gain. I am hopeful, however, that the polls DO NOT reflect the current electorate. I’m so proud of the people out there helping get the vote out, registering new voters. I am hopeful that there are enough Americans out there that feel we are not the country we were even 4 years ago, regardless of the impact of 9-11. I believe in the power of change and I believe that if there is to be true peace and freedom ahead it’s going to take some serious reconstruction here at home. it’s going to take a regime change here at home. it’s going to take a fair and honest election here at home. I’m in favor of these things. I’m in favor of John Kerry. I think he’s a fantastic candidate. I think he’ll make a excellent president.
I’m playing at the Mercury Lounge on Election day. I realize it aint the best day to be trying to get people out to a show. however, I know that after I vote, I’m gonna need to step away from the whole thing for a minute. it’s most likely going to be a number of days in front of the TV glued to the news about whatever disputes or inconsistencies might ensue from the election. I figure I may as well get out and celebrate the day with a little music, albeit my own. I’m trying to propose that the $8 cover be reduced to $4 if you bring your voter registration card. if you’re gonna vote, you’ll be out anyway. if you got your registration card on you, you mind as well get a few dollars off at the door with it. anyway... we’ll see. truth is, I don’t expect much of a turn out. in fact, I’m hoping that everyone does everything they can to make sure they get to the polls that day. I won’t be bothered one bit if that means nobody gets over to the Mercury Lounge in time to catch my set. no big deal.
be cool. vote! see you soon.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
10.05.04
fall’s here and you can really feel it here in New York. however, I’ve been told that spring and fall don’t last long in the city. won’t be long before it’s freezing cold again. I dig the moody sky, the shorter days and the crisp air. it makes for good walks through the neighborhood. as well, I just discovered the promenade over by Brooklyn Heights. it’s like a park/boardwalk/scenic view point that over looks the piers, faces downtown Manhattan with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge to your right and the sunset going down just past the Statue of Liberty to your left. it’s gorgeous at about 6, 6:30 in the evening. trying to do more writing while out and about so I haven’t thought much to do it here. and I don’t really dig taking my lap top to the park. not quite there yet with my computer usage. at least I’m not ready to admit that I am.
today I found out that my good friend Marcus Ross’ (the Drummer who plays with me when I’m in Michigan) apartment burned down last night and he lost everything he had except his wife and 2 kids. they all made it out alive. the poor guy was in a near fatal car accident earlier this year that had him in the hospital for several weeks. (been quite a year for the guy) he told a friend that he would rather go through 5 more car accidents than have to go through having to rescue his kids from a burning apartment building again. I can’t even imagine. with a comment like that though, it sure doesn’t take much to realize how precious someone’s family is to them. much more precious than just one’s self, I guess. anyway, my heart goes out to him and his wife and I might ask that if you’re the praying kind, you might send one Marcus’ way. I’m sure they’re gonna need all the comfort they can find in the coming months.
goin’ to bed. thanks for readin’.
fall’s here and you can really feel it here in New York. however, I’ve been told that spring and fall don’t last long in the city. won’t be long before it’s freezing cold again. I dig the moody sky, the shorter days and the crisp air. it makes for good walks through the neighborhood. as well, I just discovered the promenade over by Brooklyn Heights. it’s like a park/boardwalk/scenic view point that over looks the piers, faces downtown Manhattan with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge to your right and the sunset going down just past the Statue of Liberty to your left. it’s gorgeous at about 6, 6:30 in the evening. trying to do more writing while out and about so I haven’t thought much to do it here. and I don’t really dig taking my lap top to the park. not quite there yet with my computer usage. at least I’m not ready to admit that I am.
today I found out that my good friend Marcus Ross’ (the Drummer who plays with me when I’m in Michigan) apartment burned down last night and he lost everything he had except his wife and 2 kids. they all made it out alive. the poor guy was in a near fatal car accident earlier this year that had him in the hospital for several weeks. (been quite a year for the guy) he told a friend that he would rather go through 5 more car accidents than have to go through having to rescue his kids from a burning apartment building again. I can’t even imagine. with a comment like that though, it sure doesn’t take much to realize how precious someone’s family is to them. much more precious than just one’s self, I guess. anyway, my heart goes out to him and his wife and I might ask that if you’re the praying kind, you might send one Marcus’ way. I’m sure they’re gonna need all the comfort they can find in the coming months.
goin’ to bed. thanks for readin’.
