Out Now: Black & Gold by Brass Queens

The first full length album from Brass Queens is officially here! We recorded Black & Gold back in May at the Bunker in Brooklyn with engineers Alex Conroy and Megan Mishkin. The album contains 5 BQ originals, 10 covers, and features the following personnel:

Trumpet: Alex Joseph, Stephanie King, Minerva Johnson
Alto Sax: Ally Chapel
Tenor Sax: Jenna Murdoch
Trombone: Elizabeth Arce, Stephanie Young
Sousaphone: Nora Nalepka, Heather Ewer
Percussion: Caitlin Cawley
Drum set: Yours Truly

The Bunker has a lot of great vintage kits but I wanted the drums on this to sound as modern as BQ does so I brought in my Yamaha Tour Custom. To say I’m thrilled about the way the drums sound would be an understatement. I mean, listen to that 14” tom. It sounds MASSIVE! My Ludwig Supraphonic really cuts through the band and my Zildjian As blend nicely.

Here’s a short video of three drum clips: The first is an excerpt of Titi’s Kawa where I try to sneak in some licks inspired by two of my favorite drummers - John Bonham and Stanton Moore. Next is the halftime breakdown of Lady Marmalade. And finally, here’s some uninterrupted drum footage of Vision Quest. I don’t have video of the take that we used for the album, but I’m really happy with the drums throughout this song so I wanted to feature it anyway:

As always, Brass Queens has a jam packed schedule coming up, but I invite you to join us for an official release show for the album on November 18th at Littlefield. I hope to see you there!

Experimental Drum + Cello Jam

New year, new energy. My Hound Dog castmaste Mel Hsu was in town yesterday so we thought we’d get together and JAM! We played for a little over an hour and it was so cathartic that I felt like I had just received a 60-minute massage. Enjoy a minute of our weirdness!

Out Today: Her Sound, Vol. 3

The final installment of Ethan Carlson’s Her Sound project is out today! These 3 albums (more about the first two here) were a great professional achievement for me, as I tracked every single percussion instrument—and there were many—by myself.

When I was asked to record Vol. 1, I had one single USB microphone and could only use my weekly allotted slots at a studio space that I shared with others. I made it work. It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was downright frustrating. So frustrating that it was the impetus I needed to invest many, many dollars into recording equipment and my own studio space that I can use around the clock. These two improvements were game-changers. It was still incredibly difficult to perform and engineer at the same time, but I could now record at my own pace with much higher quality gear.

I’m really proud of this project, and of Ethan, and of producer Ryan Scott Oliver who I’ve known for quite some time. Give a listen below!

Layoff!

Due to union regulations, the entire Grinch orchestra minus the Music Director and Associate Music Director had a two-week layoff at the end of November. The rest of the company traveled to DC for two weeks at the National Theater where they picked up local musicians, including Danny Villanueva, my friend and mentor from my University of Maryland days, who took over the drum book.

I didn’t mind at all as it meant I could travel to California to spend Thanksgiving with my wife and her family. I had a nice time in the warmer weather, but I did need to practice a lot as I am starting to sub on the new Broadway show, Six (more on that when the time comes). Special thanks to my in-laws, Alex & Alicia, for letting me set up shop in Alex’s studio so I could practice on a rental kit. Here I am with some of Alex’s record collection. There’s some good stuff in there!

After a week out west, I got back to New York and had just enough time to fit in a recording session at Power Station before hopping back on Grinch tour. It was a mini Lightning Thief reunion with Wiley Deweese (keys and MD), Yuka Tadano (bass), and Kevin Wunderlich (guitar). We recorded a new anthology for The Michael Friedman Collection with a group of fantastic singers. Here I am set up in “the Motown Room.”

Of course my favorite part of the project was that my lifelong friend Ian Kagey, Director of Operations at Power Station, was behind the board. We’ve been working together for over 20 years!

Now I am in Atlanta and about to open the last week of Grinch at the Fabulous Fox. Stay tuned for a little Grinch write-up once I’m back from tour next week.

Now Playing: Her Sound, Vol. 2

Ethan Carlson’s Her Sound, Vol. 2 was released on September 17. This follow up to Vol. 1 (here ICYMI) features many amazing singers including Alysha Umphress (On the Town, Bring It On, American Idiot), Jewelle Blackman (Hadestown), Krystina Alabado (Mean Girls) , and the homie Jo Lampert (Joan of Arc), with orchestrations by Solomon Hoffman.

I tracked this in April and it’s such a joy listening now and returning to the space these gorgeous songs take me to. Congrats to Ethan and all involved in this project and stay tuned for Vol. 3!

Opening: Twelfth Night

This weekend, Pace University opens a virtual production of Shaina Taub’s Twelfth Night. Back in January, I was invited to record the drum book by Music Director Alexander Tom, who played keyboard 1 on Grinch in 2019. I’ve done a few things at Pace in the past, including Drowsy Chaperone in 2018. Last year, I was hired to play Head Over Heels there, but unfortunately it was one of the first gigs to go at the start of COVID.

It was really exciting to be in a studio for the first time in nearly a year due to the pandemic. There were only three of us in the main room, plus an engineer and assistant in the control room. COVID protocols were in place, everyone was always masked, and safety was prioritized. We only had a few hours to record the entire score, so we moved quickly and efficiently. I’m excited to hear how everything turned out! If you’d like to watch the show, grab tickets here.

Here is a video of an excerpt from the opening number that I took in my studio in preparation for the session. If music be the food of love play on!

Out Today: Brass Queens - Royal St.

Congratulations to Brass Queens on the release of their new EP, Royal St! I’ve been playing with the Queens since the summer and it’s always fun. The ladies and the music they make are simply infectious! They play with a few different drummers and I am honored to play on “Mad” and “Liza” for this release. Above is a picture from the recording session we did a few weeks ago. They took my lunch “dietary restriction” seriously, which I always appreciate!

Have a listen and enjoy!

Now Playing: Her Sound, Vol. 1

Today is release day for Ethan Carlson’s Her Sound, Vol. 1, and it. sounds. amazing! I’m extremely proud of this one, as I tracked all of the percussion on my own. It was HARD TO DO and it nearly drove me to the edge, but the payoff has been extremely rewarding.

The album is produced by Thousand Faced Theatre in association with the incomparable Ryan Scott Oliver and features many fantastic musicians (with orchestrations by Solomon Hoffman) and an array of talented singers. I first played this wonderful music at Don’t Tell Mama in June 2017.

Here’s some info on the recording. Give a listen below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Her Sound is a new song cycle that reimagines the ancient stories of women in the Bible. Instead of the tired tropes of “wife”, “mistress”, and “whore”, discover the untold accounts of a rebel contemplating the cost of knowledge for a bite of an apple, a disobedient wife celebrating her community of women, a groundbreaker escaping the walls that trap her, and many more.

That's a Wrap: 2020 (Thank God)

My wife and I, March 22, 2020

In just a few hours, the most unusual year of my lifetime will come to an end and we will all collectively breathe a sigh of relief. Personally, the year started off strongly: I was playing the 11 o’Clock Numbers series at West End Lounge (both series and venue a casualty of the pandemic), made a trip to the Bahamas for the Broadway Across America conference (which was when the threat of COVID became a reality), started Gold Dust Women with a bunch of bad ass ladies, and was looking forward to a few musicals coming down the line. Those musicals weren’t to be, of course, as the entire theater industry was forced to shut down.

While there was no end in sight for the longest time, we now see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel thanks to two promising vaccines. When we will be fully vaccinated and back to some semblance of normalcy is pure speculation at this point, but I’m going to try my darnedest to be hopefully optimistic going forward.

Tomorrow I’m moving into a rehearsal space of my very own for the first time since high school. I can’t wait to be fully set up to record at all times and I’m looking forward to taking on some more private students in a virtual setting. And having all of my drums outside of my Brooklyn apartment is going to open up so many opportunities for feng shui improvements which I know my wife is looking forward to! (Have I mentioned that I got married in 2020? See, it wasn’t all so bad!)

My last project for the year is this beautiful tribute to Olivia Harris’s mother, who lost her battle with cancer in December. Today I reflect on Olivia’s words and I’m hoping we all see some growth in 2021.

Everybody’s a garden

Sowing joy and pain.

Everybody’s a garden.

Why can’t we let it rain?

Home Recordings

It’s a mess! This is a picture I took after doing some recording at my studio space in Brooklyn yesterday and was an accurate depiction of my brain at that moment!

I’m currently tracking percussion for a very excellent song cycle that requires a lot of different instruments and sounds. I was able to do some of it in my apartment (shakers, triangle, etc…) but for the louder instruments (cymbals, snare, cajon) I found myself dragging my instruments and recording accoutrements around the block to my space, and let me tell ya, with very little gigs over the last seven months, the schlepp is real! Additionally, I have to get to my space early with hopes that no one on my floor is blasting heavy metal that would interfere with my audio captures. Yesterday morning, there were two drummers playing on my floor, but thankfully it was faint enough that the mics didn’t pick anything.

To be honest, I enjoy the work and the final product, but it is all very stressful! Musicians of the internet, I’m wondering: How are you dealing with being a musician, audio engineer, and studio assistant all simultaneously in the current climate? What are your tips for staying sane and not wanting to scream into a pillow during your home recording sessions?