Friday June 7 2024

Waking up bright and early at 9 a.m.

 

Breakfast Bar. Tea.

 

Linking up with Bobby and Josiah to start our little Ladada weekend tour.

 

Josiah takes the wheel – the three of us cooped up in his Honda Pilot headed up to New York City.

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We all keep the conversation alive – laughing and picking on each other.

 

PB&J. Coffee.

 

Arriving at Alphaville right in the heart of Bushwick in Brooklyn – dive rock n roll bar with a small stage room in the back. A few of our NY friends make it out – Alan, who mixed and mastered our 4 new songs – Wes shows up in his WRV van with Timmy (both of them looking straight out of a surf magazine.

 

 

Enjoying a Burger and shoestring Fries – filling up on plenty of good drinky drinks.

 

 

Loving all these bands we’re playing with – Fire Motel, Cold Mess, and Zebedee. We do our 30 minute set to a pretty lively crowd in this musty damp dark room. Sound guy though is awesome and really does care about how things are mixed.

 

 

Afterwards, drinking and getting into deep political and cultural discussions with Alex at the bar. I haven’t seen him in a long time – he used to play with us back in the 2000’s in VA.

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Strolling up the block to meet up with the boys – we loiter out in front of a bodega – filling my belly up with an Everything Bagel. We take turns shooting our foil wrappers into the corner trash can. Noticing how much different and pleasant New Yorkers are especially after hours at night. It’s not the kind of aggression you experience at the oceanfront. There’s just a general connection that I can’t explain.

 

Later on, Bobby drives to Alan’s apartment where we got air mattresses and such. I plop down on my foam mattress topper and drift off. Meanwhile, Josiah stands in the kitchen chugging water in the dark lol.

 

 

Thursday June 6 2024

Waking up at 11:30 a.m.

 

Oatmeal. Tea.

 

Catching up on business.

 

Walking to my truck parked at Music Makers – discovering it needs a jump for whatever reason. Making a few phone calls while I wait for Rebecca to come help me jumpstart my battery.

 

Over at the warehouse – organizing a few things – chatting with Haze, the renter, about potentially buying a few audio racks.

 

Eggs. Spinach. English Muffins. Coffee.

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

Hanging back to clean up the room for the weekend – meanwhile, chatting with Rebecca about stuff going on.

 

Back home. Doing some chores. Catching up on work. Later on, Rebecca comes over to rummage through all the Broadway storage boxes we have – rehearsals start in a few weeks.

 

More  chores and packing for the trip.

Wednesday June 5 2024

Waking up at 11:20 a.m.

 

Breakfast Bar. Tea.

 

Was supposed to drive out to Nigel’s but instead just a phone meeting. He’s really jacked up on something today.

 

Visiting with Mike to pick up Josiah’s guitar – he repaired some things with it.

 

Car was giving me a little trouble – just needed more coolant.

 

Eggs. Salad. Tempeh Bacon. Bagel. Coffee.

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

 

Leftovers for dinner – Pasta with Baby Broccoli and Garlic Bread.

 

At Ringo’s for a Ladada practice without Wes. Bobby, Josiah, and I run the set we have planned for New York / Philly this weekend.

 

Back home. Catching up on chores and stuff.

Tuesday June 4 2024

Waking up just before noon.

 

Oatmeal.Tea.

 

Catching up on business.

 

Running errands. Finally figuring out how to fix my purple car. I replace the radiator hose and cap – now all is well...for now.

 

Eggs. Spinach. Bagel. Chips. Coffee.

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

 

Grabbing a few things at Target.

 

Egg Noodles with Veggies and Garlic Bread.

Watching The Brothers Sun (2024).

 

Getting all the docs in order on the Google Drive for Broadway.

Monday June 3 2024

Waking up a little before noon.

 

Cereal. Tea.

 

Catching up on business at the computer.

 

It’s kind of a hot and beautiful day.

 

Eggs. Spinach. Tempeh Bacon. English Muffins. Coffee.

 

Teaching lessons at Music Makers.

Towards the end it starts pouring down rain like crazy. At the front desk Rebecca and I get a lot of Broadway stuff sorted out.

 

Black Beans, Tuna, Kale, Quinoa, and Garlic Bread.

Watching The Brothers Sun (2024).

 

Ice Cream.

 

Catching up on business.

 

Chores. Relaxing.

Sunday June 2 2024

Waking up like usual.

 

Oatmeal. Tea.

 

Over at the warehouse meeting with Doug Nicholson and his tech friend Brian to show them all these old synths and audio racks they may be interested in buying. We take down a bunch of stuff – plug them in – test them out. We have a little fun in the process. Mike is also here enjoying the conversation – he takes Josiah’s guitar to fix up too.

 

Getting groceries.

 

Letting in this Filipino band that’s renting the band room for practice. They’re all really nice – the drummer buys a t-shirt.

 

Eggs. Spinach. Bagel. Tempeh Bacon. Chips. Coffee.

Watching Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023).

 

Catching up on chores, business, etc.

 

Later on, I walk back to Music Makers to clean up the band room. Rebecca and Brittany were in 104 recording video tutorials for Broadway. I clean up in there also while chatting with Rebecca about our days.

 

Dinner: Pasta, Salad, Garlic Bread.

 

More chores and stuff at the computer.

Saturday June 1 2024

Today is Recital Day for Music Makers.

 

I drive Rebecca and I out to Norfolk at the First Lutheran Church off Colley Avenue. Getting there early enough to get things set up and situated. There’s always so much to take care of.

 

We host two performances, one at 3:00 and another at 5:30. Very proud of all the students that performed of course. So many nerves for some of the beginners here and there. One of Rebecca’s almost had a meltdown on stage but we encouraged them to get through it. Others just flat out impressed with ease.

 

Packing up and loading out of there. Ryan, the music director there, is always so hospitable to us.

 

Rebecca and I decide to grab some much deserved pizza from Cogan’s down the street before leaving Norfolk. We catch up on stuff over delicious saucy cheesy goodness. Watching comedy videos. Then, getting back to VB.

 

I spend a lot of time packing up and organizing at the studio.

 

Relaxing at the house.