I lived in Central Los Angeles for ten years and spent most of my time in Echo Park and Boyle Heights. While living in a "spirited" house in Boyle Heights, I was inspired to write a song about the deceased wife of my landlord's elderly father, Jose'. Sometimes I'd catch him daydreaming and ask him who he was thinking of. More often than not, he'd say, "Maria." With help from my friend Greg Lucas, we did a one-day shoot with the lovely Angela Farias around East LA. Check it out!
I'm honored to have close friends in Padova, Italy, a few miles west of Venice. Two of them, Mario Perona and Alfonso Stefanelli, have an acoustic duo group called The Ivanhoffs. Accompanied by my longtime American homie, Dominic Carrillo (on drums), they covered my song, "Almost Weightless," along with a French horn player and the talented Sandra on violin. I love it! Thanks to Bozhana for the clip!
Years ago, my friend Dominic Carrillo made this video with images he captured on his cell phone. It's a mix of Italian train travel and some stills of me playing guitar at the apartment he was briefly renting in the Northbay as he pursued his Masters degree. Thanks again, Dom!
I'm very proud of this video. I came up with the concept and pitched the idea to my talented, LA-based friend/director, Eric Pritchard. He liked the idea, agreed to direct, and off we went. It stars Miss Vicky as a mystical woman who takes me on a journey to watch two young girls jump rope.
My friend Jake had a gig at Cafe Du Nord on Market Street. He asked if I would join him on stage during his set (to sing harmonies) while he covered my song, "Two Crashed Cars." Of course I said yes, because...what an honor! An hour before the gig, we rehearsed it upstairs in the ghostly Swedish American Hall, which we had all to ourselves. Unforgettable night. If you dig the song, the studio version is on my album, All Things Pink (available on streaming).
We were one month into the pandemic and things were getting goofy. Lots of stay-at-home performances by everyone. I decided I'd do some self-karoke and sang over the music to my own song, "Fast and Fragile," from the album, Delicious Conditions. Weird times!
A loooong time ago in LA, my videographer friend, Evan Weitzberg, called me one morning and said, "Come check out this warehouse in Downtown. Let's shoot a video." Within an hour he had everything set up and I started strumming my song "Useless Space Junk." Interestingly, the images he projected aligned perfectly with the words. He'd never heard the song before that day. Side note: Minutes before the shoot, I was introduced to his friend, the girl who sings behind me. I never saw her again.
A long time ago, I was in a band called The Marinators with Matt Gross (bass) and Dominic Carrillo (drums). We played small bars in San Diego and made one album called Chicken Bone, which generated a touch of buzz. Some of our Italian friends in Padova connected with the songs, and years later, we floated the idea of a reunion show, which happened. Though the show was never intended to be recorded, somehow a cell phone unintentionally captured it. The audio is rough, but in my opinion, it captures the spirit of the evening. Magical night! xo