a heaping plate

It has been awhile since I updated this blog but the time has been well spent. Broadcloth has played 4 shows in the last 2 weeks and we have two more on the horizon – highlights of this recent string of shows included playing amplified for the first time and collaborating and improvising with folks none of us have ever played with, including Jim Hobbs and Junko Fujiwara Simons in Cambridge at Outpost 186, the duo Architeuthis Walks on Land at IBeam and Edward Schneider and Constance Cooper at The Home Of… in Gowanus. These experiences were challenging and quite rewarding, as to my ears it helps us both expand our identity as a group as well as helps to define it more clearly when interacting with other players, instruments and approaches to improvisation. Expect assorted audio as well as the free/donation basis Big Room show at http://broadclothtrio.com in the next few weeks.

I played a few An Historic shows recently, finally got a handle for the new songs that I wrote over the course of the winter, and it seems as though the new album, Small Mercies, will be shaping up soon. There is a Kickstarter campaign that I am in the process of putting together, which will feature some handmade editions of upcoming promotional material I’m recording – a promo EP featuring alternate arrangements of songs that will be on the album as well as some other unreleased items. And at a recent Dr. Caterwaul’s gig we tried out a few of my more recent tunes in what were pretty invigorating arrangements, which makes me quite excited to pin them down and record them hopefully before the year is out. Dr. Caterwaul’s will be briefly on hiatus until July, although expect some of us to be out busking and trying to keep the spirit alive as we can during the rest of June. Stay tuned for info on that once I have done some more of the groundwork.

G. Zarapanecko is still experiencing some active splintering. I’ve been experimenting on utilizing black metal texture and tonality on synths toward some future recording goals, and in the meantime have been utilizing these works as the basis for some new small and large group compositions, trying to see in those pieces a potential for extreme fluidity that I think could really be beneficial. To that end I’ll be working in some capacity with Carl Testa, reviving our duo from last summer with some new motivations and goals in mind. Other permutations to be announced.

Finally, I’m working toward some manner of solo set for the Uncertainty Music series in August. Details to come but I am trying to make something cohesive out of the past 2+ years of miscellaneous composition and sketches. Expect details on everything soon!