a few upcoming things

on Tuesday, May 8th. I'll be joining Nathan Bontrager and Jonny Rodgers in accompanying Brian Francis Slattery in a reading from his latest, highly acclaimed novel Lost Everything.  The reading takes place at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT. We'll be reprising this to some extent with the help of Michael Paolucci and Sarah Alden at WORD in Brooklyn, NY on May 17th. Very exciting stuff - watch Brian talk-sing his way through some really vivid passages from his novel (and in one case play the banjo at the same damn time!). It promises to be really exciting stuff.

on Saturday, may 12th, Dr. Caterwaul's (minus Nathan) will be performing at the New Haven Artwalk at 2:30. We'll be on the Central Ave stage (corner of Central Ave and Fountain St.).

And the next An Historic gig is scheduled for June 15th at Greenwell Organic Coffee and Tea, at 6PM. I'll be accompanied by Brian Slattery for this one, and it promises to be a bunch of fun.

Between that, the opera. Oh yeah. That thing.

Discography/Compositions section finally updated!

Now features the most current and complete list of compositions and updated links to all extant recordings, including the most recent Broadcloth and An Historic live releases, and some of the more recent session work.

Recently, and Ahead

This post is much belated, and my apologies for letting it build up in this way.

I have a few upcoming dates on the "new music-y" side of things, rather than the songwriter-y side. Tonight, April 13th, in Hartford, Broadcloth is performing a set as part of the Hartford Phase Shift series. This is our Hartford debut, despite living so damned close to the city, and we're excited. Composer/performer Ben Klein has cultivated a really nice series up there, and we're excited to be there. Tomorrow night, Ben Klein and I are doing a duo set as part of the Uncertainty Music Series. (Also on the bill is a duo of Anne Rhodes and harpist Maura Valenti, performing a set of Anthony Braxton's Ghost Trance Music.) The music I've written for this duo is rather unlike anything I've done before, focusing primarily on vocals in a way my writing hasn't for several years. It's been a blast to work on, and will be an interesting challenge, with a result I hope is intriguing. I'm also very pleased to be performing in a new quartet with the members of Not The Wind, Not the Flag and Carl Testa, which will have its debut on April 25th at Elm Bar in New Haven, as part of the ongoing biweekly Uncertainty Series installments that have been happening there. I am beyond excited for this date, and, well, more to come.

Next Thursday, April 19th, I'm performing a duo set with guitarist Chris Riggs as part of his thesis concerts. This performance will be at Wesleyan University at the CFA Hall at 9PM. Chris has a unique approach to the guitar that utilizes no pedals or shredding whatsoever, and I am greatly anticipating this date. Broadcloth will be performing with Carl Testa at the Russell House at Wesleyan on May 6th at 8PM. This will, in effect, be a preview for our June Tour, which begins the 22nd. Further details for that will definitely be forthcoming.



Broadcloth also has a new release up for digital download, an unedited set of our recent performance at The Stone. We all felt it was a really strong performance, giving an accurate representation of what we've been up to. Download it HERE, either for free or with a donation, which will go towards our tour fund.

Finally, SAVE THE DATE! "Red Giant," my short-ish opera (with libretto by Brian Slattery) is being premiered in New York on June 9th at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. Rhymes with Opera commissioned the piece and will be performing it, along with works by George Lam/Benjamin Rogers and Kathleen Bader. The performance begins at 8PM and is part of the NYsoundCircuit Festival. RWO will be bringing an encore of that performance to New Haven the following day, June 10th, at the Big Room in New Haven, CT. More details for both as the dates approach.

Unfortunately a scheduling conflict means I won't be able to participate in the debut performance of Anne Rhodes' 8' by 2' embroidered graphic composition, but y'all should still go see it on May 5th in Hartford, if you can. End shameless plug.

Check the sidebar for other upcoming dates. I'm especially excited for the accompanied reading for Brian Slattery's new book "Lost Everything." The band will feature all of Dr. Caterwaul's as well as guitarist Jonny Rodgers and violinist Sarah Alden. Dr. Caterwauls is also working on a date to host Ben Von Wildenhaus, a VERY intriguing guitarist. And sooner, rather than later, will be the cassette release of "Seicremllams" a new EP of self-recorded An Historic material. Stay tuned, as ever.

I've been a longtime fan of Peter Hammill, whether in brooding and introspective songwriter mode or going for more ambitious and/or grim topics with Van Der Graaf Generator. His career has been a real treat to explore at a relatively slow pace, and provided some key inspiration for some of my first songs. While I don't like all his material equally (and it encompasses such a wide range that it would be difficult for anyone to accomplish that), at his best he can create a pretty immediate mood through his choices in vocal delivery and general phrasing. Bucking the expected trend of someone who's been recording for 40 years, he's made some of the best albums of his solo career in the last decade, and this tune is from one of them, Incoherence. My version takes equal grounding from the original recording as it does on the recording from his live album with violinist Stuart Gordon, Veracious.

Stuff in March

Going to keep this brief and workpersonlike. Apologies for the brevity:

An Historic has a few gigs upcoming. Tomorrow night (March 2nd) at 1175 Chapel St New Haven (AKA Taco Hut Records HQ), I'll be playing a solo set on a bill with Chris Capello, José Oyola, and Brian Abraham, starting at 7:30. Ring the buzzer for apt 605. Next Friday, I'll be participating in a musical Round Robin with Clara Engel, Valerie Kuehne, Spiff Wiegand, Lucio Menegon, Elime Sorbsel, Beninghove's Hangmen and Upholstery. The venue is The Spectrum 115 23rd St, New York, NY. Two days later I'll be back in New Haven, hosting Clara Engel and Valerie Kuehne on the local stop of their "Draws Blood 2012" tour. This evening features the debut of Dr. Historic, which is a stupid name mashup to indicate Dr. Caterwauls playing all An Historic songs, as well as short sets by Sam Perduta and José Oyola. An Historic plays later in the month at a TBA location in New York on March 21st

Broadcloth has two dates coming up - first in Northampton, MA on March 14th, and later in New Haven (with our friends Prehistoric Horse - Valerie Kuehne, Lucio Menegon, David Grollman). Details for both are to be announced.

Besides the upcoming Dr. Historic thing, Dr. Caterwauls will also be playing at Best Video in Hamden on March 22nd at 8PM, and March 25th at the John Slade Ely house as part of a fundraiser for the New Haven Oratorio Choir between 4-6PM.

So that's March for ya. April will be a bit slower but will also feature some debut performances of music I'm really, really excited to play. More on that as it comes.

February 18th

Dr. Caterwauls will be playing an hour-long set, partially backing up the Cygnet Sisters, this Saturday, February 18th at the Acoustic Cafe, as part of the Black Rock Rocks day-long Mardi Gras festival. We hit at 2:00 PM (note the early time).

Anne, Nathan and I will scatter on to NY for a Broadcloth gig, later that evening. We'll be performing at The Stone in NYC at 10PM, performing a set including my chamber opera "Mere Distractions" and Anne's recently finished "Book One," an embroidered score for the group.

Nathan will be playing in the earlier set, an improvisational string quartet assembled by Al Margolis on Violin and featuring Julianne Carney on violin and James Ilgenfritz on bass.

A busy, but worthwhile day. I'll have a bit of downtime after that, gearing up for March.

More to come.

Stream the new "An Historic Live"

There ya have it. You can click through to download for free or donation. All money funds future recording and releases, getting people with, y'know, visual talent to do the art, and what not.

I've also just received the duplicated tapes for the upcoming Seicremllams EP. Looking like an April release, and once I get the art I'll set up a pre-order on my bandcamp page.

More news forthcoming.