Coming Soon: Sly Orange: The O-dyssey

My apocryphal rock band, Sly Orange, went on tour through Portland and Seattle last Independence Day. Our hotel-thrashing drummer, Vi, started compiling the video that we shot for our bass-player, Ben, who unfortunately couldn't make the tour. Most of the conversations are out of context, and make little sense. You'll hear me talking about 'future surgeries' which is me talking to the camera as if it is my future-self watching the video like a time capsule. I'm not sure if that makes more or less sense. Anyway, Vi did a great job editing this little teaser, and it features my fantastic singing voice, so I thought I'd share it. Make sure to look for The O-dyssey in record stores and on iTunes this Christmas!




In other music news, President-Elect Obama has officially tapped John Williams to compose/conduct a piece of music for his inauguration. Talk about getting started on the right foot, I can't think of a better person to set the stage for a historical moment. I think there's only one piece suitable for such an occasion. It certainly wouldn't be the first Star Wars/Obama mash-up.



Everyone loves John Williams, but a much more polarizing figure appearing at the inauguration is Pastor Rick Warren. I've read his book, A Purpose Driven Life, twice, once with my late buddy, Justin Wright. Justin and I hardly agreed with each other on every issue, and we certainly didn't agree with everything Pastor Warren had to say in his book, but it definitely challenged us both to think about what it means to live a life of purpose. Before anyone gets angry about Pastor Warren giving the invocation at Obama's inauguration, I'd challenge them to watch his talk at the TED conference. You may not agree with everything the man has to say (if you don't, you may find Dan Dennett's TED talk more to your liking), but Pastor Warren's certainly not a "fear mongerer," and I'm personally not interested in hearing an invocation from anyone who agrees with everybody, anyway.

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less."
--Rick Warren

Sly Orange: The O-dyssey
Just got back from the O-dyssey tour through Portland and Seattle. I highly recommend the Space Needle and Experience The Music Project in Seattle and Powell's in Portland. Unfortunately our gig in Olympia was canceled, I don't think the Olympians are interested in a Sly Orange without our bass player, Ben Michaels. Hopefully he comes back for the next album; I'm not sure if my new invention "bass-scatting" is quite as good as the real thing.

Pat feeling the blues backstage before the Seattle show

Oregon and Washington were absolutely beautiful. I'm pretty jealous of our drummer, Vi, who lives in Portland since it's basically Berkeley without the transients. We had a gig at PG&E park on the fourth to watch some baseball and fireworks--y'know, really soak in the America. I've got to say, any sport that needs audience clapping games, Top 40 sound bites, rehearsed mascot routines, raffles, or the wave every five minutes is just not entertaining enough. If they really want to keep the fans interested, they should but a basketball court in the outfield.

The fireworks were great, though, and the rest of the tour was a blast. Our keyboardist, Pat, designed a top-notch tattoo for me, and our lead guitarist, Amalia, really slayed during our cover of Purple Haze. The goal of the tour, aside from rocking our fans' collective socks off, was to get a cup of joe at the original Starbucks at the Seattle market. I did, and I must say, it was worth the trip! Is it just me, or is the quality of java directly proportional to the cuteness of the barista?

To sum up: Portland and Seattle are awesome, Sly Orange still knows how to rock, and someone should put baseball out of its misery.

Speaking of rock'n'roll legends...
The Rock'n'Poll has officially come to a close. I'm sure forty-six votes are enough to speak for the entire populous, so I am officially declaring Bohemian Rhapsody is the Greatest Rock'n'Roll Song of All-Time!! They are the champions, my friend.