if I were a very ordinary everyday thing I'd never be heard cock-a-doodling - dann russo - Blog

The Poe Show - a "themed" concert

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:21:45 -0800

so I had this idea. I think it's a really cool idea and may have a future.

Every Thursday I want to play a short(er) show that has a unifying theme.

Problem: I need to find a theme.

Conveniently, yesterday was Edgar Allan Poe's birthday (a tidbit of knowledge I got not from google or wikipedia, but from the fantastic and talented brain of the fantastic and talented www.erindionne.com ).

Problem 2: I need to find songs about Mr. Poe.

I did a little research, found that Mr. Poe was born in Boston, lived in a bunch of places around the East Coast, ending up dying in Baltimore, MD.

"Self," (cause that's what I call myself) "Baltimore!" I said to myself. "Raining in Baltimore! Counting Crows! Hey - Crows are like Ravens, like the poem The Raven! And I can even do a Black Crowes song or two - I LOVE them. And Tori Amos was born in Baltimore too! And so was Adam Duritz? I TOTALLY need to do a bunch of Counting Crows songs..." And on and on it went (of course, when I talk to myself there is a lot less capitalization and a lot more exclamation).

So then I played. And people watching/listening thought the Counting Crows songs were my originals, which ruled. And I played "Remedy" by the Black Crowes which did everything BUT rule. I think I salvaged it with the rest of the show. And I was able to pull together a pretty decent song about the time Mr. Poe went missing towards the end of his life, entitled "Six Days."

here's the link so you can watch it (again):

http://www.livestream.com/dannrusso/video?clipId=pla_26578de2-c52b-4a9e-95d5-bd6b1c9c3ad5

and the set list:

Murder Of One (Counting Crows); Raining in Baltimore (CC); Cornflake Girl (Tori Amos); Remedy (Black Crowes); Six Days (original); She Talks To Angels (BC); Year (original); Mr. Jones (CC)

I LOVED playing the first two songs. I'm totally going to play them again. And "Year" is more of a Hemingway song than a Poe song, but it snuck in there somehow.

So, I'm looking for a theme for next week and hoping it will be equally as cool. Got an idea? let me know.

tonight tonight

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:52:08 -0800

I'm kinda nervous.

I get nervous a lot before playing. I get a little shaky, my stomach retches, my eyes glaze over. Kind of like that dream where you're on stage naked in front of a lot people and you have forgotten your lines to whatever version of Hamlet you are in, and your third AND 8th grade English teachers are sitting next to your parents in the first row. No, not KIND of like that. EXACTLY like that.

Playing original music is really fun. And really hard. (not to diminish the talents needed to play covers, but there is less internal strife and anxiety playing songs people know already) There is the "the is my favorite line ever in a song I hope I don't mumble/mess it up/forget it" issue. There is the "this song is exceedingly personal and I hope that people don't hate it" issue. There is the "omg there she is and I really hope she knows/doesn't know this song is about her" issue (depending on the song of course). There is "how many was that? 3? 4? do I want another beer? can I squeeze in one more song? what do you mean I still have ten minutes?" and the list goes on.

I guess that means I mean it. That's a weird way to put it, I know, but it means that I like it, it means I want to do a good job, it means that I have emotions and stories to tell you, the audience.

I heard an interview with John Mayer once where he said that when he plays certain songs he can kind of shut off his brain and think about shelving while he plays. I hope that I never get to that point. I think that's rude to do to an audience. I hope that my nervousness continues and that I get sick and tense and shakey and that my emotions and stories will entertain and effect people for the rest of my life.

starting tonight. 8:45pm TT The Bear's Place in Central Square, Cambridge, MA.

Epiphany

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:38:01 -0800

I've had an Apostrophe! Epiphany!

One of my favorite movies of all time is Hook, the story of the grown-up Peter Pan visiting Neverland and having to remember how to have fun. I don't think I've ever had to "remember" how to have fun, but I've definitely had to renew the meaning.

Having fun today was doing two puzzles of firetrucks and making an extra pot of coffee. and looking around to see the disaster double/triple/quadruple Christmas has had on our living room. toys, trains and stuffed animals are strewn all over the place. and crayons. and markers. I even wrote a song about it. wanna hear it? here it goes.

http://soundcloud.com/dannrusso/stripsofpaper

my superbowl prediction

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 13:02:34 -0800

So it occurs to me that there is a big game today. And this big game celebrates, with beer and food and more beer, the wonders of working together, no man for themselves, putting your ego in check and making sure you all do your job for everyone on your team to succeed. And the two teams playing today? One has no OwnER. It is owned by the fans, the citizenry, the true die-hards dedicated to making the team great, not making more money. The other team? One of the few success stories coming out of a once-super-important town, with the blueest collars around, the team NAMED after the people who made the town great.

It also occurs to me that this game is the biggest thing happening in the United States of America today. The America which supposedly idolizes capitalism, has banks that are too-big-to-fail whilst people can't pay their mortgage TO those banks because capitalism said their jobs would be better somewhere else. The America which announces the gambling profits of a few people every day on TV, radio and Internet at 4pm as "the bell" rings because someone decided that a three-block-avenue in Downtown Manhattan was the most important three blocks in the world. The America which allows segments of its population to think that the only way "out" is to kill - whether it's over drugs in inner-city housing somewhere or over [redacted] in some foreign country that their education failed to teach them how to pronounce.

So, which of these two IS America?

I'd like to think that the second is merely a highjacking (terrorist action?) of a few who will fade away, either from their own doing or because the voting populace will pull the wool off their eyes.

There is a reason the greatest Super Bowl of all time was won with the announcement "requesting to be announced as a team, your AFC Champion New England Patriots" (I may have just gotten chills typing that). Because in February 2002, America needed more than anything to be American. To celebrate being pulled together, to make sure that everyone knew that it was one for all and all for one, no matter who you were, how much money you made or where you came from. Teammates got each other's back, everyone did their job, and everyone enjoyed success.

Here's to a good 24-21 game. Won by a field goal

Ah Feb.

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:51:16 -0800

so, its Feb 1st, my brother's 32nd birthday.

it's (yet another) snow day - our 4th in the past 2 weeks.

it's also the first day of RPM 2011. AND FAWM. They are 28-day music writing "challenges." I hesitate to call them contests because although there is a bit of friendly competition the ultimate reward is the music itself.

That's an interesting phrase "the music itself."

After 20 years of writing and performing music (I was 16 when I wrote "Believe" which I still play at shows now), some good, some terrible, some pandering, some way too far out there, some great songs done poorly, some sounding much better in my head than what comes out, some coming out better than perfect, the question arises: why DO I do this? I mean, I'll be 35 this year, and I know that Pat Moynahan from Train didn't get his "break" til about this time but I always was hoping to follow the Bruce Springsteen on-the-cover-of-Time-and-Newsweek-at-26 trail. What I have now is the music itself.

I love playing. I love writing. I love that what comes out of my guitar (and piano!) this week is MUCH better than some of the things I did 15 years ago. I also love getting feedback from people, from people watching, people downloading songs, people listening. It is sometimes frustrating to not have the success I envision in my mind before a show, but I have the music itself.

It relaxes me. It excites me. It's a part of me. It might be a cry for attention. It might be therapeutic. It might be a vice grip on my youth. It might be the most mature thing I have ever done.

So, consequently, I enter this challenge challenging myself. Will something awesome come out of it? yes. If I don't knock Ke$ha out of her coveted spot(s!) on the iTunes top 100, I will be merely mildly disappointed, but more importantly I will have harnessed that creativity and honesty that many people lose when they enter the "grown up" world.

My theme this year? Numbers.

ah the return to (mostly) original music

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 09:21:13 -0700

it's always fun to play early morning shows, but sometimes I think I like the earlier shows when certain 4 year olds are sleepier and not yelling "daddy!" in the middle of a song :-P I figured it was more adorable than annoying cause, you know, she is awesome. So it was all good.

the list:

Parking Lot Kings; Cuando te vas; For no One (Beatles cover); No Pain; Until the End fo the World (U2 cover); Nov. 8th; All along the Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix cover); Waiting for the Dawn; Year; Black Sails; Café en San Juan; Memphis Ferry

i'm'a keep myself honest - week one part deux

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 03:51:59 -0700

so here we go - to make sure I'm doing the right things, I'm going to let the ether of the interwebs know...

1. make a video. I did! it's for "Waiting For The Dawn" and you can see it here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoqD-5JqcdI (and it has 125 views already! whooo hooo!) and now before August 1st I want to put another up!

2. post my set lists. I have been consistently posting set lists for the past two or three weeks on http://www.facebook.com/dannrussomusic as my status, and so that you don't have to go searching through weeks of status (stati? states?) to look for them all in one place, I

3. post my list of originals. It's up! as a note on facebook.com/dannrussomusic which leads me to

4. MORE originals! ok ok I'm working on this. I want to have at least two more originals (if not 5) by August 1st.

5. now that CDBaby/iTunes is giving the option, I want to release a two-song "single" of Waiting For The Dawn and another song that follows it thematically or musically (maybe even the other video?)

6. I think I AM going to attend SLCC (the Second Life conference) and see where and when I can play (I AM Dann Numbers, the 200-mile an hour savior of acoustic rock and soul, right?)

oh, and

7. finish writing that entry into Anthony Bourdain's "Why Cook Well" contest

:-)
peace,
Dann

set list question and set lists

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 17:49:52 -0700

so...I find myself not actually making set lists beforehand, which is both awesome and scary...I always want to make sure to give people listening a good show, but I want to include songs YOU want to hear, songs that are good songs, and maybe even a few covers...

I need to know a few things.

1. What songs should I play less?

2. What songs should I play more?

3. What song is YOUR favorite?

Set Lists for the week:

4/2 (SL) 1. RockStar 2. Dreaming Without You 3. Whispering Amen 4. Don't Say That 5. Paris 6. Parking Lot Kings 7. Means Justify The Ends 8. Waiting For The Dawn 9. Someday 10. Changes 11. No Pain 12. Year

4/6 (SL - live on treet.tv ) 1. RockStar 2. Fortunes, Forecasts & Lucky Charms 3. Parking Lot Kings 4. Black Sails 5. Her Majesty Cry 6. Cafe en San Juan 7. No Pain

4/9 (SL) 1. Dreaming Without You 2. Mona (Antonio's Crush cover...wait...does that count as a cover?) 3. Fortunes, Forecasts & Lucky Charms 4. Falling Slowly (Glen Hansard cover) 5. Lessons Learned 6. You May Be Right (Billy Joel cover) 7. Good Morning, Chelsea 8. Fantasy 9. Don't Say That 10. Ash Wednesday 11. Did You Ever Have 12. Footsteps

4/10 (SL) 1. Did You Ever Have 2. RockStar 3. Black Sails 4. Falling Slowly (Glen Hansard cover) 5. Parking Lot Kings 6. Cafe en San Juan 7. Bittersweet Love 8. Gone 9. Dreaming Without You 10. Bobby Jean (Bruce Springsteen cover) 11. No Pain 12. Bad Medicine (Bon Jovi cover) 13. EAB 14. Fantasy.

whew.

peace, Dann

a really nice comment I wanted to share with you

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 06:48:58 -0700

Dann Russo’s workshop was well-received by me and all of the participants in the room. In a format more like an intimate “unplugged” setting than a simple pedagogical workshop, Dann and his acoustic guitar transformed tales from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Homer’s Odyssey into lush harmonies with gorgeous lyrics. His voice soared like Daedalus and Icarus over the melodies that he composed over the themes from Greek and Latin myths, tackling a range of styles from ballad to blues (and everything in between).

Dann explained how important it was for his students...to appreciate art in all of its forms, and to express themselves creatively. Drawing on their own creative strengths, Dann asks his students to produce works of art (music, poetry, creative writing, drawing, painting) as presentations to the class. His results, as he described, are far better than any PowerPoint could ever be.

Fan Art?

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:03:27 -0700

I consider this a challenge. it's YOUR turn! email me at dannrussomusic@aol.com

peace,

Dann