1. YAY BROOOONS! I may be permanently on that bandwagon now.
2. just finished an exhausted show - the set list: Stay (Faraway, so close!) (U2 cover), No Pain, Parking Lot Kings, Believe, Black (Pearl Jam cover), Memphis Ferry, Dreaming without you, Gone, Cuando te vas, Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen cover
Thank you so much for having me - I had a fun time playing and I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. I can't wait to go back!
special thank you to Jackie Singleton for putting it all together.
my set list last night was a fun mix of originals and covers:
Parking Lot Kings (original)
Cafe en San Juan (original)
The Cave (Mumford & Sons cover)
Gone (original)
Fake Plastic Trees (Radiohead cover)
One Hot Second (original)
Changes (original)
Black Sails (original)
Waterfall (original)
Shattered (Turn The Car Around) (O.A.R. cover)
Bittersweet Love (original)
Para Que No Tengas Sed (original)
(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding (Elvis Costello cover)
Grey Street (Dave Matthews Band cover)
Year (original)
Stay (Far Away So Close) (U2 cover)
Memphis Ferry (original)
Crash Into Me (Dave Matthews Band cover)
Dreaming Without You (original)
Stormy As The Sea (original)
Fix You (Coldplay cover)
Lucy In The Sky with Diamonds (Beatles cover)
Fortunes, Forecasts & Lucky Charms (original)
you did! I played the Lizard Lounge Open Mic Challenge - always a fantastic time with tremendous talent. I encourage everyone - even those who don't play music - to go there and check it out. Every week is different. Every week is amazing.
but back to me.
when people ask me about my music, I say "when it rains it pours" because it DOES!
after not playing for what feels like years, I have a show every day this week and into next week, but some of them are private events, so I want to focus your attention on three things:
1. Thursday, June 16th is my BD and although I have a show booked at The All Asia in Cambridge at 8pm I really want it to be a jam. So bring your guitar/accordion/kazoo and we'll have fun.
2. Friday June 24th - TOTALLY unplugged playing at the Out Of The Blue Gallery in Cambridge at 10pm like it's someone's living room with F Nice Records
3. on Thursday I will be announcing the beginning of my Kickstarter campaign to make a record. (for those of you who are wondering, Kickstarter is a way of me asking for YOUR help to make the record - and there are more than a few nice parting gifts you could end up with.)
and THANK YOU.
and let me know if you hear of anyone who needs some music this summer. I'm totally up for it.
peace,
Dann
why merely like something or someone when you can love them? :-) go out and love something or someone today!
such a great tweet! had to share it "The7Line The 7 Line Check out the very talented Dan Russo rockin out this morning while wearing our Shea Catcher shirt. Thanks Dan!" I don't even mind the misspelling - thank YOU to The 7 Line
you can check out their "for the fans by the fans" Mets t shirts and scarves at http://www.the7line.com
it's June First. it's time to announce that I will be kicking off a kickstarter campaign this weekend! www.kickstarter.com for more info
It's been two days and I figure that now is a good time to reflect back on my performance on Thursday night, now that the exhaustion of Thurs and Fri has worn off a little and I can think about it.
Thursday night - All Asia Cafe.
Sometimes when you go to a show, you can tell the performer(s) are mailing it in. Other times when you go to a show, you can TELL that the performer(s) are leaving it all on stage, sweating blood to emote, evoke and connect. Telling stories, preaching, singing, growling, playing the guitar, beating it up, inviting the audience in and blowing them away at the same time.
I could not have been happier. I could not have rocked more.
I want to thank Curtis Hughes and Plectrum Entertainment for hooking me up with this show, and figuring out some time for me even though there was a scheduling mix up.
I want to thank Chris Igo and his band for putting on a great show, getting a million people there and then sticking around to check out some of my music. And then staying. And then staying. It was awesome.
I want to thank my pedals. For the first time "in Real Life" I pulled out my pedals. My delay, overdrive, tremolo and chorus colored the black stage of the All Asia as well as the sound coming out of the speakers. I was told to tell you "they enrich [my] music and broaden [my] expression" when really it makes me less terrified and a lot more relaxed and comfortable and focused on the songs. And that enriching thing, too.
I want to thank Rob Walling for being Rob Walling - and I owe him a Guinness.
and I want to thank what might be a career resurgence, if you can call it that, from the confidence that has been unearthed with a little help from my friends.
If you were there you heard:
On The Floor
Dreaming Without You
Cuando Te Vas
High & Dry (Radiohead cover)
Stormy As The Sea
No Pain
damn I love it when it all comes together.
so I was the "next" act after a lymphoma benefit show. Consequently there were a lot of people there and I felt as if it was a challenge - Keep as many people as possible.
And I think it worked. This is what I gave them:
the set list from tonight. The first night that I used my pedals "in RL." The night I went all out and rocked my set of 6 songs as hard as I possibly could.
and oh damn it was fantastic.
the list: On The Floor, Dreaming Without You, Cuando Te Vas, High & Dry (Radiohead cover), Stormy As The Sea, No Pain.
thank you thank you thank you
today's set list:
Fortunes, Forecasts and Lucky Charms; Plain Jane; Easter Bunny Blues; No Pain; Stormy as the Sea; Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons cover); High and Dry (Radiohead cover); Tomorrow Never Knows (Beatles cover); Ruby Red Hair; Waiting for the Dawn; Cuando te vas; Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen cover)
I can't wait for tonight. In anticipation I took the road less travelled this morning and played an "every other" setlist. it's weird to do that because it's something I do very rarely. I liked it. I hope you did too.
the list:
The Cave (Mumford & Sons cover), Black Sails, High and Dry (Radiohead cover), One Hot Second, She Talks to Angels (Black Crowes cover), Stormy as the Sea, Bright Lights (Matchbox20 cover), Greensleeves, Breaking the Girl (Red Hot Chili Peppers cover), Cuando te vas, Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen cover), Her Majesty Cry.
watch it here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13902668
AND Don't forget the Johnny D's show (Davis Sq, Somerville, MA) at 9pm tonight!
Sunday Mornings are never EASY :-P
there is a bit or rock and roll thrown in there.
The set list this morning: Cuando te vas, It Seems Just Like a Dream (What a Day), Dreaming Without You, Parking Lot Kings, Gone, Ruby Red Hair, Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons cover), Plain Jane, One Hot Second, Stay (Faraway, so close!) (U2 cover), Ash Wednesday, Fantasy.
so every other Monday (or so) I've been playing the "All Originals" set on FCMC radio, streamed into Second Life at The Loft and of course live on ustream.tv.
it's kind of awesome
and some days are really tiring and I'm willing the clock to go faster and other days I look down to make sure I'm hitting that Bm chord correctly and BAM it's 20 minutes later. Tonight was one of those FUN AWESOME "Time really DOES fly when you're having fun" nights.
I love those. And I love when people watch/listen. So, THANK YOU to every one who did. This is what you heard:
Year; Cuando te vas; Ruby Red Hair; Fantasy; Oh Canada; Stormy as the Sea; Para que no tengas sed; Lessons Learned; Fortunes, Forecasts and Lucky Charms, Black Sails; How Do You Spell L.O.V.E
RT @ustream Check out Dann "Cafe En San Juan" half en Espanol song 3/27 http://ustre.am/_V3UD:FID this is the one I SHOULD have posted :-)
So I stream my music out over the (airwaves?) all the time - streaming shows, posting on my sites, and I finally figured out how to make a "highlight" of the live show.
This is "Stormy As The Sea," one of the finest songs I have ever written. Enjoy. and please share.
this is so cool.
I was asked by ourstage.com to take part in the April 10th Singer/Songwriter night at Johnny D's in Davis Square, Somerville. I know it's a school night (it's a Sunday), but should be over around 11 so you can catch an earlier-than-the-last T or drive home with plenty of time to sleep :-)
the official ourstage invite is here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=196347120398591
my invite is here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=201829359841443
See you there!
peace,
Dann
So I made another video! this one is live concert footage of On The Floor from the show at TT The Bear's in Cambridge, MA on March 16th.
Thank you to Gary Ames on guitar.
Thank you to Davina Yannetty for setting up the show.
Thank you to Megan Mullin for the video.
Ah, Monday after Daylight Savings Changes. The day that everyone gives a resigned sigh in unison that their day is totally thrown off...
so I played not one, but one and a half shows.
and not early ones, but late ones.
here's the set list and a half:
Don’t Say That, Nov 8th, Plain Jane, Steal your Crown, Cuando te vas, Her Majesty Cry, Et cetera, One Hot Second, Black Sails, Memphis Ferry.
show #2: Waiting For The Dawn, Dreaming Without You, Stormy as the Sea, Parking Lot Kings, Fortunes, Forecasts and Lucky Charms.
And if you have never heard Steal Your Crown, it's cause I wrote it as I was playing it. It's about Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Email me at dannrussomusic@aol.com and I'll send you an mp3 of it. :-)
blog stuff up! you can always catch it here:
http://dannrusso.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-non-self-promotional-blog-robin.html
or here:
http://www.facebook.com/dannrussomusic
peace,
Dann
why not?
I figure it couldn't hurt to remind you
1. I have a show at (in now less than 30 min) - 9pm est Thursday, I have one 6pm est Friday and I have one Sunday Morning at 8am est (all 3 available to watch from the comfort of your own computer here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dann-numbers-russo-live ) AND I have a RL show this Wednesday at TT The Bear's in Cambridge at 9.
this wednesday's show is with the fantastic Davina Yannetty and Meg Lynch and the great Dave Mirabella from the Rationales. info here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112296468847419
2. I am blown away, my Ash Wednesday video has had 170+ views in about 48 hours. I am grateful and thankful and you are awesome - keep spreading the news! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGb-kW2mZvs
3. My list tonight may end up looking something like this:
**On The Floor
**No Pain
**Her Majesty Cry
**Cuando Te Vas
**Black Sails
**Stormy As The Sea (the NEW NEW song)
**Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (U2 cover)
**Waiting For The Dawn
**Dreaming Without You
**Ash Wednesday (the NEW VIDEO)
**One Hot Second
peace,
Dann
Ok so. two stories.
1. Last year on Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent) a friend of mine put up a link on her blog (http://felicemifa.wordpress.com ) to the T.S. Eliot poem "Ash Wednesday." I read it a few times and was struck by the muse in the only way muses know how to strike - with a sledgehammer. So I took a few lines from the poem and made it a first verse and then wrote the rest.
As often happens when I write meaningful, personal, thoughtful lyrics, I hide them. There is a certain sense of not wanting to be judged on feelings. It's ok if you don't like one of my songs that has a story in it or is about another person, but if it's feelings and about me? I have major issues putting it out there for perusal.
So when my friend asked to hear the song when I told her about it, I hemmed and hawed as only I can (procrastination is a gift) and so here, about a year later, she asked if I had a video for the song, which lead me to...
2. my video. like a VIDEO video. it's very moody. it's very atmospheric. I kinda love it. and I did it all myself. Which makes it much cooler. If you like it half as much as I do...no, if you like it a QUARTER as much as I do, that's a lot of like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGb-kW2mZvs
so, enjoy. share with your friends, your enemies, your enemies' friends, your friends' enemies, your family (and especially people who are in multiple of those categories!)
anyway, thank you.
peace,
Dann
just putting the finishing touches on the new store here:
http://www.reverbnation.com/store/store/artist_253617?item_type=
but hey - don't buy anything yet if you plan on donating to the KICKSTARTER fund - the T shirts and Coffee Mugs are reward items :-P
was music. playing, seeing, listening (well, does the radio count?)
Portland, Maine is an amazing little city. I counted 8 restaurants on one block more than once. And every one of those gastronomic temples were full or close to full on a windy, freezing, windy, cold, windy (did I say windy?) Saturday night.
I had amazing oysters at J's Oysters (thank you, Tony Bourdain for pointing us in that direction) and some fantastic Portland Beer, pan seared gnocchi that ruled and probably too much Cabernet which led to the lack of music (Robert Randolph and the Family Band were playing around the corner from our hotel but between the wine and the exhaustion I just passed out)...
I have always thought of myself as many things. The ONE thing that I'm almost...embarrassed? nervous? to tell people I am is a musician. I play music. I write music. I sing music. By all intents and purposes I should be firm and resolute in my "I'm a musician"-ness. For whatever reason - I don't pay my bills with it, I am still trudging through "paying my dues" at the tender age of almost 35, the songs are sometimes too personal - I shy away from telling people what I do. At a recent doctor's appointment, when he asked "what do you do for hobbies" I said "whatever my kids like to do" and it dawned on me 20 minutes after leaving the office that I should have said "play guitar" "music" or whatever.
I'm going to try to...no. I'm GOING TO say it more often. Maybe I can convince myself a little better.
So if you see me falter or hesitate, tell me it's ok, ok? :-)
