dann russo: News

ok so yesterday I admittedly was a little vervous at the St Columbkille camp at Boston College at Erin Dionne's first reading for "Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies." We sat in a classroom in front of about 20 6th graders who paid rapt (for the most part) attention to Erin reading the first 12 pages of the book. We introduced ourselves, Erin read, and then I played. I explained the two songs from the book, Ruby Red Hair, which I had written a few years ago, and Dreaming Without You, which I wrote specifically to be a Theo Christmas song, the character I play in the book. After that we took questions and I was...surprised is the wrong word...I was pleasantly pleased by not only the amount of questions, but the quality of the questions too...

Erin got a whole lot of questions about the book - how you write a book, what it was about, about the characters in the book, who came up with the title, who made the cover, about the main character Celeste, and then I got a whole bunch of questions too - how you write a song, how long have I been playing, do I have a band, do I have a CD, do I know any famous guitar players or singers, what is my favorite Pearl Jam song, and of course I did my best to re-direct most of the questions back to Erin's book and site (www.erindionne.com or her blog http://bostonerin.livejournal.com/) , but I must admit it tickled me a little that they were so interested in my music.

and I got an encore! One of the kids asked me what the first song I ever wrote was, and so I told them Believe (which is almost 100% accurate although I'm not completely sure) and they asked me to play it so thats how we ended the presentation. I think I need to write more Theo Christmas songs :-)

now I can't wait for the next reading

It's not often that you get to go to the singing of a book...tomorrow Dann will be performing songs he wrote from the upcoming Penguin/Putnam release of "Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies" by Erin Dionne. You can check out the book's website here: http://www.erindionne.com/models_home.html
The reading takes place tomorrow (the 7th) at 2pm at Boston College - should be fun!

I take back anything bad I have ever said about Paris Hilton...this is genius http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d

check it out!

http://www.mvyradio.com/local_musicafe/

rocking the drums for ..... years

Hey y'all...wanted to let you in on a few things

1. tomorrow's show at the 169 Bar in NYC needs to be rescheduled, so if you want to see Dann this weekend, come to the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA on Monday night (ok, not REALLY the weekend, but...) I hit the stage around 11pm www.lizardloungeclub.com for info and directions

2. Dreaming Without You is currently ranked 138th in the 92.9 citystage contest at Ourstage.com BUT Ruby Red Hair is 12th in the Alt-Country voting...log on and vote! thank you I need the support http://www.ourstage.com/judge?channel=67-americana
3. */*...wait I mean 8/8 at 8pm I will be rocking out at The Knitting Factory in NYC - come on down, bring your friends, this might be a benefit show so the money goes to (another) good cause not just my gas tank - details to follow...

as always,
peace,
Dann
www.dannrusso.com www.sonicbids.com/dannrusso www.myspace.com/dannrusso http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dann-Russo/36658671856

how do I know it was a full moon on Wednesday and Thursday?

1. all 4 of the most nearby Shaw's grocery stores have "coinstar" machines - where you put in your change and get money back...I travelled to all of them with a big water bottle full of coins in tow and all four were out of order

2. So, we go home and find that SecondLife has deposited money in my PayPal account - whoo hooo

3. going to my show on Wednesday night at 7 PM in Cambridge, MA, (which is never less than 30 minutes door-to-door) I'm sitting in the kitchen waiting watching La Patoot feed pizza to her toy lion and tiger until 6:47 (no one's fault - just traffic)

4. sprint out the door, guitar in hand, get to show 23 minutes later.

5. find spot directly in front of the bar

6. rush in in a flurry of activity to find three bartenders playing pool and the sound guy trying to make shots. Emphasis on the trying. NEVER drink an "Alice in Wonderland" (which he consequently tried to give to everyone at the bar) they are terrible.

7. find out that my 7 pm show actually has no one there

8. find out that the panel of songwriters who I was supposed to host in a storytellers-type of thing is not 4 people, but 1. Me.

9. my 7 pm show is now an 8 pm show

10. go on at 8, start to plug things in, play Fortunes Forecasts and Lucky Charms from about the halfway point (the loudest part for soundcheck)

11. have the sound guy say "keep going!" and walk away from the stage

12. have a Tiger beer delivered to the stage

13. keep playing the second half of Fortunes, throwing off my chi even more, flail through 10 more songs

14. break string

15. realize there are no strings in my bag

16. retune and keep playing

17. see bagpipers walk in

18. mercifully end my set with 5 strings and humidified Q-tip of hair style

19. walk of stage put stuff away

20. prepare to leave

21. listen to bagpipers

22. bagpipers rule

23. have sound guy make sure I book at least two more shows with him before he lets me go

24. find out beer was free

25. call home cause I was later than I said I was going to be and am responded to by a request for beer

26. find 4 messages on my cell phone from my sister that sound like Bon Jovi live

27. see texts that they actually ARE Bon Jovi live

28. man in moon looks like he is smoking something...

so last night at the Lizard Lounge's open mic I had a series of accomplishments and really cool things happen...

first, a bunch of my friends from work showed up to help celebrate my birthday - and anytime four attractive women are at a show just to see you its a win/win situation.

secondly, I was telling the story of my song "Fortunes, Forecasts and Lucky Charms" and I got a majority of the bar to join me in singing "robin hood and little john were running through the forest laughing back and forth at what the other'n had to say...etc" it ruled.

thirdly - I got called back up! The way this open mic works is that at the end of the night, 3 performers get called back up to play a third song and the prize is the door...now there were a lot of people there and the door would have been really nice. I mean, I didnt go there with any intention of winning, but I was psyched that I was called back up...and I was able to tell the whole "Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies" story and how Theo Christmas plays this song called "Dreaming Without You..." So the third time I have played the open mic I get to play a third song...maybe the fourth time I'll go all the way :-)

ok - totally cool story. My friend Erin wrote this book. "Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies" and Penguin/Putnam thought it was good enough to publish. Cool for her! She then asks me if it's ok if one of her characters (a rock star) sings one of my songs...and could I write another for the book. After some gentle arm twisting (ok, none) I agree and then they want me to record the songs and have them on her site too. Cool for me!
Consequently, the two songs are Ruby Red Hair and Dreaming Without You - they are done and up on http://www.dannrusso.com and http://www.erindionne.com and a couple various other ones...

except for maybe during interleague play if you're at a NL ballpark in the top of the inning and the pitcher is on deck.

then, you might think about it.

stupid mets.



more on this later :-P

So tonight I went to an open mic night.

As a rule, open mic nights are situations that can hopefully benefit performers, but if there isnt a good crowd/vibe/scene can just lead to the musical masturbation of playing with oneself in front of 7 random people and then going home after you are done.

The crowd/vibe/scene at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA is awesome. Fantastic in every sense of the word.

My eyes were opened a month ago by Grace "cylindrian" Buford http://www.myspace.com/gracefolk to the wonders of the open mic at Lizard Lounge. Anyone who is a musician needs to run over there. Not only is the room awesome and the mics great and the crowd receptive and responsive but it is creative. It feels like a real room of musicians. Everyone there are amazing singers and songwriters - its a constant situation of getting your mind blown - and it ranges from 22-yr old street musicians to a guy who sang a "love song to someone I lost touch with" 35 years ago.

there are stories upon stories and the entertainment and talent are measureless.

OH

Bo Diddley.

So, it seems that Mr Diddley shuffled off his mortal coil earlier today, and as a prize (they have 4 prizes - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and other) there was a Bo Diddley CD. Now, usually when it comes time to announce the winners of something like this I merely find the bottom of my guinness and sometimes get another. However, they called my name as the "performer who rocked the most and the best." I guess its ok that I didnt win world reknown at the Lizard Lounge tonight or that I didnt win my share of the door. In fact, I'm really psyched that I walked home after playing "She Asks" and "Good Morning, Chelsea" to a pretty packed house who seemed to really like it, to hear some amazing (and I mean AMAZING) music, drink some Guinness and go home with a Bo Diddley CD.

I think tonight, no matter what had happened earlier in the day, I won.

OH, and I'm going back on the 16th to celebrate my BD if anyone wants to come - Mass Ave in Cambridge

:-P

THANK YOU GRACIE
So Grace Buford (Cylindrian Rutabaga in SL) dragged me out of the house when she visited from Atlanta and made me come with her to an open mic night in Cambridge...it was awesome...they loved me, invited me back, and Gracie even made me these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6R_w1_15Xk

peace,

Dann

Hey y'all - we've finally finished a song! Dann and Frank locked themselves in a studio on Saturday to start and finish recording "Dreaming Without You" which is going to be available soon on http://myspace.com/dannrusso and http://www.dannrusso.com Pics are up in the photos section of the website too!

peace,
Dann

New Song Posted!
yep yep...

FINALLY a great live version of "How Do You Spell l.o.v.e?" (which I think is actually better than the version you can buy on iTunes) is now posted on http://www.myspace.com/dannrusso http://www.dannrusso.com and http://www.sonicbids.com/dannrusso
Download! Listen! Enjoy! (Let me know what you think)



peace out Colorado,

Dann

thats right...

Jordohn Bileau (www.jordohnbileau.com)
Tim Mann (www.timmannmusic.com)
Dann Russo (www.dannrusso.com)

Monday night
April 7th

music starts at 8PM

TT The Bear's Place
Cambridge MA
www.ttthebears.com for info.

peace,
Dann

So - Cape May was both awesome and frustrating (and, oh, yeah, 10 days ago). I met some "industry people" who were very helpful, supportive, and otherwise really self-affirming. One of the songwriters who listened to my song "How Do You Spell l.o.v.e.?" asked me how much I liked The Who. I was a little confused, said a lot, and consequently was listening to the beginning of the rockopera Tommy the other day and I totally could have written that. Even the little triplets that Pete Townsend rocks on the acoustic guitar? I do that!

At the hotel bar, met Berg (www.myspace.com/berg ), Dave (www.myspace.com/davetamkin ), Steve (who I’m sure has a myspace but I dont know it) and Ryan (www.myspace.com/ryanmillermusicspace ). Hung out with them for a while - they are pretty good...no they arent they are AWESOME guys. We were drinking, talking shop, trading CDs, and at some point realized we needed dinner. at a lobster place. THEN we decided we were rock stars. We stopped at the bar for drinks, hung out with the bartender, we talked a lot to the hostess (sorry if we embarrassed you Brooke), the waitresses, the people at other tables around us, ordered more drinks, more apps, more lobsters (which of course the boys from Chicago were amazed at East Coast lobsters - I promised them more when they got to Boston), more drinks and had an all-around awesome dinner. That pretty much was the best part of the whole trip. I do hope that at some point I will get to hang out for an extended period of time with those guys.

My show went -eh-ok- I was playing at a place that might have been a body double for Bertucci’s and I was tucked in a corner next to the pizza oven. I guess the sound was ok and out of the 100 or so people there I’m pretty sure about 4 were paying attention. Old Man Cactus (www.myspace.com/oldmancactus ) was on ahead of me, and they were pretty good but I kept calling them "those Cactus boys" for I thought it was witty...either way they were some pretty amazing musicians (piano and sax) who jammed with me on "Year" and "Fantasy" and both sounded awesome. The rest of my set was merely decent and I was getting somewhat shy talking to people afterwards, and I didnt want to drink too much cause I had to drive back to the hotel...so I left. Quickly. Unfortunately my quickness was noticed by the Cape May police. SO I got a speeding ticket, which I deserved, a run-down of all the sobriety tests there are (yes, I counted backwards from 77 to 62 and recited (not sang) the alphabet and walked nine steps forwards and backwards toe-to-heel and passed them all with seemingly flying colors) which I think I didnt deserve, got back to my hotel and was just annoyed, went to bed, and woke up later than I wanted to to head back to Boston. Which, of course, put me later getting home, so I rushed around and could not for the life of me find my phone.

So - it was positive until about 10PM...and then after that was ok...and then went bad...and then the drive home wasnt too bad - it was sunny. But you know, I’m very lucky. In general, in life, in my friends, in that I can play music...there was a car that put it all in perspective for me. A station wagon with PA plates and I were passing each other pretty much all the way through NJ and CT packed like a kid was moving into his dorm and it had a bald 12-or-so-year-old in the passenger seat with a "cancer sucks" bumper sticker on the back of the car.

Damn lucky. only ok shows? not that bad. speeding tickets? not that bad. Good friends? Good food? Good times? Life in general? lucky AND good.

peace,

Dann

after a mildly successful venture to Cape May NJ (speeding ticket is besides the point) Dann is back in Boston Rock City - Check him out in April at ALL ASIA CAFE or TT THE BEARS or every night on Second Life

exciting announcement


as many of you know, I've been a middle school & high school teacher for the past 9 years, and I'm very excited to announce that I was able to set up an all-ages show at the All Asia Cafe in Cambridge which will feature (me and) two of my former students who are awesome musicians and singer/songwriters - http://www.myspace.com/caseysullivanmusic and http://www.myspace.com/johncuoco .

The show is $5, free for kids under 10 and is Sunday March 2nd and it being an all-ages show, its in the afternoon! Show starts at 1 PM, and will end around 4PM. check out http://www.allasiabar.com for directions and info.

So...Wednesday night Dann was interviewed by the fantastic DJ Nomad for a UK podcast...here is the link for the interview, including plays of Believe, Fortunes, Forecasts & Lucky Charms, and Year.

http://themusicjunkie.btpodshow.com/

peace,

Dann

Don't worry Penelope, it's not THAT serious, but I'm pretty sure that I LOVE not only the movie Once but its star Marketa Irglova.

First of all, she's "Gaaaaarjus," has a great voice, and writes some pretty fantastic songs. Secondly, she's Czech. And if you have never heard Czech being spoken by a pretty girl, you haven't lived. It is the loveliest sounding most breathtaking language in the world. It's not just Romantic, it IS romance, it belongs somewhere in a museum...

And also, the movie is one of the most touching, beautiful movies of all time. It's more than obvious that the "Guy" and the "Girl" are friends off-screen, but it makes their relationship that much more real. There is a moment just after they have met that just makes this movie and completely took my breath away... the two of them sitting at a piano after the "Girl" has convinced the "Guy" to play one of his songs. There is a look that he give her when she starts to harmonize that can only be shared between two people who know and love music and like each other. It's brilliant. Get it now. iTunes, On-Demand...whatever...NOW...

BUT...if you don't get it right this second its ok cause I am playing a show this afternoon in Second Life and will be world-premiering my newest song "How Do You Spell L.O.V.E" at about 2:30 slt (pacific time)/5:30 est and if you happen to have your computer on at that moment you can listen to it here: http://209.164.64.247:8106 I think...

peace,
Dann

yes!

and this one is pretty cool - check out Dann and all the other amazing musicians here: http://www.thesixtyone.com/dannrusso/

Dann is now ON LINE...well, he has been for a while but just figured out how to let you all in on it...

if you check out http://www.sonicbids.com/dannrusso under the "info" section of each show is the url to listen - for instance, the url for this evening's show, at 7pm SLT (Pacific Time) / 10pm EST is http://38.96.148.45:8860 Simply plug in the url and hit play and enjoy! Feel free to email Dann requests and comments at dannrussomusic@aol.com

peace,
Dann

Congratulations from Cape May, New Jersey!
Your act has been Selected to showcase and participate in the Cape May Singer Songwriter.
The event takes place March 6-8, 2008 at the historic Congress Hall and 12 Cape May live entertainment venues.

I'll keep you updated (http://www.sscapemay.com for info)

Yesterday, Dann was interviewed for the 2nd ever BC High Podcast! you can download the podcast to iTunes starting Monday at: http://mail.bchigh.edu/~PodcastingII/FOV1-00016785/ and click on episode II.

Go Eagles!