The Foxhole Prayers' Gaurdian Angel

Last month, Greg and I had a long weekend of shows together - from Thursday Sept 17th at the 8 x 10 in Baltimore (Click HERE to download or stream the show) to West Virginia for gigs at El Gran Sabor on Friday and Mt. St. Brewing Co. on Saturday.

Friday evening driving south along 219 (near Deep Creek Lake), I called Greg to let him know our whereabouts. Turns out we were only a few miles behind. Abruptly in mid-sentence, I hear Greg say something about "Honey - watch out for this guy" - then an indiscernible crunching noise - then Adrienne (Greg's girlfriend) frantically apologizing, and Greg saying "We're alright, its OK, we need to get out and get everything out."

Shocked that I just heard them get into an accident over the phone, I was really concerned - Greg called a minute later from Adrienne's phone (his had flown out of his hand at impact and was yet to be found) to tell me that they were alright (thank God) but the car was totaled - Adrienne had to swerve off-road to evade a huge farm vehicle blindly pulling out into the road. (Funny side-note: my wife Lauren had gotten a massage that morning and was amazingly relaxed and zen about the whole thing - once she knew everyone was OK she was like "It's all good, we'll work it out" and went back to enjoying the scenic drive, while I was having visions of Greg and Adrienne running away from an exploding car)

We pulled up on the scene a few minutes later, and devised our game-plan. Luckily my folks were only a few miles behind us and could help out (they were actually in the town called Accident when I called them to tell them about the accident - weird, huh). So after the formalities with the police and exchanging insurance info, we loaded up all the gear and people into the other 2 cars, left the wreckage of Greg's car on the side of the road, and made it to the gig on time.

Peace, gwa

Lauren and I at a scenic stop


The deflated airbags

Greg and a police officer taking care of business

89.7WTMD Radio Play - rebroadcast Sat Oct. 17 @ 9am

I'm happy to report that a live version of "Grandpa's Song" made it onto 89.7WTMD's Baltimore Unsigned program this past Tuesday.

It'll be rebroadcast Saturday (17th) morning from 9-10am, and my tune is just over halfway into the program.

Thanks to TMD and host Sam Sessa for the exposure.

Come share in the groove tonight (Friday 16th) Full Band @ Joe Squared at 10pm - Free, opening for Break the Blue Line

Then next Friday 23rd, its back to the 8 x 10, this time with Brandon and Kenton rounding out the Trio. We'll play from 9-10pm opening for NellysEcho. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door, so please contact us for the most affordable tickets.

Cheers,

gwa

My cover of "October Air" by KB Drive

I've always thought it'd be neat to cover my favorite songs by other local bands. Not only is it a tip o' the hat to the band that wrote the song, its local art reinterpreted by another local artist - so its like super-local...

With this in the back of my mind, wanting to dust off the home-studio gear, and feeling the changing seasons, I took a crack at recording a mellow version of "October Air" by KB Drive. I hope you dig.



Check out the KB Drive original at www.myspace.com/kbdrive

Support Local Live Music. Especially 89.7WTMD's Baltimore Unsigned tonight from 8pm-9pm - wink, wink!

Peace, gwa

From the Vault: The first cut of "Get You"

At some point during the packing and unpacking of my recent move to Catonsville, I happened upon a CD with the first demo recording of my song "Get You" from back on Sept. 29th, 2007. Thrilled that I found it and impressed with the quality of the take, I wanted to share it along with some thoughts -

I am taken aback that this track is 2 years old, and that has me reflecting on how songs and music projects evolve over time. Back in the Fall of 2007, I was just toying with the idea of putting together a CD of solo songs. So, I set about exploring the possibilities, hoping to hone in on a process. This early take of "Get You" was an experiment in having musician-friends sit-in on songs, with Howie Carolan laying down some tasty electric guitar licks and Todd McCagg playing bass, programming electronic drums, and recording.

I was pleased with the result, but opted to take the project in a more raw and intimate direction, embracing the freedoms and challenges of the "solo" aspect of "solo project" (but that's a story for another time).

The point of this story is that a song that was written back in Sept. 2007 wasn't "officially released" until I put out Portraits... on Jan 24, 2009. Funny how things unfold. Nonetheless, I love that I found this version and am honored that Todd and Howie took time with me to add their own flavor to this tune. Who knew that 2 years later it would emerge from a stack of forgotten CDs to be shared with the world?

New on Archive.org - LUCA reunion

Quick update: I finally got around to tracking and uploading LUCA's spring reunion show from the 8 x 10 on May 16, 2009. Check it, and other live recordings, out at www.archive.org/details/GarrettAnderson

peace, Gwa

A peak out from the Foxhole

Fresh off a 3-night run with Greg, I wanted to jot down a few of the highlights:

-Kenton joining us on drums Thursday and Saturday

-Tristan (of Break the Blue Line) sitting in on drums for a few tunes - he swears he's never heard before! - on Friday @ Joe Squared.

-Sitting in on electric guitar with Break the Blue Line for their second set on Friday night. Boy these guys can groove. Some tunes I sat back and strummed a little funky rhythm guitar, others they gave me the nod and I tried my best to hit some jazzy lead licks - the collective energy and musicianship was amazing - I was grinning like a kid gettin' dirty in the sandbox - especially tight was our take on the Meter's "Cissy Strut"

-Ravens winning (even though it was just preseason) added some great community energy to the Shanty on Saturday night. A request for some Beatles tunes led to a 1-2 punch of "Get Back" and "Dear Prudence" - Kenton added drums for the first time to my new song "Mindy". We joked our way through a "FreeBird" request, complete with singing riffs from the guitar outro, and wrapped up the night with a fun dance-off / sing-along to Greg's tune "Wednesday's Trash (Momma)".

Check out The Foxhole Prayers @ the 8 x 10 (for the first time!) Thursday Sept. 17th - doors 7:30pm opening for Zach Deputy - tickets are $8.

peace, Gwa

Incubus, check! To do - See Tenacious D.

A few years ago, I went through a phase where I almost only went to see my favorite jam-bands (Umphreys McGee, Raq, and moe.) in concert. I was thrilled by the musical wizardry, on-the-fly jamming, anthemic riffs, build-ups, sing-alongs, and appreciative energetic audiences. Often, I'd tag along with a buddy or two to take a quick trip to Philly or NYC (the farthest I've roadtripped for a concert, excluding Bonnaroo, was to Boston).

I eventually got the itch to diversify my concert-going experiences and check out my other favorite modern bands. So, I made a short-list of the bands I've never seen but really wanted to, and made it a mission to check them out in concert.

Bands I recently saw and can cross of the list are Phish (8/12/04 and 3/6/09), Radiohead (5/11/08), Pearl Jam (6/22/08), The Allman Brothers (9/30/08 -though I never got to see Duane), and most recently, Incubus (last night, 8/9/09).

I'm looking forward to seeing Phish (again - uh oh, am I relapsing?) at Merriweather next week and Weezer (among others) at Virginfest at the end of the month.

I've also never seen / would love to see Metallica, Tenacious D, Foo Fighters, Wilco, and Barenaked Ladies (crossing my fingers for a reunion, heard they put on a really Fun show).

Having logged many hours at concerts, here are some observations:

1) Tail-gating is always a good idea - beer and food in any venue is outrageously overpriced. Pack a cooler and get there early, or go to WolfTrap where you can bring your own picnic.

2) Jam-bands have too few lady fans - Why is that - Too few love songs? Too many sweaty hippies? Jams too long? Mystery to me...

3) Boycott Nissan Pavilion unless you absolutely can't help it - Only go if you've made a short-list of "must-see" Bands and Radiohead is that band and you obey observation #1 and get there very early... or risk getting stuck in traffic and missing the show.

4) The best way to guarantee you'll go to a show is to buy tickets the moment they go on sale. Get some extras for friends if you can afford to. That way maximizes the amount of time you can get excited about the concert, and when the show actually gets there, you've already paid for it, so you won't be so uptight about paying for parking or treating yourself to a snack or drink at the show (see observation #1).

4b) Good tickets are worth it, especially at larger shows. Unless there is general admission and you don't mind fighting your way to the front, shell out the extra cash for a good seat. After-all, the show is much more intimate from the 80th row than the nose-bleeds...

4c) If you can only get the nose-bleeds, still rock out! And appreciate that Eddie Vedder wore white pants that night so it was easy to see how much ass he was kicking! But, sing softly to yourself, because by the time the music gets up there it sounds like a neighbor down the street is listening to a CD in his car...

4d) Processing fees for tickets are a rip-off, but sometimes you haveta just eat the extra cost. Buy directly from the artist or venue if you can. Hopefully this will change sometime, but as long as there is a ticket-Master, there must be Ticket-Slaves...

5) Lastly, and this is applicable to life in general - Always have a spare t-shirt and bottle of potable water. A fresh t-shirt and a swig of water goes a long way toward reclaiming comfort after even the most grueling, sweaty, drunken, sausage-fest of a concert (You saw a jam-band, didn't you!).


Hope you all enjoy the live musical adventures as much as I do.

Peace and happy concert-going,

gwa