Interview on Sunglasses and Sugar

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

My good old pal Christy Darlington just started a blog where he interviews friends and fellow muscians. Here's a link to the recent chat I had with him. Check it out!
Click here

Have a safe holiday,

Todd

Blogging....

So, I've learned that I'm not too good with being consistent on blogging! I haven't made a post in six months! A lot has happened though. I've been back at school at Texas State trying to once again finish up a Music Degree. It's been pretty weird being the "old" guy at college, but I've been learning a lot and practicing a bunch. Sometimes I feel like I'm a narc on "21 Jumpstreet," and then I realize the students I'm in class with were probably not even born when that show was on television, ha! Anyway, enough of the grumpy old man stuff.... : )
It's 2009, and I got to get to work on the next album. Right before I left Ann Arbor I recorded some bass and drum tracks, and I've been itching to get back in the studio to finish up the songs. Some of the songs we recorded are featured on my youtube page. My good friend Sloan T Clark has a home studio in Dallas and I'm going to be heading up there soon to start working on them.
I've also been teaching guitar at Allegro School of Music in Buda, TX, which is 15 min or so south of Austin. It's been fun to get back into teaching again. I've got some talented students and I'm been trying to pass along some of musical knowledge and heartbreaks.
Over the holiday break, Megan and I headed to NYC to visit her family and hang out with some friends. It was great to be back in some of my old haunts and see some familiar faces. I did a gig at Moonshine in Red Hook, Brooklyn with my old country cover band, The Merles. We rocked it and had a wonderful audience! I seem to remember the mantra of the evening - "whiskey is the official drink of the Merles!" and then going to sleep at 4am. Ouchy hangover!
One of my best friends and partner crime, Ryan Malot, from 500 Miles to Memphis is rolling through Austin on a solo tour with one his friends, Noah Sugarman. We're all three playing a show together on Feb 12th at the Carousel Lounge from 7-9pm. It's free, so come on by!

Slick 57 round-up

Last Friday, we played at the Doublewide in Dallas, TX with our old buds, Slick 57. I had my old school original band with me (minus Drew Fleming, sadly) : Steve Visneau on drums and Todd Pertll on bass. It was fun to get a chance to play with the guys that I originally recorded my first record with seven years ago. So much has changed since then! Steve has two beautiful daughters, Amelie and Miet, and Todd P is now an accomplished carpenter and multi-instrumentalist.
Slick 57 sounded awesome! Since they broke up 2 1/2 years ago, I never got a chance to see them play in Dallas. People were singing along to every word! I felt pretty happy for them. Ward, John, and Rob really put on a great show. I was hoping to post some pics from the night, but like always I forgot to bring my camera. Well, it's really Megan's camera, but the sentiment is still the same.
Anyway, talk soon

Todd

Austin-tatious

We're finally moved into our little bungalow in South Austin. Wow, what a trip! We drove over 1200 miles and sold most of our furniture to come here. Our apartment is a little barren at the moment, but hopefully we'll acquire some good furnishings soon to make this place feel a little more like "home."
On our way down, we visited with my brother, Jonathan, and his wife, Erin in Dallas. She is 21 weeks pregnant and they are expecting their first child, Cara Alice. It's pretty exciting to think about how I'm going to be an uncle! Man, I'm getting old....
I've also been catching up with some old friends that have moved down here and trying to soak up the music scene. I've got to say, from a newcomers point of view, this city is pretty great musically. There are so many venues and bands! And the Tex Mex food is of course great as always. Megan is finally understanding what I meant about the difference between northeast Mexican food and the real thing.

We visited the State Capitol yesterday and it's pretty amazing. I know all Texans are supposed to inherently proud, but I started to see some of the reasons for the over-inflated ego. Here are a few pics from our visit:

Talk soon!

Keeping up with the Jetsons....

Wow, I'm quickly learning that I can't keep up with blogging. My last entry was May 31st! A lot has happened since that date, though. My girlfriend and I found a place in South Austin last week. It's pretty sweet, and I can't wait to get down there! I'm playing my last official gig in the Detroit area at Campus Martius tomorrow during the day. It should be fun. I'll be sad to leave behind my Michigan band, they've been great friends and musicians!
Last Thursday and Friday, the band and I went into the studio to work on the next record. We recorded at Backseat Studios, the home of the very talented musician/engineer/Ann Arbor guru Jim Roll. Stuart Tucker(drums) and Jef Reynolds(bass) laid down some phat tracks! I'll be finishing the record in Austin, which is a little weird to start something in one place and attempt to finish it in other. Hopefully, it won't be a long arduous process.
Anyway, we're leaving A2 on Thursday and we still have too much packing to do.
Talk soon!

Tip of the Hat to Ken, my gramps

So I thought I'd join the ranks of other ramblers and create a blog. I decided to name this blog after my grandfather who passed away on May 21st, 2008 from Alzheimer's. He was a member of an organization in Texas called the Odd Fellows, which works to do good deeds in the community. One of my grandfather's many catch phrases was "wake up and grow!," a mantra meant to rally his other members into recruiting new ones. As an appreciation for their achievement, my grandfather wanted to present them with a trophy with this phrase engraved on it. However, the engraver misread the exclamation mark in the quote and wrote "Wake up and growl" on all the awards. My grandfather was always one for pranks, so I'm sure he had a good laugh. Then he probably made the engraver give him the trophies for free (he was quite the shrewd business man)!
Let the ramblings begin......