In a valiant effort to give State College some kind of creative scene and fill what was previously a void of accessible performing outlets, two ambitious locals have started their own open mic nights:

Ricky LaPean of Stress Busters Entertainment hosts open mic at Toast @ The Autoport on Tuesdays

Bob Timney hosts the Songwriters’ Open Mic at Kildare’s Irish Pub on Wednesdays

I played at Toast last night and it was a really fun time! My music was well received despite some rather obvious, but comical fumbles. Hopefully if my work permits I’ll be able to check out Bob’s Songwriters Open Mic tonight or next Wednesday. I occasionally write new songs these days, but mostly I just want to play my keyboard because I do love it so much. I’m going through a Beatles phase right now, too, so I’d expect to hear a lot of covers from Sgt Peppers and the White Album from me in the near future. Come and sing along!

Next month, I am excited to say that I will be the cover story for The Phoenix, the official magazine of the United Ostomy Association of America. The article was written by a dear, new friend and fellow ostomate Emily York in San Diego, CA and to complement the article, I will be releasing a brand new single “No Guarantee” to be available for free download RIGHT HERE. I’m incredibly excited about it! Special thanks goes to Micky New, Ryan Alford, Jacob Haqq-Misra, and Marc Frigo of Frigo Recording in Boalsburg, PA for their essential roles in the project.

I have regretfully decided, out of necessity, to take six months off from music to focus on my health and an upcoming series of surgeries.  Since being ill, my music has always been under par for what I feel I am capable of, and I have recently decided not to produce anything new until it is something I know I can be proud of. When I return in the spring, I anticipate a vast improvement in both my health and in my work.

Some of my plans upon returning to music include continuing my relationships with the original soul jazz trio Dirty Superb, and folk singer/songwriter Kerri Lee Smith. Of course, my main focus will be playing in and composing songs for Mysterytrain as we continue our crazy, psychedelic journey around Pennsylvania and the surrounding region.

The Wurlitzer restoration process is nearing completion, and I will post photos of that when there is something to photograph.

My 2009 studio project, Ultraviolet Catastrophe, is now available at many popular music retailers and will continue to be throughout my performing hiatus.  I’ve had to quit my job temporarily and am without income so I am hoping the CD sales do well.

Thank you, everyone, for all the love and support you have shown me during this difficult time in my life I will see you when I’m back and better than ever in Spring 2011! Peace!

Recently, I connected with a local recording engineer and found myself back in the studio recording some new songs! I’m trying things a little differently this time around. My plan is to record one or two songs at a time over an extended period rather than writing all of the songs first and then hammering them out at once. I think this new approach will result in recordings that “breathe” a little bit more than my previous work has. My intentions are to change up the instrumentation every few tracks by inviting guest artists and bands to join me and develop this project as more of composition album than as a singer/songwriter album.

I’m also excited to release these new tracks ( just piano and vocals for now) for free download on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and on this website when the mixing is complete. There may or may not also be video included. A friend of mine filmed the session and I’ll have that up for free download as well, provided I don’t look like a huge dork. (I haven’t seen the footage yet.)

In other news, I’ve been discussing a collaboration between myself and the guitar/didge duo Steam City Riders. Mysterytrain, of course, is busy as always and has every weekend booked for the entire summer. Phew! I get tired just thinking about it. All in all, this is looking like it will be an exciting year for me.