Welcome Back, Me

This is one of my favorite days of the year... when the NAMM show is over and I can begin the process of getting my brain back to its pre-trade show state. The show actually ended Sunday, but yesterday I was still in "stop the insanity" mode, and required a good 24 hours of normalcy before attempting to write anything. It's a good week to be in post-NAMM mode here in Southern California; we have a series of storms dumping rain and wind on the streets, so being in my warm home with a full pot of coffee near me is a good way to be at the moment.

While I prefer to put trade shows out of my head as quickly as possible and move on to other, less crazy things, here are a few shots from the show.


Standing outside the Anaheim Convention Center for a few moments of peace before heading back into the din.


Spending some time with my musical partner Phil O'Keefe, who was covering the show for Harmony Central and EQ Magazine


Heading back down the escalator between the ESP Guitars demo room and the Aphex booth. I made this little journey back and forth approximately 18,000,000 times during the show.


What's with the gratuitous cheesecake shot? I'd posted a pic of Kat and I in our hotel room, and my friend Botch requested more shots of "the babe on the bed". The pic above is what he got in return. He'll probably be more specific next time he asks.

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So, now that that's done, it's time to get back into doing some things i'd rather be doing, which include...

• Writing some new songs! I haven't spoken about it too much, but while we're busy promoting the Zak Claxton album, I'm also working on several new tunes that will presumably end up on the next album. As I did over the course of 2007-2009, I'll be debuting these songs in my live shows in SL once I feel they're somewhat ready for prime time.

• Expanding my real life business. I've been rather complacent about my own business, which involves marketing and advertising for the music/pro audio products industry. It's pretty understandable, with a lot of stuff going on in the last couple of years that didn't allow me to focus on the growth of my little company. But I see some opportunity out there, and I might as well take it while I can.

• Get back into a regular schedule with my SL shows. Each January, I have to shut down my musical performances for awhile before the NAMM show (to prepare), and awhile after the NAMM show (to recover). I'm still in the midst of that recovery now; my voice currently sounds like shards of broken glass being scraped down a chalkboard. But with a little more rest, by this weekend, I'll be ready to rock again, and am doing so... my first show back will be Sunday 1/24 at the Notes Shack, so I'm looking forward to much strumming and singing and silliness in a short while, and will be continuing to add more shows to the schedule soon enough.

Anyway... I'm back! And happy to be here.