We did it!!! The cd’s were shipped yesterday and I’ve included a picture to show you!

The final CDs have arrived!

I can’t begin to describe how excited I am to see this stage of the project completed. Today I’m going to Office Depot and getting my envelopes to mail out a ton of discs! All of you who purchased cd’s in advance should be getting them by next week. Be sure to let me know what you think of the music!

Thanks again to everyone involved and I hope this is but one of many recordings I do in my lifetime. Getting this music out to the world is a thrill for me and I look forward to performing the songs live soon!

If you haven’t yet bought a cd, It’ll be available soon at an online store and digitally as well. I’ll be sure to update you when this is ready. Feel free to reach out to me if you’d like to get one directly from me for yourself of someone else.

We just got back from the Oregon Country Fair. What a hippie zoo that place is!! : )

We had a couple of big sets and it was an honor to contribute to such an important day in people’s lives. You get the feeling there that people wait all year for that one festival and I think we added to the joy!

Love,
Aaron

It’s the thick of the festival season and I’m enjoying the hustle and flow of life. I’m currently packing for High Sierra which is one of my favorite festivals! I’m performing with Poor Man’s Whiskey in their late-night set. They do a great version of the Dark Side of the Moon (shine) of Pink Floyd. I’ve performed with them before and I will be wearing the outfit of the Tin man from the Wizard of Oz! Oh the things I’ll do!

I just got back from the Kate Wolf festival in Laytonville, CA. It was a wonderful time and I got to meet some heroes like David Grisman and Ani Difranco. We performed 4 separate times and each set was well received. Our last set was a combined set with Poor Man’s Whiskey. We called it the Poor Buttered Rumsky set….

After High Sierra we go to Houston for July 4th. We’re playing a party out there that should be a blast! The next weekend has Hot Buttered Rum at the Oregon Country Fair, our first time ever. I’m really looking forward to that and all my friends have me expecting the time of my life!

I’ve been told that I’ll get my cd in the mail on July 8th and it’ll be a great day indeed! Can’t wait to share it with my friends and to find opportunities to play the songs found on the disc.

I hope to be in a town near you soon and once again want to thank one and all for your support and for dancing to the music of my soul…..

Love,
Aaron

This trip started off with Nat, Erik, and I flying into Denver. We drove to the local Fox Tv affiliate and played a few songs on live television. It’s an interesting experience for sure and we made the best of it. Strange life, those newscasters….. That night we stayed over at our friends house in the area. We watched Avatar and drank wine and just relaxed which was wonderful. The next day we drove over the mountains and landed in Palisade. The evening was spent eating dinner outside by a raging river with a few new friends and a musical soiree ensued. Our host serenaded us with her fiddle which was a treat! It was great because their house was a mile from the Palisade Bluegrass Festival where we were to play the next day.

First, however…World Cup Soccer! I’m fired up to watch as much as possible. It’s so fascinating to watch human beings from such different cultures meeting on the field, and of all places, South Africa. I’m totally rooting for an African team to go all the way. How amazing would that be??!! We watched a couple games and made our way to the festival. The town is cute and has wineries, a distillery, and a powerful environment. The festival had good production and the town rallied to help us create a magical evening. Thanks a lot Palisade, hope to see you again someday!

The next day consisted of a drive back to Denver where we loaded into the Gothic Theater. It was our first headlining gig there and the first of two with the March Fourth Marching Band from Portland, OR. They are quite a spectacle! Very talented musicians combined with cabaret-style dancing and people on stilts all dressed up Burning Man style! They create a great vibe and it was a blast to take the stage after they got the room going. I had a blast at this show and thought our band played well. I got to dress up like Bono and sing Where the Streets Have No Name. So fun! U2 had cancelled a gig due to an injury and I felt inspired to get the song up. We had some stilt walkers on stage with us while we played and in the audience as well so you can imagine the scene was a riot!

The next morning we had an early drive to the Mishawaka Amphitheater which is above Fort Collins. Wonderful site for a show and we’ve been there a few times over the years. The weather was a bit rough; both rainy and cold, but a brave crowd came out and the show ended up being special. Once again we had people join us from the March Fourth folks and even had a sit in for the ages with Colin sitting in on Flask, Alas and just KILLING it! The sun peeked out every now and then and that was special. The river was out of control next to the stage and kayakers were charging down it looking like they were having the time of their lives!

Yep, more great memories in the banks now from the great state of Colorado. Great to see you everyone!

Love,
Aaron

The first notes of the recording were laid down in early February. If you had told me then that we’d have the cd in-hand by early July I would have taken it! So I feel like the schedule stayed within reasonable limits and I take pride in having strong time-management skills.

It’s been an incredibly emotional process and I’m proud of many things: the support I’ve felt from my amazing community, the kinship I’ve developed with the musicians heard on the recording (which has led and IS leading to future collaborations which are truly thrilling); Armando Tobriner, our amazing engineer who has worked tirelessly and with much pride to create something that is sonically satisfying; Micah Gordon who is our mastering hero and who is the most responsive person I’ve ever met; Dave Dennison and Jack Crymes who built the incredible studio we recorded in for the whole project (thank you so much guys and I’m positive Jack would have enjoyed the music and the spirit that took place up on that hill); Rick Galione, who put up with us every day and who brought his feeling of hospitality to the project, thanks dude. John Boys is the one who came in at the end and brought it all together in the art work world. He has been responsible for much of the imagery in my life over the years and I’m honored to have his touch involved. Last and definitely not least is Adam Gromfin. This project would not exist without his help. Period. His creativity and loyalty to the project was unwavering and one would never guess he holds a serious job and is raising a family at the same time. Luckily, he is an insomniac (and perhaps bionic) and is able to keep everything on track. He has believed in me perhaps more than anyone and I aim to make him proud.

I’m tearing up a bit here so I’ll shut-up for now. Can’t wait for you to hear it everybody!

Your friend,
Aaron

Thanks so much for a great night in Mill Valley on Saturday. We had a blast and it’s nice to see my new tunes translating well on the live stage. All the musicians did a great job and all involved are hoping we get another chance to play together. I imagine that will come in the form of an official CD release party in San Francisco sometime this summer. After all, it is the City by the Bay album so I’m working on finding the right time and venue.

A few pics from the evening shot by Brian Spady from Jambase:

Click to view slideshow.So many old friends and family came to the show and it was an emotional night indeed. I’m thrilled and super-tired! The next few days are being spent in the studio trying to finish mixing this baby down and get her to the printer!

love,
aaron

It’s been an incredible process and I’ve developed relationships with other musicians that can only come from recording together. The recording studio is a place of egolessness and patience and everyone involved has been great at achieving that space. The music is sounding great and Armando and I are excited to dive into the editing phase. Another aspect of making a record is the art of taking things away. Sometimes even the hottest of licks is outdone by a well-placed moment of silence….

I was able to employ the services of Kate Gaffney and Maryann Dennison who brought their vocal talents to the record and it was a pleasure to get some female energy in the mix. Jesse Sheehan came in and ripped up the saxophone on a tune and Danny Cao from Vinyl was the last musician to record as he blew his sweet trumpet on City by the Bay.

I want to send another huge thanks out to all of you who have been following this process and those who graciously donated money to the cause! It’s wonderful being this far along and I hope to have everything done and ready for mastering by early May. That would put me on schedule for a mid-summer release and I’m sure a CD release party somewhere in San Francisco.

It has been a blast playing private events hosted by fans! I have gone to a few different houses with 2-3 other musicians from the record and we’ve had some amazing times! I find this to be one of the best ways to have a great evening and raise funds for the completion of the album.

Saturday, April 10, I will be playing a show in Mill Valley at the Masonic Theater. Just about all the songs from the record will be performed live for the first time so come join me and a stellar cast! Check out murphyproductions.com for information and tickets!

Peace,
Aaron

Caspar: This is one of our favorite road-house stops in the country and despite storm warnings, it was a beautiful evening on the Mendocino coast. We get to stay overnight upstairs so, um, uh, no one has to drive!! Great way to start the tour and we played a spirited show. It felt great to be in front of dancing people after some time off and smiles were abundant!

Redway: We played at the Mateel Center, a great venue near Humboldt. It was a beautiful drive from Caspar. I included a picture of Armando Tobriner loading gear. He joined us on the tour as our front-of-house engineer. He did a great job and was so helpful. This gig was a benefit for a school that served kids who lived in remote areas so they don’t need to travel. There were 5 or 6 bands and we closed it down. So fun to play for the people of the redwoods and the mountains and I hope to return there again soon.

Eugene: Sunday in Eugene. The town seemed kinda dead when I was walking around before the show but people rallied for our show at the WOW hall. It’s a great dance venue and we get some of our younger crowds there who really bring the energy! I always had romantic notions of Eugene growing up and it’s nice to be able to stop there and make music on our Northwest runs.

Seattle: I lived in Seattle for 3 years so it always is a pleasure to return for concerts. We played at the Crocodile Cafe in Bell Town. I got some happy hour sushi at one of my favorite places and walked around like a tourist. I love the pizza next door as well which made great late night food. Yes, I know, I fixate on food, can’t help it!  I had a great morning the next day and then we made our way back down to Portland.

Portland: This is one of our favorite towns in the country, hands-down. Some of the most knowledgeable music fans live there for sure and this show was at the Doug Fir lounge. It’s very cool, and retro-chic. Imagine Austin Powers’ living room…. We had some special guests; Jesse Withers from Jack Straw, Enion Pelton-Tiller and Dave Tiller from Taarka. They ripped it up and it was so fun to have new musical energy on stage. I played a solo Bach piece in the middle of Entangled. It’s fun to bring classical music to the HBR audience. I feel it’s part of my destiny to play classical music for people who aren’t necessarily expecting it. Late night french toast! I am a professional french toast maker and especially when I make it with Dave’s Killer Bread!

Bellingham: OK, best moment of tour (drum roll please…) goes to the post-show ice cream at the incredible Mallard Ice Cream store. Some of our good friends connected us with the manager of this amazing creamy utopia. We felt like we were in Willy Wonka’s factory, seriously. Free samples of anything and crazy combo cones of heaven. Still recovering! I posted a pic of our hostess, Leanna. The show, oh yeah, the show…sorry! We played first in a co-bill with the band Flowmotion. I really like their sound and they push the good vibe while rocking it out! This was maybe the biggest crowd of the tour so I look forward to making this a solid stop for us in the great Northwest!

Vancouver: I love this city! We got to play at a great downtown venue called the Vogue.  This was the best venue of the run and I hope we connected with the Canadian fans. I dream of playing throughout Canada and this was a start! I took a walk in gorgeous Stanley Park and Spring was in the air. This pic is me beneath the blossoms. The olympics were still in the air for sure and there was a line for the zip line attraction that stretched up to 7 hours! You could fly to Costa Rica and zip line in the jungle in that amount of time, crazy!

Well, there’s your recap, hope you enjoy!  We’re back in the bay and Hot Buttered Rum has an amazing show coming up at the new Freight and Salvage venue in Berkeley. The concert is on April 2nd. We’re going to make a special live recording of the show and hope you join us!

Peace,
Aaron

I’ve posted a few pics here from some recent days in the City by the Bay! I went to the Palace of Legion of Honor which is very near to where I’ve been living. I love this museum and it has an amazing collection of Rodin sculptures.

I included a picture of The Thinker, which lives in front of the museum. My favorite picture in the world is here and I snuck a picture of it as well!

It’s by a painter named Bouguereau and it depicts a young woman with a broken vase at her feet that signifies her lost virginity. I fell in love with the painting when I was 13 and I still visit it to this day!

They have some beautiful Impressionist paintings as well and I’ve posted a water lilies painting.
Going to museums always inspires me and when I pick up an instrument I feel like I have more to draw upon after spending time with creative genius.

You’ll also see a pic of me in the studio. I’m trying to do as much as humanly possible before going on tour for 2 weeks to the Northwest with Hot Buttered Rum. We haven’t played many shows of late and I look forward to raging it with my buddies! I’ll get back to the studio to finish up after tour and I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been dreaming up!

All the best,

Aaron

Bryan Horne (Hot Buttered Rum)
Alexis Razon (Vinyl)
James Nash (Waybacks)
Chris Haugen (Jambay)
Nat Keefe (Hot Buttered Rum)
Phil Ferlino (New Monsoon)
Kate Gaffney
and other special guests…….

Please join us for this one-time affair that will pair the new songs with some Hot Buttered Rum favorites and other surprises to create a memorable evening for the whole family! Chairs will be available and a dance floor will be waiting.

Tickets will be available here very soon! Stay tuned for more info!

City by the Bay Pre-Release Party
April 10, 8:30pm
Mill Valley Masonic Hall
19 Corte Madera Ave.
Mill Valley, CA
buy tix