The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Jason White came over and he brought me a vanilla latte. Comcast was here while we were trying to write which was annoying and distracting but we managed to finish the song. Then he brought his dog Maddie over to play with Posh but I think Maddie, being a little older, didn’t want to do the kind of puppy stuff Posh likes to do. But I felt bad, because at one point, Maddie was kind of barking/ dog talking alot and I said I had a technique to make her stop, but Jason said he didn’t want her to stop and there I go again, getting personal about people and their dogs. I shouldn’t have said anything. He probably won’t bring her over again. “Tashian threatened to shut my dog up!” I just need to learn to shut myself up about dogs! I think I know everything! Then I was going to make Beef Burgundy but Jen Rouse called to play tennis and it was so fun but it was hot and I got so heated up that I couldn’t stomach the thought of Beef Burgundy, I almost puked. I didn’t bring any water to the court which was a big mistake. Anyhow, we went to Brown’s diner ($18) and it was excellent. Went to Alex the Great and practiced with Brad and a terrific upright bassist named Michael Backes. He said he played with the Marsalis family in New Orleans and I was immediately intimidated. We hacked our way through a few beers and some old songs and it was fun. Brad is getting real good on the piano. Went to bed.

I thought I had Jason White but it was on Tuesday so I went to Zoe’s for some chicken salad ($16). Brad Jones called and asked what I was up to. I told him I was just puttering. He said could I come to a rehearsal tomorrow for his Afro-Cubano band. Went home and had some lunch, then took a nap. When I woke up I worked on a new mix for Melissa’s song and more work on the Sara Beck thing which is still one slide solo away from being done. I have to finish that soon or she’s going to kill me. The TV was doing this weird “tiling” thing so I called comcast and because I chose the “upgrade your service” option, they picked up right away. They will come tomorrow to fix it. Decided to help some of the kids with their homework so I walked up to the Community center but there was nobody there so I went to Kroger and got the stuff for Julia Child’s Salad Nicoise ($27) and it’s one of those recipes invented by somebody having all this stuff lying around from previous meals, and just tossing it together, but when you have to make everything, it takes a while. But it was fun, and I had a beer and Dr. Torrente and her husband came over and we gave them some more Dog Whisperer episodes on video, and Leslie says i’m too “dog-oriented” when people come over and why can’t I just make normal conversation. Then she said she wanted a new couch and I told her I wanted kids and she said “Not now. I don’t want to have children in Nashville.” So that, as they say, was that. Then I went to 8 off 8th and it was really crowded and The Bees played 3 songs and I saw Emily West and she has a good voice. I was mad because my mix onstage was terrible and I should have expected that. I mean, what else could it be? But for some reason I didn’t and I blamed it on David even though it wasn’t his fault, which I guess I shouldn’t have done. John Bruton moved into the apartment building next door, so I guess he spends a lot of time down there. He said things at the Mercy Lounge are going really well and he wants me to open for World Party. He said Karl Wallinger had a brain anurism? Which I didn’t know and was sorry to hear. He wanted to show me his apartment so I went and it looks like a New York loft. It’s cool. He said he calls it “Pussy Palace”. Had a beer with Gabe Dixon and went home feeling kind of bad about blaming David. I tried to call him but he didn’t answer.

I tried to wake up and make Leslie breakfast but it was a perfect example of false bravado. I ended up face down in the pillow and snoring. Wasn’t that a Dave Mathews album? Finally woke up about 11 and worked on a mix for a song I did with Sara Beck and tried to play a slide solo but i couldn’t concentrate so I finally gave up and asked Leslie what she wanted for dinner. She said BLTs so I went to Kroger and bought some bread and a few other things ($21) and made them. Leslie said she wants to be more informed about current events and so we talked and she has been getting into some debates with some people at work. We died easter eggs and went to bed.

Woke up and my back was sore and I watched “Trading Spaces” and “Clean Sweep”, 2 of my favorite shows and Ian brought me some Starbucks. We went to lunch at Olive Garden after we checked out of the hotel and it was good. Then we drove to the festival and the promoter didn’t recognize Mindy and told her she couldn’t use the bathroom and she would have to go to the porta-potties on the other side of the site. She said “What if i’m playing?” and he apologized and that was that. But I didn’t have much of a feel for Mobile. Will Kimbrough was there with his band (Tim Marks on Bass, Paul Griffith on Drums) and they were good and he’s such a good slide player. I thought the show was good, but Lex said he couldn’t hear me and Mindy said she felt isolated because the stage was so big. People seemed to like us though, and we watched a little of Dr. John, the night tripper, after us, and he was great! He sings so soulfully. Ian drove us the whole way home almost without stopping and we arrived back in Nashville at 4:45 A.M. Went to sleep.

Woke up and mowed the lawn but I mowed it in my “good” baseball cap by accident, so I had to go to Target to get a new cap. They had some good ones, but I ended up getting a golf one “Taylor Made”. I also got some travel toiletries ($27) and then when I went home I practiced Mindy’s songs a little more. Packed and at noon, I Drove to Lex’s house in Sylvan Park, and we practiced for about an hour. Then Ian Crockett our tour manager picked us up in a van and we drove down to Mobile, Alabama. About a 7 hour trip. Mindy and Lex both Have Sony PSPs and I definitely want to get one. Just for the Tennis game alone! They are about $200 bucks and I can’t afford one right now. I told Leslie I wanted one for my birthday, but that’s a ways away. We arrived at 10pm and there wasn’t anything to eat. Mobile is arranged very strangely, with steets going both directions and then both directions again beside that! So it was annoying to drive around, but we finally went to Ruby Tuesday’s and I had some appetizers that were underwhelming and 3 beers. ($21) Went to bed in a shady hotel where there was lots of rap music in the parking lot and people milling around the lobby at 2 am.

Melissa came over and we worked on a demo. It took a long time to mix because there were a lot of tracks. We went to lunch at Sitar with my aunt and my mom and grandma. I told my mom to go on 12th to go home because it’s the shortest, but she said she didn’t like 12th. Here is the mix of the song I did with Melissa.

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Walked later and it was hot. The dogs didn’t even want to play after. Made some tea and got ready to go to Dragonfly and look at the t-shirts. We met a nice woman named Lucy who showed us a lot of different kinds of shirts and we decided on a shirt by Alternative Apparel. We decided against a 4 color design because it’s just too expensive, so we’ll go with nice brown shirts with some cool white lettering on them. When we left Dragonfly it was already 3 o’clock and I was supposed to meet Melissa and I lost track of time and she was standing in the yard when we pulled in. She was on a break from work and she was stressed about weather to do any of our new songs in an upcoming set or not, so we didn’t really get any work done. Then it was time to walk the dogs again and it was still hot and I just don’t know if I can handle the summer here. It’s already 80 degrees by 8 am! Then I decided to make homemade mac and cheese and it was the first time i’ve made it and it turned out well. Went to a dinner part at my mom’s with Bob and Lynn, Aunt Faith, Grandpa Mel and Vicky and Leslie. We got into some interesting political discussions and I love Faith because she’s like me the way she just disagrees with everyone and sticks up for the un-popular viewpoint. It’s fun, because then we have something to talk about, whereas if she wasn’t there, we would all agree, and there would be no dialog, no discourse! Watched some of “The Laws of Attraction” and Leslie thinks Pierce Brosnan is cute. I like Julianne Moore too, but not because she’s so attractive necessarily, she’s just compelling because she’s always in a bad mood. She has some kind of secret chip on her shoulder. The movie was cute but totally unbelievable.

Walked early then finished charting Mindy Smith’s songs. Leslie made me breakfast and told me to stop telling her all the thoughts in my head because she’s trying to think. We went to Nashville Pet Supply, and really, I view dog training and behavior as a black and white science. There’s no gray area in it, to me. We got dog food and treats and some collars for the cats with bells on them to prevent them from killing as many things. Rehearsal with Mindy was good but i’m so used to everything being so cut and dry with Guilty Pleasures. With Mindy, it’s more like “a bar here, a bar there? who’s counting?” It’s good for me to play with them, though. Because I can get very regimented in the way I do things, and every once in a while, I need to shake it up. Then my aunt Faith called and she needed Vodka, so I went to get it for her and talked to her for a while and let the dogs romp. Had fried rice for dinner and went to the Bees rehearsal. We sounded pretty good for a band that hardly ever plays together, but I think that’s a testament to the songs. Came home and Leslie had made a thai chilli-lime salad and some key lime pie. We bought like 20 limes yesterday and she used them all! Brad Jones called, and he said he is going to drop off a CD of 20 songs to choose from for a 30 minute set at the basement. I called Lex and told him I should have recorded the Mindy rehearsal, because they do the songs different from the record, but he said it would be fine. Leslie said I was being neurotic but at least I cared or something like that. I just want it to be great. Watched TV and went to sleep.