The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Well February is almost over, and we’re poised on the precipice of the rainy season. Threatening sky, but nothing til about noon, when it started to sprinkle so I took Posh to Hopkins for some play before the rain began. The dogs got really muddy and got mud all over the kitchen and I made myself some Amish eggs. Went home and worked a few hours, then Layng called and said let’s work on my new tracks so I took them over there and we worked for a few hours and then Liz made dinner and we came back to Belmont and then went back to work for a while. “It’s okay. Just eat and run. Don’t worry about me” she said as we left. (laughs) but then we all went to the mirror for a cocktail later and had fun.

Woke up late and worked on some new music all day. I decided no more organizing. No more procrastination on things that need to be done. Only work. So it was a productive day, and I probably put in about 8 hrs. I have a new song now, and I went to Joy and Eli Shaw’s house in East Nashville for a party and it’s nice. There were about 15 or 20 people there and it was fun. Dan Tyler and Marc Pisapia and Katie and we had a nice time and Kevin Rhodes showed up and we kind of jammed a little bit which I usually don’t do but what the hell. But I got tired and had to go home about 1.

Another late start, and another night on the town and I wonder if I can sustain this. To East Nashville with Layng and we saw Tommy Womack, then Audley Freed and John Deaderick and the blues band they have. I love watching Audley play guitar. Then to the Exit Inn to see Zoom but they already finished. Then over to the Basement for a nightcap and talked to Mike Whitty. Then, to play shuffleboard, over to the Red Door. But it was kind of dead so we had one beer and went home.

Had Natalie Hemby coming over, but she was closing on her house and moving so she cancelled which was fine and I took the dogs around with m. Helped dad with his studio a little bit and dang that thing is more complicated than it looks. Sheesh. Guilty Pleasures will not rehearse after all next week so it looks like we will just wing the gig which we’ve never done before, but it seems like the right move. International Market for lunch and I have to do some grocery shopping. Out with Layng to see more bands and we popped in for the end of Peter Case and he was really awesome. I introduced myself and told him that I met his when I was ten, and he was opening for Steve Winwood, and that it made a big impression on me and I pretty much decided I wanted to write songs at that point. He signed a copy of his novel for me.

Woke up sort of late and I was so sleepy, so I went to Starbucks and got a grande soy vanilla latte and the barista was kind of attractive.  Worked for a while and took Posh to Hopkins and my mom gave her a bath. Went home and Liz made me some soup and I worked more on a song called “The Teenage Millionaire” and it’s pretty good. Got sort of tired of being in the house so I went to New Faces night at the basement and Grimey said I missed the best thing and Luke Doucet was there again and I missed him. There was this gay skate-punk girl playing who was really good. Went to Family Wash and everybody was so nice. It was like they were treating me like royalty or something. Audley Freed was there, and he said he was impressed by the McCartney night, and i’m glad I didn’t know he was there, or I would have been even more nervous. But i’ve been getting a lot of mileage out of this McC. thing; too bad John doesn’t want to do it again til next year. Talked to Dave Coleman and Marshall (? drummer) for a while and went home.

Well Ryan Miller and the Guster guys were in town and we were going to write, and Ryan came over about 1pm and we batted a couple of ideas around, but nothing legendary. We took a walk with Posh, then he went back to his hotel and I picked him up later and we went to the Mercy Lounge. Monday is kind of fun there, because they have 8 bands and they each do 3 songs. Layng Martine went with us and we played “Cut-throat” which was fun and I won one game. Then we went to the Basement and we saw Sam Brooker and Ruby Amanfru and they were great, and Marcus Finney was playing drums with the band after them, which had a singer that looked like Harry Nillson, except not. We were having fun, just being out on the town, and I dropped Ryan off at his hotel around 1 and went home.

Well I know my dog was hating me because I left her alone for so long last night so I took her to Hopkins to play and let her chill over there. Went to Joe Pisapia’s house for a party and Bob Bradley was there, and a lot of the same people I saw at Will Kimbrough’s so I didn’t really have anything new to talk about. But I met a nice girl. Courtney J. And she’s a songwriter and she lives around the corner from me and we talked about writing. I love Nashville for that reason, because everybody writes songs. Apparently one of the girls at the party was Steven Stills’ daughter and she was funny. When somebody asked her to sing a song, she said “I’m going to vomit.” (laughs) And Thad Cockerell was there and he was playing Neil Young songs and I like Thad. I kind of like when people play songs at parties because it can be more interesting than talking. But sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s horrible. Stayed around and saw Roger Moutenot and he’s quit smoking. We were talking about the best Pizza in Nashville and everyone says “House Of Pizza” in the arcade. Roger says it’s because the water is imported from guess where: Newark! Ha ha! But there was a little bit of dancing and there was a bonfire, and I got to hear a couple of Joe Pisapia’s excellent new tunes, so that was inspiring, but I got tired and went home about 12.

Woke up late and it was snowing. Beautiful white flakes, slowly falling. It looked lovely out the window of the sun room, but Posh was depressed because she couldn’t go play. Liz and I talked for a while, then Charlotte Avant came by for tea and we talked about ways to get productive. We always talk about that. But it was nice to see her and I felt like getting some work done when she left so I worked on a song for a little while, then went to Will Kimbrough’s house for his Mardi Gras themed party. Jessica said she tried to email me about it but it bounced, but I told her I didn’t care and I would just crash it anyway (laughs). Barabara Moutenot was there, and Brad Pemberton and Marna Taylor, Dan Tyler and Joy Tilghman and Renee French. I also introduced myself to the violinist and songwriter Molly Thomas, and she went with me to check on Posh. It was only a couple minutes away, but the roads were icing up. Posh was a good dog and stayed by herself and she was fine, nothing messed with. Went back to the party for a while and sat around with Chris Grainger and some of his friends and Kevin Rhodes and Joy and we were playing songs and Will played “Ooh La La” with us, and that’s one of my favorite songs of all time. Home about 3, nightmares, couldn’t sleep. Tequila.