The Weblog of Daniel Tashian

Well we head back into the studio tomorrow. To Lij’s place, the Toybox, to record more songs for the S.S.  Spent the day getting organized for a GP rehearsal. Learning other peoples songs, when what I really need to be doing is learning mine. There are times when I love doing the GP, but the Halloween thing, dressing up. I don’t know. I like thanksgiving so much better than Halloween. I mean, for me, every day is Halloween. I feel like i’m getting a fucking cold and i’m so annoyed I can’t even tell you. To the airport to pick up Joy and Jeanne ran off into the oncoming traffic and I almost lost her. Then I had to speed to the basement so I could sit around for an hour. But L. brought me a fantastic snack with chicken and goat cheese and bread and red peppers, etc. Elegant bag lunch. Rehearsed til 12, then I discovered I had a flat tire, so to the Exxon to put air in it ($.75) and then to Mafiosa’s for a slice and some salad.($13) Home a 1, couldn’t sleep on account of the 1/2 Red Bull I drank, so, laid there for a while feeling my throat get scratchy. Grrr.

Well Carl was here for the weekend and I had fun with him. Tulsa was frustrating. My instincts were telling me not to go, and I didn’t listen to them. Although we had some good food! The last night was the real bad one: fish and chips and lager. Yum. Up early and to the dentist. Leeann Womack was on “Today” and she sang a medley. The dentist said my teeth were looking good. Lillie’s friend Sean was here, and I made banana pancakes for everyone. Then they went to Bongo for coffees and I went to the new house to see how the floors were coming along. Will was there with his Australian Shepard “Ely”, and those things are fast. Met with the Invisible Fence people about putting in a fence for posh. Meeting with Jason Lehning about new songs for the S.S. I was nervous, thinking I didn’t have enough ideas. He helped me with 3, “What’s the Drawback”, “The Best Things in Life” and “You Don’t Know What it’s Like”, but we didn’t finish the last one. To rehearsal for the show Friday. The Silver Seas are playing outdoors at Agave this weekend and we wanted to try some new songs. “Drawback” sounded amazing. We just basically played that the whole time. And we also came up with a new groove for “Nothing to Hide” that I like. I tried to record rehearsal with the Edirol but I had the mic gain setting on “high” and when I listened back it sounded like hell. To PM with L. and had a decadent meal of Tempura veggies, Calamari and Sushi. Also red wine. ($60)

Up at 4:30, then to the airport and there’s a new security setup. It took a long time. But we were in Memphis by 7:00 and I went to the Starbucks. My coffee tasted funny, so I took it back and it was like I thought: there was no coffee in it! To Tulsa by 10 and we couldn’t check in to the hotel, so we went to PF Chang and I ate like tons of vegetables. Back to the hotel and took a nap and Lex and I practiced “Bad Night’s Sleep” and “Somebody Said Your Name”. Then for dinner we all went to an Italian place called Mary’s and it was quite good. I had Eggplant Parmesan ($11.50) and a Moretti ($4.50) and we were talking about restaurant service. Hotel and watched David Letterman and Tina Fey is delightful. David Letterman obviously had a cold and was tired. I think the McCain encounter was emotional for him. They had that guy from Frank TV on, who has W’s mannersisms down to a T. Then this horrible band called Tim Montana played and they were just abysmal. Then David Letterman came out and said “How’d you get this gig?”

Well I’ve been off the radar for a few days. Moving and what not. Spent a week in Old Salem North Carolina. Really, when I’m moving, I find it hard to really concentrate on anything else. It’s like I can’t find anything. So I will be living out of a suitcase for a couple weeks while we work on the floors at S. Rd. Feeling optimistic, it looks like the studio thing is going to happen, and i’ve been having discussions with David about how to proceed. At first I was thinking to put a partition down the center, but now I think just make it one big room. I don’t really plan to record a lot of bands, etc., so one room would be fine. It’s sort of the American dream, really, to wake up, make the coffee, and head out the back door to the studio! Quite exciting to think about. To Tulsa tomorrow. Would rather not go. Sensing one of those “take one for the team” sort of scenarios. We have to play 4 songs to a college talent agency convention. Without Jason, which is going to be tough.

L. to Monteagle for wedding. Wish I could go. Would rather spend the weekend dancing and drinking wine but alas. Went to I.M. for some Thai soup. That’s my new thing, order off the menu. I just said “I would like some green curry veggies please.” and it was fabulous. I haven’t had any meat for a few weeks. Feel a little wobbly, but I figure that will go away. Dug out the nylon-string guitar from the basement, and I like strumming on that thing. It has a nice mellow sound. I got it for $50 on craigslist. I feel so tired of the politik-ing. I went and voted for Obama, and now I just want the election to be over. Rode the bike to the Y and swam and got a haircut and paid some bills. After L. left the apartment was lonely, so I turned on the TV and watched “The Office” and some of “ER” and also the Weekly SNL update thing, and they had the “Crazy McCain lady” and I was laughing. Changed strings on the Tele and got supplies together. Got in bed with Posh about midnight, alarm set for 4:24.

L. and I to Charlottesville. It’s a nice town to visit, I must say. She had work, and I was just going to check out the used bookshops and play guitar. First night we were there, went to “Beer Run” and had some nachos. Kind of college-y food. Decided to lay off the meat for a while. Discovered a lovely vegetarian place called “Sublime” quite close to the campus. Worked during the day on 3 new songs: “You Don’t Know What it’s Like” and “My Sparrow” and another one called “An Early Night”, and they are all quite promising. “An Early Night” sounds the most like classic SIlver Seas, what with the major sevenths and what not, but I can’t seem to break away from that sound. It just sounds good to me. L.’s meeting went well and we went to C & O to celebrate and I sort of over-extended myself drinks-wise, and paid for it dearly. Nice walk around campus and missing my bike. Wondering if there’s somewhere to rent a bike. Conversation with Devon re: a cover song for the NACA convention, and after cycling through several options (including “It’s My Life”  by Talk Talk) finally settled on “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley. Stayed up late looking up american illustrators and stumbled on the amazing Nell Brinkley. Wow.

Well, I sure wish it would cool off. Morning, I walked and went to S. Bucks and worked on songs til about 11:30, then I made a turkey soup with farro and sweet potatoes. Took a short nap, then rode the bike to the Y and ran and watched CNN on the cardio theater, which I love, then home. Using my lights and being able to ride after dark is great. Lillie working on presentation and me plugging away at the same 4 songs. “The Coast” and “Let’s Make It (An Early Night)” and “Sparrow”. The going is slow and arduous, but I feel encouraged by the progress I’ve made. Read a Rolling Stone and felt annoyed by the re-release and re-packaging of the same artists and songs: (Norah Jones Live! Including “Don’t Know Why” and “Come Away”!) I mean, they’ve already sold like 10 million….It’s always a golden-goose-killing scenario with the major movie studios and labels: anything that sells once, they try to sell the same thing 3 more times. New Yorker Cartoon: Pitch meeting at Paramount: “Let’s remake an old classic, only with WORSE EVERYTHING!”  But, you know, I’m somewhat of a nostalgist, I like the 60′s and Burt Bacharach and all that kind of stuff, you know, melody and what not. So naturally, I’m guilty of the same thing, but, in my defense, at least I try to add something to it. Make it different somehow. We were listening to Pandora the other day, and I heard “My Girl” by the Temptations, and, well….that’s what i’m talking about. To Mark Deaderick and Jen Masseli’s wedding party at Cabana and lots of people were there. John Deaderick told this hilarious story about being subtly propositioned in the elevator. I miss John. Tomorrow to Charlottesville, so we left early and hit the s.