mid-Tour update

quick update from the Johnson City, NY hotel room while watching Reservoir Dogs.
I've met many good people on this tour and certainly some great drummers. My favorite being Mr. Nico Dann from opening act SISTER SUVI.
His playing is so solid, creative, inspiring. I make sure to catch it every night to pump me up.
Tomorrow Nico and I plan to go cymbal shopping in Northampton, MA. Actually, last night I played Nico's friend's hi-hats and dug their chunky dry sound. Will be lookign for something liek that tomorrow. wish me luck. cymbals are like puppies

more later

the bottle cap hats?

Here' a new shaker type percussion instrument I built recently. I wanted a way to have a quick shaker sound but still have both my hands free. Watching the Norah Jones Austin City Limits DVD i saw the same thing being played by Andrew Borger. Having seen his idea I recreated it my own way using some wood, a DW remote hi hat, coat hanger wire, and tons of bottle caps. I collected bottle caps for a while and finally just asked a waitress at Avalon and she hooked me up.
I plan to build more and perhaps sell them. Will upload a sound example son but generally it sounds a shaker with the punctuation of a high hat. Another percussion good soon to be released form this Sunshine Haven is the bug, consisting of bottle caps on a coat hanger wire. Physics causes it to crawl around the edge of the drums while play it and each stroke a cool little jingle shake to it. It can also be shaken like a regular shaker.

Thao with Get Down Stay Down on Sundance

Something we did over the summer. I think it aired recently or will air soon on the Sundance Channel's Spectacle: Elvis Costello with....