Over the Bridge

Posted in Uncategorized on October 23, 2009 by Chris

My great friend Sam crossed over the Rainbow Bridge this fall at just over 12 years old.  He is deeply missed.DSCN0051

Sam was a rescue from the Humane Society.  I found him when he was just 13 weeks.   At about 1 year, Sam was diagnosed with canine idiopathic epilepsy.  Untreated, he could suffer as many as 20 grand mall seizures a day.  After some time, his disease was regulated by medications and diet.  We got down to 1 seizure per month or so.  Sam went on for many years living the dream.  He was a stellar Frisbee dog and was loved by all at the dog park and family gatherings.  The vet who originally diagnosed Sam’s epilepsy gave him 6 or 7 years to live, figuring the medications would slowly take their toll on the liver and kidney.  At about 7 years old Sam developed canine diabetes.  Talk about getting dealt a raw hand!  This too was regulated, as Sam learned to live with 2 shots of insulin per day and more diet restrictions.  An effect of the diabetes, his eye site was lost to cataract around 10 years old. None of this stopped Sam.  He loved, laughed and howled.  He never missed an opportunity to steal a pillow or kick you off of ‘his’ couch.  Sam was the toughest living thing I’ve ever known.  I learned so much about taking on life’s challenges from this dog.  Sam will be forever loved and remembered.

You’re a good boy, squishy. :)

4th of July

Posted in bands, gigs on July 10, 2009 by Chris

Miller-61Had a great 4th performing at Summerfest this year.  Jet was the headliner, along with Royal Bliss, Billy Boy on Poison and then us as the evening line up.  It was a bit hectic getting loaded in and out, but turned out to be worth the effort. The crowd was excellent, and the weather was good.  Lot’s of old friends came out, and we met some new ones as well.

We spent a little time with the musicians, wives and girlfriends of Royal Bliss.  Very cool folks, and hard working. I caught their show after ours, and liked their music very much.   They played much of their newest CD, Life In Between.CJ_Web-9

Rockin’ Summerfest!

Posted in gear, gigs, live sound on June 27, 2009 by Chris

CJ on PRS Custom 24

We had a great show at Summerfest today. The weather was killer, and the crowd as great. I met Brent Wilson and Jason Ostrander.  They are both touring guitarists for Sara Evans who was the headliner on our stage.  They were interested in my Mesa Boogie F-30.  It’s always a surprise for a lot folks when they see me playing a small combo at a big outdoor show.  Truth be told, with a good mic, soundman and monitor mix, my little El84 giant killer is all I need.  Anyways, always great to meet some other guitarists and talk gear!  I heard them do their sound check (with Sara’s sister Ashley on vocals) and they sounded awesome.  What a great day.

Summerfest 2009

Posted in bands, gigs on May 28, 2009 by Chris

Miller Rythym and Brews RevueI’ll be performing with the Miller Rythym and Brews Revue at Summerfest this year.  We’ve got 2 dates – June 27th we play at noon at the Miller Lite Oasis stage, with another show on July 4th at the Brigg’s Big Backyard stage at 5 PM.  Should be a hoot.  See you there!

In Search of the Grail Tone…

Posted in gear with tags , on March 25, 2009 by Chris

Boogie down...It’s amazing how much you can learn about an amp if you’re interested.  Recently, I began to explore the Mark IIC+ in greater depth.  This amp has quite a bit to offer, but you must get past any pre-determined tones.  I’ve moved away from all of the sounds that I normally dial up, and forced myself to try extreme tonal variations.  Wow…sounds that I always wondered how some of the great players got start to come to life.  Of course, best accomplished with a simple set up. In my case, I ran the guitar straight into the amp.  Advice to any guitarist: Play your amp straight before you make decisions as to what it can and cannot do.  Explore the subtle nuances.

Rhythm and Brews Shows Added

Posted in Uncategorized on March 6, 2009 by Chris

I’ve added some Rhythm and Brews (great band!) shows this summer.  I’ll be joining the gang for a couple of SummerfestRhythm and Brews shows as well as the Wisconsin State Fair opener.  Check back for dates and times as the R&B contracts get finalized.

2009: Sharpening the Saw

Posted in Recording, gigs with tags , , , , , , on January 3, 2009 by Chris

dscn3109

 

 There were a lot of live shows in 2008, which I really enjoyed, but just not enough songwriting opportunities.  Plans for 2009 include sharpening the saw: Creating new music and exploring the guitar and it’s theory in greater depth.  I will, of course, play some live work, but for the most part I intend to focus on new material.  

Additionally, I’m planning to get back to my physical regimens.  I’ve been a long time practitioner of Shorin-Ryu Karate and Okinawan Kobudo.  This year I’ll plan to spend much more time in the dojo keeping my skills up and enjoying some great friendships; both new and old.

kobudoka rocks

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Posted in bands, gigs on December 24, 2008 by Chris

I’m glad to see 2009 on the horizon, and hope everyone has a very safe and wonderful holiday season to welcome it in!

If you’re in need of some great classic rock covers, stop by the Sullivan Saloon on New Year’s Eve to catch my last show with the BuzzToyz.  The Saloon is a great place to play, and a fun place to ring in the New Year!

Home-made Plexiglass Amp Screen

Posted in Recording, gear, live sound with tags , , on December 12, 2008 by Chris

Plexiglass Amp ScreenFor years I’ve heard a lot of players who use plexiglass sound shields on stage. This is nothing new, as drummers have been using them for years.   Anyways, I decided to build one and try it after hearing Joe Bonamassa rave about using these things.  It was pretty easy to build.  I ordered a pair of 2′x2′x.25″ sheets of plexiglass from estreetplastics.com which came in a couple of days.  I ripped one of the sheets in half using a table saw with a 60 tooth carbide tipped blade.  The key to cutting this is a high blade height combined with a fast feed rate.

To assemble the screen, I used 4 hinges and some 6×32 machine screws and #6 nylon lock nuts to put them together.  I’m going to perfect the build so it’s easy to transport and setup/tear down. For now, it’s working excellent!  It should help manage stage volume as well as cut the harsh overtones off stage. I’ll let you know how it works when I gig with it this month.

Recording In Progress…

Posted in Recording with tags , , , , , , , , , on December 12, 2008 by Chris

Well, I’m finally getting around to finishing the recording project I started last year.  I had to replace my ProTools setup this year due to the outdated software/hardware issues.  I moved from a PC to a Mac Pro and have converted all of my DV Studios ProTools sessions to Logic Audio.  I recorded bed tracks for 6 songs with Dave Vartanian of DV Studios in Milwaukee. Dave is a great guy, and a brilliant audio engineer specializing in drum recording (actually, he’s really good at everything!) who I’ve worked with in the past. He’s know for his work with Live and the Violent Femmes as well as plenty of other great artists, with about 90 albums to his credit.  Logic Studio

I’ve got some work to do to convert the project, but it’s going well.  Dave’s studio is a full TDM studio, while my rig was PTLE only.  When I backed up the project from DV, we didn’t do an OMF export, so when I exported the PC format PT files, I had to dump them out as waves only. This has been a slight issue in changing the tempos, but I’m working on that in Logic.

I’ve got between 10 and 12 songs for the project; some things may not make the cut.  It should be a solid group of songs. Looks like my engineering skills are a little rusty, so this winter will be a great opportunity to get my chops dusted off while learning some new mixing/editing software.  So far so good – more to come.