PitchBlak & Naughty Professor

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Had a great time opening three shows last week for Naughty Professor with Chali 2na of Jurassic 5 fame. Chali is a legend and Naughty Professor brings the funk hard! 

2-a-Days

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Thanks for the circus and the beers, @lagunitasbeer

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Crazy day of gigs this Saturday. Started off with a 9:30 arrival at Coney Island for the Lagunitas Beer Circus. It was a fun event and the folks at Lagunitas have always been good to us. Had a little bit of time before driving to Connecticut for a lovely wedding in Falls Village. The wedding party seemed to have a great time and it was just as fun for us! Got home around 2am, totally exhausted but fulfilled. 

Traveling

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About last night in Burlington

A photo posted by A. Baier (@ay_bear) on

One of my favorite parts of being a musician is that I get to travel all over the country as part of my job. I had a lovely weekend in Western Mass and Burlington. BTV is one of my favorite places in the world and every time I get up there it's like hitting the reset button. Trying to keep the zen mentality I acquired there as I integrate back to NYC life! 

August Work

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The last few weeks have been a busy blur, so I thought I would give a little update as to what I've been up to.

Two years ago, I helped develop the drum book for Pryor Rendering, a new musical by Frank Schiro. We did a reading and recorded a few tracks in the studio. The show is about to receive its world premiere in Oklahoma and I have been working hard to prepare the drum book for the percussionist. Here is the smallest of previews:

Keeping with the music notation theme, I was contacted by a fellow drummer and Phish fan who came across my transcription of Limb by Limb and asked me to write out three more Phish songs -  It's Ice, Twist, and Mike's Song.  On the surface, I thought these would be easy. They were not. The intricacies of Jon Fishman's playing are unparalleled and I have even more respect for him now than I ever did before. If you are in need of transcription services, please get in touch. Here's LXL in case you missed it the first time around:

In recording news, I tracked 6 songs for Craig Miller with engineer and guitarist extraordinaire Chris Takita. We recorded in my apartment and the drums sound incredible. If you are in need of some drum tracks at studio fee free prices, let us know. Here are a few pics Chris took from the session:

After three years of hard work, Trumpet Grrrl's EP Just Listen is now out. We played a live show at Silvana in Harlem to celebrate. Christina wore a space suit and I smiled a lot. Grab this disc now! 

In PitchBlak news, we recently signed with Hoplite Booking Agency and have a slew of upcoming dates, including two this weekend in Western Massachusetts and Burlington, VT. Last night was the 8th installment of the 2016 PitchBlak Playlist and as usual, it was a blast. JusMoni killed it and I am obsessed as ever with her track Axela. 

Is that it? I think that's about it. Hope to see you in the city or somewhere on the road!

xoxo,

Ashley 

John Hodgman

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Can't really say much about this, but Hodgman is one of the most genuine gentlemen I've ever met. Also, I love the Bell House!