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...on an Appalachian trail. Oh, life is better there!
Can't wait to hit the road tomorrow with PitchBlak to play shows in Frostburg and Shepherdstown. Really looking forward to seeing all my friends & family in the Burg. Hope you can make it out.
I had an awesome time finishing tracking the new PitchBlak album at The Bunker this weekend. Here's the whole crew, including our engineer, Aaron Nevezie, and his loyal assistant, Chico.
Live from Public Assembly last night. I <3 playing this song.
It was brought the my attention that, since our Feb. 9 show was cancelled due to the blizzard, tonight is the first full PitchBlak show since January 4! After rehearsing hard for the studio over the last two months, we are ready to unleash some serious jams! Come through and let's groove with Bernie Worrell. I'm secretly hoping Les Claypool will stop by.
I'm currently enjoying the latest release from guitarist/composer/horn guru Ben Brody. If you're a fan of minimalism, you definitely don't want to miss this. Stream it for free on Ben's Bandcamp page. If you like what you hear, buy, buy, buy! Independent artists cannot continue to make great music like this without your help!
Bunker Setup
Here's the setup I'm using for the PitchBlak recording session:
1966 Ludwig Blue Sparkle: 14" Bass Drum, 12" tom
1939 Slingerland Radio King (on loan to the Bunker from JoJo Mayer): 12" and 16" toms
1950's Rogers Eagle Badge 14" snare
Here's somewhat of a panorama of the drum room at the bunker. You can see the string room to the left and the vocal booth straight back (with Ben Brody playing guitar). What a great place to record! Click to enlarge.
So excited to hit the studio with PitchBlak tomorrow. We are recording at the Bunker which is seriously my favorite studio in all of the world. In addition to amazing rooms and gear, the vibes are just perfect and make for an experience that I've yet to find anywhere else. Here's a picture of me and Melissa with Aaron Nevezie (who is also tracking the PitchBlak record) from when we recorded The Beginning at the old Bunker. Also, check out this video of me and Melissa laying down some organ for the track, Learn to Say Goodbye. That was a musical experience that I'll never forget.
Congratulations to The University of Maryland for reaching its Great Expectations fundraising goal of $1 billion! I helped kick off the drive at a gala featuring many celebrity alums including Connie Chung and Kevin Plank (Under Armour). Somehow I dug up this picture on the interwebz of my cymbal with the most famous of Maryland's legacies, Kermit the Frog. You can read more about the fundraising campaign here.
Last night, I didn't have a gig so I hit the practice room instead. I had a good time jamming along to an underplayed Phish song, Sugar Shack, from their 2009 album, Joy. It has some fun latin grooves and alternates between 4/4 and 9/4 (or 9/8, 4/4+5/4, etc... depending on how you want to look at it). I decided to come up with my own part rather than recreate what Jon Fishman plays. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
Me jamming along with Sugar Shack, from 2009's "Joy" by Phish. Clearly, I'm not imitating Jon Fishman's part, but rather creating my own.
Ashley Baier is a NYC-based drummer and percussionist.
