Family Visits in OctoberOctober 31st, 2010

Happy Halloween!
We are spending a quiet Sunday afternoon unwinding after a busy, but very fun couple of weeks.  Cassie’s entire family visited last weekend, and my entire family visited this weekend!  We did a lot of touring around the area and showed off the campus.  ”The boys” also had an opportunity to golf on a cool but pleasant October 30th.

Last week, we also received the exciting news that my brother and his girlfriend Amber are now engaged!  We are really excited for them and glad that they are so happy together.

It’s now time to buckle down for a few more weeks of classes and recording projects before Thanksgiving break as we enjoy the last few days of beautiful fall weather. I’ll leave you with a pic of the “sisters” and their boots:

Acoustic Performance at MochavinoOctober 22nd, 2010

Last Thursday, I dropped Cassie off at the Sioux Falls airport to make her 6am flight to Miami.  Then, later that night I played a solo show at the local coffee house, Mochavino.  It was a really fun show and a lot of friends and faculty members stopped by and showed their support.

Photos from the show by DSU student Denise Livingston

We are just finishing the midterm week, so there’s been a lot of exams going on.  I can’t believe the semester is half over already!  I still feel like I just got here.  I am keeping really busy with current and potential future projects.  We are working on a new structure for the campus organization, “DSU Live” (you can see our website in progress here), and doing various recording projects including learning electric guitar techniques, potentially recording a harpist, and recording ukelele.  You can hear the recording done by DSU student Paul Schipper on the DSU Audio blog website.  He recorded another student, Jeremy Dougherty:

My good friend from back home, Jim Thuli also visited and he recorded an amazing song.  We are currently working on the mix and excited about how it’s turning out.  There’s also the potential that we will be creating a “flame speaker” at some point.  Yes, that’s right.  A speaker that makes sound, but is made from a flame.  It’s also great news to note that I picked up Cassie home from her trip earlier this week, so she is back safe and sound!  Of course, she’ll be posting all about her trip over on her blog.

Live sound at the “Brickhouse Bash”October 11th, 2010

Last night, (Friday, Oct. 8th) several students and I ran live sound for the “Brickhouse Bash” event in downtown Madison.  The musicians were Jack Rollins and “The Sewer Rats” who played rootsy folk music and blues-inspired rock music, respectively.  The event was hosted by the Madison Area Arts Council, of which my wife happens to be the vice-president!  The event provided the community with a fun place to spend a Friday night on a beautiful Fall evening.  Cassie also presented an art show with local artists displaying their work-in-progress.  It was a long and busy day, but it was a fun time and we got to come home to celebrate Cassie’s birthday with a long 3-day weekend!

Intensely focused at the mixer

The group of us watching the show

Jack Rollins and his Band impressing us

The drummer from The Sewer Rats

The Sewer Rats rocking out
(Awesome Pics by Cassie)

In other news, I’ll be playing acoustic music downtown at Mochavino this Thursday at 6pm!
I also made some updates to the new DSU Blog, and you’ll notice that I posted Cassie’s great pics from the show on there as well.

Big Things Happening at DSUOctober 3rd, 2010

Students Paul and Jeremy in the Studio

It’s hard to believe just how much can happen over the course of a month.  Already this semester I have become the leader of a student live music organization (soon to be called “DSU Live Concert Productions”), transcribed a song in sheet music for our choir (“Slow Me Down” by Emmy Rossum), sang the national anthem at a volleyball game, developed (and recently gave a facelift to) our DSU Audio Blog, started working on changes to our Audio Production website on DSU, started working on studio upgrades, and spent time in the studio with students.  One student, Paul, was working in the studio on an acoustic track last weekend:


Some shots of Paul at the board

I’m looking forward to the next open mic night on Wednesday and running live sound for the Brickhouse Bash next weekend.  Cassie just so happens to have been made Vice President of the Madison Area Arts Council, so she has been helping with preparations for the event which will include a gallery show and food along with the live music.  The semester is now in full swing!