Music Videos for a Summer (or late Fall) Day November 30th, 2011

Over the course of the semester, students in a video class with Brad Hesser produced a music video using songs from my recent solo album, one of which I am featured in! The students did a great job on the videos. It is always interesting to see how your work is interpreted. Here’s the vid I was in:


And speaking of talented friends (see my previous post), my good friend JD Johnson played a large role in putting together a class video for the Visual Communications department at my Graduate Alma Mater, Northern Illinois University. Not only is this an inspiring video, but it also causes me to reflect on my time at NIU. Check out what his class put together:


Lastly, I had a review of my album posted a while back which I thought was interesting and insightful. The author, Lee, has a new website for his audio review blog, Real Gone. Check out the review.

Summer 2011 RecapSeptember 3rd, 2011


Yes, the dog days of summer are nearly over and we are back to teaching again.  Having a summer off from school doesn’t mean that I didn’t keep busy, though.  Here’s a rundown of all that happened during the past three summer months:

Music-related:

- Played in the “King of the Blues” competition
- Sang the National Anthem at the National Bull Riding Tour
- Completed the “Prairie Village” Website design
- Ran live sound with audio students for the “White Night” arts festival at Prairie Village
- Ran the Audio Production section of the summer Digital Arts Camp
- Played live music with John Statz at Latitude 44 in Sioux Falls
- Played an acoustic show at Bracco restaurant in Okojobi, Iowa
- Played two shows at Mochavino downtown, and at “Crazy Days”

Vacations:

- Took a vacation to Denver and the Rocky Mountains
- Visited friends and family in Milwaukee and attended my cousin’s wedding
- Took a family vacation to Door County, Wisconsin

Cassie also kept very busy with many art and house-related projects.  As always, you can see what she’s been up to at her blog.  We just got started on the new semester, and I’m looking forward to it being more busy, eventful, and exciting than last year, so stay tuned!


Beautiful pics by Cassie, of course

DSU Homepage News FeatureAugust 26th, 2011

As we get geared up for the start of the semester next week, I am excited to report that an article that I submitted about the Prairie Village website was published on the DSU website home page!

Click the image below to give it a read:

Door CountyAugust 20th, 2011


As a family tradition and last chance get-together before everyone’s lives get very busy again, the whole family met last week in Door County, Wisconsin. This included Cassie and I, my parents, and my brother and his fiancee. We stayed near our favorite town, Fish Creek, and spent the week enjoying the outdoors, biking, eating, shopping, and taking it easy.


We discovered an amazing restaurant in Fish Creek called Wild Tomato. It was so good that we went there twice, and Cassie said she could live on their pizza.  And as a pleasant surprise, we went to Sturgeon Bay and saw a fantastic outdoor performance by a Simon & Garfunkel tribute duo.  Here’s a video I took of them playing one of my favorites:


We also took the opportunity to go for a bike ride in Peninsula State Park and visit some nearby beaches. As fun as it was to do all of these activities, it was equally enjoyable just to spend time hanging with the family or playing music together (we brought a guitar and ukulele). It was a lot of driving, but well worth it for a relaxing getaway. To top it off, I threw my brother a bachelor party at the end of the trip which included a boat cruise in Milwaukee, dinner at the Milwaukee Ale House, and a visit to the “Safe House” bar, probably the most crazy and unique bar I’d ever seen.

The school year is quickly approaching, and we are preparing all of our materials for the new school year. It is definitely going to be a busy time, but I’m also looking forward to hitting the ground running and getting a lot of exciting things done this year. Until then, I’m cooking up some burgers on the grill tonight! (We made some awesome pizzas the other night.)  See more great pics from the vacation on Cassie’s Blog.

Late SummerAugust 7th, 2011

The season is moving into my favorite time of year. We finally get a break from the oppressive heat and get to enjoy the cool evenings. It’s also that time when we have started to look toward the school year again and get prepared for classes. I’m looking forward to starting up again, but that’s not to say that I won’t enjoy these last few weeks. I’ve been especially spoiled by Cassie’s amazing cooking, which has included Vegetable Tofu Curry and freshly baked bread in our new bread maker. I also helped make bacon wrapped steaks on the grill, and this perfect summer dinner:


Cassie has also been very hard at work on house projects, such as putting the final touches on our cupboards by sanding and painting. I tend to stay away from the power tools from fear of things breaking.

In the meantime, I’ve been enjoying doing some work mixing some fantastic tunes by our good friend Paul Otteson. We are also looking forward to our end of summer getaway with the family back in Door County. For those who haven’t been there, it is in the “thumb” of Wisconsin. It’s quite a drive, but it’s well worth it for the scenery. It will be nice to have one more week of relaxation before things really kick in again. There are, however, a whole lot of exciting things to look forward to in the upcoming school year. I’ll check back in soon…