Welcome...
News.. 8/12 What's up? 1-I'm playing Starbucks this Wednesday at 8pm! 2-The new WaterVillains album is amazing and can be reached by using the link above (yes it's free!) 3-Francis Dunnery is returning to our house to play another KILLER house concert on SEPTEMBER 13th (more details to follow) 2/01
RPM 2008 has begun!! Yes indeed! Greg and I have begun working on the 2008 Water Villains album. Thankfully we have a new logo by "Candy" Andy Wagener to inspire us to greatness. What is RPM and the RPM Challenge? Simply the challenge is to write and record an entire album in February. Click on our banner ad at the top to check out what we pulled off last year. I have a feeling we are in for another great year. At least we have the gear for it. Greg picked up a lap steel guitar and am the proud owner of a new banjo! Good tunes to follow! Stay tuned! 11/04 Five months between news items is shameful. Sorry. To be honest not a whole lot has been happening. Let's see.... The Peppermint Players may become a studio-only outfit. Chuck is quite busy in his own band and two jobs and Greg is simply tired of performing live. I am kicking around the idea of forming a band with Dayton area musicians, but would like to try and make it something truly unique since feel I've had the rock n' roll experience. Up north, we played bars constantly. I feel like my music might not be a match for a sports bar. (You might disagree if you had seen us performing at full volume last year). In the future I probably continue to play Borders, but will also try to concentrate on playing venues where I would actually go. Places people can enjoy conversation and music. Playing out can be extremely fun and I would like for every show to have the potential to be so. The news about "Balladeer" and "Posthumous Release"? I am lowering the price of both disks to $5.00!! This price will be extended to you if you buy them from me (either at at a show, through the website), but will still be at the regular price if you get them through online retailers. For those of you who enjoyed the Water Villains CD at the beginning of the year, you will be excited to know that we are definitely planning on another 28-day inspired release for 2008. The new CD? Since the release of "Balladeer" I have accumulated quite a number of songs. Half-finished songs. Instead of forcing ideas on to songs just to complete them, I've had to walk away from them. Coming back to them with fresh ears has given me a chance to trim ideas that weren't working and to take some songs in new directions I wasn't expecting. I knew that I also wanted to take a departure from the sound of "Balladeer" (which I am incredibly proud of). I'd like the next collection to be extremely stripped down. My goal is for the actual recordings to have the intimacy and power of some of my live solo shows. It may end up being an acoustic guitar and voice only CD. I am going to try recording the songs with a variety of set-ups (solo/full band/trio...) to see what serves the song the best. .......And with a wink I present the title of my next CD: "Frequent Tunings and General Unhappiness "
6/15 After a major computer outage, I've got things running sweet and smooth. Music-wise I am working on completing some new acoustic songs and am trying to decide on a direction for the next CD. I will also be announcing some exciting news about "Balladeer" and "Posthumous Release" soon. Stick around!! 3/2 Yep, just click the banner above to enjoy Water Villains audio deliciousness! 3/1 Watch this space to download the Water Villains free web-only release "The Sweet Sounds of Suburban Boredom"!!! 2/7 Let me tell you who they are! The other day I got a call from Greg who said that he had just heard a story on NPR (original story here) about RPM (Recording Production Month) and about a website that was set up as a challenge musicians to write, record. and produce 10 songs (or 35 minutes) of music all in the month of February. I said "sure" and so it began. Our name for the band is the "Water Villains". Needless to say, this has lit quite a fire under both of us and we've actually finished two fantastic songs already. The real exciting news for fans of our music is that we are going to post the entire finished CD on the website for free when finished! Here is our official press photo:
2/1 Who the hell are the Water Villains? 10/15 Check the Live Dates page for new gigs and a change in dates! 8/2 August 12th Therapy Show to be rescheduled!! Looks like a double booking took place.......stay tuned! 7/16 Show photos and more! We were lucky enough to have Kim from Kadel Custom Photography at the Keeters show last week. Kim took some great shots of the band in action. CLICK HERE to see the pictures (the password is "peppermint". I will be part of the Kettering Holiday at Home festivities September 3rd. Check the "live dates" page for more details. The band is going to start the recording process next weekend. (YEAH!!!) 6/12 2006: Year of the gig? Wow. Have you looked at the Live Dates page recently? Things are getting serious. We are just about filling every weekend with a show. Looks like we are finally returning to the Toledo/BG scene too. The more I play the more I pine for new material. It seems like with each practice a new jam is born. Hope to see you at a show. We've been having a blast lately and hope you can join us! 5/19 There has been a date change on the Therapy Cafe gig listed below. We will now be performing on August 12th. 5/10 Summertime and Taping The stretch between shows has all been alleviated at this point. If you look at the "Live Dates" page you'll notice that the summer is filling up quite quickly with many interesting events. Borders shows are returning for Cincinnati and the new Dayton location! Chuck and I have got some summertime patio gigs lined up and the band will be backing Chuck up for his Something Picasso release, "Into the Light". While booking these performances I noticed something quite fun: I will be playing three days in a row in every configuration (Solo, Keith May and the Peppermint Players, & Grover Take over). I have dubbed the day, "Three days of May in July". By Saturday, I should be feeling pretty crazy. I hope you are there to witness the madness. I am hoping to record all three shows and make them available soon after the shows. Speaking of recording... I just wanted to say that taping of any of my performances is STRICTLY ALLOWED. I love listening to live recordings of my favorite bands and would hope that if someone enjoyed my music enough that they would feel comfortable recording a performance they attended. Both the venue and I are glad you came. All I ask in return is that you send me a copy! Of course I ask you not to copy the studio CDs. 5/5 The Numbers and Future Thoughts Well, we are quickly reaching the 1 year anniversary of the release of "Balladeer". I've been looking at my sales numbers this morning and thought I'd share some interesting facts:
What does the next year hold? The band will definitely be recording within the next few months. I know we are going to take some serious time tweaking the songs and trying to get the sound perfect. Chuck's new CD, "Into the Light" will be out quite soon and I know we are going to support him for his release party. I've also been kicking around the idea of doing something different for a bonus disk this time around. For "Posthumous Release" the bonus CD was a live recording of a great Cleveland Borders show. I'll probably share my decision with you soon. ;)
3/24 Be there!!
1/07 So Long Lou.. Lou Rawls has passed away. So sad indeed. Lou was a great performer and a one-of-a-kind interpreter of song. It takes a true vocalist (not just a singer) to capture my attention and blow me away: Lou, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra are definitely on that list. Lou started out playing a mix of Jazz and R&B and eventually made the transition to straight Soul. If you've only heard "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" or "Groovy People" you are missing some of the best material Lou ever put out:
(click photo for more info) Without a doubt, "Stormy Monday" is one of my top 5 albums of all time. My CD is a scratchy mess after being transported from home to car, parties, weddings, friends. It looks much like my Peter Gabriel "So" cassette did at the end of the 80's. So what's the big deal? I cannot think of an album that more beautifully captures voice and jazz piano. It is an album without frills, every instrument is given ample room to breathe. The album contains some familiar standards you will know ("(They Call It) Stormy Monday", "God Bless the Child"...) and some songs so good you'll love them instantaneously ("Willow Weep for Me", "Lost and Lookin'"...). Anyone who is slightly interested in jazz will be dazzled be Les McCann and his amazing band. Les is one of the most melodic, groove conscious jazz pianists ever recorded and listening to him is unfiltered joy. Lou Rawls? Just go to "In the Evening When the Sun Goes Down" and go to 2:44........like I said this is magic stuff. Infinitely listenable.
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