Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
I use many different tour vehicles, everything from rental cars to my Chevy Astro van to our Chevy Silverado 4 x 4 with a cab over camper. In Europe I am partial to the Sprinter van.
My most notable recent breakdown story was driving the camper through Dayton Ohio on I-70 on the way to a house concert in Indianapolis. The tranny died in the middle of a rush hour traffic jam on the freeway and I barely got it to the inside median. By the time the tow truck got me over to a transmission shop that would work on it, it was too late to find a rental car to get the gig, so I took an Uber. The driver was a super cool Malaysian guy named Peng. He drove the 120 miles like a bandit and got me there just in time for the show to a big round of applause. Peng had never been to a house concert, nor did he even understand the concept at first, and being the hero who saved the concert, he had a really fun, unique time and was taking selfie’s with everyone. It was a big international success 🙂
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
Honestly, I really don’t think about it that much. I just eat what I normally eat and go places that are recommended or any place that my friends want to go.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I change strings every three or four gigs, or every couple weeks if I’m at home. I don’t break strings that much. I use D’Addario strings. They work for me and are generally reasonably priced.
Where do you rehearse?
When I was starting out in New York with The Silos we rehearsed at John Cale’s rehearsal space. It was exciting working in the same space as one of my heroes. Though we never saw him at the rehearsal complex we did open for him and Chris Spedding at the Bottom Line. After our set, he told me he liked my songs which was a big thrill for me. These days I live in Flagstaff Arizona and we rehearse in the guitar player’s living room. It’s super chill and comfortable and big enough to make recordings. It has that great old house sound.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
The song is called “Susan,” and the opening lyric is “Went down to get a burrito, but the woman said she had no beef.” I was 17 🙂
Describe your first gig.
I was playing drums in a jazz-rock band. I was probably 15 years old and we were into Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, and that type of thing. We played on the back of a flatbed truck at the finish line of a charity walkathon in North Miami. I remember it being very hot and our guitar player had a high fever on top of that, but he toughed it out and the show went on! I have no memory of the audience reaction, but I’m guessing it was mass bewilderment.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
My last day job was at an art gallery in Santa Monica in 1993. I used to do gallery installations in New York City and subsequently Los Angeles, and I got to work with many of my art heroes like Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
The biggest change was in the late 90s/early 2000’s when the Internet really kicked in. Little by little recorded music lost its value and eventually became free. This phenomenon cut my income in half. Things have not changed much since then, but I have hope that as streaming scales bigger and bigger, recorded music will regain some of its lost value and us musicians and songwriters will have a better chance at making a living.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
That happiness is a choice, and if you choose happiness no matter what the situation, you will have an amazing life in music. It will bring you so much joy, so many great friends and so many interesting and exciting travel opportunities. You will definitely never be bored 🙂