Soul Of The Game

Finally, baseball season has started and the Orioles are 4-1! Wow! Kinda of a big deal when you consider that last season it took them close to twenty games to get their fourth win....despite my commercial efforts for them.

Let's take this chance to reminisce about those fine Orioles commercials from last season....

OK, enuff about me. I also wanted to discuss baseball movies and my favorite, Soul Of The Game. This is an HBO movie from the late 90's which gets into Jackie Robinson's signing as the first Black player in Major League Baseball. It specifically gets into how and why he was chosen as much for his character as he was for his playing ability. While there were other players in the Negro Leagues at the time who were probably more talented, Branch Rickey (then-owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers) knew that who ever was first would be looked at under a microscope by the media and all those opposed to integration and needed to excel on and off the field.

In an awesome scene, when asked what he's expected to do the hundredth time he gets thrown at by a racist pitch, Rickey tells Jackie that he's "not looking for someone who's strong enough to fight back but someone who's strong enough not to".

Yeah, Jackie Robinson is a bit of a hero of mine. If you're a frequent reader, you know that, back in my radio days, I got to be good friends with Rex Barney who had played on the same team with Jackie and he had the most amazing stories about who he was and what he went thru.

Did I mention the O's are 4-1!!

Giving Them What They Want

It's been a really, really long two weeks! Words cannot explain how tired I am....both physically and emotionally. I don't wanna get into all the details other than to say that some family health issues are involved. The good news is that everything is gonna be fine. While it's true that times like these can really take a toll, the important thing is that I've been able to be where I wanna be, when I wanna be there....that matters most.

In other news, this weekend brought two gigs....

The Understudies played a fun show at a local high school. I'll admit that I was skeptical at first about how well we'd go over but the kids were very cool!

I also played in the pit for a production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I've always liked the movie but had never seen or heard the show. It's got great music and is really fun.

I also enjoyed the directions in the bass book for intermission....

You Can't Stop The Beat

The last couple of months have been really slow, but things are starting to pick up. I played two different school shows this week....Footloose and Hairspray. Both were a lot of fun. It was my first time playing Hairspray, but the way things are shaping up for the next few months, it seems that it won't be the last.

The Understudies

Here's a clip of the band from a gig a few weeks ago....

Get Your Hair On!

Here's a short clip of Final Warning's acoustic gig at Austin Grill this past Friday......

A Crazy, Cool 24

It was a wild 24 hours!!

Sunday night, I made my return to 98 Rock in Baltimore (I used to work there) for the station's local music show, Noise In The Basement, with The Understudies. Matt Davis interviewed us and then play a song off of the band's upcoming CD.

Monday, I met with a local children's theater to pitch Sweepless to them. You may remember that this is the kids' show that I wrote music for last summer. Cool meeting. We'll see what happens.

Some time to kill, so I went to see 127 Hours. Way intense but, also, really good. James Franco is really good but I really think director Danny Boyle got snubbed when the Oscar nominations were announced.

Then to The Quarter for our gig. This kind of part two of the Noise In The Basement thing...the interview Sunday night, then the gig Monday night. The forecast was calling for sleet which, I think, kept a lot of people away, but there was a decent crowd there and the show went really well.

The Drowsy Chaperone

I provided the low notes for a production of The Drowsy Chaperone this week. Ever heard of it? I hadn't until I got booked to play the show and it's now one of my faves.

The music is OK, but the script is hilarious. Definitely check it out if you can.

Sideshow continues this weekend!