Sunday April 2nd stress and roll.

Sunday Mornings are never EASY :-P
there is a bit or rock and roll thrown in there.

Although to be honest I was TERRIFIED because for the first time I was playing a ustream-only show. That means that not only could people see exactly how bed-headed my hair was but also I didn't have the "safety net" of playing in Second Life, where at least 10 people show up on a regular basis...

that's ok. being terrified. It just makes me want to get better :-)

The set list this morning: Cuando te vas, It Seems Just Like a Dream (What a Day), Dreaming Without You, Parking Lot Kings, Gone, Ruby Red Hair, Little Lion Man (Mumford & Sons cover), Plain Jane, One Hot Second, Stay (Faraway, so close!) (U2 cover), Ash Wednesday, Fantasy.

Monday Night Originals

so every other Monday (or so) I've been playing the "All Originals" set on FCMC radio, streamed into Second Life at The Loft and of course live on ustream.tv.



it's kind of awesome



and some days are really tiring and I'm willing the clock to go faster and other days I look down to make sure I'm hitting that Bm chord correctly and BAM it's 20 minutes later. Tonight was one of those FUN AWESOME "Time really DOES fly when you're having fun" nights.



I love those. And I love when people watch/listen. So, THANK YOU to every one who did. This is what you heard:



Year; Cuando te vas; Ruby Red Hair; Fantasy; Oh Canada; Stormy as the Sea; Para que no tengas sed; Lessons Learned; Fortunes, Forecasts and Lucky Charms, Black Sails; How Do You Spell L.O.V.E

my first attempt at a "highlight" video

So - I send my music out over the (airwaves?) all the time, streaming shows live from my basement and I just figured out how to make a "highlight" of one of the live shows, specifically the one last night :-P

It's "Stormy As The Sea," one of the best songs I have ever written. and you can watch me play it here:



feel free to share, comment, etc.

thank you

countdown to St Patrick's Eve

I think it should be a hoilday - like Christmas Eve, or Halloween (All Hallow's Eve) or the day before Thanksgiving when everyone hangs out with their childhood friends at a local public establishment :-P

and I have a show. (March 16th @ TT The Bears in Cambridge)

I've been thinking a lot about it. And I feel really prepared. Which is weird. In fact, when I mentioned it to someone they said "I'm kind of concerned YOU want to practice." Not only do I have a fantastic guest artist, Casey Sullivan http://www.myspace.com/caseysullivanmusic (who will be doing three songs of her own) but I have a fantastic guitarist Gary Ames (http://twitter.com/#!/garyamesjr ) and not that I forgot he was good, but I forgot HOW good he is.

and the music? it's GOOD. Like some of the best I have written. We are certain to play Her Majesty Cry (the new single) as well as a few others from the upcoming album.

So I'm psyched. What should I wear?

set and a half

Ah, Monday after Daylight Savings Changes. The day that everyone gives a resigned sigh in unison that their day is totally thrown off...

so I played not one, but one and a half shows.

and not early ones, but late ones.

here's the set list and a half:

Don’t Say That, Nov 8th, Plain Jane, Steal your Crown, Cuando te vas, Her Majesty Cry, Et cetera, One Hot Second, Black Sails, Memphis Ferry.

show #2: Waiting For The Dawn, Dreaming Without You, Stormy as the Sea, Parking Lot Kings, Fortunes, Forecasts and Lucky Charms.

And if you have never heard Steal Your Crown, it's cause I wrote it as I was playing it. It's about Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Email me at dannrussomusic@aol.com and I'll send you an mp3 of it. :-)

what? a non-self-promotional blog? Robin Hood...bless you.

so I've become marginally obsessed (if one CAN become marginally obsessed) with the BBC's miniseries Robin Hood. It's more than a little anachronistic (at least with their puns) and SOMEone complained to me about the actresses having "smokey eye" and overall that their makeup was too good, BUT...

I love it.

I love Robin Hood.

I love the swords and the armo(u)r. I love the love stories. I love the houses. I love the Medieval-ness of it.

I love the whole concept.

I especially love the "Steal from the Rich to Give to the Poor"

And I'm not even going to get into the religious implications of his actions.

One of my favorite movies growing up was Disney's Robin Hood. Yes, the one with the foxes. In fact, I even wrote a song based on it (Fortunes, Forecasts & Lucky Charms - which you can find here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/presents/id310215036 Ah! Damnit I said it wasn't self-promotional! sorry.) I distinctly remember playing under the dining room table when I was 5 or 6 with my brother, John, who was 2 or 3 (of course HE was Little John) and shooting arrows at my 30-year-old parents and their friends. I mean, you give a kid obsessed with Robin Hood an Erector Set and you know how quickly those turn into bows and arrows? All you have to do is crack them in JUST the right spot. oops. sorry, I guess I cant build anything with them...can I have some string to "help hold it together?" :-P

And "we don't steal...we just sort of borrow from those who can afford it" :-)

So as I grew up, this remained my favorite movie (and still may be today - the lamest song in the movie was nominated for an Oscar - how cool is THAT?) and as I got some sort of what resembles clarity I can look back on it as how exceedingly influential is has been in my life.

1. I want to learn how to Arch.
For real. Or whatever the verb "to shoot a bow and arrow" is. I find it clean. and noble. and it takes a lot of skill to do well. the day my only (other) adult roommate brought his bow home my eyes were wider than the moon and I made him promise to teach me. Then I got married and he moved to Alaska. damnit.

2. I have a natural inclination to dislike people with money.
My friends say it as "you hate rich people." but that's not really the case. There are more than a few people who come from wealthy situations whom I adore. And it is not based on the money but on the person. There are plenty of good people in the world who happen to be financially well off who have a decent head on their shoulders and make sure to look out for others as much as they can. It is the person who prefers to turn a profit rather than giving someone a living wage and civilized situation that I have a problem with. And, hey, I'm all for competition and giving a higher salary to someone who earns it. It's when things get ostentatious that I start getting uncomfortable. For instance, Newport, RI is famous for "the mansions" - the huge summer homes of the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, etc - and they are still there open for tours. It was touted to me as this lovely romantic getaway, and walking through The Breakers (one of the mansions) I felt like Liam Neeson at the end of the movie as he looked at his watch and car. "five people...fifteen people..." I don't think it had the intended impact.

3. I give away too much money.

like, seriously.

On my wedding day, before the wedding, in the morning, under the semblance of walking to Dunkies, I went to the ATM and took out $200. I handed out $20 bills to the first ten homeless people I saw. And I felt that it wasn't enough. I KNEW that that money would be replaced by some envelopes by some overly generous family members but the reason I did it is that I hoped that it helped out those persons if just for that day. I often keep money in my car for the sole purpose of giving it to the guy who tries to clean my windshield on the corner of Columbus & Boston & Mass Ave. Cause I know that when I get home, even if it's just pasta, I am going to be able to feed my family when this person may not be able to. When I was in High School, my "allowance" was often gone on Tuesday cause I knew that I could ask someone in the caf to buy me lunch and there are some DAMN good musicians in the NYC Subway system playing for their supper.

I'm not trying to be holier than thou. I'm just trying to be me. Rest assured, when (not if) I win MegaMillions, I'll be SURE to pay off my house and THEN get a Maserati in the driveway of my condo outside Florence, but I'm sure much of the winnings wouldn't be mine for long. Between the schools that have been generous to me and the charities that I would like to be generous to, I'd say it would last three hours, tops.

But for now, I am more than ok with my Saturn VUE in the driveway of my house in Hyde Park, but if you need something I have a little more than I need of, please ask, cause I'm happy to share.

And if you need to point fingers, point it at that fox. Ooh De Lally.

Her Majesty Cry and Set List

So it occurred to me that record-making is evolutionary.

a month or so ago, I had a definite plan of four maybe five songs that were going to make a record. I had the order, I had the titles, I was going to do most of it myself.

HOWEVER, in the past week or so I have become exponentially vested and excited by the prospect of making a record. I even have ideas where to record it.

AND I have more songs that HAVE to be on the record. I feel like "Presents" (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/presents/id310215036 ) was DONE and was my first full-band recording and was really proud of it. And of course, that makes me want to make "Her Majesty Cry" even better. I even may be working with the same producer who I worked with for "Presents" and we are both two years older and two years wiser and two years more adept at writing, playing, and recording.

And I have this cool idea to make the first "side" of the record the raucous electric side and the second "side" the almost-but-not-quite-as-raucous acoustic side. I may even title the "sides" something cool like Side One: Maple Steel Side Two:Copper Spruce.

here's the track list (for now)

Maple Steel:
1. One Hot Second
2. Black Sails
3. Her Majesty Cry
4. Cuando Te Vas
5. Lessons Learned

Copper Spruce:
1. Memphis Ferry
2. Ash Wednesday
3. Waiting For The Dawn
4. Stormy As The Sea.

whatcha think?