Earlier this week I was delighted to see a review of my first album in The Deli, a magazine about local music. It began:
Folk-pop, down-tempo philosophical musing, romantic longing and infectious harmonies all find their place on A Cure for Sleep, by San Francisco musician Jascha vs. Jascha.
Last week I played a show for the San Francisco Songbird Festival. It was not such a good day for my voice, which was pretty hoarse from a mild throat infection. But I think it was one of the best performances I’ve ever given. Partly this is due to my recent songwriting retreat, which has given me a handful of fresh songs. Partly it’s just a cumulative comfort with the stage. But I think the main difference is in the band backing me up—Adam Roszkiewicz on guitar, Daniel Fabricant on bass, Jason Slota on drums—which ROCKED. Take a listen to this little murder ballad gone electric:
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I just spent a week on my cousin’s land in rural Northern California, staying in a little solar-powered yurt by the creek, with some books of poetry and a makeshift recording studio, writing and revising songs all day.
Here is one of the first fruits, a song-in-progress about a helicopter accident:
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Come hear me play a version of this tune, and some other new ones, at the Cafe Revolution in San Francisco this Saturday night.
Oh, and that white noise you hear in the background? It’s not tape hiss. It’s the rush of the creek.
A sleepy little keyboard sketch for the summer:
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“A Cure for Sleep”
NYC Release Show
Rockwood Music Hall
184 Allen Street (at Houston)
Weds May 12 at 6pm (sharp! free!)
From the archives, a live recording of my little mutton-scented lament performed at the Sidewalk Cafe in New York City last fall:
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And NYC folks, mark your calendars now: “A Cure for Sleep” album release party will be at the Rockwood Music Hall on Weds May 12 at 6pm. (Joined by Bjorn, Spiff and other friends!) Be there.
New game everyone! Choose your own adventure.
I went to a bar and heard some live Chopin etudes tonight, which got me worked up enough to sketch out three potential songs.
Your job: tell me which one you want me to work on.
(1)
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(2)
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(3)
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You can vote by leaving a comment here, or on Facebook, or by emailing me.
Starting songs has been easy lately, but finishing them has been much less predictable. But after some encouragement from Jesse Olsen, I sat down this afternoon to finish a promising song fragment. I may have gotten a little carried away with the production values, but I do think there is something to work with here:
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This one will be fun to play with the band—eccentric drumming, searing guitar, etc.
Anyone have any clue what the hell it’s about?
For some months I’ve known that I needed to write a song called, ”I Need You Tiny.” But I hadn’t gotten through more than a tempting bit of the hook:
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Until this morning, that is, when an opening verse suddenly came to me:
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