New Directions

Hey friends,

For any musician that is trying to both create AND promote at a professional level, finding a balance without hired help is always a challenge. I've been spending a lot of time over the past few weeks trying to get my promotional "ducks in a row" so to speak, and it started to get in the way of my composing and practice. Last night I had a great gig with The Dirt Party, but the most rewarding part about the night was the 5 hours I spent in the car with Mike Lorenz.

Mike posted an insightful article about the state of the Philly jazz scene's musician/audience disconnection. During the conversation we had on the way to Mount St Mary's University for the gig, I realized that I've been guilty of being absent from seeing the many phenomenal acts that roll through the area. Far too often, we musicians are far too busy (or at least think we are) to be going out on our off nights to see live jazz. A lot of us are wrapped up in our own world - promoting, teaching, rehearsing, and just trying to pay the rent.

Talking to Mike about this not only exposed my own hypocrisy - I've been promoting my own shows and cds, even though I haven't been to anyone else's show in over a month. This was a gut-check for sure, but it brought back my focus into why I do what I do - for the love of music, not for the love of self-promotion.

I definitely recommend that you read Mike's post, and I also urge you to check out his latest quartet release on BandCamp: http://mikelorenz.bandcamp.com/album/two-quartets.

C&C CUSTOM DRUMS endorsement!

I think I've finally recovered from last week, so I suppose it's time to buckle down and catch everyone up to date with some big news:

I'm very proud to announce that I am now endorsing C&C Custom Drums! They make beeeeeeeautiful vintage-style drums, and I'm really excited for my new kit to be finished. You can see some of their kits HERE and HERE. Many thanks to Chuck Treece, Dom Billett, Dave C and Jake C for helping to make this all come together!

Julie Slick and I will be playing together again later this month as well as a trio gig in July with John Swana. I was finally able to post one of the live snippets from my first duo gig with Julie Slick back in March. Here it is...

Bahner Slick Duo Live 3/26/11

The Day Life just finished our PICK ME UP EP, and all four songs are available for download HERE. Please listen and pass it along to friends and family! We're currently planning an EP release party for the summer, and I'll post more info about that ASAP. For now, you can catch us at two different shows this month.

I'm also trying to keep updated with all of my social networks. I'm even considering getting a little hired help for that, so if you know anybody fluent with all of the necessary networks, send them my way! :-)