A general update on Davey G-related things.

A fan asked me the other day if I had come out with anything new (music or Davezines) that he had missed. This person has bought everything I have come out with in the last 7 years, and I see him at least 3 or 4 times a week, just the type of person I always make sure to update on new developments.

And it occurred to me that to some, like this person, who have followed my “career," it might seem as though I have dropped off the face of the earth. While it is true that Davezine #14: The Bad Roommate Issue has been put on hold, and I have been quiet on the music front (more on that later) I realized it may be in my best interest to provide an update on what it is I am up to, and what people might have to look forward to from me.

I have been doing more writing in the last 6 months or so than ever before and I am making steady progress in the editing of my novel, The Best of Thunder Johnson. I think it is a great story. It is about a guy who works at a cable access station who inadvertently shows a homemade porno movie over the air, who becomes the focus of a disturbed mental patient’s rage. (I’ve been told that being able to state your book’s plot in a single sentence is a good thing, so to that end this is what my book breaks down to.)
I have some plans for this book, which are still developing. All I can say now is that it is coming, and it is taking up a lot of my time, which is why I haven’t come out with any new printed material yet. I would like everyone to read it when it comes out (hopefully this June) and I may self-publish a limited number of copies, if there is interest. As far as this goes, I will offers details in future messages. (Here’s where I plug getting on the mailing list from my site which will keep you in the loop for any future projects.)
Overall, I am just looking at a big picture and trying to focus on getting this writing thing off the ground. After all, I’ve been doing it for something like 20 years (if you count bad high school writing) so I think it’s time I just strap in for the long haul, because apparently this is what I do. You know. Writing.

As to music, Davey G and the Keyboard…
I have a lot of new songs, and the goal is to incorporate as many of them as I can into my set this year. As it stands, I have 3 shows on the schedule, the next one being March 14 at the Sidebar, with another one in May (TBA) and another in June (also TBA). I might (and this is a big “might”) put out another album this year, or early next year. It really depends on a number of things. I think the show is as great as ever, I encourage people to come check it out.

To review:
Keep an eye out for my novel, The Best of Thunder Johnson,
Listen for the upcoming Davey G and the Keyboard shows,
A possible new Davey G album,
And maybe, just maybe, the Bad Roommate edition of Davezine.

Thanks for reading my blog today.

Davey G.

The most useless “feel good” regulation of the year.

I put my feelings about the Maryland Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program (or VEIP) in a blog post awhile back, based on my own, unique situation with my 1992 Honda Civic. (for those who don’t feel like reviewing the post: It doesn’t pass the VEIP test, therefore I have to go back every month and pay 14 dollars every time just to keep it on the road, which, as it happens, costs less than it would take for me to fix the car.) Now that Barack Obama is President, there are environmentalists who want him to help them adopt stricter emissions standards that surpass the federal standards.

From yesterday’s Examiner:

“Obama called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to re-examine a Bush administration policy that denied California and other states the ability to set their own emissions standards.”

Environmentalists are thrilled.

“It gives leadership states like Maryland the assurance they will be able to meet their own goals to protect the citizens.”--Derek Walker, director of the California Climate Initiative for the Environmental defense Fund, and former head of the Maryland Democratic Party.

(again--I think cleaning up the environment is important, but my experience with the VEIP is that it just doesn’t work--I outlined this thoroughly in an earlier post)


Go ahead! Raise the emissions standards! My car will still keep coming back and failing the test because the law is still toothless and weak, but hey--it’s no skin off my nose.

Dave “The Polluter” G.

More Davey G musical updates.

I have compiled over a dozen new songs since the last time I played live, and my hope is that maybe half of them are usable. Yesterday I wrote a song called “Frustrating Conversationalist” which will I will probably open with soon, and “Pimple,” a song about keeping your problems in perspective, because it is my solemn hope that Davey G will one day improve your life through my message of self-help and spiritual guidance.
The key to writing Davey G songs, as I’ve learned after all this time, is to just let go and tap into the inner shower-singer in all of us…to record those little moments in the car when I have no radio and I’m singing to myself things like “Bob Bob Bob, Bob Bob or Ann” and wondering if that Beach Boys song is really about a bi-sexual trying to decide if he’s going to spend the night with a boy, Bob, or a girl, Ann. And then someone tells me that the song is actually “Barbara Ann”…but I think that my version is funnier. I digress.

I have 2 shows coming up this fall/winter, with the possibility of a third. The first is Saturday, November 1, at the Windup Space at 12 W. North Avenue in Baltimore. I will be playing with The Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad, Bene Gesserit Witch and Markitect. This should be a really great show where you can first hear some of the new Davey G material.

I will have another show on Thursday, December 11 at the Sidebar, at 218 E. Lexington Street in Baltimore. Details forthcoming, as this was just arranged yesterday.

Being on my mailing list is the best way to know when the shows happen. Go to the “Contact Me” link on my site and e-mail me, and I will add you.
Thanks for reading today!

--Davey G.

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Something Very Special for Tonight.

Although the scheduled release date for the new Davezine #13 is not until March 31, for a limited (and I mean very limited) few, I have made advance copies, which will be available tonight at the Davey G and the Keyboard show at the Sidebar.

So if you are thinking about coming out, and need another reason, put availability of Davezine #13, The Rise of the Collective on your list.

See you there!

Doors/show at 8. 5 bands, me last. With Markitect, Pieness, Entertainment System, and Scout. Come!



www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Three Weeks...

Three weeks. The whole year boils down to the next three weeks. I copied more of these fine Alex Fine flyers, sent several of them off with my handy press release to a bunch of publications and radio stations, just starting to hang these flyers in the windows of stores. (Funny thing is how many of his flyers for other shows are already up--like the Alex Fine empire: he’s a great artist, I highly recommend him.) Much like ads for Coca-cola, soon you will not be able to get away from them as the buzz builds and builds...

Go to www.daveygandthekeyboard.com for chance to win tickets to the CD release!

And read The Parochialist, it’s seriously taking off!

Silent Auction Recap!

This weekend’s Silent Auction for the Race for the Cure was a big success! I asked my girl “What do they do with the stuff that doesn’t sell?” and she said “Everything sold!” All right! My Davey G and the Keyboard Gift Package was one of the first things to go, along with a whole slew of great stuff, including tool sets, learning packages for kids, gift certificates for restaurants--literally, there was not one item left standing as the event helped to raise many, many dollars to help the fight against breast cancer.

I’d like to thank everyone who came out to help, it was an unbelievable success and I was proud to be part of it.

Let me tell you about the day--after helping to load all the gift packages from ISG Headquarters to the Waterfront Hotel, I went around putting up signs with arrows, pointing people to the event. On the way, I talked to some Lyndon Larouche guy who was out stumping for his cause. While I admit to my ignorance of Lyndon Larouche (the extent of my knowledge comes from a Simpsons episode where Homer is kidnapped by aliens and says “Lyndon Larouche was right!”) he was a nice guy who for the most part said things I agreed with (e.g., “nice day today, isn’t it?”).

About an hour after all the signs were up, I went out and saw that the one on the corner of Thames and Broadway had been taken down and (gasp!) thrown in the trash! I was shocked…well, not really. That particular place I had put it is known for being a bad spot for that sort of thing (no punk rock flyer ever stays up there for long.) But this led to a tactic that may have done more good than the sign: we went around with signs and drew people in! I held up the once-discarded sign with the arrow and said “Silent Auction at the Waterfront Hotel!” The foot traffic that came from taking it to the streets was tremendous.

And now I must offer a humble, heartfelt admission. While I am on record, both in song (“Giuliani Time”) and in the blog and in person of being a huge Yankees and Yankees fan hater, I have got to offer them my thanks. I believe that their presence in town boosted the success of this event. With all of them walking around, with nothing but time on their hands and money to spend, they truly were an asset to the Silent Auction. Big thanks to the one fan who was drawn in by my arrow, then spent the whole afternoon at the auction!

So soak up my temporary love, Yankees fans, because next week I am sooooo rooting against you!

But seriously, thanks to all of you.

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Chairman of the Keyboard...

I just (for the first time) heard the rough mix of “Chairman of the Keyboard,” the new Davey G and the Keyboard album, and I am so freakin’ happy with the results that I just can’t wait til this whole thing comes out and slays the general public.
“this will be the one that does it,”--quote from me, hours ago..
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Davey G and Radio Airplay!

Hey Fans!

If you live in the Baltimore area, there is a radio show on 1620 a.m. on Monday nights from 9 to 11 called Shut Up! I’m on the Radio that has a copy of my CD and will play a song if you request it!

Songs they have:

Bed (they played this on the radio!)
Sandwich
Drinking beer at grandma’s house
Wash the dish
Milwaukee
My friends laughed at me and my family
Life is so depressing
Man-friend
Breaking the Law

Shut Up! I’m on the Radio!

***********************
If you live in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Rebel Sound Radio on 89.7 f.m. is on Thursdays, from 4 to 6 p.m. They’ve got the new Davey G and the Office Supply E.P!
(he seems to really like “Name in the Machine,” as well)
Rebel sound Radio (myspace)
If you don't live in either of these areas, visit www.pittsfieldtv.org (click on the ETV link) It's not streaming all the time, but it will be streaming from 2:30 pm - 5:00 pm Eastern Time on Thursdays and Fridays beginning this week, so you can hear the first hour of the show from 4 to 5 on Thursdays (today, even)!

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

They Call Me Chairman of the Keyboard.

I completed the third day of Davey G and the Keyboard: Chairman of the Keyboard recording, so now I’m up to 11 songs (10 for the album, 1 for the e.p). It’s very exciting to have this new album taking shape--I just did “Be My Friend” (which I’ve played out at 2 different shows), plus “Chairman of the Keyboard” : the theme song for the new album. A minimal, minor chord using rag with low notes and very few words (unusual for me, I know) and “You Triumph When You Quit.” I swear, I never thought this song would be so much trouble--it’s an idea I’ve had for so long--the anti-inspirational song--but I could never settle on lyrics, or a tune, or anything about it. I just had a few lines that I knew I wanted to use:
“the last time I failed I heard someone say
‘it’s a good thing that you failed ‘cause your dreams were stupid anyway.’ ”
And until a few days ago, I had nothing that made me happy. But now I do, and it will appear on the CD.
So I’m 11 songs in. I’m sorry if sometimes my blog is just a big wet promotion for this new CD, but it’s going to be really good. I’m hitting a stride with this whole “Davey G” thing and I think by the time I finish I will have something I’m very proud of.

A few more things: a few more blog posts and I will have done 100 (give or take). I may do a “clip show” gimmick for number 100, but I thank everyone who reads and hope you keep doing so!
The next show is coming up in about 2 weeks. I will start another 2 week training period but not subject you to the pain of reading about it…at least not like the last show! At any rate, I’m still fresh from the last performance, so it might not be as intense.


www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007

What can I say that others aren’t already saying? But I can’t let the death of Kurt Vonnegut pass without a few words. Welcome to the Monkeyhouse, Slaughterhouse 5, Breakfast of Champions, all brilliant books, of course. I got the chance to hear him speak at the University of Massachusetts many years ago as he examined the greatest work in the English language (Hamlet) and plotted the course of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis on a blackboard--drawing a straight line that drops immediately after the first sentence: “Oh s-----!”
The story that he told that stuck with me is this: someone asked him if he had a word processor (this was 1992, BTW) and he said no, and went off on a long description of how he writes up his work, goes to the drug store to buy an envelope, hangs out and farts around with the people in line at the drug store, goes to the post office to buy a stamp, hangs out and farts around with the people in line at the post office, then mails it to his secretary in upstate New York, a process that takes about an hour. Why does he do it this way and not just have stamps and envelopes on hand? Because doing all that gave him the opportunity to hang out and fart around: “life is all about hanging out and farting around and don’t let anybody tell you any differently!”

Advice we can all take to heart.

Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007

Davey G at the Sidebar March 27!

Hey Music Fans!!! Come to my next show,
Tuesday, March 27.
Davey G and the Keyboard LIVE!
At the Sidebar Tavern
218 E. Lexington Street - Baltimore, MD 21202

With
Mr. Moccasin
and
Lebanon (from Tel Aviv)
7 bucks, (9 if yer under 21)
Doors at 9, show at 9:30 (I'm opening!), and they tell me they mean it, so
come early, or die trying.

http://www.sidebartavern.com/shows.html

http://www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Early News of the Davey G CD Release

The Davey G and the Keyboard CD release is officially on, scheduled for Saturday, November 10. It’s a long way away, the theory being that giving my songs time to settle in to the public consciousness will make it all the sweeter for the fans when the album actually comes out. Also, it will give me time to play the songs out live and see if they work. And time to write and throw away songs. Time to do an album cover. Time to heal, and move in to my new studio (very soon!).
Many more details coming…for now, just forget about it, and come to the show at the Sidebar on March 27.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Very Exciting News!

(photos by Alex J.)

The first 5 songs for the new album, Chairman of the Keyboard, have been recorded! There’s a long way to go, but we’re hoping for a November release, maybe at a real place.

Thursday, in the remains of the snow we had a few days earlier, which makes parking and getting around more difficult, I brought my stuff and a case of beer to Alex’s and got to work.

Now, hopefully very soon, I will put a new song up on my site for all the world to hear, probably “Handshake,” which those of you who have been to my last two shows have heard but others haven’t. I also have “Bad Posture,” which came out better than expected, with a lot of impotent rage coming through on a screaming background track. It’s coming along well.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Early Announcement for Next Show!

Save the Date:
Tuesday, March 27
Davey G and the Keyboard With Lebanon (Tel Aviv!)
at the Sidebar, 218 E. Lexington Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202
Doors at 9, bands at 9:30.

My first show since December, assuming nothing else comes up, and also my first opportunity to play new songs live. I’m excited to play this club--I feel like there is a void since the Talking Head closed shop, and maybe this place is ripe to fill it. It’s at least fortunate that it is only a block from where TH was.

http://www.sidebartavern.com/shows.html


www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Re: Talking Head Closing, last post

One more letter about the city paper’s awful, asshole-ish treatment of the Talking Head Club owner was printed today. Here it is.

Unless someone else writes a really good letter, I will now move on from this subject--I just felt it was really important that everybody see the response to this "article."

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Re: Talking Head Closing

City Paper published some of the feedback about this Talking Head Club smearjob of last week, which I wrote about on 1/6.
Here's the link to the letters page.
http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=13122


www.daveygandthekeyboard.com