The Big News - Anthems

After much ado, and years and years and years of record industry crap, personal crises, financial troubles, neglect, and good old fashioned procrastination, I am extremely excited to announce that very soon, my third full-length record Anthems will finally be released. I know, I know, you've heard it before...but in truth, my longtime bass player, collaborator and good buddy Frogs is at work mixing the record at this very moment*, leaving only mastering before the record's arrival.

[* - note, Frogs might not actually be mixing "at this very moment".  There's actually a good chance that at this very moment he's doing something else, such as feeding his cats, trimming his mohawk, watching Battlestar Gallactica reruns, or eating Otter Pops.  The point is, he's mixing the record and soon it'll be done.]

As many of you know, the original plan WAAAY back in 2008 was to make my two follow-up records to Welcome to the Danger Show and release them more less together (as much as six months apart), those being my Americana record, Beneath a Balcony, and then its rock n roll cousin, Anthems.  It did not come to pass.  Some delays were my fault, and many others weren't, but suffice to say, once Beneath a Balcony arrived in 2009, it took two years for it to be widely available online, and Anthems never arrived at all.  This is why I'm so excited that you'll all soon be able to hear the record, which contains many of the best songs I've ever written (in my humble opinion.)  If you lived in Los Angeles between 2007 and 2009, and caught any of the Dead Messengers' live shows at Bordello, the Mint, Hotel Cafe, or elsewhere, there's a chance you know and love many of these songs.  "Typewriter" and "Song For E" especially were staples of the live set during those days with the band.  Both appear on Anthems as well as a slew of other songs which will be new to you, but which I'm sure you'll love.

Also, for the occasion of the record's release, I took the liberty of making several "Teaser-Trailer" style videos to spread the word about the release of the record.  There's a good chance that the release of one or more of these videos are what led you here to this post in the first place.  The first trailer, using the music from a new track off Anthems entitled "Oh Lily" hit the internet today. Enjoy, and stay tuned for news and updates, including but not limited to: the official release date of Anthems, more teaser-trailer videos, the debut of the first music video for a track off Anthems, and information on shows.  Thanks for listening.

Happy Birthday to Me & Other News

Hi there folks, I've been decidedly under the radar the past few months, getting settled in my new home of Buffalo, NY, working on an old house, and generally decompressing from 25,000 miles of touring last year.  While I do hope to be back at there singing for you soon, the next few months are going to be for some writing and recording, mainly.  I still hope to release my third record Anthems sometime this year, and book a tour in support of it, but we're still a little ways off.

In the meantime, I wanted to tell you all about two very special events coming in the next month.  On April 9th, I turn 30 years old, and I've decided to celebrate with a big show in New York City at The Living Room.  If you've never been to this venue, it's excellent - perhaps the single best venue to see me play a solo show in the whole country.  That's on Saturday, April 9th at 8pm, with complete info to to be found in the "TOUR" section.

Well once I posted the birthday show, I heard from a few disgruntled Los Angeles folks about how my big blow-out is in New York City and they haven't gotten a show since August and "WTF?".  So I decided I better throw a little West Coast shindig as well.  It's technically 20 days after my birthday, but what the hell, let's call it a (slightly belated) 30th Birthday Extravaganza. That will be Friday, April 29th at the Trip in Santa Monica. The show is at 9PM and more detailed info can be found in the "TOUR" section.

Aside from that, there have been a few new music videos posted on the You Tube page, for "This Won't Last" and "Run Like Hell".  A video for "Complete" will be up in the next few weeks as well.  

See you soon I hope, and thanks for listening,

 

Marc

Thanks to All

Hello there.  Please start off by reading this blog post regarding my year of touring, including some heartfelt thanks:

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Every time anyone puts an album out, they always try to have a lengthy “Thanks” section to everyone who helped make an album possible.  Of course there is a huge cast of characters that help an album come to fruition, but I’d argue that even more love and generosity is needed for successful tours to happen - ESPECIALLY when they’re of the DIY variety.

I sincerely hope to get my third album, Anthems released in 2011, but I didn’t want 2010 to expire without giving some appreciation to some of the folks who helped me survive on tour for 4 of the 12 months this year.  So please take a moment and read my sincere TOUR thanks for the time I’ve spent on the road this past year:

Thanks to:

Ben De La Cour, Mika Revell, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Amza Moglan, Jason Krangel, Shay Godwin, Thai Long Ly, Larry Cohen, Misty & David in Oklahoma, Marc Nuttle, Sylvia (& Chacho) in San Antonio, Chet & Cindy Harum, Jeff & Judy Harum, Rob & Sarah Leifer and Justin Siegel (who housed me for my 6 weeks back in L.A. with nowhere to live), Bert DiViterbo, Ryan Dishen, Michelle Martello & Joe Galanek, Mike & Michelle Schoenholtz, Michael & Rachel King, Anne, Tracy, The entire Olsen Family (of Logan,UT and beyond), Amelia (for the bgv), Brock DeShane, Driftwood, Emerick, Mimi & Harold, Roni Page, Colleen Doherty, Kristin Flammio, Gina Flammio (& esteemed roommates), Madani, Al Hubbard, Mitch Daniels, Luke Hanlin, Cheryl & Benny, Jonathan Bender, The Royce Family (of Cincinnati), Patrick Wilson, Pat Hanlin (for always making Boston great), Jugghead Band, The Shills, Sidehatch Entertainment, Ben Maitland-Lewis, Chris at Spice Street, Casey Stone, Val & Gary Basciano Sr., Clay & Ashley, Gary Jr., Alecia, Bill Villany, Shawn Sugrue, Brian Moskin, Giulio Carmassi & the rest of the NYC/CT gang,  Stacy, Vito Basciano (& esteemed roommates), The Ethnographers, my faithful booking agent Alanna McKeever, my manager Adham Hunt, Morgan & Jeff Zuehlke, The Bell Family, The Vincent Family, Phil Schrieber, Fox Ellipsis, Eddie Simon & Christina Ballstaedt, Tyler Hicks (for coming through again and again as booking agent, promoter and friend), the whole Shreveport family, Caroline, my dad, and my mom (who personally designed AND silk-screened the handsome t-shirts I sold on tour.)

A special thanks to Mandy, who saw more shows than anyone while I was on my fall tour (4 in all) and Alexis, who traveled to shows in MD, PA, and TN, Kate & Britton Carr for hosting a house concert in MD, and Abby for keeping me alive & mostly sane through an inspiring but often difficult September/October/November of touring.

Of course thanks to EVERYONE who saw the shows, bought CDs, books, and T-shirts, and filled tip jars and made this year possible.

Lastly, to the fans - many friends but many strangers - who made a point to come up to me at shows, share their stories and their scars and tell me how important my music is to them: I cannot say you are all the reason why I got into this business, but I can promise that YOU are the reason I don’t quit.  Your support means everything and I humbly thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Fall Tour - Dates Announced

I'm excited to announce the following tour dates to close out 2010:

 

9/17/10 - San Francisco, CA - The Red Vic

9/18/10 - Mountain View, CA - Red Rock Coffee Co.

9/19/10 - Oakland, CA - Mama Buzz Cafe

9/21/10 -  Portland, OR - Alberta St. Pub

9/22/10 - Seattle, WA - Tost Lounge

9/24/10 - Victoria, BC - The Sunset Room

9/25/10 - Everett, WA - Anchor Pub

9/26/10 - Spokane, WA - Empyrean

9/27/10 - Boise, ID - Liquid Lounge

9/28/10 - Logan, UT - Why Sound

9/29/10 - Casper, WY - Metro Coffee Co.

9/30/10 - Boulder, CO - The Laughing Goat

10/02/10 - Wichita, KS - Poetic Justice

10/04/10 - Omaha, NE - University of Nebraska-Omaha

10/06/10 - Milwaukee, WI - Bad Genie Rock Lounge 

10/08/10 - Chicago, IL - Miska's Bar

10/09/10 -  Indianapolis, IN - Vollrath Tavern

10/10/10 - Cincinnati, OH - Leo Coffeehouse

10/11/10 - Lexington, KY - Cosmic Charlie's

10/12/10 - Columbus, OH - Slapsy Maxie's

10/13/10 - Toledo, OH - The Distillery

10/14/10 - Ann Arbor, MI - Crazy Wisdom Tea Room

10/15/10 - Toronto, ON - The Dakota

10/19/10 - Brooklyn, NY - Goodbye Blue Monday

10/20/10 - Cambridge, MA - All Asia

10/21/10 - Charlestown, MA - Sidehatch Manor

10/22/10 - York, ME - Blue Sky

10/24/10 - New York, NY - Parkside Lounge

10/25/10 -  New York, NY - Angels & Kings

10/27/10 - Philadelphia, PA - The Raven Lounge

10/28/10 - Hoboken, NJ - Northern Soul

10/29/10 - College Park, MD - House Concert 

10/30/10 - Greenville, NC - Tipsy Teapot

11/02/10 - Columbia, SC - The White Mule

11/03/10 - Atlanta, GA - The Five Spot

11/04/10 - Decatur, GA - Java Monkey

11/05/10 - Nashville, TN - The Reverb Room (Hard Rock Cafe)

11/06/10 - Chapmansboro, TN - Fall Festival @ Owen Farm

11/07/10 - Memphis, TN - Java Cabana

11/09/10 - Tupelo, MS - Papa's Place Lounge

11/10/10 - Birmingham, AL - Grey Bar

11/13/10 - Shreveport, LA - Bear's Place 

11/14/10 - Shreveport, LA - Hicks Wedding

11/15/10 - Norman, OK - Othello's

11/16/10 - Dallas, TX - Opening Bell

 

 

Updates

Hi there. I realized I'd blogged a bit and tweeted a lot, but not actually given a News update in quite some time. 

TOUR

I spent the summer on the road, opening at first for the Thomas Ian Nicholas Band on dates all the way from L.A. to Traverse City, Michigan and back again. After those three weeks, I didn't even make it home before my own tour began with Ben De La Cour supporting.  That went through the south, with dates as far east as Shreveport and New Orleans.  All in all it was a great summer full of shows, new friends and a ton of highway miles.

I've only been back in Venice since the end of July, and I'm only here another 3-4 weeks before my fall tour starts - a tour which, by comparison, makes the summer of touring look small.  Starting with September 17th in San Francisco and ending with November 20th in New Orleans, I'll be out there on the road for over two solid months.  We're talking 60+ shows in 40 states, and I'm doing it all alone.  But then again, I won't ever be TRULY alone, because I'll be seeing so many friendly faces, old and new, while I'm out there.  I want yours to be one of them, so be sure to check the TOUR page and see when I'm coming to your area.  Odds are, I'll be there at some point in September, October, or November.  Folks in Alaska and Hawaii and North Dakota and a few other places will just have to wait.

MERCH

The STORE page of the website is in the midst of undergoing some changes.  The main reason?  I've got merch!  Finally.   Those of you who caught one my shows on the summer tours knows that I'm now selling a copy of my book, Dangerous Music off the merch table as well as some Beneath a Balcony t-shirts.  Those both sold out mid-tour, and I'll have more for the fall tours - but I'm also going to start offering the book, the t-shirts and some brand-new Welcome to the Danger Show t-shirts for sale right HERE at cogman.com. 

All the shirts are home-made silk-screened jobs.  Think LIMITED EDITION, because it's the truth.  And both t-shirts were designed by my mom.  So that's cool too.  In fact, I loved the new logo for the Danger Show shirt so much, I had it tattoed on my forearm last week (sorry, Mom). 

I'm hoping to have even more goodies up there for sale later, but expect the shirts and the books to be ready for shipping by next week.  Again: that's on the STORE page.

L.A. "FAREWELL (FOR NOW)" SHOW

Finally, I wanted to make special mention of the show coming up in just a few days at The Mint in Los Angeles on Monday, August 23rd at 9pm.  As the tour will take me out of town until the end of 2010, this is a farewell of sorts.  The truth is, I'm on the road so much now, that I no longer keep a place to live in L.A.  I've spent the break between the summer & fall tours couching it at friends' places.  So, in short, I'm leaving L.A. for quite a while and I can't say for certain when I'll be back.  Maybe December.  Maybe 2011.  Maybe later?  I don't know. 

This show at the Mint was planned, in part to be a sort of "end of an era" celebration.  There's a couple guys, namely Steve McDonald and Frogs, who've been members of my backing band, the Dead Messengers, for over 3 years now.  I'd love to take them on tour with me, but it's just not in the realm of possibility right now.  So this is a bit of a goodbye.  At the Mint on Monday, they'll join me with two other Dead Messengers, Justin Siegel on drums (who's logged many hours as a member of the band), and a gorgeous fresh face on keys and background vocals, Heather Fogarty. 

If you want to see me with the band, be there!  Because it'll be solo shows for quite a while from here on out.

Monday, 8/23/10 @ The Mint - Pico & Crescent Heights in L.A. - 9pm.  I hope to see you.

That's all for now.  Thanks for listening.

Have Guitar, Will Travel

When I was just a lower-case g, 2010 was that year that seemed to mean THE FUTURE.  It was just wild enough, just far enough away.  My hyper-active artistic older brother Bryan used to draw comic books; he made one where we all got in a time machine and went to THE FUTURE and 2010 was naturally the destination.  This was probably 1986 or 1987 and so his vision of how things would be were understandably off.  I mean, we had the flying cars, naturally.  That one never happened. I think my little brother Clay was running for president with my cousin Melissa as his running mate.  Never mind that Clay's only 26 in 2010 (and that's not an election year.)  I think Bryan had me as a baseball star or something.

Anyway, here in THE FUTURE, the one without flying cars and where my little brother has no hope of carrying New Hampshire, it seems all I've ever wanted was for summer to come around and to climb in the van and go, go, go.  And it would seem in 2010 my wish has been granted. 

I'll be embarking on an especially ambitious schedule of touring over the next six months, going to places I haven't been in awhile and a truckload more to which I've never been before.  I've been wanting for a long time now to stop fussing around with music bizness as we've known it and just take the music to the people, the old-fashioned way: on stage.

First, I'll pop up to Atascadero and San Francisco for just a few shows with Ben De La Cour, June 11-14th.  Then the real fun begins when I join Thomas Ian Nicholas and his band for dates in Nevada, Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, and more, from June 20th to July 8th.  Just as that tour winds back toward the west, I'll hop off in Arizona and hop on my own tour (again with Ben De La Cour supporting) which runs through Phoenix, El Paso, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Shreveport, New Orleans, Ft. Worth, Dallas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and back to Arizona and California, from July 9th through July 24th.

That July tour will also feature my old filmmaker friends, Papoose Moose and the Mad Romanian "Loose Shutter".  They'll be filming the journey for their documentary (which also contains footage from our March/April trip up the left coast.)

After some time off in August, another tour, even bigger and better, will kickoff in September and carry on to Thankgiving, but I'll tell you all about that later.  In the meantime, visit the TOUR page and find out when I'm cruising on fumes into your town.  I can't wait.

love and highway miles,

Marc

Kick It For Kenya - Charity Show

A quick note to promote a charity event I'm playing this Friday night, June 4th in West Hollywood.  A good friend of mine took a trip to Kenya that changed her life.  By the time she'd returned, she'd started a great organization for girls in one of the many AIDS orphanages.  There's more info on the Tour page.  It's a short set, but it'll be my last in Los Angeles for awhile.  If you're available, come on down!

Summer Tour - Dates Announced

I'm pleased to announce my Summer 2010 Tour Dates. I'll see you out there:

6/11/10 - Atascadero, CA - Last Stage West

6/12/10 - San Francisco, CA - Velo Rouge Cafe

6/13/10 - San Francisco, CA - San Francisco Free Folk Festival

6/20/10 - Las Vegas, NV - Blue Martini Lounge

6/22/10 - Denver, CO - Paris on the Platte

6/23/10 - Omaha, NE - McFoster's Natural Kind Cafe

6/24/10 - Overland Park, KS - Intentions

6/25/10 - Palos Heights, IL - Trio Bar

6/27/10 - Chicago, IL - 3rd Coast Cafe

6/29/10 - Des Moines, IA - People's On Court

7/01/10 - Chicago, IL - Social 25

7/02/10 - Chicago, IL - Pony Bar

7/03/10 - Traverse City, MI - Streeter's

7/04/10 - Lake George, IL - Georgio's

7/06/10 - Oklahoma City, OK - Dan O'Brien's Public House

7/07/10 - Albuquerque, NM - Hallenbrick Brewery

7/08/10 - Scottsdale, AZ - Chaser's

7/09/10 - Phoenix, AZ - Fiddler's Dream

7/10/10 - El Paso, TX - The Percolator

7/12/10 - San Marcos, TX - Wake the Dead Coffeehouse

7/13/10 - Austin, TX - Headhunters

7/14/10 - Katy, TX - Dunn Bros. Coffee

7/15/10 - Shreveport, LA - Fatty Arbuckle's

7/16/10 - Shreveport, LA - Strange Brew

7/18/10 - New Orleans, LA - Circle Bar

7/19/10 - Ft. Worth, TX - The Aardvark

7/20/10 - Dallas, TX - Absinthe Lounge

7/21/10 - Norman, OK - Othello's

7/22/10 - Albuquerque, NM - Hallenbrick Brewery

7/23/10 - Cave Creek, AZ - Horny Toad

7/24/10 - San Diego, CA - Park Gallery

8/01/10 - Santa Monica, CA - The Trip

On the Green (Sometimes Grey) Northwest

...and up the coast we went.  Myself behind the wheel, flying down the interstate towards the great adventure.  Ben De La Cour sat shotgun, finger-picking an acoustic guitar across his lap.  In the back, rolling film and sound, the Mad Romanian Loose Shutter and the Papoose Moose of Jersey.  Together we rumbled into San Francisco.

Our first night we slept in the car in the Haight after drinks in an upstairs watering hole.  Ben swore he saw the ghosts of the 60's, long skirts swishing down on the sidewalk.  We had beautiful sunshine the next day, digging the green of Golden Gate park.  Down on Arguello we played our songs and met lots of good folks.  Then further north we traveled.

In Oregon the skies turned grey and cold.  We bunked in Bend and then kicked around Portland, my orphaned home away from home.  My old professor-cum editor-cum pen pal Martello invited us in, gave us hot coffee and a warm couch, and we reminisced about ten years gone.  In the shadow of snowy Mt. Hood we played again in a little roadhouse along route 27.  

Then it was Seattle and the wind and the rain.  I reconnected with old friends and met new ones, and in the early morning we bid goodbye to the Papoose Moose, called home on a big jetliner to the Garden State.  Now just three, we headed south again.

In a big old house in Berkley we caught our breath, played Oakland and San Francisco and snaked toward the rocky coast.  The waves crashed loud through the rocks at Big Sur, and along the highway, Loose Shutter, our Mad Romanian pointed his lens skyward and caught the wide wings of California Condors, swooping down along the cliffs.

We ate barbeque in Atascadero and hit the stage for the last time, songs familiar beneath our fingers.  Finally home again, I slept and slept.  It was easter sunday, and I was grateful.

Here in Venice I appreciate the sunshine and the twelve month spring.  Papoose Moose came back to town.  He and the Mad Romanian Loose Shutter showed us the film - beautiful panoramas of the great Northwest.  And before long the palaver begun, how to extend the adventure, how to heat it up and make it burn even longer.

In July, we four will climb back in the wagon and this time head south and west.  There won't be any snow or wind or cold, just sunlight and heat and dust.  We'll run through the desert, through Texas, down as for as the swamps of New Orleans and then cut north, find route 66 and head west again.  

Here in Venice I appreciate the sunshine and the twelve month spring and the turquoise waves lapping.  But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't already jonesing for the long straight road east.  We'll be there soon.

In the meantime there's music to be heard here, in my home city.  The Dead Messengers will even turn up for a full-scale rocknroll extravaganza on Cinco de Drinko.  More to come, always. More, more, more.

thanks for listening,

MMC

Summer Tours

The West Coast tour was awesome. Thanks to all who made it so.  With the new album in a bit of a holding pattern for the time being, the focus for the summer of 2010 is on shows, shows, shows.

First off, there's a unique show coming up in a few days at Trip in Santa Monica.  This is a "songwriters in the round" show on Sunday, April 25th at 8:15pm.  This show is a "Storytellers" event, so you'll not only get to hear a bunch of great songs, but also the STORIES behind them (here's hint: they're about girls).

Then on May 5th, I'll be performing full-band with the Dead Messengers in support of my good friend Thom Nicholas.  This is the CD Release event for Thom's band.  Come down for Cinco-De-Drinko at Molly Malone's on Fairfax.  That's Wednesday, May 5th, with more details on the Shows page.

Just three days later, I'll be playing a solo acoustic date in Huntington Beach at Gallagher's Pub, again in support of the Thomas Nicholas Band.  I'll be kicking the show off at 9, and if you come for my set (or anytime before 10pm, you'll get in FREE OF CHARGE.  Again, more details on the SHOWS page.

In mid May, there's talk of a couple of Portland, Oregon area shows being booked.  This trip may or may not happen, but if it does, you'll find the details here at www.cogman.com  The dates would most likely be the weekend of May 15th-17th.

In June, I'll be heading up to the Bay area again with my favorite touring buddy, Ben De La Cour.  We'll be playing three dates.  Friday June 11, at Last Stage West in Atascadero, Saturday, June 12 at the Velo Rouge in San Francisco and finally Sunday, June 13 at the San Francisco Free Folk Festival.  This will be a lot of fun, so if you're a Bay-Area local, be sure to come down.  And yes there's more info at......the Shows page!

Finally, I'm most excited to announce my first comprehensive tour of the great Southwest.  Ben De La Cour and I will be hitting the road for two weeks, and stops are planned in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.  I'll be posting the dates as they're confirmed, but they'll more than likely occur between July 9 - July 24th.  We're really excited, and you should be too.

More news soon!

West Coast Tour w/Ben De La Cour

Hello everyone: 

Thanks to everyone who supported at the Bordello, Cafe Muse, and surprise Bloomingdales shows.  With those out of the way, I'd like to make another announcement about my upcoming tour with Ben De La Cour.  In less than a week, we'll head up the coast for shows in California, Oregon and Washington, and we'd love to see you there.  Info at the shows page, and below:

2010 WEST COAST TOUR (w/ Ben De La Cour)

Wed. 3/24/10 - Cafe Cordiale - Sherman Oaks, CA - 9:30pm (Marc only)

Fri. 3/26/10 - The Red Vic Peace Cafe - San Francisco, CA - 7pm (Ben only)

Sat. 3/27/10 - Velo Rouge Cafe - San Francisco, CA - 7pm

Mon. 3/29/10 - The Inn Between - Welches, OR - 5pm

Tue. 3/30/10 - Tost Lounge - Seattle, WA - 10pm

Thurs. 4/1/10 - Mama Buzz Cafe - Oakland, CA - 6:30pm

Fri. 4/2/10 - The Red Vic Peace Cafe - San Francisco, CA - 7pm (Marc only)

Sat. 4/3/10 - Last Stage West BBQ - Atascadero, CA - 6pm

COME CHECK OUT THE TOUR AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS TOO!!!

Shows, Shows, Shows

Thanks to everyone who made Feb. 21st at Good Hurt a special night.  It was great to have the Dead Messengers on stage together again.  We'll look to do some more full band shows later in the year.  In the meantime, there are tons of new dates on the calendar all along the west coast. 

First, I'm doing two events in early March you should know about.  March 7th I'm playing a fundraiser for my alma mater, the Masters of Professional Writing Program at USC.  The show is at one of my favorite venues in town, Bordello in Downtown LA.  My good friend Ben De La Cour will be opening. 

Then on Friday evening, March 12, I'm playing the most intimate of shows with another great friend, Elena, at Cafe Muse in Hollywood.  If you came to the Feb. 21st show you'll remember Elena singing a few songs with Giulio just prior to my set.  This is my first time playing down at Cafe Muse and I'm looking forward to it.

Later in the month, I'll be teaming up with the good folks at Hollowbody L.A. to a do a show at Cafe Cordiale in Sherman Oaks on March 24th.  This is a famed musician hangout and jam spot right on Ventura Blvd. with free parking and NO COVER.  Definitely come check this show out.

Finally the biggest news is my west coast tour with the aformentioned Ben De La Cour.  Ben and I met at our show at Trip in Santa Monica on January 3rd, and we immediately clicked.  We decided to throw together a week's worth of west coast dates, and I'm happy to say it's been booked.  There will no doubt be lots of promotion of the tour itself that will pop up over the next month, but I'll go ahead and give you the official schedule now as well:

Saturday, March 27 - Velo Rouge Cafe - San Francisco, CA

Monday, March 29 - Muddywaters - Portland, OR

Tuesday, March 30 - Tost Lounge - Seattle, WA

Thursday, April 1 - Mama Buzz Cafe - Oakland, CA

Friday, April 2 - The Red Vic Peace Cafe - San Francisco, CA

Saturday, April 3 - Last Stage West - Atascadero, CA

We hope to see you in one of these cities!  I'll keep you posted on all the events as they come closer, as well as more tour news. 

On Jack Kerouac, Ben De La Cour, and Seasonal Wanderlust

I had a friend in high school a little ahead of his time.  Read On the Roadbefore everybody else, that is to say.  Wanted to get out there and see the Country. Big C.  He wanted to drive the Highways. Even had a friend or two convinced to do it too.  I hung back.  I wasn't quite ready for that.  But it wasn't too long after I developed my own unquenchable thirst to move. Town to town.  I did it first from Boston to Los Angeles in 2001, and back again.  Then again a summer later.  I went to see girls, I went to play shows, I just went.  I loved it.  Being in a different place every day.

I still do.

It's been the bad running joke of my solo career that I've done so much recording and spent so little time touring.  There have been a myriad bunch of reasons behind this fact, mostly coincidence and bad luck.  But nevertheless, the days are coming when I'll no doubt grow tired the path unfolding and will long for a lazy day in Venice. 

I met an old soul named Ben De La Cour from Brooklyn by way of Havana and London.  He's a whole different story and you'll come to know him soon, but let's just say for now that troubled minds think alike.  He and I decided to fire up the old engine again and speed off north, plucking our guitars along the way.  And so we embark on the first little tour of 2010, towards the great Northwest, a place that's never been home to me but has always felt as though it should be. 

The journey unfolds beginning the twenty-sixth of this month.  We're going to get the highway miles, and spend some time with good folks all along the way.  Join the party when we come to your town. All the info's up on other facets of this, my world wide website. 

Thanks for listening,

MMC

Upon the launch of my (last) new website - Cogman.com

I've never been fluent in the digital tongue of my generation.  Ones and zeros and other technical jargon.  I see this stuff fly by with the same dumb "O" shaped mouth of wow as when the aeroplanes take off over my head driving down Sepulveda Blvd.  I can't grasp it. Never have.  

But commerce in this the 21st century implores us to do the best we can, to carve the code and fiberoptic wire into somewhere useful, somewhere colorful and magical filled with content, content, content to entertain the masses and MOVE UNITS!!!!

Long story short (too late), this is the place it all comes to be.  The meeting point between all my old comfy secret handshakes and smoke signals and the blinking, bleeping 3-D horologium of wonder that many of my contemporaries may offer up at www.wherever.

Kapeesh?

Anyone clever enough to sit in front of a home computer device ought to have no trouble finding out what's where.  There's News for sure, all laid out in layman's terms.  And a place called Shows to direct you to our next sit-in jamboree extravaganza.  There's Music, both for listening and reading the words that go along to the tunes, and Photos for looking at.  You can even find out where to Buy the CD or Contact my astute representation.  You can sign up for more goodness in the Guestbook, find Links to more world wide websites of relevant material, or even go Home to where the Tweets come to roost.  

It's all up to you really!  Choose your own adventure!  And don't be afraid to stop by here and see the Stuff Marc Says.  I don't know how often I'll say it, but often enough.  

Welcome to my own personal pit-stop on the information super-highway.  The interweb, if you will.  The "net".  Like in that Sandra Bullock movie.  

Enjoy.

-MMC