RobsBlog

Early December '10 Update

2010-12-01T13:45:00.000-08:00

Another ten months has gone by. Can you believe it? It’s been a bit of a crazy year. I wrote earlier about wanting to “be productive” but in retrospect it seems like I was just trying to get my life in order: job hunting, moving (again), barely getting by financially. I wondered if I was going to stay here in Harrisonburg, Virginia (where I’d been planning to move since 2000) or move to North Carolina. In August I lost my 16-year-old cat-daughter, Chia, and on November 3 I lost my father to cancer.

But everything happens for a reason, I guess. The news in September that Dad’s cancer had taken an irreversible turn prompted me to find a cheaper place to live, which has reduced my stress level considerably. Chia passing away meant that I could actually get that cheaper apartment. And I was telling a friend today that I’ve felt stronger and more focused since my dad has passed. Perhaps he’s up there giving me guidance and strength.

Stay tuned for updates on new recordings and live dates, God willing.

Best Of Both Worlds + Work

2010-02-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

I keep having this recurring dream that I’m back in my hometown of Ferndale, California, and wanting to move back into my old house. I think this was partially triggered by hearing that it was up for sale several months back. I’m always at my current age and actually there at the house looking in. In some dreams I actually get to move in. In others I don’t because I can’t afford it or someone else is moving in.

Another recurring dream I have is that I’m back in the Navy and back on my old ship, a huge aircraft carrier, and am getting ready to go out to sea for a long cruise. Most of the guys I was in with are there again and I’m terribly excited.

Both of these dreams feel happy. I often wake up feeling stressed out that I’m back here in the present day, with all of my present day worries. In those days my wonderful Ferndale Grandma was still alive and vital. My dad was young and his battle with cancer was still years and years away. I had no debt. In the Navy I had free meals, health care, and plenty of spending money. In both cases I was young and had everything ahead of me.

But here’s something interesting about those dreams. They both take place in the present day, when I’m at my present age, and I have my present possessions and accomplishments. I hadn’t really thought about the significance of this when I started writing four paragraphs ago, but I do think it’s significant.

Ferndale is a beautiful place and I have many fond memories of living there, but I also have to remember that when I was growing up and living with my father I felt terribly isolated, insecure, out of place, and out of touch. My dad could be terribly overbearing. I didn’t have a car, which is a must in all but the biggest cities of America. In retrospect, I see I didn’t know much about the world out there. I didn’t know about art. I didn’t know I wanted to play music; I feel if I had those years would have been much easier and more fun.

The closest major city to Ferndale is San Francisco, 300 miles away, which now is a fairly easy trip (especially with friends in the Bay Area to crash with – thanks Brian & Erica!). Hell, it’s a fairly easy trip for me from Harrisonburg, VA – drive to DC, hop a plane, and you’re there – compared to my teenage days when it might as well have been across the ocean.

And the Navy… I hated the Navy when I was in. When we went out to sea we slept in cramped quarters. We worked from 7 am until 8 pm (though I have to acknowledge that I was very lucky to land in a division that didn’t have to work nearly as hard as most). There were no women on board. Sometimes we didn’t get mail, our only form of contact with people in the outside world, for days. Finally, I didn’t have much use or appreciation for military structure and discipline.

So I dream of going back to a Ferndale where I have my car, my instruments, my music collection, my books, my internet. I’m friends with my father. He’s not someone who restricts me in any way. I dream of a Navy cruise with women on board, my MacBook, my iPod, email, and internet. In both dreams, the Navy and Ferndale, the people who were there at the time are still there. I’ve grown, they’re pretty much as they are in my memory.

In doing this bit of self-analysis, I think what I’m dreaming of is to have the best of both worlds. Then I had no debt and did have health insurance, friends, evenings and weekends off, and security. Now I have a car, different friends, a fabulous music & book collection, all of the musical gear I need, and the freedom of being an adult. I’m in an area of the country where I want to be, I’ve got my degree, my debt’s coming down, and, WITH WORK, a good job will come. I guess that’s what I want… a good job. After all, that’s why I went back to school in 2003 and got my degree. That “good job” will over time take care of the debt, let me have insurance, and will give me security.

***

Ah… “with work”. With work I’ll get and keep a good job. With work I’ll be playing shows again. With work I’ll finally record another album. With work I’ll get myself into good shape again. Work doesn’t have to be grueling or exhausting. In fact, if you want to get anything done over a long haul, it’s better if it’s not exhausting. You need to pace yourself. Haruki Murakami, the writer, says you need to work to the point of feeling like you can do just a little more, but stop there, so you have energy to go on tomorrow. Woody Allen says 90% of success is just showing up. Writer and Podcaster Mur Lafferty calls it “butt in the chair time.”

Time to go to work.

Productivity

2010-01-19T08:57:00.000-08:00

I’m not sure what I want to write about. I just know I want to put up a blog post. That’s sort of a resolution this year; to be more productive. I’ve always had lots of ideas, but I haven’t necessarily felt like executing them. Things seem to get in the way, including, very often, my own “I don’t feel like it right now” brand of laziness. Not that I haven’t been busy. But, yeah, a goal is to be more productive: To record more songs, to blog more, to play more shows, to be more active online in promoting my music / art.

“Promoting my music / art.” Ugh. That’s something I have a love / hate relationship with. It feels weird to say, “listen to me”, and even worse to say, “buy my stuff.” But that is, of course, one of the goals. On the other hand as Jim Shelley (www.bookofkills.com) said to me years ago, "If you don’t care about your music or art, why should you expect anyone else to?" Very wise. I think of that when I'm feeling self-conscious.

So for the last week I’ve been busy. If you’ve stopped by my music website (and please do!), www.robchristensen.com, you’ll notice a lot more content. Most of my songs are now up and available for streaming and, for a limited time, free download. I plan to have them all up soon. Most songs also have lyrics attached. There are also some new photographs posted. And RobsBlog has a new baby brother, a “Rob Christensen Setlists” blog. http://robchristensensetlists.blogspot.com/. I’ve only got two shows up at this point, but more will be up soon.

So that’s what’s been happening. As I said above, I’ve got lots of ideas and lots of plans. However, I read recently on Derek Sivers’ blog, http://sivers.org/, that you shouldn’t announce things before you complete them, because merely announcing something satisfies some sort of internal driver to the point that you sort of feel like you completed your goal simply by announcing the goal. So I won’t. I’ve got ideas, I’ve got plans, and I’ve got dreams. I’ve also managed to get some things done, which you can see via the links in the previous paragraph.

More soon? Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

Rob C.

A Year Goes By So Quickly!

2009-10-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

I apologize, once again, for being a little quiet. It’s actually been a very busy time for me in several ways, albeit not musically. Things change. Change is good.

The biggest change is that I’ve moved, finally, to Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. I’ve been planning this move, off and on, since 2000, but one thing or another has kept me from making the move until now.

I just about wrote “one thing or another has held me back,” but the things I experienced during that time – living in Portland, OR, returning to college & getting my teaching credential, working in a busy bookstore while living in Washington, DC – were all extremely worthwhile. Everything has its time and place.

But now I’m in Harrisonburg (formerly known as “Rocktown”, which I think is great), ready to settle down after this tumultuous decade that was the naughts. “Settle Down?” you ask. Yep. I went back to school to be an elementary school teacher; it’s time to teach. As I rapidly approach middle age, things like a decent salary, health insurance, retirement savings, and a steady schedule are very appealing to me.

Ironically, perhaps, I think that settling down will help my music, my art. I think back to the nineties, when I was most productive, and I realize that it was a time when I had a decent job and stability. I lived in the same flat for ten years and worked the same job for thirteen. I was in a position where the basics were taken care of. When I wasn’t at my day job, I was free to be creative. Apparently, life-stress invigorates some artists. It freezes me. Stops me cold. I don’t invite my muse over for an evening ‘cos I’m too busy worrying about paying the bills.

Interestingly, to me at least, these thoughts echo advice in the recently released book, “Ignore Everyone.” It’s by the man behind the blog gapingvoid.com, Hugh MacLeod. I was turned on to his book after writing the majority of this entry. Hugh argues that it sucks to be poor, that when you have to start depending on your art to put food on the table your art is compromised, and that more than likely not very many people will care about your art anyway, so do it for yourself and don’t worry about pleasing people. It’s an argument I wish I would’ve heard years ago, but I’m not sure I would’ve listened.

It’s still going to be awhile before I’m settled and ready to get down to making and playing music. I need that teaching job. I need to get my finances under control. I need to feel a bit more secure. (Wanna help? Head over to iTunes or CDBaby & pay me the ultimate compliment by buying some of my music! ‘Course I’ll still love you if you don’t. Times are tight and it’s not like I’ve given you anything new for a while.)

That said, I do have at least six songs written and ready to record. One, “All That Shines,” was played in rough take 1 form on The Homemade Hit Show podcast last year. It goes to show that even though I haven’t invited my muse over, she still finds it in her heart to stop by now and then. I have started recording, too, a little bit. I don’t know when the album will be done – late 2010, I’d imagine – but I suspect, and hope, that the upcoming decade will find me more productive and prolific than this one.

Goodbye for now,

Rob

Since August

2008-09-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Sharon -

My how time flies, doesn't it? I didn't realize I hadn't written since I was in North Carolina. Had a great time while there, though I spent too much money. Sometimes you have to do that, though.

The Pylon / Gravel Truck show was great fun. I'd never seen Pylon before, but now that I have I'm cooler than almost everyone. They were great. Turns out I knew everyone in Gravel Truck (Mitch Easter's Let's Active cover band) so it was nice to be able to say hello to various acquaintences. Had some pals in the audience, too. It's cool when you travel around enough that you can know people in many places you go, even if you've never been there before, as was the case in Winston-Salem, where the show was.

Spent several hours with mastering engineer & good friend Jeff Carroll. He listened to some tracks and thought they were recorded pretty well. I'll probably be using his services soon.

Had a show in Alexandria a couple of weeks back. I got to play though my new PA system again. It was a fairly loose show, but I think I played pretty well. Still have a lot of practicing to do to get to the 1999-2001 level.

Next week I'm heading out to California to see the family & friends. I'm also going to be interviewing Matt Boudreau for Tape Op magazine, and will be at the AES show at the Tape Op booth on Saturday and Sunday. That'll be fun & I'll see more music friends.

Sharon, I guess the big news is that for the foreseeable future I'm going to be recording and performing under the name "The Saturday Sound." The reasoning is, to put it succinctly, I never could imagine putting "Rob Christensen" on t-shirts. It always made me uneasy even thinking about it. But "The Saturday Sound" on a t-shirt, button, or bumper sticker... That's another story. That means a new "Saturday Sound" blog is on the way.

Well, better go now.

See you soon!

Rob

North Carolina roadtrip

2008-08-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Sharon -
Just a quickie to tell you that I'm heading down to North Carolina tomorrow morning. I'll be staying in Chapel Hill a few days with studio designer extraordinaire Wes LaChot while I check things out in the area. Right now it's number one on my list of places I want to move to. I'm going to see a few friends, mastering engineer Jeff Carroll and Sound of Singles main man Gerald John. Friday I'm heading to Winston-Salem to see a Pylon reunion show, with Gravel Truck, Mitch Easter's Let's Active cover band opening up. Should be great fun. I should be home late Sunday.
Cheers!
Rob

New York summary

2008-07-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2008

Dear Sharon,

I had a great time in New York. Willy’s reading on Friday was a treat. It was in this cute little bookstore in Brooklyn, “The Word.” Willy was shocked when he saw me – he certainly wasn’t expecting me there. He read from his book, played a couple of songs including an extended version of the middle portion of “Walter’s On The Lamb,” from Post To Wire. Afterward I was tired after having worked the previous night and bussed up to New York, but he and his editor invited me out to a post-reading get together. Drinks were paid for by the book company, which was very nice, and the evening was filled with stimulating conversation with music and book people. I finally made it home at 3 am.

On Saturday I spent the day walking around Manhattan. I started off just north of Times Square, where I spent some $ at the Virgin Megastore (The Idiot, Never A Dull Moment ($5!), and an R.E.M. single) before heading down to Greenwich Village. I wanted to walk all the way – 50+ blocks – so I could get some exercise and see the sights. I’d done this back in ’92. On the way I saw the (in)famous Chelsea Hotel and got a delicious slice of New York pizza. There was plenty of activity in the Village. Lots of people about, an Obama rally, and a couple of street fairs. Found a cool Dylan DVD for $10 at one booth. I ended up in Washington Square Park. Last time I was there was in ’92 and it wasn’t a pleasant place. This time it was filled with people, including several groups of musicians singing and playing together. One group was doing Traveling Wilburys songs, another was a group of young lads doing Beatle covers.

Around that time my pal Sash met up with me. We had a great experience doing some record shopping. In one store we met up with a woman who was educating herself on the history of (mostly) New York punk. She was in her early thirties & had never really been into music before. She was choosing to be very clinical in her approach and was intent on buying records by the year and working her way to the present chronologically. At this point she was at 1976 and was looking for Patti Smith’s “Horses.”

Saturday night was more fun, sort of, as Sash gave me some lessons on record production, timing, and other things I won’t get into. It was a little brutal but very educational. After that we blew off steam by drinking until 4 in the morning at the local watering hole.

Sunday was spent sleeping in & having breakfast at the Bel Aire diner in Astoria, which the New York Post named as the best diner in New York City in 2005. After future plans were discussed, goodbyes were said, and I made my way to Manhattan to catch my bus home to Washington DC.

Hope all is well with the family. Give everyone my love.

Rob

Pre- New York & Interwiew

2008-07-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2008

Dear Sharon,

When I started this blog I’d fully intended to keep it up to date by writing an entry at least once a week. As, obviously, I haven’t been very successful, I think I’ll try a new format and make the blog entries letters to you. Hope you don’t mind. My hopes are that it, as a whole, will read somewhat like a book of collected letters.

This weekend I’m going up to New York City again. My pal Sasha has graciously offered to put me up once again and for that I’m grateful. Friday night my old acquaintance Willy Vlautin will be reading from his new book Northline. I haven’t seen him for a couple of years so I’m looking forward to it.

On Tuesday I was interviewed by Dave Kriddle for the Home Made Hits Show podcast. The interview went for a good 30 minutes and it sounds like they’re devoting a whole show to me and my music. I’m truly thrilled and honored. I’ve never done a non-print interview before.

Hope all is well with you. I’ll write when I get back from NYC.

God Bless,

May and June, Two Thousand Eight

2008-06-28T16:05:00.000-07:00

It’s been a busy several weeks since my writing last graced (?) these pages.
It was noted in the May 2 entry that I wouldn’t be playing at Googies, above the Living Room in New York. Well, that afternoon I arrived in New York, checked my email, and there was a note asking if I was still interested in playing Saturday night. Of course I was! I made arrangements to borrow a guitar (thanks Sasha Zand!) and set to emailing as many New York folks as I could to let them know the show was on.
Backing up, Friday night’s Mother Hips show was fun, if a little disappointing. Their merchandise booth had copies of “Later Days,” a Hips album I’d been looking for for quite a while. Unfortunately Tim, the Hips’ lead singer, was sick so their set wasn’t as great as some I’d seen in the past. But that’s okay. Part of the fun of seeing live music is the spontaneity of it. If the lead singer is sick, odds are you’re seeing the band do things it wouldn’t normally do.
Saturday’s set at the Living Room was fun, if a little shaky (literally) at first. They had these tall stools on the stage, and I hate to sit on tall stool while I’m trying to play guitar. I always feel like I’m about to fall off; something echoed by a performer I saw last week. Anyway, I was up there trying to play, feeling nervous, and my leg, because of the position on this stool, would not stop shaking. After a couple of songs I made an adjustment and was fine for the rest of the night. Some friends came out, the room was fairly full – something not to be taken for granted by a basically unknown artist – and one table in particular was very supportive and vocal. It was a really fun night!
On May 14th I did a show here in the DC area at St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub in Alexandria. New York’s Matt Keating was the headliner. Matt is a veteran performer and songwriter and is releasing a new album this summer. Matt came with Jason Mercer on stand-up bass.
One of the cool things about the May 14th show was that I got to try out my new PA system. As a solo-acoustic performer, sometimes I play in places without sound systems and, in the past, I’ve had to pay for and make due with rentals. Now I have something nice to play through whenever I need it. Another cool thing about that show was that I got to hear Matt and Jason play though it so I know that it sounds really good.
As for my performance, tried a couple of new things. First, I did a couple new-ish tunes, “Days Don’t Last Forever” and “When I See The Light”. I’d debuted these in North Carolina in April, and it was nice to play them for some local friends. Second, I stood up for a show for the first time since I started performing again. That may sound like a minor thing, but it forced me to break out of my comfort zone and made me do something different. Basically it’s another color on my performance palate, one that I haven’t used for quite some time.
In early June it was time for the Pot Luck Conference, formerly Tape Op Conference, held down in New Orleans for the first time since Katrina. Every year at this conference producers and engineers and musicians get together and talk about how to make records. I run a panel on Home Recording and this year I had Nick Luca, Tracy Shedd, Chris George, Chris Gooseman, and Chris Stamey on the panel. As usual, I learned a bunch and had a great time. I’ve been going for so many years now that it’s like a sort of family reunion. I count as friends now some people who were behind some of my favorite records.
One of the great things about the conference is the live music. In the past I’ve been fortunate enough to be treated to a poolside performance by Calexico, DeVotchka, and John Vanderslice, as well as small club performances by J Mascis, Barbara Manning, Rebecca Gates (using my guitar!), Richmond Fontaine, Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3, Mitch Easter, American Music Club, Cracker, M. Ward, Jason Lytle, and several others. This year was no exception as we were treated to a fine show featuring (yep) the Blues Magoos, Chris Stamey & Mitch Easter (& friends), and Calexico, all appearing at New Orleans’ famous Tipitinas. A great time was had by all. Plans are already underway for next year. If you’re into recording or the technical side of music making, you owe it to yourself to come.
Since I’ve been back I’ve been playing at the Friday night open mic(-less) at the café downstairs from Politics & Prose, the great bookstore located on NW Connecticut. I think open mics are a great way to meet other musicians and to practice playing in front of an audience. And, truth be told, the crowds are often better at Open Mics than they are at regular shows.
Thanks to Dave Criddle for mentioning me on the Homemade Hit Show podcast. The HMHS is a show devoted to nothing but music recorded at home. Check it out on iTunes – there’s some great stuff being done out there.
I think I’ve covered everything and brought things up to date. I should have more news soon. Cheers!

North Carolina Weekend Recap

2008-05-02T01:18:00.000-07:00

I had a great time in North Carolina, despite some weather-related attempts to dampen my spirit and everything else.

Friday I drove down from DC. About ¾ of the way down I remembered that I’d forgotten to pack some important things – a hat and sunscreen – for my Saturday at Merlefest (www.merlefest.org). I remembered that at the next exit there was a Wal-Mart. Now, I’m not in favor of the way Wal-Mart conducts most of its business (though I do like their attempts to make the music industry lower prices on CDs), but this time I chose to drink from the devil’s well. I found a straw sunhat and some sunscreen and headed to the music & movies area, where I picked up special editions of “Stand By Me” and “Rocky” from their $5 rack. I mean, I just could not turn these down. Thing is, I know that’s how they close down smaller retailers – they drastically lower prices on popular things, taking sales away from smaller retailers, and never intend to carry less than popular, artier titles. Like I said, I drank from the devil’s well.

Friday evening I got down to Gerald and Elizabeth’s house, who graciously put me up for the weekend. Gerald is the musician behind Sound of Singles, whom I opened for Sunday night. Friday evening we went out and met a few friends for a beer, then called it a night.

On Saturday we were off to Merlefest. As you may know, Merlefest is an Americana / bluegrass / folk / roots music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. This year the lineup included Old Crow Medicine Show, Tift Merritt, Ricky Skaggs, Doc Watson (the festival is named for his late son, Merle), Jorma Kaukonen, Levon Helm, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Sam Bush, Avett Brothers, and many more. The drive from Durham to Wilkesboro took about three hours, but we arrived in time to see a blistering set by Tift Merritt and a cool jam with Jorma Kaukonen. The weather was hot, Gerald was cursing himself for wearing black, and I was glad I bought the Wal-Mart hat. After a corn-dog lunch we headed to an indoor workshop on record production. It was interesting to hear the Nashville perspective and I learned a thing or two. We then headed outside to… a thunderstorm! We’d brought chairs and I’d left my sweatshirt out, which I brought in case the evening got cold, and everything was beyond soaked. I’d hoped that the storm was just passing through and that the sun would come out again, but it wasn’t meant to be. We did stick around for a few more hours and caught a few more sets, including a great one from the fabulous Carolina Chocolate Drops. Levon Helm was headlining that night and I was really looking forward to seeing him, but since the rain never really stopped we elected to pack up our wet things and head home. Still, I had a great time, and one of my fantasies for the future would be to stay for the entire festival, get one of the nearby motel rooms (or stay at the campground, where I hear the real partying takes place!), and make a weekend out of it.

On Sunday I spent the afternoon exploring downtown Chapel Hill. I browsed some used book and CD stores, went by the Cat’s Cradle, and generally just looked around and enjoyed walking out in the sun. That evening Gerald and I packed up our instruments and headed out to the Cave. The Cave (www.caverntavern.com) is located in a basement downtown and, as it turns out, it’s moniker is well earned. It’s very cave-like. Dressed up in my finest blue thrift-store suit, I played a 15-song acoustic set that included 5 new songs, as I believe I mentioned in the last entry. Everything went very well, I thought, and I feel like I’m finally getting my performance-legs back. The small crowd was very supportive and I had a great time. Gerald – Sound of Singles – played a blistering set that was capped by a warp-speed version of Bob Segar’s Turn The Page. A great time was had by all, I think.

On Monday I headed back. Most of the time it was pouring rain, at times quite heavily, and after seeing a Motel 6 sign inviting me to stay over for only $37.99 I elected to get off the road about an hour south of DC. When I got settled in I turned on the news to see that I’d missed, by less than 100 miles, some wicked tornadoes. It was nice to be off the road.

On Tuesday I packed back up and came home to DC and got ready for my shortened working week.

This coming weekend I’ve got more going on… Thursday night I’m attending a Sweetwater Sound sponsored ProTools workshop. Friday morning I’m hopping on a bus to New York City where my pal Sash and I are going to catch the Mother Hips at the Mercury Lounge that evening. I fell in love with the Hips after much encouragement from my friend Shawn (where are you these days?) and one spin of their 2001 album, Green Hills of Earth. As they are a Northern California band I saw them several times in Eureka and Arcata, CA, where I grew up and lived for years. It’ll be cool seeing them in New York. I don’t think they make it back this way too often, so it’ll be a California Soul treat.

Saturday I’m planning to play tourist in New York and just look around. The Living Room show didn’t come off, and to be honest, I’m kind of glad. I would’ve loved to have played, but I’m glad I don’t have to worry about it. It’ll be nice just to bum around.

I’ll let you know how it went.

Take care, be safe, and smile!

* Free For All – Rob Christensen Music News – Spring 2008 *

2008-04-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

Hello –

I hope you’re having a good Spring. I’m sure glad the winter is over!

I wanted to let you know about a couple of shows coming up. The first is next Sunday, April 27, at The Cave, in Chapel Hill, NC. I’ll be opening for Sound of Singles, and the show is set to start at 9:00 pm. Go to www.caverntavern.com for details.

The second is on Wednesday, May 14, when I’ll be playing a show with New York’s Matt Keating at St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub in Alexandria, VA. This show is set to go from 8 pm to 10 pm. Go to www.stelmoscoffeepub.com for more details.
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There’s also a slim chance that I’ll be playing at the Living Room in New York City on Saturday, May 3. Check back to my website or MySpace page for more news as soon as I have it.

I’ve got five new songs on the set list for the North Carolina show. If they go well I’ll play them again in Alexandria.

As for the rest of the year, I plan on mostly concentrating on writing and recording the next album. If the occasional show opportunity arises I’m not going to say no, but there are no tour plans or anything. That said, I do plan on coming out to California in October. While I’m there I hope to play a show in Arcata or Eureka. I’ll send out another of these notices as October gets closer to let you know what’s happening.

For several months now, my MySpace page has had the headline, “$5.99 CD sale ending soon.” At this point I’ve decided to keep my CDs at $5.99. In this economy, and with the changes in the music business, I think it’s the right thing to do. So help out an independent artist and buy a CD or two (or three or four…).

Finally, I’m putting together a free 8-song sampler CD. Three of the songs will be acoustic versions of older songs, while the rest will be tracks from my CDs. I’ll make everything on it available for download via my website and myspace. If you want a CD copy, send me a buck and a half for postage and I’ll mail you a copy.

For more news, song downloads, CD’s, and other wonderful things, please visit www.robchristensen.com and www.myspace.com/robchristensen.com.

Have a great spring and summer and write if you can!

Cheers!

New York City Weekend recap

2008-04-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

The weekend trip to New York was fun, productive, and a bit tiring. I'd hoped to have this summary up by now, but between the lack of sleep and the cold I caught, it wasn't going to happen.

After catching up and relaxing on Friday, my pal Sash and I spent a few hours Saturday in Manhattan. We hit the 48th Street music stores – Manny's, Sam Ash, etc. – and played guitars & looked at things that we can't afford. From there it was down to Times Square and the Virgin MegaStore. That's a place where I could spend loads of money, but I kept it to one CD – a live Dylan session from '62. Sash was impressed by how busy the place was. After hearing all of the doom and gloom about the record industry he was pleasantly surprised at how many people were spending an evening in a record store.

After that we ventured over to Hell's Kitchen for burritos, then headed back to Queens for a solo-acoustic recording session. I did six songs. At least one of them will be on my upcoming free (Free!) sampler CD. Four were new songs that I'm working up for the next album. I tried a couple of those in different keys and slight changes with arrangements.

Sunday evening Lemonheads was spent at the Lemonheads show. Mr. Dando and his band are on tour performing their near-perfect 1993 album, It's A Shame About Ray. Opening, as I mentioned in the last entry, was Second Dan, who are friends of Sasha. I guess I can sort of count them as friends, too, as we first met at a studio opening party in New York last fall. Before the show we hung out a little bit, talking guitars and such. They played a good rockin' set with plenty of energy and warmed the crowed up real good for the main event. Obviously, Ray is a favorite of mine, so it was a real treat to see and hear the Lemonheads perform it in person, especially in a small venue like the Bowery Ballroom. I believe I even got a little teary-eyed seeing my fellow Gen-X'ers swaying along to "Buddy". All in all a fun night and a good capper to a great weekend.

Monday it was back to the daily grind – an 11 am bus back down to DC and home to the day (night) job in the bookstore (which is actually really quite fun).
Until next time…

New Shows + New York City Weekend

2008-03-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone –

Some of you who’ve visited RobChristensen.com recently may have noticed that a couple dates snuck on to the Calendar last week. Yep, there are a couple of shows coming up. In April I’ll be down in North Carolina to play with Sound of Singles in Chapel Hill. In May I’ll be at home in the DC area, Alexandria, to play a show with Matt Keating. See the Calendar page for details. Hope to see you there!

Right now I’m in New York staying with my friend Sasha. We’re going to do a bit of recording – he recorded the acoustic tunes on the “fan club” CD from last Christmas. We’re going to do sparse versions of a few new songs and some solo versions of a couple of old favorites that hopefully will go on a new “Book Me” promo CD. Anything that ends up on that CD will also be available on MySpace, and probably on my website, too.

Sunday night we’re going to see the Lemonheads perform “It’s A Shame About Ray”. That was an important album for me when it came out and this will be a treat. A couple of his pals (who I met last year) are in the opening band, so we’ll likely get to hang out after the show. Should be interesting!

All Quiet On The Eastern Front

2007-11-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

Had a pretty much quiet weekend. Hope to lay down some tracks soon.
I HAVE started riding my bike to my day job, which means over an hour of aerobic exercise a day. Good for me!

The First Weekend In November

2007-11-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

Coming down from a great weekend. On Friday morning I took the $20 bus up to New York, had a delicious lunch at the diner in downtown Astoria (It’s amazing how much better the food and service are at privately owned restaurants over big chains, especially considering the costs are about the same), and met my pal Sasha (www.sashazand.com), who graciously lends me his guestroom when I’m in NYC.
That evening we went to a studio opening party at the Engine Room, which is a sort of complex of studios run by Mark Christensen (no relation). The party was to celebrate the opening of Andy Baldwin’s studio within that complex. Andy’s a great guy from Australia. I don’t think I’ve ever been around so many Australians in one place, ever! There were lots of great people, including some Tape Op friends, fine conversation, and plenty of beer. It was a fun evening.
Saturday Sasha and I went to the Life Café (www.lifecafe.com) with a friend of his, Scott. I had a delicious turkey burger and enjoyed a debate about how much an artist should tailor their work toward audience expectations versus their own artistic desires. I’m not sure anything was solved…
That night I played a set at Googie’s Lounge, upstairs at The Living Room (www.livingroomny.com). Woody Guthrie’s daughter, Nora, was there. The most vocally appreciative group was some folks from Seattle who were in New York to see the Sonics reunion. Turns out that one of the group was the niece of a Sonic. Fun show!
Sunday was spent mostly relaxing and playing music. Sasha wants to cover my “Last Round” (from Roses For Sharon), so we spent the evening working on that.
On Monday I rode back down to Washington DC with Matt Keating. It’s always nice to spend some time with like-minded musicians. The ride went by very quickly & Matt was great to talk with. That night we played the Galaxy Hut in Arlington. I played what I think was my best set since I’ve been playing again after four years off. Then Matt came on and was totally fantastic. He’s just finished a new record with Adam Lasus – it’s going to be a double CD. Matt played me some tunes from it and it was great.
I really appreciate the folks at the Living Room and the Galaxy Hut for being so nice. I also really appreciated you people who’ve been downloading my songs. Hope you’re liking them.
I guess that’s it for the weekend. This Friday I hope to drop into Politics & Prose here in DC for their weekly open mic, then get some recording done over the weekend. See you next time!

October So Far

2007-10-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

It’s been a busy month so far; especially the first week.

Two shows have materialized for early November – Saturday the 3rd at the Living Room in New York and Monday the 5th at the Galaxy Hut in Arlington, VA. Hope to see you at one, the other, or both. Go to the website (www.robchristensen.com) or the MySpace (www.myspace.com/robchristensen) for details.

The first week in October featured some enjoyable travel. First I drove down to Athens, Georgia for a few days. On the way I had the pleasure of staying with studio designer extraordinaire Wes LaChot. The conversation and company was excellent. The next day I drove down to Athens. Athens is a beautiful town full of nice people and, obviously, a very healthy music scene. I got to see friends The Winter Sounds perform at the Caledonia, which is a former location of the 40 Watt Club and the room that R.E.M.’s “Turn You Inside Out” video was filmed. Speaking of R.E.M., they were in town working on a new album, but, alas, no R.E.M. sightings. It’s just as well. I mean, what would I do or say?

On my way out of town I stopped by Chase Park Transduction recording studio and visited with David Barbe for an hour or so. David is a great guy and his studios – he’s got two of them – are really nice.

Spent all day Thursday driving home to DC from Athens. Kids, that IS a long ride, and you can count on the fact that there will be road construction somewhere along the way up I-95.

Friday I took the $20 bus up to New York to go to this year’s AES (Audio Engineering Society) Convention. My Tape Op buddy Steve was nice enough to put me up (and put up with me!). I manned the Tape Op Magazine booth for a bit and got to spend a little time with Larry Crane, Craig Schumacher, Sasha Zand, Darron Burke, and other music-type friends. Apparently, though, I was at lunch when Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine stopped by the table to chat. I was fortunate enough to be around when Mr. George Schowerer came around to show his private photo album of pictures from his studio days in the 60’s. There were fabulous color photos of Frankie Valli, Simon & Garfunkle, the Cyrcle, and many others, and I feel very lucky to have gotten to see these great shots. And I got a peek of Geoff Emerick as he strolled by.

Saturday night I found myself in Times Square without any plans for the evening, so I headed down to Madison Square Garden to watch some heavyweight boxing. As you probably know, I’ve been a boxing fan for most of my life – longer than I’ve been a musician or even “into” music. So to be able go to the fights in the world’s most famous arena – the same arena that since 1968 has hosted Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Roberto Duran, and just about every other notable boxer to come along – was a real thrill. I had to call my dad, who I used to watch boxing with on a regular basis.

To bring us up-to-date, over the last two weeks I’ve been doing a little recording, a little playing – including the Friday night Open-Mic(less) at Politics & Prose – and preparing for the two shows the first weekend in November.

Today’s music listening has been The Beatles’ “Anthology 2” and The dB’s “Stands For Decibals.”

Last Weekend's Two-Date-Tour

2007-09-17T00:39:00.000-07:00

It's past time that I should be writing about last weekend, September 7-10. To summerize, driving, playing, flying, playing, sleeping, recording, flying, driving.

Friday morning after work (night shift, Thursday night) I got in the truck and headed down to North Carolina to play a show with my pal Gerald, aka Sound of Singles. For him it was to be a record (literally) release party for his "Sound of Singles Sings Seger" (Bob Seger, that is). For me it was a chance to play in a town in which I've never played. Heck, a STATE in chich I've never played. As the drive meant that I wouldn't be getting my usual day's sleep, I did have to stop and nap once. Oh, but how I love road trips. Anyway, I got to Gerald's down in Durham & we headed to Borders to see the Last Town Choir do a shorrt set, which was thoroughly enjoyable. After a dinner salad we packed up for the show. That is, Gerald packed all his gear (I just had an acoustic guitar and a bag filled with CD's and harmonicas) and I helped a bit. That night's venue as the Nightlight in Chapel Hill. The Nightlight is one of those places I can only picture existing in the south. It's a dusty funky old used book / record / CD store with a lunch counter that turns into a bar at night. Sound-wise, it had good big speakers and a nice little stage. Very cool. My set went pretty well - I played 8 songs or so, 30 minutes - although I think my guitar was a little out of tune. I'm going to have to buy one of those stompbox tuners. The audience was very attentative, almost disturbingly so ("Oh my God! They're all STARING at me!!!"). King of Dogs, a charming male/female two-piece was next. This was their first gig but they knocked me out. DJ Ali (I forget her DJ'ing name) spun traditional country mixed with hip-hop and did an amazing job of it! Hearing vinyl on her nice turntables & a decent system was a real treat. I see why people love the sound of vinyl now. Sound of Singles, Gerald's one-man-band, was next. Gerald plays a lot of non-guitar stringed instruments - uke & things I can't hame - and runs them all through various effects and amps for a surprisingly good effect. I didn't know you could get a big sound from a uke!

After heading home, Gerald's home, I turned in after a shower and a bowl of locally made peach ice cream. A few hours later I was awakened by the reality that it was time to catch my plane to New York. It was a small plane, a puddle-jumper, and the weather was nice. I wish I wouldn't have been so tired. I've never flown into New York before and it would have been a good day for airbourne sightseeing.

Once I got my bag at JFK I took the subway into Manhattan, tranferred, and took another train out to Queens. There I met my pal Sasha. We went to the diner down the street (by this time it was 3 pm and I was starving) where we caught up and talked music. After some good conversation we headed back to his place & got ready for our trip back into Manhattan to the Living Room, where I would be playing, not in the main room, but in Googie's Lounge upstairs. We got there as Greg Koons was playing to an audience of 4. Fortunately more people arrived for Carolyn AlRoy's set. Carolyn was responsible for setting up the evening. By the time Matt Keating came on the place was pretty well packed. After terrific sets by Greg and Carolyn and Matt, it was my turn. I felt like I played well, but lots of people were talking during my set. I made a mental note to ask Sasha if they were talking because I sucked or because they'd all come to see Carolyn & Matt and now they wanted to converse. Sasha can be brutal, so I figured it was as good a time as any to see if I have any talent. Fortunately Sasha thought I played well too & complimented me on several things. It's too late to stop now, y'know. After the show everybody exchanged compliments and headed out. Sasha & I stopped for some pizza on the way back to the train station. One thing I love about New York City - there's lots of independent cheap eats around. There's chain fast food too, of course, but in some places it seems like the only cheap food is chain fast food. It's nice to have alternatives, especially when you're poor. After some pizza we caught the train back to Queens, where (the train, not Queens) someone complimented me on my set. It took me by surprise because it was such a small place & I thought I could see everyone there, but I didn't recognize this fellow. So it was nice to get a compliment like that from a stranger.

That night I got my only full-night's sleep of the weekend. The next morning we got breakfast in the diner & headed back into Manhattan. I picked up a Fairport Convention CD & a Gene Clark CD; Sasha picked up Kurt Cobain's journals. I'm going to have to get those sometime. That evening, after "chinese mexican food" (Sasha warned me that it was mexican food cooked by chinese people; I was like, "what, chinese people can't make a burrito?" Turns out it was a burrito that tasted like chinese food. It wasn't bad, though.) we did some recording. It was really nice having someone do the engineering for me so I could just be the artist. We did six songs, solo-acoustic. I got to play Sasha's old Gibson acoustic for four songs; it's a nice guitar that's mellow-sounding enough to make room for my voice. Sasha's got some nice gear; much nicer than mine. It's old and funky and it responded well to my style. Sasha was positively ecstatic with the results. It was a good chance for him to hear how his gear would do, and I think he was actually hearing my songs for the first time. He was saying things like, "Rob! This is a hit! This is a classic!" which was really nice of him.

Because of the excitement of the recording session, I finally got to sleep a little after 2 am, which wasn't good, because I had to be up at 4:15 to catch my shuttle back to JFK. I made it up in time, but again slept on the flight back down to Raleigh, where Gerald was kind enough to pick me up at the airport. After some chat about the shows, it was time for me to drive back up to Washington, DC. Let me tell ya, that was a rough drive to make after just a couple of hours sleep. I had to pull over twice to nap. I got home in the early evening & managed to get an hour and a half of sleep before work. I'd tried to get the night off, but sometimes that just isn't possible. It was a tough night & I think I finally caught up with my sleep this weekend. It was well worth it, though.

"Free For All" email newsletter - September 2007

2007-09-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Here's my latest email newsletter that I send out whenever there's something to report. If you'd like to subscribe, drip me a line at heyrob@robchristensen.com.

*** Free For All - Rob Christensen Music News (& stuff) - September
2007 ***

Hey Everybody!

First, if you already received this a couple days ago, please accept
my apologies. I really don't think my first try at sending this got
though to anyone, so I'm trying again. Anyways...

It's been ages -- years (!!!) -- since I've sent one of these things
out. So, if you were a Free For All recipient back in 1999-2002, I
hope this letter finds you well. If this is your first Free For All,
Greetings! I most likely put you on the list because either you've
purchased an album, you're someone I met at the Tape Op Conferences,
you're someone I went to school with, or you are a new friend or
acquaintance. If you're receiving this in error or otherwise don't
want your e-mailbox cluttered by this occasional newsletter, let me
know and I'll be happy remove your name from the list.

What's been happening during the last few years? While live
performing & music-making was pretty much set aside, I have kept busy
with the following:

• From 2003-2006 I went back to school at Humboldt State University
and obtained an Elementary Teaching Credential.
• I've moderated several discussion panels about home recording at
Tape Op Magazine Conferences, where I've met lots of wonderful &
fascinating musicians, engineers, and producers.
• I recorded & released my fourth studio CD, Roses For Sharon, in
2005.
• In 2006 I moved to Washington, DC.
• I've traveled all around the U.S.
• And I've managed to play live a few times, notably here in
Washington and in Tucson, AZ.

The main reason I'm sending this out, other than to make contact, is
to let you know that there are a couple of shows coming up soon. On
Friday, September 7, I'll be playing at the Nightlight in Chapel
Hill, NC, at a record release party for Sound of Singles' new "Seger
Sessions," which features Bob Seger tunes. Then on Saturday,
September 8, I'll be jetting up to New York to play upstairs at The
Living Room (!!!) in Googie's Lounge. There I'll be playing with Greg
Koons, Carolyn Alroy, Matt Keating, and Declan Bennett. I'm really
excited about the NYC show -- I've never played in New York before
and I feel extraordinarily fortunate to be able to perform in a place
as cool as The Living Room. (Extra-Special thanks to Matt Keating and
Carolyn Alroy, who made it happen.) As has been the norm the last few
years, it'll be a solo-acoustic show. I'll be playing songs from all
four albums. If you're in either area, come on out. I'd love to see
you!

There may be other shows this fall and winter. However, my main plan
during this time is to hunker down and make another record. (If any
of you know any label folks or have any suggestions, please let me
know). After that I'm looking at hitting the road, at least a little
and maybe a lot, during 2008. I'm especially looking forward to
playing in former homes Northern California and Portland, Oregon.
It's a ways off, but if you'd be interested in touring together or
sharing a show, drop me a line.

In other news, tracks are available for sale / download on my MySpace
page via SnoCap. At this point I'm still trying to decide how I want
to structure the SnoCap shop. I'd like to be able to offer entire
albums, but it may end up being a 'selected tracks' type of store. Of
course, you can always buy the CD's (cheap!) or download from iTunes.

Finally, I'm always on the lookout for other folks to play with here
in the DC area. If you like to play in the folk-rock / indie vein,
email me. A rather long list of my likes and influences can be found
on my MySpace page, www.myspace.com/robchristensen.

Here's some informational links:

Main website: www.robchristensen.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/robchristensen
iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?artistId=30726016
CD's are also available from CDBaby:
http://cdbaby.com/all/robchristensen
The Living Room, New York: www.livingroomny.com
The Nightlight, Chapel Hill: www.nightlightclub.com

Sound of Singles: http://www.myspace.com/soundofsingles
Matt Keating: http://mattkeating.com/
Carolyn Alroy: http://www.carolynalroy.com

That's it for now. Drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers!
Rob

Some Things I'd Like To Be But Am Not Yet

2007-08-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

In no particular order except as they pop into my heard...

thin and fit
a husband
an avid recreational cyclist
debt free
vegetarian
a property owner
at peace with myself
well read
guilt free
someone who always sends a card on birthdays & holidays
a father
a player in somebody else's band
a participant in some sort of weekly volleyball game
a soulmate
a father
confident in my looks
finished with this list so I can go on with my day

Late Summer News

2007-08-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

I’d hoped to make this a more-or-less weekly update of my activities as well as a place to lay out thoughts and observations on a regular basis. So far that hasn’t happened, but there’s no time like the present (and future!).

It’s been a busy summer – I’ve spent time in Asbury Park NJ, Tucson, New York, Chapel Hill, Norfolk VA, and the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. I was lucky enough to see Neko Case in Central Park and hang out backstage after the show. I also saw her again last week here in DC at the 930 Club & got to chat with her steel guitar & banjo player Jon Rauhouse, her guitarist Paul, and her opener Eric Bachman. Also in New York a night after I saw Neko, I got to see Lucy Wainwright-Roche at the Living Room (where I’m playing in September). In an interesting coincidence, Neko brought Lucy up to sing backing vocals for a few songs at the 930 show.

Two weekends ago I ventured down to Chapel Hill for the first time since the ‘80’s & stayed with my friend Gerald, who records as Sound of Singles. He and girlfriend Lizzy were very hospitable in giving me a futon to sleep on and were wonderful company. We stopped by a few used record and book stores, took a nice walk with their dog at the botanical gardens, had some great meals, and saw Allen Toussaint outside at the Raleigh museum. I really liked the Chapel Hill area and will look at it as a potential place to settle in a couple of years.

On the way back from Chapel Hill I decided to take a side trip to my old Navy stomping grounds of Norfolk, Virginia. I got out of the Navy, in Norfolk, in August of ’89 and had visited in October of ’92, so it’s been almost 15 years since I was there. As I guess you’d expect, some things have really changed and others are exactly the same. I was amazed at how much Old Dominion University has grown. I went to what was a regular stopping point all those years ago, Ward’s Corner, which, at the time, had a pretty cool record store (Tracks), a pizza place where we were regulars (one of my friends ended up marrying a waitress), and a well-stockednewsstand. I just KNEW the record store would be gone, replaced by a drug store or restaurant. But it was still there, now as a Warehouse / FYE. I picked up a few cool things cheap, but the store itself really didn’t have the vibrancy it did back in my day. Alas, the pizza joint and the newsstand were both gone, but the Wendy’s down the road was still there.

Later I went to another old destination point, Military Circle Mall, and got a motel room. There was a video arcade located on the perimeter, Flipper McCoy’s, that was still there. When I went inside I was really taken back – they still had this boxing game, Ring King, that I used to play. In ’92 I was surprised that it was still there. Fifteen years later I was absolutely stunned! ‘Course I had to play a few quarters.

The next weekend, last weekend, I went down to Bridgewater, Virginia, to hang out with my pal Jim Shelley of Book of Kills. Jim and I share similar musical sensibilities, so it’s always nice to spend time with him. Lately he’s been recording other local bands with his mobile setup, so we went up to Luray to record his ex-drummer Casey’s new band, Sleepfeeder. It was really good to see Casey & his significant other Deanne as well as some of their friends. Their band is interesting. It features three songwriters who take turns with lead singing duties depending on who wrote the song. So far it seems to be an egoless venture; Casey is excellent about keeping his artistic goals in focus. I’d had a less-than-pleasurable experience with these folks (not their fault) at a music festival in July. This weekend was nice as it removed the bad taste of the festival from my mouth.

In two weeks I’ll be playing a couple of shows – one in North Carolina with Sound of Singles on September 7, the other at the Living Room in New York on September 8. I feel honored and fortunate to be able to play at the Living Room. See my website, www.robchristensen.com, for more details.

I guess that’s about it for now. I’ll try to come up with another entry sooner than later. I’ve got plenty of ideas; it’s time that seems hard to find.

Cheers!

New News

2007-02-19T17:32:00.000-08:00

Got a few pieces of news for y'all -

I'll be playing my first full solo show in five years (!!!) on April 13th (that's a Friday) at Border's Books - located at the corner of 18th and L, NW, in Washington DC. I'm really looking forward to getting back out there in front of folks. Several songs from "Roses For Sharon" have never been played live, plus I'll probably have a new tune or two to play. Be there or be square!

I'm a big fan of Continuum Books' 33 1/3 seris, in which each book is written about a specific record. I'm currently reading Ric Menck's book on "The Notorious Byrd Brothers", one of my favorite albums, and I've already finished their books on Bowie's "Low", the Beatles' "Let It Be", the Kinks' "Village Green", Neil Young's "Harvest", and several more. I've also submitted a proposal to them to write a book on XTC's "Skylarking", as it's creation is a story that's very interesting to me. I hope my proposal is accepted. Cross your fingers for me!

www.rpmchallenge.com has issued a challenge to the musicians of the world to write and record an album - at least 10 songs, 35 minutes - during the 28 days of February. I signed up for this crazy little contest with great hopes. My day job is also been very busy. Do you think I've written any songs? Maybe next year.

Finally, it looks like I'll be moderating the Home Recording workshop at the 2007 Tape Op (magazine) Conference. As you may know, I've moderated the last four workshops and had a terrific time. I'm thrilled to be doing it again! Check back at this space to see who my esteemed panalists are this year!

Resolutions Kaput?

2007-01-04T18:40:00.000-08:00

I couldn't help but notice today that a lot of people were doing things they traditionally resolve to quit doing at New Year's. Lotsa people smoking today. And the dessert counter in the Bookstore Cafe was wiped out of cheesecake and other yummies-but-baddies. Is it the moon? Is it because congress is back in session? Whatever it is, I hope it's just a temporary slip for most folks. It's a long time until 2008.

It's A Brand New Year

2007-01-03T20:38:00.000-08:00

I'd hoped to make this some sort of all-musical doin's blog, but I'm not musically doin' much right now, save for a little dreaming. But I do want to so some thought-posting. So, inspired by blogs by people like Bob Mould and Dennis Cooper, I thought I'd plant myself here at Bloggerdotcom and reactivate this semi-comatose monster.

To start, I'd like to wish everyone a Super Happy New Year. I had a good time here in DC with pals Randy and John, bouncing from place to place in search of football scores, good beer, and general New Year's fun. Unfortunately, I don't remember the names of the first few stops - that's from not paying attention rather than excessive intoxication - but come midnight we were enjoying the atmosphere at Harry's, located in the Hotel Harrington. There was free champagne, lots of noisemakers, and televisions tuned into Times Square. Our evening had to be cut short after that as both Randy and I had to work the next day. Oh well, it's a fun job.

Currently reading Ian McEwan's The Innocent and am enjoying it very much. The description of the first intimacy found between pages 66-70 is one of the most beautifully written passages I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I'm only a third of the way into the book; don't spoil it for me.

Nothing much planned over the next few days, except to buy a daybed. My current living situation doesn't afford me much room, nor do I have anything comfortable to sit on, nor do I have a sleeping partner right now, so this looks like a good solution.

Until next time...

The Big Catch-Up

2006-08-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

I’ve had a very busy last few months. So busy I haven’t had time to write anything down. So why have I been too busy to update for my friends? Well, beside the fact that I often have update lapses, here’s what’s been going on:

1. School –

As you’re probably aware I’ve been spending the last few years nestled in my birthplace of Humboldt County, in Northern California, earning my Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and getting a Teaching Credential. I earned the BA in May of 2005, and this last year I’ve been working toward the Credential by student teaching and attending various post-graduate classes. And let me tell you, this year was a bear! Especially the last six months. No extra time for anything. But it was also fun in a lot of ways. I mean, you get to be with kids all day, and that’s pretty cool. You can even play songs for them every once in a while.
Now, when I started back at this school thing, I was kinda sick of playing the music game and figured I was ready to settle into a stable career, and a stable life, and have my summers and other vacations off for “hobbies” like playing music. Which still sounds good, and it’s something I may still do, but at this point I’m not so sure…

2. Tape Op Conference –

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: An extended weekend hanging out with music makers. Summer camp for music recording geeks. Every year has been great, inspiring, educational, and fun. These conferences have made me think seriously about being a small recording studio owner and helping to aid other folks into shaping their music, in addition to my own career as a performer and recording artist. So we’ll see what the future brings...
Anyway, this year’s conference was wonderful as usual. The location this time around was Tucson, Arizona, at the (perhaps too) fabulous El Conquistador resort – very swanky. I ran two home recording discussion workshops this time around and had some incredible panelists, including Brian Berg (of 44 Long), skater / musician Ray Barbee, Ireland’s Mark O’Connor, and Nik Frietas, among others. Let me tell you, Nik is one to watch. The workshops seemed to go well and good information was exchanged. Other conference highlights were the potluck studio, “My Favorite Mix Moments,” and especially “Records that made me want to record” which was capped by Mark Rubel’s stirring tribute to Ray Charles’ recording of “Georgia On My Mind.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t get that many pictures this year, but I do have photos of both of my workshops as well as me and Mark O’Connor hobnobbing with Joey Waronker They’ll be up on the website’s picture page very soon.

3. Tape Op Con Hootenanny -

I’ve been saying for the last couple of years that when I was done with college that I’d return to live performing. What I didn’t realize was that I’d be performing the day after college was officially over. But thanks to good friend and Tape Op founder Larry Crane, I was asked to play a songwriter’s hootenanny at this year’s conference at Tucson’s Club Congress. The hoot featured Leigh Marble, Brian Berg, Nancy Hess, Ben London, and myself. We all sat on the Congress’s wonderful little stage and traded songs, one after another. Both Brian and Nancy mentioned ahead of time that they were nervous because they hadn’t played in a year. You can imagine how I felt – I haven’t performed in four years. And guess what? I had to start it off. First I did “Thirteen Weeks”, which felt sloppy and off-key. Then the rest of the folks played some marvelous songs – no wonder we (they?) were billed as some of the country’s best songwriters – which made me feel more inadequate. Next I did “Hollywood’s Dreams”, which felt a little better. That was followed by a slowly strummed “These Days”, by which time I felt I’d shaken off the rust. After songs from everyone else again, I closed with “September Knows”, which felt really good. It was a great night and I felt very honored to be sharing the stage with folks of that caliber.
Also performing at the Congress for Tape Op Con were American Music Club, Cracker, M. Ward, Nik Frietas, Jay Bennett, Rebecca Gates, Norfolk and Western, and several others. It was a great weekend!

4. Moved to Washington, DC

Yep, now I live in Washington, DC. If you know me or have kept up with the website or these pages, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to you. I’ve been planning a move east for years. I’m in an apartment on the Northeast side of town. The rent’s cheap but the neighborhood is less than desirable, but it’s improving fast. I’ve got my studio set up and I hope to start recording soon.
Now that I’m out of college I need to get me a day job. I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but I’m sure it’ll have something to do with teaching, or maybe retail. I certainly have tons of experience doing retail.
I’m also hoping to get back to playing live. I figure I’ll knock off the rust by playing some open mics. That’ll be a good way to meet other musicians around town, too, as I’d love to play with other people.

5. Complete Catalog Available on iTunes

Yep, everything’s available now, so you can download from all four studio albums, from the live album, and even from the rarities and outtakes album. I would’ve never thought that there’d be so many versions of “Opera Alley” out there! Links to all of the albums are on my website, or, if they aren’t there now, they will be soon! Download away and help me keep from working for The Man!
Funny thing, by the way – my top song on iTunes is “Alison Day”, an outtake from Smile Slightly that was finally released on the rarities album. Go figure.

6. The Future

So what does the future hold? Well, here are some things I’d like to happen I the next few years:
· A return to regular live performing - I miss playing live. I’d like to have a band – one that’s flexible. That is, if one person can’t make it, we can still perform. If the drummer’s gone, the bass player and guitar player and I can do an acoustic show. If the bass player’s out, either the other guitar player can play bass or the drummer can play congas and the two guitar players can do, again, an acoustic show. You get the idea.
· Playing with other folks – there’s nothing like playing with other people when it comes to improving your musical skills. I’d love to just jam with other people. To just sit back and exchange tunes. I haven’t done enough of that. Washington D.C. folks, are you listening?
· Touring all over - I’d love to play in Europe, Australia, Japan, and all over the U.S. and Canada. One of these days, I will. And I’ll see you there.
· Moving to the Shenandoah Valley – It’s a beautiful area. Fewer “big city” problems, yet seemingly very healthy musically. As I mentioned, I’m thinking of opening a recording studio there in a couple of years. I think the area is ripe for it. James Madison University is growing like crazy, and universities bring musicians and bands. And those musicians and bands will need places to record.
· Producing other musicians and helping them with their records – This goes hand in hand with having a studio, of course.
· Properly mastering my entire recorded output and getting it out on “real” CDs – This will happen in the next few years. So buy your artist-assembled CD-Rs now, they’ll be collector’s items soon!

Guess that’s about it for now. Come back real soon!

www.robchristensen.com
www.myspace.com/robchristensen

Just A Tiny Little Update

2006-04-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

Been fighting a cold for the last several weeks. That’s what you get when you start spending time with a lot of kids, as I am student teaching. My voice is a thin and raspy and has been for a while. I’ve totally lost my falsetto – I can’t do any high “woo” sounds. I’m assuming it’ll get better, but the Doc said he was a little concerned. If it doesn’t, I guess I’ll have to re-think my whole approach to singing. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
MySpace is pretty cool. I’ve connected with folks I haven’t talked to in ages. I see that the Curious Hair have a real catchy tune on their page called “Wannabe Beat,” Newcastle have a CD I didn’t know about, and lots of other people have been keeping busy making music.
Again, I’ve got to say Big Sincere Thanks to everyone who’s been downloading my songs from iTunes and other services. It’s amazing just how far the internet can reach.
Guess that’s about it. I really don’t have much music news. My schoolwork has taken up most of my time and will continue to do so over the next several weeks. Less than two months until it’s over, though! Yay!

http://www.robchristensen.com/
www.myspace.com/robchristensen

Worried Man Blues

2006-03-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

When I started thinking about writing the follow-up to “Roses For Sharon” I thought I might write an album that explored, bold voice, American Themes. I’d been listening to a lot of Dylan, the Band, Richmond Fontaine, and Calexico, and wanted to go for that Americana thing that seems to be so popular right now. Not that I want to hop on any bandwagons. But sometimes it’s easy to be swept up in their wakes, to mix a metaphor or two.

Last October I wrote in my songbook that I want to do, “An ‘American’ album; an album for adult listeners” that would “cross between Wilco, R.E.M., and Neil Young.” It was going to be a doomy, gloomy album drenched in reverb. I even had a title. It would be called “The Gentleman’s Rainy Day Companion.”

Problem is, I haven’t written any songs. Okay, I’ve written two songs, neither of which fits my vision for my “American” album. One song is “Not A Local Girl”, which is about a high school girlfriend I let slip away, much to my later regret. The other is “Seeing Double” about making it through hard times. Those are both American enough themes, but they just didn’t seem right for what I thought I wanted to do.

Earlier today I was working on an essay for the upcoming Book of Kills box set. In it I wrote that an artist should release an album, or whatever the medium is, every year or so in order to honestly document his or her life. So I got to thinking, “What has been on MY mind? What am I doing? What am I thinking about?” And I realized that I am very worried right now. I’m worried about leaving California in June – I really don’t have any choice about it, though it’s not an involuntary move. My current student-teaching assignment is very difficult and stressful, as are my college courses. I’ve got a feeling of burnout and I’m questioning whether I really want to be an elementary teacher (for my “real” job). And I’ve got some money troubles. I do have a safety net, but it comes with some strings. So the strains of “Worried Man Blues” ring in my head.

So I think “Worried Man Blues” is my key. I think that’s the door the next batch of songs is behind. We’ll see what happens.

In other news, Jim Shelley has covered my own “These Days”, from the “Smile Slightly” album, for the aforementioned Book of Kills box set. He did a great job on it. It’s always interesting to hear your songs in the hands of others. Different musicians will play up different nuances or may substitute words or change the melody slightly. This is the third time I’ve been lucky enough to hear one of my songs covered, and the first time someone’s done a studio take. Check it out for yourself at http://www.geocities.com/jnipe/jimshelleymusic.html .

See you next time!

www.robchristensen.com
www.myspace.com/robchristensen

An Introduction Of Sorts

2006-02-28T20:23:00.000-08:00

I thought I’d start a music blog; a place where I can write down my thoughts about my music, other people’s music, musicians, and give updates of my musical doings.

I guess a little background information is in order. My name is Rob Christensen. I’m a male singer-songwriter in my late-thirties. I’ve put out four albums of original material dating back to 1994, plus a live album and a rarities collection. These were all released on my own micro-label – that’s what I call it since, at this point, it’s a one-man CD-R operation – Sweet Science. I’ve performed live – solo acoustic – on the west coast and in Pennsylvania, Washington DC, and England. I’ve also performed with my own band, the Orphans, way back in 1992, and songwriters’ collectives Acoustic Gypsies and Joosy Froot in my longtime home of Humboldt County, California. I also wrote a column for Tape Op magazine and have moderated the Home Recording discussion panel at the last few Tape Op Conferences. I’m happy to say that I’ve gotten pretty good feedback about all of this stuff.

The last few years, however, I’ve been laying kind of low. That is, I haven’t played live or really done much to promote - I really hate that term - my music since 2002. That was the year I decided to quit my longtime retail job – a job that wasn’t allowing me much free time nor offering me much in the way of compensation – in order to go back to college to be an elementary school teacher. I chose that profession because I thought that I would be good at it, it was a noble profession that I can be proud of, and (last but not least) because it would give me a fair amount of time off. As I write this, I’m five months away from finishing school and planning to move to the Harrisonburg, Virginia area, or maybe Washington, DC, to teach and to resume my music career.

The thing is, I guess I never really put my music aside. I’ve been doing the Tape Op Conferences and I managed to squeeze out a new CD, “Roses For Sharon”, in 2005. So that’s something. Now I have to put in the work necessary to get the word out and hopefully sell some.

Where do I go from here? Well, as I said, I’m planning a move to DC or Virginia. Once I’m there I plan on resuming my music career. That means I’m going to play live. I’d also like to record other musicians and bands, but that’s another entry. I plan on putting out my next album as a “real” factory-pressed CD around April 2007. Thus far all of my albums have been homemade CD-Rs, but they’re put together with a lot of love – full-sized jewel cases, lyrics and/or photos in the booklets, and sealed in nice plastic sleeves. You should really think about buying one or some. In a couple of years I’m going to have the whole catalog pressed on to ‘real’ CDs, which means the CDs assembled by the artist will no longer be available. I mean, wouldn’t you love to have a CD-R hand-assembled by your favorite artist? I’m not saying that I’ll become your favorite artist; I’m saying that if I had a hand-assembled CD-R by, oh, Iron And Wine, I’d be really happy.

Anyway, I’m totally looking forward to settling in back east and getting out and playing to folks again. And I really appreciate everyone who’s purchased CDs and downloads. There has been a surprisingly high number of you over the last couple of years, considering I haven’t played live or done much to get my name out there. Thank you all.
So now that we’ve been formally introduced, we can sit back, kick off our shoes, and be a little more casual about things. See ya soon! Oh, and please consider taking a look at my website & checking out some of my music. Cheers!

www.robchristensen.com