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.