The Tater Blog

Archive for the ‘Craig’ Category

(But that trick never works!) Well, we’ll see. We were finally able to record the coast-to-coast CD release party for menagerie this past Saturday, and it should be broadcast this coming Saturday, Feb 27 on Mike Lidskin’s TWIRL radio in Sacramento, CA. We tried doing the broadcast live over a Skype connection, but had some drops on Mike’s end, so fortunately he recorded the whole show and will re-broadcast in its entirety this weekend. The Taters have basically the whole show, which will be Mike playing lots of cuts from the CD, interspersed with live performances and interviews with the band.  We all gathered around the mic in the Fabulous Zebra Room here in Richmond last weekend, with a full party going on in the next room, and Mike & Amber had guests on their end as well. You can tune in via the web at the TWIRL radio site this coming Saturday and find out!  The show broadcasts at 4pm Pacific, 7pm Eastern time.

In the meantime, there are several cuts from the live portion of the show over at our YouTuber site. Here’s one example:

We’ll call this a tribute to that other band that all played around the mic just a scant 45 years ago (yipes!). There’s also a pretty fun medley of Roger Miller songs, but I’ll have to hear the show this week to remember why that was happening!

menagerie won Best Album in the 2010 Twirlie Awards last night in Sacramento. Mike and Amber Lidkin, the hosts of the show were able to hook up a conference call with Brad & I during the show, and I think the whole thing will be on a podcast soon. Here’s a past Tater bit from Twirl Radio, and Mike also has another show on Recharged Radio, The Tuesday Night Dinner Show on… well… Tuesday nights! You can listen to both shows over the web thru the 21st century magic of streaming audio (those crazy kids and their computers!), and Mike has started posting podcasts of that show, too. He’s been a great supporter of the Taters over the years and a big fan of indie music.

TWIRL Radio also has, as you might expect, a Facebook Page and a Twitter feed so go out and become the fan you want to be.

And don’t forget to tune into TWIRL on Feb 20 for our coast-to-coast CD release for menagerie!

If all goes well, we’re planning to try again for the coast-to-coast hook-up on Sat, Feb 20. The show airs at 4pm Pacific time, and 7pm Eastern. For the rest of the world, I’m sure Google will help you figure it out. The show will stream over the TWIRL Radio site, so you can listen live, no matter where you be, and Mike may be planning on recording and podcasting it as well. The “plan” is to setup a Skype connection on both ends, and we’ll play some songs live during our party on our end, Mike will have the live feed, as well as the CD cuts he’ll play on his end. Who knows – maybe it’ll all work out?

Strange but true!

Also, a plug for Mike’s other show on Recharged Radio. He’s played Tater cuts there as well, so go check that out

no maybe’s about it, it’s bitter! Thermometer says 20, but a lot wind blowing bits of snow onto the frontal plane! We had to cancel the coast-to-coast CD release party tonight -- snow on our end will keep us from gathering around one mic, and Mike’s sick on the Sacramento side, so we’re both under the weather! Hope to reschedule in Feb -- maybe I’ll have the whole Skype thing figured out by then. The connection seems to work fine, but I’ve got to work out a way to let us talk and play on this end but still hear Mike on the other end without feeding back. We’ve only ever done this over the phone in the past, so it wasn’t an issue.

In the meantime, since I’m snowed in I’ve been wandering about YouTube finding fun things. Here’s a great video of some early Nick Lowe, from the Brinsely Schwarz days. The TV tag says 1973. Love the 70’s Monchichi cut!

We’re getting setup for the show at the new Six String Cafe in Raleigh, NC. Beautiful new spot since they moved, and this is our first time here. Good crowd so far, so that’s nice.

Been really bad at posting over the last few months, so it’s a new year, gotta try harder!

poster

And so… circular! The latest Tater CD menagerie is finally here! They came in on Monday, along with new posters, download cards and shiny new display units! The stickers arrived today, so the UPS guy is very aware of us at this point!

Hope to have them in all the online locations as soon as possible – they’ve already shipped off to CD Baby and Amazon, and DigStation will have it up very soon for download as well. If you want a CD copy and just can’t wait until it wanders online, contact me and I’ll work out how to get it to you. It’ll have to be check or Paypal at this point, as I don’t have a way to take credit cards outside of the usual channels (like CD Baby).

Theresa Pollak Awards for Excellence in the Arts

I don’t think this has made it to the blog yet – The Taters won this year as Best Ensemble (and I don’t think it has anything to do with our wardrobe. Although, with Greg’s shirts…?). Here’s a bit about the prize, from the Richmond magazine website:

Richmond magazine invites you to celebrate the artists whose words, fine art, music, choreography, acting, directing, film and photography enrich the cultural life of our regions. Since 1998, readers have been asked to nominate artists to the panel of selectors, made up of former honorees and arts leaders, who then choose the honorees for recognition with the Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts at our awards ceremony in October.

It was a huge surprise to us, since we had no idea we were even up for a nomination. There’s a write-up in the October issue of Richmond Magazine, which is on the stands now, and you can also read about it on the Richmondmagazine.com website. And while we’re at it, here’s a bit more about Theresa Pollak. Thanks to all who nominated us, whoever you may be!

Just a quick posting, so I can get something up here! Here are a few videos posted by a Tater fan on YouTube. These are from a recent show we did with Willie Nelson in Richmond.

The Kiss

That’s Where I Belong

There are lots of other Tater videos from a variety of folks over at our YouTube site -- Tatervids

OK, I just noticed tonight that I have 2 entries on IMDB.com, and I think that’s a hoot! I was looking up long-time friend and “real” animator Eric Daniels after watching a movie. I noticed a film we both worked on way back in 1987 when I was living in LA and working in animation. In a pure fit of six-degrees-of-separation-post-modernism I searched my name and sure enough, I’m listed out there. Just seems funny to me!

the world just got smaller…!

Not sure if I’ve posted this at all yet, but here is a sneak peek at the cover for the new CD –

We’ve also started adding shirts & buttons with the new cover to our CafePress site, so if you haven’t been over to see those now’s as good a time as any

We’ve finished the mixing on several songs, so (dare I think it?) the end is in sight! Back in again next week to continue mixing. In the meantime, here is a clip (unmixed) from the intro to Spend a Little Time with Me, featuring Chris & Alan from the Grandsons on horns!

For Virginia folks, we’re up at the Ashland Coffee & Tea tomorrow night, Sat, May 30 starting at 8pm, so come on out and say hi. And the Grandsons are there on June 5, so go see the show and tell ‘em you heard them on a Tater track!

This was in the Richmond Times-Dispatch today:

Death of Gary Gerloff will be a loss to area music scene

JEREMY SLAYTON AND JEFF E. SCHAPIRO TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS
Published: May 26, 2009

James Gerald “Gary” Gerloff cast a large presence throughout the Richmond music community.

He was quite literally a bear of a man whose shock of wiry white hair and beard recalled the late Jerry Garcia — a likeness Mr. Gerloff, an admirer of the Grateful Dead co-founder, welcomed.

Mr. Gerloff was a talented musician, singer and songwriter in his own right, but his impact on the local music scene went deeper. He was quick to champion other musicians and deflect praise from himself to those with whom he played.

“Just an amazingly generous spirit. Such a giving and loving guy; he was always thinking of others, always willing to give credit,” said Coby Batty, a musician and friend of Mr. Gerloff.

Mr. Gerloff, who led the Gary Gerloff Band performing his own compositions as well as rock, blues and soul hits by other artists, died Saturday at his Richmond home after a brief illness. He was 58.

To those who knew Mr. Gerloff, his was a life spent helping others.

A longtime resident of Richmond, Mr. Gerloff’s philanthropic activities across Richmond were numerous. He helped launch an annual concert series to support the Positive Vibe Café, a restaurant in South Richmond with many handicapped employees.

He performed at fundraising events for the Massey Cancer Center at VCU Medical Center and was on the program committee for the Richmond Folk Festival.

“Probably at the sacrifice of his own life and maybe his family’s life, he was willing to give to one and all,” said Garth Larcen, owner of Positive Vibe Café. “Gary was one of the guys that whenever I did ask him, and I made it a point not to ask too many times because of that, he consistently always found a way to do it.”

Mr. Gerloff was a man who lived life to the fullest, said those who knew him. Batty described his friend as someone who always lived in the moment, while another local musician, Susan Greenbaum, said Mr. Gerloff was at ease with himself, which helped those around him relax in sometimes intense situations, such as recording the vocals for “Ancestor Worship,” his first-released CD.

“I think he provided other musicians a reminder to enjoy themselves, because sometimes when you play music a lot . . . you sometimes forget that you’re lucky as can be to make music and have people listen,” Greenbaum said.

Mr. Gerloff’s interests went beyond music. He was an avid baseball enthusiast and longtime season-ticket holder for the Richmond Braves. A devoted gastronome, Mr. Gerloff could often be found poolside at Granite Pool in South Richmond discussing recipes, meals and beverages in detail.

Greenbaum said Mr. Gerloff’s death is “a huge loss for the Richmond music community and a huge loss for Richmond generally, because Gary had a very warm, fuzzy presence.”

I’d echo all of that. Gary was a truly a larger-than-life character, and it was a privilege to know him and to play music together.