With the Moe!Kestra!:
On Inauguration Day (Tuesday, January 20th) I sat in on guitar with the usually very large and random Moe!Kestra! performing a piece Moe wrote in celebration of the event called "End of an Error." This took place at the Uptown in downtown Oakland. I say "guitar" but really it was a baritone guitar will all strings tuned to "D" - there were about a dozen guitarists all with similar note assignments, and a large percussion section, and a large string section. It was a fun piece to play, a very large and loud thing, peformed with verve as people were genuinely psyched given the major shift in American politics we've been waiting for far too long. Glad I brought earplugs.

With Dustystax and the Gold Star Band:
Old pal and musical cohort Chris Sipe is in this project that does occasional tribute shows, and had one coming up doing all Fleetwood Mac. Sadly, their keyboardist had a family emergency at the last minute, and Chris asked if I could leap in and help out. I had the weekend more or less at that point, so yeah! Me and another keyboardist, Rusty, crammed the 20+ songs which was actually kinda easy compared to other cramming I had to do in the past. The band was great, backing up a litany of singers who sang one or two songs apiece, spanning the wide variety of songs during the lengthy Fleetwood Mac lifetime. We performed three days after my first rehearsal with the group, on Sunday, March 1st at the Make Out Room in SF. Despite being a rainy school night, the place was packed, and the crowd ate it up! It was a total blast, and I was totally psyched to meet and be able to help out this fine batch of talented folks.

With The Jimmy Bond Orchestra:
Well, kind of a spinoff of Casino Royale, really - just more spy-music oriented. Anywho, we played a corporate gig way down in Carmel on Friday, March 20th. The Bay Area people (me, Jamison, House) shlepped down in Jamison's van. The out of towners (Scrote, Paul, and Kevin - who was subbing for Wes) were already there when we arrived, having flown into San Jose airport earlier that day. It was a fairly straightforward gig and we were treated well. We did a dinner set and a dancing set, during the latter we kicked out the jams for the people who were sticking around well into the evening. Managed to pack up and drive back to the Bay Area before it got ridiculously late. I even got back home before Jenya returned from her gig at Davies Symphony Hall (in SF).

With The Fuxedos:
Back at the Elbo Room in SF, playing an April Fool-sy type event on April Fool's Day (Wednesday, April 1st). Crazy show, lots of talkers, acts, and music. Attendance could have been better but a lot of shit was going on tonight all over the bay. Still Brian Kenney Fresno played a short and amazing set right before us. I was pleased to be able to borrow amps for my guitar/keys - made things a lot easier. We kicked ass, I think, and I supremely enjoyed Danny getting all agitated and aggro and anti, dressing down the Bay Area stoner alternative elite. "Yeah you're yuppies are so much better than ours." Things were running late so I didn't get off the stage until after midnight. There were hopes earlier of me sprinting over to Red Devil Lounge to see Jenya play with Long Thaw but it wasn't in the card. Instead I packed up and snuck out right after playing. Got pulled over on the bay bridge under suspicion of drunk driving on the way home. I had nothing to drink - I was changing CDs and swerving erratically in the process. The cop was nice and realized quickly he was wasting his time and let me go.