Band version 2.0 and site re-design

There's likely to be at least one more version of the Band, since bassist Celeste Hutchins is off to grad school at Wesleyan University directly after our Las Vegas gig! She has been an inspiration and a lot of fun and I'm going to miss her a lot. If you haven't heard her play yet I hope you are planning to attend the NFA con in Las Vegas.
We have a new guitar player in Ruth Butler, and arrangements are all made for the trip to Nevada. I'm really excited. There will be friends there I'm eager to meet up with -- Dina Emerson, and Alicia Patrice, and Robert Dick...
So how do you like the new site? Silver Wheel has been a black-background site ever since it first went up in 1995 and we thought we would adopt a whole new look. Whaddaya think?

Introducing the BAND, version 1.0!

5/24/03 - In recent news, there's a really nice new review of Diogenes from Good Times Santa Cruz. That gig was my first with Vinnie Nabong, who sadly didn't hang around to play guitar with me any more than at that one gig. He is such a talented guy. You can probably find him playing jazz and r & b in San Francisco still, with his band Phatdawg.
But the SF Bay Area is awash in talented musicians and it didn't take long for me to find a couple more. Bassist Celeste Hutchins and guitarist Peter Chang have joined up with me to form the first version of my new band. The live sound of my music has really been kicked up to the next level, thanks to them. Oregonians can hear us at our upcoming gig in Eugene on May 31st. Flute enthusiasts from all over will get to hear us at the National Flute Association's Annual Convention, on August 7th in Las Vegas.
Anytime you need to know when we're playing live, just check out the Events page for full details and links!

Diogenes charts and I take over a radio show

This is very cool. New Age Reporter says that Diogenes was #90 in airplay for the month of February! I'm really grateful to Randall of Musik International and all the folks there for their hard work. Hopefully it will climb even higher when the March chart comes out.
Last night Diane Solomon of KKUP, the People's Radio, graciously allowed me to bring in a stack of CDs and spin a bunch of music on her show, Blue World Music Mix. Here is the playlist:
Polly Moller - "John Mockingbird"Husikesque - "Bad Head Day"Ashley McIsaac & Mary Jane Lamond - "Sleepy Maggie"Sky Cries Mary - "Shipwrecked"archy - "tea her lea her la"King Chubby - "Red-Handed"Lackadaisy - "Electricity" Oysterhead - "Oz Is Ever Floating"Polly Moller - "Blood Sugar" (Diane picked that one out)Dead Can Dance "Black Sun"Robert Dick - "Sea of Stories Remix"Golden Palominos - "Little Suicides"Lush - "Nothing Natural"It was great fun. Usually when I go on the radio I have to talk a lot, and this was a really cool alternate experience. Diane and I also got to talk about the anti-war protests that had been going on all that day, and read some news off SF Indymedia's web site so listeners would know what was REALLY going on.

Diogenes release, and tunes I wish I had written

Well the big news is that Diogenes is available now. It's such a relief and such a big milestone! It's had a good first week at radio too, with 33 adds (meaning 33 college and non-commercial radio stations have added it to their playlists). Musik International is promoting the album, which means that in the eight weeks of the radio campaign, it's sure to be heard nationwide. Call up your own local college radio station and request a song from Diogenes!
I was a big fan of the X-Files for most of its run. That show is where most people (including me) first heard Mark Snow's music, in the X-Files theme song. I think he's done even more wonderful stuff, though. The ones that come to mind are two other TV themes he's done -- from "Nowhere Man" and "La Femme Nikita". Both tunes have a riveting power to them, and they sound like how the spirit of music feels, when it possesses you on the dance floor -- without actually being dance music. There is another TV theme which is really great -- the original theme from "Profiler", by Angelo Badalamenti.
All three of them are just *so* powerful. I'd love to do TV music someday, but I have to live with the fact that those three have already been written, and I can't create them myself! I wish I had! :)

Diogenes progress and more brilliant CDs

I approved the Diogenes artwork awhile back, which was the final step before the CD went to the plant! In a few weeks there should be a CD cover scanned and up on the album page and added to the photo archives at the Yahoo! group site. Step by step, the whole endeavor moves forward, and I'm really excited. There's a lot of hard, hard work ahead preparing for the album's release in February. Bring it on. :)
I'm connecting with some wonderful music right now. "Substance" by Joy Division has taken up what seems like permanent residence in my CD player, alternating with "Especially for You" by the Smithereens.
What a glorious dark gem "Substance" is. Wasn't Ian Curtis one of the best lead vocalists ever who couldn't sing? ;) Up there with Lou Reed, perhaps? ;) Seriously though, I can't get enough of the instrumental texture that Joy Division created...it's fascinating to think about and listen to how it polished itself into New Order's sound.
Maybe Joy Division could be a sonic counterpart to the pictures you get in your head when you read the Sprawl series by William Gibson...but somehow I'm not sure it's technological enough. A little too raw maybe. I'm not sure even the Sisters of Mercy can fit into that slot. I'll give that some more thought. But I know exactly what William Gibson's writing TASTES like -- it's like a tall chilly Thai iced coffee. :)

CD Artwork

The CD artwork for Diogenes is nearly ready.
Paul Decker, who is the Silver Wheely in charge of photography, has taken some wonderful timed exposures of the San Francisco International Airport -- by night, from a hilltop overlooking the runway. From that vantage point you can see the runway lights, and planes taking off, and even some lights from across the Bay. We will be putting these shots to use for the Diogenes front cover, inside cover, and the CD itself. I'm really pleased to be getting this part of the project finished because that means the run of CDs at the plant can go ahead.
One of my favorite parts of preparing a new CD is getting the "special thanks to" list ready. Check and see if you're on it when the album comes out. :)
I'm practicing hard getting ready for my live show at CD Warehouse on October 19. It's my first since returning from Eugene. I have other shows in the works including one in San Jose over President's Day weekend 2003.