And Then There Were Three

Tonight’s entry is going to be short and sweet. Incase you missed the announcement several weeks back, my bass player of the last three years - Darin Mullins - will be leaving the Long Haul on July 2nd. His farewell show will be at the Goose Island Brewery here in Chicago, just down the street from Wrigley Field. For those of you in the area, I would sincerely appreciate the support. Darin is one of the most solid people I’ve met and he will be missed.

Given these circumstances, I’ve made a bold choice in my plans moving forward. No bass. That’s right people. I’ll say it again - no bass. I’ve acquired a really sweet keyboard - a Korg SV-1 (for those of you who might actually want to know). It contains fabulous acoustic piano emulations as well as a full range of classic electric pianos and organs (Hammond B-3, Wurlitzer, etc.). I’ll be splitting my time between keyboard and guitar, forming a hybrid power trio. I cannot tell you how exciting this will be for me…and you - my audience.

Many of you probably don’t know that I actually started out playing piano when I was about 4 or 5. I’ve always played it on the side of my guitar work and during my two years in music school I became quite proficient. I haven’t had an opportunity to put those skills to work for me - until now.

So far I’ve had three solid rehearsals with Brad Quandt (my lead guitar/lap steel player) and Rio Chavez (my drummer). The arrangements are coming together even better than I heard them in my head. I've given the task of providing harmony vocals to both Brad and Rio and little by little we're getting there. Furthermore, the space left by the bass is allowing some really amazing things to shine through and create surprisingly unique elements in the music. The phrase I’ve been using for the past seven years - “Folk Rock on Steroids” - has never been more accurate. This will be a true meeting point between the rawness of my acoustic show and the hair-raising power of an electric band. All topped off with the gospel soul of piano, and the electric organ whistling through a Leslie rotating speaker.

I cannot wait to share this with you guys. It will be a force to be reckoned with. Are you with me?