it’s nice to be on texas time, where everything moves at a pace more hospitable, more humane than i’m used to. i just spent 3 days in Austin which turns out to be one of the coolest southern cities i’ve ever been to (i’m so sorry my dear hometown of Raleigh, NC, i still love you but you’re not exactly hip- neither am i and i’m happy to admit it if that makes you feel better). (more…)

people ask me all the time, “don’t you get lonely on the road?” and i sometimes wonder if there’s something wrong with me for not feeling more alone when there are so many hours that i share with just my car and the highway. i honestly don’t mind it so much. more than getting lonely i sometimes just lose any point of reference for who i am. when you look at a thousand different faces, drive countless unfamiliar miles, wake up facing a strange wall every day, after awhile how do you recognize yourself? i look a little different in every bad hotel mirror, and in the eyes of all the new people i meet. it’s strange to realize how much you depend on the people you care about in your life to reflect you back to yourself so you know who you are. (more…)

thanks to everyone who submitted questions…here are a few of them answered:

*do you like dancing and have you had any interest in it before…
submitted by Okan Pala

i like dancing a lot for someone who’s no good at it. it’s kind of a joke amongst musicians, how few of us actually have rhythm…at least when it comes to dancing. i took tap and ballet when i was small and i’ve taken one class in modern dance. i took it thinking you can never really be “wrong” in modern dance so i could only look so silly, but boy was i wrong! (more…)

after you i promised myself i d never be me relative to someone else
thought i could exist in a vacuum on my own terms
it felt so good to be alone
to not need anyone (more…)

installment #2 of random stuff about me…if you’d like to see this series continued, email me your burning questions and i’ll answer them if i can!

here are a few questions submitted by Kelly Goodlad (http://www.kellygoodlad.com)

what are your favourite songs you’ve written and why?

i’m guilty of being like a kid at christmas when it comes to my songs…remember how you used to grab a big box from under the tree, shake it a couple times and then rip into the wrapping paper with a vengeance? then you’d hold up your new transformer or my little pony and declare it was your favoritest present ever until you saw that bigger unopened box out of the corner of your eye? (more…)

four years have passed in a blink
this day i dread come around again: 10/10
five hour drive and no where to escape
admired the golden poplars along 40 west
listened to radiohead and that pretty much fit
crossed the missisippi for the first time by car
legends usually disappoint
how can you live up to so many beautiful words?
i’m sure i’ve idealized you in my mind
but i remember the darker things, they’re in me too
there were days you couldn’t handle
and i never understood
i get it now (more…)

random stuff about me, musical and beyond…(part I)

first 45s i can remember owning:
Queen “Another One Bites the Dust”
Kool and the Gang “Celebration”

my worst vices…
coffee (trying to quit, have downgraded to decaf)
dark chocolate (hey, it’s high in anti-oxidants)
ice cream (my twin sis dubbed us “ice cream whores” as in we can be bought with ice cream) (more…)

i’m sitting in a college library on the campus i played last night, checking email before i leave town for the next gig. one real bummer about being on the road is trying to keep up with email- 90 new messages today. i was so excited about having a super fast connection, at least faster than mine in brooklyn, but for some reason this college seems to be a little behind the times. while my email is loading (yes, it’s taking *that* long) i’m nibbling away at typing this journal entry. those who know me well know i’m the “master-multi-tasker”! multi-tasking is really important when you’re a singer-songwriter…you gotta be able to sing and play guitar *and* look cool, all at the same time! tough job, i know (more…)

the caramel frapuccino is slowly wearing off and i’ve got the Black-Out Blues…that s what a friend of mine called them and i guess i have as bad a case as any new yorker (substitute with any of the other major cities from Cleveland to Toronto) who had big plans for last night! last night was supposed to be the big NYC release party for my new record “A Flower Grows In Stone” but forces were at work that were *much bigger* than my rock star aspirations! honestly i’m really just glad everyone is safe and the release party has been rescheduled by now(mon aug 25th- see the tour page for details) so it’s all going to work out. hey, sometimes shit happens and you just gotta get a shovel and start shoveling! (i spent years shoveling horse shit growing up in the country in NC so i’m pretty much an expert on this topic!) (more…)

Kyler’s new arrival made it safe and sound on thursday, july 17th, weighing in at only a few ounces. you should have seen how cute it was, all swaddled in shrink wrap and nestled tightly in a cardboard box. artist and CD are resting soundly as they have many exciting days ahead of them! (more…)