shawn avery

it happened ten years ago today .

i've been playing a few shows with john stroh m lately... 2 weeks ago i played with him in nashville. the line-up in nashville was john, myself, and bo butler / shae rives of the saturdays . john p. strohm and the saturdays are on the same record label, superphonic records . the line-up changed for the cd release last saturday at bottletree. we added brian t. murphy (of the spots) who has played with john in the past. we also got clint wells (also of the spots) on board to do some excellent lead guitar work. so basically, john strohm had the majority of two different bands backing him. with the exception of one botched ending, the show was incredible from my view. i usually loathe playing drums live, but i think i held it together. i actually got compliments on my drumming which i found hilarious. i'm about a 4th as good as i was in the early 90's. this was the 2nd show in two days that i played at bottletree. at this point i was exhausted and sunburned from doing the m...

i'm posting a massive set of photos today from the MUSE OF FIRE festival at sloss last weekend. i'll post a few here, and the rest can be seen from my photo gallery link... below: the bridges at the fountain stage and the final scene of henry v. gordon pate is on the left, and lead actor sly little jr. is at the right.

here's the second set of photos from the show at bottletree. liz wells just posted some pics of the john p. strohm cd release show that i'll post later today. i talked to brian murphy at the damnwells show last night and we talked about the potential for the spots... a band that was formed to have no potential. interesting. i also realized that this show was the first time i've played bass at bottletree. soo... here are the remaining pics, courtesy of t. scott carlisle :

the spots typically play private parties and events. we like it this way. this band has no singer. no songs, no set list. no stage persona. no words. we sometimes don't even face the audience. we are to be heard, not seen. this changes somewhat when we play in public. usually, when we do play public shows, we try to make sure that the event warrants the effort. last year we played the film screening in linn park, art walk 2006, etc. so now we've made our way to the ever encompassing bottletree... here's some pics taken by t. scott carlisle ... this is such a great band to be a part of. i'll post the vertical pics today...

...from the biggest, busiest musical week of the year. i'll post some diary-like entrries about this later in the week, along with photos and whatnot. those who know me, know i've been endlessly rehearsing and planning for the shows i played with john strohm in nashville last weekend, and bottletree on saturday night. throw in a show with the spots at bottletree on friday, and being the music director for muse of fire... and you've got a homey who is behind on the housework. more pics later... here's one of the spots from friday night. the spots ARE the best band in the universe. like, i mean... completely. also... here's a photo from the through the sparks cd release a few weeks ago. this is back stage at bottletree. and this is one of the greatest photos ever taken. it was taken by j. purvis. and i heart these girls...

have fun up there in heaven. for your sake, i hope god hates blacks & gays as much as you did.

acclaimed photographer j. purvis has posted some photos of the TTS cd release at bottletree... he kinda spooked me at one point during the concert. he snuck up behind me, thus the really dark shadowy photo he took of me. but alas, he's got some fancy software in place so's that you can't copy and repost the photos... so you have to click HERE to get THERE. or here ... look at the photo gallery menu on the right. click on the blonde woman. also on his page, check out some badass shot from the recent modest mouse show aight. back to the endless rehearsing. tonight i rehearsed with john strohm again. it went really well. brian t. murphy of the spots will be playing the cd release with us. its gonna be pretty flash. .. for me that will be 2 cd release shows in 2 weeks. call me james brown.

its mid may... let's say may 9th to may 20th ...and its been 4 years with the firm. and i heart them all. 5 years since joining ashby's band the ashes , which became wiseblood . 2 years since the freedom creek trip. 2 years since first recording at instant karma. 4 years since seeing zem. she's 32 today . 2 years since this infamous event ... 4 years since i last played city stages. 6 years since being best man at casey/kristen's wedding. 1 year since playing linn park with the spots. 10 years since taking my last final at UNF... where will i be in a year? writing in this blog no doubt. and probably craving thai food. BULLOCKS .

more photos on this post from hannah slamen . these are all of the vertical shots. it might take a few seconds to load. tomorrow i'll post a few from j. purvis. he took some great photos of the opening bands.

these photos come courtesy of hannah slamen, wife of TTS bassist greg slamen. hannah is a professional photographer and her online portfolio is located here... there were a few photographers present on saturday including j. purvis and some friends of the band. as for a non-objective review of the show... the opening bands were great, the crowd was great, rolland, our gifted sound man for the evening was completely brilliant and professional. in my humble opinion, this is the best the band has played, been presented and most likely was the best house mix yet . the projection was donated by alison hulsey, and i actually wish i had been in the audience to see it. this was certainly one of the most enjoyable shows i've played. ok.. pics... the live configuration for this show was comprised of jody nelson on electric guitar, nord/keys/moog, vocals ; greg slamen on bass and nord/keys/moog ; nikolaus mimikakis on electric guitar, vocals, tamborine ; thomas mimikakis on drums/percussion...