Storm Large in NYC...
March 15th 2011 NYC
Tonight is our (Storm Large) first of two shows in NYC at Joe's Pub. Both Scotty and I have colds we've been nursing for a couple days now. Flying the red eye out from Portland doesn't seem to help any when you are sick, but we are ready to deliver the goods tonight and tomorrow. Apparently Steve Martin...yes that Steve Martin, is playing the show right before us at Joe's pub. Last night we had good food and good company at Storm's theatre producers house. Scotty and I were very pleasantly surprised to find out that she had some leftover whiskey from our Scotland trip last fall which we made the most of. Many stories were told and retold till we were crying with laughter. By the time Scotty and I were walking back to our NYC Hare Krishna lodging...yes that Hare Krishna, my throat hurt from laughing so hard! I believe its called a throat cramp? Oohlas Are Back!
So after talking to Ollie and Mark, we have decided to record another Oohlas record.
We are gonna work quick. We aren't going to be precious. We are just gonna do. Almost one month since I've been back...was it all just a dream??
Sept. 25th 2010
Well I've been home for nearly a month now. 48 hours after I came back to LA, I was loading up my wife, Ellina Kevorkian and her lace paintings and driving them out to Ephraim Utah for an exhibition. Somewhere out there on the highway, I really had to think back and wonder if it was all just a dream. 10 days after my return from Scotland I flew up to Portland and was hanging out with Storm and the gang eating brunch at James's house talking and laughing all about our Scotland adventure or should I say misadventure? Thanks to everyone we met that made our trip so enjoyable and an experience I will never forget! please check out my "Sounds of Edinburgh Fringe Festival" podcast by clicking here                 only a week and a half to go before we go home...where did the time go?
August 20th, 2010
 Scotty and I eating french fries or as they say here "chips" after yet another night at the Loft (performers only bar). We both have realized that drinking everynight is the only way to make it through the Fringe. We have become very good friends with Adel, the man at the chip shop who always greets us with a smile and knows us by name. Nothing better than chips at 3am as the above photo shows.  This is Hardeep. He does a Fringe show where he interviews his guests (mostly fellow performers of the Fringe) live on stage while making curry in his mobile stage kitchen. Here he is just prepping his ingredients backstage. Storm and the boys sang a song on his show and he interviewed Storm as well. The curry was great too! Later that evening at the Loft he introduced me to his friends as "the best drummer in Edinburgh." Ah Hadeep, you make me blush. Or maybe its just your curry?     As reviews come in they print them out and just stick them on the existing posters. This is a pic of the same Storm poster I have been taking throughout this blog as its right outside our stage door.  After taking in The Impressionist's Garden exhibit of over 90 Impressionist master painters, I took Scotty to see the Martin Creed exhibit at a local gallery and he didn't seem to understand the modern language of modern art. You can take the boy out of Montana, but you can't take the Montana out of the boy.    Half way point....
August 18th, 2010 Edinburgh
First off...I need to tell everyone about a religious experience I had on my day off. Earlier in the day went to a little record shop called Avalanche in Edinburgh and bought an album off their "Top Ten" list. They are a Scottish band called Meursault and the album is called "All Creatures Will Make Merry." I uploaded it to my ipod just as it started to rain. So I stepped off into a dark evening downpour and walked the ancient streets of Edinburgh listening. Incredible! A truly religious experience. Better than anything I've experienced in any church!  Storm holding court, in "the Loft," (the performer's only bar) with the brilliantly educated young lads who's play "Robbie Wakes" brought me to tears. It is a play where the main character is a 7 year old child played by a puppet controled by two puppeteers. It follows Robbie's slow recovery towards walking after he is badly injured, and his "mummy" killed in the London subway terrorist bombings of 2005.  Scotty waiting for his chips,"french fries" and falafal at Elfalafel which we stop by EVERY night after drinking at "The Loft." Every night Adel serves us up right! Thanks Adel!  A truly "vintage" drum! Around 1750. I'd give it a whack!  Looking down onto Cowgate Street which is the street our venue The Underbelly is on. The Underbelly is just a little further down the road just out of sight of this photo.  Stunning reminder of USA foreign policy and how we are perceived by the rest of the world.  Scandinavian chess pieces found in Scotland and now on display at the Scottish National Museum. Having just taught my eight year old son to play chess it was a very interesting exhibit.  Stunning Arts and Crafts pieces in the Scottish Museum.  Day Off!
August 15th, 2010 Edinburgh Scotland
  Yes George Wendt, "Norm!" from Cheers came to see Storm's show twice! After the second night we ended up drinking with him at a hotel bar and he is such a nice charming man. The play he is in called Celebrity Autobiography was quite fun too. The play is just actors reading directly from the pages of celebrity's autobiographies. George read from David Hassellhoff's.  There are amazing costume shops in Edinburgh. This one is just off the Grass Market area.  Here comes another afternoon downpour on its way!  When the sun comes out so do the people!!!!   I just can't help it. Everywhere you go you can just look up and see the castle and its incredible!  Here is the front of our venue early evening just as the crowds are starting to show up for the evening performances. Scottish meat pies are just processed meat and fat pies..."they're quite nice!"August 10th, 2010 So we have been here for just over a week and settling in getting into the weird suspended daily reality of being a part of Edinburgh's Fringe Festival. We have taken in all the tourist sites, but the castle, which has just too many tourists waiting in line each morning to bother with. We (the boys in the band) after every show so far have been out drinking post shows with our new good friend Matthew who has been really most gracious with his hospitality, and having been getting back to our apartment late into the "wee" hours. Then its up at noonish and then out into the day until 9pm when we head the two blocks to the Underbelly venue. You lose track of what day it is and the date very easily especially after taking an overnight red eye flight from NYC to get here.   Here is our apartment just off of Southbridge road. Our apartment is the windows on the third floor counting the Cash Generator store at the bottom as the first.  The inside of our room at the Underbelly venue which is deep deep within the dungeon bowels of a building under a bridge deep within Edinburgh.  The entry way into our venue early in the day before all the crowds!  The first person you see when entering the Gents toilets at the venue!  Hotty Scotty Weddle..."ace"guitarist and my post show drinking partner.  Director of Storm's show, Sam Gold, and her producer Elan McAllister backstage.  The boy...the myth...the Edgend...Ed!  Storm, Scott, and James doing a tv show highlighting the Fringe called Edinburgh tonight.  I took this in the pouring Scottish rain walking back from the Museum of Modern Art.  Storm and Matthew (a truly tremendous bloke!) backstage.  Me sitting on a park bench at "The Meadows" deep in the heart of Edinburgh. We Made It!
August 2, 2010 Edinburgh Scotland
So we are in here in Edinburgh via NYC and Dublin. We arrived at 7am yesterday morning and were met by Ali and her son Ed. They are our liaisons for all things Edinburgh and the Fringe Festival. 14 year old Ed rode with us boys in a cab while Storm rode with Ali. Ed is a cool kid and was not only giving us a tour but keeping us amused with stories of his mates and his drunken Irish relatives.   So we get to our apartment and home for the next month and are stoked that a mere 40 paces from our front door is the voted "Best Indian Food in Edinburgh." We put that to the test later in the afternoon while trying to stave off collapsing from jet lag, and it was banging! To keep us awake we walked around the "Royal Mile" road that connects Edinburgh castle to Holyrood Palace (where the queen resides when in Edinburgh) checking out all the tourist sites.    After everyone took a quick nap, we set off into the night and ended up at Greyfriar's Bobby's pub a few blocks from our apt. In the churchyard behind the pub is buried a man whose dog after he died would come and sit on his grave everyday for 14 years until the dog's death in 1872. Try to get a cat to do that!     We had fun drinking and talking about everything that has happened and everything that is to come on this trip. A short wet walk home and everyone crashed into bed with the sounds of late night Edinburgh imposing on our very thin single pane bedroom windows. Small Feet...
July 29th, 2010 NYC
So we got into NYC at 6:30 yesterday morning after a red eye from Portland in which the plane was 100 degrees inside. We made it through a little "harassment" drama that happened directly in the seats behind me which required security when we got to JFK. New York is hot and humid!!!!   Went and saw American Idiot on Broadway last night with James Beaton. Thanks Elan!!!  Sting sat a few seats away from us. Afterwards when we got backstage he was meeting the cast and taking pics with them. It was then that I noticed he has the smallest feet. I mean TINY!  Afterwards James and I rode a bike rickshaw down Broadway (I'M SO THANKFUL I'M STILL ALIVE!) to meet up with Storm and friends at a raw food resturant named Pure. It might have been the single best meal I've eaten in my life. I had the sweet corn tamales and whatever appetisers were ordered. The mint ice cream brownie was AMAZING! Today we had a acoustic rehearsal in an apartment to tighten up some things for tomorrow's show. I have a massive headache and am staying in tonight to be ready to rock Joe's Pub and then its on to Edinburgh and the Fringe Festival. See you at the show tomorrow!   "Set 'em up and Ill knock em down!"I flew up to the great Pacific Northwest recently to perform a 3 show run with Storm Large. I flew in a day early for a rehearsal to a rare NW blistering heat of 97 degrees and it was to stay that way until the moment I left.       After I had a solo breakfast at the Cup and Saucer, the gang all drove up to Seattle and played the Triple Door . What a great venue!!! I have heard people talking about really liking the venue ie. the sound, view, bar and food, but it really was a great place to play a show as well. Storm was on fire with her stories and banter and her voice as always was incredible! Click here for review. I really have the best seat in the house even with only seeing her and Scotty Weddle's butts in my face, because I get to hear her voice out of my drum monitor every night and its an incredible voice. My parents, Aunt and Uncle made it to the show from various parts of Washington State. A fun show was had by all on stage. I got to the hotel sooo tired but so excited to have cable tv in my room, I stayed up till 4am watching tv! After a complimentary breakfast of bread, bread and more bread in the lobby we were off to Portland for our show at the Wonder Ballroom.  This is only my second time playing or even being in the Wonder Ballroom. The first time was with my band The Oohlas a few years ago where Storm and Davey both made it out even with Davey's son's broken foot in a fresh cast. I really like the venue. It reminds me of the old LaLuna for all you Portland old timers out there and "seats" about the same number as well. Seeing a lot of old faces from back in the day is always a treat. So even though they had the air conditioning on when its sold out at 800+ people and its 90+degrees outside it gets real hot real fast on stage and in the crowd. Click here for review.      The next day’s Cancer Society benefit show was at private Lake Oswego residence where over $15,000 was raised and we played outside on the Willamette River into the warm summer night. Click here for review. An early flight home to Los Angeles and another trip in the beautiful Northwest playing music with friends is done with smiles all around. Set ‘em up and I’ll knock em down!!! 
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