elephant blog

El Plaza Condesa this Sunday Night, January 29!

2012-01-26T14:43:00.004-06:00

to all our friends south of the border:
please don't forget this sunday night
a very special visit from the power trio.
we'll be appearing at El Plaza Condesa
for an evening of high-energy powerful stuff!
with julie slick, tobias ralph, and yours truly.

see you there!

songwriting 101 (part 6)

2011-12-25T13:19:00.005-06:00

this post is about 2 new songs:
13. also back in the day
14. rainbow unicorn

also back in the day is the acoustic guitar version
of the keyboard-heavy back in the day.
it has a breezy jazz-like feel mostly because
of a drum loop played with brushes
and run through a bit of distortion.
not sure if it wants to remain an instrumental track
or if I'll eventually succumb to singing it,
perhaps even writing an addition verse.
as usual it is around a minute long.

rainbow unicorn was written on the AB parker fly.
I played it for a short period during the painting with guitar
show as a backdrop to the q&a section we had each night.
but it's grown into something more.
I wrote a short poem which I might recite as a voice over.
or..I might keep it an instrumental.
probably both.
it will also be short, but I don't yet know how short.
I'm recording rainbow unicorn first thing tomorrow.

and that brings us up to date on the record so far.
not all of the material is finished, many vocals are still required
but the good news, at least for me,
is I have written the words to all of these
so there will be no hang-up waiting for the lyricist.
I have 3 or 4 other songs ready and waiting in line
as well as things like variations of wave pressure,
though that may be for a separate record.

happy new year!

songwriting 101 (part 5)

2011-12-25T11:03:00.001-06:00

this post is about 3 new songs:
10. dinosaurs in my tree
11. y
12. ICTHRUU

back in the days before jurassic park the movie
there were rumors of exciting new developments
in the world of dinosaurs, one of my passions.
I began reading every book I could find on the subject.
paleontolgists had proven the skeletal structure
of t. rex is exactly the same as that of a chicken,
if fact it's the same as that of all birds.
the shocker was: this means birds
are the direct descendants of dinosaurs. ergo,
birds are dinosaurs!

to this day it fascinates me to think
when I'm feeding wild birds on my deck each day
or watching them fly across my backyard,
I'm actually seeing dinosaurs!
(it follows then that if I'm eating a chicken sandwich...)
hmmm.

dinosaurs in my tree expresses this fascination
over top of an african-esque rolling tom tom beat
and an acoustic guitar tuned DADEBE but
with a capo far enough up the neck (on the 7th fret)
to sound somewhat ukelele-ish.
the singer expressing his amazement is surrounded
by bird chirps and dinosaur roars
(made on guitar, of course. the nice thing about
making dinosaur sounds on electric guitar
is that no one can say they didn't sound that way).
dinosaurs in my tree is under 2 minutes long.

for song #11 in our recording marathon feast
I was up to my usual manipulations of another passion:
wordplay. it comes naturally to me.

I was thinking about the letters of the alphabet,
wondering what it would be like if they had feelings.
the letter a for example might think of itself
as a trendsetter, the very first, numero uno.
the letter a might therefore possess a maladjusted ego.

given that so many names in cyberspace
now begin with a lower case i, (ieat, isnore, ipoop).
the lower case letter i would certainly
see itself as the current favorite of the main stream.
a very popular letter.

but the letter that I would envy the least is the letter y.
why?
there you go, the letter y will always be a question.
and always next to last.
poor y.

so I wrote:

"y
r u beside z
& stuck next 2 x
where no 1 wants 2 b

y
4 ever the ?
but never the answer
when u could b a c
who doesn’t like the sea?

o y
the trouble u r n
o g i feel bad 4 u
but then look @ q

y
o 2 b an a
or lower case i
instead of @ the end
n the alphabet line..."

y was written in standard tuning
and lasts just over 1 minute.

keeping with the same tactic of wordplay,
I saw a vanity plate that said ICTHRUU.
"clever enough," I thought, "y not use it?"

so in song #12 the singer repeatedly sings:
"I see through you".
I liked ICTHRUU so much I made a second
version called ICTHRUU2.
both songs are based on a very krim-esque
loop of two guitars and bass with some
trash can-style drumming on the same ludwig
drum kit I played on my first record, lone rhino.

ICTHRUU and ICTHRUU2 both were written
on the silver adrian belew signature model parker fly
in standard tuning, each lasting a minute or so.

Merry Christmas, etc.

2011-12-25T10:34:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone!
(if Christmas is what you celebrate,
and if not, merry whatever you do)
and just in case the mayans somehow
got lucky and miraculously guessed
the end of the world is 12/21/12
(the odds of which are larger than
the odds of me throwing an elephant)
we hope this is the happiest new year ever.

songwriting 101 (part 4)

2011-12-14T15:01:00.007-06:00

this post is about 3 new songs:
7. facebook blues
8. one more day
9. rong!

what would a modern bluesman have to sing about?
in order to have the "blues" something must bother you.
I have never actually used facebook and have little idea
what goes on there except what I overhear from others.
but as a student of human nature I expect there
are sometimes "catty" comments just as there are on blogs.
and so I crafted a lyric in the style of a bluesman
who has somehow been upset by something on facebook.
it's not a hilarious concept but a curious one.

facebook blues was written with the DADEBE tuning
on the taylor acoustic guitar
and is in 2 parts for a total of 2.5 minutes.

one more day is much more uplifting in it's message:
"wake up, now it's morning
open up your eyes
see the prize you've awaited
nothing is for certain in this life we make
use what you've been given,
one more day..."

also written on the taylor acoustic in the DADEBE tuning,
one more day is a svelte 50 seconds in length
but it communicates exactly what I want.

one of the many benefits in working with an engineer
who is also an audio professor is learning the latest
and greatest new software capabilities.
rong! is a beefy instrumental piece born out of
experimenting with some new software effects.
it's brash, big, and orchestral but with an edgy drum loop.
rong! is 1:44 seconds long, but I plan to do a second
version called more rong! and maybe even a third.

rong! was written on the yamaha motif keyboard.

songwriting 101 (part 3)

2011-12-14T14:59:00.016-06:00

this post is about 2 new songs:
5. rocketship
6. peep

upon finding this latest tuning DADEBE the first thing
I did was to discover as many chord shapes as possible.
that's one of the beauties of alternate tuning: new chords!
new chords bring out fresh melodies.

I found one set of chord changes which had unique voicings
I was certain couldn't be played in standard tuning.
curious what they were, I worked them out on the piano
and found it was a real stretch for the fingers.

instead of only writing a song from these chords
I decided to use their notes as the basis
for an a capella chorale of 5 voices.
I knew the effect would be beautifully mysterious.
something like the beach boys in outer space.
so I decided to make the chorale the intro to a song
which would have something to do with outer space.

usually I find chords and a melody which intrigue me
and then I play them over and over again
or record them and listen to them over and over,
until a lyric line or subject matter comes to mind.
I let the song tell me what it wants to be about.

but this time I determined to be more purposeful.
I decided to write a PIXAR-inspired song.
what I mean by that is a song whose content
and demeanor might fit well in a pixar film,
not a song meant to sound like randy newman,
even though I love what randy's done with pixar.
(there is only one randy newman).

lyrically I started with
"I wish I was on a rocketship sailing far beyond the moon".
from thereon I based all the words on visual things
one might encounter during a space adventure
imagining what those stunning pixar animators could do.

it took several weeks to craft the entire lyric.
then daniel and I recorded rocketship
and sent copies to my pixar buddies
andrew stanton and pete doctor.
on my solo drive to new york to do our
3 of a perfect pair band camp
I received phone calls from both andrew and pete.
they both loved the song!
which meant so much to me.

I would never presume to do a pixar film,
(they already did a fabulous space adventure WALL E).
I wrote rocketship to prove something to myself.
but I am so pleased it was acceptable to andrew and pete.
I love their work so much.

rocketship is another of my personal faves,
but with further listens I realized I recorded it too slow
just as I had done with picture show.
I think my body tempo slows down when I'm at home.
so we sped the song up a bit and solved that problem.
from now on I am being very aware of song tempos.

song #6 we've recorded is called peep.
it's about the boundless joy of our puppy peep.
she is a miniature yorkshire terrier now one year old.
after years of continual badgering from the girls
I finally broke down and bought a puppy. glad I did.
yorkies are smart, quick, and playful.
and peep is just hilarious.
if it's true dogs can extend your life expectancy
I should live to be a hundred and twenty.

the song peep is much like the dog.
small, quick, and happily full of pep.
it features some of peep's best vocalizations
and some of her amazing squeak toy performances.
peep is 1.5 minute long.

songwriting 101 (part 2)

2011-12-14T14:58:00.012-06:00

this post is about 2 new songs:
3. the war within me
4. I'm a food for you

"the war within me
to sink or to swim
I’m fighting to survive my own indifference
and most of the time I feel like giving up
because I know my best
is never good enough

a long time ago
I was a simpleton
I set my sights too high, I thought I’d always win
but now I’m getting older I see that ship has sailed
and left me here to ponder
the reasons I have failed

hour after hour
I sit in a chair
and stare out the window, I no longer care
I’m paralyzed by knowing the fundamental truth
that nothing really changes
no matter what I do

the war within me
problems I can’t solve
daily the battle erodes my resolve
and most of the time now I feel like giving up
because I know my best
is never good enough..."

sometimes you're perspective of life comes at you
in such a rong way as to disarm your ability to reason.

songwriting is all about perspective.

the war within me was written
on my favorite taylor acoustic using standard tuning.
it is 4 minutes long but I may make into two-2 minute parts.

the 4th song we've recorded is called
I'm a food for you.
it's about the various foods the singer likes to eat.
and all of them are bad for you.

written on the yamaha motif keyboard
complimented with a rockin' band of adrians.
it's the kind of looneytune I may have written
back in the day of twang bar king.
meant to sound like a live club gig
with a blues-ish singer pouring his heart out.

except that he's singing about bad foods he likes.

songwriting 101 (part 1)

2011-12-13T10:29:00.010-06:00

this post is about 2 new songs:
1. picture show
2. back in the day

since returning from our fabulous 6-week extravaganza
I have been utterly preoccupied with two things.
my first preoccupation has been songwriting.*

there is an excitement in the ongoing journey which begins
with the germ of an idea (a melody, a set of chords, a riff)
and more or less plagues the writer until the big payoff,
which is the day the song is finally completed
and righteous enough to be communicated to others.
what a sweet moment it is when you finally
hear your idea fully realized.

songwriting is all about communication.

as I said elsewhere in these posts
there was a string of 5 years when I all but abandoned
songwriting and doubted I would ever write songs again.
then one day I suddenly remembered one of the oldest
songs I had written, in fact it is the oldest song of mine that
I can remember from my early days of trying to write songs.
I believe I wrote it in 1970 at the age of 19.
it's called picture show.

for some reason picture show reappeared in my mind
just like a record being played and I was able to recall
not only the melody, chord changes, and lyrics
but also my ideas for the production of the song.
it would be another full decade before MTV arrived
but I remember deciding to write the song based
on a very clear idea I had for a "short film" (i.e. video)
to go along with the lyric of picture show.

the song is about a lonely guy who rides
the downtown bus to a noon matinee of the latest
"picture show" and ends up alone in the second row
imagining himself to be the star of the movie
"with his name across the screen" only to end up
realizing once again he's really just "a nameless face".
I had blocked out each camera move in my head
and could clearly visualize the piece.

songwriting is all about visualization.

remembering picture show is what caused my reawakening
back into the world of being a songwriter.
so I tried to work out on acoustic guitar how I had played it.
it wasn't easy since I knew it had been in an alternate tuning.
but by remembering the finger-picking method I had used
I was eventually able to recall the alternate tuning.
D A D E B E.
(I have always preferred simply alternate tunings
which don't require changing string gauges.)
it's an easy enough tuning,
you tune the low E down to D and the G down to E.

what happened next surprised and amazed me.
the more I fooled with the new chord shapes I could
achieve with this new tuning the more songs began
to pour out of me like someone had turned on
the creative faucet. I was inspired again!
the melodies came along at the same time
and uncharacteristically for me, so did many of the words.

songwriting is all about inspiration.

another inspiration I had was to do a hand tremelo effect
over the sound hole of the acoustic taylor
to make what sounds like a leslie slowing down.
I've never seen anyone else do it
so it was an exciting discovery.
I'm going to post a yourtube of the effect.

naturally the first song daniel and I recorded was picture show.
but the first version was too slow and in the wrong key
so last week I re-recorded a much better take.
this week I plan to add the vocals, orchestration, and bongos.
it is only 2 minutes long.

in the new studiobelew a yamaha motif keyboard
is the centerpiece. able to be utilized for everything from
samples to midi sequences it is the perfect tool for arrangers,
or songwriters, and is used in many movie and tv scores.
as soon as I got my yamaha motif I began writing with it.

the second song daniel and I recorded was written entirely
on the yamaha and has a "synthesizer pad and groove track-feel"
unlike anything I normally use on my records.
back in the day is a phrase I often encounter watching
one of my few favorite tv shows: pawn stars.
the old man on the show (known as "the old man")
uses the phrase repeatedly in reference to better times.
though I watch very little tv I never miss pawn stars.
I'm a history nut and the show manages to be highly
entertaining while teaching wonderful nuggets of arcanery.

the song back in the day is about my boyhood.
the simplicity of loving to be outside, to ride a bike, and so on.
it's a yearning for a time of innocence.

"back in the day we used to play, even if it rained
we couldn't wait to run outside or ride our bikes at night
man, I wish it could be so simple again
I wish it could be innocent

there was a time when boys would climb
trees to fall into leaves
back in the day when money meant nothing
and love had not come into play..."

it's one of my favorite songs I've written in a long time.
I plan to do a second guitar-based version for the record.
back in the day is 2.5 minutes long.
it's a trend I intend to follow throughout the record:
short songs connected in quick surprising ways.
(a la op zop too wah)

don't go away, I plan to continue this dialogue about
each and every song we are adding to the ever-growing list
of new music you will (hopefully) someday have in your earbuds.

*the second preoccupation could be so amazing it keeps me
up at night just thinking about it though is not something
I should talk about now (in case it ultimately doesn't work out)
but believe me it's an extremely exciting prospect,
one I have dreamed of for many years.

The Adrian Belew Fitness Camp

2011-11-17T12:47:00.003-06:00

if you are ever fortunate enough to be part of a "big" tour,
say, the david bowie sound and vision tour
which traveled first class around the world for nearly a year,
you would have loads of time for shopping in rome,
or visiting the louvre in paris or the prado museum in spain,
or you might take in a movie, have a delicious meal,
nap, read a good book, or send home some corny postcards.

but on the kind of touring we can do you barely have time
to make it from one city to the next in time to set up gear,
change guitar strings, do a quick soundcheck, maybe eat,
maybe shower, play the show, sign autographs for a while,
have a drink, go to bed, get up early, and do it all over again.

many of our show days included an 8-hour drive
which requires a 7:oo wake up (do the math)
before even arriving at the next city,
then doing the soundcheck, etc.
which meant there was pretty much no time for anything.
so what do you do trapped in a stretch van all day?

used to be I would read a lot and I still do
but sometimes that can make you carsick.

in our van, "the fun van", tobias and I share the driving duty
while julie's responsibilities run the gamut
from assistant navigator to our GPS (whom we call "genie")
to soft drink refresher, review reader,
and breakfast finder.

on this tour we mostly tried to amuse ourselves
and each other and did so very well indeed.
lots of talking. lots of laughs.
it seemed the longer we drove the more ridiculous we became.

at the beginning of the tour so many fans commented
on how buff I was and how much weight I had lost that
I began to wonder aloud, "just how bad did I look last tour?"
why was everyone saying how trim I am?
the funny thing is I had done nothing whatsoever
to lose weight or become buff.

so I began joking about having my own fitness camp
revealing the "secrets of my success".

one day tobias was driving, I was in the seat behind him,
and julie was riding shotgun and fiddling with her new iphone
when she caught me in one of my ridiculous modes and filmed it.
next day I tried to top myself with another ridiculous episode.
and then for about a week it became a daily event.
sometime shortly after breakfast each morning
julie would film another fitness camp episode for our amusement.
at some point we decided to put them on youtube. (oops, big mistake?)
we ended up doing six episodes, a couple of minutes long each.
I never rehearsed them; each one is improvised.
now I can add "sit-down comedy" to my resume'.

note:
I realize how silly I am in these but please remember
the circumstances described above and the numbing
effect of riding across texas in a van.

here are the adrian belew fitness camp episodes 1 thru 6:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3F56D3D436AF7E83

I'm going to leave this stuff on youtube only a short while longer.
then my self-respect will no doubt get the better of me.

the final rhino

2011-11-16T11:12:00.002-06:00

in case you haven't heard by now
the black rhino is officially declared extinct.

keep your lone rhino album covers
as a lasting image of a magnificent creature.

a powerful barrage

2011-11-08T11:02:00.008-06:00

so much to say about the 2 of a perfect trio tour
where do I begin?

the look on my face in the above photo says it all:
"whoa!"

probably best to let you, the audience, tell your thoughts
and I encourage you to do so here,
but from a very personal vantage point within the tour
here are my honest impressions:

musically and practically speaking it was close to crimson,
but it was not crimson nor was it treated as such.

the crimson experience obviously has a heavier
yet more ethereal vibe because of robert's rigor,
whereas within the 2OAPT tour I tried my best to lighten up
the atmosphere with joking off the cuff commentary
while maintaining the integrity of the music.
still the shows were very intense,
especially in they way built to the inevitable climax.
that speaks volumes about the material itself.

while all 3 trios and the 6-piece band were certainly on fire
it was you, the audience who inspired me the most.
it was amazing to see the sizable turnouts include so many
young, therefore new fans, many of the female gender,
and to feel your enthusiasm for something
you may thought you'd never experience,
or for the longtime fans
something you thought you'd never experience again.

it's as close as we can offer and no one seemed cheated,
(though I missed my ol' partner robert).
I was amazed at the nostalgia in evidence.

crimson is indeed treated differently:
bigger venues, more money, more prestige,
free pretzels,
but those of us within the tour were very
happy with what we had to be happy with.
I think all of us would like to go at it again.

ironically, I prefer smaller clubs for their capacity
to truly reach people through the performance,
even though the money has a lower ceiling
and therefore dictates what is possible (or not).
the tour was probably too long but no matter.
my red shoes held up remarkably well as did my voice.
it was also one of the most copecetic tours
I've ever been a part of.
no bullshit. no drama.
just the joy of making music.
seeing tony levin setting up his own gear also speaks volumes.

day to day there were so many hilarious moments
mixed within the insanelylong drives and harried soundchecks.
highlights include patricia fripp reading a message from robert,
playing with danny carey again and meeting his girlfriend ryan
and her sister sarah (delightful people) then riding in danny's orange
lamborghini (yikes, 100 mph in less than 4 seconds!)
and living to see so many old friends
(including rob and bob bear)
danny zelisko's ever-popular bud abbott impresssion,
and in the "fun" van making the ridiculous
adrian belew fitness camp videos with
julie filming on her new iPhone while tobias drove faithfully on
after conducting the ongoing search for the perfect breakfast spot,
then meeting so many of our 2OFPP campers again,
and finally playing for my girls, ava and leah.

now the girls know I'm not just a guy
who hangs around the house looking lost.

in the van after breakfast julie often read us
the glowing reviews. great reviews. every one.
everybody loved it!
but one small snaggle I did notice:
some reviewers left me out!
please don't leave me out. it's disrespectful.
"the friendly frontman may easily be taken for granted"
that was my most recent fortune cookie.

one last thought:
it is incredible to be in the middle of such a powerful barrage.
thanks so much to all involved; hope we do it again.

also of note:
my last appearance of the year comes this sunday, nov. 13
at the chicago humanities festival. at 5:00.
I'll be giving a one-hour q&a/demonstration of guitar effects,
technology, and the future of ...who knows.
then it's back to making more music in studiobelew.

photo: ava belew

my latest adventure...

2011-09-16T13:12:00.003-05:00

the ellnora guitar festival
was just as perfect as the 3 0f a perfect band camp.
I'm on a roll! with sesame seeds!

the showing of e for orchestra was not well-attended
but it didn't matter, those of us who were there were thrilled
to see and hear it on the big screen where it belongs
and that included the ol' gang of friends from when I lived
in champaign-urbana. (della, deb, mike getz)

daniel went with me and we agreed every night
was a tasty dinner/party with sparkling conversation.
we were treated so well by everyone.

the keynote address was cool. I launched into it
like a presidential candidate and I really enjoyed it.
I spoke about the electric guitar, it's history,
my involvement with it, and the life it has given me.
it was held in the great hall, a gorgeous space
where the chicago symphony orchestra sometimes play.
so nice were the acoustics I didn't even need a microphone.

on our fourth night there came the big event:
the painting with guitar one-man show.
it was held outside in the amphitheatre.
it was a stunning evening with beautiful clouds slowly
passing by a large shinny near-full moon.
perfect.
and even more perfect, it was jam-packed.
after the show I met up with many of my former
neighbors outside my dressing room, a special treat as well.

and then came a moment I've waited for a long time.
my tai chi teacher grandmaster song was at the performance.
it was so wonderful to see him again. I miss him.
I decided then and there to begin practicing tai chi again.

afterwards daniel and I were off to a happy night of free drinks
at the famous esquire lounge, former hang of the bears.
the esquire is right across the street from my old rehearsal
space where we recorded twang bar king
and many rehearsals with krimson
and writing sessions with the bears.
all in all, a very special week.

thanks again to mr. spelman.
and to everyone at ellnora guitar fest.

next?...Ellnora Guitar Festival

2011-09-04T10:18:00.003-05:00

I have fond memories of the krannert art center
in champaign-urbana from the few years I lived nearby.
with the krannert as the focal point this will truly be
more "arts festival" than "shredfest" I'm happy to say
and with artists like bill frisell, richard thompson,
daniel lanois, robert randolph, and taj mahal
the variety of musical approaches will highlight
the expressive abilities of that most versatile partner:
the guitar.

on wednesday evening, sept. 7th at 9:00
I will debut a showing of the new dvd e for orchestra
at the art cinema and answer questions afterwards.
at 3:00 on friday, sept. 9th I'll give the keynote address.
(sheesh, I'm already starting to sweat...)
on saturday evening at 8:30 I'll play the one-man show
painting with guitar which is completely different
than the show we'll be touring around the U.S.
and Canada beginning 9 days later on sept. 19.

I hope to catch some of the amazing artists performing
and hope to see some familiar faces in the audience as well.
I'd like to thank david spellman for asking me to be involved
in what I'm sure will be a very special event.

bulletin: you missed it!

2011-08-29T14:29:00.006-05:00

if you weren't one of the 75 very happy campers
tony, pat, and I entertained over the last week
I have to say you truly missed something special.
we had a ball!

highlights (for me) included the 75-strong camp jam
(conducted by tony and resulting in monumental moments)
which we filmed and recorded as gifts for each camper
(downloaded onto a USB stick with our cartoon faces),
having 30 or more guitarists divided into two sections,
one group playing my part in frame by frame
and the other group playing robert's part,
having a special viewing of the new e for orchestra DVD,
(which garnered a standing ovation from everyone),
some fabulous storytelling and big laughs,
and the final night's first-ever performance
by the pat, tony, and adrian trio
and 5 of the double trio (sorry, no markus yet)
blazing through a best-of set of krimson hits.
(if I may abuse the word "hits").

full moon resort is in a gorgeous mountain setting,
the staff are super nice people, everything very smooth,
(special thanks to amy and jesse for keeping
my jar of coke, coca-cola of course, filled with ice)
the food was much better than I expected
(I had planned on losing a pound or two, but...)
delicious in fact, the accommodations were,
well... very accommodating,
the bar, the nightly jam and campfire...
the entire experience was simply fabulous.
so much so that we have announced
we are doing it again next year
august 13 through 17.

there was only one thing which didn't surprise me:
the cool people who attended.
they proved once again I have the best fans anywhere.
to our happy campers I would like to say thanks again
and I hope each of you will sign in and take the time
to post a brief re-telling in your own words
of our encounter right here on my blog.

there were many manufacturer's who gifted things
for our campers to use and even things to take away.
we gave away a beautiful Parker Dragonfly guitar,
a bunch of Whirlwind gear, D'Addario strings,
Vic Firth sticks, 3 Ampeg bass amps, two guitar amps,
and 9 custom-made Hammerax cymbals given to us
by their not-so-evil-genius inventor John Stoddard.
we were loaned so many things including 50!
G-Dec amps from Fender and 3 drum kits from DW.
my friend David Koltai demonstrated a plethora
of his Pigtronix pedals, very entertaining,
and John Collinge gave a class on having
a career in today's music strange business
everyone took home t-shirts, a copy of tony's
book The Crimson Chronicle, strings, a copy of e,
drumsticks (once again featuring our cartoon faces),
Whirlwind cables, stickers, catalogs and pictures.

I want to thank tony and pat for being such great partners,
Amy Carpenter and Danny Heaps for making all of this happen,
our crew, John Sinks, Adrian Bienviedes, and Robert Frazza,
our resident crazed cartoonist Denis Rodier,
and the wonderful staff at full moon resort.

ps: if you missed it, it is never too early to sign up
and plan for next year's happenings at:
threeofaperfectpair.com

e for orchestra! it's here!!

2011-08-15T11:00:00.002-05:00

like an 8-year-old kid running to the Christmas tree
on the BIG morning to find the gift he's longed for
I answered the door to greet Dan, our UPS man
and to help him unload boxes of joy.

we now have a limited run of CD's and DVD's of

e for orchestra
the metropole orkest with adrian belew
conducted by jules buckley

the CD's are from the two-day studio recording session we did.
you hear every little detail in tom trapp's fabulous score.

the DVD's are of the amazing one-time-only performance
at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on February 27, 2011
which was filmed beautifully in HD with a 5-camera shoot.

both are wrapped in a striking black artwork
designed by our own mark colman.

I would characterize the differences in the two this way:
the studio version: pristine and powerful,
the live DVD version: raw and exciting.
if I were me I would want both.

my apologies for the extended time taken to produce
these beauties but as with most special things
it is worth the wait.
so please join in our celebration of this very happy occasion.

"I've never heard the Metropole sound like this!"
gert-jan blom, director of the metropole orkest.

a songwriting goldmine

2011-08-03T11:41:00.002-05:00

despite a workload that could choke a horse,
I'm still working as often as I can in the studio with daniel.
why?
I stumbled on to a songwriter's goldmine recently
and songs have been pouring out like free beer.

for the last 6 years I gave up songwriting altogether,
so it came as a surprise to find those gears turning again.
I gave up songwriting because it seemed pointless.
that's how I felt for the last 6 years.
a sad weary mixture of "it's all been said and done
before", and "maybe I'm getting too old for this"
inflamed by the bitter knowledge my songs have
mostly been "orphans on the streets of radioland"
as I once put it.

but in the back of my mind during the first 3
of those years while I was composing e
(which I consider a "composition" not a "song")
I had thought I probably would return to songwriting
again specifically for the power trio, that was step 2
in my plan, after showing the world what the trio
could do musically with e.
but once eric absconded, I truly lost all interest.

what with the internet, free downloading, free burning
of CDs, and the bleak landscape of modern radio
which demands pop songs be mindless dance beat
fodder for young kids who need to procreate
or wallpaper for those who don't want to think,
perhaps you can empathize how defeated I might feel.

but following the BIG EVENT orchestral production of e
and my subsequent return to earth I suddenly knew
that songwriting is such an important aspect of my art.
it's the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place.
doesn't matter how many people hear my songs
or whose top 100 list they are never on,
my songs are integral to my creativity
and no, I'm not too old, and I do have new things to say.

I've often wondered what might have been different
had frank zappa never discovered me and my answer
has always been the same:
apart from remaining poor (as I was)
and having no one know my name,
nothing would be different.
I believe I would have continued to make music
for a very few people and write songs no one ever heard
because that is who I am.

my re-entry back into the world of songwriting
was brought on by two things I've always relied on.
1) when you're stale, switch tunings.
I made up a new tuning as I often have in the past.
from low to high it's spelled D A D E B E.
the low E tuned down to a D, the G down to an E.
suddenly it was like starting all over again.
my habitual chord shapes no longer mattered.
I found myself discovering new things every time
I picked up my acoustic guitar.
it was (and still is) exciting.

2) switch instruments.
I switched to piano, an instrument I don't play enough.
my piano chops are non-existent so any time
I write on piano I have no idea what I'm doing
which forces me to follow the melody in my head
and focus on the logic of the accompanying chord changes.
for me that's ideal.
I thrive on discovery.

the end result of all of this?
I'm currently writing and recording a new batch
of solo songs that I'm enjoying immensely.
hopefully by next spring you'll be enjoying it too.

OOPS!

2011-07-29T12:56:00.002-05:00

so sorry everyone.
I announced there will be florida dates prematurely.
please allow me to change that to:

we are WORKING ON ADDING DATES IN FLORIDA.

cheers,
a

don't answer that question

2011-07-26T14:57:00.002-05:00

don't answer that question...

today I'm taking stock of what I have in front of me:
a) the 3 of a perfect pair band camp in late august,
at which I'll be teaching, talking, playing, jamming,
and learning material with pat and tony.
b) the ellnora guitar festival in champagne-urbana, Il.
which happens only a week later in early september
at which I'll be giving the keynote address at
the krannert art center, performing a one-man show,
and possibly debuting the DVD of "e for orchestra"
at the art cinema in town.
c) jumping straight into performance mode with
the 2 of a perfect pair tour (which is selling well, btw)
which is being extended for another week into florida
as we speak making the total of dates nearly 40,
the miles to be driven more like 14,ooo,
the time away from home nearly two months!

this means within the next 3 weeks I will have to:
a) decide on a teaching curriculum and plan out
what to do each day of the band camp,
which ends by the way with a performance
(of what I'm not yet sure)
b) write a half-hour keynote address
(about what I'm not yet sure)
c) put together and rehearse the material for
the one-show (which means I"ll have to re-learn it),
d) put together and rehearse the material for the
2 of a perfect trio tour including whatever
krimson we decide to play as a six-piece band and,
e) pack my bag, get in the van, and drive...

that's what I'm thinking about today.

tomorrow I'll begin recording vocals for the
9 new songs daniel and I have been recording.
my cut off date for working on this material
meant for the new solo record is august 1
so I'm going to record as much as possible until then.
after august 1 I will have to stop recording
new material in order to concentrate on the above list.

so..
right this very minute I'm asking myself...
"are you NUTS!!"

more about the tour and more...

2011-07-04T10:30:00.007-05:00

hey everybody, thanks so much for all the comments,
questions, and support you've shown for the fall
2 of a perfect trio tour.
I feel the excitement building.
I knew we could count on you.

to clear up some of the questions you've been asking
I scheduled an interview with myself
for 9:30 this morning and that's now!
so here I go:

q: adrian, can you tell us what we can expect from
the upcoming tour with tony and pat and the two trios?

a: I'm glad you asked. the tour has been designed
to showcase each trio's music like any other concert
but with the added effect of having the remaining
players from king crimson who are still playing
king crimson music live join together to celebrate
some of our favorite pieces from our work in krimson.
tony and pat and I will do a few songs then
the six of us will play an encore set of krimson music.

q: are you excited?

a: you bet! I'm tri-cited, excited 3 times over:
1) to be playing with the power trio all across the U.S. again
2) to be playing for the first time ever with tony and pat
as a trio doing "crim-centric" material.
and 3) very excited at the sound I hear in my head
of this particular "double trio". monstrous.

q: you've recently been playing some select krimson pieces
with the power trio. how will this performance differ?

a: ABPT currently plays 6 krimson songs which is most
of the viable material that would work in a trio format.
I love the way we do the krimson stuff as a power trio.
but remember none of that material was written for or done
by a trio so it is limiting what we can and can't do.
there's no way to do, say, matte kudasai for example
with just 3 players and the same is true for most krimson.
I expect these performances to be vastly different because
for one thing we can tackle a wider range of material
such as pieces from the "double trio" era
but mostly because of the addition of tony and pat.
I expect they will singe the hair off the folks in the front row.

king crimson is an elite club.
there have only been 7 members in the last 30 years.
having tony and pat onstage, two legitimate krimson players,
will make this as close as currently possible to the actual thing.

q: have you spoken to robert about the tour?

a: we have batted emails back and forth.
robert is clearly supportive (as usual).
his called it, "an ace idea and wonderfully exciting".
for me personally I will sorely miss robert.
after all we have been partners in all of this
and so much of king crimson IS robert.
so tony and pat and I will have to carefully chose
material the two trios can make our own.

meanwhile I'm trying to convince robert of the significance
of having a life-size cut-out of him in the dark
somewhere on stage.
then people can photograph him as much as they want!

q: I know one question you've been asked most often
is whether or not this tour will go international.

a: that's right, how did you know that?
it's too early to say for certain but I think it could happen.
the tour is a behemoth with nine people traveling together
and it costs a king crimson's ransom to operate but
obviously there are fans everywhere who would love to see it.
all of us would like it to happen. we're excited.

q: what material have you thought of playing as a double trio?

a: it's still to be decided but two suggestions I have liked so far
are matte kudasai which I mentioned earlier and possibly
neal and jack and me. there are the obvious ones like
dinosaur, elephant talk, three of a perfect pair, maybe
one time or sex eat sleep drink dream but I'm also keen
to surprise with something like dig me. pat mentioned
man with an open heart as a trio with me and tony.
that could be intriguing.

stickmen will play vrooom vroom in their set,
that'll be a scorcher, and ABPT will play neurotica as a trio
which is something we really enjoy.
I'm sure many other suggestions will be considered
but that's plenty to chew on for now.

q: are there any plans to record or film this for CD or DVD?

a: nothing definite yet but we're looking at options.
right now pat and tony are in russia so communication is nyet.

q: speaking of DVD's what's happening with e for orchestra?

a: you read my mind (it's a short story). we just mastered
both the DVD and CD this past week. they're incredible!
mark colman and I have finished the artwork for both things
so I think we're about ready to go to press!
I'll be announcing something soon.

q: anything else to mention?

a: well, yes, I have been recording new material with daniel.
we're working on 7 songs right now. I have 3 more ready to do
as well as a few instrumental pieces like
variations of wave pressure.
I've been on a creative tear of late.

q: what do you do in your spare time?

a: this IS my spare time.

A Celebration of King Crimson Music and Much More...

2011-06-20T09:44:00.003-05:00

remember when I mentioned something special
was being planned for our next tour?
well, here it is:

the Two Of A Perfect Trio tour.
the show will go like this:

stickmen (tony levin, markus rueter, and pat mastelotto)
will play a set of their music
then
the adrian belew power trio (me, julie slick, and tobias ralph)
will play a set of my music
then
tony, pat, and I will play a few crimson songs as a trio
then
both trios will take the stage for a glorious set of
king crimson music including pieces from the double trio era.
two drummers, two stick players, a bassist, and a guitarist, YOW!
what a sound that's gonna be.
the dates should be listed here soon.

2011 marks my (and tony's) 30-year anniversary
of being in king crimson, something I'm very proud of.
this once in a lifetime show is a perfect way to celebrate.

DON'T MISS THIS!

2011-06-07T11:42:00.002-05:00

tomorrow morning (wednesday, june 8) I'm going to drive,
yes, drive two days to brooklyn to rehearse with ABPTv4,
aka julie slick and tobias ralph
we'll play a lovely 45 minute set on saturday night, june 11
at the williamsburg waterfront as the opener
for coheed and cambria. come on out!

I'm really looking forward to playing with julie and tobias again,
heck, I'm even looking forward to the two days
of solitary confinement in my honda van (and two days back).
it will give me some time to write lyrics for all these
new songs which have been pouring out of me lately.

Ned Evett Rides Again!

2011-06-01T11:45:00.003-05:00

this past monday we put the final touches on ned's new record
tenatively called treehouse which also happens to be
one of my personal favorites of the 14 songs on the record.

it all worked out beautifully: great songs from ned
and great performances from everyone involved made it
a very pleasant experience, one I hope to repeat in the future.

if I had to catagorize ned's music (which moves from delta blues
to r&b and even, dare I say it, flashes of pop music)
I would call it modern americana in the best sense of the term.
vocally he has a flexible cast of characters which keep
the songwriting variety even more interesting.

what often sounds like blazing slide guitar work is actually
ned's main instrument fretless guitar and he uses it
in various ways from open-tuned chording and finger picking
to out right slamming solo passages.

it's a wonderful record and I can't wait to hear the finished mixes
which will not be done by me and daniel but will be deftly
handled by grammy-winning mixer ryan hewitt (chili peppers, etc.)

check out nedevett.com for future info.
great stuff, ned!

Ned Evett's Newest Effort

2011-04-21T13:10:00.008-05:00

I love it when reviewers and critics call
a new record an "effort".
some effort, it's more like giving birth to 12 children.

today we are loading in the necessary gear, people,
and caffeine products for my production of ned evett's
next record which will dominate my "efforts"
24/7 for the next few weeks.

ned is a terrific guitarist/singer/songwriter from idaho
who I recently met in milan, italy before he moved
here to nashville. (confused yet?)
ned's trio was opening for some guy named satriani
and the power trio shared the bill as well.

one of many unique things about ned:
he mainly plays fretless guitar, a difficult instrument
few people attempt and one which is near and dear
to my heart (more on this in another installment).

daniel rowland will assume the engineer's seat
for our first true studio "effort" together bringing along
various student assistants from daniel's normal workplace:
the art institute of nashville.

ned's trio will include drummer lynn williams
(actually lives right here in mt. juliet)
and bassist malcolm bruce,
jack bruce's son.
yes, that jack bruce!
I have yet to hear them play but I'm already excited.

for my part I've been studying ned's rather prolific pile
of songs, choosing the material for the record,
and preparing my thoughts on how to ruin,
I mean, produce his shiny new brood.
I'm also looking forward to running
my new studio through its paces.

meanwhile, behind the scenes other things
on the horizon may possibly include a very special
upcoming fall tour with a surprising twist.

I'll keep you posted.

groenburgwal 38

2011-03-21T15:11:00.004-05:00

when I found out my apartment on the canal
at groenburgwal 38 was one of the most often photographed
and one of the most common postcards I had to have one.

if you look on the left hand side of the postcard
the white doorway underneath the streetlamp
was the entrance to the apartment.
I lived on the top two floors.

for the first two and a half weeks
I shared the apartment with daniel rowland.
on march 7 daniel had to return to the states.
for the last week I shared it with john sinks.

I'll always have fond memories of groenburgwal 38,
my home way from home.

hey kids, I'm back

2011-03-16T11:47:00.002-05:00

from my wonderful month in amsterdam.
everything went better than I ever expected.
I will write a full account soon.

meanwhile, I am so saddened by the events in japan,
another of my favorite places to play.
I have met so many great people there over the years.
I played in Sendai with krimson.
unbelievable what has happened there.
my heart goes out to the people of japan.

Speechless!!!

2011-02-28T09:55:00.003-06:00

I have no words to aptly describe last night's world premiere

performance of e with the metropole orkest at paradiso...

phenomenal? powerful? overwhelming?

those terms don't even come close to describing it.

the audience was stunned, as was I.

following the closing dynamic chord of e

there was a split second of shared amazement

followed by a huge surge of energy screamingshoutingwhistling

which nearly lifted the paradiso off its foundation.

pardon my french but the orchestra was fucking phenomenal!!

the sound was hugely powerful

and utterly delicate

aggressive and chaotic

and perfectly precise.

emotionally I was so overwhelmed

more than once I nearly burst into tears.

joyful tears, the best kind.

so perhaps those words are fitting.

I know this much: it was unlike anything

I have ever experienced before.

unbelievable.

today, our day off between performing

and 5 days of mixing

I'm walking on air through the streets of amsterdam,

still in shock.

I can't wait to share this with those of you

who weren't able to be there.

time to fly...

2011-02-14T08:59:00.018-06:00

this saturday the 19th I leave for my month in amsterdam.
daniel rowland will be flying with me, john sinks will meet us there.
VPRO is providing me an apartment along with
the very healthy schedule of things to do listed below.

feb. 19: fly to amsterdam arriving early morning feb. 20

feb. 20: working through the score with tom trapp, followed by
an interview with one of holland's largest newspapers in the evening
to appear in the paper on thursday feb. 24

feb. 21: rehearsal in Hilversum, at Studio 3
with the Metropole Orchestra rhythm section only

feb. 22: first rehearsal with the Metropole Orchestra
followed by the taping of the tv show "Vrije Geluiden"
("Free Sounds") filmed at the Bim Huis in amsterdam
which will include a solo performance and interview

feb. 23: second rehearsal with the Metropole Orchestra

feb. 24: recording e in studio 3 with the Metropole Orchestra

feb. 25: recording e in studio 3 with the Metropole Orchestra

feb. 26: day off

feb. 27: The Big Event: the Paradiso concert in Amsterdam.
(the soundcheck will be recorded as well)
the concert will be filmed by VPRO
and will include a half-hour solo guitar set,
and the world debut of the orchestral e
(as well as a surprise or two)

feb. 28: day off (phew...)

march 1 thru 5 : mixing the studio and live recordings
in Hilversum at studio 3

march 6: "painting with guitar" solo concert
at the Paradox in Tilburg, Netherlands

march 7: taping an interview for the autobiographical
radio shows to be broadcast march 10 and 11

march 8: travel to Verviers, Belgium to perform a
"painting with guitar" solo concert

march 9: travel back from Belgium. day off

march 10: a 4-hour masterclass at the Amsterdam Conservatory
(what on earth am I going to teach for 4 hours!)

march 11: a two-hour masterclass at the Rotterdam Conservatory

march 12 & 13: days off for museum scanning
and happy nights at Biblos!

march 14: fly home

here is the schedule of radio shows happening in march
for VPRO's "painting holland belew" series:

thursday march 3 VPROJazzLive radioshow (2 hrs)
Adrian Belew Power Trio, live recording
+ website (audio on demand, video impression)

saturday march 5 De Wissel radioshow
musical highlights from the seventies & eighties:
Zappa, Bowie, King Crimson, guitar (& other instruments)
playing & gear developments.

thursday march 10 + friday march 11 VPROJazzLive
radioshow (total 2 hrs) AB’s "Life In A Nutshell" expanded,
incl tracks from discographic history, interview fragments
+ website (audio on demand, video interview)

thursday march 24 VPROJazzLive radioshow (2 hrs)
Adrian Belew & the Metropole Orchestra, live recording
from feb. 27 + website (audio on demand, video impression,
making-of video)

thursday march 31 VPROJazzLive radioshow (2 hrs)
Adrian Belew's Painting With Guitar, live recording from march 6
+ website (audio on demand, video impression)

a splendid time is guaranteed for all.
wish me luck!

ps: concerning the hat:
no hat.

get your stinkin' badges here...

2011-02-04T08:56:00.007-06:00

just a few words about our music camp coming up in august:

IT'S GONNA BE A BLAST!!!

if you want to know the particulars and maybe even decide
to attend you should visit threeofaperfectpair.com of course,
meanwhile here are my thoughts on what to expect:

monday afternoon on august 22 you will arrive
and check into the accommodations you've chosen.
the fee you have paid is mostly based
on your choice of accommodations, otherwise
all of us campers will be treated the same,
we'll all eat the same food together (delicious I'm told)
and have access to the same classes and events
as well as the delights of a 70-acre summer resort
in the Catskill Mountains no less!

for the next 4 days you'll be busy choosing
which activities you want to participate in,
which classes you would like to learn from,
who you want to befriend and hang out with,
how long you should stay at the late-night jam,
which "rock star" you should ask tony about first,
how long you will practice what you've just learned,
whether or not to join in pat's morning "practice pad session"
even though you're not (much of) a drummer,
what shirt to wear at this evening's bonfire,
which king crimson lick to ask about today,
when is the perfect moment to approach adrian
for one of his custom-made "sticky picks",
how much food and drink you can possibly absorb,
and how often you can hear another very-likely-hilarious
road story from these three seasoned road warriors!

I expect there to be a wealth of knowledge dispersed
in all directions, served up with a dose of silliness.
I expect to teach someone (could be you)
how to make the perfect lemon drop martini.
I expect I will be listening closely to everything
tony and pat have to teach because I still have much to learn.
I expect someone (could be you) to ask me to demonstrate
the sound of a chicken chasing a steam roller.
I expect to stay out too late at one of the late-night jams
and I expect to regret that decision the next morning.
I expect by day 5, friday, all of us will have exhausted
ourselves in a very unique and lasting experience.
and I expect to win the "most likely to succeed" badge.

seriously though, when I think of the amount of collective
experiences, savvy, and knowledge buried in the psyche
of this particular trio of people: tony, pat, and me,
and when I truly remind myself of all the great people
the three of us have known and worked with,
all the amazing records we have been part of
and the music we have each created,
all the travels around the globe,
the hours spent in recording studios,
all the concerts we have performed
over our long tenure in the rock music world
it's hard to know what to expect
except to say IT HAS TO BE GOOD!

so I expect to be excited.

ps: thanks to denis rodier for the fabulous illustration seen above.
and special thanks to daniel heaps, amy carpenter,
and mike gilbert for organizing the camp details thusfar.

bugabooed

2011-01-20T14:26:00.028-06:00

if you have followed my recent posts
you'll know I have led you to believe
I'm busy recording new material.
I'm sorry but that's not true.
I do have new material ready
and I am eager to record
but I can't do so just yet.

why?

in only 30 days from now I'll be boarding a plane
for amsterdam to begin rehearsing for The Big Event:
the orchestral version of e.

I've known from the start this will be the most
challenging performance of my professional life
and I have been suitably rattled for the last two months.
though I've been practicing daily I still don't feel ready.

a. I don't yet have all my guitar programs written
perfectly and in a sequence which allows me
to move easily from one program to the next.
there are a perplexing amount of moves in e.
the semi-automatic choreography of my footwork
has always been an essential part of my sound.
most guitarists play with their two hands.
I play just as much with my two feet.

b. the guitar playing for the orchestral e
is not the same as for the power trio version of e.
in the power trio version I make 16 different loops
on the fly (so to speak) with my feet, of course.
but early on I realized this would not work
in the context of an orchestra.
to expect the entire orchestra to hear correctly
and follow consistently my 16 loops would be folly.
so I decided on this approach instead:
I will play what would normally be the guitar loop once,
then it will be taken over by the orchestra.
I've designed various ways for this to happen.

for example, in the section called c
after I play the opening 64-note chromatic phrase
which I would normally make into a loop,
I'll stop and let various members of the orchestra
take over the 64 notes from there on.
to make it interesting I have scored it so each
of the 64 notes will be played by a different instrument.
that way the notes will seem to bounce around the stage.
(that should make 'em sweat).

point being I have to re-learn how to play e
in order to know what to play and when NOT to play.

c. I have never been conducted.
I have always taken my cues and tempos from
the drummer or from myself but now I will need
to watch what the conductor does while I'm playing
and learn how to follow his movements.

also there are rules in an orchestra.
if, for example, I want to comment about a certain
part I don't address the player, I address the conductor
and he passes my comments or questions on to the player.
no big deal, just more things to get used to.

d. how does a "rock guitarist" adjust his or her
volume level to balance with the volume level of an orchestra?
in a rock band it's easy: you play as loud as the drummer
plays. no more and no less.
ah, the tyranny of the drummer.

which reminds me of one of my favorite stories
from when I played drums in the Holiday Inn circuit.
we had a complete moron as our booking agent.
I'll call him Ron.
Ron had sent one of his bands to play
in one of the Holiday Inn lounges.
soon he received a call from the manager of the lounge.
he was complaining about the band.

ron: what's wrong with the band?
manager: the drummer is too damn loud!
ron: do you have him miked?
manager: no.
ron: well, mic him and turn him down!

one last concern I have is, well...my head.
the concert in amsterdam is at the Paradiso,
one of the most revered venues in all of europe.
(in his recent autobiography keith richards mentions it
as one of the 3 best venues the stones ever played).
crimson played there in the 80's.

problem is, after they build the stage out far enough
to accommodate a 55-piece orchestra there will be very
little room for people on the main floor.
the Paradiso has two huge balconies which ring the venue.
that is where most of the audience will be seated.
and what will they be looking at?
the top of my balding head!

in the last two weeks I've spent a considerable amount
of effort surfing the hat shops of the internet.
in fact, I've purchased 6 new hats and every one of them
make me look like Ron the moron booking agent.

there are guidelines for wearing a hat on stage.
if it has too large a bill you'll have "coon eyes".
if it's too hot you'll sweat like stevie ray vaughn.
plus the audience has to "accept" you in your hat
or it can become a distraction.

phew...sometimes this rock star thing is for the birds.

regardless I aim to spend the next 30 days heads-down
with one eye on the hat shops of the universe
and one eye on the fretboard of my parker fly.

gulp...

looking ahead...

2011-01-06T16:07:00.001-06:00

to the rest of this year it's difficult to know what may happen.
I don't even have a calendar yet to pencil things into,
but I have the sense we may journey into new territory.

one of my main concerns will be to have the trio
performing again throughout these great united states of ours.
not really new territory I know, but we'll make it seem new.
and perhaps to revisit some of our international favorites.

a new solo record, now that I have a studio again,
that is a must and it definitely will include new territory.

performing by myself with an internationally famous orchestra,
now that is certainly new and truly one of the biggest
undertakings of my long and storied career.
but of course that will be finished (sadly) by march.
which leaves a lot of year to fill.

there are several very new ideas being discussed
and I hope soon to announce at least one of them.
or they may crash and burn in flames
like so many good ideas.

either way I feel empowered by possibilites...

new StudioBelew up and running!

2011-01-06T16:01:00.002-06:00

yesterday daniel and I inaugurated the new improved
state-of-the-art StudioBelew when I added guitars
to a track by the atlanta-based band Sun Domingo.

it was a really cool song, I enjoyed meeting and
working with the band, and the session went perfectly.
can't wait to hear the complete record.

so we're back in the business of making records!

to open my eyes ever wider

2011-01-03T11:59:00.003-06:00

so I might see life differently.

that's my new year's resolution.

when I was 27 years old frank zappa
once scolded me for being "too happy-go-lucky".
my aim is to get back to that status.

time to get happy.

Happy New Year!!!

to those of you

2010-12-23T15:44:00.003-06:00

who wished me a "happy birthday"
thank you very much.
and to those of you who didn't mention it...
thanks even more.

happy holidays!!

hey there! remember me?

2010-12-01T13:44:00.009-06:00

just back from our Great Bread and Cheese Tour of Europe 2010.
wow! great fun great shows great audiences
great food drinks and conversation and I even lost 7 pounds.
thanks to all of you who came along to witness
the sweat and happiness.

and thanks to our team:
julie, marco, john sinks,
tobias ralph, and our driver/merch man felix brinkschulte
(affectionately known as felix christ
due to his resemblance to a certain Christmas figure)

so many new memories and terrific performances.

also thanks to Thomas Olsson and everyone at IB Expo 2010
for making our last week in sweden and the final show
including Isildurs Bane, Midaircondo, Christian Saggese,
Luca Calabrese, and Michala Ostergaard-Neilsen
such a sensational finale.
all wonderful people and excellent players
combining for a 3.5 hour musical extravaganza that was stunning.
imagine all 12 of us playing e and thela hun ginjeet! yow!

and you should have heard "drive"
played by yours truly and midaircondo.
killer.

meanwhile during my six-week absence daniel rowland
worked overtime to rebuild StudioBelew
into a state-of-the-art desktop studio
replete with new computer, software, metric halo, etc.

so what's next?
brand new music to be recorded! what else?
can't wait to throw down all these burning ideas
that have been rolling round my brain since way back
in the "painting with guitar" tour days.
this will be my first chance to realize them.

and of course I will always have my eyes, ears, and fingers
working tirelessly towards the big date: feb. 27th, 2011
the world debut of the orchestral e.

a lot to be thankful for this Christmas.
happy hollandaise everyone!

planes are HAPPIEST when they're flying!

2010-11-07T08:39:00.015-06:00

for many years and many many hours of plane flights
I suffered through the very real malady called "fear of flying".
(as evidenced in such lyrics as "fly" and "I'd rather be right here")
it's a horrific mixture; part claustrophobia, part panic attack,
which is equally as terrifying as it is illogical.

it used to be as the plane would start down the runway
my hands would immediately began dripping sweat.
in a minute they'd be drenched in sweat.
each little movement or sound the plane might make
would provoke an uncontrolable panic.
I had to take a beta blocker medicine called Xanax.
I hated the effect of Xanax.
it would make me so stupid sometimes I forgot my bags.
once I was so zonked out I missed a connecting flight.
this lasted for maybe 15 years.

finally in 2002 krimson did a tour of Europe
during which I was unable to be medicated so
I overcame my fear and stopped the medicine
cold turkey.
I have been mostly fine ever since.

so on a recent flight when I was perusing the in-flight magazine
(called Velocity) I was keenly interested to read an article
concerning "what to do about fear of flying".
turns out the article's best and only piece of advice was
to "breath deeply" and the article even explained in depth
how to breath deeply as though anyone old enough
to read might not know how to breath deeply.

but my favorite tidbit of advice the article gave was this:
"remember, planes are HAPPIEST when they are flying!

that gives me such comfort.

doh!

2010-11-07T08:28:00.006-06:00

Hanover, Germany happens to be Marco's hometown
so when we played there at the Jazz Club recently
many of Marco's old friends were there.
his parents were there as well.
I have announced drummers all my life.
"Bill Bruford on drums!" "Chris Arduser on drums!"
and so on.
but it was in Hanover of all places my mouth
finally ran ahead of my brain when it came time
to announce .our drummer I blurted out,
"Marco Minnemann on drugs!!!"

stupid tongue.

lost in translation?

2010-10-30T10:14:00.002-05:00

after our show in Den Bosch, Netherlands
(our second show with Marco and it's already cooking, thank you)
two gentlemen approaching me for an autograph began in this way:
"Adrian, you are getting OLD"!!!
"we have seen you so many times now."
they went on to tell me each venue I had played
and with which band, but I had stopped listening at the word "old".

I figure I'm on my second life.
having met literally many thousands of people
while playing concerts around the world in cities multiple times
and having traveled perhaps a million miles doing so
in cars, vans, trains, boats, and planes
I figure I'm already done with my first life and have seen more
than most people ever will in one life,
so now I'm on to my second life.

and yes, it's true in my first life I am probably "old"
and maybe tired and jaded and should have retired long ago.
but in my second life I figure I'm about 23 years old by now,
full of spunk, and raring to go!

the next gentleman who approached me seemed also to be struggling
with the concept of complimenting someone you admire.
I do believe he admired me but he began by saying,
"so, Adrian, you are not the greatest guitarist",
uh huh,
"and you are not the greatest singer",
please, do go on,
"but you have such an ENERGY!"

they ADORE me over here!

post-it's from abroad

2010-10-27T07:01:00.003-05:00

Newcastle, a city I'd never been to turns out to be
some kind of architectural wonder.
a maze of winding streets and alley ways surrounded
by huge old brick industrial behemoth buildings
sandwiched between modern glass structures
and a couple of amazing bridges which
were the first of their kind anywhere in the world.
a surprisingly good city for walking around.

sid smith was at our first- ever UK show in Newcastle.
he interviewed me after the show.
sid's a lovely man and the only fan/friend who will be
able to claim seeing both the first and last shows.
sid's coming to our final show in Sweden.

our first show in London was a smashing success.
a great happy audience in a packed dark rock club
with a power trio absolutely on fire!!!

Tobias played perfectly through his two-show tour.
he is a fabulous drummer and a super-sweet guy.
Julie, John, and I loved working with him.
I highly recommend Tobias for anyone needing
a drummer who can play anything he wants.
thank you so much Tobias.

speaking of a drummer who can play anything he wants:
for our night off in London we had Bill Bruford for dinner.
he was very tasty, as always.
Bill regaled us with his stories, his wit and charm.
his take on the business of making music is as thought-
provoking as ever, and we had loads of laughs.
Bill is on the short list of my all-time favorite friends.

Amsterdam remains my euro-city of choice,
which is where we are at the moment, about 20 minutes
outside Amsterdam on the day of show in nearby

last night I took a bus down to Leidesplein, the exact same
area I spent a week in recently and there I met Tom Trapp
in the exact same Italian restaurant we last ate in (Peppino's)
and we had a fablous meal
and walked over to my favorite hangout Bilblos
and met with our favorite barmaid Celine.
Tom and Celine and me, just like old times. it was great.
then John Sinks and Julie joined us (they had been walking
through other parts of the city) and everything was perfect.

just met up with Marco in the lobby checking in just in time.
in two hours we will be doin our sound check.
with one whole month of shows left
the Adrian Belew Power Trio v.3 is officially back!!!

41 days and nights....

2010-10-18T10:12:00.002-05:00

here we go again!
all across Europe on the longest tour any of
the power trios have done yet.
having witnessed and participated in the creation
of this tour and knowing the incredible amount
of work it takes to make such a thing happen
I can only say this:
DON'T MISS THIS CONCERT !!!
you never know how long it may be before we can do this again.

last week Julie and Tobias arrived for two days
of rehearsal officially crowning the birth of ABPTv.4
Tobias turns out to be a sweet guy and a fabulous drummer
who came well-prepared and enthusiastic.
he will be the perfect addition for our two shows in the U.K.
we even learned another crimson song we've never done:
indiscipline.

the tour includes 4 clinics as well
so if you've ever wondered how this wacky stuff happens,
here is your chance to ask and learn.

needless to say we're very excited.
there will be many new places for us to conquer,
many new faces to see, and foods to devour.
here we come!!!

A Dream Come True, part 1

2010-09-09T17:00:00.002-05:00

You are cordially invited to attend an evening with
Adrian Belew and the 52-piece Metropole Orchestra
performing the world debut of the orchestral version of

e

This enchanting event happens on February 27, 2011
at The Paradiso in Amsterdam, Holland and will be
recorded and filmed live for those who cannot attend.

Mr. Belew wishes to express his deepest gratitude
to the VPRO Broadcasting Company, Gert-Jan Blom,
arranger Tom Trapp, conducter Jules Buckley,
and the world renown Metropole Orchestra
for making a life-long dream come true.

A Dream Come True, part 2

2010-09-09T16:00:00.001-05:00

ever since the ripe-old age of 10,
at which point I began pestering my parents
to allow me to join the junior high school band,
somewhere in the murky back corridors of my mind
was the dream that someday I might be part of an orchestra.

several years before The Beatles and the so-called
British Invasion completely altered the course of my life
my hero figure was the band director of the
The Ludlow Junior High School Band in Ludlow, Kentucky.
my intent was to grow up to be him, the band director,
someone who understood each instrument, could teach others
how to play the myriad of instruments in an orchestra
and how to read the vast rich heritage of written music
left to all of us by the great and small composers of history.
someone who could lead the entire band in concert.
that was my vague thought of what manhood might bring.

all of that changed when two things happened:
1) my parents moved to a different town where I was no longer
able to hang out with the intimately bonded bandmates I loved,
in particular my best friend and french horn player Kenny Nevels,
and no longer to have that camaraderie as my essential self-image
and 2) The Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan Show, an event which
seems to have ruined, er, changed the lives of many musical youth.
I joined my first teen band The Denems which became the new
focus of my world and off we went "plummeting to stardom".

still, the orchestral dream never really went away.

many years later I was still eking out a living in the Holiday Inn
circuit where my nights were spent drumming in the lounge
entertaining the business travelers, and my days were
spent honing my songwriting skills, seeing movies,
reading books, and listening to records.

a day I remember well was the day I took a ride
alone in my van through a lovely wooded park.
the park was the Johnny Appleseed National Park
in Leominster, Massachusetts.
we were playing at the Leominster Holiday Inn
five hours a night, six days a week, for one entire month.
I often took long rides in the daytime; Leominster is a beautiful area
and has many parks and forests.

so, I was riding along admiring the scenery when I began
to daydream a piece of music being played by an orchestra.
the daydream lasted for several engrossing minutes.
I could clearly hear the piece of music as though it were a
recording, the orchestra sounded fierce and dynamic.
the strange thing was I pictured myself at the front
of the orchestra playing electric guitar!

an orchestra with an electric guitarist as guest is perhaps
commonplace these days with Metallica, Jeff Beck, et al
but at that time it was unheard of, at least to my knowledge.
it made my daydream was so powerful I've never forgotten
the affect it had on me, more than 30 years later.
(I only wish I could remember the piece of music).

fast forward to now and you can imagine my surprise
and excitement when out of the blue one day I received a call
from a dutch man named Gert-Jan Blom (pronounced
something like Kurt Yawn) who said he was in charge of
the programs presented each year by a European orchestra.
he went on to say he had read a sentence in one of my
interviews in which I said my latest record e
was written with an orchestra in mind and that his orchestra,
the Metropole Orchestra in Amsterdam Holland would
actually like to do the piece as part of their 2011 season!
Gert-Jan said in Holland this type of event is often
paid for partly by the dutch government and partly
by an interested broadcasting company.

you could have knocked me over with a bulldozer.

A Dream Come True, part 3

2010-09-09T15:00:00.001-05:00

and so it was after months of continued phone calls
and a rash of e-mails and arrangements being made
that I found myself on a flight to Amsterdam where
I would spend a week finalizing details for the upcoming
debut, meeting with key people involved, seeing the incredible
rehearsal space and recording studio the orchestra utilizes
and the venue where the concert will be held,
and most importantly working on the arranging
and writing of the all-important score.

the first person to greet me was Gert-Jan.
over the week I spent a lot of time talking with Gert-Jan
and learned he is himself a bassist and record producer,
has a huge understanding of various music forms, and
is a krimson enthusiast who reads mine and robert's blogs.
in fact, he seemed to know everything about my career.

after landing at 8:30 in the morning, jet-lagged and all,
I was excited to get to work with the next person I met:
the man who would orchestrate the parts for every player
in the orchestra and who would write a proper score.

Tom Trapp, a young transplanted new yorker has lived
and worked in Amsterdam now for four years.
he and I spent the most time together.
Tom is a quiet, even-natured guy. talented. hard-working.
I liked him immediately and we became fast friends.
Tom's knowledge of each instrument and what they
can sound like together is exactly what I had dreamed
of knowing when I was a kid in the school band.
many orchestral instruments have a slew of ways
they can be played and different sounds they make accordingly.
Tom taught me many things as the week passed.
we worked 6, 7 hours a day at Tom's apartment studio,
only taking a break from the work on saturday.

after a full days work on monday and tuesday we had
found our method of working together and had the score
written for all 3 sections of a, the first movement of the piece.
Tom writes out everything in pencil very exactingly,
sharpening his pencil about every 45 seconds, and takes
many notes, but the actual physical writing occurs after I'm gone.
it will take Tom weeks to complete the score which also
has to be put into a computer software program
which spits out perfect copies for the each player.

on wednesday morning bright and early Gert-Jan, Tom,
and I drove 45 minutes outside the city to the nerve center
of Holland's broadcasting world, a place called Hilversum.
called "media city", Hilversum houses all the radio
and television broadcasting reaching 17 million dutch people.
it's a gorgeous area surrounded by meadows, lakes, forestry,
a large bird sanctuary, and some of the most beautiful homes
and gardens in all of the Netherlands.

our first stop was VPRO Broadcasting, the company who is
sponsoring the concert and as we'll see, much more.
the VPRO building itself is an architectural marvel,
people come from all over the world to study it.
amazingly it is one large space, a fact that's difficult
to imagine once you're inside.

our morning was spent with the VPRO team responsible
for our event: Gerard Walhof, Pieter van Hoogdalem,
and Aad van Nieuwkerk.
immediately they surprised me with an ambitious proposal.
more than just the world debut concert, their agenda includes
a month-long series of 2-hour radio programs, supported by some
tv and print media, a separate one-man Painting With Guitar
concert to be performed a week after the debut, and a making-of
behind the scenes video of the rehearsals, recording, etc.

the result they want to achieve is to make the month
of March Adrian Belew Month! a career retrospective!
of course this blew my mind, I've never had this sort
concerted attention paid to my music.
we even came up with a catch phrase to call the series:
Painting Holland Belew.

there are many details to work out but Gert-Jan, Tom,
and I left the meeting elated.

A Dream Come True, part 4

2010-09-09T14:00:00.002-05:00

our next stop was the giant facility which houses Amsterdam's
four orchestras including various large spaces for rehearsing
and a very nice state of the art recording studio.
we stayed long enough to hear the symphonic orchestra
rehearsing an operatic piece and snap some pictures of me
in the hall the Metropole Orchestra uses, a place I will be
very familiar with by the end of next February.

a nice lunch and back to Tom's studio to continue scoring.

it is mentally exhausting work to think about every note,
every passage of a 43-minute piece of music, deciding
who plays what and then writing it into score form.
I don't know how Tom does it but I found it fascinating.
at the end of most days, a short break back at the hotel was
usually followed by dinner with Tom.
lots of conversation, stories, laughs, maybe a walk
around the canals lined with houses and cafes,
and certainly a stop for a well-earned beer or three.

the first night we found a cozy little bar with cool music
and two delightful bartenders, Celine and Paul
who spoke perfect english (most dutch people do)
and indulged my stories about my "musical odyssey".
the bar is called Biblos; I highly recommend it.
Biblos became our nightly hang.

on wednesday Aad from VPRO came to Tom's studio
to film us working together as part of the "making-of video".
Aad seemed pleased with the results. he was very upbeat.
in fact, everyone I met in Amsterdam was friendly and nice.

by day 4 we were in full gear, turning out a movement a day.
I was happy with the work, pleased with my surroundings,
the weather was beautiful as I trounced all over the place,
and I looked forward to our talkative evenings.
but we only had 3 days left.

friday: work work work, and the question became whether or not
we'd actually finish in time or have to somehow complete
the remaining parts via transatlantic phone lines. yikes!
Gert-Jan took Tom and me to a delicious Indonesian dinner.
Tom and I attended a friend's bachelor party held at a Karaoke bar.
no naked women, just some very frightening Karaoke.
then off to another pleasant evening at Biblos.

saturday was my day to play tourist.
Tom had other things he needed to attend to
and Gert-Jan graciously agreed to be my tour guide.
one of my best memories of the week was an hour-long
ride around the canals in one of the tour boats.
Amsterdam is beautiful at this time of the year.
we spent the afternoon sitting at outdoor cafes chatting about
all things musical, with Gert-Jan asking a thousand and one
questions about particular moments of my musical life.
I really enjoyed it and we got to be good friends.

then it was time to visit the venue where the concert
will be held, a very famous venue called The Paradiso.
it's actually an old church converted to a performance hall.
the acoustics are great. there are two balconies.
krimson played The Paradiso in the 80's.

after a nice Indian dinner we called it an early evening.
back at the hotel I suddenly realized how very tired I was.

sunday was another strong work day.
Gert-Jan stopped in to say goodbye
then suddenly it dawned on us: we had finished e,
we were done!
I had a 5:30 a.m. leave time to catch my flight home
but Tom and I still managed a fine Italian meal
and one final visit to Biblos. goodbye Celine and Paul!
I was sad to leave, but happy to be going home.
all in all it had been a perfect week.

and finally...

2010-09-09T13:00:00.003-05:00

two historic things, 1) I've now written the world's longest blog
about a single subject and 2) I may be completing one
of my last 3 dreams I have yet to achieve.
(I'm not telling what the other two are, afraid of jinxing them).
having had such a long and fortunate career, filled with memories,
I have often said it feels like I've lived two lives in just this one.

it may be that I'm making way too much of this
and the event will come and go without much notice.
or it may be the beginning of a whole new chapter.
my worst fear is that I'll screw up my own concert debut!
it IS very scary for a self-taught musician to mingle
with well trained orchestral players and to be conducted,
not knowing how to decipher little dots on paper,
but as someone said, I DID write the damn thing!
whatever happens, it is something I will never forget.

last night I ate in a chinese restaurant
and was mildly amused to read my fortune:

"a great honor will be bestowed upon you with the coming year".

it already has.

the pictures to prove it...

2010-09-09T12:01:00.001-05:00

the top photo: hard at work with Tom in his studio.

second from top: the artful lobby of the marvelous
VPRO broadcasting facility.

third from the top: the handsome VPRO team.
left to right: Gerard Walhof, Gert-Jan Blom, AB, Tom Trapp,
Pieter van Hoogdalem, and Aad van Nieuwkerk.
not sure about the guy in the photo on the wall.

fourth from the top: the rehearsal facility for
the 52 members of the Metropole Orchestra.

bottom photo: an afternoon boating on the canal.

postcard from holland...

2010-09-05T04:32:00.007-05:00

Hello from Amsterdam!
one my very favorite cities in the world.

the beautiful canals, the flurry of boats,
and sea-bird sounds of a major port,
the ancient tree-lined cobblestone streets
stacked with gorgeous old houses and shops,
while on every corner another outdoor cafe
is filled with people in coffee-flavored conversations.
the parks, the trams, street musicians, artists,
the vibrant bright colored nightlife and the ever-flowing
schools of young people riding ecological bikes
(sheesh, this sounds like a bad travelogue)
but all of this combines to give this place
a constant halo of youth and excitement.
I adore Amsterdam!

I've been here for a whole week working everyday
on a project so special for me it can only be described as

A Dream Come True.

I fly home early tomorrow morning.
as soon as I return I'll tell you all about it.

a thousand words

2010-08-29T09:50:00.002-05:00

ABPTv.3 with our Chilean promoter Guillermo Italiani.

another Parker Adrian Belew Signature Model in the works!

2010-08-17T07:29:00.005-05:00

the Adrian Belew Dragonfly*.

for those of you who don't know much about Parker guitars
the Dragonfly is an updated model of the Parker Fly
which features a slightly more conventional body shape,
larger headstock, and different neck shape.

the new AB Dragonfly will be in a more affordable
price range for those of you who can't own
the Ferrari of electric guitars, the AB Parker Fly.
the Dragonfly has all the same features except the Line-6 Variax.
this means you still have a midi-capable guitar which uses
the standard 13-pin connector along with a Sustaniac pickup
in the neck position, a DeMarzio in the bridge position,
and a Piezo pickup for acoustic guitar sounds.

one big difference in the design: it will allow you
to play the guitar through the 1/4 inch plug output
(standard on every electric guitar)
and still have the Sustaniac and magnetic pickups,
therefore bypassing the guitar's midi capabilities.
great for when you just want to jam somewhere.

it's a gorgeous instrument weighing only 5 pounds.
as with the AB Fly I'll be choosing super quality high gloss
custom car finishes to make the Dragonfly dazzle on stage.

we have just begun the process of designing
and manufacturing the guitars so I'll let you know
a target availability date and other details
including the price as soon as I know.

of course I'm extremely excited to attach my name again
to what is certain to be a superb Parker electric guitar which
plays like butter, sounds fabulous, and stays perfectly in tune.
the Mercedes of electric guitars? maybe so.

*pictured above is a standard Parker Dragonfly.

the perfect italian...

2010-08-11T14:08:00.004-05:00

it's 8:05 Sunday morning, August 21, 2010.
having coffee at the dining room table leading onto the deck
only 5 feet away a carolina wren is singing loudly to attract
it's mate to the food I've scattered across the deck
(a daily ritual)
while 4 hummingbirds chase each other around
the ever-present feeder I have filled with nectar.
it's a scene played out through the open back door
where the freshly-painted-pale-yellow deck contrasts
beautifully against the background of lush green forestry.
it's idyllic and I'm made aware yet again how very very
fortunate I am and how far I've come from the days
of my youth eating White Castle fare with my mom and dad.

we were a fairly poor family but I was too dumb to notice.
my parents' idea of "dinner out" was a cheap burger joint.
we rarely ate out and in fact I never tasted a steak until
sometime in my early twenties when I lived on my own.
but there was a small local restaurant in Covington,
Kentucky where we occasionally dined; a place I will never forget.
it was called the Anchor Grill.

for me, an impressionable kid, the Anchor Grill was
an enchanted magical hideaway full of imagined exotic intrigue.
the red walls were covered in some sort of velour fabric
with several large sport fish hung on the walls:
a sail fin, a tuna, covered in netting in dynamic poses
while an early version of a disco ball made little round
wavy circles of light dance around the walls as if by magic.
in the small dark room there were comfy 4-person vinyl booths
each one with it's own 50's-style portable jukebox.
the little jukebox with the rounded glass front and rows
of letters and numbers was itself a thing of beauty.
I loved leafing through the selections, popping in my
mother's quarters, and playing the hits of the day.
when the 45 rpm record slowly extended out on metal arm
which then flipped it on it's side and then on to the turntable,
something magical DID happen.

in the corner of the room hung a glass enclosure about as big
as a large computer monitor but in a box shaped like a tiny stage.
a curtain opened up to reveal a bandstand with perhaps 12 little
figures, each with an instrument and positioned as if in a Big Band.
as the sound of "Beyond The Sea" would pour from the booth's
speakers the figures would sway back and forth like a living orchestra.
the effect was stunning to me and I never tired of it.
as I said, for me the Anchor Grill was an enchanted wonderland.
but in reality it was pretty much just a greasy spoon diner.

it's still there today.
I visited the Anchor Grill a few years back.
it's much the same as it was with obvious wear and tear.
I would have given a golden Parker Fly Signature Model
to haven taken that little bandstand home with me.
it's filled with dreamy pleasant memories.

anyone who knows me well knows my obsession with dining.
food is my favorite dish, or as I once said back in the days
of the Bears' constant touring: food is the best thing you can
have on the road that isn't illegal or immoral.

there was a family story that went like this:
evidently my mother breast fed me for two weeks
after I was born before the doctor realized
her breast milk was not nourishing me.
he said I was literally starving to death!
perhaps that explains my feeding obsession.
I'm sure of one thing: if I don't get a decent meal at least
once a day I become a real cranky monster.

and so it is my favorite thing while touring
(other than playing the show)
is to seek out a fine dining experience.
I like all types of food but I'm not an adventurous eater.
I tend to stay with things I know I like, but gradually over
so many meals in so many restaurants around the world
out of necessity I've developed a more varied palette.

the safest choice for me is probably Italian food,
where I can always find something to love if it's good.
apart from a very few great authentic Italian restaurants
established and run by real Italian families here in the U.S.
I think most Americans have no idea what real Italian tastes like.
I've always believed you had to eat in Italy to experience
the real flavor and passion of Italian food.
so much of it seems to be about the freshness of the ingredients,
perhaps even something to do with Mediterranean sun and soil,
and the manner and the setting in which the food is served.

so I was very pleasantly surprised to find myself alone
on a sunday afternoon before our second show in Buenos Aires
in what I considered the perfect Italian restaurant
eating the perfect Italian meal.

a large open room is filled with tables with white table clothes
sitting in skewered positions from being quickly shuffled around,
each armed with the prerequisite tall wine glasses, vinegar and
olive oil, silverware, pepper mills, and soon enough, fresh bread
while waiters in white shirts and black vests scurry everywhere
shouting things and balancing silver trays of deliciousness.
as as bonus attraction there are large-pane windows overlooking
the nearby river and the room is full of warm sunlight,
over-powering smells, and patrons in their best sunday clothes:
families with children and grandparents, couples with furs and suits,
older men nursing espresso and cigars, and: me.
for some reason I don't really mind eating alone in a nice restaurant,
I've gotten used to it after all these years.

I order a coke with lots of ice (what else) and a glass of the house
white wine, always as delicious as any choice I'd make on my own,
in this case a perfectly light pinot grigio-tasting white.
my first waiter speaks no english so getting him to understand
"butter" goes so so but he brings over a chubby friendly waiter
who does speak english and seems happy to see me.
after some chit chat about the menu he warns me not
to order too much because the portions are family style (large)
so I settle on (what else) a great-sounding pasta.

a few minutes pass as I enjoy one of my favorite things:
italian bread with butter and a glass of white wine.
I could gladly make it my entire meal but soon enough
my entree arrives with a slight fanfare, served from a platter
table side, looking gorgeous and it is delicious!
though I can't stop myself from gorging on the pasta,
it is so amazingly flavorful,
after digesting for a few more enjoyable minutes I do
something rare for me: I decide to order desert:
vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and a cappuccino.

the ice cream arrives looking like two chocolate turtles in love
because each scoop has been covered in a shell-like glaze
of bittersweet chocolate. mmmm.
and the cappuccino is frothy and excellent.

so now I'm thoroughly satisfied and beaming with joy
as I ask for my check and my friendly waiter scurries off.
the true proof of a great Italian restaurant comes next
when unexpectedly he returns with a vase-like vial
of lemoncello and pours me a shot into a frosted shot glass.
to quote the old man on Pawn Stars: that's class.

it's a million miles traveled since the Anchor Grill.

SOLD OUT SHOWS IN SOUTH AMERICA!!!

2010-08-11T12:44:00.003-05:00

if my life was a newspaper, that would be the headline.
I am elated to say we sold out all 4 shows
in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay,
something the trio now refers to as "the perfect tour".

and boy am I surprised!
after all the work, the planning, the booking of flights
and hotels, the renting of gear, and the flood of emails,
in the end you never really know what to expect.
it could easily be a bust and you could come home flat.
I had no idea we would be met with so much passion!
I'm not so much "bragging" as I am relieved to know
my small "organization" (in this case martha, me,
julie, marco, john sinks, and two promoters*)
can produce such results and to know there is such
an audience for what is admittedly strange music.

the audiences were ecstatic, well-informed, and loud!!
in Santiago they began pounding the floor and cheering
madly before we ever stepped on stage and they never stopped.
I've rarely experienced such an outpouring of energy.
like some giant tsunami wave of love rolling over you.
one thousand people inside, another three hundred
outside who couldn't get tickets.
(don't worry, we'll be back!)

in Beunos Aires we played a beautiful new club Samsung Studio
with one of the best sounding stages we've ever had,
(no wonder ABPTv.3 just gets better and better with each show;
it's scary I tell you)
two nights in a row with rapt crowds, the perfect italian meal,
and a successful guitar clinic sandwiched in between.

in Montevideo Uruguay, a country I've never played before
the fans seemed to know every song in yet another
fabulous rock club sold out, 600 strong.

in fact, everywhere we went people treated us royally.
touring can be many things: arduous even dreadful,
but at best it can be something inexplicable, transcending.
in this case there are too many highlights to recount.

some personal moments I'll not forget:
meeting the very young fans who waited outside each night
(a surprising sign of hope for the future)
the reviews of the show which included this gem:
"adrian's guitar sounded at times like kittens
being tortured by pigs who had a bad childhood"
(I'll take that as a compliment)
leaving the beautiful hotel suites given to each of us
overlooking the Uruguay beachfront to take
a lovely 3-hour ferry ride from Uruguay back to Argentina
which included a much-needed puppy-like nap in the sun,
and the 3 a.m. late night hang-outs with the promoters
and friends in hip hideaway clubs where we toasted
and claimed this to be " the perfect end to the perfect tour".

it really doesn't get any better.

* a special thanks to Guillermo Italiano and Santiago Mocorrea.

it's a dangerous place...

2010-07-30T11:30:00.005-05:00

when marco minnemann boarded his united airlines
flight from tokyo back home to san diego I'm sure he thought
it would be another routine boring 12-plus-hours spent
shifting uncomfortably back and forth in his seat.
or maybe he wondered if he'd be sitting next to some
beautiful babe or a BO smelly rabi (as I once was).
marco is a savvy world traveler used to such things.

I bet he never imagined what would really happen:
that 10 minutes after take-off out over the pacific ocean
the pilot would suddenly announce that one of the plane's
engines was on fire!! and that the flight was now officially in
emergency landing mode; but that is what happened.
fortunately they made it back and landed safely.

which brings home a very serious thought I often have:
our job as international performers is a dangerous one.

good to have you back on earth, marco.

my favorite band in the world...

2010-07-29T12:07:00.003-05:00

The Parrots!
every time I go to Tokyo I look forward to my favorite evening out:
a night with The Parrots at the Abbey Road club in Roppongi.
it always proves to be the most fun ever.

the Parrots transport me back in time to the simpler fun-filled days
of my youth when The Beatles music filled my every waking moment
and the world itself seem to be on some kind of magical mystery trip.

I doubt the mighty Beatles could sound as good as the Parrots
who easily capture the spirit of the times, the joy of the music
and put a mile-wide smile across my face while I gleefully
sing along with every word, every harmony, play along with
the ringo fills, the fab guitar licks, and masterful orchestrations.
you can't imagine the joy it brings me.

I visited with the Parrots in their cramped backstage area
and as usual they asked me to join the band onstage.
they showed me their set list of 200 beatle songs!
(all of which they play to perfection)
and we picked out two songs for me to sing:
one from paul: all my lovin'
and one from john: nowhere man.

it was a indeed a splendid time for all!
thank you Parrots.
you're my favorite band in the world.

hello tokyo!

2010-07-21T14:18:00.003-05:00

today I am packing, tomorrow I am flying to japan.
this will be my 15th visit to japan. I love it there.
I'm bringing a power trio which is, well, very powerful!
I'm so excited about this version and can't wait
to hear the evolution of this line-up over 4 shows
4 nights in a row at the same venue.
last time we thoroughly enjoyed the Blue Note.
what a fabulous place to play.
I'm hoping all the fans show up for this one.
these shows should not be missed.

today I have also done a half dozen interviews for
the upcoming shows in argentina, chile, and uraguay.
it's not often I can play in south america,
a rare opportunity for us and the audience
and I can feel the excitement building.
I think we'll be on fire by then!

this lets me off the hook!

2010-07-16T10:12:00.003-05:00

that was robert's joking reply to this posting
from bill on the bruford website:

"on the re-union thing, and asking would I do an 80’s KC?
Not if I can help it!
It’s precisely because I loved the 80s band so much
that I would be highly unlikely to try to recreate
the same thing, a mission I fear destined to failure.
My experience of reunions, has, on the whole, been underwhelming."

I certainly cannot disagree with bill's reasoning..

robert went on to say in this morning's email
he has so much important stuff to do right now that
"rather than saying no, I can't say yes".
on a positive note he indicated he would rather spend his energies
toward new krimson music, although not in the near future.

so there we have it.
there will be no 80's krimson.
but there may be new krimson someday.
I can live with that.

ABPTv3

2010-07-12T12:59:00.003-05:00

Even the acronym sounds rhythmical.
The third version of the power trio began with a huge bang
Saturday on the main stage of the Vancouver Island Musicfest
When our set caused a sensation that was by all accounts
The talk of the entire festival.
Fittingly the set ended when we blew out the power!

Marco Minnemann is a phenomenal drummer.
I cannot imagine doing what he can do with four limbs.
When he takes a drum solo Julie and I can hardly
Stop laughing at how ridiculous it is!
Marco could easily be in Krimson,
Which is my highest drummer compliment.

Sunday was spent playing two more shows jamming with
Various great players from different styles and backgrounds.
The result was fabulous, at one point reminding me of
the Talking Heads extended band, only with 12 musicians
Jamming on Thela Hun Ginjeet. Wow!

The trio was so excited we even jammed late night with a
Great local band in a nearby pub.
We played Writing On The Wall, Three Of A Perfect Pair,
and Purple Haze.

Next stop: Planet Japan.

Ps: I want to thank Doug Cox and his crew for making our stay
A marvelous one. Vancouver Island is gorgeous, the weather was
Perfect, and everyone treated us like royalty.
We hope to be back next year.

a crimson exclamation point

2010-07-07T08:39:00.003-05:00

to all of you who posted your thoughts about my hope
that the 80's crim might chose to play together again
I would like to say thanks, yes, even to the person
who called me an asshole!* everybody has one and I'll
admit I can act like one now and then.

my thought was a simple one: I felt and still feel
a nostalgic longing to make that music again
the same way it was made to begin with,
i.e. with the same people who created it.

yes, of course I knew it was very likely NOT to happen.
and since robert has not yet called I feel pretty
certain it's not on his agenda. I respect robert's
thought and wishes. some people have intimated robert
might prefer to start a new krimson without me. to be
candid, that would hurt, but he has the right to do so.
I support robert in whatever he needs.

yes, bill has retired from public performances.
I understand his motives more than most people
ever will. there are many times, usually brought on
by the actions of others, when I could easily see
myself doing the same thing.
I suppose it was presumptuous of me to think he
might change his mind, but I know in bill's heart
he has to be proud of his work in krimson.
I figured maybe if robert, tony, and I agreed to
do it again, he might have a change of heart.
and finally, words like heart and love are what
prompted my desire in the first place.
not money as some have suggested.

I am a very busy and gratified man.
I am not desperate to work with anyone,
nor do I need money enough to ever compromise myself.
as I've said before, money has little power over me.

so...will the mighty crim rise again?
likely not any time soon, and probably never
in the 1981 guise. I accept that as fact.
so please allow me to gracefully back away from my
comments and allow robert (and bill and tony) their
rights as well. I am an artist and as such I have
moments of fantasy and sometimes I dream.
I meant no harm.
thanks again for all your comments.

back to life: today I have a very involved set of
plane frights to vancouver island, including an
overnight layover from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. in the
vancouver airport before making two more short
flights to the island itself!
then I rehearse with a new version of the power trio.
wish us luck.

*my desire to play with robert, bill, and tony
is not an exclusion of pat, trey, and gavin.
I loved working with all of the crimettes
and have a healthy respect for each of them.

"I'm a travelin' man...

2010-06-24T10:29:00.013-05:00

made a lot of stops, all over the world..."

when as a kid I watched Ricky Nelson sings those words
on the Ozzie and Harriet Show I never imagined one day
I'd be receiving my fourth US passport, the previous three
being so stuffed as to require extra added pages.

and Martha has just informed me I'll be racking up more
frequent flier miles than expected between now and the end
of august since we've just added power trio shows
in Japan, Chile, Argentina, and Uraguay
to the festival in Vancouver island
and my planned visit to Amsterdam in late august
(more on this in an upcoming announcement).

all of which is exciting news and demonstrates how
in the small corner of the music business I occupy some things
can be planned far in advance, but many cannot.
a good example is the new dates just added in Japan.
we've been working on having the trio return to Japan
for more than a year and a half and just now
with only 5 weeks notice we've been booked there.
still, it's all good, and the future continues to shine on.

meanwhile I'm busy loading up my iPad with eBooks
for the long journeys ahead.

just when I thought I knew everything...

2010-06-24T09:02:00.003-05:00

about the beatles, a new book of revelations comes along
which renders the fab four mythical creatures into all-too
human beings rife with foibles, faults, and pettiness just like
the rest of us and rips back the curtain of fabulous fame
to reveal the sad truth as Allen Ginsberg once said it to be,
"fame is a curse with no redeeming features".
after all, there could be no worse denouement of fame
than the horrible death of john lennon, killed by a fan.

the book, which I've just finished reading, is called
you never give your money
written by Peter Doggett.
it centers on the dissolution of the beatles, the reasons
for their eventual demise, what happened after their breakup,
and the toll it took on their personal lives.
throughout my teens and into my twenties I dreamed
of how great it would be to be a beatle,
but the "dream" for the four lads themselves
was more like a nightmare.

which only serves to strengthen the feelings I've had for many years now:
I may not be a "household word" but I'm as famous as I ever want to be.

it's a fabulous read. I recommend it to all beatle buffs.

look out east coast, here I come!

2010-06-15T08:35:00.002-05:00

preparing for the two-day drive to the east coast to begin
the second leg of my painting with guitar one-man shows.
I have a few new wrinkles to add to the show this time round
and a brand new silver "production model" signature fly!
it's my first "production model", it's perfectly awesome,
and the best guitar I have ever owned.
my fingers happily fly up and down the neck of this beauty.

daniel will be onboard for a second time and I'm looking
forward to having julie open the last two shows.
with a new power trio live DVD to sign after the shows
and a special pair of silver shoes made by my daughter audie
the only thing left to decide is: conductor's hat or shiny pate?

one thing I enjoy in the show which seems inappropriate
for the rock concerts with the power trio or king crimson
is the question and answer interplay with the audiences.

the question which is most often posed is:
what is happening with king crimson?
so I'll attempt here to answer that question.

a few weeks back I wrote an email to my pal robert
asking him to call me to talk about something of
"heartfelt importance".
he called and we began a conversation about the miserable
plight of the working musician who often is not paid for his
or her contributions to the world of music.
robert said he now spends most of his professional life
chasing down money owed to him or king crimson.
for example, neither robert nor I have been paid
one single penny for our work on the construkction of light,
made how many years ago??
not a single penny.

imagine in your job if this were the case.

then we got on to the "heartfelt importance" part.
I reminded robert that next year 2011 would mark the 30-year
anniversary of what was once called
"the best live band in the world",
the 1981 krimson quartet with robert, bill, tony, and myself.
I said I'd like us to put that band back on the road next year.
I said it would be a shame for the young people who missed it
never to have that experience, especially considering the mostly
lame-ass crap that has passed for "great music" in their lives.
I said I would do everything in my power to make the touring
as pleasant as possible and believe we could hand-pick
what we were willing to do, i.e. how many dates, where, etc.
I offered my home and studio for as much rehearsal as needed.

I said "don't say no yet, think about it, then call back and say no".

there are serious issues of course, such as bill's recent
retirement from live music, but I feel a "heartfelt" urge
to let the world see and hear that band one more time.
robert is considering the matter now which is where we left it
and I hope this entry does not put extra pressure on him.
he has every right to decline, as do bill and tony.
I'm just hoping it might happen.

king crimson has always been one pillar of my career,
the other pillar being whatever solo efforts I can make.
for the last 4 years I've poured my heart and soul
into the power trio with eric and julie slick.
with an incredible amount of work put forth
by a small group of people, mostly my wife martha
we have managed to play around the world
and been successful beyond what I imagined would happen.

but the sad fact is I cannot keep the power trio working
year round so eric has found work in another band
which is keeping him so busy he is not available
for the rest of this year and who knows when next year.
(all the more reason to buy our new DVD:
a crass commercial plug, I realize).

to be honest the loss of eric and possible end of the slick trio
has truly sickened me and caused a paralysing deep funk
over the last few months which I have struggled to overcome.
my salvation has been the music I continue to make.

but I'm truly excited about my future hopes for the one-man shows,
anxious to experience a different power trio with the eight-armed
wonder drummer marco minnemann and julie and myself,
hopeful of an amazing reunion with my pals robert, bill, and tony,
and hoping maybe the slick power trio can reappear
next year if eric's schedule ever takes a breath.

isn't life exciting?
see you at the shows!

this afternoon I'm flying to salt lake city...

2010-05-16T13:25:00.002-05:00

early tomorrow morning I'm doing a seminar
for the sales people at Musician's Friend,
the largest catalog music company in the U.S.
(owned by Guitar Center) in the hopes
of getting them all fired up about selling
what I consider to be the finest guitar in the world:
the Adrian Belew Signature Model Parker Fly.
on tuesday I'll be doing a similar thing in denver.

on another note:
happy birthday to two of the world's finest musicians,
and two of my favorite people on any planet:
robert fripp (may 16) and bill bruford (my 17).
cheers, boys!

just to be clear...

2010-05-06T13:52:00.003-05:00

my previous post thanking daniel rowland
was not meant as a means for dissing anyone else,
but as a sincere thanks for daniel's help.

I would not want anyone to infer from my comment
about unnecessary drama that the comment reflects on
the man daniel is temporarily replacing my dear friend
and long time supporter andre cholmondeley.
in fact it was andre's sharp idea to do a one-man show
and it was even his title I am using (painting with guitar).
andre knows more about my history and my music than
just about anyone I know and has always been there
for me, but right now he has good work which is more
steady and long-term than I can offer. it's totally honorable
that he should chose that work over what I have to offer
and I believe we'll work together again in the near future.

the term unnecessary drama refers to a lot of things
and a lot of people you encounter in my business.
on a day to day basis you occasionally meet with bad attitudes,
ugly comments, misunderstandings, and even immaturity.
as a professional musician for gulp, dare I say it,
45 years! it does get a little tiring to deal with,
and sometimes it de-rails my creativity for days on end,
but my comment was a general not specific one.

a star is born!

2010-05-05T14:33:00.002-05:00

saving the best for last
I want to send a huge thanks to daniel rowland
who not only assisted me throughout the tour
and made certain all the new hi-tech toys behaved
but was a pleasure to be around, an unflappable character
who never once chose unnecessary drama.
I do not appreciate unnecessary drama.

as mentioned daniel is an audio professor at MTSU
and at the Nashville Art Institute. he also teaches online.
for anyone wanting the kind of expert tutoring about
all things new in the world of audio, computer tech,
guitar, midi, etc. such as I've been receiving I recommend
lessons@theonlineaudioschool.com daniel's online school
where he teaches students from all over the world.

thanks daniel.

thanks!

2010-05-05T13:23:00.002-05:00

to all of you who were able to attend the recent
painting with guitar one-man shows.
I had a blast and the response was wonderful.
it's a very personalized type performance
and I'm getting evermore excited about how
to expand the idea into a true multi-media show.
I feel like I've just scratched the surface!

on another front, the power trio dates across europe
for october/november are coming together very well.
more excitement to savor.
I can't wait for the mighty trio to power up.

lastly, the biggest flood in 100 years just tore up
many parts of nashville including some of my favorite haunts.
just so you know, we're fine and nearly back to normal.
a large uprooted tree now sprawls across our garden
but the elevated topography of mount juliet saved us.
our heartfelt sympathies go out to others far less fortunate
who lost everything: homes, cars, businesses and even their lives.
as with any disaster it's hard to comprehend.

it was twenty years ago today...

2010-05-03T16:21:00.002-05:00

actually it was 20 years ago the day before yesterday,
on may first nineteen-ninety,
a day that began the best years of my life.
as in the song may 1, 1990 my life was changed forever
by meeting one martha webb at the peabody hotel
in orlando, florida following our david bowie concert.

when I look back at our past 20 years
I"m utterly amazed at the journey we've made.
nearly everything turned out fine.

thanks to all of you who have been along for any part
of the ride and I hope you'll be along for the next 20 as well.
great things are going to happen.

about "painting with guitar"

2010-04-12T10:17:00.005-05:00

sorry I have been a little blog lax of late.
it's because as the first date draws near,
I'm getting sooo excited about playing the one man show
painting with guitar
that I've been working day and night designing new sounds,
learning material, practicing, and writing new pieces.

the state-of-the-art downsized super rig is slowly, byte by byte
becoming a reality and I dare say my guitar has never
sounded so good, positively rife with new sonic wrinkles.

apart from several sections from e and the customary
version of drive I won't be playing much of anything
you've heard me do before with the trio or krimson.
I've chosen mostly songs from op zop too wah, a couple
of bears songs (one I've never played live), a few things
from side 1, and mixed them with brand new pieces,
places for some (hopefully) blazing guitar improvs
and a chance to field questions from the audience.
in place of the explosive energy of a rock concert I hope
to offer the quieter refinements of beautiful songs,
improvisation, conversation, a surprise or two, and
of course a rare chance to see a few of my paintings close up.

I've just learned the Fairfield, Ohio show is now sold out!
my advice: don't miss this one.

ps: the above photo is of the latest painting finished
just a few weeks back. in an effort to create more dimension
I bolted two canvases together with parts of the second
canvas showing through a large hole in the first one.

the night before the day I joined king crimson...

2010-03-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

here's a postcard from nikitas, a russian restaurant in london.
I was standing in the upstairs bar of nakitas in london
waiting along with the very large party of talking heads
and crew to be seated downstairs in the dining room
for a dinner party celebrating the beginning of our
european tour of 1980.

we had just arrived in london (my second time there), were a bit
jet-lagged, hungry, and very animated about our upcoming tour.
talking heads was a 10-piece band at that point and with crew,
management, hangers-on, etc. it was indeed a large party waiting
to be seated at a long banquet table. we mingled with other
customers in a sort of holding pin area so crowded we were
literally elbow to elbow.

russian waiters dangerously waded through the crowd passing out
free shots of flavored vodkas. dangerous because they were lit on fire!
(the shots, not the waiters) I remember smelling something odd.
I turned around to see the back of a woman I didn't know
whose hair had caught on fire from the flaming vodkas
and I remember hitting her hair to try and put her out!

finally by the time we were ushered into the banquet room
we were all so pathetically drunk a food fight broke out!
the last thing I remember is dodging caviar snowballs!

the next morning at 9:00 robert fripp (who I barely knew) called.
he began by saying he knew I was not one for "raving" and so
felt safe in calling so early. he was wrong. I had a blistering hangover.
mortified I had already let down one of my heroes I sheepishly
asked if he could call back later.

when he did, it was to ask me to join what would become
king crimson.

to read a more complete version of this tale, refer to the 3/28/07
blog titled anecdote #606.

big ears a big success

2010-03-30T09:15:00.006-05:00

back from the big ears festival.
first, thanks to ashley capps
and todd steed for having me there
and making me feel at home,
and thanks to daniel rowland
for making everything work smoothly.

I was so surprised by the reaction
from my audience.
most of the events seemed rather low-keyed
as one might expect from an arts event.
not mine.
my audience were loud and proud,
just the way I wanted them to be.
a fabulous turnout.

the new piece variations of wave pressure
lasted more than 10 minutes and seemed perfectly suited
to the spirit of the event. and I wore the band master hat!
sunday I improvised with like-minded loopers
at the ampient cafe which was lots of casual fun.
the Axe FX gurgled and droned appropriately.

all in all, a big success. I enjoyed big ears
and would be delighted to join in again next year.

big I d-ears...

2010-03-25T08:59:00.005-05:00

today I'm driving to knoxville to join in the Big Ears Festival.
on saturday I'll play my first one man show in what- six years?
I only perform at Big Ears for half an hour, so what to do?

for this show I will mostly improvise with loops over
some of the new musical ideas I've recently developed.
I have one 10 minute-plus new piece to play,
the one called variations of wave pressure.

but I have big I d-ears for future one man shows.
billed as painting with guitar the future shows will feature
a half-dozen or more of my paintings on display at each show.
I'll play songs connected to some of the paintings,
make loops to improvise over, take questions
from the audience and talk about...whatever.
I hope to include visual projections and have many
thoughts on what those visuals might be, but that's
an undertaking I've yet to take on. I'll need help
from some brilliant young computer dupe...I mean, genius.

so, the foreseeable two-prong future is a balance between
painting with guitar and power trio shows
(unless, of course robert makes the call for more mighty krim).
right now I'm still concentrating on downsizing my live gear
as well as the entire StudioBelew control room set up into
a state-of-the-art system to work with for years to come,
and writing/recording the next round of new material.

the adrian belew power trio will be back in action
all across europe this fall including dates in the U.K.!

meanwhile, see you at Big Ears on saturday.
I'll be easy to recognize, I'll be the man wearing a hat.
KONKED my head again for the second time in 3 years,
this time not on a dayton, ohio monitor cabinet
but on my vintage 1959 Ford Thunderbird. ouch!
I have a sizable KONK gash in a highly visible position
on my vast forehead, so it's time to don the bandmaster hat!

ava @ 13

2010-03-24T15:25:00.004-05:00

happy birthday baby!

2010-03-23T10:31:00.005-05:00

martha and I have two beautiful vibrant young girls.
I mentioned here some of the traits of our youngest leah.
today is the 13th birthday of our oldest daughter ava.

many of our friends remark how similar leah is to me,
kinda quirky, humorous, and naturally musical,
and how similar ava is to martha: very smart, gifted,
ambitious, and seriously beautiful. ava has already
appeared in a couple of independent films as an actress
and has been awarded so many trophies, ribbons,
and certificates for her accomplishments
as dancer and gymnast to need a bigger room.
she has been taking piano lessons for 7 years.
I love hearing her play. she gets better and better.
in fact, it amazes me all the things she does so well.

to me ava is the most impressive young person I know.

the postcard pictured here is from pisa, italy, of course.
when king crimson played a show here on june 26, 1996
martha had just come that day to join me on tour for a week.
we hadn't seen each other for a couple of weeks at that time
so it's no wonder martha is nearly completely certain
that it was on this date and at this place ava was conceived.

ava has given us so much joy and happiness.
no doubt, my best planned accident.

planned accidents

2010-03-23T10:28:00.006-05:00

here are two postcards from around the same period.
the top postcard shows the recording studio in lake geneva,
switzerland where david bowie made the record lodger,
the first studio record I was ever a part of.
the note on the back of the first postcard reads:

"in this conglomerate are 3 nightclubs, a casino, two
restaurants, the mountain recording studio, and the 800-
seat hall in which the montreux jazz festival is held.
this is where we recorded planned accidents. sept. 1978"

the second postcard shows the hotel we stayed in.
hotel excelsior. the back of the card reads:

"this was the hotel in switzerland where I stayed
during the recording of planned accidents. sept. 1978"

there's an interesting story behind the making of the record
which in september 1978 was intended to be called
planned accidents but was eventually named lodger.
if you'd like to read the whole tale please refer to the blog
of 7/31/07 called anecdote #28.

a brief version is this: the control room of the studio
was on the first floor, while the actual recording room
was above it on the second floor.
there was a camera in the recording room which allowed
the producers (david, eno, and tony visconti) to see the players.
they could see me, but I couldn't see them.

the idea, in keeping with the theme "planned accidents",
was to capture my accidental responses to the backing tracks
they had already recorded. so they insisted I never hear the
tracks beforehand, nor was I allowed to know the key of the songs.
I simply heard a count-off and was instructed to play something
along with the tracks as best I could .
after no more than 3 tries, we would move on to the next song.
(just about the time I knew when to expect the chorus.)
later, david, eno, and tony chose their favorite bits from
what I had played and made them into a single composite
guitar part. a guitar part I never actually could or would have played.

and that was my first studio record.

collection #2: postcards

2010-03-23T09:39:00.010-05:00

another thing I have collected throughout my professional life:
postcards. I have hundreds of them. postcards from all the places
I've been around the world, postcards I thought were odd
or funny, and even collections of types of postcards I fancied.
for example, in france I found the gaudiest run of "recipe cards"
with pictures of god-awful looking food on the front
and strange corresponding recipes on the back.
each time I went to france I searched for and bought
every one I could find. no telling how many I have now.

on some of the postcards I wrote notes to myself.
the two cards pictured here have personal historic interest.
the first card is from cologne, germany in 1978,
my first visit there while on tour with frank.
the second picture shows the note on the back which reads:

"unbeknowst (sic) to me, brian eno was in the audience
here. which led to him calling bowie specifically to come
here (sic) my guitar work. what a compliment."

the second postcard is from berlin, germany the very next night.
the bottom picture shows what is written on the back:

"february 15, 1978
tonight I met david bowie and iggy pop. they were off-stage
at our show. david asked me to join his band afterwards
at dinner. (actually he hinted at it during the show."
(on the right half of the card is a note about the history
of the area and the picture itself, something I often include.)

little did I know how much the events mentioned here
would change my life forever.

a private seminar

2010-03-06T11:56:00.010-06:00

monday tuesday wednesday:

tom king and matt picone
are no doubt the two foremost experts in the workings
of the Axe-FX Ultra (along with its' inventor cliff chase)
and for 3 days I had tom and matt staying in the fripp suite
and giving me and daniel rowland private lessons
on every aspect of the ultra-beast. wow!

one of the perks of being one of the world's guitarists,
to have the attention of the manufacturers of such a
marvelous device. the ultra has not only completely replaced
my beloved johnson 150 millenium amp, but has jettisoned
me into the future of a fresh new round of music
and made international touring even more feasible.

tom heads Fractal Audio the company responsible
for the Axe-FX Ultra and the Atomic Reactor FR
"the world’s first and only tube-powered full-range
guitar amp and personal monitor."
tom brought a pair of FR's for me to try
and of course they were perfectly matched to the Ultra.

matt is a brilliant sound designer and a real smartie.
watching him navigate so expertly through the hundreds
of possibilities the Ultra offers was truly inspiring
and very helpful for professor daniel as well.

imagine 4 nerds, each with his own laptop,
hovering over a guitar box for hours on end
giggling like japanese schoolgirls
and you were pretty much there.

happy birthday sweetheart!

2010-03-04T13:11:00.002-06:00

to my favorite person in the world.

ade's favs...food

2010-02-26T09:09:00.014-06:00

my mt. juliet groove has been immeasurably enhanced
by the addition of a new local indian restaurant
called Shagor, only five minutes from StudioBelew.
this is big stuff for mt. juliet and fortunately the food
is delicious, the prices are affordable, and the vibe is cool.

Shagor, has been open two weeks
and I've already eaten there six times.
I am a pretty decent cook of simplistic meals,
(well, I'm decent perhaps, but not pretty)
and since I really enjoy cooking, as often as possible
I try to cook dinner at home for the four of us
but most evenings martha and the girls are busy
with various homeschooling endeavors
(dance classes are from 4:30 to 8:00 3 nights a week)
leaving me on my lonesome for dinner.
so I like to drive one of my precious vintage cars, park it
in a spot within my loving gaze (yes, I know it's ridiculous)
open my iPhone to an interesting app (say, the latest
tenori-on-like app called Soundgrid) and enjoy a great meal.

while I'm not an adventurous eater I love all kinds
of food especially italian, seafood, mexican, middle-
eastern, chinese, sushi, american, french, etc.
and while I wouldn't want to go without places
like J. Alexander's, Bricktop's, Capital Grill, or delights
such as chocolate Haagen-Dazs, or Skyline chili
(which, by the way, reminds me of indian curry)
I absolutely adore indian food and could probably live on it.

all good indian restaurants must play indian music
but Shagor takes the concept a step further by showing
highly amusing Bollywood clips (indian girl meets indian
boy on a mountaintop where they sing and dance
at each other) on a small screen in the corner of the room.

I especially love indian pop music. the female voice,
which always sounds like the exact same singer,
reminds me of diana ross on helium and the backing tracks
are wonderfully multi-cultural at times including such
seemingly disparate choices as banjo with sitar or chinese
flute with an english harmonium. and of course
the drumming is nearly as delicious as the food.

ah, food...my favorite dish.

variations of wave pressure.

2010-02-24T09:04:00.005-06:00

when albert einstein was asked if science
could someday explain everything his reply was,
"it's possible, but why would you want such a thing?
it would be like describing a beethoven symphony as
variations of wave pressure."

hence the title of the newest composition
I've been working on for the last several weeks.
variations of wave pressure will be performed live
for the first time ever at the Big Ears Festival
in knoxville on saturday march 27 at 1:00.

I am hard at work fitting the various sections
I have written thus far into one coherent piece
and practicing the very delicate performance necessary.
it involves playing two guitar parts and a bass part
simultaneously, something which might not
even be possible except for the mighty Axe-FX Ultra.
I've taught it to be three musicians
(the title of one of my favorite picasso paintings)

as often happens for me a new technology (the axe-fx)
creates the need for a different technique
which then forms the basis for a new avenue of music.
as well as writing this one-man composition
I'm hoping this will produce a vocal song or two.

I'd love to explain how the variations technique works
but I'm meeting with my tutor daniel in just a few minutes
so I'll leave it for a future post.

the poor man's tenori

2010-02-23T11:59:00.002-06:00

you may remember my raving about a new musical device
I tried at this year's NAMM show called tenori-on.
for those of you who have an iPhone there is now a new
app called tone pad pro which is a very simplified
version of the tenori-on and which I highly recommend.

guaranteed to be one of the most entertaining $.99
you've ever spent, the tone pad pro can easily be played
by anyone, musician or not, and of course if you make up
something you like you can save it to hear again.

there are $698 worth of differences between the tone pad
and an actual tenori-on, little things like 256 sounds
to chose from and to alter any way you please (tone pad
has 1 sound, but a lovely sound it is) and the ability to
create 16 different layers of loops. but the idea is the same:
you touch the dots on the screen and a loop is created
instantly. to undo a dot you simply touch it again.

trust me, you need to try this. it will keep you occupied
for hours on end and beats the heck out of reality TV*.

*well, except for maybe pawn stars.

nerd alert!

2010-02-15T07:26:00.003-06:00

warning: the following material may cause
drowsiness and a foreboding sense of ennui.
do not read while operating heavy machinery.
suitable only for gearheads, or bonafide nut cases.

as promised here comes the update on my attempts
to downsize my huge guitar gear arsenal while moving
forward into the 21st century. thanks to daniel rowland
and the good graces of a few very smart manufacturers
I'm blazing ahead, more confident than ever, writing new
material, and creating some smokin' new sounds!

a quick summation at this junction has my rig as follows:
1 apple macbook running apple main stage II,
and soon to be running all my necessary synth programs,
as well as looping, piano and orchestral samples, etc.
1 fractal audio axe-fx ultra providing the bulk
of my guitar sounds and the impetus for so much more;
1 roland vg-99 the virtual guitar system which allows
for essentially a second guitarist with different tunings.

thus far all of this can be amplified any number of ways
for international shows where amps are supplied,
but sound amazing through the 2 bose L1 towers I use,
which will be my amplification performing stateside.

still to be added: a small midi-pedalboard to operate
all the program changes needed and 4 expression pedals.
I'm intending to use the new pedalboard from fractal
which is made for the axe-fx and is called the mfc-101,
but is not yet ready for production.

all of this should fit elegantly into two luggage-size cases
as compared with my current rig which fills half a cargo van.

I'm also trying a myriad of new pedals which may be added
to the "effects loop" section of the axe-fx. ones I love most
so far are soundblox pro classic distortion (which is
midi) , gig-fx pro chopper (also midi), and digitech
harmony man. I'm waiting to try the eventide pitch
factor. I prefer the small light roland ev-5
as my expression pedals. likely I'll need 4: one for master
guitar volume, one for master vg-99 volume, one for master
laptop volume, and one for any and all expression effects.

next topic: StudioBelew's new tabletop recording studio.

february already?!

2010-02-01T12:11:00.005-06:00

wowee, we must be having fun.
in fact, a very unusual situation has presented itself:
nashville has snow! if you're a fan from say, sweden,
try not to laugh but nashville has about 8 inches!
in the 15 years I've lived here we've had real snow
twice.

so on friday night around 9:30 the family unit
joined pretty much the entire neighborhood
in a sledding extravaganza. now, that was fun!
good thing many of our neighbors had sleds to share,
they don't even sell sleds in nashville.

even though my house is surrounded on the sides
and in the back with 5 acres of woods and a stream,
I live in an actual subdivision called "Briarwood".
the subdivision contains perhaps 30 homes all
seated around a large circular drive.
I never realized how perfect the undulating hills
of Hidden Ridge Circle would be for sledding.
our house is on a cul de sac and even it has a
treacherous slope, treacherous at 20 mph on a sled.
under a full moon-lit sky we had a ball until midnight
when the spell of being 10 years old again finally
wore off and we turned into frozen pumpkins.

my days are spent gleefully exploring new sonic
possibilities spurred on by the recent NAMM show
and a serious desire to downsize my guitar rig.
I'm still working on laptop guitar
but I've added a new wrinkle which I believe to be
the answer to most of my needs: Axe-FX Ultra.
this two-space rack unit will supplant everything
I do with my Johnson amps and then some.
I'm discovering things I've never heard before!
also, many manufacturers are sending out
new things for me to try, making this a very fertile
period not just for musical discoveries but
for new song fodder as well. wish me luck.

I'll keep you gearheads posted on my progress.

back from NAMM...

2010-01-22T13:29:00.004-06:00

where I saw a host of new colors for my palette
and ran into many old friends I hadn't seen in a while
including stu hamm, the drummer for wings denny seiwell,
terry bozzio, bootsy collins, vernon reid, saul zonana,
david torn, and herbie hancock whom I haven't seen since
the 80's when I played on his record magic windows.)

NAMM is one big party. I hung out with the usual suspects:
johnny vitale and the gang from parker, tony and pat, seymour
duncan, tim godwin from line-6, bob borbonus from taylor,
madman zachary vex, bassist bryan beller, and julie.
(eric was home rehearsing with his new band dr. dog.)

of course the reason to be there is to see all
the new gear and there was plenty of that.
the list of manufacturers I met with is astounding:
parker, roland, korg, line-6, yamaha, eventide, tech 21,
taylor guitars, digitech, fender, apogee, preSonus,
ultimate support, t.c. electronics and t.c. helicon,
pigtronix, james trussart guitars, hofner guitars,
eastwood guitars, gig-fx, lakland basses, fritz brothers
guitars, dave smith instruments, gretsch guitars,
d'addario, soundblox, paiste cymbals, and my old
buddies lane ostrow at g&l, peter janus at radial,
and paul reed smith.
even more astounding is that I use products
from almost all of these companies.

NAMM sounds like a busy saturday at guitar center x 50.
it would be difficult to discern from the NAMM show
that there is an economic downturn, there are so many
things to buy and so many interested buyers.

my favorite new item I tried is called tenori-on.
it's a brand new instrument in fact; a hand-held
sequencer/looper invented by media artist
toshio iwai and made by yamaha. very exciting.
it's an excellent time to be a modern musician.

p.s.

2010-01-13T11:41:00.003-06:00

and then there was the time when she was five
I found her in the kitchen eating a bowl of popcorn
with a spoon.

the cotton taco.

2010-01-12T13:52:00.003-06:00

my 10 year old daughter leah has a unique sense of...
well, everything.
everything from fashion statements (see above picture)
to her naturally quirky sense of humor:
leah comes into the room pretending to be a dog.
I say, “I’m thirsty, I’m going to get some water.”
she says, “fix me a bowl of it too.”

but the thing I marvel most at is her concept of food.
she always sits in the kitchen in front of the smallest
TV in our house watching cartoons while dining.
once I found her there eating her idea of breakfast:
left-over turkey breast with cracker jacks and gatorade.
a favorite lunch is those little chocolate pretzels
dipped in ranch dressing or blueberry yogurt.

so it came as no surprise to find her latest concoction
which she calls "the cotton taco".

it's a taco shell filled with cotton candy.
yum.

time to play ketchup..

2010-01-12T12:32:00.006-06:00

before heading out the door to the NAMM convention.

I have spent my holidays with my tutor daniel rowland
who is helping me achieve one of my main goals for 2010:
to convert my massive guitar rig into something very
portable and easy to travel with: a laptop.
daniel is dragging me kicking and screaming into the future.
I do not have a natural aptitude for computers.
my 12-year old does better than I, but I am determined to learn.

touring internationally has taught me valuable lessons.

a. I need certain gear to play my music properly. you might
even say my music is born through technology and without
my sounds I may be an average guitarist.

b. every time I put my gear in the hands of the employees
of various airlines I am relying on the baggage industry
to insure I'm able to put on the best concert I can.

c. that is a lousy idea.

plus it's expensive and tiresome dragging stuff through
airports and security checks only to be overcharged
for the privilege of having it not show up.

phew... long story short: I'm dedicated to performing
with little more than a laptop and pedalboard
and this is taking up most of my time.
one benefit of working with new technology:
songs and bits of musical ideas begin to formulate
which gives me a sense of new music on the back
boiler of my brain and I'm hoping will result in new songs.

at the same time I'm researching new ways
to conduct my business affairs and I'm very excited
about certain looming possibilities.
moron this later.

so things are moving forward like molasses
for the moment but I do see the light.
it's going to be a marvelous year.

about The NAMM Convention in Anaheim, CA.

2010-01-07T17:52:00.003-06:00

for those of you who may be attending
I'll be signing AB Signature Parkers
and blank checks alongside Vernon Reid
at the Parker booth sometime thursday the 14th.

I'm hoping eric and julie will be at NAMM as well.
it's like being a kid in a toy store seeing all
the new gear and like a class reunion seeing
old friends like Skunk Baxter, Paul Reed Smith,
Bob Bourbonis and Bob Taylor, Seymour Duncan,
John Vitale, The Ventures, and on and on.
The Hilton lobby bar. the place to be.

Happy New Decade!!!

2009-12-29T11:23:00.008-06:00

"if my thoughts and dreams could be seen
they'd probably put my head in a guillotine." bob dylan

thanks bob.
I have many thoughts and dreams for the next decade.
I'm hoping you'll come along for the journey.

having met so many people, having done so many things,
having traveled so far and wide and for so long,
I've often said I feel like I've already crammed
several lifetimes into just this one.
so it should come as no surprise that I genuinely
feel like I'm 30 at age 60.
I'm on my second life!

my father, who died at age 45, was a strong responsible
man who seems so much more adult than I will ever be.
I can't think of myself as much more than a big kid.

I certainly am a late bloomer.
by the time I was "discovered" and precariously
thrust into the world of music I was 27 years old
and worried I might have missed my chance.
by the time I made my first solo record
robert fripp had been making records for 13 years.
king crimson had already made 7 albums worth of music.
frank zappa had been making records
and touring the globe for 17 years!

when I had just begun.

the point is this: I still have plenty of fuel in my tank.
physically and creatively.
I look forward to at least another decade
of performing and producing my art.

a quick self-assessment coming into the new year:
I am likely the most fortunate person I know.
I have a beautiful wife, home, and family.
good friends. a legacy.
I am in good health and I earn a respectable living.
in truth I already have everything I've ever wanted.

all that's needed now is to continue forward.

"a man is about as happy as he makes his mind up to be."
abraham lincoln

To The People Of Perm

2009-12-25T09:52:00.008-06:00

today is my birthday, usually a day for joy.
but this morning I woke up with a tragedy on my mind.
from November 5 through November 9 of this year
I was in a city I had never heard of: Perm, Russia.

it's not often a genuine American rock band comes
to the Urals, but thanks to the Perm Region's
Ministry of Culture and Philharmony and the vision
of my promoter Alexander (Sasha) Cheparukhin,
a gracious man who has dedicated himself to bringing
world culture to his beloved Russia,
the Adrian Belew Power Trio were invited to Perm
to perform a concert with Eddie Jobson and his band U-Z
celebrating the progressive music of King Crimson.

for five days in anticipation of our November 9th concert
we were ensconced in the stately Ural Hotel in Perm.
it was snowing most of the time and the atmosphere
was beautiful. I could tell how proud the inhabitants
were of their city.

we were treated like friends by everyone we met.
one evening we were guests at a beautiful
concert of the excellent Opus Posth string ensemble
led by Tatiana Grindenko in The Perm Organ Recital Hall.
another night we dined in a very comfortable
nightclub with curious young Russians
toasting vodka in our honor.
they were wonderful people
who truly love art and music.

we spent most our time in Perm rehearsing
the power trio and Eddie Jobson's U-Z band.
Perm Philharmony gave us a unique opportunity
to create a new 7-piece lineup with Eddie
and the other great musicians of U-Z:
Greg Howe on guitar, Ric Fierabracci on bass,
and the eight-armed Marco Minnemann on drums.

on the last day of our stay there was a press
conference and then quickly we were on stage.
we were not sure what to expect, but to our
amazement the concert hall was filled,
mostly with young people, who gave us
a very enthusiastic welcome.
the power trio and Eddie Jobson's U-Z
played a full set each, and the culmination of the
whole event was our joint line-up performing
King Crimson classics at the end.
the event was a rare musical experience,
one I hope inspired the musicians
and music lovers of Perm.

after the show we had a lovely dinner
with Sasha and one of Russia's biggest
stars, the enigmatic singer Zemfira.
Zemfira is to Russia what Michael Jackson
is to the rest of the world.
we first met Zemfira in august 2008 when we
participated in the giant Creation of Peace Festival
in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, Russia.
we played for 150,000 fans, most of whom were
there to see Zemfira.
Sasha was an artistic director of the festival.
he introduced us to Zemfira.

Zemfira flew to Perm especially to see our show
and to meet us again. an honor indeed.

I left Russia feeling like a king and wanting
to return as often as possible.

then weeks later came the monstrous news
of a horrific fire in a Perm nightclub.
suddenly everyone in the world knew
of this place called Perm and grieved with them.

and so this morning I woke up
thinking about the young people killed in that fire.
I wondered how many of them may have
been in attendance at my concert.
maybe I shook their hands or signed
an autograph for one of them.
they were all so happy to be at the show.

I want to say thanks to the people of Perm
for their generosity and give my profound
condolences to the families of the deceased
and to the people still suffering.

I would love to come to play for you again.
I wish you love and happiness in 2010.

p.s: To Certain Misguided Journalists In Perm

there was only one thing which tarnished my
visit. in light of the tragedy it seems trivial,
even ridiculous, and I would not even dignify
this issue with a reply except that it has hurt
my good friend and supporter Sasha.

during the press conference Sasha mentioned
I had written the songs, melodies, and words
for the last 28 years (from 1981 to now) on all
King Crimson records.

this is absolutely true, as most of the world knows.
those of you who attacked Sasha insisting
Robert wrote everything and saying Sasha should
be ashamed for insulting Robert's name:
you are dead wrong!

of course Robert has been the guiding force
and creator of most of the Crimson legacy,
and as such he deserves a great measure of credit
for his brilliant musical ideas (which I love)
but as Robert himself would gladly tell you:
he did not do it alone nor did he
write everything himself.

you, The Misguided should apologize to Sasha.

hey everybody, thanks

2009-12-24T08:37:00.001-06:00

for all your warm birthday wishes.
happy holidays to all of you.

happy birthday, frankie!

2009-12-21T14:24:00.002-06:00

the ghosts of Christmas past.

2009-12-21T12:00:00.008-06:00

when I think of Christmas so many memories come to mind.
baby jesus in a manger, christmas lights on trees, snow balls,
hot chocolate with whipped cream, a fireplace, and of course:
toys.

as far back as I can recall, toys were always what it's about.

only my family members know this, but I have collected
many things from Christmas's past, or more correctly
things from Christmas have often been the starting point
for collections of things I still cherish.

I was reminded of this over the weekend when my girls
begged me to show their friends my toy soldier collection.
I let them set the soldiers up (all 440 of them)
in mock battle positions for the "good war":
the kind where no one gets hurt and no shots are fired.

I began accumulating these toy soldiers from age 10,
but continued to find rare matching packages of exactly
this type at ma and pa stores around the country
well into my twenties.

I keep them in a wooden box my grandmother gave me.
I know it's silly but somehow I treasure these tiny guys
with their little jeeps and tanks, cannons and trucks,
all standing firmly in their fixed positions.
soldiers with rifles, captains with pistols drawn,
truck driving soldiers, marching soldiers, bazooka guys,
hand grenade throwers, kneeling sharpshooters,
lying down sharpshooters, officers with binoculars,
and soldiers standing guard.

they are a window into a simpler time.
Christmas as a kid.

two new...

2009-12-19T12:55:00.002-06:00

CDs I can't wait to have in hand:
the greg hampton CD and
the newest raphael haroche CD.
I contributed major guitar work to both of these.

greg hampton is an L.A. guitarist/writer/singer
who recently produced the latest alice cooper CD.
I love greg's ability to pen a heavy guitar lick
and then to adorn it with NIN-like madness.
greg came to StudioBelew where we added even
more crazedness to his ultra-groovy tracks.
later, he added vocals and is now in the final mix stage.

raphael haroche is the young artist
I went to paris to work with last month.
I loved his songs and his sweet voice to match.
he had an ace studio band as well and we
all worked together to make something unique:
a great pop record.
I still have raphael's songs floating around in my head.
even in a veil of misty rain paris never loses its charms.

my guitar work on both these records ran the gamut
and I was very pleased with the results.
I'll let you know more as I know.

Masters of Rock Guitar

2009-12-08T14:26:00.005-06:00

back in february I was asked to write the preface
for a book called Masters of Rock Guitar,
published by the italian company WhiteStar.
I was already familiar with their work due to a
couple of superb books they have on vintage cars.
"masters" includes a foreword by joe satriani,
an excellent text by ernesto assante, and piles of cool
pictures of 66 guitarists, including yours truly.

the guitarists featured range from people
I actually know (robert fripp, jeff beck, ry cooder)
to guitarists I once knew (frank zappa, les paul)
to guitarists I would love to have known
(george harrison, jimi hendrix,).

I have a hard time imagining a fairly stupid kid
from northern kentucky with no musical training
from a lower class working family who had no
connection whatsoever to the world of music and art
ending up in such illustrious company.
me and eric clapton in the same line up? wow.

my body is covered with marks
from pinching myself all the time.

I just received my copy which I'm very pleased with.
Masters of Rock Guitar is an excellent book albeit
one that may be difficult to find. I know I had a hard
time navigating the italian website: whitestar.it
so I figure most of you will have to read my preface here:

what is it about the electric guitar that so fascinates?

what began as a plank of wood on someone's workbench
has transformed into the icon of rock music and the most
popular instrument on the planet.
the electric guitar has many features to recommend.

portability hard to imagine lugging a baby grand back
to your hotel room each night but you can carry
the guitar in a back pack.

simplicity your basic electric guitar has perhaps two
knobs and one hole to plug into; pretty straightforward.
it's fairly easy to learn. but hard to master.

versatility a player can do just about anything with
the electric guitar these days. when I began playing if
you had a fender amp and a fuzztone you were hot!
today I can play my guitar through my laptop.
there is a billion $$ industry of after market
accouterments. everything from amplifiers
and synthesizers to picks and string winders.

longevity when les or chuck or scotty first appeared
who knew it would go this far? but a funny thing
happened: rock music never went away!

sound it can range from raucous to sweetness.
it can squeal or cry.

volume no question about it, the rock guitar is not shy.
as a communication device it's hard to ignore.
it can blow a horn section right off the stage.

beauty the sensual form of the guitar's body has long
been noted. it's sexy. in the hands of a premier luthier
the wood becomes a modern sculpture. as seductive
as a sports car at a fraction of the price.

it's fashionable true, it can make you a rebel or a
preacher, but I believe the fashionable bit soon wears
off. there has to be something more.

personality? now we're getting closer.
players and manufacturers have done just about
everything to personalize the electric guitar.
we've added strings, pulled out frets, sawed off the
headstock, and cut the body into a myriad of shapes,
sizes, and colors.
there was one guy who even burned his on stage!
anything to express your inner self. and that's it!
the one thing that sets the electric guitar apart
is it's capacity for self-expression.

there is simply nothing like feeling your fingers
bending a note and hearing the guitar sing.
through self-expression comes passion.
through passion comes perseverance.
through perseverance you get to be one
of the players on these pages.

so let's celebrate the electric guitar
ands the players who have made it unique.

Happy 25 Years

2009-12-05T11:26:00.006-06:00

for some reason I woke up this morning musing over
the music from desire caught by the tail.

my third solo record.
the first record on which I played all the instruments.
my first all instrumental record.
the record which cost me my record deal,
the record label (island) hated it so much.
and so the record was unceremoniously dumped.
many fans didn't even know about it.

one fan (sic) hated it enough to break the vinyl
record into pieces and send it back to me!

but frank zappa after hearing desire was quoted
as saying "adrian has re-invented the electric guitar".
thanks frankie.

so I went to the kitchen computer and played the first
piece, the seven and a half-minute tango zebra.
it brought back a flash of memories of fiddling with
the earliest guitar synthesizer, of playing the steel-
bodied dobro with the daddad open tuning,
of playing on the back of the dobro
with rubber mallets to create drum sounds.
of riding my bike to the closet-size studio each day,
thinking of myself as some kind of "artiste".

and as I reeled from the sensory overload I realized:

this is desire caught by the tail's 25th birthday!

to this day it remains undiscovered by many people
who like my music and that's a shame.
the japanese re-issue CD we sell at the online store
is so perfectly re-mastered that the quality sounds
as fresh as though it were made yesterday.

...25 years ago...
wow.

mind meld

2009-11-26T11:05:00.003-06:00

kirk:
"spock! are you out of your vulcan mind!?"

so much has happened in the last 6 months
I wish I could do a mind meld with all of you.
too much to say and no way to convey it all.

first, since it is thanksgiving
let me say Happy Thanksgiving!
(unless you're a turkey, then it's not so happy)

2009 has been another great year.
after three years in the making we released e,
and the trio traversed a million miles to play
hot shows to eager-eared audiences worldwide
who rewarded us, not so much with mucho dinaros
but with praise and appreciation.

thanks to all of you.
it does not go without notice how fortunate I am,
an off the wall artist who still has a thriving career
in the brutal machinations of the music business.

I have high hopes for the new year.
see you there!

heaven.

2009-10-30T14:11:00.011-05:00

now I know where it is.
heaven's in emeryville, california.
1200 park avenue to be exact.
you can't miss it; there's a big sign out front.
it says P I X A R.

once you get through the gates of heaven
you enter an indescribable universe.
it's where I want to live forever.

my personal version of heaven goes like this:
I live in a home depot shed in the animators section.
my formal title is: Pixar Good Will Ambassador.
my job is to greet the creative geniuses each morning
with hot cups of java and donuts and crisp conversation.
my day is spent spreading joy to the Pixar workforce,
drinking free cokes with lots of ice,
and giving outsiders the same special guest tour
I was given by andrew stanton and pete docter.

in my spare time (this is the heaven part)
I sit in the steven jobs-inspired in-house theatre
endlessly watching Pixar films and
reciting each line of dialogue perfectly.
yes, it's the theatre with the ceiling
covered in lights to match the constellations.
(exactly as the stars would be were there no roof)
look! there goes another shooting star!

Pixar is a visual feast filled with storyboards
and concept drawings and like a little boy
in a toy story shop I study every frame.

occasionally I slip into the voice-over studio
to perform a scratch voice-over
for an upcoming wonder at the same mic
used by the likes of billy crystal, john goodman,
holly hunter, tom hanks, tim allen, christopher
plummer, don rickles, kevin spacey, samuel jackson,
the ever-present john ratzenberger and so many others.
hey, you never know when a scratch vocal
just might be the perfect character voice.

in the evenings I take up residency in the secret
Lucky 7 lounge where I practice bartending
for the tired geniuses and technicians.

and lastly, as the workforce leaves
filled with happiness and go juice
I perform an improvised concert
in the vast Pixar lobby to send them home
inspired and ready to return.

that's my version of heaven.

ps: thanks andrew and pete for the best
tour diversion I've ever had.

psst: I didn't mention martha or my kids,
the power trio, or all my best friends
because to be in heaven you have to be
dead.

Anecdote # 47

2009-08-13T16:56:00.006-05:00

A Visit With The Wizard.

last night as I sat in the cool grass clacking two coconut
shells together while some of the elder tribesmen danced
slowly around the bonfire I gazed up at the stars and
couldn’t help but wonder: is it possible there could be
another world not unlike ours, a world where people
like us might stick something into a hole in the wall
and cause little glowing lights to blink on and off like
fireflies, a place where someone could turn a knob on
a box of some sort and fill the air with great marvelous
clouds of sound, sounds unlike anything the human ear
had ever heard before, the sound of a giant metallic insect
grinding through the sky, the sound of an angel singing
underwater, the beautiful smoky wail of an overblown
speaker, and just as I was wondering what a speaker
might be...I woke up.

in my earliest memory of electric guitar I am 6 years old.
taking in the intense kaleidoscope of Christmas shopping
with my parents at the Newport Kentucky Shopping Mall.
the mall itself was more like a small strip mall than today’s
sprawling giants but still a fresh excitement in the mid- 1950’s.
it was snowing. little speakers in the parking lot were
repeatedly playing this jingle:

when the values go up, up, up, and the prices go down, down, down, Robert Hall this season will show you the reason, low overhead, low overhead

a snappy lyric no doubt, but it was the sound of the guitar
accompaniment that excited me. a rich creamy electric guitar
sound. turns out it was Les Paul along with Mary Ford
singing the virtues of Robert Hall clothing .

if we fast-forward a couple of decades I find myself talking
with Les in his living room in front of the same exact
Frankenstein-like laboratory of early recording gear
with which Les created his legendary sound: multi-tracking;
a technology that changed record-making forever.*

the story begins in 1983 in new york city.
I had a full day's schedule of interviews and photo shoots
ending with an interview with Guitar World magazine.
a friend of mine, bob davis worked for Guitar World.
bob invited me and my manager stan hertzman to dinner.
bob was friends with les paul, said he knew him well.
he began telling some of his favorite les paul tales
and suddenly said, "hey, why don't we drive out to les's house?"

it's about an hour drive to Mahwah, New Jersey.
we arrived at les's 27-room mansion at 8:00 at night.
surprisingly, les answered the door.
bob said, "hey les, mind if we come in for a minute?"
"aw jeez, I don't know, bob, I'm kinda busy," les said,
but he quickly added, "what the hell, come on in".
(six hours later at two in the morning we were begging
him to let us go back to the city. I had another long
day of interviews and meetings ahead of me.)

les ushered us into his large open living room.
he was alone in the house, like an absentminded wizard.
he said he was searching through old tapes of his
television show The Les Paul and Mary Ford Show.
airing in 1953, it was one of the pioneer tv shows.
in fact, les said back then they hadn't even arrived
at an agreed upon format for television.
his show was 5 minutes long!

a typical show went like this:
music theme plays (which concluded with a blazing
guitar run from the master, the only part I remember)
announcer says: "it's the les paul and mary ford show!"
mary walks out from the kitchen into the living room
wearing a fashionable 1950's outfit.

les: "whatcha doin' mary?"
mary: "I'm fixing a cake, les. I just put it in the oven."
les: "well then, why don'tcha come over here and do
a song with me while it's baking?"

they launch into one of their two minute pop hits
which somehow leads into a spot about their sponsor
Listerine and how nice it is to have fresh breath
which somehow leads into mary showing les
the magically finished cake which somehow reminds
les of another tune they should sing, which they do.
end of show.

les said they filmed the show right where we were sitting!
the large open living room decorated in 50's-style
bric-a-brac was connected to mary's kitchen
separated only by a counter top.
they filmed five shows a day for five days and
that was enough for a whole season.
the show was on every day during the week.

before the Beatles, even before Elvis,
les and mary had 11 top ten hit songs and 36 gold records.
they had a radio show as well and constantly toured
the country in les's cadillac.

les started right in to one of his fabulous stories:
"the show was broadcast live right here.
we had a film crew in here all day and we cut up
and cussed like sailor's. for our very first show
we had an MC introduce us, a nervous little fellow.
the lights went on, cameras started rollin'
he stepped up to the mic and said:
'hello fucks!'
poor guy."

when les laughed hard enough his voice went silent
and was replaced by a kind of wheez.
we had a beer and les walked us through his house.
he showed us the cadillac flywheel he used to invent
a mastering lathe. showed us the very first electric
guitar he made. he called it "the log". it looked like one.
scattered through the house were guitar cases,
many of which had never even been opened.
les said he had probably 300 guitars laying around.
according to les he made a deal with Gibson when
they released the Les Paul that they would send him
one guitar every month for him to "inspect".

eventually we were back in the living room.
at the far end of the room there were eight recording
machines stacked one on top of another.
it was the original multi-track studio
les had created to make his records.

"pick one out," he said pointing to the guitar cases
laying everywhere. I opened a case. it had a blue
Les Paul still in its wrapper. never touched.
les motioned me over and it dawned on me:
he was asking me to play with him!

we both plugged into his console, les with one of
his "recording les paul" models and me with a
beast that was unaccustomed to ever being tuned.
eventually I played something that caught his ear
and he asked me how I did it.
bob davis spoke up, "adrian makes his guitar sound
like animals. that's what he's known for."
I saw the gleam in les's eyes as he quickly moved
back to the area where the tv tapes were.

"I gotcha now," he said and he began fumbling through
the tapes. "here it is," he said, "you know 'jingle bells'
don'tcha? everybody knows jingle bells. well, I did a
version of it we called 'jungle bells!' "
sure enough there was les playing on his tv show,
scratching the strings of his guitar to make it sound
like a monkey!!
and I thought I had invented that!
what a night it was.

the next time I saw les he was playing at the infamous
Fat Tuesdays, one of his monday night shows he did
weekly for many years despite being in his eighties.
martha and I sat right smack in front of him
up against the postage stamp-size stage,
across from us at the same table sat an elderly
couple who looked very sweet together.

les played great and cracked jokes the whole time.
suddenly he looked down at the couple next to us
and said, "I want to dedicate this to my old friend Harold,
he's sitting right down here in the front and Harold is the
fella who wrote this song back in 1925."
then he played "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."
wow.

over the years I saw les from time to time and he
was always the same: laughing and friendly.
I doubt he ever heard me play or knew anything
about my work but it didn't matter. I loved him.
in 2005 (I think) I was asked by Guitar Player
magazine to participate in an event in new york city.
it was a celebration of les paul's 90th birthday.

backstage les was sitting in the hallway chatting
with everybody. he saw me with my Parker Fly
and insisted he sign the back of it.
he wrote "Keep Rockin'. Les Paul" in silver marker.
being an idiot who is not used to having someone
autograph my guitar I didn't think to protect it
from wearing off, which it did over the next tour.
after he signed it, Lisa Loeb came by to say hello.
he grabbed her breast! laughing like a little kid.

what more can you say about the affable genius?
he was the father of electric guitar.

*this is part of the foreword I wrote for the book
"Analog Man's Guide To Vintage Effects" by Tom Hughes.

the bandmaster hat...

2009-08-06T11:48:00.008-05:00

I love the YouTube videos so many of you have posted.
my friend dave lefkowitz (former manager of primus)
referred to the power trio videos as
a YouTube phenomenon
because of the abundance of postings.

there are two problems for me personally:
(1.) most YouTubes cannot replicate the sound or power
of the bass and (2.) I hate the way I look.

the problem is my hair or lack thereof.
I'm not really as vain as that sounds, but let's face it:
BALD is beautiful (witness sir levin)
BALD-ing is pathetic. (witness sir belew)

I suppose I could continue to be good natured
about it and simply wear one of those
"solar panel for a love-machine" t-shirts
or continue to make my joke that I'm wearing
a balding wig underneath which I have a full head of hair.
or simply surrender to the implications of aging
(i.e. death) and endure looking horrid on
the world-frickin-wide web!

but I've decided instead to try wearing a hat onstage.
not just any hat, but a hat that has meaning for me.
here's the story: from 6th grade through 8th grade
I was in the Ludlow Jr. High Marching Band.
(ludlow is a rivertown at the top of kentucky).
I loved donning my band uniform
(except for the white spats) and parading about.

my aim in life at age 12 was to be the "band director".
as such I would teach the students all the different
instruments, chose pieces of music to play,
choreograph the halftime show pieces and most
importantly, I would wear the bandmaster hat.

here's the rub:
I purchased the hat pictured above. I love it,
but it won't arrive for another 10 weeks!
so......
if any of you know of a hat of this type
(classic cadet style, size small, new or used)
which can be purchased now
please let management know asap.

I'm desperate to be beautiful.

Alert The Media!

2009-07-27T13:25:00.002-05:00

I'm now an official "celebrity twitter". so far I've mostly
tweeted over the delicious meals julie slick (our house
guest for the week) has been making, but follow me
and I promise to reveal all.

e's here!!

2009-07-26T15:43:00.003-05:00

I'm so pleased. thanks again to everyone involved.

exquisitely engineered electric eclectic energetic esthetic excellence!

I hope everyone hears this one.

clos e r

2009-07-11T22:05:00.003-05:00

but yet

e's nearly here

2009-07-11T21:52:00.002-05:00