This is funny.  I know it's not polite to laugh at the misfortunes of others, but GOD this is a hoot.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0GjKiy3nSI

i first heard this song a few years ago when i was really getting into old time music.  i heard the highwoods string band play the HELL out of this, and i loved the song instantly.  then, over the course of the next couple years, it started popping up all over the place.  i love dock bogg's version, which is where i think i get most of my inspiration, although his version is strangely short.  the lyrics i took from the highwoods cut, more or less. this is such a cool song to try …

 I just put up take of PG doing "All or Nothing" here.   I think this is when we really started to kick this one up a few rpm's.  I am continually amazed by the fiddle playing of Tom Swafford.  The guy can play ANYthing on that fiddle, and make it sound like a sweet, sweet bon bon.  

Part of the Olive Street Sessions.

 I've been working on this tune called "It's The Whiskey" for several years now.  It started off as just a piano lick.  Then, over it, I started to sing "The Whiskey......trouble every time.....The whiskey....."  That was all well and good, but it wasn't about anything except whiskey!  And while I love whiskey, and love whiskey songs, I wasn't saying anything new.  So, it sat on the shelf for a few years.  

While going through old recording sessions, I rediscovered it, and an idea for a lyric struck me almost immediately.  So, I've been working on it again ever since - in fits and spurts - and it's darn close to done.  I did a demo of it this afternoon just to get it down.  

"Salt Water Jam" is a very old tune.  I probably wrote the original version back in 2001 when I was 22 and extremely stupid.  But there's a certain charm about looking at the way I was thinking back then, even though I generally want to shake the living shit out of myself to stop living in a fantasy world.  What do they say?  Youth is wasted on the young.   At the time, I was feeling very isolated, and the song says, "Lonely, lonely."  It's about wanting …

This is my second full length record, "I Wish My Name Were Jack."   This is when I just started to get into bluegrass, old-time and country - 2006-ish.  You can hear much more of a cabaret-jazz influence in this endeavor.  It's interesting to look back at your older work, and think about all the stuff you didn't know!  In 2006, I know about half of what I know now about recording and production. (Which is TWICE what I knew when I did my first album, the embarrassing 2004 …

Potbelly Gumbo is very excited to announce our residency for the month of May at Brooklyn's Spike Hill. We'll be playing every other Sunday night at 8 pm. May 3, 17 and 31.
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Playing with us on 5/17 at 7 pm will be PG banjo player Matthew Chase's group, Frankenpine.  They do indie-rock with hillbilly instruments.  Matthew's bride Kim sings beautiful lead vocals.  

myspace.com/frankenpine
spikehill.com

I am making most of my music available free to both listen to and download for your own personal consumption.  

The Toenail Jar.  







My most recent full length record.  When I think about this record, two influences pop into my mind:  my father's death and old-time music.  A year removed from this record, I see how those two things have always gone hand in hand.  

You can down download individual tracks, or you can get the whole album as a zip file.  The zip file includes all the tracks, as well as a PDF booklet with lyrics, liner notes, pictures, etc.  

Get it here:   The Toenail Jar

We just booked a show at one of my favorite dive-bars, Banjo Jim's. I'll be playing with my band, Potbelly Gumbo. They have a piano there, too, so I'll be playing some new grooves I've been working on!

Thursday, March 19th at 10 pm.

i think we all have a purpose on this earth. some of us are doctors, and some of us are lawyers. some of us paint beautiful pictures. and some of us dig ditches. and some of us work in the food sector. i think the point in life, though, is: whatever you do, do it well. i was on my way home this past weekend from the grassroots festival of music and dance near ithaca, ny. i was in the car with my brother cris, and we were both feeling a bit peckish. there’s not much to eat on route 17, but i knew …