Hot Show!

Loring Live is a monthly show at the Loring Theatre in Minneapolis. It's an amazing old movie house that's currently being used for theatre, concerts and all sorts of artistic events. This particular show, that I was lucky to be a part of, was called Tease. It was a mix of musicians, burlesque, aeriel acrobatics and live painting and comedy. They also included an artists bazaar in the lobby. Yet another artistic endeavor that can bring an eclectic community together in this town that was completely impressive. I enjoyed being a part of something like this. The vibe was friendly, sultry and fun. I met some wonderful people. Attendance was really good too and everyone's performance was top notch. On the left is the beautiful Elektra Cuete and performing with me on the right is lovely Jessica Chamberlain. I sang my song Not Quite So High as she danced above me. Perfect, it was so great!! One of the coolest shows I've been a part of for sure. Photos by Ephraim Eusebio. You can see more about the other artists and performers on the Facebook invite.

Local Businesses Sponsor Little Man Release

I was absolutely thrilled when I got the e-mail regarding The Current wanting to present the Little Man EP release show. I'd forgotten that I'd sent a request and had already printed posters. So this came as a surprise and I had to head back to the printers!

The Current is one of Minnesota's public radio stations. They play a huge mix of music without commercials and has become a powerhouse of the Twin Cities. It survives because of listeners like you. I've gotten to know many of the DJ's over the years and their continuous enthusiasm for music is contagious. The greatest thing is that they play local music at least once an hour. It really binds the community in realizing that we have some seriously amazing artists right here in town. Check out the local live stream.

You can actually see my place from The Blue Door's front windows. This little local pub has been around for just a few years or so but has really been making a name for itself. They've earned Best Burger from The City Pages and it's always packed. Owners Pat and Jeremy have done very well here in St. Paul at the intersection of Selby & Fairview. They only spin local music here too. Isn't that fantastic!? The food is very good. My wife and I walk over there on the off hours to score a seat at the window. Excellent beer selection as well.

Speaking of beer, one of the places my wife and I like to go to pick up "adult beverages", is over at Marshall Liquors across from Izzy's on Marshall Ave in St. Paul. This "mom and pop" store (literally) has a huge selection of just about everything and it's a convenient stop to or from MPLS/St.Paul. Richard is our go-to guy over there. He's the young son of a Korean mom and pop who are always happy to see us and greet us with a big smile. Richard has been a kind shop keeper to us for years. We bought all our wine and hard liquor there for our wedding. He always chats us up at the counter and the radio is always on The Current. He knows when Little Man gets airplay and always mentions it.


My locks are kind of long. I'm a bit picky on my hair cuts. When my regular hair cutter moved to Portland I was unsure as to where to go. My wife's friend Amy recommended Kelly McMahon at the Groveland Barbershop over on St. Clair and Cleveland. Happy to have met her, she's beautiful. "Couple inches off - shag it up a bit" is my usual request. She does great work. If you've seen my pictures, you know!

Joe is the shop owner, another fantastic barber who's honed his skills over the many years being there. He's a huge music lover and he even became a guitar student of mine for a while. Always curios on how things are going with the band, he's been a great person to get to know. This is a hip place. I also have to mention his big black dog Austin who immediately greets you at the door wanting all your attention first and foremost.

Click the links and visit the shops. These businesses are home-grown, local, and owned and run by really cool people who add great character to this community. I'm especially thankful for their assistance in helping me promote the release show at The Turf Club (May 27th) as well as a thank you to all the other shops and people who are helping support the event in other ways.

Promotional Pics

Photos and design by Emily Utne. Clothed by Up Six.

I'm so excited about these! Emily produced some amazing shots to use for promoting the new Little Man EP. The coats from Up Six were absolutely perfect.

To see more go to my Facebook gallery.

Gil Elvgren Lecture

I had the opportunity to check out a lecture at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul given by Sarahjane Blum-Murphy last night. The event was called History of Hip: Minnesota Naughty? Sarahjane is an expert on American pin-ups and is co-owner of Grapefruit Moon Gallery. She focused on Gil Elvgren, one of the most recognizable pin-up artists and illustrators of his time. The lecture also began with a history of Munsingwear advertising from Susan Marks.

I've liked Elvgren's art for some time. The picture on the left is one of my favorites. Playful, beautiful, brilliant colors and an interesting scene with the wind up alligator. I was happy to learn that he was from St. Paul, Minnesota, so I felt it was a privilege to be able to attend such an event in his home town. Known for his All-American, girl next door, stocking clad, "ooops" expressioned, leggy pin-ups, Elvgren was also hired for Coca-Cola among other companies to draw for their advertising campaigns. His work is most notable in the WWII era and up through the 1960's.

I was hoping there would be some original paintings of his at the lecture and there were!

"Aw-Come On" (1953) and "This Doesn't Seem To Keep The Chap From My Lips" (1948) were the original oil on canvas paintings on display along with a few vintage pin-up calendars.

Photo Shoot - Behind The Scenes

With a new album called Orbital Amusement on the way, I'm working on getting things in motion for it's release. This past weekend was a photo shoot for promotions and possibly for part of the album artwork, which is currently being created by Dan Horan. These pictures were taken by my wife Brigid.

Friday I had an appointment with Megan over at Up Six, one of the vintage stores up the street I frequent to. We had talked about the album art concept we were going for and so she pulled some clothes for me to check out in my size. My favorites were a short waisted black fur coat and a floor length black robe with gold embroidery.

Saturday my wife and I met up with the photographer Emily Utne and headed up to a small studio/office for the shots. Emily shot our Of Mind And Matter cover and I was just so happy about that picture. She's artistically creative in everything she does and gives great direction. We also share similar interests and communicate well with each other about accomplishing the looks of certian shots. Emily's done a lot of cool band press shots as well as a ton of fashion photography.

She brought in a projector so we could shoot some of the pictures with an outer space background and then we did some shots with a white backdrop. After that we hopped over to the Mall Of America and got some tickets to ride the carousel. We had to wait in line and race to the horses we thought would be best for our shots. Emily rode next to me on an ostrich and we shot as the carousel went round and round, we were going up and down and the circus music was playing along with it. Really a good time! I guess I could say it was highly "amusing?" Haha! Oh well...

Just getting some pictures back now. She got some amazing shots!

Seasons Greetings

Happy holidays everyone! I hope that you'll be able to be with your families and loved ones this season. For those of you that may be far from each other this time of year, keep your loved ones in your thoughts and just know that time will pass and that you'll be together soon. Remember to be thankful for who you are and what you have.

I've written a soft and sweet Little Man holiday song for all of you, so please download it for your personal music libraries. Share your comments and share it with others.

Listen and download it here:
FREE Little Man Holiday Song


Sincerely,
Chris

Little Man Recording Session 2010

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I've got a group of tunes that I've written recently that have a general thick fuzziness (see New Sounds with ZVEX in a previous post) to them and wanted to get into the studio as soon as I could. So I had an opportunity to get down to Chicago to the old Ike lodge, with long time producer Ed Tinley, to start the process of getting them recorded. The studio has new wood flooring so I was excited to track drums in there.

Drummer Sean Gilchrist was able to come along. The process for this album was for me to first record basic guitars and then we'd add on from there.

We arrived on a Saturday evening and got basic tones and things ready to roll. Sunday was all guitars and vocals were tracked in the evening. Monday we finished up guitars and got Sean in to lay drums. We did things a little differently so we could use the entire big room for drum sounds so that Ed could design and shape the tones we were looking for with particular songs. After a full work-out of drumming we continued with vocals. Dinner breaks included classic Chicago faves such as pizza and Italian sausage sandwiches.

The lodge is great. Some of Soulful Automatic as well as most of Of Mind and Matter was recorded there. Ike Reilly was gracious enough to let us us it and camp out there too. My sleeping arrangement was this little nook up in a tiny loft. I felt like a gnome crawling up there after each night and then descending out of it in the morning. There's an old record player there with a bunch of great albums, so I would get the morning started by playing an LP and getting the coffee going. It was great to listen to early early Rolling Stones, the stuff they recorded in Chicago for inspiration.

I took a break one afternoon and stepped outside to the wooded and grassy yard. Beautiful out. Suns rays peaking through the trees. And out comes Ike from the bushes with a rifle. I know he likes to kid with me but I seriously didn't know what to think about this! He walks his way over to me and said he's been tracking and hunting some critters that've been getting into the house. "There's one." I say mid conversation. "POW!" "Thanks Squanto." he replies.
Back to work.

We were able to track drums, vocals and guitars for 6 songs in about 30 hours. Whew! A fantastic session. We are in the process of adding bass tracks with our bassist Brian Herb as well as laying down more overdubs here in the Twin Cities. Things are coming along really great and it's looking like it will be an EP. I can hardly wait till we get this out. Hopefully this spring.

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It takes alot with recording expenses rising and all the work that goes into releasing a new piece of work. If you are wanting to be a part of the project and want an opportunity to help, you are welcome to leave a donation of any amount. I'll put your name in the liner credits as well as send you a free copy for your contribution of $20 or more. Of course your donation can also be anonymous.