(picture above) Getting on the bus in the evening - heading to Santa Cruz tonight
Jun 29, 2008
Jun 28, 2008
Friday - Phoenix, AZ
Morning: Wake up at 6:45 to get ready to perform a few pieces with Ottmar at the Phoenix channel 3 station. When we walked in, I noticed right away that everyone definitely had their fare share of coffee, we were still very mellow from just waking up and not having any coffee yet.
Ottmar wrote this post on his diary:
Stevo and I arrive at the Phoenix studio of Channel 3 at 0730. Told him how interesting it is not to drink any coffee when going to an early morning TV show. Most people were buzzing with energy, while we just sat there. He agreed that it was interesting. Like being in a different time zone, where the air is thicker and movement slower compared to everyone around.
There was some extra time before we were scheduled to perform so we watched the weather lady present her report a few times. We had some laughs between reports as we discussed different hand and pointing techniques she could use for the temperatures. We agreed that when it's a lower digit number, you could use two fingers to point and when it's a big 3 digit number to use 3 fingers. I didn't need coffee, the humor was enough for me. It was nice to feel mellow for performing on TV.
Afternoon: Off to the Celebrity Theater for tonights show.
(photo) this afternoons setup -
Evening: The stage was spinning slowly while we were playing and that was a new experience for me. At times I found my self staring up at light beams shining through the haze while we were going around. During the intermission, I was down stairs having birthday cake with Jon and I still felt like I was spinning.
I had a great time and enjoyed having the audience all around us. Great crowd tonight. On to Vegas.
p.s. Happy birthday Jon
Ottmar wrote this post on his diary:
Stevo and I arrive at the Phoenix studio of Channel 3 at 0730. Told him how interesting it is not to drink any coffee when going to an early morning TV show. Most people were buzzing with energy, while we just sat there. He agreed that it was interesting. Like being in a different time zone, where the air is thicker and movement slower compared to everyone around.
There was some extra time before we were scheduled to perform so we watched the weather lady present her report a few times. We had some laughs between reports as we discussed different hand and pointing techniques she could use for the temperatures. We agreed that when it's a lower digit number, you could use two fingers to point and when it's a big 3 digit number to use 3 fingers. I didn't need coffee, the humor was enough for me. It was nice to feel mellow for performing on TV.
Afternoon: Off to the Celebrity Theater for tonights show.
(photo) this afternoons setup -
Evening: The stage was spinning slowly while we were playing and that was a new experience for me. At times I found my self staring up at light beams shining through the haze while we were going around. During the intermission, I was down stairs having birthday cake with Jon and I still felt like I was spinning.
I had a great time and enjoyed having the audience all around us. Great crowd tonight. On to Vegas.
p.s. Happy birthday Jon
Thursday - Tucson, AZ
Pretty venue and nice staff at the Fox Theatre in Tucson. Very hot and dry in the morning and in the afternoon before sound check, the air changed from dry to very humid as a thunder storm came rolling through. My guitar strings didn't like that very much.
Showtime: I had an interesting start this evening. Right as I started to play the first few notes on the guitar my in-ear monitors went completely out. I couldn't hear anything for the rest of the song and had to listen carefully to the house mix while playing my electric guitar parts. After the first song, the battery was quickly changed out in my in-ear pack and it worked just fine for the rest of the set. Very nice audience this evening and nice standing ovation.
Jun 24, 2008
Tuesday - Rehearsal
Up at 7:56AM today. I didn't make the same mistake with the coffee situation like I did yesterday. This time I walked up the street and found a coffee shop. Got back to the hotel room and spent an hour going over the new material before the 10AM rehearsal.
I enjoyed todays rehearsal. I'm starting to feel more comfortable with the new music and arrangements, although there is still a lot to remember. I think the much improved coffee situation set the tone for the day.
I went over all the material again this evening to re-cap. Tomorrow there will be a shorter rehearsal in the early afternoon and then it's time to pack up and head out on the bus in the evening.
Right now as I'm writing this, theres this damn fly in my room buzzing around by the bedside light. Really annoying, I had a few words with it about the buzzing noise but that didn't seem to make a difference. Anyway, I uploaded some pictures from todays rehearsal. You can click on the photo above or go HERE for the pictures. As usual, I'll be adding more pictures as the tour continues.
Monday - rehearsal day
Got up at 7:45AM. Rehearsal at 10AM so I thought I'd go down to the lobby to see if they had any coffee before practicing, big mistake. When I got back to my room I took a sip and nearly spit it out across the room. It had to be the worst coffee I've EVER had, EVER!!! I was determined to get practicing so I choose poorly and decided to suffer through it instead of finding better coffee up the street.
Sunday - Travel Day
Short travel day today, the flight was just under 2 hours. No one was sitting next to me on the flight so there was plenty of room to stretch out. Had great views of Monument Valley and Ship Rock on the way to Albuquerque.
Jun 21, 2008
Saturday morning
Having coffee and practicing up on a few last minute things for rehearsals. After that I have to pick out the movies I'll be taking along, usually a long process for me. I take my movie watching seriously when on tour and have to make sure I bring the right ones. Besides that, I'm all packed up and ready to leave for Santa Fe tomorrow.
If you want to follow along with the travel day tomorrow and what's going on during the tour, you can check the twitter messages on this blog over there on the right bellow the pictures.
Example:
What is Stevo up to? (Text messages)
* Z z z z z.... - 6 days ago
* Cat threw up on carpet..... Off to a great start today - 6 days ago
* Just made coffee and forgot to put the coffee pot under the drip thing. Didn't notice it for 6 min. Now cleaning - 6 days ago
* Practicing and having coffee - 18 days ago
* At the terminal in dallas. Flight is in an hour and 1/2 to SFO - 23 days ago
If you want to follow along with the travel day tomorrow and what's going on during the tour, you can check the twitter messages on this blog over there on the right bellow the pictures.
Example:
What is Stevo up to? (Text messages)
* Z z z z z.... - 6 days ago
* Cat threw up on carpet..... Off to a great start today - 6 days ago
* Just made coffee and forgot to put the coffee pot under the drip thing. Didn't notice it for 6 min. Now cleaning - 6 days ago
* Practicing and having coffee - 18 days ago
* At the terminal in dallas. Flight is in an hour and 1/2 to SFO - 23 days ago
Jun 18, 2008
Today - getting ready for the summer tour
A beautiful day out today. Summer will be here this weekend and so will rehearsals for the summer tour. I decided to start getting ready today so I'm not scrambling around last minute on Saturday night before I leave Sunday morning for Santa Fe.
So I decided to get the guitar out to wipe it down and make it look good for the tour. I also want it to sound good so I figured it's probably a good time to re-string it too.
Before I looked around for a pack of strings, I wanted to see what Cosmo was up to, hoping she was taking a cat nap. I looked in the kitchen and saw she was busy eating, good.
So I went on my way to find a pack of strings and when I got back to my guitar, Cosmo was laying on the floor next to the guitar and decided to take a nap there! Of all the places...
I'm pretty sure she was faking because as soon as the first string came off the guitar she leaped up like something that leaps really fast and started going after the strings. She must have been on to me when she saw me spying on her.
As I tried to stop her she started attacking me for some reason! I called out no joy but there was no letting up from the ferocious house pet. Clearly I don't have any pictures of that because I was getting attacked. Then for some reason she got distracted with some random folder on the floor and started attacking that? Maybe she is part shark? Anyway, that gave me time to finish up and move on to lunch. I think if I had a horse or another animal of some sort this wouldn't be as much of a problem? Hm, now she is purring and crying out to me to be petted as if she is my best friend again. As they say, if you can't beat'm, join'm. I have to go now and start petting Cosmo.
Stay tuned for the next cat update after the summer tour - "Tips on how to play with your cat"
p.s. Then again, I may get injured during that post so it may not be such a good idea.
So I decided to get the guitar out to wipe it down and make it look good for the tour. I also want it to sound good so I figured it's probably a good time to re-string it too.
Before I looked around for a pack of strings, I wanted to see what Cosmo was up to, hoping she was taking a cat nap. I looked in the kitchen and saw she was busy eating, good.
So I went on my way to find a pack of strings and when I got back to my guitar, Cosmo was laying on the floor next to the guitar and decided to take a nap there! Of all the places...
I'm pretty sure she was faking because as soon as the first string came off the guitar she leaped up like something that leaps really fast and started going after the strings. She must have been on to me when she saw me spying on her.
As I tried to stop her she started attacking me for some reason! I called out no joy but there was no letting up from the ferocious house pet. Clearly I don't have any pictures of that because I was getting attacked. Then for some reason she got distracted with some random folder on the floor and started attacking that? Maybe she is part shark? Anyway, that gave me time to finish up and move on to lunch. I think if I had a horse or another animal of some sort this wouldn't be as much of a problem? Hm, now she is purring and crying out to me to be petted as if she is my best friend again. As they say, if you can't beat'm, join'm. I have to go now and start petting Cosmo.
Stay tuned for the next cat update after the summer tour - "Tips on how to play with your cat"
p.s. Then again, I may get injured during that post so it may not be such a good idea.
Jun 16, 2008
A first look at The Luna Negra Board Game
THE LUNA NEGRA GAME
Originally uploaded by stromo.
The new Luna Negra Game for us to play on the summer tour. I Worked on this over the weekend. Starts in Santa Fe and heads to Tucson. From there you have to make it through all the cities on the tour and make it back to Santa Fe. Should be fun to see if anyone is able to win the game!
p.s. Unfortunately I found some chew marks on the bottom from Cosmo (America's Favorite Kitty) However, It's now in a safe place in the closet.
Jun 10, 2008
Today
Today I did some spring cleaning on the Links section of this page. It's more organized and easier to read now.
P.S. If you haven't noticed, at the bottom of this page there is a secret game of Frogger if you want to play. Guess it's not much of a secret anymore....
P.S. If you haven't noticed, at the bottom of this page there is a secret game of Frogger if you want to play. Guess it's not much of a secret anymore....
Jun 9, 2008
The Scent of Light - Review by Culture Court
Beautiful review of OL's new album The Scent of Light by Lawrence Russell of Culture Court.
Ottmar Liebert: THE SCENT OF LIGHT review by Culture Court
Jun 4, 2008
News
On July 12th, I'll be playing solo at the Byington Vineyard & Winery from 5:30PM to 8:30PM for their evening picnic.
St. John
Had a wonderful time in St. John last week. My first time there and hope to go back soon. I played for a wedding right on the beach. Hearing the flamenco guitar along with the ocean waves really set the tone for the special evening.
On the post below is a picture of me sitting by the ocean waiting for the rehearsal to begin. Had some extra time to play guitar while listening to the ocean waves.
On the post below is a picture of me sitting by the ocean waiting for the rehearsal to begin. Had some extra time to play guitar while listening to the ocean waves.
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