So…lots going on in the still-cold-but-slowly-defrosting-in-the-teasing-rays-of-Spring city of Minneapolis lately.

Along with the sunshine comes a slew of albums I’ve been working on the past few months…you can check them out here if you’re interested. Jim’s (aka the Mad Ripple) record was particularly fun as I showed up to the studio at 9 p.m. and by midnight we had the entire record (well, the drum tracks) in the can. If I get to do his next record I plan on getting fourteen songs in 30 minutes, and I might even attempt a “second” take, which I hear is all the rage in studios nowadays.

My Big Project this Spring is producing a record with my friend Dave Olson…Dave is from Iowa City and has a great sense of melody and song. It’s a challenge for me as that side of music isn’t really my forte (can “sonic insanity” be considered a forte?) but an exciting one. More bulletins as events warrant…

The biggest news for me personally over the last few months was saying goodbye to a weekly gig I’ve been playing for the better part of two years. Nye’s in NE Minneapolis is still the best place to be in America on a Wednesday night but it’s time to move on and find some new musical road for awhile. The band—Molly Maher, Erik Koskinen, Paul Bergen—is awesome and I’ll still be playing with them from time to time.

There’s a saying, though, that when one door closes another door opens, and behind that door will be a band called Davina and the Vagabonds who are looking for a drummer. That’s the saying, right? Either way, it’s a pretty accurate because as of now I am officially a Vagabond. Davina’s music is a lot of fun; it’s sort of rooted in New Orleans jazz and swing but it definitely veers off into uncharted territory every now and then. It’ll be interesting to see where we go… Also, to say this band stays busy is kind of an understatement, so if you’re living in a city of some sort with people and buildings chances are we’ll be playing there soon.