Adam Ezra Group

two run ins with american idol:  

never seen the show before.  ok...i've seen parts here and there, but never for more than 10 minutes at a time.  don't get me wrong.  i'm not judging.  i think it's amazing that a reality tv show has helped people to achieve their dreams of being pop stars.  i dig.  i bet i would even love it if i ever got around to actually sitting down and watching it.  just don't watch much tv..  (though am loving true blood these days!  ever seen it? so fun!).

anyways, i got a call from a club called showcase live in foxboro, ma.  this is an great, great club to play at/see music at.  beautiful space.  beautiful sound.  we opened for toad the wet sprocket there in feb, and i opened up solo for judy collins a few months later..  anyways, they wanted me to come in and open for a guy named bo bice..  ever heard of him?  if not, like me, you're clearly just not watching enough american idol!  he was one of the big runners up in a previous season and is now touring the country with his southern rock/pop band.  

the randomness of the music world never ceases to fascinate me!  so here i was preparing to open for an american idol star, and literally had no idea what to expect.  would it be a crowd looking for pop music?  would the leather wearing, biker side of bo dictate the crowd?  lively music fans or passive TV watchers?  i had no idea...until i stepped out onto the stage...and i can now describe the crowd with one word:  COUGARS.  a room full of cougars.  FYI – if you don't know what a cougar is, chances are you probably are one...ask around.
   
as i approached the mic, and table full of ladies near the front called out, "where are yer shoes, sugar?!"  and the mayhem began...  i swear there was more back and forth between me and the crowd than there was actual music..  i felt like 1 part folk musician, 1 part pole dancer.  

in all seriousness though, it turned into an amazing night.  bo's fans were a ton of fun, and i had a great night!  so inspiring to be able to connect with an entire room full of new faces...all coming from different places...all connected through music.  i'm a lucky guy.  happy to live in a basemet for this...

which brings me to our second american idol run-in.  

so it's the night of our big boston boat cruise.  we're fired up!  loaded onto the boat.  i scampered off to a bar called the sailloft to have a few beers with some of the concert goers.  as i come back, we see a bunch of TV cameras, screaming onlookers, general chaos...  i knew right away that it wasn't for us because simply put, that ain't how AEG rolls.  upon further investigation, turns out that it was the latest round of american idol contestants doing some sort of contest on a boat that happened to have been docked next to ours.  so...to make a short story not so short, if you are an american idol watcher, you may find yourself locked into an episode with some sort of aquatic mischief going on.  perhaps during one of the scenes you may see the boat pulling away from the dock and a few scraggly onlookers with confused expressions on their faces leaning over the rail of the neighboring ferry...yup, that's us.

on the topic of boats and cruises, thanks so much to all of the folks that came out to the aeg boston harbor cruise.  holy shit, what a fun night!  i don't know what it is about those cruises.  it's certainly not the sweet stage, cuz there clearly isn't one.  i mean in reality, if a club ever opened up that was as cramped and awkward as that boat, let alone one that charged as much for tickets as the damn boat does, it would be outa business in 15 minutes...  but i'll be damned if there isn't something magical about having 300 people afloat under the setting sun that makes for an epic concert experience everytime!  on top of an incredibly fun night, we also managed to raise $3.5k for the tufts floating hospital for children...wahoo!  perfect weather!  perfect night!  i need to write this in capital letters because it's important:  THANK YOU FOR BEING THE FUNNEST FRICKIN FANS AROUND!!!  folks traveled into town from NH, VT, CT, NY, RI, and even PA for the night!  can you believe it?    you're amazing!!!

OK, so you're gonna here it here first...the next serious boston throw down is going to be at the paradise on january 23rd.  it's looking like we're going to be re-releasing a new and improved "view from the root".  remixed with some new tracks too!  it's going to be our biggest boston show yet.  our last boston show sold out 2 months in advance and in new hampshire folks got left out in the cold....  the paradise sells out at 600.  let's see if we can do it!

tickets will go on sale at 10 am on 10/29!!

keep in touch!

love,
ad

for those of you who read about my wacky experience writing music for the lil' wayne "behind the music", it actually aired a few weeks ago on sept 10th.  wanted to give you a heads up, but like many things in my life, it seems to have fallen through the cracks.  truth is, i haven't even seen it yet, but people tell me it's pretty cool.  tim, the producer that worked on the music with me said our stuff was pretty much just played when lil' wayne was talking about depressing shit.  so if you happen to get a chance to check it out, when you find yourself watching an interview about lil' wayne's father dying, or hurricane katrina, or young lil' wayne shooting himself in the chest, or if you simply find yourself feeling sad for some unexplainable reason, chances are that lil' ole me is strumming away in the background...wahoo!

it's 3:07 am. been a while since i've had a chance to actually write a babbling blog to you. it's an interesting thing...writing a blog...particularly strange for me as a person who writes for a living through a completely different medium. i'm so used to connecting through songwriting, it's hard for me to process what it feels like to write to you without hiding behind a guitar. anyways, you are catching me in a very sentimental moment. i've been listening to colin hay's song "waiting for my real life to begin" on repeat for the last hour and a half. not exaggerating. perhaps it's best to chalk it up to not having had a full night's sleep for what feels like a few months now, but during one of the last 50 listens i actually began crying. yup. no shit. isn't music amazing? the places it can reach... and the fact that it takes an effort on our parts as listeners to let it get in there. hell, tonight it took me a good 10 listens for colin to really start to make a dent. same song. on repeat.

similar things happen at shows... on the nights when the most magic happens, it often only partly has to do with us. so much comes from the listeners. funny to think about it, right? that when you go to a show, you're responsible for the outcome as much as the artists? that by entering the room you are in fact becoming an artist yourself.

been thinking about that stuff a bunch tonight. it's the eve before our first headlining performance at tupelo music hall in londonderry, nh. got an email from scott, the owner of the venue, this morning telling us that as of 7am we had already sold over 100 tickets. wow! this fills me up in so many ways. first of all, i know that folks in the area, some of whom have been waiting for us to headline there for a long time, have really been spreading the word...bringing out their friends and family...incredible! also, as a listening room, tupelo is one of my favorite spots in new england. it's got the intimacy of a coffee shop, but you can still bang out a sweaty, rock show and somehow it all works.

the best part of it all, is that tomorrow night is only going to happen once. ever. it will be an experience between me, the group, and the peeps in the room. i'm constantly amazed that although we play 150 shows a year, i'm still totally excited to see how it will unfold each time. i have no idea!!

a lot of people ask me why, even at a seated acoustic show i tend to break out in a gushing sweat by song 2. i wonder a lot about that too, as a matter of fact. ok, part of it is obviously because i'm basically just a sweaty, dirty guy. guilty. but i think part of it also comes from my desire up there to give it all back. every drop of me. not that i'm a martyr. it's completely selfish and hedonistic. i get it back ten fold. it's a drug and it's a gift and it's the reason my blood chooses to flow.

colin's song is still playing in my headphones...feeling like one of those bruises...you know, the ones you have to keep pushing on for some reason. the sweet pain, and you're not sure why it somehow feels good each time you push on it...

in case we haven't said this to you lately: thanks.

thanks for listening.

thanks for being a part of this little adventure we're on.

i've actually been working on a handful of other blog entries. been feeling like yall deserve some updates on all the mischief we've gotten into this summer. i'm guessing josh will unfold them one at a time over the next few weeks. i promise they won't all be this sappy...

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hey folks!

josh here. so as you know, the adam ezra group is headlining tupleo music hall (http://www.tupelohall.com in londonderry nh on friday, sept 18. this is a really cool spot. it's basically a big open room with awesome sound, and a few sandwiches to eat. it's all ages and its b.y.o.b! so if you're over 21 you can roll in with whatever beverages you choose!

now here's the thing: adam is constantly talking about his alleged apple picking prowess. and, you know, i'm not one to brag, but i'm pretty sure i have him beat in that department. well we got to talking and we decided that, in celebratory anticipation of our headlining show at tupelo, an apple picking outing was in order.

and you all are invited.

now, we decided, if we're gonna get together and pick apples, lets incorporate some extra frivolity. so here's the deal: there will also be a scavenger hunt at the apple orchard where prizes will include free tickets to the tupelo music hall show, hats, frisbees, shaving lessons from rob, and other fabulous prizes that we have yet to think of. scavenger hunt clues will be given via twitter, so if you want to participate in the scavenger hunt, sign up on twitter, follow adam ezra, and have the updates sent to your phone or other mobile device. here's the link:

http://www.twitter.com/adamezra

and, hey, if you are not the "adventurous, scavenger hunt" type, then just come hang with us and pick delicious apples. and bring some grub and some beverages, cuz after apple picking we're gonna have a picnic. turtle makes the most fantastic potato salad.

and if you don't already have tickets to the tupleo show (http://www.tupelohalllondonderry.com/ you can pick them up directly from us at the apple orchard.

who: you and the adam ezra group
what: apple picking scavenger hunt with aeg (scavenger hunt clues sent via twitter at http://www.twitter.com/adamezra
when: sunday september 13 at 4:00
where: macks apples:  http://www.macksapples.com/
why: because it has to be done.

so i got to hang with my ma a bit today. we ended up watching about 5 hours worth of the HBO series "in patient". heard of it? if not, you're not going to believe this... ok so a person goes to a shrink and you watch the session. it's in real time. every awkward pause, every childhood anecdote, everything....

can you imagine anything more boring?! that's what i thought too, but oh no...

i'm totally hooked. ashamed, slightly. but hooked. my goal is actually to chat with yall for a bit and then go watch another session! (ok, that did it...now i'm more than slightly ashamed)

speaking of therapy, or perhaps the need there of, i figured it was time to explain the mustache. first of all, i don't care what anybody says...it was magnificent. creepy, but magnificent. in fact i have decided that at least for the near future, all big events in my life should be accompanied by the mustache. party's, weddings, bar mitvahs...i think nothing really says "i'm lookin for fun" like a mustache. i also think there may be real money potential in applying to be yani's stunt double.

as you may have picked up on, i sadly did refer to the mustache in the past tense. simply put, the group went on strike until i shaved.

truth be told, i only did it for your viewing enjoyment. there was such a hubub about that pic with me wearing a beard a few weeks ago, that i felt like you all deserved a little mustache lovin. the cool thing that i learned from the experience is that when you actually try to say things like "mustache lovin" while wearing a mustache, you can actually induce vomiting from anyone within earshot.

only one show with the boys last week. we've been rehearsing and recording a ton in preparation for the upcoming acoustic album and summer touring. next week we actually leave for a week in the the studio. so fun!!

thanks to lori and steve for throwing one helluvan after party on saturday night in hartford. i learned that any skill i may have when it comes to beerpong is dwarfed by my inability to hang on "rock band". although in my defense, they didn't not have a drumset, which i'm still bullshit about...

remember i told you about my crazy recording experience with VH1 the other day? had another one this weekend! OK, perhaps not quite as glamorous as recording for lil wayne, but still fun as hell. i was in nyc on friday working on some tracks for the new album and got a call from some friends of mine who are working on a corona commercial and couldn't figure out the music. they sent me the commercial sans music and asked if i could write something that would work.

crazy!

luckily i was in the studio and was already scheduled to work with two amazing producers over the following two days. in each session we wrote and recorded some music for the commercial and sent it over to corona. they are apparently reviewing it today, and will let us know soon if it's going to be used.

as a writer, these experiences are so fascinating for me! it's such a nice challenge to take myself out of my own head and my own style, and try to come up with something completely different. every artist falls into patterns, and it's fascinating to find exercises that can force me to broaden the way i think about music.

(P.S. i just bought my first electric guitar...wahoo!!)

see ya soon...

love,
ad