Morning Guitar Out of a Book

Today I woke up and picked up my Sigma coustic guitar, set the "Real Vocal Book" on my music stand, and played a song at random called "My Attorney Bernie".  The "Real Vocal Book" is better than the "Real Book" in my opinion because it has lyrics so you can actually see what these songs are about.  I'm not a jazz-buff but i like reading music and I absolutely LOVE lead sheets.  My method for playing something I've never heard before on a lead sheet is reading and playing the chords, then reading and playing the melody, then trying to play the melody with attention to the chords, then improvising licks on top of the chords, then trying to sing the song and play the chords.  Then the phone rings or something....
"Music is the Best" - FZ

Have a look inside the Real Vocal Book

Paper Cat Review

Woke up today and played two songs on acoustic out of the The Real Vocal Book (I picked them at random so I don't know what they were...but one of them was a billy strayhorn song).  I really love to start out my day playing music.  Reading music is nice.  Music is Nice.   Last night I got word from Julie Slick that there is a nice blurb about the Paper Cat Live at John n' Peter's cd's.  Check it out here:

http://ropeadope.com/

and just look at this adorable kitty.

By the way, Check out Paper Cat bandmates Julie Slick and Eric Slick on the current Adrian Belew Power Trio tour.  You can buy the new Adrian Belew CD called "E" (which the Slicks play on) and you can buy our Paper Cat album there too.  They are an awesome trio to see and Adrian Belew is an amazing musician.

I can't wait to record PAPER CAT in the studio this winter!

PAPER CAT

Here are the uploaded PAPER CAT music tracks from a taped concert performed by myself, Eric Slick and Julie Slick at John and Peter's in July.  This is our new project.  We finally have a name and we will be recording at Julie's Studio in a the next few months so check back often! 


http://papercat.bandcamp.com

Enjoy!

Robbie Seahag Solo Acoustic

I recently went out of my way to play an acoustic set by myself in the Tri-State Area of New York City.  Being that this was my first time doing this, I didn't tell anyone.  I did this for myself to practice in front of a fresh audience, and I think I'll be trying this again secretly to get my chops up. 

The experience was great and I got to play in front of people I didn't know, and I realized how easy it was to make people laugh.  My banter was surprisingly comedian-esque and, well, my songs are often like that too.  Let it be known, I was nervous about doing this gig and that's the exact reason I said yes to it when I was asked.  I had to get over the hump. I learned a lot from this singular performance.  We had a little jam at the end with my friends (guitarist) Tim Palmieri and (drummer) Adrian Tramontano, and some other talented performers. 

My set list included these original songs:  Haunted Boat Ride, She Sleeps in the Attic Now, Ham to the Clam, Hangry, Boring 40-Something, Puppethead, Scattered Showers, Four Eels.  No instrumentals were performed.

Evelinn Trouble & Chris Harford

Last week I played bass for an artist from Zurich, Switzerland named Evelinn Trouble.  The band consisted of Joe Russo (drums), Scott Metzger (guitar), Chris Harford (guitar), Evelinn Trouble (gtr, vocals), and myself (bass).  We had one rehearsal and I created basslines for 4 of the 5 songs we played which were:  Wrong Shape, Yours, North, Meantime, The Things You Don't Know.  We played the beginning of Chris Harford's set at Brooklyn Bowl, and then the next night at John n' Peter's in New Hope, Pennsylvania.  The band sounded great!  I also was fortunate enough to sit in on baritone gtr for the whole Chris Harford set in Brooklyn and on a song or two at during the Chris Harford set in New Hope the following night.  I'm hoping to play more with Evelinn and Chris Harford soon enough.  We are checking out our options to record at the moment and I'm visiting a studio today to get a lowdown.