Flickr Gallery

May 20, 2012 performance by Explorophonic, Shivasongster, and the Explorophonic Workshop. Artists included Aaron Butler (turntables, samples, Kaoss pads), Ric DelNero (MIDI guitar), Bill Stetz (synth bass), Andy Seal (Moog), & Jeremy dePrisco (Reason/Ableton and AudioCubes)

The world Premiere of Dog Assassin: The Musical, March 2012 at Ferguson Theatre in Greensburg, PA. Learn more at www.shivasongster.com

Cafe Mooset is a small restaurant and venue in the town of Bloomsburg, PA. During the Flood of 2011, the property was damaged and the shop was forced to close. Since then Annie Clark, Ralph Hinkle, Donna Schaffer have worked hard to bring their place back for the community. On Saturday February 18, 2012, a reopening celebration was held. Performers from the Local Music Collective were on hand to provide entertainment. These are some of the highlights. Cafe Mooset is at the Marketplace 95 East Tenth Street, Bloomsburg, PA

electro-music 2011 took place at the Greenkill Retreat Center in Huguenot, New York. The electro-music festival, known as the "Woodstock of electronic music," is the world's premiere event for experimental electronic music. This year in addition to performing solo and volunteering to do sound, I did a set with Robert Dorschel and presented a workshop on Propellerhead Record/Reason. (Photos posted are released for festival attendees to use for promotion. If you would like to give a photo credit, that is cool too.)

A collection of music-making images from my 2011 visit to Ireland.

This was my first time to this Hughesville, PA festival, after many years of schedule conflicts with vacation plans, etc. I was eager to attend, and was grateful to be there this year. We were running late, but a fair number of people were already set up in tents by 12:00. So if you want shade - get there EARLY. We stayed until about 4:00, which at $23/ticket was probably not the best value. If your ears could handle more solos and your skin could take the sun, it would be a better value to stay later. Overall the music was very good, with Porkroll Project opening things up. Though the second act (George Kilby Jr. & The Road Dogs) - while good - was not really blues in my opinion. Laurie Morvan tore it up, so hopefully one day she can be on the cover of Guitar Player (as she joked,"with her clothes on.") Food was very good, with the much-missed Olive Tree crew providing Greek treats among others. Security was ever-present, as was alcohol, but people seemed to be keeping themselves together (except one man that looked like he passed out from heat stroke). Smokers were everywhere of course, encouraged by the cigar vendors lurking somewhere. So at times my wife's asthma threatened to surface. I'd be a bit easier on these folks if they were less obnoxious, and the cigar on the ground next to a tent in 90 degree weather says it all. Perhaps the biggest disappointment (and most confusing aspect) was the "acoustic" tent, which was poorly advertised (as merely a harmonica competition for kids) and located near the main stage. Between the electric sets on the main stage, the crew played pre-recorded music to keep the vibe going. Why didn't they just coordinate set changes with smaller acoustic acts? Some of the changes were quite long. So you really couldn't enjoy the "acoustic" tent at all with tons of bass frequencies rolling off the stage behind the tent. What little I was able to appreciate of Andy Barnhart and Big Mitch Ivanoff sounded great, but the competing sound behind them gave me a headache. I thought this was run by musicians? In fact, the sound was jacked up so much inside the tent (they had another system there!) that it was hard to appreciate anything except piece and quiet, so this was the main contributing factor in our early departure. My recommendation to the organizers - and I did give it directly - is to alternate performances on two stages well away from each other, or have acoustic acts in between on the same stage. Blues wouldn't exist if it were not for the old acoustic masters, and the manner in which this was presented was somewhat insulting to the roots of the art form, and did not speak well for a Blues Society that otherwise seems to get good reviews.

These pictures are the start of a little family research project based on a few boxes of Country Western memorabilia from two of my aunts who apparently were somewhat like groupies back in the 1930s-1940s. The materials include sheet music, radio programs, autograph books, photos, and folios. As a musician myself, this material is particularly interesting, and I'd like to better understand some of these artists. Much of the material is from KDKA & WWVA Radio in Wheeling West Virginia and other nearby parts (Western PA & OH). This is somewhat ironic since I have done theatre projects in WV and have one going up soon in Pittsburgh. As time permits I will try to do some better high-res scans and provide details from the texts inside. These materials are not for sale, but anyone with info is welcome to contact me to share stories. It should be fun!

Thank you to all who helped make this year's 11th Annual Bengali Diversity Festival happen! Here's some highlights.

Photos from a photo shoot just prior to our tour. Photographer: Marlin Wagner

Photos from Kata, Béla and Jeremy's musical adventure.

It was a beautiful day, and though we got there late, had to deal with the crazy metro, and really couldn't see too much of the actual performance, it was a great experience to see all these folks out expressing themselves. Highlights were the costumes, Yusuf Islam, R2-D2 and of course SQUIRRELS!! Really glad we did this. May Chaos (of the sane and reasonable kind) Rise Up!

Three days of amazing experimental and electronic music - but don't let that fool you - these people have soul, and there were other types of music there too. From banjos and mandolins to Moogerfoogers, umbrellas, SpeakNSpells and marimbas. A singularly outstanding event - just two hours from Central PA and likely to become something you will hear more about in the coming months on www.shivasongster.com (Photos posted are released for festival attendees to use for promotion. If you would like to give a photo credit, that is cool too.)

My first trip to the Greatest Show on Earth. Photos by Jeremy & Audra in Hershey at the Giant Center.

Bloomsburg University Graduation 2010, with Mom and Dad.

First few days with the new bike.

April 24, 2010 - Some Kind of Jam 5 in Schuylkill Haven, PA. Lots of pictures of friend and bassist Matt Homiak. Favorite bands included The Macpodz and The Horse Flies, Everyone Orchestra. Not my usual scene, but well worth it. Photos by Jeremy dePrisco. Bands - feel free to use these, but please credit me, thanks!

Lot's of pictures of bassist Matt Homiak and some of the best bands at SKOJ5. Photos by Jeremy dePrisco www.shivasongster.com