Todd A

Wednesday Night at Sol Grill

Todd A — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:07:48 +0000

I played Paul Hines’s Songwriters Night at Sol Grill Wednesday night. I had played a similar evening there more than a year ago and was pretty spooked. I’d expected a typical Songwriters Night with people there who wanted to listen. So it’s a bit of a misnomer. The songwriters are just background music for the diners. And it’s such a small room that it can be a little nerve-wracking to be a couple of feet away from someone who isn’t really listening to you.

There’s a thing with songwriters — at least when we’re in our role as songwriters performing our own material — we want people to listen. In that kind of setting, we realize quickly that covers might go over better.

I was prepared this time around. And as a result I didn’t lean too heavily on covers. Cause I chose originals that fit the mood a bit better. No one really listened, maybe a couple of people tuned in and out, but I didn’t feel like I was awkwardly performing my indie rock for a bunch of annoyed diners. And what I realized was that with a proper mix on myself from the monitor, I could kind of tune out the dining room noise and just enjoy playing and singing.

I hit mostly country-ish tunes this week — covers by Willie Nelson, Ray Price, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond and originals like Becky, All or Nothin, Texas, We Used to Hang.

Afterwards, Boris made a comment to me like “maybe the day job doesn’t seem so bad, right?” And my response was, “A bad day of golf is still a pretty good day.”

I’m sure it’d wear me out in a certain way to play originals to an uninterested audience but playing music is still pretty damn enjoyable.

Totally accurate, Yahoo. Thanks.

Todd A — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:40:46 +0000

Show her you’re that type of guy

Todd A — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:07:16 +0000

Listening to this on the way to work this morning and remembered this awesome video of Chromeo performing “Fancy Footwork.” I love the claps.

Saturday at the LAB in Costa Mesa

Todd A — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:57:04 +0000

I asked David to make a flyer for our show and he sent me this. I emailed back, “It’s probably funnier that I don’t know who that is.” But then I realized what it was. And now I’m entirely amused that this is David’s poster for an Orange County show.

Anyway, my pal David Dewese and I are playing this Saturday at the LAB in Costa Mesa from 2pm to 4pm. We’re sorta kinda the backdrop music for the afternoon shoppers, I guess. We’ll be in front of one of the trailers with our makeshift PA. Drop by and hear us sing some songs we made up.

UPDATE: Awesome news! The Slow Waltz will be joining us!

Last Night at Anchor Bar

Todd A — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:53:01 +0000

My friend Paul Hines runs an open mic at the Anchor Bar in Costa Mesa on Monday nights. I’ve been going when I can since he started it. In the early weeks, it was largely a musical open mic with a couple of comedians mixed in. In the past month or so, the comedians have been showing up in droves. Last night there were 15 comedians and 5 musicians.

It’s a weird mix to jump from comedians who are, you know, trying to make us laugh (generally) to singer-songwriters who are singing songs about heartbreak (generally). I tried to split the difference and played Maureen but my voice cracked in it and I missed all kinds of notes. So I hated that.

It’s interesting to observe comics at an open mic. I don’t know what an all comedy open mic is like so I don’t know if the Anchor Bar is “normal” but there are definitely more misses than hits. Comedy is different from music. You can’t sit at home and practice comedy. It really gets defined only in front of other people. So misses should outnumber the hits in the early stages.

But one thing that really came across to me last night was that the only comic I enjoyed, a girl named Emily, made her 5 minute set enjoyable by not stopping. Everyone else’s set was punctuated by ellipses. Just long… awkward pauses. Not hers. One bit she had would have fallen flat but she didn’t even stop long enough to let that happen. She just picked it up and went into another bit. That energy was undeniable. I was so impressed, I felt obliged to tell her she was great before I snuck out of there. In my awkward…compliment of her set, I didn’t even grab her last name. Just gave her my website address and bolted.

I saw Briana Harley again. I met her last year at the SoCal Live Music Awards thing and was impressed with her then. She was really great last night. She has a tremendous voice and the original she played was clever and melodic and unique. Check her out.

Anyway, I hope the hosts, Paul and Evan, find a better way to arrange the comedy and music. I think it could work out into a cool show every Monday but going abruptly from comic to musician is an awkward shift in gears.

Complicating my water

Todd A — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:33:32 +0000

I hate that my Brita filter has an electronic device in it. I don’t care if it’s a cute reminder; I don’t want a battery right next to my supposedly clean water. So here’s what I did with it …

Last Saturday at E Street Cafe

Todd A — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:13:30 +0000

Last Saturday, I played David Dewese‘s CD Release show at E Street Cafe in Encinitas. David and I played an open mic there a while ago and David’s played a show there since so we knew a bit of what to expect. There’s no house PA. So we brought our amps.

It was, I believe, the loudest acoustic show I’ve ever played. We played guitars through David’s amp and put the vocals through mine. David at one point had the master volume on the vocals at 10. I’ve never turned my amp up that loudly.

David brought a ton of friends. I brought the largest crowd I probably ever have. There was tons of crowd noise, just chatter. It may have been that the acoustics of the room made it sound louder onstage but it was pretty overwhelming.

I opened with a couple of chugging songs and then decided to switch it up and play a softer song (Frankly Mr Turner) to try that old trick of playing soft to get the audience to quiet down and listen. But that just made them louder.

I know part of it had to do with the amps. On the floor of the stage, they were just about pointed right at the face of anyone at a table nearby. So those people were talking louder just to hear themselves over the stage volume. It was incredible. I just felt deafened onstage between the loud amps at my feet and the noise in front of me. I haven’t felt that way since probably playing with the Carters at the Springwater. I had a noise hangover after I was done.

Our friends from Nashville, Rich and Mindy Painter, now live out in LA and they played the show as well. They opened and were just overtaken by the crowd noise. They said they hadn’t played a show in a while but when I could hear them, it was the same as seeing them years ago in Nashville — melodic and sweet. David was in top form as well with a bunch of stories in between his tunes that you could actually hear.

It was a great night and DD and I are playing again soon: February 4th at the LAB in Costa Mesa and March 18th at Cabrillo Playhouse in San Clemente.

It’s Called A Secret Attack!

Todd A — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:58:23 +0000

26 January 2012 — I released It’s Called A Secret Attack! at 6.30pm Pacific Time on a Thursday which is how you’re supposed to do it, right?

I started recording ICASA! in July 2011 with my friend Allen Morris. I’ve been writing about its progress pretty regularly. It’s named after an Axe Cop comic.

You can hear the tunes and buy and share the record with the little player below. I hope you enjoy it!

"It’s Called A Secret Attack!" by Todd A

To learn more about each of the songs, click:
It’s Too Hot To Larp
She’s My Kari Byron
Oh Babs
Nicole
Out The Other
I Remember Girls
You Have The Worst Taste in Men

Credits
Allen Morris — Engineer, Producer, Mixer, Drummer
Melissa Kraft — background vocals
Eric Koda — artwork
Shivonne Miller and Bryan Novak — design direction
Alex McCullough of Yes Master — mastering

Crazy From the Heat

Todd A — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:26:42 +0000

Ok, so here’s the joke. When I left the Carter Administration a friend asked me when I’d be putting out my Yankee Rose, referring to Diamond Dave’s first solo album. But of course, Dave released the Crazy From the Heat EP first. So I decided to do the same.

David Lee Roth’s EP was a collection of covers. As a parody of that, I was already starting on shaky ground. I decided to write my own versions of the songs DLR had covered.

I recorded them with my friends in Slack backing me up. I wrote the songs just after leaving TCA in 2001 but we didn’t get everything completed wrapped up until early 2003.

The initial tracks were recorded at Todd K’s house in our Southern Engineering studio. Additional guitars and the vocals were added in Dean Bratcher’s studio. While there, our friend Sam Powers (of Who Hit John, Superdrag, Guided By Voices, and now… The Carter Administration) provided backing vocals. The entire EP was mixed by Dean Bratcher and mastered by Jim DeMain at Yes Master.

Crazy from the Heat by Todd A & the Hit On List

Personnel

Todd A – electric guitar and singing
Chris S – electric guitar
Nick S – the drums
Ben W – the bass guitar
Sam Powers – backing vocals

It’s Called “It’s Called A Secret Attack!”

Todd A — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:46:32 +0000

The record I’ve been talking about for 6 months is finally out! It’s called “It’s Called A Secret Attack!” after an Axe Cop comic. It’s 7 songs but only 5 tracks of total awesomeness for $5! Listen and buy it here: