March 2010: New Things Abound!

The big news of the month: I have a new demo! The six tracks now in my main player were recorded in December/January at New Soup Sound with John Abbey, same studio used by Los G’s for Paisajes de Sudamerica. I hope to continue to record this Spring/Summer towards a solo CD release, nonetheless, I’ve never been happier with a solo guitar demo, and it’s such a pleasure to actually record these pieces in a more proper way - not to say I still won’t post something recorded in the kitchen sometime!

Speaking of Los G’s, we now have a new website to go with the new disc, if you’ve never checked us out, please do so:
http://losguitarristas.com

If the site somehow looks familiar, it was done by my good friends at Letterform.net, for whom I am ever eternally grateful.

The back end of the month has the interesting shows: Los G’s return to the Cultural Center and Uncommon Ground, and I have fun double bill for myself on March 27, an early evening wedding, followed by what will be quite a serious party with Mas Trueno at Cole’s in Logan Square.

Beyond that, I’m continuing my residency for Sunday brunch at Cafe 28. 5 months in, this is starting to have a significant impact on my playing. If you want to see NDS at my best, come out for brunch and you’ll hear me dig into the deepest portions of my repertoire.

New-music-wise, this month I’m focusing on several new pieces I need to learn for the 3/27 wedding, and I’m beginning to plot what I hope to break out this summer…stay tuned!

January 2010: Happy New Year!

The BIG NEWS of the month, of course, is the Los Guitarristas CD release concert at Martyr’s at the special early evening time of 6pm. Please come out and support this amazing project! I’ve been getting reports of the disc getting spun on WBEZ as bumper music in the morning and afternoon hours - thank you!

Beyond that, I’ve begun recording some new solo pieces towards an upgraded demo, and hopefully, my first solo guitar CD - this will be ongoing though the spring.

Mas Trueno also makes a return this month after a long holiday break - we’re excited to be celebrating the 7th anniversary of the Dark Room, our favorite room to play.

New repertoire - I hope to finally debut Preludio y Danza by Eduardo Falu this month - it’s been quite a project. Also I continue to work up a wicked set of duets with Alfonso, surely to be featured at upcoming Los G shows, and soon perhaps we’ll have enough to carry a night as a duo (any restaurants reading this??).

December 2009 - Season’s Greetings!

The big news is that the new CD from Los Guitarristas is finally here!

Instructions on how to purchase one are on the website:
http://losguitarristas.com

A new website is coming soon that will allow you to buy them directly with a credit card, so for the time being, direct sales are a bit old school. Chicagoans can celebrate the release on Jan 30 at Martyr’s.

Anyways, the CD was a huge project to get done, and we are quite proud of it, and the early reviews are extremely positive. AND, they will make the perfect stocking stuffer for any fan of guitar music!

Beyond that, it’s the Holiday Season, which means lots of time brushing up on Christmas music, which is great fun. I have a couple Holiday events I’ll be playing - but still an open calendar for those of you checking in here looking for a last second entertainment decision…and of course, I’ll be sampling through them each Sunday this month at Cafe 28 - I promised Rick 2 new Holiday tunes per week.

Other new repertoire: Cancion de Cuna by Leo Brouwer, and Preludio y Danza by Eduardo Falu…the first 2 pieces I specifically learned to bring to Sunday brunch at Cafe 28.

Alfonso and I are continuing to work up a set of duets, hopefully you’ll be seeing us on stage soon with that project. He is pushing me to greater and greater speeds as we break out some fantastic pieces.

I hope to book some studio time myself this month too, a new demo, and first tracks for the long awaited solo guitar CD…done by Spring 2010?

Merry Merries!
n