Chris Frasco: After the EP A songwriter's struggle for success in New York City. I spent 9 months recording my debut EP... Now what?! This blog will detail my day-to-day life as I try to move my career forward as performer, writer, and producer. The music scene in New York City is no joke. There are thousands of us out here trying to live the dream. Few will rise to the top. I'm not expecting an easy ride. here we go....           September 8, 2010     Gearing up for The Bitter End...   I've been living in New York for almost 2 years now. In that time, I've played every bad room, fake stage, empty venue, and poor excuse for a sound system that the city has to offer. I finally got noticed and given a serious opportunity. This Friday night, my band will be playing the prime slot (10:00pm) at The Bitter End. I'm so excited!!! A real stage, a real PA, in a room designed for listeners. Two amazing musicians will be joining me: Chris Conly on bass & Joe Pramik on drums. The Roof Walkers, an awesome blues-rock band, will be playing before us. They were instrumental in landing this gig, they go on around 8:30pm. You wont want to miss their set!! This is, by far, the most important show I've played in New York City to date ... so if you've never seen me perform, now is the time!! Chris Frasco Electric Trio 10:00pm... $10 ... 18+ The Bitter End 147 Bleecker St New York, 10012 I would appreciate your support from the bottom of my heart. Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     September 3, 2010     What A Surprise...   I'm a veteran of platonic friendships. I've always been able to relate to girls better than guys. I guess I'm sensitive or whatever. About a month ago, I started realizing that my closest platonic friend might just be the perfect girl for me. TERRIFYING!!!! How does one handle a situation like that? You can either gamble the friendship on the chance that the feelings are mutual ... or you can just choose to ignore it. My first impulse was the latter solution. Friendships like these often don't recover when romantic feelings are presented and unrequited. As I ignored my feelings, I found myself thinking of her more and more. I drove myself nuts analyzing every little interaction between us. All the while, we were hanging out more and becoming closer. Things finally came to a breaking point and I wrote this song to start the conversation. I have a girlfriend. Now I'm terrified of losing the happiness I've found. <3 The Esme Song: Surprise (Take it Slow) Nerd Note: Very Roughly Sung, Mixed, and Mastered. What a surprise to wake up with you on my mind after I fell asleep to the thought of your shining smile I know you said there's no room for anything complicated but my feelings here are decidedly cut and dry As much as I'd like to hang around wasting time with you for life These days I seem to have something serious in mind Let's take it slow I want you to feel comfortable Wrap you in silk sheets and lace Read the love written on my face Don't act surprised I know you saw right through my eyes The day you lowered your book just to find my look fixed on yours And don't dare think that I can't feel your hesitation to let go when I hold you on the street right beneath your front door This silly secret has been begging me to keep it tucked deep inside the leaflet of my life ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     July 23, 2010     Product Review: The Sanyo Xacti Portable Recorder ...             I doubt that I’m the only singer/songwriter who initially writes and demos songs via a built-in laptop mic. The biggest drawback to this is undoubtedly the horrible sound quality. This can be improved with the use of a USB mic, but if you travel/tour this proves to be an expensive, volatile, and clunky recording kit! Sanyo has this problem solved with their latest product, the Xacti Sound Recorder. It delivers very clear Linear PCM audio, at 44.1 kHz / 16-bit, while taking up roughly half the space of an iPod Classic. It measures at 3.8” long, 1.5” wide, and less than half an inch thick. Wow!           The fine folks at Sanyo sent me a Xacti to review, so I took it into my writing/recording space to get started. Although it is a very sophisticated piece of digital equipment, the menu and basic operations are quite intuitive. I could record, playback, delete, and test some of the on/off style features without opening the instruction manual. That being said, I later spent 30 minutes with the manual clearing up my confusion on some of the more in-depth features.           The RECORD MENU is where I spent most of my time evaluating the device. To start, it allows the user to choose between five different fidelity levels of MP3 recording and Linear PCM (uncompressed) recording. The Mic Sensitivity setting was initially disappointing, as the only selections are Low and High. The manual later taught me that both options have a default gain of “15,” but can be manually adjusted from 1 – 30. The next item relevant to musicians on the RECORD MENU is the Low Cut Filter. They’re not kidding when they say “low cut,” it basically eliminates all frequencies below 150 Hz. I suppose this could be useful if recording a piccolo next-door to a bassist, but otherwise it fails to impress. A couple different shelving options of low frequency attenuation would’ve been more helpful. The Peak Limiter is the function on the RECORD MENU that I was most skeptical about. I’ve rarely heard a pre-record limiter (under $1,000) that manages to be transparent or convincing. This one is no exception. Its attack is slow and very audible, often distorts while on, and releases noisily. I would personally always keep this off and set my Mic Sensitivity gain conservatively.           Placement was more important than I had expected from an omnidirectional recorder. The sound quality vastly improved when I placed the microphone-end towards me. This, of course, leaves the display screen 180 degrees from readable. I also found the height of its placement (when within 6 feet of the source) to be important. When I sang and played guitar at once, I effectively created a right triangle of sound (see below) where A = vocal, C = guitar, and B = Xacti. The guitar was clearer and higher in the mix, which surprised me given that the two sound sources were so close together. When I raised the height of the recorder – vertically flipping the triangle and making the guitar’s sound travel the length of the hypotenuse – the vocals became clearer and more balanced. So I guess the moral of the story is: For best results, place backwards and nearest your face.           Minor criticisms aside, once you have a feel for the Xacti, it’s easy to set and achieve excellent quality sound. Hit record once to enable recording mode, check the input level, and set the mic gain accordingly. Hit record again to start recording! Stop, Play, and listen via its built-in speaker or headphone jack. Connect it to a PC or Mac, via USB, and copy the tracks to your hard drive. From there, anything is possible. Bottom Line: The Sanyo Xacti Sound Recorder captures music that actually sounds like music! Anywhere. Anytime. Model # ICR-XPS01M MSRP: $149.00   ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     June 9, 2010     In My Veins...   Hey Everybody, I'm rushing out the door to go to Emily Greene's CD Release show, but I wanted to share a brand new song!! I wrote this on Sunday night. I'm still getting used to it, but I like the vibe of it. It's called "In My Veins." Demo #1 of 2010 In My Veins" Nerd Note: Very Roughly Mixed and Mastered. Look into my eyes, little girl I've got more anger than I'd like to let on When you told me that our time was up I wanted to chain you down cause I hadn't had enough I'm sweaty My hands are shaking My heart is racing without you in my veins So what do you have to say for all of this pain Don't mind my indecency but I want you to feel it too 10 days, I could barely contain the way I pined The way I died for you CHORUS If you'd take some time away from all that sweet love you're makin You might ask me how it fucking feels to be so constantly forsaken I suppose I should rephrase: I hope you feel nothing when he kisses your face and when he lies I hope you're so surprised that you fall down aching and that's where I'll be waiting CHORUS More Soon!!! On to Emily Greene!! Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     April 28, 2010     Missing the Road......   I've been reflecting for the past few days about the quick tour Liam and I went on. It was the perfect way to kick off the intense gigging I plan to do in 2010. My biggest worry going into it was that my voice might not hold out. It might get strained from such a concentrated schedule, my performances could've suffered from lack of warmup time, etc etc etc. I felt very lucky that none of that happened. My voice was strong every night, my pitch was on, and even my falcetto was full and accurate. My performance at the Bluebird was the weakest of the tour, which I attribute to nerves. That place is so famous and I had to close out the night, I felt pretty uneasy stepping onstage. Liam's performances really grew throughout our time on the road. He started off slightly quiet and self-conscious. By the last show, he was really belting it out and had a confident stage presence. The truth of the matter is that his personality and lyric writing are so endearing, that people love him no matter what. hahaha I'm kind of jealous of that, actually. I think my showy guitar playing combined with my knack for banter sometimes makes people think that I'm egomaniacal.... which isn't entirely true. :P My favorite shows were Rochester NY and Washington DC. I'm really glad we happened to film so much of the Rochester show. By the same token, I'm really glad we didn't film the Springfield show. I love supporting my friends Adam and Kevin Buynicki, but I loathe playing in Western Massachusetts - specifically the Springfield area. I'm playing a good friend's wedding shower in a couple weeks, but after that I think it's over. I had planned to play Maximum Capacity in Chicopee, MA over the summer, but there's no point. If I wanted to be ignored, I'd be playing covers for a living. Liam has plans to tour with our friend Freddy Hall over the summer. I'm bummed that we wont be on the road together, but I'm currently taking meetings with booking agents. There's so much gorilla dust in this industry. These people are always promising the world, it's tough to see through the bullshit and figure out who can actually provide you with solid opportunities. I'm hoping to play festivals over the summer... and more importantly, play colleges nationwide during the fall semester. I'll update as it all comes together :) Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     April 25, 2010     Best Night Everrrrrr.......   I'm not sure if I'm high on crack or if tonight was the best night of my life. Liam and I concluded our tour at Finnegan's tavern, which went as well as any display of original music could go in WMass. Here's the big deal... After the show, I ran into Dave Gillman. Dave taught me EVERYTHING I know about being a great musician. I haven't seen him since I was 18 years old. I probably creeped him out, but it meant so much to me to hand him my CD and say, "Thank You, this never would've happened without you." No Joke. I studied with some incredible guys at Berklee, but Dave inspired me as a kid. He gave me the joy of music. The joy of guitar. The joy of shredding. It's really unbelievable. I could've cried my eyes out talking to him tonight. I've been searching for his contact information for years. What a thrill!! What a way to end a tour. It makes everything I've done and accomplished worthwhile. I couldn't be happier right now. Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     April 23, 2010     Rochester Videos!!!   Here's a bunch of videos from the show in Rochester!! Chris Frasco - Requiem Chris Frasco - Abby, I Know Chris Frasco - Changes Liam McCormack - Give and Take Liam McCormack - Brooklyn Fever Liam McCormack - Sunrise Enjoy!!! Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     April 23, 2010     PotzDAAMMMNNN!!!!....  photo by describe the fauna I'm currently sitting in the Flavour Cafe in Troy, NY. This hip spot is our venue for tonight's show. It's currently kinda deserted, so I'm hoping things will pickup before my set. I can't believe how fast this tour flew by!! It feels like we just left, but tonight after the gig, we'll be heading back to my hometown. We're playing Finnegan's Tavern tomorrow night in Springfield, MA. I can't deny that I'm dreading ending the tour in Western MA. It's been such a blast so far and my hometown has the uncanny ability to make me feel worthless. But... in spite of all that, I'm excited to go and show my support for my friends, Adam and Kevin Buynicki. Their band, The Amber Fashion, is tomorrow night's headlining act. Liam and I will be warming the crowd up with our acoustic jamzzzz, then the boys will be melting faces with a fully electric set. Tons of love for the Amber Fashion boys. Oh Boy... it's time to setup for the Troy set!!! It's filling up in here!! :) Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     April 22, 2010     Columbus and Rochester....  Columbus was a friendly place, I definitely enjoyed it. That being said, Extended Stay America is the lamest hotel on the planet. No wake up calls, No shampoo, and if you book a room for two adults- they make you pay extra upon arrival if you want two beds. Definitely not recommended. Liam and I played at the Espresso Yourself Music Cafe in Powell, OH - just outside Columbus. The place was amazing. It was a church from the 1800's that had been converted to several different things over the years. Churches always tend to have great acoustics, and this was no exception. They had an impressive sound system to add to it all. I would definitely play there again. The people were very nice and attentive. Rochester, NY was a blast!! I had never been there before, but I've often thought about doing my graduate studies at Eastman School of Music. I was excited to finally see the city. It's definitely an open-minded college oriented place. Liam and I played at Starry Nights, which was slightly on the small side, but a great venue nonetheless. The thrill of the night for me was seeing my best bud, Joe Moser. He drove from Willow Grove, PA to come see us play. His sister goes to school in Rochester, so she was also in attendance. DoubleVision Moserism = Fantastic. Liam's set was great as always. He was a little more intense than he's been. I noticed him really digging into the guitar during "You Knew that Going In." And he was really belting during "Pull You Closer." It's really fun to see his performances develop from show to show. He has such a natural charisma that just pulls people in... and as he gets more comfortable, he's learning to harness its power and really captivate people. Honestly, I couldn't pick a better guy to tour with. I love his music, so it's a pleasure to listen to night after night... not to mention that are both laid back with similar senses of humor, so we have great conversations from city to city. I felt very commanding during my set last night. My voice was on right from the start. My hands feel loose from playing day after day. All that, plus Joe being in the audience, really made me feel comfortable and confident. It was definitely one of my better performances of the tour so far. "Handgun" and "Requiem" felt particularly strong- luckily, Liam got both on video. I uploaded Handgun for your viewing pleasure. ;) We got to Potsdam NY today- where our destiny is unclear. The venue apparently double-booked us, so we're working at setting up a dorm show at SUNY Potsdam. We'll see what happens. Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     April 21, 2010     Things will be better in Tennessee....  Greetings from the road! I just woke up in our hotel room in Columbus, OH and it took me a few minutes to remember what city/state I was in. Today we drive to Rochester, NY and things are pretty easy from there. Our next 4 gigs are in pretty close proximity to one another, so no more 7-9 hour daily drives. Thank God!! :) I love Tennessee. I've been a number of times. It never disappoints. We played Acoustic Coffeehouse in Johnson City on Sunday. That was a really chill gig: Liam played this really quiet, pretty set. He's been doing that lately!! His sets have been so subdued and beautiful.... then I feel like the asshole who gets up, bashes on his guitar, and screams into the mic. So, in Johnson City... I gave it my best shot at a Liam-style set. It was ok. I sat down while I played, slowed the songs down a bit, and took ambient guitar interludes. It was fun, but I don't think I'll do that again. Monday, we played in Nashville at the famed Bluebird Cafe! I uploaded a video... Enjoy!! We have to checkout!!! AHHHHHH!!!!! Ttyl Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     April 17, 2010     Freddy Hall Show - Washington DC....  Our friend Freddy Hall just finished an EP, so Liam and I stopped by to play his release party. Liam kicked things off with a really soft set- which included an improvised rearrangement of "Name with a Star." I was soo tired and hungry during Liam's set that I felt like I might pass out. It was bad news. I stepped outside to get some air and compose myself. I warned my friend Andy that if I happened to collapse during my set- to assure everyone that I was fine, just exhausted and dehydrated. It's amazing how the adrenaline rush of performing can revive you. Once I got through the first song, I was fine. The audience was so classy and polite. They were so attentive and they'd applaud after every time I'd work a solo into a song. It was like playing a jazz show. I felt particularly good about the performances on "Handgun" and "Abby, I Know." Everyone was so sweet to us after. We got a lot of feedback and people seemed really interested in the stories behind the songs. Freddy Hall's set was fantastic. He mentioned that he was nervous, but you would never have guessed. He's been traveling for a long time now as the guitarist for the musical "Spring Awakening." All his experience shows in the flawlessness of his delivery. This tour is off to such a great start, I couldn't be happier. :) Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     April 16, 2010     Boston Show....  Shows in Boston always make me miss the city I spent so many years in. Last night's show was really great. I hadn't seen Liam play a solo set since 2004, and he gave an inspired/inspiring performance last night. I kicked things off around 9:35 to a delightfully attentive audience. I can never tell if my guitar madness will be perceived as novelty or just self-indulgence. But people seemed to enjoy it. :) We're currently on the drive to DC. I'm exhausted and starving, but really looking forward to tonight's show. One of the interesting things about the concentration of this tour will be seeing how our voices hold-up. We're doing so much driving that we'll have very little time to warmup before the sets. I'm pretty sure we'll be making it to DC just in time to grab a beer and step up to the mic. Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     April 15, 2010     Subterranean Homesick Blues....  I've always felt like an outsider in my hometown. In school, I did very well socially... yet everyone knew that I didn't quite belong. I think tonight was the culmination of that in my mind. The town I grew up in is a sports town. Plain and simple. No interest or aptitude for the arts. While I was in school, I dabbled in everything from metal to jazz - all evoking equal apathy among my peers. I always hoped I'd get some grand vindication later in life. At this point, I think I have.... and they know it. I feel like they either resent me for it -or- they're still just completely oblivious. Either way, it sucks. I wanted to warmup for my tour with Yellowbirddd by doing a quick gig at home. My closest friends came - which, of course, I adore them for - but nobody else showed up!!! REALLY?!?! I certainly don't want to exaggerate my accomplishments, but come on!!! My career has been rather exciting lately and I think the townies should be psyched!! Oh Well... when I win a Grammy, I'll go to my class reunion and use it to clobber people at random. On to Boston..... Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     April 9, 2010     Tour blogging....  It's April?!?! Are you freaking kidding me?! I don't know what's going on with me. I used to be such a great blogger. There was always something to say. Lately, I don't feel like there's much going on that's worth reporting. Ok, I'll admit it ... I've been in a rut. But while I'm writing, there's definitely some developments worth mentioning! News Overview: "Anchor" peaks at #58 in the Top 100 Charts!! AMAZING. Liam McCormack releases his debut album: Co-produced, engineered, and mixed by me. Hovercrafts still not available to the general public. Liam and I are going on tourrrrrr!!!!!! Sadly, "Anchor" has fallen out of the Top 100... but... as an unsigned artist, my song had no business being there in the first place. I've been saying this all along, but I'll say it again. What a thrill!!! A song that I wrote, sitting on the couch in my boxers, was heard NATIONWIDE!! It made the Top 100 and stayed there for 7 straight weeks. Truly unbelievable. I'm so grateful to everyone who heard it... even if they didn't notice. "Hard Feelings," Liam McCormack's debut solo-album is done and released!!! This was such a fun project and more importantly an intimate manlove bonding experience. Liam is one of my favorite songwriters of all time. I was so proud to record this album for him. It came out fantastic. I played electric guitar, hand percussion, piano, and sang some backups on it. It's available for free download at yellowbirddd.com. Yellowbirddd is a stupid name. No Hovercrafts?!?!? Life sucks. And the biggest news: THE TOUR!!! Boston, MA Washington DC Asheville, NC Nashville, TN Columbus, Ohio Rochester, NY Potsdam, NY Burlington, VT Springfield, MA It's a short tour, but this is just a warmup for me!! I plan to spend most of the remainder of 2010 on the road. It'll be a blast to be out there with Liam. I'm also hoping that being on tour with reinvigorate my blogging. I really love writing. It's such a release for me. I need to get it back. DOWNLOAD "Anchor" FOR FREE ... before I stop being lazy and take down the download page!! Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     February 22, 2010     Music Video + Free Download + Recap...  Things have been up, down, and just generally insane. My apologies for the blog silence... let's bring you up to speed! News Overview: Free Download of "Anchor for the month of March!! "Anchor" has an OFFICIAL Music Video!! Steadily climbing since its debut, "Anchor" is now #65 in the Top 100!! Recent NYC shows at Trash Bar, National Underground, Brooklyn Lyceum... Headlining a show at National Underground on March 12th!! I'm offering a free download of the single, "Anchor," to anyone who makes the effort to come to the website. I'm hoping that people will signup for my mailing list, listen to the album, and consider buying it. It takes tons of time, effort, and money for unsigned artists to record/promote our music... so please support those you appreciate!! Click Here for the download page. I have a music video!!! How cool is that?! I was lucky enough to have my friend, Alex Sherman, direct it. It made the whole process much more comfortable right from the start. He already knew the song and he was really open to my ideas... as well as bringing a great creative vision all his own to the table. Going into this, I knew that I didn't want to just lip-sync to the album version. As much as that's the general procedure for a music video, it seems kinda silly to do that as a non-celebrity. Instead, I suggested that we do a stripped-down acoustic version of it. I played the song live with just my acoustic guitar six or seven times and he filmed it from a billion different angles. We ended up using the audio tracks from the FIRST TAKE ... which made me feel pretty darn good! :) You can watch the video on the aforementioned download page or on YouTube. It's been quite an experience writing a song, recording it, releasing it, and then having it hit the radio AND THRIVE!!! "Anchor" is up to #65 in the Adult Contemporary charts nationwide!! UNBELIEVABLE!! The craziest thing about this radio success is the realization that it doesn't immediately translate to fans. Me and my "Duo Du Jour" played three shows in the New York City area in the last couple of weeks. The attendance was less than impressive at all of them. It takes time. I know that. I just hate waiting. I'm so proud of this music and the musicians I have with me... I want people to see it!! They need to!! I need to rethink my strategy for promoting myself in New York. I think the reality of the situation is that 20-somethings don't listen to the radio much. They listen to their iPods, Blackberries, Pandora, etc etc etc... So, going forward, I need to make an effort to reach people who aren't friends, acquaintances, or facebook-junkies... I'm going to try a few different ways to get people to come out on March 12th. My "Duo Du Jour" and I will be headlining National Underground in SoHo!! It would be a real bummer not to have good attendance for that... That's all for now. Enjoy the Video, Download "Anchor," Signup for the Mailing List!!! Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     February 13, 2010     Tons of News...   I feel like the world's lamest blogger. It's been over two weeks since I've updated. Inexcusable. I kept getting halfway through a new entry and deciding that I was rambling... but a lot has been going on.... "Anchor" hit #76 in the Top 100 this week!!! There's no fine print to that, "Anchor" was the 76th most played song nationwide this week. 76 out of 100 may not sound like much, but I am unsigned, which makes it UNBELIEVABLE!!! It's so hard to get commercial radio stations to play an unsigned song once, nevermind enough to make the charts. So, I'm in shock, disbelief, and overwhelmed with excitement. Woooooo!!!!! Joe Moser and I went to LA a week ago. We met up with old Berklee friends, networked, and I did a showcase for my promotions company. I was sick as a dog for the first 2 days of the trip, but the last two days were tons of fun! SHOWSSSSSSS!!!!!! Joe Pramik and Corey Dozier will be joining me next week for back-to-back nights of NYC shows! Great Venues! The Trash Bar Brooklyn, NY Thurs, Feb 18 8pm $6.00 OPEN BAR DURING OUR SET National Underground New York, NY Fri, Feb 19 8pm $10.00 More Soon... I promise! Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     January 27, 2010     #1?! What does it all mean?...   My song "Anchor" is the #1 most added song to Adult Contemporary radio station playlists nationwide this week. The question I've been getting from everybody is, "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?!" Here goes.... First of all... "Adult Contemporary" is the format with the largest number of radio stations nationwide. Off to a good start, right? Their "playlist" is the list of songs that they play regularly around the clock. So, it doesn't mean just one or two plays... these songs play constantly. So back to the #1 thing.... My song was added MOST this week to these playlists across the USA, beating out John Mayer, Lady Gaga, Owl City, etc etc etc Wow!! I'm loving 2010 so far. Where's my record deal, Sony?!! Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     January 24, 2010     Rockwood Retrospective...   The show at Rockwood was definitely a success. It was my first gig with this group AND my first electric gig with the In Light and Shadow material. All things considered, it went so smoothly. The Set: Look Deep Inside Numb to Me Requiem (solo) Changes Handgun Abby, I Know Anchor Rockwood Music Hall is a great venue. The sound is fantastic. A lot of NYC clubs have stock gear because it's hard for musicians to get around the city with equipment, Rockwood takes this responsibility seriously. I played the show through their Bogner Shiva guitar amp... for those of you who aren't gear nerds, this things sells for around $3,000. The Peavey Classic 30 that I would've brought from home sells for about $550. Bogner = Serious Tone. Joe Pramik and Corey Dozier... damn those guys are good!!! Even after a couple of good rehearsals, I would say we were just barely comfortable with the material on stage. There was a lot of eye-contact cues and such. But, I would confidently say that nobody felt a bit of our hesitation, especially towards the end of the set. In Handgun, Joe got wayyyyyy into it. I looked over at him and his eyes were closed and he was bashing the snare, it was badass. Corey is a force. Everybody there (including the sound-guy) commented on how well he played. I am sooo comfortable in a rock-trio. All my best ventures in performance have been trios. Pilgrimage, Tumultuous Load, The Fantastic Frasco Fiasco ... all guitar, bass, drums. There's no net, tons of space, and infinite improvisational possibilities. I feel like it's a surprisingly uncommon format nowadays. Most bands I see have 5 members or more, which is awesome for sound layering and visual appeal, but there's just something about a huge sound emanating from only 3 people that I dig. I have to find a middle ground in my performance persona ... as weird as that sounds. In the past, I've been really animated and crazy at electric shows. But even when playing electric, singer/songwriter material doesn't call for antics. I have to find the line between animated and introspective. I felt like I was a little too shy with my body language last night. Meanwhile, Corey was rocking outtttttt!!! I sent press kits to venues all around NYC, so there should be more shows booked very soon!! Stay tuned.... Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     January 23, 2010     10 Hours til Rockwood!!   Fried Chicken, Pizza, Beer, Vodka, and Whiskey all in one night. Really Frasco?!!? This is how I treat my body? I woke up at 6am feeling like I had walked across a desert. The only thing on the list that isn't overtly dehydrating is the Pizza, but I'm sure it didn't help. So, I took to the streets and got tons of bottled water and some tylenol (for good measure.) The gig at Rockwood Music Hall is 10 hours away and I'm feeling great about it. Joe, Corey, and I rehearsed again today, and right from the get-go we were on. The first two rehearsals were a bit laborious because we had to learn the songs and arrange them for a trio. Today we were just having fun. We ironed out some kinks and tightened up some hits, but for the most part we were just rocking out and goofing off. This trio is ready to melt faces. I've been thoroughly enjoying playing with Joe and Corey this week. It's been a long time since I've had a rehearsal with a complete absence of ego. The first rehearsal with a new group almost always has a silent power struggle, but these guys just love to play. And despite the fact that we're playing my songs, I feel no need to be "in charge." It's great. Relaxed. Music for the sake of music. That's why I picked up a guitar in the first place. Chris Frasco Trio Rockwood Music Hall 5:00pm   $5.00 Suggested (no actual cover) 184 Allen Street New York, NY Don't miss it!!! Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     January 22, 2010     Rockwood Music Hall   It's been so long since I've played electric guitar in a live band!! The trio I'm playing with at Rockwood Music Hall (on Saturday at 5pm) had our second rehearsal today. Things are really coming together and sounding great. The new trio features Joe Pramik, who played on several In Light and Shadow tracks, on drums and Corey Dozier on bass. If you read my recording blog, you already know how fond I am of Joe's playing ... and he handpicked Corey to play for us ... enough said. Even though the album has such an electric sound, I wrote all the songs on acoustic. I've also performed them on acoustic many times now. Approaching this material in an electric setting feels so different!! I really didn't expect it to, but of course it does... Even visually, looking down at my Strat - rather than my Ovation - brings a completely different mindset with it. The challenge of singing effectively over a band is no joke either. The higher belting range of my voice is really comfortable in this setting, while my lower range becomes harder to control. I really need a guitar built for this sound. I had originally planned to play my Heritage H555 Semi-Hollow, which has a very Les Paul-like timbre to it, but it didn't work. I didn't feel like it responded to the dynamics of my playing and the overall sound didn't have enough clarity. I settled on my Strat, which is ALMOST perfect. Ideally, I think I'd get another Strat or a Tele and put hum-canceling single coils in it. I've been getting a lot of questions about my music being on the radio. Here's the deal: I've sent 350 CDs out to commercial and college stations throughout the US. I've got a promotions firm behind me and they're certain that In Light and Shadow, specifically "Anchor," will do well on major stations. The college stations might favor "Handgun" a bit more. Starting next friday, you'll have FULL DISCLOSURE on this whole topic: The stations that have it. Who's playing it. Everything. I need some time to organize the info and type it up before I can post it. I hope you're all enjoying the new chrisfrasco.net!! Please alert me to any issues, hiccups, misspellings, errors, etc that you encounter. :) Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------     January 16, 2010     New and Improved   Welcome to version 2.0 of chrisfrasco.net I've had this in the works for a couple months and it's finally finished. I'm really excited to have a sleeker, more professional looking website. One of this site's main features is the amazing photography by Emily Pearsons, Stephanie Green, Jeremy Mack, and Elizabeth Cofrancesco. This is going to be a really interesting year. I just shipped 100 copies of In Light and Shadow out to radio stations across the USA for airplay. We'll see what comes of that. I have a bunch of footage that I'm in the process of editing for YouTube. I'm trying to promote this album any way I can. I'm playing at Rockwood Music Hall on Saturday, January 23. It'll be my first electric gig with all this new material. I'm pumped. I've been doing a lot of solo performances lately, which I really enjoy, but there's no substitute for plugging in a strat and jamming out with a band. I'm hoping to get some really good audio/video recordings from this show. More Later! Frasco ------------------------------------------------ Back to Main ------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------   Blog Archive In Light and Shadow Blog: Aug 4, 2009 through Dec 13, 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------

All songs, music, lyrics, and blog entries written by singer / songwriter / guitarist : Chris Frasco
In Light and Shadow © 2009 Chris Frasco. All Rights Reserved. Titles registered to Christopher David Frasco, Frasco Publishing (ASCAP)