I’ve mentioned this to a few people over the last year, but hadn’t made an official announcement. I try not to count on things until they’re a “done deal” and I didn’t want to consider this to be such until I had ALL of the contracts signed and permits approved, and until construction had started.

It started.

…::Ahem::…

IT STARTED!!!!!

In the 9th grade, I thought I wanted to be a chef. Two weeks into the following summer, at 14-years-old, I spent all of my Bar-Mitzvah money to rent out the Stone Pony and throw an 11-band concert. I broke even, which was a great accomplishment. That night, I laid in my bed and knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life: I wanted to run my own venue.

This is the view from what will be my office

This week, construction began on what has been my dream for the last 13 years, 8 months, and 5 days.

My longtime friend and frequent collaborator, Frank Certo, owner of Frankensound Studios (7 rooms of rehearsal and a fully equipped recording studio) has trusted in me his latest venture – our joint venture – Frankensound’s Warehouse: a (roughly) 150-capacity, standing-room-only showcase room, located in North Brunswick, just off Rutgers’ Livingston Campus.

There’s a LOT of work to do and more news is forthcoming, but for now, I simply leave you with a picture of metal studs (no Queensrÿche or nipple piercing jokes, please).

After much snow and canceled giggery, nothing could keep Alex Biese and me from rocking the Twisted Tree Cafe this past Friday night…hard. I’ve posted 10 videos (mostly of Alex, since my songs were mostly dupes anyway) in a playlist on the nettertubes.

More shows are posted to the right, in the sidebar.

Oh, and I FINISHED REVAMPING ERICGINSBERG.COM TODAY!!!! It’s taken MONTHS of work and, in fairness, months of procrastination, but it’s finally done. The final step: there are now over 20 songs available in the Demos section, under the Music tab. There are lyrics, videos, and free downloads!!

Enjoy!

@AlexBiese and I are playing at the Twisted Tree Cafe TONIGHT, 7pm, 609 Cookman Ave. Hope to see you all there!

I’m super-stoked for this Saturday. Snow be damned, Alex Biese, Kacie Baker, Xenia & I will once again take the ShowRoom stage to take turns sharing songs and stories for you listening enjoyment.

This time, in addition to playing our own songs, we’re also doing 2 covers together to bookend the night (you’ll have to come to find out which ones) AND we’ll each play one song by one of each other. I’ll be playing my redition of my favorite Alex Biese song.

Last time was damn near sold out, so try to get there at 7:30 to get a seat at this uber-intimate Asbury Park venue (708 Cookmam Ave). Want to confirm your seat? Want to save some dough? Get your ticket now at TheShowRoomAP.com

I’ve yet to decide on two songs in my set list. What song have you always wanted to know the story behind? Drop a comment and maybe I’ll play it (and even if I can’t fit it in my set, I’ll comment back with an anecdote to satiate your curiosity).

Rocked Gable Square in Birmingham last night with Jonathan Coulton’s Chiron Beta Prime, Raining on Christmas, Monday Night on an Otherwise Empty Beach, Maybe Means No, Why’s it Have to be Christmas Time (To Wish for Peace on Earth), Rainy Day, Texas is for Lovers, and Break My Rules. YouTubes to come. Little to no interwebs around here. My iPhone is keeping me connected though, and my new flip HD will help share the awesomes shortly.

David Bowie & Bing Crosby came on the radio yesterday morning. They talked a bit, then sang “Little Drummer Boy”. They sang in unison until, over Bing’s “Ba-rum-pa-pum-pum,” Bowie sang, “Peace on Earth…” and I was inspired to write this song. I started scribling at the red light and now, a day later, I present my holiday gift to you:

Why’s it Have to be Christmas Time (To Wish for Peace on Earth)

Hear the song

Read the lyrics AND chords

Download for free

Buy it for $.99

UPDATE: I touched the song up a bit and uploaded the newer version in place of the older one.

I’ve completely redone the Eric Ginsberg Store! I’ve made the interface a bazillion times better looking! And by, “I’ve made…,” of course I mean: “I found a great wordpress widget that does it all for me.” All the items that used to be there are there, but now there are NEW SHIRTS!! Limited supply!

Also, I’ve installed Google Checkout so you can just enter your credit card information, safely and securely, without having to open a PayPal account (which is great).

Finally, I’ve made purchasing digital downloads SO much easier with a feature currently only available through the Store. When I work on the music page, I’ll implement this feature across the board. For now though, the individual songs are still available for download on the music page via payloadz (a neat and functional service, but one that I’ve outgrown and that charges me more than this new thingy).

So enjoy!

The project continues and I’ve now finished my facebook fan page, updated the mailing list, installed some fun new widgets to EricGinsberg.com, and synched a bazillion things to my twitter account (so I can bombard the twittoscape).

More on the horizon!

It was awesome!!

More pictures available on facebook.

I’m on a role! Here’s what I’ve accomplished:

Head banner (replaced)
Twitter feed (installed new plug-in I hope will work better)
Background (isn’t it fancy!?)
Archives (made it a drop-down)
Social network (installed the “find me on” widget)
Menu drop-downs (fixed)

Still to do:
Boooking page (write it)
Mailing list (fix it)
Music page (add live music & make all songs available for purchase)
Store (add New Originals shirts & remove sold out Disconnect download card)
FAQ (revise it)
Mad-Libs (make new ones)

Progress is progressively progressing!