Had a blast last night on WMCX, Monmouth University radio, with Lily O and Sean on their live-music radio show, The Lawn.  Graham Schumann and I did an acoustic set featuring songs off both of my albums and generally had a comical time.  Thanks to all of you who listened.  Lily tried recording the show, but the CD didn’t burn right, so we’ve been invited back in the very near future to have more fun and give the CD another try.

You can catch the two of us playing another acoustic set on Saturday, October 13th, at the Twisted Tree Cafe, alongside solo performances by our other two bandmates, David DiGioia and Mike Shearer, as well as the lovely and talented Sarah Donner and Ben Sbar (the “lovely and talented” applies to both).  Check the Shows page for details.

It’s been a whirlwind 4 months!  Having performed over 30 shows, in addition to appearing at, perhaps, 40-some-odd Open Mics, finally assembled an incredible band, and almost completely sold out the first run of my new album (9 copies left, for those of you keeping track), I officially call it a wrap.

I’ll be taking a month off from shows and Open Mics to devote my efforts into scheduling my ‘07/’08 college tour.  Want me to come to your school?  Comment below and I’ll get in touch with you.

I will return with news of my pending tour on October 13th, when I rock the Twisted Tree Cafe with Sarah Donner, Ben Sbar, David DiGioia and Mike Shearer.  In the meanwhile, you can grab your fair share of the few remaining, limited release, numbered copies of my new album, Disconnect, over in the store, or download it from the music section.

And bonus points go to those of you who caught the Peter Searcy reference in the title of this post.  Pat yourselves on the back; you rock!

We played The Saint, last night.  It was our first time playing out together.  Hell, it was my first time playing out with a band, period.  It felt really good, and everyone who was there seemed very impressed (not the friendly, “you were so good”, but a serious amount of surprise from people so used to hearing me acoustic that they had no idea how much rock I had pent up inside me).  I picked up a recording of the night, on CD, from the soundboard, but they didn’t have my guitar up enough in the mix and didn’t mic the bass amp, so even though the sound was great in the room, it didn’t translate well to anything worth posting here.  However, I’ll put up some video in a few days.  There’s also completely unconfirmed talks of last night being the start of something good.  More full band stuff?  We’ll see (I hope).

It was such a thrill seeing Peter Searcy, live.  I’ve been such a fan for so long, and I would have been there, hands down, whether I was on the bill or not (it was our first time being in the same state as one another in 8 years…I wasn’t going to pass it up).  Even just hearing him sound check was a thrill.  He played his way through songs off all four of his albums, switching off between guitar and cello, with a terrific piano player and a drummer who really knew how to pull back and let the songs speak.  It was such an insane pleasure hearing him sing, live.  He’s got such an incredible voice.  Oh, and not only did I pick up Trust Falls, Peter’s not-really-released third album, but I also found out that my copy of Could You Please and Thank You, his debut album, is completely out of print, and a collector’s item (his piano player told me that even she had to download it on iTunes).  So, if you missed the show, who knows when Peter will be back again, but do be sure to pick up his new album, Spark (which I found at FYE and on Amazon.com, so I’m sure it’s out there for you to find).

Thanks to everyone who came out, to Scott Stamper for the opportunity, to Peter Searcy for being so personable and not letting me down in the slightest, to Leo Zaccari for speaking kindly of me during his radio interview with Peter and, of course, to my incredible band, featuring Graham Schumann (of The Key to Our Secret), David DiGioia (also of The Key to Our Secret, and an incredible singer/songwriter in his own right) and Mike Shearer (of Semipop, whose forthcoming debut album is going to kick all of your asses).

If any of you have video footage or photos from last night, please be sure to post them in my You section.

This Friday will be the debut of my band. That’s right, folks. You heard it here first. My years of hoping and asipring are at an end. You finally get to hear my songs the way I hear them in my head when I play them for you on acoustic guitar. The band is comprised of Graham Schumann and David DiGioia (of The Key to Our Secret) on guitar and bass, respectively, and Mike Shearer (of Semipop) on drums.

And even that news pales in comparison to the fact that I’m OPENING FOR PETER SEARCY! Holy crap! Does this get any more exciting? Well, only if you get excited by acts like The Anderson Council, Stellar Sweet and The Specters and Matt Koziol (which you know you do).

So, to sum it up, I’ll see you at The Saint, in Asbury Park, at 8pm, THIS Friday, September 14th, where you will only pay $10 to see one of my favorite artists, the debut of my full band, other great area acts, and somebody naked (you’ll just have to show up to find out who). Oh, and bring a friend.

And for those of you celebrating, L’Shana Tova (the show starts afters sundown, so I’ll see you after services).

Wow!  Out of my 100-copy, limited-edition run of Disconnect’s advance release, only 17 remain!  Since they’re numbered, and I’m selling them in decending order, I’m very seriously considering charging $10 at shows for the single-digit cards.  So that’s incentive for those of you who’ve put off picking up this sonuvabitch to quickly purchase these remaining 8 copies for $5, before the last 8 sell for $10 (’cause I’m keeping #1).

Other than that, tickets for my show with Peter Searcy (priced to move, at only $10), are selling like hotcakes (or maybe something slightly more popular than hotcakes).  The show is 8pm, Friday, September 14th, at The Saint.  Be there, or be rectangular.

Edit: 15 now remain.

Not counting my close friends, whom I love dearly and whose music I adore, my favorite living singer/songwriters are Ryan Adams, John Mayer, Sondre Lerche, Jonathan Coulton, and Peter Searcy.  Listening to Peter Searcy’s new album, Spark, last week, I remembered what Jeff Raspe (90.5 The Night music director) said when we discussed bringing Peter Searcy for a Park show, in Red Bank: “I don’t think he leaves Kentucky.”  Since then, as I check for his upcoming gigs, sure enough, they’re always in Kentucky (occasionally just beyond state lines).  I always hope to see one in NYC, or Philly.  Yesterday, I saw that he’s coming to The Saint, in Asbury Park, on September 14th.  HE’S COMING HERE!!  “Wait a minute,” I says to myself.  “I know those guys.”  Long story short: I’M OPENING FOR Peter Searcy!!!!  I can barely contain the excitement.

But before that, I’ll have to get through my August 25th StreetLife gig at Kevin Smith’s comic store, Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, and my August 30th show, back in Princeton, at Small World Coffee.  Info in the sidebar and the Shows section.

I’ll have advance tickets for the Peter Searcy show, and I’ll be selling them to you.  I frequently advise local artists, “Don’t bother with shows you need to sell tickets for.” Recently, James Don’t-call-me-”J-Pat” Dalton ammended that statement with, “…unless the show is really worth it.”  And he’s right.  And this show is REALLY worth it!!

The iCafe show went really well last night.  HUGE thanks to everyone who came out.  It was a good time, and well-attended, to boot.

I delivered a lot of raw footage to Katie Biese, who will be editing a promo video of me.  Maybe a few weeks from now, you’ll be able to find it in the Video section of the You page.

I’m at The Court Tavern on Monday with Frank Bressi (of The Chilling Details), Gerry Rosenthal (of The Newbru), Sarah Donner, and Chris Brown (of Emory St.).  It’s bound to be a great show. (and free…did I mention, “free”?)  Check the Shows page for more details.

The Flickr account from the Car Rally is shaping up nicely, with a good deal of help from Team America and Team Awesome.  There’s one photo from Semper Fi, so far, and I’ve got The Jill and Jack Exxxtreme Attack!!’s photos primed to be uploaded (tagged and all).  Oh, and I also got a DVD from Malibu Maddness, so we’ll see what that looks like.

In other news, I’m playing Red Bank’s Internet Cafe, THIS Thursday (so, kind of tomorrow), with fellow local, Holtz., and national touring acts, Brad Passons, Isaac Johnson, Adam Fallon and Kelly Kellam.  I’m REALLY excited.  Check the info in the sidebar or the Shows page and I’ll see you there!

It was a fierce competition between nine cars. The Jill and Jack Exxxtreme Attack!!, Chai Way Riders, The M.O.B., Malibu Maddness, Poonanee, Just Drop a Deuce, Team America, Semper Fi and Team Awesome each gave it they’re all, but in the end, someone’s all had to be the most. Team America stood a force to be reckoned with, racking up a mighty 515 points, with Just Drop a Duece in second place (ironically) with 447, Team Awesome with 414 points and Chai Way Riders scoring 410. To everyone who made it out, who competed, who had fun, who ate pizza, who will be telling their friends about this for weeks to come, and especially who came out today to donate blood, thank you so, so, so much, truly and deeply, from the bottom of my heart, for making this a tremendously successful (and what I hope will become the first annual) Birthday Party/Car Rally.

Special thanks go out to Natascha (Semper Fi), for coming all the way from Brooklyn, Neil (Semper Fi), for charging forward with one last hurrah before being deployed to Iraq, this afternoon, Barb (Just Drop a Deuce), for pulling her team together, showing true leadership, Xenia (Team Awesome), for crank calling me crying, convincing me I’d somehow gotten her entire team arrested, all of The M.O.B., for holding your own against the big dogs, Jon (Malibu Maddness), for coming through at the 11th hour, Jeff Raspe (90.5 The Night), for the shout out, Don Lee (Target A), for showing your chest hair, Nunzio’s Pizzeria, 1210 Main St., in Asbury Park, for accommodating us at the last minute, when our beach plans got rained out, and, most of all, Chandra, without whom none (and I mean NONE) of this would have been possible.

To create a bitchin’ photo album of everything we did, I’ve created a Flickr account. Log in as “EricGinsbergs_CarRally@yahoo.com” with “BirthdayParty” as the secret code. Upload your photos (or scanned item), and please be sure to tag the exact item name, as described on the list (i.e. “Photo of whole team at a local radio station” or “Target D”), and tag your team name. I’ll be removing the above info in the by the end of this week, so please jot it down, even if you don’t upload your stuff right away.

If you haven’t received word from me, chances are you’re not invited.  If you think this is an error, please reply to this post and tell me, in exactly 15 words, why you should be invited.