I feel like a kid on the last day of school. I’m watching the clock, counting down until the end of the day…I’m just so giddy: It’s Wave Gathering!   I’ve waited 13 months, but it’s finally here!  Asbury Park, NJ, here I come!

This weekend, in addition to performing solo at Plan B, 705 Cookman Ave., directly between Bobby Strange and Keith Monacchio (tonight, Friday, 10pm), and playing with my band, The New Originals, at The Saint, 601 Main St. (tomorrow, Saturday, 3pm), I’m going to see 35 of my favorite emerging acts!

It’s only the greatest thing to happen for local music all frickin’ year!  I’m just so amped.  I can hardly contain myself!  Ooh, ooh…You should totally come!  They’re selling 1, 2 and 3-day wrist-bands at WaveGathering.com!  Come hang out with me and bask in my enthusiasm!   I’ve been up since 6am!  I couldn’t sleep ’cause of all the excitement!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I’m off to go play with my band, The New Originals, in the 2nd annual Asbury Rock Stars Charity Softball Tournament, in Neptune.  Seriously, you should come.

But I also wanted to let you know that REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for Eric Ginsberg’s 2nd annual Birthday Party/Car Rally!!   Wooooooooo!  The adventure lives on!

Yes, as of today, Saturday, June 14th, with 8 full weeks until my 2nd annual Birthday Party/Car Rally, registration is officially open!

Take a few minutes and browse the site, discover a little more about what the Car Rally is and make the most important decision you will ever make in your life: to get in on the adventure!

As of this point, nothing has been tested, however, it should all work. There will be minor aesthetic and functionality adjustments made to the site over the next week, but rest assured, it works.

So call up your best friends, band mates, siblings, or just a handful of hobos off the street, and register now!

I’m off to go play softball in the morning/afternoon, and then to play Indie Music Night this evening.  See you at one of them!

Eric Ginsberg & The New Originals’ BBQ and Band Debut:

First we BBQ at Cheesequake Park, then we caravan over to Keyport Twilight Concert Series for the debut of Eric Ginsberg & The New Originals!

It’s Memorial Day Potluck BBQ, hosted by Eric Ginsberg, Graham Schumann, David DiGioia, Andrew Kolbenschlag, Chris Smith and Darryll Meter.

• Bring a pack of your favorite burgers or dogs to be grilled up and we’ll take care of the rest.
• We have picnic tables, but the grass is gorgeous, so you may like to bring a blanket to sit on the ground.
• Oh! And there’s a beach there, so if it’s warm, wear a bathing suit and bring a towel!

1. Enter the park @ 300 Gordon Rd.
2. Pay $10 park entry per car (so carpool and/or pack your car)
3. Follow signs for “Lake” until you hit the parking lot.
4. Walk along the “Lakeside” path until it ends at the second clearing.

At 6pm, the caravan assembles and we head to…The debut of Eric Ginsberg & The New Originals!

Your new favorite band hits the stage of the Keyport Twilight Concert Series (across the street from Espresso Joe’s – 51 West Front St.) for what will be the first show of many in the New Originals’ plot to take over the world…or, y’know, play good rock & roll.

Lawn seating is your friend as this is an outdoor concert. Bring a chair or a blanket for this totally free event…with special guest, Laura Monzo!

Stuff to bring:
1. package of your favorite burgers or dogs
2. $10 per car park entry fee
3. picnic blanket or chairs (if you’d like to sit on the lawn)
4. bathing suit & towel (if it’s warm enough)
5. a few extra dollars, just in case (I hear there’s funnel cake at the park)

(RSVP to the evite, facebook invitations and/or myspace event page)

I spent the weekend in New Paltz, NY (and thereabouts), performing and making t-shirts with the new band logo.  I’ll post more about the shows tomorrow and work on getting the new shirts (hand made with the oh-so-fabulous Liz Cooper) up in the store soon.

Oh, also, I have to de-activate the button that tells you to buy Disconnect as a physical card.  It’s sold out.  Gone, I tell you…GONE!  You can still download the album in the Store, though.  And, um, the original t-shirts will still be available until they’re all sold out (XL is gone, but I’ve still got a handful of smalls, and too many mediums and larges).

And I’ve got to post some fun stuff to the You section.  Gee, I’ve got a lot of web-work to do, now that I’m thinking about it.  I’ve got to set aside a day and make a to-do list.  Well, I’ll fill you in on New Paltz tomorrow, and the rest will wait for another day (hopefully soon).

P.S. I picked up a vinyl copy of the Jazz Singer soundtrack by Neil Diamond for a BUCK!  I rule!

The Espresso Joe’s show was great. All the acts were terrific, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled with the audience. Seriously, packed house, attentive all the way, singing/clapping along at all the right moments…You guys rule!

You can catch me next, solo, on Friday, April 4th, playing and interviewing for an hour on 88.9fm WMCX (or WMCX.com for the internet broadcast) at 5pm, and then heading over to Brewster’s for a live 8pm performance (details linked in the sidebar over yonder –>). You’ll be able to catch the band again (still acoustic until May) the following Monday, April 7th, at the Court Tavern, in New Brunswick (details, again, linked in the sidebar –>).

I did two hours last night on Midnight with Dan & Rich, on Click Radio. You can download the podcast of it at HearNewBrunswick.com. It’s two hours. I played maybe 6 songs (some of which are new) and did some funnin’ around.

Friday is finally the day when Steve Bove’s article about me hits news stands in the Asbury Park Press’ “Jersey Alive!” section, so be sure to pick up the paper and save me a copy. There’s an online preview/teaser on app.com

Also, Friday night is my first show back out, and my first show performing under the new band name. Espresso Joe’s in Keyport, 7:30pm, free! It’s Eric Ginsberg & The New Originals (acoustic) featuring David DiGioia, Graham Schumann and Darryll Meter, with special guests, Alex Biese and Amy Malkoff. I’ve missed you so much and can’t wait to see you then!

Asbury Park Press writer, and generally awesome guy, Steve Bove, has chosen lil’ ol’ me to be featured in this Friday’s Jersey Alive magazine (an APP insert).

You can check out the online preview/small sample of the article for now.

I’m just bubbling with antici…

…pation

My site’s been flakey. I’ve been up tech support’s ass. All they can tell me is, “I have checked the issues and there is and global issue regarding MySQL database and we are aware of the issue and working on it and will be fixed soon.”

In the meanwhile you should be aware that the Art Contest (see below) is still going on. The due date is March 15th. So get ‘em in. I’m just so frickin’ antsy for then, ’cause that’s when I start playing out again after taking a few months off (I needed the break, but now I’m ready to get back out and rock your little worlds).

Aside from that, life is goooooood. I’ve been writing while you’ve missed me. The band has a solid line-up. I got the raddest shoes. I’ll see you soon. (get in those contest submissions)

It’s official. Eric Ginsberg & The New Originals. I’m frickin’ AMPED! We’ll be practicing for the winter. I’ll start showing up places solo in March, and start doing acoustic shows where the other fabulous singer/songwriters in the band (David DiGioia and Michael Ambrose) and I will each take our own solo sets with some minimal degree of accompaniment from our other members (Graham Schumann and Darryll Meter) around the same time.

The full band will debut in mid-May. WOO-HOO! “How,” you may ask yourself, “will this band differ from the one I saw open for Peter Searcy, at The Saint, back in September?” That was a relatively one-time thing with Mike Shearer (head awesome guy of SemiPop) on drums. This is a full-time band, with a name, a new drummer and a keyboardist. Life is good.

Keep your eye on the “Upcoming Performances” in the sidebar and the Shows page. You can also subscribe to the RSS so the events are sent directly to you. Oh, and if you’re on facebook, you can add me to your iLike for event updates.

This has been a terrific holiday season for seeing live music.  My December 1st show at the Twisted Tree Cafe wonderful.  The “Power To The Peaceful” show engendered Arlan Feilis and the Lone Orchestra as my new favorite local band.  Rick Barry’s 6th annual “Holiday Hangover” (at the Saint, in Asbury Park) debuted his new band, “The New Rick Barrys”, and I think they have immediately become my second favorite local band.  I also had a great time performing at the Hangover as a “special guest” (sorry for not announcing it in advance, but you know how these things go).

2007 was, by far, my best year for performing.  Not only in terms of volume (I played something stupid like 140 times…and that was with taking a three month hiatus for Autumn), but in quality of my performance (either y’all are lying to me, or I have been seriously getting better)  and my enjoyment thereof.

I feel like this year ties with last year for my best year of songwriting.  I wrote a few more songs that I love in 2006 than I did in 2007, but I think I love the songs I wrote this year enough to make up the difference.

2007 saw the long-awaited release (or, rather, pre-release) of my second album, Disconnect.  Expect an official release in 2008, and maybe even more new music before year’s end.

2007 also marked my first full-band performance, opening for one of my all-time favorite acts, Peter Searcy.  You can expect much more from a larger version of that band in the coming year.

All in all, this year has been the best year ever for me, in terms of music (due, in no small part, to all of you).  I hope to be able to same the same thing again at this time next year.