Sunday, December 7, 2008

a word from our mascott


mascott here. ridin' high from last night's gramercy arms (known as "g-arms" for the rest of this blog) show at the bowery ballroom. let me just say up front that i've been accused of being a pollyanna, but seriously, after hanging hard with g-arms last night, what's not to love?

i was asked to participate as a guest singer, but i soon realized my true calling at this event was to also be an observer. a few highlights from 12/06/08:

1)rehearsal was as hot as the show! watching kevin march, sean eden, hilken mancini, dave derby and sandy smallens play "automatic" together for the first time was amazing. it was as if they had been on tour for two months when they launched into it. i was pretending to be furiously emailing on my blackberry but was secretly in shock and awe. i know all the g-arms press releases are like "blah blah...this is an nyc supergroup...yadda yadda" but in person, in that tiny room, i really felt like "HOLY SHIT THIS REALLY IS A SUPERGROUP."

2)elk city in the house. can we talk about renée lobue? dave asked her to sing on three songs and it was amazing. the girl's got mojo, and was dressed to the nines, as usual. her vintage necklace had a large circular pendant that ruled...but more on that later. ray ketchem from elk city was also there, and was nearly thrown out on the cold street by a rogue security dude for attempting to film us with his flip camera. being the smart man that he is, ray got off clean.

3)let it snow. dave graciously invited me to sing "this christmastime," the holiday tune we recently released in the UK on reveal. i was nervous it would be out of place in the melodious and rocking g-arms set, but when sandy announced from the stage that he saw snowflakes falling outside, i felt better about things. seconds from walking onstage, my necklace fell off & broke. without a pause, renee took off her vintage necklace and put it on me, like a first place winner is presented with the gold. it was like a scene in a movie.

4)delta f*$*ing spirit. not only did this band lend g-arms their gear, they were seriously inspirational. so talented and full of passion. i don't think the term "phoning it in" ever crosses their minds.

5)matthew caws is not your average rock star. not afraid to come up during the g-arms set to sing his awesome part on "nothing i can do," caws also rocked with delta spirit on tamborine. i mean, most headling bands are out to dinner or talking to friends backstage when the openers play, but not this guy. he then went on to kick ass and play his amazing songs in front of a sparkly backdrop.

as the night went on i truly felt like i was lucky to be involved, and without knowing how to express myself, handed dave my two drink tickets. i think he knew what it meant.

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