2018 ended with a bang and 2019 has started off with several more large explosions.  Metaphorically speaking, that is.  

I collaborated with songwriter Sam Phillips on score for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon) which won seemingly every Emmy last year.  So that was exciting...  A few weeks later, Sam released a new album World on Sticks, on which I recorded, mixed and arranged strings in addition to playing various instruments.  I will be part of Sam's band when she plays Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles, CA on May 2 and June 6, 2019.  Get tickets here.

Last Christmas, I arranged strings for Def Leppard's new holiday classic, We All Need Christmas.  Along with The Section Quartet, I also played on The Monkees' Christmas album on a song written by Andy Partridge of XTC.  So that was really exciting...

In recent weeks several albums that The Section Quartet and I contributed to are out or about to be released: Tesla SHOCK, Weyes Blood Titanic Rising, and Jenny Lewis On The Line.  I'm so blessed to be able to work on such a wide variety of music!  There's a lot more in the pipeline that I'll be able to talk about in coming months.  But for now....thanks for checking in and hope you're doing grand!

This month's Strings magazine features an article I wrote as part of their focus on the Los Angeles music scene.  They asked me to give a personal tour of live venues in LA, which allowed me a opportunity to reminisce about past gigs with my band The Section Quartet from the Hollywood Bowl to Largo at the Coronet.  The issue also features writing by Anne Akiko Myers, and a piece on the Calder Quartet.

Click here to check out the current issue of Strings.

 

Sometimes I look back at another year gone by and am amazed at the breadth of artists I am so fortunate to work with: this last year included Avenged Sevenfold, Father John Misty, Foxygen, Mary J. Blige, Ryan Adams, Maria McKee, Eminem, Queens of the Stone Age and Billy Corgan, just to name a few.  (Several more projects have yet to be released so I'll keep them under wraps for now.) 

The summer of 2017 was spent co-composing original score with the wonderful Sam Phillips for Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.  Currently I'm working with Sam on her new album as engineer, mixer, arranger and more.  

In between all these projects I've been recording improvisational works for violin, both solo and with other musicians.  Perhaps these see the light of day in 2018?  

 

Life has been busy these last few months!  After completing work on the Gilmore Girls revival for Netflix with scoring composer/performer Sam Phillips (who sings the famous "la la's"), we slipped into "mix mode" on a bunch of songs that hopefully will make up most of Sam's next album.  

Speaking of Gilmore Girls, I'm happy to announce that the sheet music for the songs that were used in the famous "re-wedding" episode during Season 5 are now available for sale in my webstore.  You can choose between string quartet (written for two violins, one viola and one cello) or piano versions of "Emily's Walk" and "Lorelai's Walk".  The sheet music comes printed on heavy manuscript paper that musicians will love and US domestic shipping is included in the price.  (Please contact me for international or expedited shipping surcharges.)

The Section Quartet and I have been doing some fun sessions of late, but we're not allowed to talk about them just yet.  (So why did I mention them here at all?) Also, The Section Quartet has a new website coming soon.  Fun!
 

So much has been going on behind the scenes that much of what is still to come in 2016 is under wraps, but I can talk about a few happenings of the last few months.  

I was honored to write a string arrangement for Richard Edwards (of Margot and the Nuclear So & So's) for his upcoming solo album.  The Section Quartet and I also have been in the studio with Banks, Brian Bell (of Weezer), Aimee Mann, Susanna Hoffs, Joseph Bishara (on the Conjuring 2 soundtrack) and several more that cannot be announced right now.

I've been having a ton of fun working with composer/vocalist Sam Phillips on her score for the upcoming Netflix revival of Gilmore Girls, premiering November 25, 2016.

Oh, and I also did some orchestrating and playing on Jon Brion's string arrangements for a little album called Lemonade by Beyonce.  

Found time to do a Live from High Fidelity podcast with the aforementioned Jon Brion as guest.  You can listen to it free on iTunes.

2016 has been busy indeed!  Sessions with Banks, Conor Oberst, Ruby Amanfu and Aimee Mann; orchestrating a project for arranger Jon Brion; performing live in LA and SF with Celebrating David Bowie, a 3 1/2 hour non-stop career-spanning show; and even a reunion performance with dear friend Grant-Lee Phillips at the legendary McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, California has kicked off the year in high gear.

The next taping of Live form High Fidelity podcast takes place April 29th, when my co-host Tom Desavia (see photo) and I welcome special guest Jon Brion to our show.  We'll be taping the episode at Jon's home ground of Largo at the Coronet after his monthly residency show.  Records will spin, Guinness pints will flow, and Jon will perform a few songs for the assembled crowd.  See the Events page for details.

The Section Quartet is gearing up for some special projects later in the year so stay tuned for updates and announcements.  '

Oh, and my buddy Tom has just published a cool book about the early LA punk music scene.  You can buy it here and soon the audio book will be available!