Rick Cutler: Journal

Transmitting From NYC...
A couple of tributes:
First to George Carlin: A comedic genius, a man who'd I'd always do whatever I could to watch on the tube, especially his HBO specials. I'd always say to myself: "Gotta catch Carlin live, the next time he's in town." Sorry to say, it never happened. His amazing skills at wordplay were unsurpassed. As a lover of words & the games one can play with them, I was always in awe of his abilities. A true original.
Secondly, to Tim Russert: His appearences on the Today show were a fixture in our home. Even my daughter was a fan. His political insights & commentary always seemed to cut to the chase, putting a period on the overall climate of the American people at any given time. He never wasted words, no matter what the sentiment. Believe it or not, I really dug him! (I'm no stranger to being a fan of certain newscasters. In the '70s, when ABC local news anchor Roger Grimsby died, I wrote a letter of tribute that was published in the Village Voice).
Here's to George & Tim! They will be sorely missed.
I've been spending most of the last week or so in Fenwick Island, Delaware where my daughter is performing in an original play this week. My wife & I are tag-teaming the stage parent duties. I'll be heading back down there tomorrow.
When I get back & settled, I'll be setting up the new electronic drumset that I received for Father's Day. They're very cool! Small, good sounds, great sensitivity, perfect for a NYC apartment home studio!
More news to come in July. Till then...

Transmitting From Glasgow, Scotland...
It's a rainy night in Glasgow. We arrived late this afternoon & it promptly began to pour prohibiting any exploration of the city. (I'm not one who enjoys "Singing In The Rain" if you know what I mean).
We have a very limited amount of time here &, tomorrow, my mission is to find a jewelry store that can replace the battery on my watch which is running extremely low. Our hotel room in Birmingham, nice as it was, had no clock in the room so my watch kept me current. Thankfully it lasted to this point &, here, there is a clock so, as long as I'm in my room, I'll know what time it is. Unfortunately, having to do a show tomorrow will prohibit that access hence my search for a jeweler. All throughout my adult life, the only constant jewelry I've ever worn is a wrist-watch so I'll feel quite naked without it. Hope I can find that jeweler!
Not the most exciting news, I know, but, on a rainy night like this, it's the best I can come up with. Hopefully, in the coming weeks & months there'll be more interesting tales to tell.

Transmitting From Birmingham, England...
Witnessing a small slice of music history is always special beyond words. Seeing Paul McCartney perform in Liverpool last night was such an event for me. He sounded great, looked great & the show was one I'll never forget. Seeing the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 was my entry point into rock n' roll...a life changing experience for me & millions of others. It made last night especially sweet. Again, words are hard to find here but, suffuce to say, it was surely one of the highlights of my concert-going experience. There's a snapshot on the photo page to give you a little taste of the evening.
Now, back to work! We travel today to Manchester for a show. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tour & am slowly getting very excited about returning to NYC. (Although, I must say, I'll miss my Birmingham hotel room just a drop, it's an especially good one!).

Transmitting From Birmingham, England...
We've been here for a couple of days & are using this city as a base from which to drive to the remaining ones on the tour. It makes the drives to & from the gigs a bit longer but saves a lot of packing & unpacking which we'd have to do if we were to move to new hotels in each town. Last night we did a show in Notingham which seemed to be a very cool place. Kind of a college town vibe. On Monday, we'll drive to Manchester for a show there & then, on Wed. there's one here. After that we'll fly to Scotland for the last show in Glasgow.
On my last night in London I went to the world famous Ronnie Scott's jazz club to hear some great musicians. For anyone reading this who hasn't heard of Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, George Cables or Cecil McBee, doing a search on Google or Amazon & checking out any of their CDs would be a very worthwhile investment. They're all jazz musicians of the highest order & have been dealing great music for decades.
Tomorrow is a day off & should be a special thrill as we've been able to get tickets to see Paul McCartney's show in Liverpool. I'm a huge Beatles fan & have never actually seen any live show by any of them so I'm especially excited...especially seeing him in his home town. (I have had, however, 2 Beatles sightings....once seeing John Lennon buying a newspaper in NYC & then having Ringo pull up next to me in his car at a stoplight in Los Angeles).
I'll surely update with news, especially of the McCartney show, soon.

Transmitting From London, England...
Well, after a frantic day of international diplomacy that, from what I've heard, may or may not have included Paul McCartney's lawyer & the U.S. ambassador, we're now in the UK legally & in possesion of our passports once again. Having just done 3 consecutive days of shows here, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's day off & hoping that the weather cooperates so that I get a chance to walk around this very cool area that we're parked in. (Covent Gardens). We move on to Birmingham Thurs. More soon...

Transmitting From London, England...
If you like road stories, this one's a beaut!!
I'm now sitting in my tiny London hotel room typing on what passes for a desk (it's little more than a slab of wood fitted between 2 walls...reminds me of when you visit some historic place like the room where Van Gogh painted Starry Night and you think "Wow, it's so bare bones & so small!"...that's what my room feels like...by the way, I never visited the Starry Night room, I imagined it as a possible example).
Anyway, after our 7 hour flight, we arrive at Immigration in the UK, tell them we're musicians working here with Liza, are asked for our work permits which, of course, we don't have, & are immedtiately detained & not allowed to enter the country! We then find out that work permits were never applied for!! It is illegal to work here without one so, in a nutshell (we were in immigration for almost 7 more hours!), our passports were taken, we were photographed & fingerprinted &, after much haggling between the local promoters & immigration, were granted entry until Wed!! If the promoter doesn't get the permits by then, we are booked on a flight home Wed. morning!
Of course, there are supposed to be 3 shows here starting tomorrow night &, everyone is clamoring around trying to figure out how this will be done when we have legal documents stating that we're not allowed to work here until the permits are secured. (Because of the holiday weekend, the earliest that they thought we'd be able to get them would be Tues!). If we go ahead & work, we stand the chance of being "detained."
As I write, our promoter is frantically trying to contact lawyers & there was also word that they were going to try & reach the U.S. ambassodor, who's supposed to be at the show tomorrow. My life is never dull!
If that weren't enough, after the 7 hour wait at immigration, our bus driver got in a minor accident on the way to the hotel! It looked like a very small fender bender but, from what I could see, the driver of the car he hit was pleading injury. Even though he looked fine he was rubbing his neck a lot but it definitely looked like an act. Still, the cops were called & we were detained even more. Bottom line, door-to-door from my apartment in NYC to the hotel here: 22 hours! What fun!
I can't imagine that this won't be worked out so that all of the shows will go on as planned. Too much time, money & effort have been spent to get to this point. You'll just have to wait until my next entry to hear the conclusion!

Transmitting From Biloxi, MS...
Well, we're back in a casino for a couple of days. This one, called Beau Rivage, was totally destroyed by Hurricane Katrina a few years ago. It's now back, fully functional & looks exactly the same, if my memory serves me correctly. (I've played here at least twice before).
I'll be playing some drums over the next couple of weeks before our trip to the U.K. at the end of the month. Some jamming with friends as well as continuing to explore my own project. (Think I need to get that more into 2nd or 3rd gear).
Don't think I mentioned that, after our last show in Ft. Worth, I was able to meet classical piano legend Van Cliburn backstage. He was extremely friendly & appreciative of our performance.
Well, that's about all I can think of for now. There'll be no record or book store sojourns here, unfortunately. Hope to catch up on that in London in a couple of weeks. Till then...

Transmitting From Fort Worth, TX...
It's such a refreshing change to be in a nice sized US city rather than a casino or a smaller town laden with strip malls. Someplace where you can take a walk & see shops, restaurants, clubs etc. without needing a car or someone to provide some kind of shuttle bus or van.
Last night we had a nice BBQ dinner & then walked around & checked out some of the local nightlife spots. And today, I just got back from the local Barnes & Noble which was paradise! I love book & record stores & will search them out whenever I can. (Here's a quote from Robert Fripp that I can totally relate to: "Me & a book is a party...me, a book & a cup of coffee is an orgy.")
So, in summing up, seeing that we're only here for barely 2 days, you've just read about the highlight of my trip & we haven't even had our soundcheck yet! If anything else of note happens, I'll let you know.

Transmitting From Puebla, Mexico...
Here in my room after a long day of bus travel from Mexico City that included our bus driver getting hopelessly lost. It seems hard to believe that he was able drive 2 solid hours, get us from one town to the next & then promptly had no idea where our hotel was. We drove around endlessly, stopping to ask for directions a number of times, making u-turn after u-turn, until, finally, we stopped & hailed a local cab who then led us to the hotel. It easily added at least an hour to our trip. We then had about 30 minutes to check-in before heading directly to soundcheck. Luckily, that was done fairly quickly which gave me this little 2-hour buffer to chill out in my room. Another fun part of the afternoon was arriving at the hall to find that there was no piano provided! It took quite a bit of yelling & screaming to produce one which was being wheeled in as I left to come back here. All in all, it's been an eventful trip with more u-turns than I can ever remember in such a short period of time (& don't forget the earthquake)!

Transmitting From Mexico City, Mexico...
Here's a little bit of excitement for you: Last night I was sitting at the desk in my room catching up on some email when the building started to gently shake. Mind you, I'm on the 25th floor of this hotel that has a total of about 42 floors, I believe. An earthquake!! 5.8 magnitude with the epicenter about 100 miles south of here. It was pretty scary! Feeling the very floor under your feet starting to shift & being 25 floors above the ground, not a lot of fun. I looked out the window to see if there was any reaction on the street but there wasn't so I assumed that it wasn't anything, ulitmately, to be concerned about. Still, even though I'd once been through an earthquake in Los Angeles around 10 years ago, this one was way scarier. The L.A. one just sounded like a huge truck passing by my hotel window but here things were moving!! Buildings were moving!! BIG buidlings!! It was quite an experience. I felt an aftershock in the hotel restuarant about an hour or so later, also a bit jarring. Still, we all survived & the show tonight will go on!

Transmitting From Guadalajara, Mexico...
Greetings! It's been awhile!
I'm sitting in our hotel lobby because I can't get an internet connection in my room. We're in Mexico until next Wed., doing 3 shows in the next 4 days in 3 different cities. Sounds like a tour, although a very brief one. Then home for a day until we're off to Dallas for a 1-nighter. Then home for 3 days before heading out once again to Biloxi for another 1-nighter. On the road again!
Another dose of summer here with highs in the 90s. I hear the next 2 cities will be more spring-like.
I've been rehearsing my own project a bit & things are starting to get interesting. I just added a cellist to the mix &, for the 1st time, feel that this might be something worth releasing upon the world down the line. We'll see...
Saw an interesting TV show last night that had a band with a lead singer on crutches but totally holding his own. Don't remember ever having seen that before. My hat (or sombrero) goes off to him.
I'll update with any interesting news soon.

Transmitting From Melbourne, FL...
Another short dose of summery weather before heading back to NYC on Monday. We did a show yesterday in Fort Myers & will do one here tomorrow. In between, we drove almost 200 miles between the 2 cities today. I did all of the driving in our vehicle (the company members were split into 4 vans). It was quite nice, actually. A warm, sunny day & the roads taken were, for the most part, pretty mellow traffic-wise.
I've acheived laptop nirvana onstage with my new string samples being combined with my tried & true synth sound to produce a nice, new & improved richness. It was worth it!
After this, we'll be off for almost a month but I'll be doing some fun things at home, including rehearsing (on drums) with my old friend Russ Kassoff's big band, continuing my quartet project & 1 or 2 possible jams as well. All that & seeing my beloved Yankees in a week or so in their last year at the Stadium. The end of an era! Till next time...

Transmitting From Hollywood, FL...
Just did a show here at the Hard Rock Hotel last night. This is my 1st time staying at a Hard Rock &, let me tell you, rock rules at this place!
In my room I have beautifully framed photos of Tina Turner & Stevie Ray Vaughn. The spare roll of toilet paper is wrapped up with a sticker that says, "Roll With It!...Steve Winwood" &, when you check in, your room card is given to you in a CD case that includes an actual CD with a few tunes on it.
Today we have a long bus ride (7 hours, I've been told) to Jacksonville for a show there tomorrow, then home on Mon.
I've added a laptop to my normal road rig to trigger some new string samples recommended by producer Phil Ramone. 1st time I've used a computer live on-stage. Being a bit of a tech geek, it's fun to learn something new in that zone.
In other news, my daughter Charlotte has her 1st audition for an actual Hollywood film on Monday. Wishing her much luck. Also, my son Sean is tearing up the world of NYC real estate. Just inked his 3rd deal! Go Sean!!

Transmitting From NYC...
Here's a little something to make your 2008 election viewing a little more personal. I've been watching NBC's election coverage off & on for awhile. Whenever I'd watch it, the musical theme at the show's opening would drive me crazy! Damn!, I'd say to myself, that sounds really familiar! Well, I just confirmed that it was something that I'd played on a few years ago that's been revived for the 2008 election year. My official instrument list for the piece consisted of tympani, snare drum & suspended cymbal. (Yes, I can do the semi-classical thing a bit when I have to). So, the next time you're watching election coverage on the Today show, NBC Nightly News or an NBC election special, that's me (until sometime in November, I'd guess). Kinda cool.

Transmitting From Solvang, CA...
We're about 30 miles from Santa Barbara in a little town that, from what I've been told, was founded by a couple of Dutch educators in the early 1900s who wanted to re-create the feel of a Scandanavian village. Well, they totally succeeded as everything here covers the textbook definitions of "charming" & "quaint" to the max. Charming as it is, the feel is pretty monochromatic as most everything is drenched in a touristy feel.
Anyway, we're doing a show tonight at a casino a few miles away followed by one on Sat. in Palm Springs before heading home.
In other news of note, I recently gathered a few friends together to start rehearsing some music of mine (& maybe others, if it develops). So far, we've looked at a few tunes from my "Sanctuaries" CD. There are kernels of interesting things going on that, hopefully, will expand & develop into something that you'll get to hear. I'll surely keep you posted on that.
Till next time...

Transmitting From Lake Tahoe, NV...
What a beautiful little town...a veritable winter wonderland. A huge picturesque lake surrounded by mountains & those huge trees of the northwest (Douglas Firs?). Lots of people walking around with skis & snowboards. Too bad I'm not much of a winter sports guy. Today is a day off &, after an exploratory walk & breakfast, I had a good workout at the gym in the hotel. As pretty as it is here, I'm not sure if there are tons of things to do outside of the usual winter sports stuff. I did find a movie theatre nearby so I might check that out. Still, it's by far the prettiest casino town I've seen.

Transmitting From Fresno, CA...
Happy New Year! I've had an action packed few days since the slight lull of the holiday season. Here's a brief rundown of last weekend: Drove to Providence, RI on Sat. morning for an afternoon soundcheck & evening show with Liza (who's doing fine, by the way), then got right back in the car & drove home. Total mileage was around 366 for the day. Woke up Sunday morning to tend to what was left of my step-daughter's sleepover birthday party. 6 girls were there &, as my wife had to work, I was manning the ship solo. Then, heading over to Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center for a concert I do just about every year that benefits Jewish kids with special needs. Once again, it was an afternoon rehearsal & soundcheck followed by an evening show (which was recorded for both CD & DVD release, by the way). I've added a new photo from that show as well.
Now I'm here in Fresno for a show tonight before heading to Lake Tahoe tomorrow for a show on Sat. before heading home on Sun. A busy week!
I've never been to Lake Tahoe even though I've heard about it for many years. Hope I can stay warm as last night's low temperature was listed as 10 degrees! We'll see. If anything of note occurs, I'll keep you posted. Till then...

Transmitting From NYC...
Merry Xmas everyone!! Just wanted to tell you about a small Xmas gift I received last night. I found out that my CD, "Sanctuaries", made the top 25 list of 2007 for the radio show Secret Music on WVKR-FM in upstate NY. Thanks to host Scott Raymond for his constant support of independent music for many, many years. I look forward to visiting the station again when the next CD is released. I'm aiming for that to happen in 2009 so stay tuned.

Transmitting From NYC...
Just did our performance on Good Morning America this past Tuesday. I was on drums & it was a lot fun, even with the 6AM call for soundcheck! There was a YouTube link to it here but I removed it as its been removed from the site. If you're so inclined, keep checking & maybe it'll re-surface. If I find a new link, I'll post it here as well.

Transmitting From Palm Springs, CA...
Another new photo on the photo page!! This one is a very un-glamorous shot taken yesterday while waiting for our connecting flight in Dallas.
We're here for a show tonight, then home tomorrow. Unless something changes at the last minute, it'll be our last road trip of the year but that's ok. The Christmas season is just about my favorite time of the year & NYC is pretty much the best place on Earth to experience it.
We're supposed to be doing a song with Liza on the Dec. 4 "Good Morning, America" show on ABC-TV so, if you're up early enough, tune in. (I'll be on drums for that, by the way).
If I don't update this until 2008, I wish all of my blog fans the best of holiday seasons & a great new year!!