I’m sure the same is said about me both ways. Actually, I know it is. But that’s great, at least there’s passion in the opinions. The worst thing would be to create art and have it be so mundane that it doesn’t even leave a dent good or bad.

So whether you are the creative type or not, when you feel that muse tugging at your heart to express in song, painting, sculpting, poetry, etc., go for it and don’t let your inhibitions or insecurities hold you back. Let people hate you, love you and wonder about you. And if the muse is calling hard enough, pack your car and leave on a yearlong road trip playing songs for strangers across the country selling CD’s out of a suitcase.

Much love,
-Rod

At the beginning of this year, I hit the road with a broken, but hopeful, spirit.  Friends I had held close told me that I  ”deserve all the loneliness &  misfortunes” and that I was a terrible person that would “get it back in tenfold”.  What kind of people would say these kinds of things?  I thought my friends would be happy for me, possibly encouraging.  It was, as my dear friend Marc would say, a “momentary setback”…he was right.

Not only were those negative friends in a small minority, those of you who have supported me have been a thousand times more kind and loving than I had ever expected.  You fed me, housed me, came out to my shows, bought CDs, helped me load in/out of gigs, spread the word to all your friends about my latest songs on the radio and didn’t mind when I rolled in at 4am after a gig to crash on your couch.  You thought it was important to show me around Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco, Birmingham, St. Louis, Philadelphia or whatever city you reside in that I was passing through.  It was great to see the sites, don’t get me wrong, and gigs aside, the best part was seeing you – talking, catching up, making new friends, hearing how your life has been since we last spoke a year, 5 years, 10 years ago!  Let’s keep in touch.

Then there are my new friends.  Oh dear friends, that random meeting and then the long talk over coffee or good playlist…I am so grateful.  The same goes for you.  You trusted a random stranger and fed me, housed me, bought CDs, came to shows, etc.  (Hang in there trooper, it’ll work out…eventually…haha) I hope years and years from now, we are still talking about this year and supporting each other wherever we are.

Driving, oh the driving…15 hours seems like a normal commute now.  I’m just now remembering that’s not normal.  The craziest single drive was after playing Popfest 2010 on the Atlantic Ocean and then having 3 days to drive to the Pacific Ocean.  I had my feet in the sand of the East Coast and then 40-some-odd hours later, I shook my socks out into the beaches of the West Coast.  I drove through deserts without any food, fuel or cell phone signal for over a hundred miles, mountains, incredibly flat plains, snowy blizzards, big cities, small towns and everything in between.

And the music, let’s not forget the music.  I’ve had bad gigs, great gigs, radio interviews, press meetings, writing days and recording sessions.  Music has fed me and put fuel in my car…man, that’s a good feeling.  When I was a music student at Greenville College, Dr. J &  Ani used to tell me, and everyone we met, that we’d see my name in lights someday.  This year, it’s happening nearly every week.  I’m so humbled when I hear folks singing along with my songs at gigs or see lyrics pop up in Twitter or Facebook status updates.  I’ve had Dr. Luke explain Ke$ha and what was going on in his head while he was writing and recording TiK ToK.  My friend, Chris Trapper, and I finally got to play a show together (and started planning more).  There are literally hundreds of incredible memories that are just as amazing, but too numerous to list.

It has been an incredible year, and I’m only halfway through.

What does the next half of the year hold?  More songs are being recorded, I’m always writing and more gigs are getting booked as we speak.  There’s a few more surprises in store as well.

Tonight, it’s time for a late night playlist and some much welcomed sleep.

G’night friends,

-Rod

Click Here For The Tour 2010 Photo Album.

“…It’s funny, with nearly 2.5 months on the road constantly moving and averaging no more than a couple days in one place, I’m finding things a little differently than I originally expected. I thought that having no home, no “center”, no place to be away from and return to would be the most difficult part of being on the road fulltime. It turns out that not knowing where I will lay my head the next day and relying on music to provide for that has been the most fulfilling. It makes me feel alive and that I’ve finally found a groove to fit into.

Despite the jadedness of the business end of things, the kindness of friends and their incredible hospitality has been amazing. I can’t express how grateful I am and how good it is to finally be alive…”

January 1, 2010 marked Day 1 of my 2010 tour.  This tour was supposed to be a joint venture but turned into a solo tour suddenly.  It hurt, hurtful things were said to me, I moved on anyway, more hurtful things were said to me and I kept going anyway.  The shows have been better than ever.  There are so many friends, new and old, that it’s hard to keep up at the end of each night.  The tour will go all the way through early 2011 and I will be going coast-to-coast, north-and-south.

In February, I went back into the studio and tracked a new single, “Tomorrow She’s Mine” that is a new, upbeat direction for my songs and I’m very excited.  That new single releases as a digital single on iTunes, Amazon MP3, etc. on March 9, 2010.  A couple weeks after tracking was completed, I got confirmation that the new single was going to be featured on the video game “Rock Band” for Xbox 360.  It’s an exciting opportunity for me.

Around the same time, Jay$ of Rhyme Commission remixed my previous single, “By Now (Po’ Safe Reconstruct Remix)” and it went into club servicing almost immediately.  That remix will be released to iTunes, Amazon MP3, etc. tomorrow, on March 2, 2010.

The book I’ve been commissioned to write about my year on the road is still coming along.  I have to remain faithful in logging my daily experiences and submitting them to the editors.

I started this tour out east and as of today, have made it to Indiana.  There are already lots of experiences and stories in the first couple months.  I am both anxious and apprehensive of what lies ahead.

I’m still writing music, playing music and driving thousands of miles, friends.  I hope to see most, if not all of you soon.  Thank you for your love and support,

Rock on,

-Rod

Like any good work, I can’t give away too much right away, so more details will roll out as time moves along. Be sure to keep checking back, and if you haven’t already, sign up for my mailing list to get updates about this and other projects of mine.

This is new to me, so pardon me while I stumble through the steps, but I’ve got some great pro’s helping guide me through.  Thanks to all of you for everything through the years…you may not know it, but you’ve shared heartbreak, success, failures, excitement and pure fear with me.  Now, we can share those ups and downs in literary form.  The first ground breaking for this venture occurred just a couple hours ago and now announced here.  Keep checking back for more details and information.  Thank you friends, and may the new year bring you many new opportunities and great happiness.

-Rod

Thanksgiving…it’s synonymous with sitting at a dinner table making awkward small talk with people you barely know (but should know well) and putting up with frustrating relatives.  Most years for me are different, I have great memories from holiday gatherings.  On the road, however, I meet all kinds of people and I have to admit, you can’t immediately like all of them.  There are many differences among the vast population of this world.  I came to understand something recently about that.

Just the other day, I had a nice talk with a friend who has a great talent and passion for finance.  As he explained some sort of statistical process, my eyes glazed over and I could have sworn he was speaking Latin.  I didn’t lose interest, I just didn’t understand – I don’t have the aptitude to begin to understand the complexities involved in predicting a corporation’s financial future.  It’s the same thing I’m told when business friends tell me they can’t fathom writing melodies and spending time in a recording studio to lay down musical ideas down.  That’s when it occurred to me – thank God for my friend in finance…and those in the medical field…and for people who know how cars work…you get the idea.  All the different kinds of people, and their passions, they make the world go ’round.

It was a satisfied feeling of comfort, perhaps relief, that washed over me at that moment.  All these folks that have different interests which they may or may not find interesting of each other…they, excuse me…we need each other.

Isn’t that a wonderful moment of clarity?

Happy Thanksgiving friends,

-Rod

Anyway, please check it out, hope you enjoy it as much as Masch and I did making it for you. Thank you all so much for your support in our music, this is for you.


Tracklist:

1. Deck The Harrs (And All That Crap)
2. A Cherry Tree Carol
3. Yuletide Nights
4. OMG (It’s X-mas)
5. I Heard The Bells
6. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Download For Free Here.

Order A Physical CD Here.

G’night friends,

-Rod

Right now, I’m in the studio recording for a couple of exciting projects, but more on that at a later date…

Time for some much needed rest, thank you friends,

-Rod

Kim Family Vacation

Since the east coast tour that saw Masch and I through MA, DE, CT, NJ & PA, I headed out to Knoxville, TN for my younger brother’s graduation from college (say it ain’t so!).  It’s been nearly a decade since our family had a vacation altogether and a trip to the Smokey Mountains on Mother’s Day weekend was a great return.  Of course, we drove each other nuts, but it was good to see the folks and my brother again.

A couple weeks later, I flew out to Nashville and Kevin Masch and I made a road trip to Indy for a couple shows.  We passed through his hometown near Cincinatti on the way in and out to visit his folks and grandmother.  Their hospitality was incredible and much appreciated (thanks for the customized no-bacon potato salad!).  We had a house show in the neighborhood I grew up in complete with BBQ and neighbors.  This was a nice way to break back into the neighborhood and warm up for our gig later that night at the Red Eye Cafe.

Kevin Masch & Polly Waddell @ Indy House Show

Like its name implies, we had a late show (11pm-1am), but it was great.   Christian Taylor also performed and really impressed us, make sure to check him out here.  Kevin started the night out with an incredible set and was joined in the last tune by good friend Polly Waddell on violin.  Polly then accompanied me on my set after that and was amazing.

Me & Polly @ Red Eye Cafe

To close the night, Polly gave a breath-taking, mind-blowing solo performance on violin and was beckoned to do an encore.  The house was packed, the venue was good to us and some Indy friends (E & M!) dropped by…it was a great night.

Lyla: Most Adorable Child

The next day Lyla was dedicated/baptized in Young America, IN…Lyla is officially the most adorable little girl in the world, I’m glad I could make it out for the service.

A little over a week later, Kevin flew out east and we headlined a show at World Cafe Live in Philly.  As a last minute change, good friends “Clarity” opened up the evening and put on a great unplugged show.  Kevin came on afterward and had an awesome set and performed some of my favorite songs.  I finished the night with a string duo comprised of the lovely VonDuyke sisters debuting a couple new songs as well as revamped stringtastic older material.

Me & The VonDuykes @ World Cafe Live (Photo by Greg Styer)

The Incredible Kevin Masch @ World Cafe Live (Photo by Greg Styer)

KMasch joined me for the evening’s closing, the duet we performed on the Tim Qualls show a couple months before.  Thank you to everyone that came out and especially to those who remained loyal to our show despite “No Doubt” doing a huge reunion show down the highway.  It was a fun night.

From Philly, we hit the road to Williamsburg, VA.  It was a little over 4 hours away so we left 8 hours early so we could take in some of the locale once we got there.  I-95 had very different plans for us.  We were stuck in unmoving traffic for over 3 hours.  If it’s possible to get cabin fever in a car, we got it.  Kevin and I got to the point were we were pointing at clouds and laughing…and Kevin, digital camera in each hand, took over 600 photos of the roadside we were stuck at…haha.  We did get to Williamsburg on time and played a good show at Aroma’s and made some new friends in the audience.  Thank you Williamsburg!  We didn’t get to see anything outside of the venue and headed to Richmond where we stayed with college buddy Seth Brooks (thanks Seth!) on our way to Gettysburg, PA.

Kevin Masch @ Ragged Edge

We left for Gettysburg extra early and with very little traffic congestion made it to Ragged Edge really early.  The folks there really took care of us and we played a great show on the outdoor stage at the end of the garden.  The show was great with the exception of the periodic interruption of a nearby apartment where a very aggravated mother was trying to discipline her child by yelling profanities, “Onyx! Get your f*****g *$$ down here!”  We’re pretty sure the child was a toddler or younger, but different parenting styles for different people I guess.  We finished our set and was invited by a passerby to perform down the road at Garryowen Irish Pub.  We packed up and headed to the pub.  We played a short set there to a good crowd and Masch made a new British fan that, while very inebriated, rewrote one of Kevin’s songs and walked up to the stage to sing at him during the song…haha.  Thank you YouTube.

We returned to Ragged Edge the next day (coincidentally Flag Day) for two encore shows.  Thanks to those of you who stopped by that day to support us and purchase CDs, tip or just listen to our songs.

With the last couple days of the tour route, we took some opportunities to work on upcoming projects (keep checking back!) and do some impromptu photo shoots.

Me w/ Laura & Ryan!

A couple days after that tour, I boarded a plane to St. Louis to meet up with my college roomie, Ryan for his wedding in Poplar Bluff, MO.  I was honored to be a groomsman and be there when my good buddy married his lovely Laura.  Ryan and Laura had a beautiful (and unique) wedding, complete with a puppy and parrot in the wedding party.  I roomed with a friend of Laura’s, Galen, whom we learned had the same day job myself…just Canadian (LOL).  He emceed the reception and did a great job.  After the wedding, Ryan’s best man, Dustin, drove me back to St. Louis where I got to attend a rehearsal of the rockin’ band he plays bass for and then to Ryan’s folks’ house where I stayed the night.  Dustin, Mr. & Mrs. L, thanks SO MUCH for your incredible hospitality.  The next morning, an old Greenville-ish friend, Jacie and her friend Brooke took me out to Cracker Barrell for breakfast (where I ate my weight in biscuits and apple butter) before dropping me off at the airport.

I returned to Delaware and immediately went into meetings for some great developments in my musical career (once again, keep checking back!).  And now, here I am on my way to the beach for a weekend of rock & roll…whew.

It’s crazy, but it’s a great life.  Thank you friends and the Man upstairs…

-Rod