Snowed In: Pittsburgh Edition

Abandoned Store - Swissvale, PA

Yesterday as I was preparing to leave Squirrel Hill, my host mentioned that her next guest wasn't going to show up this weekend due to a Megabus cancellation. This cancellation of course affected me, too.

So...

I'm stuck in Pittsburgh for the weekend (which is actually awesome).

Manar (my host earlier this week) offered to host me for the weekend as well, but I was already planning to spend the night at the space where my show was last night. There's a large apartment on the second floor above the space, which was at some point a dance studio. I don't know how long the people who rent the space have been living here, but as with the apartment in Squirrel Hill, it's pretty big (and probably even cheaper).

The suburbs right past the east end of Pittsburgh aren't too pretty, but the housing in Swissvale is nice enough, and I was able to find my way here easily. I'll probably stay here until I reschedule my ticket home, and the folks that run the venue (Abandoned Store) have proven so far to be really generous -both as show organizers, and hosts. There was a large turnout, and they actually sent me door money before the show. I was kind of floored by this, and everything else so far.

I can't say I played my best set, but this is one of those situations where every other thing about it was so neat that it came out ok. The first few bands to play were folk projects, two of which had accordion, brass, and bowed saw. The trombone player from the set before me lost his mouthpiece, and I let him borrow mine.

After my set, the show moved to the basement for a couple of noise sets. Fewer people stuck around for that, but I really liked what I heard. The improvisors here are really sweet, and are happy to play for however many people they can. This whole experience is an indication that this area needs to be visited more often, and I encourage everyone to do that. Like my early experiences in VT, I feel like I could do really well here. Whatever happens, Pittsburgh will always be a place with positive memories.

Snowy Morning in Swissvale

Pittsburgh take 1/2015

I've been in Pittsburgh since Tuesday night, and I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon. I don't want to. This place is too awesome. It'll still be great to get back to NY and pick up my work there again, but wow. All of these times I've been away since moving, I've mostly been in familiar places (Boston, VT, etc..). Having visited both Ohio & Pittsburgh within the span of a couple of weeks, I'm feeling like I have a refreshed view of things, and I'm realizing that it could be beneficial to get out more often.

The biggest reason for this extended trip has been to look at doctoral programs in composition. I haven't talked about that too much, but in the midst of HONK and preparing for the Zorn concert last October, I realized that having the freedom to commute long distances this year, there was a good reason to finally apply to some of those programs. I also finally feel that my work since leaving NEC is representative of what I can bring to the table in a scholastic context, and I can't say that I was feeling this way last year (many things have happened in this time).

Pittsburgh has once again proved to be an incredible place. It's not difficult to navigate by bus, and that certainly helps. I'm playing a set at a suburban gallery tonight, and the people who organized the show have been wonderful to work with. They've really been promoting it, and I'm looking forward to meeting some local improvisors, and seeing what their audience is like here.  

There's so much interesting an crazy stuff that has happened in the last month that I need to blog about in detail. I will, but for now I'm still exploring, and will get to all of that soon.

The entryway to my hosts apartment in Squirrel Hill

2014 in (some) pictures

With Sonny Lalchandani at the top of the Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh

Greetings from Bowling Green Ohio. Whoa... I'm in Ohio.

More on that soon, but first:


It's 1/13/15, so though I'm a bit late for the year-end reflection, I really need to let some of this stuff out -  2014 was a remarkable year. When it started, I found myself in an unfamiliar Boston apartment that I ended up living in for 5 months. I wasn't planning on that, but it worked. In retrospect, alot of the things I did this year couldn't have happened any other way. In February, we played Voyage at the University of Pittsburgh. I don't know when we'll play it again, but I'm pretty sure we will. For many reasons (too many to cite here), the 4 days we were in Pittsburgh had a huge personal impact on me, and I'll never forget them. I'm going to be in Pittsburgh next week actually, checking out UPitt's Doctoral program, and playing a solo show at a suburban DIY space. Then I head back to NY. Again, I'll write about that craziness later.

 2014, when I was living in Boston, I played more music than I think I have since graduating, and that's what really keeps me going. Since March I haven't had much regular work (and I've really been looking). Sometimes I've had to stretch out pretty thin, but I've figured out how to make everything come together in a certain way. Maintaining a multi-city schedule has (mostly) helped, and it's been incredibly uplifting to have spent even more time with people that I don't regularly see, or in some cases, just met.

Here are some pictures, in a completely random order, highlighting some wonderful moments from 2014:

12/20 Flathouse series

Christmas Eve kitten

February quartet rehearsal w/ Alec, Brittany, & Ethan

Jerry's Records in Pittsburgh

I'd m ThfftAble @ Weirdo Records

Birthday cakes/pie at FlatHouse

Anthony Coleman at a Prudential food truck

The Burdick hang @ NEC

Rusty the Dog in VT

House near a farm in So. Burlington 

Westsider Books on Broadway

Bob Belcher pre climate march

So Long, Strathmore Road

 

Ann Arbor's Cherry Republic with Kalindi 

Same hat!

Voyage Rehearsal @ UPitt