Firth of Fifth Steve Hackett Solo - Me

Have been pretty slammed at work so not much blog time. But I did get the chance to learn one of my all-time favorite solos, the end solo to Genesis Firth of Fifth. Steve Hackett's finest moment. While I get a proper blog post together, enjoy this:

 

Vote For My CD in 2011 Portland Music Awards - Please

Hey everyone. I have been blogging here for about five years - this is post #666 as a matter of fact (ooooh scary!) and I have done a minimal bit of self promotion in all of that time. I have posted videos from my various bands - colorfield, Flat Stanley and Pink Floyd tribute band The Floydian Slips but for the most part have blogged about the music and musicians we love to love and love to hate.

Of course this year I did pimp my first ever solo CD pretty hard, called A Fear of Flashing Light. The response to this CD has been past my wildest expectations and I am very proud of the effort. So it is in this spirit for the first time in 666 posts that I ask you to actually DO anything beyond indulging in my musical musings.

Portland's annual Portland Music Awards voting is open, and if you feel so inclined, I'd love for you to vote for my CD in the best Indie album category. You don't need to register, provide an email, name or anything. You simply copy "Paul Lesinski - A Fear of Flashing Light," paste it into the "best album - indie" category and hit submit. It will take you less than a minute. That's it! Can you do it now, while the idea is right in front of you.

A Million Thanks!

--Paul

A Fear of Flashing Light -- CD Release Videos

Hey all - I have been pretty absent from my blog lately because I had a big CD release show last Friday and needless to say there was a lot of work leading up to it. It all paid off, with a song played on KINK radio's Local Music Spotlight last Thursday and a nice blurb in The Oregonian's A&E five live section, where they suggest five top shows for the week. There I was, sandwiched between Brad Paisley and the Scissor Sisters.

The show was off the hook - I turned it into an all-star jam that included various musicians I play with in other local bands such as colorfield and my Pink Floyd tribute band The Floydian Slips, running 14 years strong now.

We did almost all the music from the CD A Fear of Flashing Light, plus some colorfield tunes, covers and jams. Here are three of the better ones, for your viewing enjoyment.

This is the first track from the CD, done live:


This song was written by a guy named Jerry Joseph who deserves a blog post all his own:


An old tune of mine made new with this live version:

My Prog Rock EPIC Now Available on CD

Ha ha -- could not resist that title. But as I rehearse with the band for our CD release gig on Sept 10 in Portland (Dublin Pub, 7 p.m.), I cannot help but get into the four more proggy songs on my new CD, A Fear Of Flashing Light.

Yes there are eight other tunes that range from acoustic based storytelling type songs to straight ahead rockers, but I am really digging what I call the proggy songs. Those are tracks 1, 7, 8 and 11 (The Garden, Comfort Zone, The Mokus, and Rescue).

You can check it all out at this A Fear of Flashing Light link.

Also, for anyone who has been waiting for an actual CD version (as opposed to the digital version that came out June 1), you can get that now. Just order from the site and we'll ship it right away. Only $5 including shipping - what a baaaargain! Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Notes From St Croix Part Two

Here is the rest from my trip, from which I am re-attempting to return from today. More on that another time and once the airlines actually get me home...

St Croix Day Four – Excuse me, we are having technical difficulties. Please stand by…

So what have we learned so far?

--Island time = things running a bit slow. Be patient.
--It’s easier to freshen up by jumping in the pool, b/c you sweat coming out of the shower anyway.
--Bug spray – almost as important as food.

Technical difficulties. Ah yes… Be patient with this as well. Between the power service on the island being a little spotty and the interesting, creative condition of the roads, yesterday was pretty entertaining.

Early in the day we drove to the airport to drop off a roommate for a return trip to Chicago for a wedding. Given the Stanley Cup upset, I advised him to please flip over a cop car for me.

Not a mile later, we blow a tire. No tire iron, and this is Vrba’s second blowout this week. I could blame the condition of his car (a 90s Olds), but I have to blame the roads here, which are barely paved and rife with potholes. One hitch to the station later to borrow a tire iron, and we are back on the road.

Later that night is our next gig, at the Sports Bar, which is on the Christiansted Boardwalk -- a very hopping stretch of shops, bars and restaurants. The first set is OK but sure enough those power demons rear their heads, with the power cutting out here and there. Our guitar cables are struggling with the climate and we have to switch a few crackly ones out, and of course there are some broken strings to boot.

But after a sort of challenging first set, we take a break, work it all out and the rest of the night goes smoothly. Show times on the islands are much earlier than in the States and we are out of there at the shockingly early hour of 11 p.m., with plenty of time to come home and run over more tunes in preparation for Saturday’s recording. Luckily we encounter NO problems with cars, guitars or power once we get home!

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St Croix Wrap Up – The Moment of Truth

The last couple of days on the Island were pretty eventful, but mostly in preparation for the Saturday house concert/live CD recording. Matt and I ran over the 20 songs he wanted to record. Some of them were pretty straight, or I had been playing them for a long time. Others were brand new or required me to double Matt’s chords higher up on the guitar using different voicings. Whatever the case, I felt 100 percent ready when the sound crew showed up at about noon Saturday.

These guys were total pros – Padraic Coursey and his company Aqua Sounds for those of you keeping track. Not only did Aqua Sounds provide a sweet PA system, monitors, a crew and the whole works for the live gig, but they brought the recording gear as well – Mac with Pro Tools, loads of great mics, etc.

What this meant is that the audience had excellent live sound, and the Aqua guys also captured the performance in high quality audio for the CD. Best of both worlds. My favorite detail is that they recorded all the tracks separately, which means my guitar is on its own track – so if I made a mistake they could just delete it in the mix. Whew! I love having that option!

Lots of friends kicked in to help get the place ready, set up the seats, serve drinks, take donations, clean up etc. It was a real group effort so all Matt and I had to do was focus on the music.

So, we started the concert with three tried and true Vrba warhorses to get warmed up. Then we dove into 10 of the new songs. For the most part it went great. The very last tune, a song about life on the island, was a real barn burner but there were a few mistakes so we did it again at the end of the second set. Otherwise we didn’t have to repeat any songs to get good takes. The second set was 10 more tunes and then it was over.

Out of the 20 new recorded songs, all Matt has to do it find roughly 12 that don’t suck and there’s the CD. I am confident he’ll be able to pull it off successfully. The audience was a bit of a “this is your life” from my week on the island, as many folks I had met at various times and places all gathered at Vrba’s for the gig. That was cool.

And while I had lots of fun, played loads of music, saw some sights and met some great people, I am very eager to get home to my family and get back to my “real” life. Just 11 hours of travel and it’ll all be a memory!

Notes from St Croix

So, I have been in St Croix in the Virgin Islands for the last few days, backing up alt-country singer-songwriter Matt Vrba. I have posted a few updates to my MySpace page but fellow blogger Seano suggested I put them up here as well. So, bear with the lengthy post (and forgive me if you have already seen this stuff on MySpace), but here you go. The last three days in Croix:

Part One -- Off to St Croix - Thanks, Edelman!!!
So how cool is my company? My day job is working as a public relations professional for high tech companies (my main client is Adobe Systems) for Edelman, the largest independent PR firm on the planet. One of the cool programs for helping keep employees growing is called the Edelman Escape.

From the company Web site:

Have you ever wanted to record a song or help rebuild houses in a disaster zone? Edelman employees have pursued these and many other personal passions as part of Edelman Escape, which rewards employees with time off and a stipend for a one-week trip to fulfill a long-held dream.

I will spare you the gory details of my full submission but in 2008 I put in for a week backing up alt-country singer songwriter Matt Vrba on one of his biannual tours of Europe and lo and behold I was graciously accepted for an Escape around this idea! Two years later and a few changed details and I am off to St Croix in the Virgin Islands today for a week of shows with Matt, culminating in a live house concert recording this Saturday for Matt’s next CD.

How cool is that? Thanks Edelman and here we go…

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Part Two -- St Croix Day One - Island Time

My first clue that things were a little different on these islands was when my flight from Dallas landed in Puerto Rico, on time I might add. Close to boarding time, it was announced that our plane (and two others) had 'mechanical difficulties' and would all be delayed. They would let us know how long of a delay in 20 minutes. 20 minutes later, no news but we'll tell you in another 20 minutes. 2 and half hours later we departed, but not before about six ambiguous updates, the last of which coincided with the airport for the most part shutting down. I thought I would be spending the night...

I bring this up b/c there is a bit of a laissez-faire here. Playfully called "Island Time" it just means that no one is any kind of a big rush to get anything done, including making a plane take off on time, taking a food order, bringing your bill etc. Luckily I adjust to island time pretty well.

Vrba’s place is a villa-style bungalow in the hills with a pool and a view of the ocean. Not too shabby. In true musician fashion, I am on a pull out bed in the office area. Woke at about 4 a.m to the loudest most insane lightning and thunder, so severe it knocked out power to the house for two hours. Wow, what a welcome!

Monday was supposed to be a rehearsal day - Vrba intends to record about 30 tunes at the house concert on Saturday and pick the best 12 or so for his CD. Some of these songs I know already and others are new. But even the ones I know, he plays a little differently.

So we went over a number of tunes parked on the beach at Chenay Bay Resort. Got pretty hot so we took a break. I ordered nachos from the bar and 15 minutes later was informed they were out of chips. Island time, remember! They are out of chips? I thought that was pretty funny.

After dinner, we wound up playing an impromptu gig at a friend's house – a graduation party with a bunch of guests/family visiting from fabulous Kansas, and that was a nice way to cap off the evening. That technically makes five gigs in six days here, and I like that. This is why I am here.

Overall, the songs Matt wants to record Saturday are all very, very good IMO. I am stoked to have this week capped off by a gig that will yield a CD release. All in all a good start to the trip.

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Part Three -- St Croix Day Two - More Island Time

Tuesday was supposed to be our first official gig day, with a 6 to 9 p.m. show at a place called Spratnet, which is a bar/club right on the sandy North Shore of the island - about a 45 minute drive.

Much of the day was spent getting ready for the show. As noted earlier, I smuggled an arsenal of electric guitar effects in a backpack onto the plane, and today was the day we'd hook 'em all up to the amp I am borrowing here to figure out how to get the best sounds for the music - the right tools for the right job, as Hank Hill would say.

More strings changed as well - the island humidity makes brand new guitar strings sound dead and flat in about six hours.

Then the loading of the car and 45 minute drive to the gig. We pull up and the place looks pretty quiet. Matt says, "This does not look good." Sure enough, there is no gig. Calvin, the owner asks if Matt got his messages, and of course there were no messages to be gotten - the dude just decided to not open the bar this week for whatever reason. Spotty cell service on the island provides a pretty convenient general excuse for not calling anyone anyway.

Matt is generally fairly irritated - rightly so - and says there is no way we came all the way out here for no gig. Thus begins a trip to the various surrounding bars to see who wants a surprise concert in exchange for dinner and drinks. Coincidentally we end up playing at the one place on North Shore Matt has never played before - Rowdy Joes. A few phone calls ensue (we use my phone because I actually HAVE reception on the North Shore) and a good crowd trickles in.

All in all it's a great gig. Matt and I click on the tunes. Amp sounds pretty good. A few tips, a few CDs sold. Sadly, this "island time" concept frequently extends throughout the whole business of music anyway, and this 'the gig is cancelled, let's just line another one up right now' thing happens a lot, everywhere. I was pretty sure when the Spratnet gig fell through that we'd find something, even if it was playing for dinner and tips. You just have to roll with it and make do, and a lot of times the gig is better for it anyway!

A Fear Of Flashing Light - My New CD Is Out Today!

You may be aware that over the past year I have been working on recording my first ever solo CD. Well, today is the big day and the release, called A Fear Of Flashing Light, is now available for download at http://paullesinski.bandcamp.com.

Recorded from April 2009 through May 2010, the 12 song CD spans various genres including straight ahead rock and roll, progressive rock, and some acoustic-based tunes as well. There is also a fancy 13 page digital booklet with lyrics and artwork so your eyes can be as jazzed as your ears.

For those of you who don't know me, you will hear some of the following influences throughout the disc: Peter Gabriel, Rush (Alex Lifeson), Neil Young, The Beatles, Yes (Steve Howe), Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Pete Townshend and dare I even say a smidge of Warren Zevon, Coldplay and/or U2? I dunno - you tell me what you hear.

I am making the CD available as a free download but am also offering the option to pay a suggested $5 to help offset the cost of recording and mastering. Physical CDs will also be available via snail mail in about a month, and I will let you know about that when the time comes.

Thanks, and ENJOY the CD!

Preview Track From My Upcoming CD - Voices

Here is the second sneak peek track from my forthcoming CD, A Fear of Flashing Light, which will be released next Tuesday, June 1.

Like I said yesterday, the songs on the CD vary, with four tunes that lean on the prog rock side, a couple of more acoustic based, moody things, and some more mainstream sounding tunes. This one falls into the middle category, and has probably my favorite guitar solo I have ever recorded, which is kinda me going out on a limb here. Let me know what you think!

The song is called Voices. Enjoy!

Preview Track From My Upcoming CD - Wondering Why

As some of you may know, I have been working on my first solo CD for about a year now. I have played in numerous bands over the years, have been on many CDs, and have had lots of my songs recorded. But this is the first project I have put my actual name on (yes, the identity of "Isorski," while always a loosely guarded semi-secret at best, is about to be officially revealed!)

The CD is called A Fear of Flashing Light, and will be released next Tuesday, June 1. But in the meantime, here is a sneak peek at one of the 12 songs: Wondering Why.

The songs on the CD vary, with four tunes that lean on the prog rock side, a couple of more acoustic based, moody (Floyd-ish?) things, and some more mainstream sounding tunes. This one falls into the latter category. Let me know what you think!