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Sitting here in my apartment looking back at the craziness of the last few weeks...some random mental snapshots:
-Dweezil and Steve Vai trading solos in "More Trouble Every Day" in Phoenix, and Steve asking Dweezil "What the hell was that?" after a particularly inspired passage.
-Terry Bozzio sitting on the bus telling me the story of Patrick O'Hearn's bass audition for Frank, which includes the story of the ridiculous acoustic bass line on "The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution" (he can actually play that fast...)
-Meeting Napoleon's mom in San Francisco and seeing where he got his incredible friendliness and positive attitude.
-Meeting Scott Thunes, one of my absolute bass heroes and another Frank alumnus, and almost losing it when he didn't tell me I suck. wow.
-Meeting my new baby niece, Meredith, and hanging out with my increasingly imaginative 2 yr-old nephew Joel during a brief respite in Massachussetts.
-Suddenly finding myself sitting on my couch in my apartment wondering when sound check is. Oh, wait...
All the US shows were amazing, thanks to all of you who came out with such love for Frank's music and Dweezil's vision, myself and the rest of the band are all very grateful for the overwhelming response. Click here for a Hollywood Reporter review of the Los Angeles show.
Luckily I have more shows to look forward to in the Fall, check here and of course Zappa.com for details on that and also check out Dweezil's New Album "Go With What You Know" available now and featuring me on track #8 "All Roads Lead to Inca." It's so cool that Dweezil gave me the opportunity to be on the same album as great bassists like Scott Thunes and my good friend Mark Meadows.
Now I have some time to focus on my own writing and practicing more, as well as beginning to learn more Zappa songs for the next tour...

Iceland to New York

Iceland is a crazy, crazy place. It all seems like another planet entirely, yet strangely familiar. After getting there at 2 am and still finding ourselves in daylight, we knew we were in for something different. Reykjavik is a beautiful city populated by beautiful, friendly people, and our show there was very well received. Then, the next day before flying back to America, we were able to go to the natural hot springs at Blue Lagoon which was the perfect relaxing way to end an otherwise hectic but rewarding tour through europe.

Then a mere 2 days later i found myself playing the Beacon Theater in New York for a sold out audience that included my parents, high school friends and old bandmates. The New York Times reviewed the show here and the print version includes me in the picture (seen above).

It now makes me sad to think how close this tour is to being over, but more dates have been confirmed for October, Halloween tickets for the theater at Madison Square Garden have already gone on sale...

Royal Albert Hall

Yes indeed, here we are...in Athens, Greece, having just gotten back from seeing the Acropolis, which was pretty incredible. The past week has pretty much been a blur, Paris was an amazing show for a crazy huge crowd, Dublin was an amazing show for a crazy smaller crowd, and then there was the Royal Albert Hall. Not only can you just feel the history in the walls of that place, the crowd was very into the show, and we all played with a newfound intensity and joy. Not to mention that Aaron got to play a few songs on the historic Royal Albert Hall organ, the same organ that Don Preston from Frank's band got in trouble for playing in 1969 (check out the album Uncle Meat for a recording of that historic moment). And to top it all off, we've been playing along with a video of Frank taking a great guitar solo, which is quite a surreal and intense experience. I used to say that I would've given a limb to be able to play with Frank Zappa, and somehow I've been able to get as close as I ever could, seeing as how I was only 14 when he passed away.

Just 2 more European shows until we get back to the states, which we're all looking forward to, even if it is a little bittersweet. Thanks again to all of you who have either posted comments here or sent me an email telling me you enjoyed the show, that really means a lot to all of us.
See ya in the US!