Dale Baker Drummer

Since we last talked:

This past weekend I played with Dave Spencer again up in Greensboro.  Wade Baynham was playing as well and we all had a great time playing together again.  Since our last gig with Dave, I played at Emmaus Way with him (you can listen to the podcast here) and purchased a huge old 26" x 10" marching bass drum (which you can also hear on the podcast.)  I'm excited about my bass drum purchase as it rounds out my collection of great sounding kick drums and will also sound great on the acoustic type gigs I play from time to time.

Last Sunday I played with Mike and Shelly down at Providence Baptist Church and really enjoyed my time meeting some new folks and being a part of a different community.  I hope to play there again.  This Thursday night, I'm playing with Mike and Shelly again, at NC State.  We'll be playing for a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting at Reynolds Coliseum.  I've heard that there is a Jamba Juice franchise on the campus, so I might strike out on my own and try to get a little taste of Southern California while I'm there...

Through the rest of this month, and into the first week of October, I'll be one of the judges for the Guitar Center's Drum Solo Competition.  Last Wednesday I had a blast sitting with Will McFarlane and one other judge, listening and judging and cheering on the competitors.  If you don't have anything better to do on Wednesday from 6:00-7:30, I encourage to come down to your local Guitar Center and cheer on the brave and talented folks who are trying to become this year's champion drum solo artist!

Oh, and one other tidbit, I'm not sure how Sixpence got on this compilation, but I'm glad to be a part of it.  Here's the blurb, via VOA:

"On September 11, Time Life will release the 4-CD box set Four Decades Of Folk Rock, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and The Mamas & the Papas. Disc 2 covers the 1970s with acts like James Taylor, the Grateful Dead, Joan Baez and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Disc 3 features such 1980s stars as the Bangles, Dexys Midnight Runners, R.E.M. and Suzanne Vega. The fourth disc includes tracks from the 1990s and beyond, performed by Sixpence None the Richer, Shawn Colvin, Natalie Merchant, The Corrs, and others."

Oh, and before I go, I always get a kick out of comments like the one Jen Klee made at Hot Indie News about the band I used to play in.  She was talking about artist Susan Barth and reviewing her new CD, "Wonderland:"

"Shes there' is kind of flat and lacking as much substance as a lot of the other great songs but somehow this one is still a good song. Another Dressy Bessy without the retroness feel. Or Sixpence None the Richer without the suck."

Oh, come on now...really?  She must have never read this post from a few years ago...

And if you get a chance check out this year's HopeFest.  They've got a stellar line-up coming and the venue is just amazing.  You gotta go just to sit on one of the "sub" cabinets disguised as a bench.  They've also got one of the coolest poster designs I've seen in awhile.  I'm hoping I can get one from Bill when I see him next.
 

Dave Spencer Gig at the Cradle!

I'll be playing this Thursday night (Aug 30) with David Spencer at the Cats Cradle over in Carrboro.  I first met Dave when he was in a band with Will Acuff.  I was fortunate enough to get to play on their first record, Moment Golden.  They went on to form a band called Spencer Acuff and did some touring and made some waves. 

Well, now Dave has set out on his own and has a wonderfully produced debut solo album called Love Like a Symphony (to be released Sept 18).  He's got a great voice, the kind that draws you in and keeps you interested.  The arrangements and songs on the record are first rate as well.  I think David is a great songwriter as well and it will be fun to watch as his solo career develops. 

I'll be putting my spin on the various songs and arrangements when I play drums for David on Thursday.  My good friend Wade Baynham will be playing bass with us too.  At some point, I may post my transcriptions of the drum parts.  The drummer on that record (Tommy Perkinson you rock!) plays some wonderful parts.  There are some brilliant and tasteful things Tommy does to support the songs and the other musicians and I hope to do what I can to emulate as much of what he played on the CD.

Doors open at 7:00, we start playing at 7:30.  David is opening for the band The War (formerly Starting Tuesday).  Tickets are $10 at the door or $8 in advance.  Contact the Cats Cradle for more info.

Church music galore!

The last couple of weeks have brought me a few opportunities to play locally. 

This past weekend I played at Hope Creek for their 3 services and then played at Emmaus Way Sunday evening with Karl Ruch and Wade Baynham.  The previous week I sat in for a couple songs at one of the Duke Youth Academy's evening worship sessions.  I especially enjoyed doing a hand drum accompaniment to the Scripture reading by Sarah Arthur.

Dave Finch Session

A couple of weekends ago I had an enjoyable time recording 10 songs for Dave Finch, a talented worship-leader who will be heading to Seattle (as soon as he sells his house).  He was the worship pastor at Hope Creek for the last 8-10 years (maybe more) and I initially came in contact with him through my friend (and his cousin) Randy Hayes.  Randy runs Cross-Eyed Studios down in Fuquay-Varina and that's where we did the drum tracking for Dave's tunes.  Randy sent me some photos from the session and I'll hopefully get them posted soon.

Emmaus Way- this weekend...

I'll be playing once again at Emmaus Way this weekend.  So far, it looks like it will be just me and Wade Baynham, but you never know who might be added to the line-up.  If you are the least bit interested in what the "emerging church" movement is all about, Emmaus Way would be a good place to see an up-front view of a small community of believers trying to authentically figure it all out.

They meet every Sunday afternoon/evening at 5:00 and they have a convenient Google Map to their location as well.

One of the perks (pun intended) is the coffee they serve which is helpful for getting over that mid-afternoon haze that seems to always settle in...So maybe I'll see you there!

Photos from the "tour"

We (Nathan, Steven, George, Jamie and myself) just got back from a smattering of dates we played and since I used a film camera (oh, how outdated!) to take some pictures of us on the road, it might be a while before I get my pictures developed and get them posted for you to see.

So until then, you can feast your eyes on these pics thanks to the steady hand and able eye of Kendrick who came up to our gig in Virginia and snapped up some photos.  He took a bunch I thought, but it seems he's only posted a few so far.

Anyway, if you want to check out the band shots and weigh in on your opinions (such as:  does that shirt look good on dale?) go right ahead and leave a comment below.

By the way...all photos copyright and all that good stuff: Kendrick Vinar.  You can get in touch with Kendrick here, his day gig is Senior Pastor at Grace Church in Chapel Hill.  I'm thinking if that stops working out for him, he may have a future as a professional photographer...

In Lynchburg

Today I write to you from the lovely environs of Dorm 30 (Female), on the campus of Liberty University where I am playing with Nate Fancher and his band. We opened up the youth camp "War Cry" last night with a rousing set of praise tunes and a few down tempo contemplative jams (for lack of a better term).

This year's "War Cry" is already looking better than last years which was held at Methodist College in Fayetteville, NC. For starters, there is a Starbucks within walking distance and a conveniently located Sonic (also within walking distance) located at the foot of the back road leading into Liberty.

Last night marked the first successful live trial of using loops/ backing tracks with Nate's songs. Alot of Nate's material features some pretty cool programming and so it's been a drag not to be able to feature those aspects of his songs when we've performed over the last week. So we finally were able to get the loops going last night and still be able to send me a separate monitor feed for the click. I look forward to doing more stuff like this in the coming nights...

Claire Holley "Tour" Pics

About two weeks ago I played some shows with YepRoc recording artist Claire Holley, and I brought my digital camera along.  Click this link to see the photos from our whirlwind tour!

Upcoming Gigs!

I'll be playing this week with Claire Holley...I've got the dates posted over on my MySpace site.

Maybe I'll see you at one of the gigs?

Alex Acuna style!

On Sunday I'll be playing at Chapel Hill Bible Church once again and this time I've decided to try and implement the church's congas into the regular drum set up.  At rehearsal I tried a few different ways of integrating the congas with the drum set...I guess we'll see how it goes on Sunday. 

Thought I'd let you know...

I'll be playing at Chapel Hill Bible Church this Sunday if you're interested in coming.  Wade and Kelly from the Basics will be leading worship along with a few other folks.  It should be a fun time.  See you there!

WarCry

War Cry was a blast (sorry for the pun...)  I've not had that much fun playing in a while...

Each night (Tues through Fri) I'd show up for sound-check around 6:00pm and run through a few of the songs we (Mali) would be doing that evening.  We'd finish sound-check and then I'd start warming up my hands by playing on my practice pad.  Usually we'd go on after the evening event had started and play for 30 minutes or so and then the speaker for the evening would come out and give his "talk."  After the talk, we'd come out and play about 30-45 more minutes of music.  Each night was a unique experience, but the standout had to have been last night when about 100 students all came up on stage and started dancing, waving flags and generally just having a great time...I swear I played one groove for like a total of 20 minutes...it was like playing drums for a rave!  Most of the time, instead of following our regular set-list we would extend our songs or let them melt into the next song on the list, or even a completely different one.  Nathan (the lead singer of Mali) did a great job of signaling cues that allowed me to adjust my playing to the mood of the moment. 

George said he'd have some pics up over at his blog, so as soon as I check his site out I'll see if I can't put the link in here to re-direct you over there. 

Fayetteville was a fun town to hang out in...I checked out the new Batman movie which was terrific - I loved how Michael Caine said, "Never." and also got a chance to view some of the exhibits at the Special Forces museum...I can't wait to get back down there and spend more time at the museum...it was fascinating...

The heat was stifling, but we made the best of it and had a great time...The teens, adults and everyone else were splendid to be around and I look forward to hopefully doing it again next year!

Claire Holley Sit-in

My good friend Claire Holley came back to the area for a show the other night (Friday) at St. Philips Episcopal Church to benefit the Urban Ministries of Durham.  I was pretty exhausted from having spent the entire night before tweaking my shop over at CafePress, but there was no way I was going to miss the show (plus, the fact that I usually volunteer to help set up at these shows at St. Philips and I'd missed the last few shows...so I was feeling like I needed to help out if I could).  As it turned out, set-up was super quick and easy, my family and I were able to chat with Claire before the show, catch up on things, talk about LA (where she is now residing) and then rehearse some songs together...yes, I got to sit in with Claire!

Claire had called me a couple of days before the show and asked if I'd be willing and able to sit in on a few songs with her, and so we made a plan.  I brought my Djembe and some brushes and I played on about 4 songs in her first set, and then about 3 or so songs in her second set.  It was a blast.  Even though it's been two or so years since I last played with her (before she moved to LA), I remembered the arrangements and drum parts as if we'd never stopped playing together (too bad Rob couldn't be there, 'cause then it would've been just like old times!)

Claire's voice and playing sounded as good as ever and it seemed like she even played some new songs, so who know's?  Maybe there is a new album in the works?  I forgot to ask her...

Anyway, thanks Claire for letting me be a part of your time here in Durham!  And if you haven't heard Claire's music yet, do yourself a favor and pick up one of her CD's!

Mali Gig this Weekend!

Mali (with me playing drums) will be rockin' the house, so to speak, this weekend.  We'll be playing at Sips Coffee and Tea here in Durham, right down the street from my house.  It's a fairly small room, so try and arrive early to get a good seat!  We should be playing around 7:00pm and will be doing mostly acoustic versions of Mali songs featured on their CD Awakenings as well as some covers and other songs that haven't been recorded by the band yet...

Anyway, I hope to see you there, and George I know you already said you'd be missing it, so that's cool.  But I'm hoping to see everybody else there!  :-)

Prayers and Tears this Weekend in Wilmington!

I'll be playing with The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers this weekend in Wilmington, NC. Here are the details on the show:

Date:  Friday May 6th, 2005
Club:  The Soapbox
Bands:  The Physics of Meaning,  The Teeth, and The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers.
Start Time:  9:30pm.  (The Prayers and Tears...will probably be first to play - so come early to get a good place to stand...)
Price:  $5.00

I hope to see you there.  The Soapbox is a great venue and Wilmington is an awesome town.  Drive safe!

Photos: Carolina HopeFest, David Karsten Daniels

I just posted some new pics...check 'em out if you want.  They are in my dalebakerdrummer photo album, located over there down a little bit on the left side of this page.  Or you can just click here to see the photo album...

I posted (finally!) some of the pics I took from the MACK Rock Festival I played with David Karsten Daniels.  It was a good time.  We packed Sara's SUV to the roof with gear and then somehow fit ourselves into the car and drove up and back in a day.  David took us to this great little place in Charlottesville after the gig.  Very vibey and memorable for sure.

The other pics are from yesterday after I played with the Basics at HopeFest 2005 .  I didn't bring my camera during the day, so unfortunately all I have to show for the gig is a broken chair and photos of my fellow guys (Sorry Kelly, your photo didn't turn out - probably due to the fact that my $20 K-Mart digital camera didn't come with a flash) that I played the gig with.  We had a good time at the gig, though I'll probably post more on it at a later date.  I ran into Steven Delop...(I won't even try to spell his name), Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken as well as some old aquaintances in Jars of Clay and Spencer Acuff.  I also saw Jay Wright who ran sound and tour managed for Sixpence back in the day.  Oh and I had a great time chatting with Will (the drummer for Derek Webb).  The whole event took place at the newly renovated American Tobacco Complex across from the Durham Bulls ballpark here in Downtown Durham.  It was a beautiful day, too bad there weren't more people at the gig. 

And as if I haven't dropped enough names already (at least I didn't completely obnoxious and create links to all of them...), I saw Thad Cockrell and chatted with him a bit.  I miss him being around here in Durham...but I'm glad some great things are happening for him and his career.

Where I'll be in the coming weeks:

I'll be playing with the following people and at the following places over the coming weeks...maybe I'll see you out there somewhere....

Sat. Apr 2nd, 4:30pm
David Karsten Daniels (Full Band)
opening for Magnolia Electric Co., Matt Pond PA, et al
Harrisonburg, VA
MACRoCK 2005 $15 fri, $18 sat, $25 weekend

Sat. Apr 16, early afternoon
The Basics
opening for Derek Webb, Jars of Clay et al
Durham, NC
Carolina Hope Festival , American Tobacco Amphitheater

Thur. Apr 21
Mali 
opening for Newsboys, Skillet et al
Wilmore, KY
Ichthus Festival

Sun. Apr 24
Mali 
Louisville, KY
Fountain of Life Church, Morning Worship

See you in Lubbock!

I'll be in lovable Lubbock, Texas this coming weekend (Sat. March 26, 2005) playing with Mali at the Nation Shakers conference/ event taking place there.  The David Crowder Band will be playing Friday Night and then we'll (Mali, that is) will take the stage Saturday morning and again Saturday evening.

Oh, and if you haven't noticed...my picture and bio have been posted over at the Mali site, so check it out if you want.  And hopefully I'll see you in Lubbock this weekend.

Cheers!

Just to prove I was there...

With the help of a good friend who shall remain nameless (lest the "suits" at Warner Brothers come calling), I pulled some still images from a couple of the Sixpence videos I appeared in and have posted them in their respective Photo Albums. 

There are two new photo albums: one that feature images from the original "Kiss Me" video that was shot in Paris (directed by Steve Taylor and photographed by Ben Pearson).  The other album features images from "There She Goes" which was wonderfully directed by Brandon Dickerson.

Back from tour...

Ah, it's good to be home.  And I'm glad I can post again...my internet connections weren't the best on the road...I need to work on that.  Anyway... The tour with Mali went well.  We made some great new friends and were reintroduced to some old friends - Adrian and Chad you know who you are...

The folks from Ichthus were more than accommodating, as were the guys in Sanctus Real and Day of Fire.  Thanks Zak for letting me use your drums, not sure if I told you how much we appreciated being able to use your equipment!

All of us in Mali are looking forward to the next gig and especially Ichthus...so if you get a chance catch us out on the road coming up...

Peace!

Catch me on Tour!

I'll be heading out on the road soon, so I thought I'd post the dates for those of you wanting to come see me play!

In March, I'll be on the road with Mali and we'll be doing the "Let it Rain Tour" sponsored by the Ichthus Festival, Scion, and a seminary.

Here are the dates:

• Tuesday March 1, Knoxville, TN
• Wednesday March 2, Bowling Green, KY
• Thursday March 3, Louisville, KY
• Friday March 4,  Clayton, IN
• Saturday March 5, Westerville (Worthington), OH
• Sunday March 6, Cinncinati, OH

For more details (location specifics, etc)...check out the tour site here.

Hope to see you at a show (or shows)!

Photos posted from Gig in KC

I just posted 3 photos of the gig I played with Mali in KC last week.  We played downtown at the Municipal Auditorium (at the Convention Center) and had a great time.  The crowd seemed into it and we all had fun playing together.  The photos are a bit blurry, but hopefully that gives you a sense of the energy and excitement we were feeling that day...To see the photos, click here and it will take you to my photo gallery where you can browse the pics...

You can also scroll down and click through the link on the left side of this page where it says, Photo Albums...and has a little thumbnail photo...Anyway, hope you like the photos...

Fun in KC

Had a great time in Kansas City today and yesterday. Tomorrow I fly out early.

As it turned out, the two gigs yesterday were cancelled, so we ended up rehearsing in one of the empty "overflow" rooms. It felt good to play with Mali, since it'd been awhile from our last rehearsal. After rehearsal last night we went down to the Plaza area and found a wonderful Irish Pub to hang out in for a bit. Earlier yesterday I wandered around WestPort with my sister, drank some coffee, went to a great greek restaurant and visited Spivey's Books, where I picked up a Somerset Maugham book and thumbed through some vintage texts on coin magic. I also looked at a book about the history of the Ozarks and considered buying that, but in the end I decided against it.

Today's show was a blast. (As a side note - I realized that the first concert I ever attended was most likely in the place we played today.) We played for about an hour and by the end of the show everyone was on their feet jumping up and down. It was exciting and inspiring. Justin's dad took some photos, so I'll try to post some of those in the coming weeks.

After the show I hung in the green room for a bit and munched on some snacks and then I met up again with my sister and my longtime friend Chris Talbert and we went over to Crown Center and caught an early movie. After that we headed off to dinner at Lucky's (a burger and more place near Mission, KS).

We eventually returned to my sister's house.

Playing today felt good and the energy we felt from the crowd was great. I'm not sure the final quote on the attendence, but a rough guess puts the number of audience members at around 4000 or so. Tomorrow it's back to Nashville, to finish my holiday break and get ready to photograph my cousin in-laws' wedding scheduled for New Years Day. I'll be returning to North Carolina next Monday - or at least that's my hope for now...

Mali gig this week

I'll be playing with Mali this Wednesday and Thursday in Kansas City.

What:  One Thing Conference

Where: 
Kansas City Convention Center-Downtown
Municipal Auditorium
301 W 13th St
Kansas City , MO 64105

When:
Wednesday 7:00pm
Thursday 2:00pm
(schedule subject to change)

Hope to see you there!

Mali

I've started playing with a new band called Mali (short for Malachi). I've been having fun with these guys. We played our first shows together last weekend. We played up in Greensboro (opening up for the band "By the Tree") and then played in Raleigh at a church benefit show (of sorts). Anyway, I thought I'd let you know that you may see me playing with them in the coming year at some festivals and tour dates during the spring and over the summer.

If you want to learn more about Mali, visit: http://www.malimusic.com/

more fee

Alrighty here is another one for you...reminds me of some of those religious paintings from the 70's...

Upcoming shows

I'll be playing with The Basics and the Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers in the coming days...so here's the info, should you be able to make it out to the gigs...

Sunday July 18
The Basics
w/ Peter Nevland and Paul Finley opening
showtime: 7:00pm
venue: The Gathering (@ Chapel Hill Bible Church)
260 Erwin Road,
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
call 919-408-0310 for ticket info...

Saturday, July 24
Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers
with Br. Danielson
showtime: 9:30pm
venue: Soapbox Laundro-Lounge
Wilmington, NC

New Stuff for sale at dbdrummer: the online store!

I've finished updating my online store and have a whole new range of items available for purchase.

Pick up a coffee mug for your home or studio or purcase a lunch box for the upcoming school year! Plus, take a look at the new t-shirts and styles available.

My online store is made available by the fine folks at Cafe Press. Check 'em out!

Upcoming Show

I'll be playing once again with the Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers next week. The text of the official email announcement is below in the extended entry.

Show details:
Tuesday, June 22 9:00pm
Go! Studios, Carrboro NC
The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers
Silent Cinema
Greg Sherrif

Hope to see you there!

WE Rocked the WE fest and "Wing Nut Movie" News

The WE fest this weekend in Wilmington was a blast. It was fun playing with the Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers. I think it was our best show yet, and the crowd was out in force. Plus, anytime you play Wilmington, it's always great 'cause the beach is SO close, so it was fun lounging on the beach a bit on Saturday. All in all a nice, relaxing (and ROCKIN!) way to spend a holiday weekend.

In other news:

the film I did the soundtrack for "The Wing Nut and You"... will be shown as part of the W.A.R.P. Film Festival this coming weekend here in Durham. The film festival is a production of the Durham Arts Council. You can even
see a still photo from "Wing Nut" on their web site. (You'll have to scoll down a little, the pic is the second one from the top.)
The festival should be lots of fun. If you're in town, definitely make plans to see the film this weekend, June 3-6 at the Arts Council next to the Carolina theater in downtown Durham.

me play drums this sat like i mean it

(anybody wanna peanut?)

where:
the soapbox
saturday, may 29, 2004, 9pm
wilmington, nc
wilmington's we festival

I'll be pounding out the "riddims" for the Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers again this weekend...so if you find yourself in Wilmington, come on out to the Soapbox and enjoy some great "musik"...

That short film I was telling you about...

A quick note to say that you can see - on TV!! - a short film I provided the background score for (along with the help of my friend Wade).

"The Wing Nut and You!" will be on TV tonight as part of the show "Second
Cinema."

The program airs every Monday and Friday night through May - - *Channel 24*
on Time Warner Cable at *9:00pm*. (Satellite and plain old antenna viewers
are left out, sadly.)

And I must also note: the above only applies to those of us in North Carolina. If you live elsewhere, you'll have to wait for the proper theatrical release or the more likely, rare collector's edition DVD...

Thanks a bunch to David for the "head's up..."

dale

That short film I was telling you about...

A quick note to say that you can see - on TV!! - a short film I provided the background score for (along with the help of my friend Wade).

"The Wing Nut and You!" will be on TV tonight as part of the show "Second
Cinema."

The program airs every Monday and Friday night through May - - *Channel 24*
on Time Warner Cable at *9:00pm*. (Satellite and plain old antenna viewers
are left out, sadly.)

And I must also note: the above only applies to those of us in North Carolina. If you live elsewhere, you'll have to wait for the proper theatrical release or the more likely, rare collector's edition DVD...

Thanks a bunch to David for the "head's up..."

dale

Variety

Busy busy busy...just the way I like it.

Had a great show with the Basics over the weekend and played with Mark Williams last night in Raleigh for a fund raiser. The Basics record is almost done with mastering, so that should be out soon. This is a great record and a great band, and I'm real proud of the tracks I played on and how everything sounds. Wade did an incredible job of mixing and engineering (and writing and singing - along with Kelly). It's just a great sounding record, all around.

Rob Seals new record is out (I believe) or at least my copy is coming in the mail...another great record with some killer songs. Wade received his copy yesterday and we listened to it on our way to the Mark Williams gig last night (Wade played guitar last night).

This last week just sort of incapsulates what I like about all the groups and people I get to play with from time to time...creative variety! For instance, The Basics show was a full band situation, yet there were some volume concerns (regarding the size of the room, etc) so I opted to go with a Hybrid set-up of some of my hand drums and my little Silver Sparkle Premier "club kit" And then I used these cool "broom" like brushes instead of sticks. I felt like I was able to cover all the bases I needed to, without feeling like I was having to "underplay." The show I did last night was a straight up "acoustic" show, so all I played was my large Djembe and used brushes to simulate hi/hat parts or the feel of a shaker.

The recordings I mentioned above utilized different parts of my skills as well...for the Basics, I pretty much played drumset, and a little bit of Percussion. However for Rob's stuff, with him, we've ususally recorded everything "piece meal" as Percussion (even though I may be laying down a snare part and a kick part, it's all done separately, one instrument at a time).

And there's a bunch of stuff on the horizon as well...I've got some major web design updates to perform to my site as well as implementing a new site for Durham Drum Lessons which is the "umbrella" I'll be teaching drum lessons under. Other than that, I'm in the midst of putting together a loop CD, specifically for a producer out in LA...I may end up releasing it at some point through my Cafe Press store, but we'll see how that goes and how it turns out. Hopefully I'll be recording with Bill West again soon and it looks like I may play on a Brent Lambert production here in the near future.

So yeah, for now things are busy, varied and creative. Never the same thing twice. Or at least it feels that way.

Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned.

Cheers,

dale

In Concert! This Friday...

I'll be playing with The Basics this Friday at St Philip's Episcopal Church here in downtown Durham. The show starts at 7:00. This is a concert benefitting Urban Ministries of Durham, so come on out and help a good cause while listening to some great music.

The Basics are putting the finishing touches on their latest album, "Grow," which I had the privilege of playing drums and percussion on. (I might have played Piano on a track too, but my memory is a little fuzzy...) It's a great CD and I can't say enough good things about the songwriting and production of this disc. This is quality stuff folks!

And speaking of quality stuff, the shows with Perry (aka The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers) this past weekend went well. Thanks for all of those who attended and a special congrats is in order for those of you who perservered through the worst traffic I've seen (since living in Branson, MO) and made it to our show last night at GO! studios in Carrboro. We had a magical time didn't we?

dale

Upcoming Shows

I'll be playing with The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers this weekend:

Friday, April 16, 2004, 8PM
Wilmington, nc
the soapbox
with The Anomoanon

Sunday, April 18, 2004, 9PM
Chapel Hill, nc
go studios room four
with Mary Prankster
and Eyes to Space

And next week I'll be playing with the Basics:
Friday April 23, 2004 7pm
St Philip's Episcopal Church
Durham, NC

If you get a chance, come on out and listen to some great music...

dale

Show at the Open Eye Cafe in Carrboro

I'll be playing with Perry Wright from the Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers on Thursday night at the Open Eye Cafe in Carrboro. It's a small coffee house so instead of the usual "rocking" band, I'll be playing a pared down kit

The Basics...new release and show coming soon!

Well, I've just confirmed an April show with The Basics. I'll be playing drums/ perc. loops, etc along with Mark Williams (on guitars/ bass/ etc) and Kelly (vocals/ guitars /perc) and Wade (vocals/ gtr/ bass/ loops etc).

Kelly and Wade Baynham (aka "the Basics") are putting the finishing touches on their newest album and they've started scheduling shows for the Spring.

FYI: Mark Williams is a talented solo artist/ producer/ multi-instrumentalist in his own right as well. It'll be fun to help bring this new batch of songs to life in a live setting.

It's always fun to have an excuse to hang with Wade, Kelly and Mark, so needless to say I'm looking forward to it! Stay tuned for times and locations...

Nashville (North Carolina) Gig with Claire Holley

It was great fun last night playing with Claire Holley again and Rob Seals. Since I played with Claire last, she's moved to LA and so it was fun to catch up on how she's enjoying the West Coast.

Our gig was in Nashville, North Carolina, yes, North Carolina. And we performed in the converted church where the Nash County Arts Center resides.

A beautiful old place, cozy laid back and fun. Just like our host for the evening(minus the old part), Barden Winstead. Barden took us out for dinner at the Town and Country Restaurant. Let it be known that I tasted my first ever Chicken Livers there. Barden said the livers are a good source of iron. So I suppose that's a good thing. I also had a side of Rutabagas, which I've never seen offered on a menu before. So what the hey, right?

Anyway, the crowd was welcoming, enthusiastic and fun to talk with after the show. We really had a good time there and I hope we get to play there again. Nashville is beautiful small town and it reminded me of my hometown growing up.

P.S.
Oh, and I found out about this great coffee place in Rocky Mount, so if you're ever on your way to the Outer Banks (going East on Hwy 64), make sure to take the Sunset exit near Rocky Mount and look for "Via Cappuccino," a fine place to get some REAL GOOD coffee.

Well everybody, have a great weekend. We'll talk to you later. (and I promise Barden not to forget who you are like Todd Snider did)

dale

Site Maintenance, the prayers and tears and Snow Globe!

Web Maintenance
I've been working at updating my site to make the design a little more snappy and fun. My goal is to eventually get it up to W3C specs. But we'll see. Oh and I fixed the bad link (BBC One Music) on Dec. 2 (thanks Brandon for pointing that out...). It should work now.

I just deleted all the Spam Comments I've received since starting my blog. I apologize for the spam that you may have inadvertantly been exposed to via my blog. Sorry about that.

The Prayers and Tears
By the way, the show with Perry (The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers) the other night at Temple Ball went great...he is someone you definitely should check out...check out the link to his site and start following this guys music and (hopefully soon to be full-time) career. His style is in the vein of Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith. And when the guys from Go Machine sit in...watch out it becomes more along the lines of the Doves, or RadioHead. Powerful stuff. This guy is singing like his life depends on it!

I've been recording with him off and on over the last couple of months for some compilation projects, I'll let you know when the cd's come out. We've been doing some fun stuff in the studio and I can't wait for you to hear it!

Snow Globe
Last but not least...my friends Mark and Chana Keefer sent me this via email. It's a harmless little Snow Globe done in Flash Animation. You click on the snow globe and shake it...and there are little animated people inside the globe, snowboarding and making snowmen and stuff...really cute, fun and (how do they say it?) "Season Appropriate."

Happy Holidays from all of us here at dalebakerdrummer.com!

Big Rock Show Tomorrow Night!

Hey everybody, gather 'round!

I'm playing a show tomorrow night with Perry Wright aka "the prayers and tears of arthur digby sellars" at De La Luz in Chapel Hill. Show starts at 9:00 ish.