josephine!

i'm in vancouver.  its awesome.  but before i get to that, i have a story to tell you...

i played an afternoon set today at C&P Coffee Co. in west seattle.  it was a great, intimate little acoustic room with a nice stage at one end.  my friend nelson opened the show with a great set of folk standards as well as his own originals, (which i like even more every time i hear them!)  then i played for about an hour and a half.  as usual, near the beginning of my set, i had mentioned that i had cds for sale.  well there was this young family in the audience, (a couple in their twenties and their two small children) who dug my music!  so midway through my set, the cutest little two year old girl that i've ever seen walks up to the stage with ten bucks in her tiny hand.  her name was josephine and she totally made my day!  i knelt down and shook her hand and introduced myself right there on stage, and she told me all about what kind of music she likes (her favorite song is 76 trombones :p)  i gave her a cd and she dutifully brought it back over to her parents.  her folks were really nice, and i got to talk to a few of the audience members afterwards.  it was a show that i'm sure i'll never forget!

afterwards i drove up to vancouver and played an open mic at cafe montmartre (a surprising number of people in speak french in vancouver, which is cool 'cause i do too :)  it was a cool-tight-knit-community of an open mic, with great music, spoken word and even comedy! definitely got a feel for vancouver and the music scene here!  looking forward to checking out the city tomorrow and definitely looking forward to playing at the yale here in vancouver on tuesday night!  if you know anyone in the area, feel free to let them know!  details are here:  www.levischmidtmusic.com/shows

peace!

L

seattle has beautiful trees

got lost in the trails at pioneer park :)

i flew in to seattle yesterday.  all that i packed were like 3 t shirts, as many 'like water' CDs as i could fit into my backpack, my computer, and my guitar.  i had to pay extra to check my guitar at the airport, but my friend nelson (who not only offered to host me here in seattle, but also hooked me up with a sweet gig!) told me the baller way to avoid paying extra for a guitar:  just carry it on.  it's that easy, apparently (and ask one of the flight staff to find a place for it!)  apparently it works everytime... i'll update y'all on this after the return flight!  :p

at nelson's place, gettin' my sleep on

anyway, i played a show here last night at a place called taco guaymas in lynnwood, wa.  it was a great room with a super attentive crowd that was definitely into the live local music scene.  the tremendous rick ruskin opened the show with an absolutely virtuosic showing of solo guitar instrumentals mixed in with the occasional folk/blues song.  the guy can play some guitar...  really incredible.  my friend, nelson wright, played the middle set, mixing his own awesome original tunes with some well chosen classics by the likes of players such as mississippi john hurt.  great set.  i had the pleasure of closing the show, and the audience was amazing!  not only did they stick around for my hour long set, they were super open to my style of music (a little different than rick and nelson's respective styles!) and really friendly after the show! definitely made some new friends in seattle!

p.s. the burritos at taco guaymas are out of this world...

today i've got another show in seattle, at a place called C&P coffee co.  its a fairly small room, so i've decided to play the show without any amplification (plus i didn't feel like finding a way to bring an amp, micstand, etc on the plane... :p).  but it'll be a good exercise in projecting my sound, and can definitely be a cool experience for the audience as well :)  after the show this afternoon, i'm heading up to vancouver to hang out for a couple of days before my show at the yale tuesday night!  wish me luck!

peace, y'all

levi

and that's word to toronto...

toronto is an amazing city.  i've only gotten to spend one night here, but i've seen so much culture, diversity and positivity in this city! 

i drove to toronto today from nj.  it was a really mellow drive up through the hills of upstate new york.  at the border, i convinced a decidedly dope border patrol officer with a well kept beard, not to charge me $150 for a work permit, since i was just coming to TO for one show.  i didn't try very hard to convince him, but i'm definitely glad he decided to let me in to canada! :p  there was a couple in front of me in the immigration line who got a long lecture from a less dope border patrol officer about not abusing the border rules to visit each other across national boundaries unless they were going to get married...  awkward silence...  haha!

i played at a great venue right in downtown toronto called C'est What.  alysha brillinger, who was supposed to be the headliner for the night, had to cancel last minute because she got the flu :(  (get well soon, alysha!)  so i ended up splitting the night and trading songs with a local singer/songwriter named luke jackson.  we had a great time, and had an excellent audience of old friends and new ones :)  one of the many cool parts about playing at c'est what is that all shows at c'est what are webcast at http://www.whatsnext.ca/ and recorded as well!  very cool.

after the show, a bunch of us just hung out and talked about life, cultures, accents and lots of other important stuff over a few beers.  very good times, indeed.  crashing at my friend grace's here in toronto for a few hours before hitting the road!  it's crazy that boston is farther from toronto than nj.  such is life!  leaving early tomorrow for a show tomorrow night in good old boston.  can't wait...

much love,

levi

skyfest

whatup everybody,

so on saturday, i had the pleasure of opening day 2 of live music at the skylands music and arts festival in blairstown, NJ.  it was awesome.  great day of music, culture, community and fun.  i played a little over a half hour set with my good friend blase ur on bass.  this was blase and my second time ever playing together, and we were totally vibing out there; really feeling the music and getting into it!  blase adds sooooo much to the set with his mad bass skillz...

we played to an intimate, but lively crowd of early bird types, since 11:30 am is a bit early to go see live music on a saturday.  it was an awesome crowd though, all about the music and listening and connecting.  very cool. 

after our set, blase and i hung out and watched caravan of thieves, who were great musically, and lots of fun.  then i hung out with the extremely talented vance gilbert backstage before his set.  he basically made fun of me for a half hour, then for another hour during his set..  but all in good fun!  he had an amazing set, truly inspirational.  the guy is a performer, an amazing guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and comedian.  it was cool to hang out with him, swap CDs and learn a bit from a guy who's been around. 

now i'm getting ready to head to toronto for the next leg of the tour!  playing at C'est What and opening Alysha Brillinger!  awesome. 

check out tickets for the TO show here, and for more info, as always, visit www.levischmidtmusic.com!

peace.

L

charlotte show and radio

Maddie, Joyce (owner of Div Den), myself and Stephen after the show

on august 18th, i had the pleasure of playing a show at the Diversity Den Cafe along with the fantastically talented Maddie Shuler and Stephen Sylvester.  it was an incredibly fun show, and we were all definitely feeding off of all of the creative, musical energy in the place that night.  Maddie is an incredible guitarist and vocalist, and an even better writer, and at the age of 15, she's definitely going places!  Stephen is pretty new to songwriting, and he's got an amazing, soulful voice and plays his fender strat wiht a stylish flair, all his own.  splitting the night with these guys was a huge treat!  i met both of them last week at the evening muse open mic, where i was promoting the Diversity Den show.  after hearing them play (and realizing that i had to fill a 3 hour set at the Diversity Den :P) i asked them to join me and the rest is history :)  we all decided that we'd have to do it again someday!

after the show was over wednesday night around 10, i headed off back to new jersey.  earlier wednesday, i had scheduled a radio interview/live performance at 8am thursday morning, back home at WNTI in hackettstown, nj.  it's literally a 10 hour drive from charlotte...  so i had little time to spare!  thankfully i didn't hit any traffic (perks of driving through the night) and arrived at the WNTI studio right around 8 am!  it was a fun little interview and performance, promoting the Skylands Music and Arts Festival at which i'll be performing this weekend (cafe stage, saturday august 21, 11:30 am). 

after the radio show, i wrote three songs.  then i went to sleep.  for hours.  it was awesome.  :)

hope all is well with all of you, and that you are enjoying the end of august!

levi

austin

austin is an amazing city with even more amazing people.  i must say, it has lived up to the hype that all of my texan friends have attached to it.  my friend An and her friend Tanya found it in the goodness of their hearts to hook me up with a room at the lovely Radisson hotel right in downtown austin!  needless to say, we slept extremely well (my guit and i... thats not weird.  ...    right?)

i ate a lot of mexican food while i was here, and it was all delicious.  they say you're an expert at something if you've practiced it for 10,000 hours.  well i've eaten the equivalent in mexican food, and in my expert opinion, mexican food here in austin is top notch.  :)

momo's is an awesome club, half indoor bar, half outdoor patio, but all gnarly.  they had a nice big stage and a great space because both the indoor and outdoor sections were in view and earshot of the stage.  i played to an amazing crowd of like 15 people, but its all about quality, and this crowd was good peoples.  :)  this was really a fun show and we all stuck around for a beer afterwards, then went out to dinner!  met a bunch of friends of friends who are all  awesome and had a great night!  thank you friends in austin, old and new!

now i'm off to charlotte, NC for a show at a cool little venue called the Diversity Den.  i've got about 30 hours before the show (its a 20 hour drive :P)    sounds like my kind of thing :) after the NC show, i'll drive through the night back to NJ for an interview/performance on WNTI radio station in NJ thursday morning.  should be a good time :P

hope you're all enjoying the last couple weeks of the great month of august!

much love,

levi

iowa! (looks like owa! in spanish)

dubuque iowa is an interesting place.   this particular hilarious sign (see picture at right) is from a store in a town called galena, just outside of dubuque (and outside of iowa too, actually).  maybe it was the sophisticated smorgasbord of colors and shapes present in this picture, taken out of a moving car by the driver of said moving car (me);  or maybe it was the little things hanging down from the oo's on the sign;  whatever it was, i saw this sign and immediately knew that i had to share this with you all!  you're welcome.  :P

so i got to dubuque at like 4 in the afternoon on a saturday and the place was deserted!  all the stores were closed, but you could tell people had been there recently.  it was like a movie...  (except instead of zombies, it turns out that a couple of nearby casinos were the culprit in this case of missing persons).  i ended up walking around town and hanging out in a really nice park, playing some tunes and enjoying the beautiful iowan day!

eliza blue and myself playing a little duet @ monk's

for those of you who missed the chicago post, i had split a show the night before with an awesome songwriter from minnesota named eliza blue.  after the show (actually during the show... it was kinda funny) she invited me to come play tonight in dubuque, and i, of course, said yes!  so here we are in dubuque playing a little venue called monk's kaffe pub.  it was awesome.  the most interesting crowd in the world, perhaps.  i actually had a gentleman, (complete with high socks and a double-fist full of dr. pepper and coffee... at midnight!) discuss the meanings of a couple of my songs with me for a few mintues during the show.  he is an interesting cat, i must say.  in the end though, the sleep always wins over the caffeine, and we bade him goodnight!

overall it was a great show and a nice first visit to dubuque!  the folks that i met were super nice and welcoming, and were very pumped about their town's mission, to bring some arts and culture into northern iowa.  i left at midnight, headed for austin, texas! 

kansas city at sunrise is beautiful, especially after 5 hours of driving :) 

now i'm at the home of my good family friends, Soc and Emily Rosenfeld, here in harker heights, tx.  i am so thankful to have friends like these; people, who have been so kind to me throughout this journey!  tomorrow is the austin show.  soooooo pumped! (...and sleepy...) 

thank you :)

levi

Chicago-getters

wow it feels like so much has happened since the last post!  i've gotta hurry on this post, because i'm working at a panera during peak hours, so they only let you stay on their free wifi for like half an hour...  not cool panera... not cool.   the good news about panera is that i happened upon about 100 bucks worth of panera gift cards before leaving on this leg of the tour, and it turns out, panera is good tour food, and these days, there's one on every corner! 

anyways, i drove up from nashville to chicago yesterday, and stopped by the general george patton museum.  ...so much history there.

i ended up crashing at my friend julio's DOPE BACHELOR PAD in the great city of milwaukee...  i was definitely the least classy thing about the place (see pic of me trying not to wake up)...  it was great to hang out w/ julio for a bit, who was my roommate until about 2 months ago when college abruptly ended!  >:(   (is that a new emoticon?  thats exactly how julio's face looked all through college :P )

played at an awesome place in Chicago, right near Wrigley Field, called Uncommon Ground.  its like a mix between a cafe, restaurant and bar and i highly recommend it if you're in the chi.  it was a crazy fun show, and a couple of good friends from MIT came out to see the show, as well as some friends of friends that i got to meet afterwards!  Dustin was there, on the backend of a 5000 mile road/backpacking trip, which is crazy, especially because Dustin has been to more of my shows than anyone in the whole world except me.  thanks again for coming out, bro!

played for an hour and then another great singer/songwriter named Eliza Blue played.  she was awesome, and afterwards she invited me to play another show with her tonight in dubuque, iowa.  so ya, i'm playing at Monk's Kaffee Pub in dubuque tonight... heck ya.

after the show tonight, i'll have the pleasure of driving through the night again to austin, texas.  all right texans, lets see if this is as awesome as you all say it is :D

much love, yall

levi

The Nash

Nashville is, simply, the illest.  (i mean that in the positive way).

last night i got into town, ate a quick meal, and arrived at the venue at what i believed was 7:30pm.  then i realized that from nashville is an hour behind charlotte...  i was an hour and a half early.  LOLface.

the venue is a intimate little rock club, the exception to most of Nashville's country western/bluegrass type concert halls.  the basement is one of those rooms with so much history–the paint and drywall artistically torn off in most places to reveal the brick, the dim lights, the corner bar, and the venerable bartender, who's happy to shoot the breeze for an hour while you wait for the show to start, telling you about the time Metallica played here– its a dive bar crossed with a rock club, and is better for it!

the Basement is, in face, a basement, in case  you were wondering.  and upstairs is one of the coolest record stores in the country, Grimey's New and Pre-Loved Music.  Bought a Regina Spektor Live EP from there...

the show was a lot of fun, and i ran into a couple of other touring musicians that i had crossed paths with before.  i also met some new friends who showed me around town a bit!  if you're in town, definitely hit up Loveless Cafe...  the have awesome southern food!

headed to chicago tomorrow!  hope all is well, and have a great day!

levi

Salvador Deli... get it?

Salvador Deli... get it?  good one, Charlotte, NC... good one.

so i left NJ at midnight heading to north carolina.  drove through the night, slept in the car (peep the creepy picture :P) and got here around 9AM.  Charlotte seems like a pretty cool town (greeeat sense of humor!)  i'm here in Charlotte to  promote my show here in two weeks (August 18th  at the Diversity Den, Concord, NC!  check out info at www.levischmidtmusic.com) 

i played an open mic in north charlotte, at a place called the evening muse.  it was a really artsy, fun night!  the open mic is definitely a listening room and i met some awesome local musicians :)  definitely a good time, and it went super late, so i've gotta get some sleep before heading to nashville early tomorrow!

@ the evening muse!

much love, and more posts/photos to come,

L- to the -evi

the songs will come

these are some words about songwriting.

i'm at home with my mom dad and sister right now.  they're all asleep, but i was fortunate enough to be able to spend the day with them all.  going home for a few days, for me, is like hitting a reset button on my life, or changing the guitar strings in my head, after they're really old and have been played by lots of well-meaning-but-sticky-handed jamming buddies.  my soul always feels so healthy when i'm around these people.  unconditional love does that, i think.. 

tonight i sat down to write a song and nothing came out.

*an aside about my own songwriting process:

[i've never been able to just decide to write a song.  like "oh hey, i think i'll write a song today."  it just never works for me.  its funny, i look back at the songs that i've written, songs that i play out and that i've recorded, and i'm honestly in awe, like "i don't remember writing that", or "how did i think of that?"  i think that's because i didn't write these songs– and i certainly didn't try to write them. 

instead, its like there's this creative energy that can come through people sometimes.  and when my head is in the right place and when i have something on my heart that needs to be let out, then i can connect with that energy and it comes out as music.  or at least thats how it feels.]

so tonight, as i was having trouble, not feeling right about this song that i was trying to write, i asked myself an important question: why do you want to write this song? 

i had to lie down, look inside and really be honest with myself. 

tonight i wanted to write a song out of fear, to assure my own fearful mind that i could still do it–that i could still write songs that i'd enjoy performing; or worse, that i could still write songs that people would like to listen to.



wow!  i'm so happy to have realized this less-than-veritable reason to write a song!  fear is so often the method with which we get in our own way, and by becoming aware of this unconscious fear, i have set myself free of its effects.  i feel so positive about making music right now!  i won't write songs out of fear or feel pressured to do so.  instead, the songs that i will write will be from someplace real. 

and the songs will come when they are supposed to.  :)

we do it for the kids... ($372.27 plus 2 bermudan!)

last night i had the opportunity to play at a packed coffeehouse called st. elmo's in alexandria, va, just outside washington dc.  the best part was that all of the pay and tips for the show was donated to the children's hospital of washington dc!  emmy day and i split the night, and with the help of everyone who came out to listen, we raised over $370 dollars (+ $2 bermudan) for the hospital!  it was so much fun :)

i met a bunch of really nice folks at the show and afterwards, i got to hang out and catch up with some old friends and some new ones :)  after everyone went to bed, i drove back to new jersey.  driving through the night is so peaceful, plus it's such a weird feeling to be arriving home after a 5 hour drive at 6am when the other folks on the road are starting their day.  i got back home at about 6am, and of course my mom was awake and excited to see me :)  i'm going to spend a couple of days here to finish up some preparations and get some supplies for the next leg of the tour, which will be the longest!  i'll be leaving again saturday for north carolina, then it's off to nashville, chicago, austin and beyond, so keep checking this blog for updates!

much love,

levi

In DC, church bells don't play around

it's five past noon in washington DC and the church bells have been going since twelve on the dot.  they are loud and beautiful!  i'm in my good friends' (Ted and Deepika) apartment in NW DC changing my strings and getting ready for the show tonight at St. Elmo's Cafe in Alexandria, VA.  DC is a pretty sweet town so far... there are lots of young people, many beautiful monuments, and a lot of folks who are passionate about what they do!

after a very relaxed drive down to DC yesterday, i met up with a fantastic DC area singer songwriter, emmy day, to go over some stuff for the show (emmy and i will be splitting the show at st. elmo's).  yesterday, we practiced a cool little duet, which we're planning on playing tonight :)  afterwards i met up with ted, deepika, slevin and eliza (mit is well represented in dc this summer!) for some mexican food (sooo good).  ted said to meet him at 7th and F, but it turns out there are 4 different instances of 7th and F in DC, one for each quadrant of the city.  after some quick problem solving on their part, i found my way to rosa mexicano and we had a great dinner!

so far the tour has been awesome (all 1 day of it :P)  but i'm really happy to have the opportunity to travel around doing what i love, playing music, meeting up with old friends and living life!  not to mention driving...  i love driving, especially stick shift (shout to D for the dope whip)!


anyways, gotta go change my strings for the show tonight.  thanks for reading, and check out the website for music samples, etc!


much love,


levi

last day at home...

the last minute preparations are underway... i've got days worth of classic CD's from my friend dan cloutier and enough peanut butter to last me a month on the road.  i'll be leaving tomorrow morning for washington dc, the first stop on my first tour. 

to do list:
1.  make a blog   (check)
2.  email and facebook to promote shows (its good to have friends dispersed around the country!)
3.  change my car's oil
4.  make flyers for shows in charlotte, chicago and austin
5.  think really seriously about buying a smartphone, but don't
6.  buy an atlas instead (what can i say, i'm oldschool)

i'm really excited to begin this part of my musical journey ;p   my plan is to post to this blog pretty often during my tour with pictures, videos and words of wisdom that i hope to learn as i spend five weeks travelling, playing music, and sleeping in hopefully-not-TOO-too-sketchy places. 

for a full list of tour dates, check out www.levischmidtmusic.com/shows

word to your moms  ( i mean that in the nicest way)

much love,

levi