Hiking at Stoney Point

Had an amazing Hike today at Stoney Point in Topanga Canyon with my wife. We climbed up as high as we could and saw great views of the valley. We saw little squirrels, bunnies and lizards too. Also there was a lot of graffiti and broken bottles. I don't know about you but if you tag a rock in the middle of a hiking trail then that's not really graffiti. Thats lame graffiti because you are unlikely to get caught. And you are ruining the land. Destroy man made structures and leave natural land alone....GOSH. I now want to try to hike around all the trails in the Santa Monica Mountains. It's just so fun and a big challenge. What are some great trails that you know about?

Since this is a music blog too, here is the musician of the day. Thaddeus Tribbett from the Tye Tribbett gospel band. I've been playing drums at St. Bridget church since I was 15 and as players we were always pushing each other to do crazier and crazier things but still make it work musically with the song. Not just show off our skills all the time (Hey but you got to do it sometimes). Well Thaddeus is the bass player and he is just ridiculous. That bass player is just on a whole different level and I enjoy watching him play. He's still not as good as Jeremy Milado who I've played with at my church because I think Jeremy plays more musically but Thaddeus is still good. A bit showy but I like showy sometimes. This whole band in general is amazing and for some reason I have a huge obsession with gospel music because it is the epitome of musicianship that I've seen in a band but keep it entertaining and emotional. These musicians are the ones pushing the limit of their craft in a way I've never seen. When you start watching gospel bands it's like watching a bunch of musicians friendly competing with each other. They all push themselves and each other to do weirder and weirder things. Just watch Thaddeus on bass and see how he is almost making up stuff as he goes to see what fits. It's just epic and beautiful. If anything you should pick up Tye Tribbett's live album VICTORY. I have it and it's inspiring. I think anyone can enjoy this music and the level of musicianship these people choose to play and you don't have to be christian. Hope you enjoy and just see how this guy kills it!

Fried Fish

Just made an amazing Fried Fish at home today. I used tilapia instead of catfish which is what the recipe said to use but tilapia is super cheap and really tasty. Just thought I'd share this recipe with you.

Click here for recipe

Here are some photos

Also I wanted to post this video which is totally unrelated to food but it's great music to listen to while cooking, taking a long drive or just being with your baby girl.

Anthony Green is just one of those artists that I can't describe with words because I can never write something that will do him justice. Lets just say that this song and this album "Avalon" changed me so much musically and this album is a summer, fall, winter and spring album. I can listen to it anytime of the year and it'll be fitting. It's even great for road trips because the album puts everyone in a peaceful mood. I know most of you who will read this already know him but if you don't, please check him out.

Pick up this album if you don't have it.

Downtown Music and 5th of July Fireworks

So last night my best friend David and I went to downtown to take some pictures. David got a new Sony camera and is obsessed with photography and we like scouting out for cool locations for photos. So I thought of taking the Metro Red Line to the Civic Center where the Disney Concert Hall is. I also brought my HD video camera to film the area. So I made a video of the whole night. I got in trouble outside the Disney Concert Hall for using a tripod. Sounds stupid to me but I don't want to get arrested haha. What made this night awesome was the fireworks at Dodger stadium. I didn't get to see any fireworks for the 4th of July because I was working on some music but I'm glad I got to see these fireworks (and for free too). Had lots of fun roaming downtown at night. Something about the empty streets of the area makes it a bit erie but awesome.

here are some photos

Photos by Me

Photos by David

1st real post

How I thought of this blog is when I heard one of my new favorite new artists "Kaki King" say that she wanted to be a musician's musician because those are the people that will remember you and your music and I find that so true. I remember the people that touched me musically and impressed me musically whether it be from amazing instrumental skill (mainly amazing drummers for me) or someone who is just utterly passionate of what he/she is playing. So this first real blog goes out to Kaki King and her amazing music. How I got to know about Kaki King was when one of my good friends "Stebs" needed music for a filming project he had. He said he wanted music that had a Kaki King vibe but less acoustic so I said no problem even though I had never heard of Kaki King. So after that email I went straight to research and fell in love with this song "Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be A Bad Person?", off her record Dreaming Of Revenge. I knew from just listening to that one song that I wanted that whole album. Not just that one song because what is the fun of just staying safe knowing one song when you can make an adventure into seeing all the sides of an artist. I rarely download music and I never try to download just one song from an artist. So since this was late at night which made the song very fitting to my mood I couldn't wait till morning to go to the local record store and pick up this album. Morning came and i was off to one of my favorite record stores on Ventura Blvd. between Woodman and Van Nuys. "Freakbeat Records". They always have awesome selections, rarities and cool indie bands at pretty reasonable prices and I like supporting local businesses. So when I got there I was really upset to see that they didn't carry that album. But they did have the brand new album "Junior" and a couple old ones. I found a used copy of "Everybody Loves You for 7 bucks and I had no idea about it but it's basically her playing crazy tapping acoustic guitar. Amazing deal too. So the only other place that sells records (but worst selection ever) near my neighborhood was Best Buy and there's no way I am going over the hill to Amoeba to get it cause I ain't got the gas. So of course Best Buy does not have it. So I had to resort to the thing I hate doing most...Buy it off iTunes because I just couldn't wait any longer. I needed it. Went home and downloaded it, burned it to a CD and cruised with it. It is my album of the year. I know it's an older album but still. This album struck a chord in me and gave me back my faith in music again. For awhile I was buying CDs like no other and not one of them sticked to me. So thank you Kaki King and I can't wait to see you perform live. What I've learned from listening to your music is just always do what you love and don't care what others may think of it. Just be honest to yourself and play what you want to play and everything will follow.

Also I love this song. I heard it in the movie Into the Wild which is one of my favorite movies and I didn't know it was Kaki King until I read about. Looks like I've liked her music for awhile but I didn't know it.

Hey Everybody

So basically I got bored of posting small messages on Facebook because I'm a talker and have a lot to say. So I decided to start this blog and post stuff that I like. The main things I'm going to try and focus on this blog is music, mainly music I really like people to know about. I am a musician's musician and some of the music I listen too only musicians seem to enjoy and are and is hardly noticed by the public. So what I want to accomplish is showing you another side of music, away from what's popular or what record companies tells us to like.

Also I'm going to post random things I can think about. Looks like I'm back blogging again. This should be fun.

Cheers

-Dan