As I climbed the stairs, I saw a shortcut through the building. It was darker and I couldn’t see the end of the tunnel but I just knew it would lead me right to where I needed to be. So I pushed through the doors into a dank hallway filled with pools of water and flickering lights. I knew I shouldn’t have been there and I immediately regretted taking this route but I continued on anyway.

A while had passed and I noticed the lights were getting dimmer and it felt as if I was going downward, not up. I began to panic. I pressed myself to the cold concrete wall and began to feel for a door or window or anything to just make my way out of this crazy tunnel.

Then in the distance, I saw a faintly lit exit sign and began to make my way toward it. My shoes were already soaked from all the puddles and my footsteps made a slopping noise that echoed all around me like endless taunts that I’d never find my way out.

I reached the exit and with a sigh of relief, I pushed on the door practically pressing my chest against the cool metal panel. It didn’t budge. With disbelief, I tried again this time, slamming my hands against the aluminum bar. Same thing. Why won’t this work? My mind began racing. This can’t be happening. I looked around for some last ditch sign that might help me leave this miserable place but I couldn’t see anything. It was too dark by then. Only the dim orange glow from the exit sign gave any light to the hall.

I slowly backed away from the door and shut my eyes. In moments, I was lunging both arms in front of me at the handle, determined to force my way through that door, no matter what. I tripped on the threshold as the door pushed opened effortlessly, as if a small breeze would have suspended it.

When I finally gathered myself, I turned around and looked back at that hallway. From the outside, it didn’t look like much. Just an empty, uneventful hallway. Weird, I thought.

My feet were still dripping wet and made the walk up that much more miserable. It took another 20 minutes but I made it back to the car, the hard way. I leaned up against the hood and I noticed I wasn’t as far off as I thought. In fact, I was much closer than I initially thought.

Instead of rehashing everything that I’ve been putting out to the world about these guys, I thought I might do something a little more personal here.

Jeff “Jefe/Glue” Johnson

Jeff was the first member of the band that officially joined. We met before around the music scene when he was playing in various other bands but never really got together to play music. One day, “Doktor” Dave Sawyer and I were talking about bass players and my interest in starting a band and he suggested Jeff. I didn’t really think anything of it because I wasn’t prepared to start practicing with a band so I just kinda moved on.

A few months later, I found myself accompanying Brenda Xu in her band and lo, and behold, in walks Jeff as the new bassist. After playing a few shows together, it became obvious that Jeff would be a great fit for my band. The guy’s mind is always going to places I would have never even imagined and his playing and joking around reflects that! As if this doesn’t sound enough like a couple’s autobiography, after one rehearsal, we went to eat dinner at a local restaurant and the owners thought we were on a date. But that’s an entirely different story that Jeff tells much better than I do.

Rodney Jones

I met Rodney at the Asian Cultural Festival of all places. He was playing drums with our mutual friend Terry Matsuoka and when I first heard him play, I immediately knew I had to talk to him. Started listing people he’s played with and the kind of gigs he is used to, I was almost too intimidated to ask him if he wanted to try sitting in with me. After getting together a few times, I knew his addition to the band would make us a band to be reckoned with. Rodney is one of the busiest musicians I know yet somehow he makes time for me. To me, that is an amazing testament to the friend that Rodney is.

Keith Adams

Even though Keith has been with us for the least amount of time, I’ve known him the longest. We met in college when were both studying music at UC Davis. Since then, he has played shows with me around Davis, CA when I was trying to figure out if being a performing singer/songwriter was something I wanted to do. Some of the earliest songs I wrote, Keith was there to help me refine them. We’ve even written a few songs together that we have a laugh about.

When I found out that Keith had moved back to the San Diego area, it was an easy decision to make. We got together once again to work out my new songs and within a few days, Keith was up on stage with us. He has quickly become an essential ingredient to the music we make lending not only his impressive guitar playing but also his creative talent as well.

I hope you will make it out to see us perform soon! Like I said, it is a huge thrill and honor to play with such talented musicians. Check out the show schedule to see where we’ll be next!

I was at a summer camp and our parents were coming to visit so we had to make the place look halfway decent. Unfortunately for us when we found out they were coming, we only had 20 minutes to prepare. It was like every summer camp movie ever made with a little bit of “Animal House” and “3 Ninjas”.

I think I’ll just do a line of salt every night for some inspiration!

I’m not really sure why I had this dream. It may have been because I played at Lestat’s a that night or that I was watching Chris Rock’s “Kill the Messenger” as I was falling asleep or that I’m afraid of failing. Probably a combination of all of those things. Ironically, I don’t really even care of Will Ferrell’s (recent) movies. Sure does beat the “eternally falling” dreams and the ones where I lose all my hair…

No point to this story really. Just thought I’d share.

Last night, I had a dream that I accidentally broke the neck of my Martin because I was playing it too hard or because I picked it up wrong or something. The details are vague. But I vividly remember that it was the day before we left for the tour (today). Ivan suggested to me that I should just get some Wood glue and let it set over night. Then I remembered (while I was dreaming) that I was probably dreaming and I woke up.

Added a Portland, OR show to the tour. Also added a new guest- Katy Wong. Can’t wait to see you on the road with a perfectly fine guitar!

-Kenny