Fan mail!
Monday, April 27, 2009

Dig it!

Hey guys...wanted to tell you how much fun we had seeing you at Slims and again at Sadlacks. You guys totally rock and we will definetly be making a road trip to see you in NYC. Hope you guys are back in Raleigh sooner rather than later. Please add me to the mailing list!

Denise and Blaine

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Raleigh Pix
Sunday, April 26, 2009

Singing/Spanking Charlene
Madness
The Superfans! Minerva, Andi, Tamara and Aubry
Mo, Charlene, Chip and his "tater-tot."

Thanks Minerva!

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Well THAT was fun...

Great to have been back down in one of my favorite towns in 'Merika (as blogger extraordinaire/Yayhoo/Olympic Ass-Kicker/Native-Son Terry Anderson calls it) Ralleigh, NC (a.k.a. Raleighwood, Norf-Cakah-lakah').

Played another great set with Butch, Eric & Alison at Sadlack's Heroes, right by the college campus, outside on a patio in the late afternoon. Spanx Charlene went on right before us and, as usual, spanked ass.

Raleigh was as awesome as I remember. The weather was gorgeous, the food was great, the beer was cold, the folks were friendly, the Red Roof Inn was surprisingly comfortable and my baby was with me, so I was a happy Smurf.

Then, treat-of-treats, last night we got to see the Yayhoos play Slim's 10th anniversary party. I know this is crude, but I see the Yayhoos and I think, "This is music made by and for people with hair in their underwear." (And that's a righteous thing, folks.)

Awesome time. But mercy did that 5 a.m. wakeup call for the 7 a.m. flight to Syracuse smart...

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Awwww Raleigh
Saturday, April 25, 2009

Hey! The quartet thing works! Played a great gig down at Slim's in Raleigh, NC last night, me, Butch, Eric Seftel (from Spanx C) and Alison Jones. Our superfan Minerva came all the way down from Jersey City, NJ to see us (Minerva has now seen us in five states, a New Heathens fan record), she brought along a bunch of friends too. Charlene, who played after us and kicked ass, sang a couple with us. We ended our set with the Stones "Ventilator Blues," after which a guy complimented us on our choice of covers before his wife called me the "most fuckable" guy in the room. I thought she might be kidding, but then Chip Robinson said that my performance gave him a "double-wide tater-tot." Awwwww Raleigh.

Moments of hilarity ensued afterward. While playing harp with Spanking Charlene on their song "Where Are The Freaks" I attempted to sit on an amplifier on the side of the stage and missed. I went endo offstage and into the hallway leading to the restrooms.

I felt kind of embarrassed about falling off stage until Chip Robinson did the same thing later on in the night, while onstage with the Vibekillers.

Lookin' forward to our gig at Sadlack's Heroes this afternoon and the Yayhoos at Slim's tonight!

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Clarification
Friday, April 24, 2009

Been crazy working all week on the Craigslist Killer story so I didn't have time to send out an e-mail blast about the gig in Raleigh until about 3 a.m. Because we're kinda' a different lineup, Old Heathen Eric Seftel, Butch, me & super bass chick Alison Jones, I didn't put "New Heathens Play Raleigh" in the subject line. I wrote "Butch, Eric & Nate Rock Raleigh" and then went on to mention that Alison was playing with us.

Landed in Raleigh (the Frankenraisen wouldn't have made it) got an e-mail from Eric who pointed out, as a friend of his had, that my e-mail made it sound like he, Eric, is back IN the New Heathens rather than on LOAN TO the New Heathens from Spanking Charlene.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to clarify that Eric Seftel, of Spanking Charlene, will be performing with me and Butch, of the New Heathens, this weekend in Raleigh.

Since the band started going through some pretty painful lineup changes more than a year ago I've spent a lot of time aggrieved over what and who exactly are "New Heathens." This might be the best I can do. Here's a list of people who have played onstage with us and their honorary "Heathen" status:

Butch Phelps = New Heathen
Domenick Tiziano = New Heathen in absentia
Brandy Wood = New Shethen
Eric Seftel = New Heathen circa' 2006-2008, currently on loan from Spanking Charlene
Tony Graci = New Heathen studio drummer
Fabrice Gamon = New Heathen French drummer
Uwe Petersen = New Heathen German drummer
Shu Nakamura = New Heathen Japanese guitarist
Dan Ambrico = New Heathen American bassist
Drew Glacken = Honorary Heathen
Keith Christopher = Original Heathen
Charlene McPherson = New Heathens' best vocalist

And Nate Schweber = ???

So in the end I don't know what a "New Heathen" is or even what the "New Heathens" are. Better double check. Could YOU be a New Heathen?

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Character Study
Monday, April 20, 2009

Coming on the heels of this hilarious Russell Crowe blog by my favorite rock 'n' roll blogger, Terry Anderson, I have some things to say myself.

Saw the movie State of Play this weekend, and it's a really, really good drama. One of the things that made me laugh, however, was Russell Crowe's spot-on impersonation of, well, me.

See, Russell plays a newspaper reporter in the movie. From the empty food bags and full notebooks strewn around his kinda' crappy car, to the Robert Johnson poster in his apartment, to the copy of "Blue Blood" by Edward Conlon on his desk Mr. Crowe had down details from my life.

And then there's his long, shaggy hair.

The hair I find particularly funny. I know a lot of reporters and, other than Mr. Crowe, I've never seen one with hair like mine (photographers are a different story...)

Here are a few snapshots of me actually out doing journalism work juxtaposed with stills of Russell Crowe in State of Play. See any similarities?

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Threads
Friday, April 17, 2009

Computer's fixed.

Man I have an rad girlfriend. She's so stylish and sweet. She's given me some awesome clothes so for once I look kinda' cool. Here's a picture of me dressed head to toe in clothes she gave me.

Oh I get her clothes too. Here's a picture of Kristen dressed head to toe in clothes I gave her.

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The True Story of How My Laptop Died
Monday, April 6, 2009

This might be my last post for a while. Get a load of this story.

Yesterday I was working on a story in Binghampton, NY. I stopped in the Cyber Cafe West on Main Street to type up my notes. I took a seat inside by the window, ordered a bowl of vegetarian chili, and got to work, frantically.

I was typing furiously on my MacBook while holding my phone to my ear with my shoulder so I could talk to the reporter I was working with.

Suddenly I something went "WHAM!" right next to my head. A split second later there was a "SPLAT!" on my table.

I jumped from shock and my computer tumbled from my lap to the floor. I looked down and saw a dead bird lying on its back in my bowl of chili. Its feet stuck straight up in the air. It was a beautiful black songbird with red spots and feathers edged with peacock green. The sucker had slammed into the window, riccocheted off and crash landed in my lunch.

"The bird is dead, deal with the live reporter on the line," went my brain.

A minute later the bird started kicking its feet. It wriggled out of the bowl and shook itself off, spraying me and all my belongings with chili. It flapped around the table, sending beans and feathers flying (all the while I tried to have a serious conversation with a reporter on deadline).

Finally, a lady ran up, grabbed the bird in cupped hands and pushed it out the door. It flew away.

Funny story, right? Not so funny this morning when my computer wouldn't turn on.

I took it to a couple computer specialists today. The unanimous verdict? Crashed hard drive. Everything is gone. The 18-inch slide from my knee, down my shin and to the floor was enough to kill the hard drive.

And I had NOTHING backed up. All my photos, essays, songs and lyrics GONE.

Grrrrrrr...having just been reunited with my external hard drive on Wednesday, because for the better part of two years its been in use recording and mixing the New Heathens record, I had planned to back up my computer over the weekend. But then I got called to Binghamton. And then I needed to find a place with WiFi to file my notes, maybe a little internet cafe that sold food...

I will say, that was the first time in my life I ever sent a meal I ordered back to the kitchen.

Waiter? There's a fly in my soup? Brother, have I got a story for you.

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Binghamton Tragedy
Sunday, April 5, 2009

For three days I've been in Binghamton, NY reporting on the tragic killing spree at a resource center for new American immigrants.

I was surprised to see that I was PART of the news in this AP photo...

New York Times reporter Nate Schweber rings the door bell of a Johnson City, N.Y. home belonging to Jiverly Voong, the suspected gunman in the shooting at a Binghamton, N.Y. community center, Saturday, April 4, 2009. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

I was also very surprised and honored to get my third front-page byline in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/nyregion/05suspect.html?hp

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The record is now MIXED!!!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009

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