Bob Husak, renowned drummer of Light In The Attic’s famed signees The Blakes, wanted us to inform you that this blog was written in the time between The Blake’s Denver and Spokane shows. He also wanted us to inform you that a “thrilling conclusion” to this Dickensian saga was forthcoming.Thank you Bob. Always a gentlemen.

The next day, after checking out of the hotel, stopping at a bank and battling Denver rush hour traffic, we made our way to the Larimer Lounge and did a sound check. We’d played the Larimer before and it was much the same as last time we were through. They have a carpet that’s so caked with filth, at first glance it looks like a concrete floor. Free High Life was provided, as well as some barbeque they give out to customers on Thursdays. The first band was the headliner from the day before, the Nicotine Fits, who put on a high-energy rock show and who I believe have a lot of potential. Local band The Knew played second with some high-powered Johnny Cash-like numbers. Very solid stuff. A few KEXP listeners turned up and we played a fun, somewhat short set for them. This hopelessly inebriated maniac kept harassing the fans, the band and B. Brown, stating that he was a journalist who just wanted a story. It seemed like he really only wanted to talk endlessly and incoherently. We eventually had to tear ourselves away from some girls and begin the treacherous journey to Salt Lake City, where we’d be doing an interview the next day in the afternoon before the show. B. Brown took the helm and we drove straight into a snow storm. It got so bad that we had to pull over in the mountains and wait out before crossing into Wyoming.

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We last left Bob Husak and The Blakes perched in front of “Schwarzenegger classic” the rest of CMJ looming ahead of them.

And now the thrilling conclusion to “The Blakes in CMJ!”

 The next morning I met up with Ashley Graham, our publicist, and we took the train to Manhattan to see some sights with Lars:  Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, etc.  Garnet, Snow and B. Brown met us later on and we went through Central Park where we talked to a guy who was fishing for small-mouth bass in the Lake (which I don’t think has an official name).  We found the building where John Lennon was living when he got shot, the Dakota.  The very friendly doorman recounted the story to us and told us that Yoko still lives in the building.  We later got some dinner at a great Italian place where Matt S. joined us.  Afterwards we went back to the Dakota and talked up the doorman further and he gave us Yoko’s address, telling us she’d listen to a CD if we sent her one.  Matt said he saw Roberta Flack enter the building but I missed it.  The next day we went back to Gibson to pick up some guitars for our acoustic performance at Pianos.  After we exited Gibson, it began pouring down rain and it became extremely difficult to find a cab that didn’t already have a fare.  We eventually tracked one down and we made it to Pianos with little time to spare.  The cab driver smelled bad and drove erratically, just like what Letterman says about NYC cabbies in his monologues.  I used brushes for our set, which I all but destroyed.  We played for about fifteen minutes.  Our new promoter in the UK, Pat, was present and she seemed very excited about the prospect of getting us overseas.  Patrick, our booking agent at Monterey Intl., was also on the scene, as well as Tara, our commercial radio promotion person, for lack of better terminology.  They went with us to a lovely sushi place where we ate ravenously.  Later that evening, the band and Brown stopped at a Dominican place in Williamsburg and drank El Presidente beer.  I started dancing and some Dominicans laughed me out the door. 

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Bob and the boys (you may know them as The Blakes) just returned from a whirlwind tour of The Big Apple where they were smashing sets at CMJ. Mr. Husak wrote a typically fantastic blow-by-blow account of the five days the band was carousing, often drunkenly, about the city. Because of the magnitude of Bob’s most recent dispatch we’ve decided to break it down in to our first two-parter.

So here begins the adventures of Bob Husak in New York City, ahem, part one.

We spent the past several days at CMJ in New York City in an attempt to wow the music industry with our rugged charm. Accompanied by Lars and the ever-present B. Brown, we flew Jet Blue out of Seattle on a direct flight to JFK on Tuesday, and I have to mention that it was a nearly painless experience. This was the band’s first time in NYC, together or separately, and I for one was amazed at not only the vastness of the city but also the lack of unused space, with old buildings crammed together everywhere I looked. We stayed with our friend, ace photographer Doron Gild, and his roommate Terry at their small apartment in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. On our first night in town we met up with Doron and went to his local watering hole, Redd’s, and had a few. Kea, a friend of mine from Seattle who moved to New York over a year ago, swung by with her roommate. The rest of the crew eventually retired to Doron’s and I accompanied Kea and roomie to a club in the area called Galapagos to see a band named Cheeseburger. I coincidentally ran into our MTV buddy, Scottie Diablo, who was in town with a couple of acts he manages. After the show I took a cab back to Doron’s. The next morning we rode the subway to midtown Manhattan for our on-air performance at the Gibson showrooms (formerly the legendary Hit Factory recording studios) which had been taken over by KEXP for the week.

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Things that happen in today’s edition of Bob’s Blog: fisticuffs, steamy love, hot hot chicken wings, and Bob learning the background dance for Mud’s “Tiger’s Feet”. We kid you not.

The Blakes have had a busy week, which is something we’d better get used to because we won’t be slowing down anytime soon. We were supposed to take it easy on Wednesday after the grueling hours we spent shooting the music video, but as usual some pressing business popped up. I can’t remember exactly what it was though. I know we stopped by Sandy and Peter’s place in Northgate to shoot individual interviews for possible use on the LITA site. They were thinking that they’d be able to mine rich material out of us if they got us each alone, without anyone able to talk over another. It seemed to work. Peter had also made a batch of his world famous hot wings, which he’d left marinating all night in his super secret sauce. It involves Ethiopian spice, that’s all I know. I’ll tell you what I do know: Those wings are heavenly. On Thursday morning we met with our new business manager, Gary, at Tully’s in West Seattle to go over the details of our new enterprise, Blakes The Band, LLC. It’s a tax shelter. We also went to Washington Mutual (I have a hard time calling it “WaMu”) to open a business account. Everything went smoothly. That evening we went down to the Gibson showroom in Pioneer Square to shoot an acoustic performance and interview with Channel M films, who make video packages for various retailers around the country to show in their stores. Gibson had a full Slingerland kit ready, as well as an acoustic guitar, an acoustic bass and a vocal PA. We’d never done an acoustic set before, even in rehearsal, so we learned on the job. I ended up playing the drums with my hands, and halfway through I ditched the kick drum. It worked out fairly well and I think they got some usable footage. The drinks were flowing by the time we did the interview, but I believe we acquitted ourselves well this time. Lars and Matt S. were there, along with our Gibson friends, Jenny and Kurt Bloch, as well as the Channel M folks and a few friends of friends.

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