We’ll be playing 6 nights a week (Tuesday – Sunday) at The House of Blues and Jazz in Shanghai from September 1 through the end of November!

The repertoire will be primarily blues with the occasional jazz, soul and funk tangent.

Joining me on this spontaneous adventure will be Earl Phenix (Jamie Lynn Hart, Kingfish Jones) on keys, Steve Belleville (Chad Perrone, Kangaralien) on bass and Tony Hall (Greg Luttrell Band) on drums.

The preparation for this trip has been a bit overwhelming.  From subbing out my current gigs and learning a boatload of new tunes, to renewing passports and applying for visas, I’m sure this experience will be well worth the trouble.

Special thanks to Greg Luttrell for getting me hooked up over there!

While I’m over there, I’ll try to document my experiences as much as possible.  In addition to subscribing to my blog, you can follow my trip on Twitter or my facebook page.  I’ll try to post photos and vids as much as I can.

Ever been to Shanghai?  Anything I should check out while I’m there?

I landed another recording session!

This time I’ll be going in to record with Joya Abbott-Graves.  She’s a local singer/songwriter who has been penned “Boston’s Soulful Songbird.”  I’ll be recording on 3 of her tunes.

Check her out!

Check it out on iTunes!

The new 13-track album from Boston’s hardest-working funk and soul band hits stores on January 27th

A year in the making, Can You Dig It? is the culmination of the latest chapter of the now seven-year ‘Slacks saga, closing a year that could be considered one of their best. With the 3rd anniversary of their Thursday night residency at The Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, The Chicken Slacks also starred in a short “rockumentary” (available on their website), and will appear as the wedding band in the upcoming Hollywood film Bride Wars starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway.

“We worked very hard to make this record sound like us – with all the energy, humor, and groove that our fans have come to appreciate,” says Justin Berthiaume, the band’s drummer and manager (and only remaining founding member). “We’ve gone through a lot of personnel changes over the years, but this current lineup has a chemistry and comraderie that really shines. That’s unusual in a band, and you can hear this on the CD.”

Can You Dig It? mixes original songs penned by the band with their own take on several obscure covers, some of which you may not think of as classic soul or funk. The CD opens with a surprisingly soulful Captain Beefheart tune “Too Much Time”, and track 9 has singer Diamond D crooning Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Long As I Can See The Light”. Throughout the CD the band stays true to the classic themes of the soul and funk genre: love and heartbreak (Diamond D’s “I’m In Love” and trumpeter and vocalist John Moriconi‘s “Only A Fool Gets To Heaven”), tongue-in-cheek sexual innuendo (“Going To The Shack” and Berthiaume’s “I Wanna Take A Shower With You”), and social justice (Diamond D’s “Tragedy”) all get their due.

Even the CD artwork alludes to The Chicken Slacks long story. Inside, the 3-panel fold-out features a collage of ‘Slacks fans boogying down against a backdrop silhouette of the Boston skyline. “It’s a nod to our fans and to our city,” explained Berthiaume. “We love them and we wanted them to feel a part of this CD.”

Can You Dig It? is now on sale at The Chicken Slacks shows, and will be available in stores and online January 27.

I am now an official member of the Chicken Slacks Soul Revue! These guys are great musicians, and a ton of fun to play with. They really know how to throw a party and get people moving.

The current lineup:

Drums:  Justin “Pops” Berthiaume

Keys: “The Reverend” Curtis Haynes

Bass:  “Slick Rick” Roscoe

Trumpet: Johnny “Blue Horn” Marconi

Sax: Jeremy “Lips” Valadez

We play every Thursday at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge (Central Sq.).   They’ve had this residency for a while now.. going on 3 years, I believe.  In addition, they play weddings, corporate functions, and various clubs around town.  I’ve never been so busy in my life!

The music is 100% Soul.  We play various hits from various artists such as Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown, Jackie Wilson and many more.

Come check it out!