2022 in Memoriam

Seasons Greetings!

Apologies for the lack of *content* this past month. I think October Project > Los Angeles Trip > 10 days in Spain took the wind out of my sails.  

The Halloween #6 Zoom Party was a lot of fun. I wasn't feeling great and it took me a minute to find my groove, but I think it was a nice change of pace. Chatting with the legendary Greg Fundis was a definite highlight. Our beloved Dan is working on an edit that should be available soon as hell.

I have been hard at work behind the scenes working on a non-comedy song that I'm excited to share in 2023. I've gotten so used to finishing a song and immediately releasing it, it's going to be difficult holding onto my cards for a change.

It's been weird not having a big project on the horizon, so I've decided to take a look back on some of this year's highlights.

6 Hour Livestream

Playing songs and telling stories for 6 hours on YouTube was a great way to kick off 2022. I would love to make this a tradition and try to go a little longer each year. The MSotC vinyl campaign ending was a great incentive to keep going, I'll need to figure out another motivator for everyone to stay up if we do it again. 

Country Western Celebration

Really love playing with Randy, John and Playboy Pete. I'm sure there will be more where that came from in 2023. Heart of Mold 10 year anniversary, anyone?

Chicago Shows

I've already spoken ad nauseam about these shows, but it truly will go down as a benchmark weekend of my life. I think a watch-along of the Audiotree livestream is long overdue here on Patreon. 

Webby World Tour

Three great shows in Nashville, NYC and DC. So many highlights, but I'll always cherish our time in D.C. shooting and editing "The Search for Joe Biden." I'm still convinced that no one laughs harder than we do at our own stuff.

Halloween Parties

These are always a blast. Everyone is so fun and along for the ride. A lot of you make me laugh and all of you warm my heart. I love seeing everyone's costumes and just checking in with new and familiar faces. It's awesome having an outlet to experiment and play. I think they've influenced the live shows in a big way. Highlights for me are the Joe Biden call, Phil Braun call, The Four Horsemen, Playboy Pete's top 10 country artists and the birth of Demsond.

Countdown to Halloween #7 coming December 30th. Mark your calendars!

October Project

Another one that I've spent way too much time talking about already. It was exhausting, but I'm very glad I did it. Perhaps another new tradition?

Halloween Night at The Roxy

Here's something that I haven't spent a lot of time talking about. It's been well documented that the Chicago trip was a nightmare. The Webby World Tour went smoother logistically, but it was still a pretty stressful trip. Los Angeles, on the other hand, was smooth sailing. My 'Spirit Halloween: The Movie' review with Desmond pretty much covered all expenses. We rented most of the equipment, so we didn't have the hassle of traveling across the country with it. We arrived early Saturday and couldn't check into our Air BnB so we spent a few hours at Danny Trejo's taco restaurant. We made a last minute decision to see Danny Elfman that night, followed by a last minute decision to visit Universal Studios the next day. We had a few excellent meals (thank you Scot for the recommendations and overall hospitality) and had some drinks at the Roosevelt Hotel. The biggest bit of turbulence we ran into was finding Halloween costumes. We went to the closest Spirit Halloween and they literally didn't have a single adult costume left. Greezy had some blue face paint so we decided our only option left was to be the "Blue Man Group." Which became even more ridiculous when we discovered Greezy's paint was bright baby blue. It was incredibly surreal playing the Roxy, especially because we watched The Pee-Wee Herman Show: Live at the Roxy (1981) the night before. The show itself was terrific. Having Desmond on stage on Halloween night was very special. Perhaps another new tradition?!?

Things ended on a sour note when we received the check at the end of the night.  Due to some incompetence, we didn't receive 2/3 of what we were owed. And we still haven't! Big yikes. Hopefully all will be resolved soon.

Everything else was fantastic. The crew at the venue was solid. The energy in the room was terrific. It was amazing seeing so many familiar faces in the front rows. I loved getting to meet many of you in person for the first time, and see many others for the second or third time. Truly such an unbelievable community. What in Gremlin Hell did I do to deserve all of this?

Flamenco in Madrid, Spain

My brother-in-law is from Spain and he married my wife's sister during the height of the pandemic in 2020. He wanted to have a ceremony for his side of the family in Madrid and invited my wife's side as well. Our first night in Madrid, we went to a live traditional flamenco show with both sides of the family. The show was terrific, but my 18 month old daughter had a full on religious experience. She was on the edge of her seat clapping, cheering and convulsing with sheer excitement the entire time. I'll cherish that memory forever.

Honorable Mention: Fairview

Even the show itself was awful, it was cool writing songs on a weekly basis for a TV show. I would love to do more of that in the future.

Thanks everyone for your patronage in 2022! 2023 is shaping up to be another good one. Halloween #7 cards for triple taxers should go out next week. I hope to see you all on 12/30!

TTFN,
Nick