If you are at all interested in finding work as a musician playing drums on a Broadway musical, I can certainly give a few tips. I’ve been fortunate to have played in several over the past 20 years and I’ve learned a little from each one I’ve been in. Each of the shows I’ve done…
Read moreSingle Fatherhood in New York City
In 2012, I was contacted by a graduate student who was looking for stories about single fathers. I think she found me from an old blog I used to have. It’s so interesting to listen to this recording eight years later. Very little has changed with my relationship to my kids as well as my…
Read moreSmalls
I always wanted to check this place out. I remember when it first opened many years ago and they didn’t even have their liquor license. I don’t know why I never made it back but I’m not sure if I need to come here again. It looks cool inside but I don’t know…the vibe didn’t…
Read moreThe Groove
I NEVER liked this place. The musicians that play here are top notch but the people who run this place are way too damn aggressive. They’ve always been that way…ever since they opened. I understand the profit motive but I can’t stand the pushiness. I pay my dumb ass $5 cover, then I’m guided to…
Read moreTreasures In The Trash
Treasures in the Trash from HELLER films on Vimeo. My son says he wants to drive trains for a living. I say go for it little man! If he gets a job with the MTA right out of high school, there’s no need for us to waste money on colleges I can’t stand, he can…
Read moreWhy new Temptations play is NOT a ‘jukebox musical’
“People always say I make musicals for people who hate musicals and there is some truth to that.” – Des McAnuff True indeed! I never liked musicals. I think way too many of them are corny. I once saw a musical where a singer was at a train station , waiting on her train to…
Read moreListening to Meshuggah gets me in the mood to play showtunes
It’s been a while since I’ve played a Wednesday matinee. Well, in order to properly prepare myself for the rigors of a Broadway musical, I listen to Meshuggah. It puts me in the mood for showtunes. Actually, I had to BLAST their new album in my earphones because I have to ride the subway…it is…
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David Byrne: Will Work for Inspiration
Excerpt: Some folks believe that hardship breeds artistic creativity. I don’t buy it. One can put up with poverty for a while when one is young, but it will inevitably wear a person down. I don’t romanticize the bad old days. I find the drop in crime over the last couple of decades refreshing. Manhattan…
Read more#Manspreading
An excerpt from this article by Cathy Young, a regular contributor to Reason magazine and Real Clear Politics: http://www.newsday.com/opinion/columnists/cathy-young/manspreading-but-women-hog-subway-space-too-cathy-young-1.9776186 As we enter 2015, the latest feminist crusade seems to come straight from the life-imitates-satire department. It has everything one could want in a caricature of feminism: petty grievances, gleeful male-bashing, egregious double standards. And it…
Read moreCameo – Cameosis (Live 1980)
Easily one of my all-time favorite bands. It’s too bad I never had the chance to see this version of the band. I might have seen them at a P-Funk show back in ’77 or ’78 but barely remember it. I did see them in the late 90’s in NYC at Tramps. I had a…
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