artist Mike O'Brien

Ok, so here's the deal.  There has been no blog until now, and I'm taking advantage of a few spare minutes of internet access to do a little documenting.

Since I released my first cd, I have kept busy in all sorts of ways; a little playing, recording, touring.

I received a Quebec arts council grant to study with a guitar teacher in Boston named Guy Van Duser, focusing on the works of Jelly Roll Morton and Fats Waller.  Stride guitar is a constant challenge but an awful lot of fun.  Should be wrapping up the lessons by the summer.

I played and recorded in a band called Ideal Lovers that is no more as of December last year; folks get busy, so the gloves had to be hung up.  Our last recording was with David Macleod, and we all hope that the songs will find a happy home somewhere soon.  We're all really happy with the record, you can check out some of it on David Macleod's myspace page. 


Will be heading out on a Euro tour in May with Angela Desveaux; we'll see some of Holland, Germany and the U.K. over the course of two weeks.  Her new record on Thrill Jockey is really good; I had the pleasure of playing on a few songs, and I'm looking forward to playing with her again.  We did a two week U.S. tour in December, mostly East coast cities, and had lots of fun.  More to be had I hope!

I'm currently working on new material for a second recording of my own, should get down to business in the spring.  I want to have it sound like the live show that I've been doing in the last while: lots of solo guitar work with maybe a special guest here and there.

cheers
mike