Wild Weekend.....

....which actually started last night, our inaugural gig at Z's Oysterbar, in Castleton. A fantastic, upscale seafood/steakhouse with a lakeside patio (and, now, live music on Thursday and Friday nights.) From Louisville, where there are two locations, this a gorgeous, still under-the-Indy-radar independently-owned gem ala Oceanaire or Dunaway's. We're going to be back most Thursdays in August....Tonight, we're back west at the Chateau Thomas Winery in Plainfield, from 7PM to 10PM. Looks like it's going to be a lovely night of rocking under the stars in their new, expanded outdoor wine garden......Tomorrow night, I'm doing pre-show music for HART's production of "Much Ado", outside at the White River State Park downtown. (The rock-hewn ampitheatre, just north of the bridge that leads to the Zoo. ) My actor/musician friend Michael Shelton ('Rusty Nubbins' in "Zoomerville") is one of the guiding lights of HART (Heartland Actor's Repertory Company) and is playing Benedick to Diane Timmerman's Beatrice. The cast also includes Chuck Goad ('Buck") and Scot Greenwell ("John') from "Zoomerville". It will be a fabulous, fun, accessible night of Shakespearean frolic. Expect a big crowd, and - as Nuvo so wisely noted - bring sunglasses, because you'll be facing west. And - as Nuvo erroneously reported - I will not be playing standards, but rather performing solo, mine and David's songs plus some selected covers by Paul Simon, John Prine, Elvis Costello, Dylan, etc. (Or,as I call it, "Shakespeare Rock".) Cara Jean Wahlers is performing pre-show for tonight's performance. Music both nights starts at 6:30PM, with the play at 8PM....And if that wasn't enough, this weekend is the "48 Hour Film Project", the international, 'make a movie in 2 days from conception to final cut' competition, which I am once again helping producer/director David Yosha with. Our entry from last year, "Foil", actually won the Indianapolis competition, so the pressure's on. At 6PM tonight, David will draw a card that will give him a genre, and a few other specifics that must be in the film (a certain prop, or a line of script), and we're off. After the Chateau performance, I'll race back to try and get in on some of the writing tonight, David has a full crew ready to go, and will shoot all day tomorrow, edit Sunday morning, I'll score it in a few hours Sunday afternoon, and the final cut gets delivered on DVD by Sunday, 6PM. Man, I already need a nap......

Damn this rain - no 4th of July show at Zing tonight...

Hello, my people. Just trying to get the word out - no big outdoor Bleeding Hearts rock and roll bash before the fireworks at Zing tonight, due to the rain. Just looks too iffy to go thru the hassle - and no place for cover down in the parking lot where we were planning on setting up. But I hope it's a lovely holiday for everyone anyway - and don't forget to cheer for Andy Roddick when he goes up against Roger Federer tomorrow morning in the Wimbledon final. (I totally love Federer, so I'll be happy if he wins - and breaks Sampras' 14 Grand Slam record - but Roddick has spent the last year and half retooling both himself and his game, and so deserves to be in this final...)