“i like to think of him as a real life cartoon character” – the neighbor’s opinion of my father.

brosis

as a child, my sister mary & i were always really close. three years apart in age but practically twins.

 

i’ve had a short break from touring lately. i spent it in cincinnati with my biological father. we had a chance to catch up with each others lives and look at old family photos.

house

he lives in an old house on a hill above the city. the area is called “mount adams”

adams-view

i saw some great views of cincinnati from up on the hill. it was very relaxing. a much needed break from touring.

 

and i spent some time with my biological father. he hadn’t been in my life for over 20 years. now i’ve had the chance to really get to know him. and he’s had the chance to know me. it takes more than a few days to really comprehend one’s character.

baseball

and baseball. it takes baseball. baseball with my father and half brother. i think this is the second game i’ve ever been to in my life.

 

my brother nick is quite the skateboarder.

skater

i even helped nick make a skate video while i was in town. it was a lot of fun to hang out. i spent the majority of my life with three sisters and two mothers. it’s nice to have a brother.

 

myras-dionysus

best vegan food in cincinnati? glad you asked! myra’s dionysus. delicious!

 

dumpster

although who needs gourmet vegan cooking when you can just dumpster dive with dad? he likes the local bakery a short walk from his house in mount adams.

 

owen

i won two free tickets to see owen pallet in downtown cincy. how funny is that? i’m just passing through town and i win tickets to see another looping violinist in concert. haha.

 

sambeam

and i saw iron and wine in concert across the river in kentucky. awesome! i was standing right up front with all the teenie boppers. before the show started there was a circle of teenage girls behind me huddled in a circle, like they were keeping warm by fire. what were they doing? mass texting. they all had their blackberries and iphones out.

 

bonnaroo

and i had tickets for bonnaroo too. but i didn’t go. sigh. instead i prepared for being back on the road.

 

violins

i did some much needed maintenance on my violins… repairing finicky tuning pegs and rehairing my bow.

 

visuals

and i pimped out my live show with even better visuals than before. these next two months of performances are going to be amazing. if you have the chance, come out to one of these shows. you won’t regret it.

 

superman

and of course i spent a lot of time on the computer booking more shows.

 

it was great having a break. and it was great spending it with family. but now it’s back on the road for me. hope to see you out there!

-marc

p.s. i found this bench-view of kentucky where i enjoyed reading a book or two.

reading

lou a vull. getting into kentucky, i didn’t know what to expect after the cold embrace of nashville tennessee. pronunciation is the key to acceptance in louisville. so here it is:

lou – a – vull

simple as that. apparently there are two pronunciations though, one for in-town use and one for out-of-town use. consider yourself privy to the highly coveted in-town diction. not to be taken lightly!

fortune

i’ve been to many chinese restaurants on the road. nothing hits the spot like a little tofu and lo mein. but double dragon ii, aptly named after the video game (their noodles were kick ass), was the first chinese restaurant to offer vegan fortune cookies. usually they have eggs in them and i politely refuse.

one is not sleeping, does not mean they are awake.

hmm… what does that mean? am i waking up while on the road or am i going into slumber? and how about my music… is it blossoming or wilting? i’d like to believe the former on both accounts. but perhaps i should meditate on it for awhile.

 

i didn’t know what to expect when arriving at the venue. with a name like rudyard kipling, well… mechanical parrots do fit the bill wouldn’t you say?

rudyard

had the opportunity to hear some very unique instrumentation when rebecca williams hit the stage: acoustic guitar, female vocals, and drums (with brushes of course). it was an amazing performance! the guy behind her on cymbal had jumped on stage as i was taking this picture. for most of her set it was only rebecca and the one drummer. beautiful!

rebecca

hanging out afterwards with the band hemingway road, i had the opportunity to try vegan yogurt made from almonds! woah!

yogurt

having the next day off, i explored louisville quite a bit with the very hospitable brian davis, roommate to robbie of hemingway road. we hit up bookstores, record shops & local diners. plus i had the chance to finally cook a decent meal. given access to brian’s kitchen, i cooked up a tasty soup and salad for him and his roommates.

dine

after the delicious meal we went upstairs to smoke hookah with his neighbor.

hookah

shawn distributes natural foods to all the major supermarkets in the area. he gave me all sorts of interesting vegan treats to try out while on the road (including the almond yogurt). yum! thanks shawn 🙂

 

all in all a great time. i really enjoyed my experience in louisville and hope to come back soon for another show. thank you hemingway road and hemingway road’s roommates and hemingway road’s roommate’s girlfriend amanda for showing me such a fun time “;-)
-marc

The National Tour is in full swing! To All My Dear Friends has been on the road for an entire month now and yet we’ve barely scratched the surface of places to perform. This current tour is weaving all throughout the Eastern United States. Check out Marc’s journal to keep up on where he’s been and check out the Tour page to see where he’s going.

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Audiences around the country are responding greatly to the lush violin and melodic guitar sounds of To All My Dear Friends. It’s a tour in motion.

sewanee tennessee is the place to be. i had the wonderful opportunity to spend a few days here at the home of the university of the south. one of it’s many claims to fame is “the most beautiful campus in the country”. i was skeptical at first but then i started exploring the campus grounds and it’s surrounding trails.

trail1

walking along this beautiful trail, i didn’t expect it to open up but suddenly i came across a clearing.

rock1

which led to this spectacular view

rock2

so yes this is only the beginning of the most beautiful campus in the country. the town of sewanee is integrated with the university. boasting a population of 3000 people, 1400 of those attend the small university.

 

i’ve always been a fan of cemeteries. these elaborate tombstones have been around for ages.

grave1

i wonder what it takes to be buried in this beautiful area. perhaps it’s full of past university professors?

grave2

who needs hollow chocolate rabbits? i spent my easter with these adorable bunnies.

easter

finally i found a hiking buddy. callie took me to explore one of the more hidden trails leading up to buggy top cave.

hiking-buddy

hiking for about an hour, we came across this beautiful cave with an intense rush of water coming out of it’s mouth.

cave2

the erosion had created a beautiful opening to the cave (that’s callie’s shadow in the middle).

cave3

and on another trail i found miniature waterfalls. how adorable.

waterfall

plus these amazing little plants all along the edge of the trail. each one is no bigger than your pinkie nail.

trail2

i spent three days hopping couches at the eco house, a university residence with composting, gardens, chickens & rabbits 🙂

ecohouse

i played two shows while in sewanee (yay for encore performances) complete with snacks and tea. thank you to my good friend pam for putting together such a wonderful experience!

snacks

and always in search of free wifi, i came across this adorable kitten at the local coffee shop. so used to the human diet, he happily ate pieces of my bagel and pam’s chocolate muffin.

kitty

i had a wonderful time hanging out in sewanee! getting some much needed rest was great too. thank you to all the residents of the eco house. it was wonderful hanging out with each of you.

-marc

it was great spending my birthday hanging out with friends in atlanta. ryan & jenna treated me to delicious home cooked vegan thai food. yum!

bday

one of their bathrooms is a dedicated home (and now jungle gym) to this beautiful reptile.

iggy

they fill the bathroom sink like a pool. curious, i asked them what she could do with such a small bath. she likes to poop in it. i guess i shouldn’t judge until i’ve tried in myself.

in athens i got dueling violins going, or more like “dueting” violins. adam poulin and i jammed away into the wee hours of the night. he too plays from the heart, emotions connected to his fingertips. i’ve never had that much fun jamming out with another violinist!

violins

nearby in alabama i played at an interesting art gallery. frank hardy, the owner & artist of this gallery pub, displays his personal artwork all over the walls. this picture should sum up his style in a nutshell.

gallery

of course not all shows turn out as great (or interesting) as alabama. playing to an empty room happens on occasion. but i can now say i shared the same stage with all these great artists. i doubt they’ll be rushing to paint “to all my dear friends” on the wall. but i gotta start somewhere 🙂

artists

-marc

traveling alone has been a very interesting experience for me. it’s challenging spending so much time alone. but hopefully i am starting to get used to it.

now that i’m not constantly around family and friends, i have a lot more free time on my hands. this is good because i’m not just booking and playing shows. i actually have time to explore a bit and start reading the many books i brought with me.

in new orleans i had the opportunity to play at an amazing coffee house called fair grinds. robert, the owner, is an amazing person. i wish him and his coffee house a great future. i spent the night in new orleans at a rapper’s house who works on tugboats by day. how amazing is that? he sampled some of my violin for one of his tracks.

fairgrinds

in birmingham i played at mecca fest iii. it’s a benefit show to help out the daniel day dream mecca art gallery. hearing the band voices in the trees was a fantastic experience. they are all very talented and energetic musicians.

trees

but it’s their viola player that tops the cake. she’s probably the only other string player i’ve seen that moves around as much as me. she claims it was to keep warm but i know that’s not true “;-)

viola

i’m in montgomery alabama right now enjoying a cup of coffee while working on booking more shows. do-it-myself touring like this is very challenging but it’s worth it when i get to play music for so many great people. i know that i’ve touched a few hearts with my violin and that makes all the difference.

-marc

last week i was in cocoa florida. played a show at a neat venue call 321 local. super fun night, although they butchered my name a bit. i met a guy in the local cocoa band “my dearest friends” which is probably why the person making the flier confused the name.

dearest

staying in merritt island with family, why is it that small children are so talented with legos? i love the four soldiers on the wings. they’ve sure got their job cut out for them.

flying-ship

kitty must know that I’m allergic to cats… so she takes a nap right on my computer bag.

catnap

made it to the atlantic ocean for the sunrise. there’s something so powerful and mesmerizing about this huge ocean.

sunrise

the orlando show turned into a dance party after the performances. loved the opportunity to see such talent as maximino and dark sea of awareness perform.

dance

got to spend a relaxing morning on the beach with amy from lighthouse music. the saint augustine show was such a fun time. very intimate experience at budget records with the band the best of synthia. i spent the next few days getting over sun poisoning. shows how white i am. jeez.

auggy-beach

in jacksonville i got to hang out with my good friend siddie! she made homemade crackers and hummus. yum!

cracker

as payment for her kindness, massage et al, i mowed siddie’s forest of a backyard so now hopefully she’s out there doing yoga and having friends over for barbecues and such 🙂

mow

played at a beautiful outdoor venue in jacksonville called underbelly. love their logo!

underbelly

finally i am out of florida. being away from the comfort of family and friends, this tour is really getting on. goodbye florida. you will be missed.

alabama

as a reminder of where i was just one month ago, here is one of my many checklists to keep me on track. i believe this was my last one before hitting the road, with subcategories and all.

checklist

-marc

i’m spending a lot of time in florida while on tour. meeting interesting people. running into old friends. playing shows.

 

in tampa i had the pleasure of performing with the amazing band “i and i”. more amazing than their performance is the group of 14 people (including the 4 members of i and i) that have built such camaraderie in their friendship. i felt honored having dinner with them.

burritos

i stayed the night in tampa at my aunt & uncle’s house. my aunt likes to collect things from around the yard. for example…

wall

before heading to the st. pete show, i was able to partake in my grandmothers 91st birthday! someone thought it would be funny to switch the numbers around on her cake. but of course she was the first to notice this 🙂 and no it wasn’t me.

smiles

also i got to do some tune ups on my new pedal boards. it was my first woodworking project so i knew there’d be a few kinks to work out. luckily my uncle’s shop has every imaginable tool within arms reach.

pedal-shop

found this little gem at a gas station along i95

omar

omar the mystic told me my future for only a quarter. looks like i have nothing to worry about on this tour. who needs luck when you have love and success?

future

i arrived in cocoa this afternoon, with a couple days off to catch up on some work. i’m staying at my cousin’s house. right now the family is out taking their weekly tae kwon do class. adorably awesome!

ninjas

-marc