2013 & Looking Forward…

Hello and Happy New Year!

Just wanted to take a moment and reflect on some highlights from 2013 as well as mention a few exciting adventures to look forward to in the New Year…

This past year saw the release on my third album Between Two Worlds on Three Lobed Recordings.  Cory Rayborn, who runs the label, is one of the most passionate dudes out there!  It was such a pleasure to work with him on this!

Played some great shows.  One highlight involved performing on a moving bus along the Pacific Coast Highway as the sun set. It was pretty epic.  Thanks to the folks at Soundwave Fest for hosting that!  Did some touring along the West coast with Chuck Johnson who released his gorgeous album Crows In The Basilica LP on Three Lobed around the same time as mine.  We shared some great nights with the likes of Marisa Anderson, Eyvind Kang & Jessiika Kenney, Golden Retriever, Date Palms, and Daniel Bachman.  Other highlights included a show with Grouper, playing a benefit for a documentary in the works about the great Robbie Basho w/ Bill Orcutt, Chuck Johnson, Andrew Weathers, Henry Kaiser, among others, and sharing a night of film & music with my buds Paul Clipson, Evan Caminity, and Trevor Montgomery.  Good times we’re had all around!

Got to travel out to Albuquerque, NM and collaborate with artist and dear friend Billy Joe Miller on his Wake exhibit.  Billy has done all the covers to my solo releases so it was a dream to be able to physically perform among his work in real time.  He took me to some of the beautiful surrounding areas …  The Ojito wilderness left a particularily deep impression on me.  2014 will see more collaboration in this series…  again in Albuquerque this February on a farm.. details forthcoming!

Another exciting collaboration I got to participate in was with Bay Area artist David Wilson.  Wilson was chosen for the biennial SECA award given out by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to Bay Area artists.  I composed music in collaboration with friends Andy Cabic (Vetiver) and Tony Cross for a site-specific piece in park Presidio.  We performed live and it was recorded and left on a cassette as an ‘artifact’ for folks to engage with alongside David’s amazing painting.  It was an incredible experience!  Here are some pics of the event.

The new year starts off with some exciting news.  My better half and I have been invited to do a nine day residency at the Harrison House out in beautiful Joshua Tree!  The residency is based in the late composer Lou Harrison’s desert retreat in his honor.  It sits on some of the most beautiful land in the world.  We are so thrilled about this adventure!  Leaving first thing tomorrow!

The first show of the new year will be in conjunction with artist James Sterling Pitt’s exhibit “Hello Green Cosmos” at Gallery Paula Anglim in SF, Sat. Jan. 18th at 4p.  Can’t think of a better way to get things started!

Lastly, there are a couple exciting releases on the horizon for 2014.  Both of which will be released on the excellent Students of Decay label who put out my second LP, In Search of Light.  The first of which will be an LP collecting some of my earliest acoustic recordings dating as far back as 2004, and the second will be a collaboration with guitarist James Blackshaw.  Really looking forward to seeing these take shape and sharing it with you!  Both have no set release date yet, so please keep an eye out as the year unfolds.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read and listen …

Wishing you a fulfilling, healthy, and happy New Year!

~DPG

Some pics from 2013:

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New LP’s arrived!

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Bought a 12 string and so began my love affair…

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Ojito Wilderness

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Performing at Davis Wilson’s “Arrivals” w/ Tony Cross

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Bus show along the Pacific Coast Highway

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New ride!

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Bye bye DOMA!

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Our little Eli..

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Last sunset of 2013

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“Arrivals” video excerpt

Hi folks,

Here’s sweet short video by Stijn Schiffeleers documenting the Arrivals installation I participated in a while back.  The music was made in collaboration with Tony Cross & Andy Cabic for artist David Wilson’s installation in San Francisco’s beautiful Park Presidio.  David was one of a few artist’s selected for San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s annual SECA award.  The video is an excerpt taken from a continuous 30 min. performance which was recorded live and subsequently left as an artifact on cassette along with David’s towering 16 ft ink drawing depicting Frog Woman Rock.  It was a really nice moment to be a part of and a real treat to see Stijn’s portrait of it… he used multiple still images to produce the video, hence the time-lapse quality of it.  Hope you enjoy, music and all!

Autumnally yours,

DPG

More about the project

David Wilson: Arrivals

Dear friends,

I had the honor of taking part in the beautiful installation Arrivals by artist David Wilson, one of a few recipient’s to this years SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) annual SECA award.  This event kicked off one of 6 guided journeys in outdoor locations around SF.   The music was written in collaboration with Andy Cabic (Vetiver) and my good friend Tony Cross.  It was performed in a eucalyptus grove in the beautiful Park Presidio, where one of David’s incredible painting’s along with a recorded document of our performance will live for the next two months.  It was a very special experience!  If you happen to live in the Bay Area, please take a moment and visit while it’s up (roughly until mid November).

Follow the above SFMOMA link for more info on the project and to follow David’s progress.

Much Love,

DPG

Some nice moments from the event…

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Tony revealing the magic of the harmonium.

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David Wilson & Colter Jacobsen playing under the canopy, sing along style.

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Tony with the majestic “Frog Woman Rock” painting to give a sense of scale – 16 ft!

Photo by Terri Lowenthal

Photo by Terri Lowenthal

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Photo by Terri Lowenthal

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Photo by Terri Lowenthal

IMG_5652One of four cassette players which played prepared sounds (synth, bells, drone) along with Tony and I on 12 string guitar, harmonium, wine glasses, and the wind in the trees.

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Singing wine glass with cassettes. Photo by Terri Lowenthal

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Zen Center recap & pics …

Last weekend I had the pleasure and privilege of playing some songs at the very lovely San Francisco Zen Center with friends Barn Owl and Date Palms.  Artist David Wilson also did a beautiful temporary installation collaging colored gels onto large windows.  I can’t believe it took me 16 years living in SF before entering this sanctuary!  I was surprised to find out it was built in the 20’s by the amazing architect Julia Morgan who’s designed some of my favorite buildings around… Chapel of the Chimes, Hearst Castle, Berkley bell tower to name a few.  Before it became the Zen Center it was a home for single Jewish women. Amazing history.  The event was presented by the good folks from The Bold Italic and was co-curated by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma of Root Strata.  It was a really great coming together of worlds.  Everyone at the center was incredibly gracious and open to essentially a bunch of strangers taking over their space.  Good times.

The first two pics were taken by the always smiling Shundo from the center who wrote a nice little bit about the show on the Zen Center blog.  I took the second two, one is of Barn Owls set up and the second of David Wilson’s installation.

Enjoy!

DPG