students of decay

It’s been a little over two weeks now since returning from an incredible stay at the Harrison House Music & Art’s residency program down in Joshua Tree. Definitely still reeling from the experience, wondering if it was a dream or in-fact real. Turns out it was both. We had nine dedicated day’s of creativity and relaxation in one of the most extraordinarily beautiful places on earth. Big sky and lot’s of space for the mind to wander. A piece of my heart is still there for sure. Huge thanks to Eva Soltes for being such an amazingly gracious host, and to the John S. Knudsen Trust for sponsoring our stay. We are deeply grateful to have had the opportunity.

While there, I did a bunch of recording which will find it’s way onto an LP coming out this Spring on Students of Decay… more on that soon! For now, I’ll leave you with some pictures to illustrate the beauty that is this place.. Enjoy!

Warmest,

-DPG

A nice write-up on the residency and Eva Soltes, who runs it, can be found here. Eva was a long-time friend of Lou Harrison and did an extraordinary documentary on his life. Seek it out.

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: