Norman's Rockwell

Hey Soul Mates, how are you? It's Memorial Day Weekend. 3 days of relaxation for some. Last night, we went to Molly Malone's for the Piper Downs show. It was lead singer Bobby Bognar's birthday. For his own present he invited a whole bunch of other musicians to sing songs (Derek Anderson; Jeddrah Schmidtt amongst others). Toward the end of the show, Bobby called me on stage and we did a blazing version of I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man . We really rolled the crowd over with that one. Many moons ago, Bobby and I were hanging out at his pad when we discovered that each of us was a Prince fan. You wouldn't know it to meet Bob, but that's the typical can't judge a book... We ran down a whole bunch of songs, but that one was the sweetest. So to get a chance to sing that song with him on stage was pretty cool. Send a good thought to Doug. He's home with a bad tummy ache. And his Birthday is Wednesday (June 1)! L.A. Soul Mates watch your e-mail for our o...

Hey Soul Mates, and, ok, even the haters... I loved and I mean loved the new Star Wars movie. And none of you can say a thing to change my mind. Yeah, there are some plot holes and a few overdone effects scenes. But on balance the whole thing worked for me. Revenge of the Sith reminded me of why I loved the first 3 movies, and in a good way. I'm just in from my 2nd viewing (and I rarely go to see a movie more than once in the theater) and I'm ready to watch it again. I'll say no more. Don't want to spoil the impact if you haven't checked it out yet. Love, Power, Peace If the Sith get Red and Sam Jackson gets purple ; I'll be the one with the orange lightsaber, thank you.

Hey Soul Mates, remember when RHS appeared on South Park? It was the episode where Cartman and Kenny go to the school for the arts to become "sensitive" & they wind up being the New Air Supply. Thanks, PB. The pictures from this past weekend's recording sessions are up . Love, Power, Peace

Hey Soul Mates, tonight, Bryan and I went to the Nikka Costa show at the Roxy. It was her record release celebration, of sorts, so it was sold out. Stylistically, Nikka's a cousin of ours. Her audience would definitely appreciate Rush Hour Soul. So, we spread the good word about RHS to as many as possible. Maybe you were there? It was sweltering in the club, because Nikka insisted on turning off the A/C to help her sing. On one hand, I can appreciate that. On the other, it made many of the fans uncomfortable and the fresh air outside was exactly that. I did spy Nikka's manager, American Idol judge, Randy Jackson in the room. Sunday's recording session went very well. We are pleased with the vocal performances so far. Everybody's voices will be heard this time around. That's right! Even Doug joins in on a couple of choruses. I made the mistake of picking the most challenging song to sing first. Whooo. Nearly disabled my voice for the rest of the day. So, we switched ...

Hey Soul Mates, what a long, productive day. Yow. I flew home from Atlanta early in the day. Traffic here was sluggish and it took about an hour to get back to NoHo. Lots of traveling. It was a lot of fun hanging out last night with Dad, Nate and my cousin Skippy, who drove in from South Carolina. We talked a lot about the Harlem of Dad's youth, the importance of passing down black American history, and, of course, music. By the way, Skippy matched my dapperness! Check us out. Yes, more musicians in the family. You go, cuzzin! Shortly after getting home, I buzzed off to Santa Monica for our recording sessions. We are producing these tracks ourselves. A giant leap for us. When I got there, Doug was set up, mic'ed and ready to go. It's great to be back and getting down to real business with Bryan & Doug. This is us with our engineer Chris (who is da man!). Go to our website to see a larger version. The tracks we put down are something else. I'm listening to the non-mi...

Hey Soul Mates, I got to Atlanta in one piece. What fun to be first-nighters. The world premiere of my Dad's play Street Rhythm was a success. Opening night jitters aside, the actors & musicians were all solid. Special kudos for Eugene Russell and Charles Black who played the tragi-comic characters of doomed be-boppin' Luther and the older, but not always wiser Buster, respectively. Dad seemed very pleased with the show. We sat right up front and occasionally he would comment to me how well a scene worked or what songs the duo were playing. Jazz musicians Syl Spann & Rick Denton were particularly tastefully. The theater itself is a nice space that seats about 100 and the play was well attended. Quite good for a brand new production opening on a Thursday night. The cast and crew are all energetic and eager thespians. They are all genuinely warm people and they are pleasure to know. Bravo. Tomorrow morning, Dad has a radio interview on a local NPR station at 8. That...

Hey Soul Mates, I'm going to Hotlanta this week for the premiere of my Dad's ( Herb Kelsey ) play "Street Rhythm." It's being put on by a theatre company called the New Jomandi. I'm pretty excited; and I'm sure my Dad is, too. We've been waiting for the debut since they announced that it would be part of the schedule back in December. It's being put on at a space called Push Push and is directed by Carol Mitchell-Leon . If you are in the Atlanta area this weekend, May 19-21, come check it out. The drama is set in Harlem in the 1950's and features a live jazz combo. Dad is already an accomplished stage and film actor, & radio personality, so it will be neat to see him officially add produced playwright to his C.V. I spent the better part of last night requesting reviews and inviting media to our upcoming show. If you have any connections with print or TV media you are comfortable sharing, please pass along any info. It will be greatly appre...

Hey Soul Mates, well, the Dodgers lost to the Braves 1-5. And Eric Gagne made a very inauspicious return to the team giving up back-to-back home runs to the Jones Boys. Ugh. But, it was beautiful night at Chavez Ravine. Kind of a neat day around town. This morning at the local Ralph's, ran into old neighbor Billy Griffin . We chatted mainly about baseball; he's from Baltimore and loves the O's. Oh, who's Billy, you ask? He wrote and sang Love Machine with the Miracles ("I'm just a love machine and I don't work for nobody but you"). He was the singer who replaced Smokey Robinson. That's a pretty cool job. Billy says he's got a new CD on the way and he's very pleased with it and being in control of his musical destiny. He's certainly paid his dues. Then this afternoon at the NOHO arts festival, we caught up with Bernard Fowler , he of the Rolling Stones touring band and Big Monday at the Joint. Funny to see him out in daylight. But he ...

Hey Soul Mates, we had a really good rehearsal tonight. We worked primarily on the new material that we'll be taking into the studio next weekend. That's right! We are on track to do some recording this month. Three new songs are going to get the RHS treatment. We'll reveal the names of them in the coming weeks. But, if you've seen us perform lately, you've heard them. It's about time that we get more music to you. Lots of people have been commenting to us about the tracks we have available on line. These will be even more representative of where we are headed musically. We also worked on a brand new midtempo song called Everything My Heart Desires . I think this one will go over very well. It's a little jazzy and has a very strong chorus... as far as I can tell you. This one will be debuted at our next LA show at the Gig. Doug had to leave a little early, so Bryan and I fooled around with some Curtis Mayfield and James Brown songs. Maybe one will show up i...

Hey Soul Mates, it's late! I'm going to bed. But before I do, I wanna tell you: check out the show photos on our website! Go Now for exciting pictures of Rush Hour Soul in Action from Saturday night. Love, Power, Peace!

Hey Soul Mates, there are quite a few photos from Saturday's show to sift through. But, I've been busy with writing, going out and resting. So just pretend that the pictures are being developed at the FotoMat circa 1985. I'll try to get them up on our website tonight. Last night, we went down to the Gig for their bar manager, Alan Yee's birthday. It was a good night to promote and network. The people who run the Gig are really artist friendly. There are a handful of clubs like that here in LA. The Gig gets high marks. Love, Power, Peace.

Hey Soul Mates, Thanks to everyone who made the scene last night. We had a good crowd for such an early show. The Gig was jumpin' last night and for good reason: Rush Hour Soul! We came out of the gates with A Talent For Loving & Sucka . Later, we made a long-distance dedication of Everyone's Ingenue to our new friends on MySpace. As promised, several of our hottest slow jamz made the set. There were lots of compliments for the version of Done Lost My Mind . A couple of people told me that it sounds like an Al Green song. Wow. What a humbling compliment. I can only strive to be like Al, Marvin, or Little Richard. That means a lot. Of course, I had to jump a couple of times last night. It's hardwired into my system. Leaping midshow wasn't too difficult. The knee felt bad after the show, but not during. Too much adrenaline. Bryan and Doug were in great form as well. They were jammin'. We stuck around last night to hear a complete set from the supergroovy Get Lic...

Hey Soul Mates, just a few hours away from Showtime. The wardrobe has been selected. Set lists have been printed. Time to relax for a little while. It's been a busy day so far. Picked up a new shirt and tie to go with the new striped jacket & cream cords I'll be sporting tonight. Looks summery. Very raspberry . Last night was chockful o' music. First we whisked down to the Knitting Factory in Hollywood for the huge Kiss or Kill night. Our buddies the Waking Hours put on a really high energy show. They played a few new songs as well. A nice rebound from their show at the Troub a few weeks ago. Then we zipped up the 101 to Reseda. That's where Adam Marsland was performing with the Chaos Band. We are pleased to announce that Adam will be playing with us on June 17 (which will be our next show in LA). Gotta ice the knee and get in one more sitting at the humidifier. Love, Power, Peace

Hey Soul Mates, last night was a middling one for the Dodgers. The Nationals prevailed in the pitching duel. It was cool seeing the Nats for the first time. Now, I'm back to one team in Major League Baseball that I've never seen play in person. That would be the Tampa Devil Rays, with little opportunity to see them soon. After the game, I ran into my old friend Peter Lurie. He introduced me to his friend and co-worker Lafitte Pincay III. They are both analysts on Horse Racing TV . Pretty cool, Lafitte's father is the sport's all-time winningest jockey. Peter and I were in a band (very briefly) when I first moved to LA. We were on stage together the first time I performed here in LA. The best news of the day: I had a breakthrough on a lyric I've been working on for a while. It's a new midtempo number called "Everything My Heart Desires." I sat on the chorus for weeks before a good verse hatched, then I got two. This one will be debuted at a show in June...

Hey Soul Mates, we are still preparing for our Saturday show. I'm in the midst of some knee weirdness. The pain in my knee has been replaced by numbness behind the kneecap and on the sole of my foot. Zowie. It feels like my knee is asleep. Wake up! This week leading up to the show, you may see me out and about Los Angeles. Tomorrow night, I'll be sporting the Blue at Chavez Ravine. The Nats are in town to play the Dodgers. Thursday night is Crunko De Mayo. I'll be wandering down to the Gig to support some friends, Howy & Russell, whose bands are performing. Friday there is a big lineup at the Knitting Factory and several homies are playing there including the Waking Hours and the Letter Openers. And then suddenly: it's Saturday and we're up! Yours from L.A. Love, Power, Peace.

Hey Soul Mates, man, do I love my bandmates, cousin. They are the best. We had a productive rehearsal tonight. Even though we are all battling through bowling injuries and fatigue from the week in general. We are very excited about playing for you this coming weekend. Our last show was very uptempo. This next one, we'll be doing quite a few of our ballads, our slow jams. While we normally do one slow song per set, we'll play at least 2 on Saturday. Ladies... Lately, I've been listening to a lot of Steely Dan. Perfect driving music late at night, but also perfectly good for walking around North Hollywood in the a.m. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed their music and how much of it was unfamiliar to me. There are lots of groups/artists out there that I really admire, but don't necessarily incorporate into my own music. Steely Dan gets pretty funky on occasion. Their playing is just inspiring. And Don Fagen's lyrics bear repeat listenings. "Peg," "Reelin...