Here Comes da Fudge, and a few other assignments

Playing right now: Vanilla Fudge - Rock & Roll

I bought this Vanilla Fudge album about a month ago, along with their debut album. I wanted to get back to it in part because this Monday, I'm interviewing Fudge organist/vocalist Mark Stein for an article on the band. Yes, they're still together and in fact they have a new album out.

Around the beginning of the year, I told myself that I should be a little more ambitious about writing, like I haven't been in a long time. The combination of getting the Love Letters record together and my dad passing away left me feeling like I wasn't into doing much more than the basics. (In case any of my editors read this, the previous comment should not be confused with the idea of "phoning it in." I merely didn't feel like trying to go above and beyond the journalistic path.) Hell, I haven't written anything for Blurt in months. Now I'm doing this Vanilla Fudge piece for them, along with a couple record reviews.

Yesterday, I also did an interview with Arcade Fire's Will Butler, who has a solo album coming out in a couple weeks, and who is also coming here around the same time. The timing of the interview got a little screwed up but it all shook out okay, and Will was a pretty nice bloke. I managed to squeeze that in between dinner and band practice, not to mention picking up the kid from his friend's house in the meantime.

Plus the deluge of live music in Pittsburgh starts this Sunday with the Westerlies at Carnegie Library. I'll blot about that, and offer a list of upcoming shows in the next entry.