Pettyfest 09!!!

I went to Pettyfest 2009 at Bowery Ballroom last night, which was sick. Lots of drunk and stoned people shouting along to the hits and some great performers-- Nicole Atkins, Adam Green, Steve Schlitz, Antony Ellis, members of The Strokes and The Killers.

One of my favorite performances-- and this took me by surprise -- was the dude from Augustana singing "You Got Lucky." They're not a band I generally have a strong opinion about one way or another, but his voice was sick and he had a commanding presence-- like a subdued Mick Jagger with the wrist at the hips with a dash of Joe Cocker in the vocal tone.

The only song they skipped that I would have loved to hear is "Don't Come Around Here No More"-- probably because the sitar and electronic drums are hard to replicate.

It was a fun after-party. Those Killers dudes are tall. Who knew?

In other news, life's been good and busy lately. I've joined Nicole Atkins and The Black Sea on keys and we're heading out on tour in October/November. We've got a gig at Webster opening for Rhett Miller Sept. 19th that I'm pumped for. Nicole's a true talent-- her voice really blows me away. I've worked with a few talented female singers in the past, but her voice just has a distinctiveness and power that sets her apart from the pack. She's also super fun to hang with as are the other dudes in the band so it's been fun.

I'm mastering my record on the 25th (can't wait!) and had two great shows so far-- one at Mercury Lounge and one at The Bell House for the Shemspeed Festival. I have to say I love my band. They're all incredible players and totally great to hang with. We're still getting to know each other but I can tell we'd have a great time on the road. Still trying to come up with a name for them-- leaning towards Eytan & The Intertron but the final vote isn't in yet.

I also did a cover of KC and The Sunshine band's "That's The Way I Like It" that's gonna be in an upcoming MTV film. I totally changed all the chords and rocked it out. I think it's pretty sweet.

I have this tendency to think that over-Twittering and Blogging is a narcissistic pursuit, but I'm breaking myself out of that way of thinking. I find myself reading people's comments and blogs all the time, so I guess there's something sweet to this whole thing after all.

By the way, I'm totally not an obsessive Tom Petty fan. It's a weird coincidence that he's in two of my three blog-posts. Promise.

That's it for now...

E