Rex’s February 2012 Blog

I love February. I love how it’s spelled: Feb-ru-ar-y. I love that there’s a “Leap Year” attached to it every four years including 2012. No other month has that and everyone knows at least one person born on February 29^th. How lucky they are!

February was my favorite school month as a kid not only because of Valentine’s Day, but because it only has 28 days in the ‘common years’ which meant two or three less days of school than the normal months. It was also our annual winter vacation month which meant at least one whole week off from school, plus, two other days off for President Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays, not like today where they’re combined into just one lousy ‘President’s’ vacation day. That’s just not right, sorry!

This year I especially love February because I’m driving down to Florida with my son Rufus for our first golf vacation together, sandwiched between two weekends of spectacular concerts with The Nutopians, my 8-piece John Lennon tribute band (Feb 24-26), and of course dear old Aztec Two-Step (March 9-11). This, my friends, is what is known as the best of both worlds!

Cause & Effect is already getting lots of local and national airplay and our C&E CD shows have been selling out with amazing enthusiastic audience responses to the new versions of our “give a damn” songs; plus the four new “topical” songs on the album. Mike Kornfeld of AcousticMusicScene.com is doing a terrific job promoting it. Any and all media outlets or progressive FM radio leads are very much welcomed.

Rex’s January 2012 Blog

Happy New Year Family! Let’s ring out the old and ring in the new by being deliriously joyful, kindhearted and generous to a fault before falling back to our normal selfish, self-loathing selves when the hangover kicks in on New Year’s day.

To kick things off in 2012, Aztec Two-Step is “officially” releasing Cause & Effect by sending it out to national press and folk radio. We’re working with Mike Kornfeld of “Acoustic Music Scene” to help promote this super fine recording. Any media or radio suggestions are welcome!

This is also Neal’s birthday month and on his special day, Tuesday, Jan 10 at 8pm, we’re being interviewed at 92Y in NYC by revered newsman Budd Mishkin, NY1 Anchor and host of One on One with Budd Mishkin. We’ll be answering Budd’s deep probing questions and playing a few songs as well. See what happens when you learn to play nice, share toys, remember one another’s birthdays for 40 plus years! Scroll down for all the details. Please attend if you can!

On Saturday, Jan 14, ATS is appearing live on WFUV with Pete Fornatale to help get the word out about the aforementioned Cause & Effect. It will stream live on www.wfuv.org if you want to listen in. Same thing goes next morning, when The Nutopians, my stellar 8-piece John Lennon tribute band, also appears live on John Platt’s WFUV “Sunday Breakfast” radio show beginning around 10am to help promote our Sunday, Jan 22 appearance at City Winery, Manhattan’s hottest new listening venue. A great turnout for this show will help ensure ATS playing there later this year. Come early, have dinner, drink wine!

Rex’s December 2011 Blog

With the arrival of ‘Tis the season’ “give” is the operative word this month. It’s that joyous time of year to be jolly, give gifts, and to get them too! We’re hoping you’ll pluck a few items from our catalog of music, video and haute couture - OK hats and T’s. We’re also introducing two new lines of T’s this month with themes from two of our song classics: Dancers All and Rabbit In The Moon.

No doubt, these are trying times. Perhaps that’s why Cause & Effect: Changing The World With Song has not exactly flown off our website’s virtual shelves these past two mailings. We sincerely thank all of you who have, but hope those of you who have yet will give it a chance, a listen or away - to a friend, a foe or even a loved one this gift giving season. It is a damn good ‘give a damn’ album, one of our very best in my un-humble opinion. So if you’re a fan of the band (and I bet you are!) take it from me you’ll love this CD. FYI, less than a third of our recipients open our mailer in any given month. Same percentage for those who sign up at concerts but do not respond to the automated confirmation request in order to receive it. Much like growing old, showbiz ain’t for sissies. However, if you’re able, we sure hope you’ll throw your support our way this holiday season.

Rex’s November 2011 Blog

I’m a child of the ‘60’s so obviously Occupy Wall Street intrigues me. I went down and scouted about on a lovely Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago with my gal Bobbi. Like so many others who have been there and written about it, we were both surprised and delighted by the intelligence and sincerity of the protesters we encountered. Every few feet were small groups of people gathered to either listen, or articulate a message of economic accountability and change. People of all ages, races and walks-of-life were milling about or mingling, including many families with school age children, often carrying homemade signs.

I never got the sense that anyone there wanted to overthrow the government or start a violent revolution; mostly messages of accountability for our elected officials and lawmakers regarding Wall Street regulations and corporate campaign contributions; common sense stuff that most Americans seemingly want, including many if not most of the so-called 1 percent.

It’s snowing as I write this on October 29^th; Lord have mercy!

“Snow in San Anselmo,
My waitress… said it was coming down
Said it hadn’t happened in over 30 years
But it was laying on the ground”
From a brilliant Van Morrison song on Hard Nose The Highway.

Will the onslaught of freezing-cold winter weather disburse these remarkable protesters, especially in the northern and mid-western states where their encampments will be hit the hardest? If so, I expect a meaningful part of their mission is accomplished, and this “revolution” will carry on and continue to percolate on Main Streets throughout America for many months and years to come. Power to the people, right on!

Please come out and hear The Nutopians, my exquisite 8-piece ensemble, celebrate the song compositions of John Lennon this week and please don’t forget about our most recent and most poignant Cause & Effect CD. Ironically, 1 percent on our mailing list responded to last month’s announcement.

Rex’s October 2011 Blog

September, with wisps of inevitable autumn, was even more its usual bittersweet this year. Propelled by a semi-significant “baby boomer” birthday thanks to a certain Sir Paul McCartney lyric; coupled with the 10^th anniversary of 9/11, it played heavily on my heart and mind. Still, life goes on thankfully and I was blessed to sing “Towers of Love” with its author Stuart Kabac and lovely high school a capella group called Passing Notes at a 9/11 memorial concert co-sponsored by Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair, NJ - then less than a week later blew out a candle on stage at our Common Fence concert in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Sometime in between, I shared the stage and two songs at One Longfellow Square in Portland, Maine with Jonathan Edwards to help celebrate the venue’s new non-profit status. Jonathan wryly quipped by going non-profit it had now joined ranks of its performers.

In hindsight, we probably should have included Towers of Love, a remarkable song written days after 9/11, on our Cause & Effect CD. It would have been a perfect fit. Still, I think we’ve made a masterful album, which by the way, is now available on our website and at concerts. Our CD won’t become “official” until we send out to radio and press in mid-January 2012. If any of you would like to suggest relevant online radio and media outlets, or traditional print and radio programming in your area, please send us your suggestions. Also, we welcome any of you who are interested, to join our “street team” volunteers by putting our CD/concert posters up and around in the areas where we’re performing. In this economy, any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Here in October, as was September, there is so much to be thankful for as I wind this whimsy down: a visit with my son Rufus later this week, my fortunate good health, new and ongoing creative ventures, the goodness that has sprung from perhaps our nation’s greatest tragedy, and the new and lasting friendships that have ensued since then. May blessings, peace and prosperity befall us all.