Ghost And The Grace Live Band NEEDED!

Still looking to fill a few slots for The Ghost And The Grace live band. If you would like to be a committed member of this very active band and live in the Bellingham area, shoot me an email at GhostAndGraceLive@gmail.com. We are still looking for:

Banjo/Mandolin/Acoustic Guitar player

We need someone to switch between a few of the acoustic instruments for each song, we already have the banjo and mando for you to use and if you are a good guitar player then they are not to hard to get a grasp on with a little practice. Mostly you would be rocking the banjo.

Horn Player

We already have the most bad ass trumpet player in the world, but she is also the most bad ass key player in the world and it is just not possible to do both at the same time, all of the time.

Strings

I am open to anything from cello to violin, if you want to come rock out, let me know!

Hopefully I will hear from some of you guys soon!

- Daniel

Dave Chappelle Mysteriously Appears In Portland

Apparently, Dave Chappelle showed up in Portland last night for an impromptu comedy show on the street in Pioneer Square. Armed with a just tiny amplifier and a mic, he showed up at around 12:50 to a crowd of nearly 4,000 people who all heard about the show through Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. So rad. Here is the video.

Dave Chappelle at Pioneer Square

Eli Roth's 'Bear Witness'

This is excruciatingly old but I finally just stumbled around onto it. By now most of you have probably gathered that Eli Roth is my favorite director, despite my semi-disappointment with Hostel 2 (although, I think that it is pretty hard to live up to the first one.) Anyway, Roth has some amazing quotes in this and it is definitely worth the watch. Just check out this little gem:

"I have a terrible Tim Allen movie that I want to make called 'Bear Witness'. About a bear that witnesses a mob hit and Tim Allen is the lawyer and the bear's got to stay at his apartment."

Artist on Artist: Josh Brolin & Eli Roth

Let's Write Some Lyrics!

Behold! A Pale Horse Out Now!

Today marks the official release of the debut album from The Ghost And The Grace, Behold! A Pale Horse! Check them out below, and if you haven’t already, head over to the store and pick yourself up a copy of the record! Shipping immediately!

Click here to buy

Piranha 3-D

In 1975, Steven Spielberg's Jaws took the world by storm, bringing blockbuster credibility to the horror genre and opening the floodgates for years of knockoffs about over-sized or insatiable creatures of the deep. From my personal favorite, Orca: The Killer Whale! to the comedy/horror romp, Piranha.



Piranha is currently being remade by on of my favorite new directors, Alexandre Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes and the unfortunate Mirrors), and it sounds like it is going to be amazing. Unlike his other films which are notable for their ruthlessly dark tone, Piranha is going to be more of a popcorn film in the vein of "The Frighteners, Braindead, (and) Gremlins." It probably doesn't hurt that it is in 3D either.

I am pretty stoked on the thought Alexandre has put into the upcoming films campy, pop culture cameos. First there is Ashlynn Brooke, who the faint-of-heart and the under 18 probably should not Google, and who I only really mention just so I can boost up the severely lacking "picture of babe" quotient in this blog. Second, apparently Christopher Loyd has been cast as a kooky old guy, which is probably already worth the ticket price right there. But most impressive is, frankly, one of the most bad ass, full circle crossovers I have ever heard of.

In an homage to Jaws, the film that started it all, Richard Dreyfuss will briefly reprise his role as everyone's favorite marine biologist, Matt Hooper. Yes, I'm serious, that Matt Hooper. The one who's gonna need a bigger boat.

Alexander had this to say about the cameo in a recent interview with ShockTillYouDrop.com:

Shock: How much screen time is Richard Dreyfuss going to have in this?

Aja: You'll see. It's very funny because it's an unofficial, indirect sequel or spin-off [of his Jaws character]. So, it's funny.

Shock: Did it take much convincing to get him on board?

Aja: When you write a character and you think about an idea... When the idea for Richard Dreyfuss to play this part came to us, we couldn't imagine anyone else. The studio really supported us in that decision to get him. From the glasses, to the outfit, to everything you'll see.



I officially cannot fucking wait.

Ghost Cat

A short video tribute to an old friend of mine...

Let's Write A Song #3

Sorry, at about 3:38, I say we are going to focus on the bridge next. We are actually trying to now figure out the chords for a chorus.

The Box Trailer

The trailer for Richard Kelly's (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales) The Box just showed up online. I have been interested in this since I heard about the plot a few months back, and the trailer looks pretty good despite their bizarre choice of throwing in the "Saw" music at the end. Apparently Arcade Fire is doing the score, which should be cool. Why not just use one of those tracks?

Click here to watch.

PureVolume Exclusive: My Shell Is Broken

I just finished setting up a Purevolume account for The Ghost And The Grace, and it would be great to have some of you guys head over there and add yourselves as fans. Just to sweeten the deal, I have uploaded the song “My Shell Is Broken” from Behold! A Pale Horse, in it’s entirety for you guys to check out. The only place you can hear it is at www.purevolume.com/TheGhostAndTheGrace! Enjoy!

Tim Burton's Alice Photos

I'm very interested in the direction of Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland. The first few pictures that I saw of it months ago made me think that it wasn't going to be even close to creepy enough, but judging by this shot of Johnny Depp I have been sorely mistaken. Take a look for yourselves and let me know what you think. I, for one, am stoked.

Trent Reznor Digg Interview

Please take the time to check out this amazing interview with Trent Reznor. It's part of an interview series on Digg.com where the questions that are asked are determined by votes from Digg users. Apparently the folks on Digg are incredibly competent and thoughtful, because the questions are amazing and mostly pertain to marketing music in this new age, which is something that we talk about a lot on here. Check it out, you won't be disappointed. Thanks so much to Dave for showing me this.

Trent Reznor Digg Interview


So after watching that, if you are still thinking that you want to support The Ghost And The Grace by haven't pre-ordered the record, click here.

Free Genetics Single

Download the free single for Genetics at The Ghost And The Grace website!

Death Metal Muppets

Lately Me, Dave, Nick, Karl and Little Steph have been getting our kicks by staying up very late watching terrible music video from the 90s. Somehow, during one of these nostalgia binges, we found this little gem of a video, which is neither terrible, nor from the 90s. Regardless, it's one of the most amazing things I have seen in a long, long time.

Monsters Of Folk

I am rarely excited about musical "super groups", simply because they are rarely better than the sum of their parts. In fact, most of the time they are much, much worse. I am hoping that curse gets lifted, however, with the release of Monsters Of Folk, a new band comprised of Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and M. Ward. The record is self-titled, and being released on September 22, 2009.

Genetics Music Video

If you like what you hear then please go to the store and order a copy of the record for yourself.

Thanks so much to Haylee for directing.

Want To Be In A Band?

A while ago when someone asked me if The Ghost And The Grace was going to ever play live I said that I would love to, but probably not, simply because the size of the band needed would just be too great. Since then I have given this a lot of thought, and as it seems like every day this project grows even more legs (I suppose it is like a centipede now), it is only fitting that I have now decided to dive into putting together a live operation.



Want to be a part of this? If you live in the Bellingham area and can play any of the following instruments shoot me an email at GhostAndGraceLive@gmail.com.

Trumpet, Clarinet, Oboe, Banjo, Violin, Piano/Keyboards, Bass, Guitar, Mandolin. I am also going to need about three dedicated BG vocalist/tambourine/claps people.

There are actually quite a few people who I have already been talking to about filling some of these roles, so if I don't get back to you don't get to down on yourself. Might as well try though, right?

Funhouse Remake

I am super excited to finally see that Eli Roth is talking about doing some directing again. Apparently he is in talks to helm a remake of Tobe Hooper's horror classic, "Funhouse".



Roth could slay a remake of this. Of course, he was also supposedly going to direct an adaption of Stephen King's Cell, a kung-fu movie with The RZA, and a flim made entirely of fake trailers called trailer trash. In other words, take the news with a grain of salt.

Darmok And Jalad At Tanagra

When you are a musician by trade, one of the streams of income that you receive is through publishing and mechanical royalties. These occur in the form of a few cents here or there when your song is played on the radio or streamed online, or if it is in a movie or a commercial, and eventually add up into something substantial if you are lucky enough. The way that these are collected is through a publishing collection company, like BMI or ASCAP. Idiot Pilot happens to be registered through ASCAP, which is why when you look through the credits of an Idiot Pilot record you will see something that says "©2007 Idiot Pilot Music ASCAP", which is the case of Wolves. Some artists have more interesting publishing identities though, like Sunny Day Real Estates "One Day I Stopped Breathing" or Broken Social Scenes "Arts & Crafts Productions Inc."

Now that I am releasing The Ghost And The Grace album, I decided to start a new publishing identity for myself. I searched high and low for a name and finally decided.

There is an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Picard is transported against his will down to a unexplored planet, along with a Tamarian captain. The Tamarian dialect has yet to be deciphered, as they seem to speak in random or nonsensical phrases. The Tamarian captain and Picard are eventually able to communicate with each other once Picard realizes that the dialect is based on metaphor to folklore and history. An example would be if you told someone you loved them by saying to them "Romeo and Juilet in the garden," or that you were hungry by saying "Big bad wolf, blowing down house." Because of their new found understanding, the two captains are able to band together to defeat an alien monster that inhabits the planet and are eventually transported back to their respective ships. A phrase frequently used throughout the episode is "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra", which is a reference to the Tamarian story about warriors who learn to work together in order to overcome an otherwise unsurvivable enemy.

Does this seem like a random thing to just throw into a blog post about publishing royalties? Sure, but no longer. As of last week, all of my future solo musical endeavors shall be legally published under "Darmok And Jalad At Tanagra ASCAP."
Stoked.

Newer Moon

Boy do I love Sam Rockwell. Definitely one of my favorite actors out there today, combine that with a beautiful trailer and a thriller/horror/sci-fi storyline and I am officially stoked for Moon. It's coming to New York and LA on next Friday, so if any of you readers are in the area then check it out and tell me how it is.