russellstarke.com

That’s right - hot on the heels of the most recent website update, russellstarke.com has taken the plunge and become “blogified”. What does that mean? Well, in addition to it being a heck of a lot easier to update (so expect more frequent posts from now on!), it also means that there are more opportunities for you to interact and leave comments and feedback! Poke around - there’s lots of new material here - and drop a line and say hello!

Yep, after a killer set at the Grape Street in Philadelphia, Michelle Fiore announced that she’s leaving the band to move to Arizona with new hubby Joe. The band will certainly carry on, though we’ll need to rethink things a bit since Michelle was such an integral part of the sound and spirit of the band. Still, we did have a great night and expect to be booking more shows in the near future with various smaller combos of the band as Brian and Todd prepare for fatherhood.

Stay tuned for more news on that front…in the meantime, myself and the band wish her all the best - and I’m quite sure we’ll be seeing her pop up at shows around holiday times when she’s back in town. You haven’t seen the last of her!

We did, however, have a “Last Supper” of sorts at the Manayunk Diner immediately following the show - a picture of the event is captured below for your viewing pleasure (and yes, Ron did actually wear that outfit for the show), complete with “fading-away” Michelle:

Hi all - updates to the Hulihees website are in progress, and once they’re finished there will be a bunch more pics available there. Until then, here are some choice snapshots from the Hulihees double-header on 9/8 - enjoy!

The first Mattowax EP is almost finished - we’re at the mixing stage now (4 new tunes!). We’re also starting to line up the next batch of songs to get the Mattowax treatment, and we’ve got a bunch of guest musicians on tap to contribute - we can’t WAIT for you to hear this new material (and, fully rendered versions of some classics as well!). Stay tuned!

We’re headin’ to Rehoboth Beach!
My video troupe the After School Specialists just won another contest - this time a short film for Dogfish Head Ale, which means that the film will be shown as part of the 10th Annual Rehoboth Beach Film Festival. It will also then appear on the Dogfish Head website. Not only did I write the score, I’ve also got a cameo as a one-armed zombie! Read about our success here.