taylorsnotes.com, and other awesome things!

So many updates!

Firstly, I'm excited to announce that you can now access my blog at taylorsnotes.com!  (You don't even have to type the "www."!)  Not only will this be an easier address for me to share, but it will also be easier for you to remember, and as I've always been a fan of win-win situations, this is a particularly convenient win-win!

[If you're strangely attached to the complicatedly lengthy taylorbmorris.blogspot.com, you can still use that too; you don't need to change anything if you've already bookmarked my blog with that address.]

Next, I've added a page of some of my favorite restaurants in the Phoenix/Metro area.  So, if any of you locals have read my "of Food" page and wondered about my favorite places in the valley, you can check out that page here!  (I have not added a separate tab at the top of the site for my "of Food [PHX]" page, but you can find the link to it on the main "of Food" page.)
 
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Now, onto some non-blog-related updates!

Though Thanksgiving has passed, I would like to share one thing for which I'm very incredibly thankful: that when I knocked over my music stand last week and it landed on my violin (which was sitting on a chair), the stand merely scratched the top and didn't break open my violin.

...that could have been much worse!

Last week, I had the amazing opportunity to play with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale. It was easily one of the coolest and most fun gigs I've ever played.  If you don't know of the TSO, they cover Christmas and well-known classical tunes in a giant, full-on, sensory-bombarding rock concert (which costs over $20 million).  Also, the name is somewhat deceptive: they're not actually an orchestra in the way you or I would define it.  The band consists of a drummer, two keyboardists, a bass player, a handful of electric guitar players, an electric violinist, and about eight to ten singers. Then, they contract local string players in every city to play with them on-stage (our group was three violins, two violas, and two cellos).

When we showed up at Jobing.com, home of the Phoenix Coyotes, we were sent into a small room in the depths of the building.  After we had about 10 minutes to look through the music (for the nearly three hour concert, without intermission), the very talented violinist for the TSO, Caitlin Moe, rehearsed us for an hour on the trickier sections and explained the more confusing cues and cut-offs.  

We were escorted to a quick sound check, followed by a short lunch break, and then had two performances (3 p.m. and 8 p.m.) with a dinner break in-between.

Our rehearsal/dressing room.

Not really knowing what to expect from the show as I've never seen it in person, I was on an absurd high when the night finished.  It was indescribably fun.  Lights, lasers, fire, explosions, incredible musicians, and an enthusiastic, packed house.

It was, to say the least, ridiculously awesome.

For a sample of the show, below is a video from an audience member at one of the Phoenix performances.  This number, "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24," is probably their most well-known tune (released in 1996, it helped their first album go double platinum).  As a popular cover of the classic "Carol of the Bells," you've most likely heard it (and will hear it) on many a Christmas commercial.

All of us string players, though not distinctly visible, are located in the upper-left corner of the stage (as you view it).  Make sure you watch through till the end for the explosions!

Here's to a rockin' break!

America's Heartland: Epilogue

After an unexpectedly exciting and incredibly tiring week of 5 back-to-back shows in Iowa and Nebraska, it's good to be back home for a winter break!  Things only seemed to get progressively awesome as the week continued, finishing off with 3 packed houses.

It's really nice to be writing this blog post from my bed (not a hotel bed), and just to get in the mood for the next weeks off, I'm listening to Ella Fitzgerald's "Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas"!  Premature--I know--but nothing really makes a winter break officially feel like a winter break more than listening to one's favorite Christmas CD!

On Friday morning, Annette and I went down to The Mill coffee shop in downtown Lincoln, NE, to do a radio interview.  It's wonderfully disarming to duck into a coffee shop on a cold, rainy morning, sit down with a warm latte, and chat at a table in the back corner with a great host.  No frills, no sound-proof studio rooms, no producers with headsets and clipboards; just a live broadcast of some people casually talking about the arts into microphones.  It was a fantastic experience.  [If you want to listen to the podcast version of the interview, go here, let the podcast fully download, and then start listening around 3/4 of the way through the interview--we were the last segment of the broadcast.]

L to R: Dean Marshall (Co-Founder and Musical Director of Barrage), me, Annette, and William Stibor of "Friday Live" on NET 91.1

It was such a blast playing at the Lied Center in Lincoln!  A packed house (nearly 2,200 people!), a great venue, and a great city.  Lincoln rocks.

The next morning we had to make a 4.5 hour drive to Mount Vernon, Iowa.  I had the backseat to myself when we got in the car, so I pulled down the arm rest/center console to get cozy for a short nap.  When I awoke, I caught a shocking glimpse of myself in the rear-view mirror:

This is what happens when you fall asleep on your side with wet hair.

Here are some more pictures from our drive:

Mind-numbing thought of the day: Michael Jordan is so famous that the back of his head is instantly recognizable.

Wind turbine blade in transport.

We finished up last night with a sold-out, return performance in Mount Vernon, IA, capping off a stellar week.

But the hardest part was yet to come...today's trip home.

For those of you who read about last week's trip home from Oklahoma, this was, fortunately, nothing of that sort. Today's trip was just a case-in-point of the "hard travel days" you may have heard touring-types bemoan.  Most notably, it consisted of 3 hours of sleep and then catching a shuttle to the airport at 4:15 a.m. this morning.

And, just as proof that arriving at an airport that early should be considered cruel and unusual, I'll leave you with this photo of what I saw when I arrived:

Good morning to you, employees of AirTran!

America's Heartland, cont.

Yesterday on our drive to Des Moines, I was able to grab just a few more snapshots of driving in the heartland.  And due to the overcast weather, everything was just a little bit more beautiful.

The Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa.

In other news, last night my E string popped during the show on the very first note it plays.  Not in the hour I was practicing before the show, not when I was tuning back stage prior, but right when we ran out for "Old Joe Clark" and I started playing the melody (which begins on an open E string).

...really, E string?!  The first note?!

Having a string pop in your face during a performance will never not be shocking.  Thankfully, however, that's why we have a spare violin (whose name is "Joanne") waiting backstage.  [It's true: we have named our spare violin.  Why?  Why not!  And she has even has this name to the extent that we actually use her name in passing, e.g., "Joanne is right next to Ted's monitor desk," "Yeah, my E string popped so I had to go grab Joanne," etc.]

Thanks, Joanne!

Off to Omaha, Nebraska -- my 44th state with Barrage!