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Saturday August 11th Cold Spring Tavern will feature a full day of Bands and Barbecue.

As a long Time Cold Spring regular, I, Dan Grimm, will bring my band and several of my favorite acts from Hollywood and Ojai up the mountain to show off our talent in one of the most beautiful venues in California. The American Bloomers combine tight harmonies with catchy Rock, Pop, and Americana songs that have lead to multiple award winning recognition such as best Female Vocal Performance and recent nomination for Best Music in Media. D Henry Fenton and the Elizabethan feature one of Australia's brightest songwriters and noted Legend of LALA, D Henry. These regulars of the Topanga Canyon scene work with industry giants such as Dave Kusen (dummer on Pearl Jam's legendary Ten album).

I will be previewing my new album Ventucky that features a Flip Floppytonk style and musicians such as Jesse Siebenberg (Supertramp, Lissie), Jonathan McEuen(Grand Ol Opry veteran), and the Ventucky Crows rhythm section. Surprise guests are rumored to be sitting in playing along, as if the Tri Tip Sandwiches weren't enough!

#Cold Spring Tavern #Ventucky #Dan Grimm #American Bloomers #D Henry Fenton

Return from Nashtura

Long time no blog! Being busy is good for the blog, though. New wines, new towns, new songs... lots of news

Shameless Self Promotion

Vote for me!

I'm honored to be in the running for 4 categories in the VC Music Awards:

Best Male Solo Artist

Best Country/Americana Band

Best Acoustic Band

Best Live Band

I should mention that there is no "real" best anything in music, it's all aesthetics and really this is just a popularity contest in the end, but... oh what the hell! Vote Grimm and I promise not to kiss your baby and spread my germs!. The signup process is refreshingly easy and doesn't require that you get spammed or sacrifice any privacy. Make sure to double click the vote button once you select the good old DG Logo.

Vote here:

http://www.vcmusicawards.com/

Wine for Beer Drinkers

2007 Moss Roxx Ancient Vine Zinfandel

This one is a little more pricey than I've been recommending. Expect $20-25 price rage.

Sometimes you get what you pay for and while I love 10 dollar bottles, this Zin has a little extra bite and sophistication.

Good legs on the glass, but it's not a syrupy mess. I like that it has a little gasoline to it, but it's still got that nice fruity Zin thing going on.

The other thing I like about this bottle is the logo... is it just me or is that a man throwing up next to a bear?

Ventucky Album News

Well, we've been mostly done for a while now. I tried waiting out B Willing for harmonies but he got swooped up into acting and playing with Mia Dyson, so then I got it in my head that I could possibly get Chris Robinson, but in the midst of figuring out how to ask him so he'd say yes, I got to thinking Ventucky harmonies should be done by Ventucky cats. So Jason Mariani convinced me that a Siebenberg-Hannigan duo would rock it and there we are. I'm hoping that it's done at this very moment and all that will be left is the final mix/master and the album art finalization.

In other album news Broken Hearted Bullies has one track down and much of the preproduction is done. I'm also stoked to announce that Duane Barron is producing at least one track. Duane has produced and engineered for Ozzy Osbourne, Tracy Chapman, Poison, W.A.S.P., Mötley Crüe, Foreigner, L.A. Guns, Fear Factory, and Social Distortion to name a few.

Also I just agreed to live-track an acoustic quartet album with Patrick Westfall, who is the man for recording underground artists in Ojai.

Nashville Trip

I'll have to do this one in installments. Going to a place that filled with music was mind boggling.

On a Monday night at midnight that place is packed to the gills with bands and listeners. Very little traffic, easy parking, walking distance to major sports arenas, amazing BBQ. Southern Hospitality, and lush green rolling hills. Wait, moonshine... did I mention moonshine? White whiskey is pretty good and what's more it can be infused with about anything you want. My favorite was peanut butter shine. Now that shine is legal here in California and many states I am following the tips Good Ol Boy Andy Tucker showed me. I'll post my recipe when I get it right...maybe.

I plan to collect my thoughts into things I learned out and some random stories from the road in future entries. I will make sure not to hibernate on those, so keep an eye for more frequent blog updates.

Albums Update:

Corvus Crow is live on iTunes and I'm really humbled by the the reviews I've gotten. I'm really happy with my first entry into the world of digital distribution.

We laid down the last of the instruments on Ventucky last night at Brotheryn. Jonathan McEuen did his usual masterful leads around the amazing work of Jesse Siebenberg and the nicely live tracked drums and bass of Marco Perez and Eric Sachs. The album sounds good already. If I can figure a way to kidnap B Willing up from his duties as Woody and Bob Dylan in Lonesome Traveller I will. I'm a bit worried that the success of the play and tough schedule he has might rob me of his harmonies on a second album, but I'm determined to figure that out and still meet my deadlines.

We also went back to Castaway 7 and started the 3rd EP! Yeah, I know it's going fast now. I've been mixing and matching players on this one and taking a more experimental approach to the tunes, which are largely from my Los Angeles writing era 7 years ago. So far I've Had Marco and Eric back and also brought in Donnie Deever on drums and Sean Ingoldsby on bass for Sweet Relief. We brought in local star Ian McFadyen from 50 Sticks of Dynamite to work some of his banjo magic, even. I'm lining up some guest guitar players, but also encouraging JP Hesser to step out from the control room and do some tracks with his signature super vibey tones.

Wine For Beer Drinkers:

I was thinking of doing my favorite cab here: Lucas Lewellen 06, but... a) it's $30 (very un beer drinker) & b) Their site's images are jacked up.

So while I let the pretentious Solvang out of the room let me instead recommend something high end that is hard to describe and amazingly good. It's not beer, wine, or champaign, but it's sort of all of them at once. It's not cheap, so feel free to bust this out instead of champaign or high end wine to impress.

"Deus undergoes a lengthy, costly maturation in the Champagne caves of France. The elegant and labor-intensive "methode Champenoise" produces the best sparkling beverages in the world.

DeuS has characteristics of both sparkling wine (fine, velvety carbonation) and specialty beer (rich maltiness) but also exhibits a fragrant, herbal and spicy character quite unique and special. Flavors of anise, mint, malt, lavender, and a barely perceptible hoppiness make DeuS a very sophisticated treat."

Guest Blogger: Rick O. Shay

I would like to introduce our Guest Blogger for Wine for Beer Drinkers:

Rick O Shay is an accomplished drummer, website designer, print designer, and astronaut of life.

It was with Rick in Paso Robles when I decided to do a wine for beer drinkers segment of the blog. He was recently married and decided to dedicate his whole honeymoon to scouting wine for this blog!... I think.

You can find his drumming on iTunes for the band Shades of Day and also on my new album Corvus Crow here.

Without further adieu, Rick O Shay-

One of my favorite questions when I am drinking wine is "where did this wine come from?" There is something about answering that particular question. It gives me ideas and imagery for my imagination that I take with me for every sip (or gulp) that I enjoy. This October, my wife and I had our Honeymoon in Italy. A wine drinker's paradise. Italian's have had a lot more time to perfect their wine, and it shows. Almost every region in Italy has its own wine. Order whatever table wine is offered on the menu and you can bet that the grapes are close by. My excitement and curiosity peaked when my wife and I visited the infamous Chianti region of Tuscany. Before I left, the only thing I really knew about Chianti wine was that Hannibal Lector preferred it when he sat down to dine on a man's liver. And, while I was thankful when I bellied up to the tasting room at the Castello Vicchiomaggio that they did not have fava beans for a palette cleanser, I was even more amused when the answer to my favorite question also begged another: where did that black rooster come from? But before I jump down that rabbit hole let's get into the wine. Official Chianti Clasico wine is made within a region of Tuscany that is about 100 square miles called the Chianti Classico Zone. Under strict guidelines from Italia's higher-ups the wine is tested and certified. Certification demands that it must be over 80% Sangiovese grapes, have at least a 12% alcohol level and be aged for 7 months in oak. The Riserva label must be aged for 27 months. So, aside from how the length of time spent in its barrel effects the taste, Chianti Classico can, by law, vary only slightly. Then, there is the Super Tuscan wine. These wines are when the vintners decide to bend the rules and throw in some different grape variations. These varietals taste better to me then the actual Chianti Classico wine, which can be a bit "dry". Having fun throwing together different grapes (or berries as they are called in Italy) opens up the flavor . But, you don't get to put the coveted "seal of approval" making a real Chianti Classico. Truth be told the seal looks more like a postage stamp, except more rectangle. It sticks to either the top of the bottle over the cork wrapping or around the neck. That's the real deal Holyfield right there, that is what separates the men from the boys. If you don't see that stamp then it's not real Chianti Classico. I only hope Hannibal Lector knew the truth of that as well. Back in the tasting room at Vicchiomaggio I was itching to know more, specifically, what's up with the Rooster? Do a google search of Chianti Classico and you will see the famous rooster symbol of Chianti. It's kinda like the iconic image of the Rocky Mountains on a silver bullet. But the image of this black rooster icon was a mystery to me.

My wife and I were lucky enough to have asked the rooster expert. She told us the tale of the white and black rooster and how the two birds decided the fate of Florence and Sienna's rule over the Chianti region. Back in the 1200s, Florence and Sienna were in conflict over control of the Chianti Classico zone. After a long and bloody battle with no real winner, it was clear that Chanti had to be divided up, but how would the lines be drawn? After some debate it was decided that a competition would be held. A rider from Florence and a rider from Sienna would leave before the break of dawn from their respective cities. Where the two riders met would mark the border. Each region was allowed to elect their own rooster to signal the beginning of their rider's journey. Sienna used a well-fed white rooster and Florence used a starving black rooster. Florence's rooster crowed well before the break of dawn and Sienna's took its sweet time almost waiting for the sun to peak it's head before it crowed. As a result Florence enjoys an almost 90% rule over the Chianti Classico zone. I only hope the rider from Florence had enough of a mind to say something witty to the rider from Sienna like, "sorry about your cock." So, now, when I see a bottle of Chianti Classico or Riserva with it's proud stamp of certification I can get a real grasp on where these grapes are coming from. And that my friends, makes for a better and more fulfilling wine experience. Ciao!

#Chianti #Rick O. Shay #Italy #Wine for Beer drinkers #honeymoon

Check out my new album, Corvus Crow. It just hit itunes.

Random entertainment meets Wine for Beer Drinkers!:

We will be having an article by special guest blogger Rick O Shay in the near future. For now, Enjoy some Dr. Steve Brule!

Blog from Beyond!

Album Cometh:

The album is done and submitted to iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Rhapsody, and several other major vendors. It should be about 1-2 weeks before the iTunes release, assuming all the digital paperwork was correct.This reminds me- there are two Dan Grimms. While I'm told by my legal councel that I have established clear internet primacy and could issue a cease and desist on the other Dan, it seems like a damn shame to harass a guy over such a cool name. So, make sure you either sample the songs to make sure it's your friendly neighborhood braids on vocals, or you can always look for the this symbol on all my albums (all 1 and 2/3rds of them): I have posted Epitaphs on my website's tunes page a sample of the album for your listening pleasure. Click hereI'd love to hear your reviews here or on my FB page here.Hope you enjoy! Random Entertainment: Tis the season for horror flicks. I saw Poltergeist 3 on NetFlix the other night... surprisingly solid and worth it for the cheesy 80's fashion at the very least. I would highly recommend 'From Beyond' as an actual really creepy movie, though. It's got a good cheese factor but still has some awesome scenes. If you like Hell Raiser, this movie should be right for you. From Beyond IMBD Speaking of scary, here's the wife and me as Hall and Oates: Wine For Beer Drinkers You're beer drinkers, so may i suggest The LAB Brewing in Agoura Hills? Roger Bott is a talented brewer and I hear tale of amazing food at the location, as well. Click here for there FB page Now back to wine. Malbec is one of those semi-exotic off brand grapes I see more and more. I've liked a few glasses and you might try something like Red Rock Malbec if you interested, but I would instead suggest a Sicilian grape if you want something offbeat. This bottle started my fascination with Nero D'avola:

#Halloween #Corvus Corow #Itunes #Grimm #From Beyond #wine #Nero D'avola #Hall and Oates

Albums Updates, Wine, and Music

Albums Update:

Yep Albums plural- Corvus Crow was done and I was raving about it weeks ago, so what happened? Well, i got greedy on Darlene and wanted a second mix to consider... Once we heard it, we liked it and thought the whole album should get that treatment in mastering, so we did... but then I noticed a single pop in Firing Squad... so turns out it was from the original mix and we went back in to fix it. Everything is hunky dory know evidently and (fingers crossed) the final final master is coming my way tonight. The artwork is done and we just need to reproduce the discs and packages and submit to iTunes.

I just got work EP #2 "Ventucky" is not done being tracked by Jesse Siebenberg and his magical world of pedal and lap steel guitars, which means we'll take a listen for any tradition electric parts we need and contemplate doing harmonies with Sachs and McEuen. We're ahead of schedule on this one, which is a nice problem to have. Random Entertainment: After years of being compared to Ray Lamontagne I decided to check him out. I like him. Seems like a hybrid of Jason Mraz and myself.I've always wanted to have a harmony heavy trio with Mraz, B Willing James, and me, but considering the closer common influences I might be inclined to sub JM for RL. Anyhow... there's work to be done before that opportunity would present itself. So here you go, one of my favorites from Ray:

Wine For Beer Drinkers: Alot of wines need time open to breathe and evaporate into the taste I prefer. Old Wren comes to mind as a favorite, however this weeks wine is great as soon as the cork flies. It's a hearty old vine zinfandel that has a strong taste of raspberry jam. Check it:

#Wine #Dan Grimm #Gnarly Head #RRay LaMontagne #zinfandel #Corvis Crow

A Note on October Movies:

Is it just me or does the fall season bring us some truly craptastic movie viewing choices? Not looking forward to anything I've seen a trailer for. Malory goes, "Awwwe cute" when we see the Dolphin Tail trailer, and when that happens the odds are I'll hate the movie. When I hear that phrase in conjunction with some feel good animal or romance movie it makes me want to sponsor some sucker to go see the movie with her.

In the absence of any good movies in theaters, though, I'm going to let you in on a secret my buddy Todd Beardpocolypse shared with me: Buffalo Rider.Your life will not be complete until you watch this movie.

The official youtube tagline is this: "Charging on 2000 pounds of revenge, Buffalo Jones battles outlaws, cougars, bears and saves a baby. This is the greatest movie ever made about a man and his buffalo. It's also fallen into the public domain, so enjoy for free online forever."

Let me take a stab at a better tagline-This movie starts like a Disney or Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins documentary, however it soon becomes High Planes Drifter with a dash of any 4th grade boy you know who collects insects to become prize fighters inside a glass jar. Warning: This movie contains shit tons of animals being harmed. PETA was not around back when Buffalo Jones was riding into future youtube fame. The acting in this movie is about a D+, but it's awesome to see a guy riding a buffalo maul a wild wolf or a mountain lion get into an epic scrap with Bandit the raccoon. I watched all of it and said, "Awesome!". Malory scoffed then watched the whole thing and went "What?- that was AWESOME!". I know.

Sold yet? you'd better be, because this is pretty much has to be a better movie than Melencholia and Paranormal Activity 3. Enjoy:

Wine for beer drinkers: I want to go back to the first wine I posted about for a moment. I just had two higher end bottles of red, but then decided to match them vs the Big House Red. I would probably choose BHR in a blind taste test and it cost 14 dollars less a bottle. It's easy to spot on the shelf for people who get antsy in the wine section and it has a screw top, so you don't need additional hardware to drink it. I will be in search of something that tops it, but so far it is the champion red for beer drinkers.

#Wine #Buffalo Jones #Dan Grimm #Big House Red

HR Pufnstuf & The long overdue Corvus Crow album

Todays Blog has a trifecta of categories for your reading pleasure. *note last week I posted my favorite video ever and mentioned I was stalking Gabe Askew. After many minutes (probably about 4) of sending him friend requests, heartshaped boxes of candy(malory ate that one), iTunes gift certificates(well i meant to, but i needed more Terry Reid in my colletion), and a lock of my braids(or maybe i just misplaced it and it's part of a rockin sweet bird's nest), he did finally realize I was his biggest stalker (6foot5inches) and started talking to me. I don't know how many of my fingers I will have to cutoff, or toes I will have to stub to get him to do a video, but count on me trying. HR Pufnstuf- the southern-accented dragon Mayor of Living Island. I think this will make most people's top 5 weirdest shows ever list.I actually made it through half of this movie online before I had to stop due to brain damage... it's hard to watch and hard to stop watching. Here's but a taste-http://youtu.be/cshdzAtBW4M If you need to get that out of your head check out Chris & Chad's What The Pod podcast. It's kind of like Mad Magazine meets National Geographic for your ears. I've now listed for about a year now: click here Album update and a few notes on Albums, EP's, and Singles: Corvus Crow went in to be Mastered by Sean Ingoldsby this week. Since I've been playing it live for a while now, many of you know it's a 6 song "album" or EP or whatever. I've also cut all the basics for 5 new songs this month that I hope will be coming soon. A lot of artists are busting their chops for a 12-15 song album length based on tradition. The reality, though, is people live in an MP3/iTunes style world where whole albums are often neglected in lieu of playlists. I love some albums in their entirety such as OK Computer, Revolver, Dark Side of the Moon, and Blood Sugar Sex Magik, but times they are a changing. My favorite place to hear music is driving and I believe a 25-45 minute commute is about perfect to get hold of a complete thought. I've got 35 songs lined up waiting for the old practice, cut, and release schedule, but don't expect more than a handful to come out at a time. This should mean that I won't have any release droughts coming anytime soon. In other exciting news DJ Olde Toby and DJ DownNGoing are doing remixes for Corvus and I've given them the full album of stems to tinker with, so this should get interesting. For more information check out www.danisgrimm.com Wine for beer drinkers 101: Featured wine of the week:Masked Rider: Gunsmoke Red This week's wine has a few things going for it: It's easy to find on the shelfIt tastes goodIt's manly enough for him and even has "notes of bacon", but tasty enough for her. Plus it has a freaking horse on the label. A weird number of women love horses for no good reason.

#Gabe Askew #HR Pufnstuf #Corvus Crow #Gunsmoke Red #Wine #Music

Two Weeks - Grizzly Bearby Gabe Askew

Grimmnology

Todays blog entry has 2 categories. Enjoy them like a lamprey nibbling off a shark's milk mustache.

Today's random entertainment: I consider this video easily the most visually stunning I have ever seen for a song. Random fact- A fan named Gabe Askew made it in After Effects and 3DS Max There are no actual models- this is all computer graphics! It's not even the freaking official video. I am stalking Gabe Askew as we speak to try to get him to do something for a song I wrote called "5th of July". I suggest watching it in full screen: Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew on Vimeo. Wine & Beer Dorkiness: Beer: I'm a little over the trend of making nearly undrinkable (in any real quantity) beer that tastes like liqueur. I love variety, and I love small amounts of beers like Life and Limb by Sierra and Dogfish Head, but why are so few people making really high quality pilsners and lagers that you can drink a volume of?If you're looking for a gift to give me, go find a german Pils or Octoberfest with a name you can't say on the front, a light Scotch Ale, or a clean porter like Fullers London Porter.

Wine:I know many of my friends see a shelf of wine as an overpriced maze of stupid names and yet would love to get a solid bottle they like or can impress with that isn't 25-200 bucks. So for my beer snobs who can actually get a date to impress, here is your flavor of the week. Big House red (priced around $6 to $9) Click on the link for the image and more info. It will help you find it fast- I know you want back to the isle full of overly hopped gooey snob beers and/or tecate (looking at you Kory). It's about the same as a good six pack price-wise and it's easy to spot so you can get the hell out of there. Cheers,DG

Wine-O's, Criminals, and Musicians

"You look like a criminal" "Pardon me?" I said "You look the most like criminal of anyone who's come to taste wine over the holiday weekend. I thought this other guy looked like a criminal, but now you're here." "Hmm, I think you meant musician. It's almost the same" "No I mean hardened criminal. I play piano and I know how nice musicians are" said the crazy wine pouring lady at the first place we went to in Paso Robles. That's how my romantic wine anniversary getaway started leg two in Paso after a day in the sausage and sugar town of Solvang. I'm both proud of myself for laughing it off until we were all having a good time , and also a little disappointed because I will always wonder what face she would have made if I told her to stop being a butthole. It's an underutilized word. It's not on George Carlins list of 7 words you can't say (not safe for work), but it's a powerful word. It can be one of the funniest things you say to a person or it can be down right poignent if used correctly. Anyhow, the old lady could dish it out, and I will always wonder if she could take it. Sad to waste a word like butthole for diplomacy sake (especially when the wine is mediocre), but my wife will no doubt be relieved that I do occasionally have a sense of restraint and appropriateness that outweighs my artistic need for social experimentation. Mad Props to Greg at Castoro who used to work at Columbia Records and hooked me up with the club discount when he found out I was a criminal... err musician. -DG

#Wine #Paso Robles #Anniversaries #Castoro #Music

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