IS THAT YOU, MR. LASWELL?

Before I begin this post, I would like to announce that as of yesterday, LA staple and Musicbleep favorite, Greg Laswell, launched his own site today! http://www.blogger.com/www.greglaswell.com. Here you can find tour dates, recent photo galleries, videos, RINGTONES, blogs, an online store, plus much, much more exciting things. It is truly like Christmas morning! I was excited to hear the news, and knew that I could not possibly go on another day without sharing it with my fellow Musicbleep fans! I would also like to take this moment to announce not only a show added to his US, Denmark, and UK tour @ The Troubadour in West Hollywood on October 25th, but on October 6th he will be releasing his second EP 'Covers'.

In this well put together album, he recreates songs from any music lovers heart, especially Kristen Hersh's 'Your Ghost', which I cannot stop listening to on repeat. It is truly genius, and not surprisingly so. Mr. Laswell, or Greg, as I hope to call him, has always followed through on creating thoughtful, heartfelt, and sometimes heartbreaking tracks from his debut album 'Through Toledo' up until his latest single 'Off I Go' which stumped downloading charts after debuting on the season finale of Grey's Anatomy. The 'Covers' Ep pays tribute to artists from my nostalgic past:
The Killing Moon (originally performed by Echo & the Bunnymen)
In Spite of Me (originally performed by Morphine)
Take Everything (originally performed by Mazzy Star)
Your Ghost (originally performed by Kristin Hersh)
This Woman's Work (originally performed by Kate Bush)
He has recreated each song with grace and emotion, and I have to say, I actually like most of these tracks better than the originals, especially 'Your Ghost' and 'In Spite of Me' (no offense to the original artists).

So be on the lookout October 6th for 'Covers' and get your tickets now for the Troubadour show on October 25 as I am certain it will sell out!

ONE DAY ONLY

This has to be one of the best albums ever and for today only you can pick up a copy for just $1.99. If you don't know who Greg Laswell is, now's your chance! This brilliant singer-songwriter's music has been featured in many shows including, Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill.

Greg Laswell's "Three Flights From Alto Nido" ONLY $1.99 on Amazon.com! TODAY ONLY! (Yay!) http://tinyurl.com/l5bv3v

GREG LASWELL

It seems as almost every other week we have a review of a Greg Laswell show or an update, as he is a resident artist of Musicbleep and we frequent his shows as much as we possibly can. However, last Saturday's show, a last before he hits a summer long tour, my close friends all gathered at the Hotel Cafe to not only check out his performance, but to celebrate my date of birth. So I would like to thank my friends, AJC, NMIT (ILYG), and to Greg himself (thank you for the dedication).

The show was sold out, per usual, and packed in my favorite venue. He had all of his "teammates" on stage to perform with him, which created a familiar, yet rare dynamic (he played solo the previous night). As you all know from previous posts we have seen Greg at various venues, playing with varies acts, and on the Hotel Cafe tour; it never gets old. I would also like to congratulate him on the single that he wrote especially for the season finale of Grey's Anatomy, 'Off I Go'. If you knew what was best for you, after reading this blog, go to iTunes and download this song, it's amazing! Check him out... www.myspace.com/greglaswell.com and www.greglaswell.com

ALWAYS A PLEASURE, MR. LASWELL

Once again, an impressive performance from one of my all time favorites, Greg Laswell. Last Friday, the Troubadour could not have had a better lineup: Greg Laswell followed by the incredible Rachael Yamagata! It was almost sensory overload. I have seen Greg about 8 or 9 times by now, mostly at the Hotel Cafe, and it just never gets old.

This night in particularly, he had a different demeanor. He is always charming, yet always a bit shy, but not this night. He was full of jokes and stories and anecdotes that was a nice change. He performed all my favorites, including 'Sing, Theresa Says', 'Through Toledo', and his cover of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun', which he then transitioned into my ultimate favorite Laswell classic 'High and Low', all of which were from his first album "Through Toledo". And from his most current record, "Three Flights from Alto Nido", he played 'The One I Love', 'How the Day Sounds', and my favorite off of this album, 'Comes and Goes (In Waves).

If you missed this performance, shame on you...just kidding, but if you did, you have two more chances this month to check him out and I do recommend that you do. He will be playing Thursday, April 23rd at Largo with Lenka and Saturday, April 25th, he will be returning to his home, the Hotel Cafe. So if you are looking for an enjoyable evening performance from one of LA's best singer/songwriters out there, GO!


www.myspace.com/greglaswell and www.greglaswell.com

GREG JUST WANTS TO HAVE FUN

I took in a couple of shows this weekend. One being Greg Laswell at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. Greg is an amazing singer songwriter for those of you who don't know much about him. His latest album was released last month and he performed a bunch of new stuff from it.

You can still catch Greg at the Hotel next Friday and he has a few other gigs around town coming up. Here are a few pix from the show of Greg and then me & my friends posing.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Mandy Moore is doing a gig at the Hotel Cafe tonight! I'm kind of excited to see her tonight - she worked with some of my favorite songwriters on her most recent album, so I'm interested to see how's she's gonnna do.

Last night I was able to catch Greg Laswell at the Hotel Cafe, which was a one time bf of Mandy. He has such an amazing voice - I'll have a few pix up soon.

Hotel Cafe
1623 N. Cahuenga Blvd.
Hollywood, CA

9PM TONIGHT
$10

UPDATE: MANDY LEFT THIS MESSAGE ON HER MYSPACE regarding tonight.

So, I'm back from a week and half of not just being ON the East Coast but AWAY from Joni.... It was a good time in Upstate New York with some great friends and my brother, Kyle. Just got back to LA and am going to work out a bunch of new material for the Hotel Cafe show this coming Saturday... wait...THIS Saturday???!!! Yikes! Actually, Mike Viola and I have such a good thing going, it's gonna be a blast regardless of how new and rough some stuff may be. I'm really hoping you all can come out and be the first to hear some new material. We are really in a groove and this is still such a work in progress. But nonetheless, the live thing is still so important and I can't wait any longer to gig - especially at such a great, warm and musical place as Hotel Cafe. Really hoping to see some familiar faces.

Best to you all...hope the Summer has been a good one and that you are enjoying the remains of it...

xo

MM

A NIGHT IN THE HOTEL

Tonight at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, one of my favorite singer/songwriter will be performing.

He has a new album and here is the latest video for "How The Day Sounds" off FLIGHTS FROM ALTO NIDO.

The video also features an appearance by Elijah Wood.

Head out to the Hotel Cafe if you have nothing to do tonight and want to catch a great show!

THREE FLIGHTS FROM ALTO NIDO

This past Tuesday, Hotel Cafe legend, Greg Laswell dropped his latest album 'Three Flights from Alto Nido', a fantastic follow up from his last 'Through Toledo'. It is a wonderful sophomoric encore!! When I first went to see him at this intimate venue, he opened with his Cindy Lauper cover 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun', but with a more emo, twist. Check it out below. He has just wrapped up, well two months ago, the Hotel Cafe tour, and this Friday, July 11th, he is having is CD release party at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. GET TICKETS! He is such a great performer, and there is no better venue to see him in!



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By Cory Radke

BOY JUST WANTS TO HAVE FUN

As I mentioned earlier - the Hotel Cafe Tour is finally upon us. It hits Los Angeles this weekend, kicking off on Saturday, April 12th at the Henry Fonda Theater and April 13th at the El Rey.

One singer/songwriter on the bill is a guy by the name of Greg Laswell. I have been fortunate enough to catch Greg a few times at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, so it's going to be no surprise how fantastic he will be! You gotta check out his version of Cindi Lauper's 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun' - it's so RAD!

He is just one of the amazing artists scheduled to hit the stage this weekend. If you can't make it out - check out the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. He plays there quite a bit.

www.myspace.com/greglaswell
Photo: Autumn DeWilde


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