Thursday Blog – Bikes, Bars, Beats & Broken Lawn Mowers…

Hey all! Welcome back! Thanks for reading along with me every day. I’m not sure how long this experiment is going to last…I guess it’ll depend on if I need to keep venting and if you all want to keep listening. 🙂 Sorry the blog is a little late tonight. When I have late night gigs, the blog has to get done after I get home.

Today was a mixed bag day. We all kinda slept in a bit which threw my day off, but you adjust and move on…and honestly, it was nice to get a little extra sleep. 🙂 I got Harmony Grace to school at about 945a, and had a lunch planned at noon with a good friend I never get to see. So that meant I wasn’t able to get to the gym this morning since I would of only had about 30 minutes to really workout. No biggie as I had some booking issues to take care of with the band and some cool solo gigs that I’m booking for different members. The band has formed a relationship with a fashion company called FatFace Clothing. They are a UK company who is expanding in the US and we’ve been playing a lot of their stores. They pay well and treat us really well, so I took the unexpected morning time to work on about 8 dates for that for a few of the band members. I’m not able to play any of the upcoming dates due to already being booked at other gigs. I got all but one date sorted out, so I was happy about that and I’ll try to work on that last date in the next day or so.

I met my buddy Jeff Jones at noon for lunch and had a nice catch up. Jeff and his wife Heather are a local acoustic duo and are fantastic. They are good friends and it was nice to catch up with Jeff and just hang outside of a club or musical environment. We went to a cool little local restaurant named Lyonville and the food was awesome.

After that, I got home and installed my water bottle holders and aero bars on my new Specialized Allez E5 racing bike and made sure that they were nice and tight. My new bottles came as I was doing the install, so that was perfect timing. Its the first time I’ll be riding a bike with aero bars and I’m excited to have a go at it. New bike, clip shoes, aero bars…I’m really heading into a lot of new territory for this upcoming race. Once everything was installed, I got dressed and headed out for a nice ride. I got my average pace up from 14.98mph to 15.87mph today and that felt great. The aero bars really help. I have never really raced in the ‘down’ position. It was always uncomfortable for me…mostly my lower back…but with the aero bars and the arm rests that come with them, I was able to get into the right position and spread the weight between my back and my forearms. It was very comfy and once I got used to the steering in that position, I had a really enjoyable ride and when I was done, I was actually wanting to go longer. I’m hoping to push up to 15 miles per ride by next week. The upcoming triathlon is a Sprint and the ride is just under 11 miles, so I want to be training with 20 mile rides and working in hills.

Specialized Allez E5

New Bottles

New Aero Bars

Specialized Allez E5

After the ride, I tried to mow the lawn quickly as I had limited time to get it done before dinner and getting ready for my show tonight. I was about halfway thru the lawn when the front axle on the mower snapped. All of a sudden the mower bottomed out and REALLY trimmed a spot of grass. lol. I had no way to fix it, so I was stuck with a half done lawn. I’ll have to make some calls tomorrow and figure out what to do with that. I don’t know if its a part I can replace or if I’m going to have to take it somewhere.

I made dinner and hung out with my girls for a bit, then got ready for my show at Station Eight. I did a show with my fellow Catwalk Empire bandmate, Munk Duane, and I was on cajon/percussion/backing vocals. It was a really fun show. Munk and I have been doing more and more of these duo shows and we are really finding our groove with them. I play a LOT of guitar, so whenever I get the chance to play drums for percussion, I really enjoy it. I miss being a drummer, so its nice to get a bit of a fix once in a while. LOL.

Ok, well, thats it for today. I’m heading to bed. I can grab a solid 6 hours if I hit it now. Thanks for reading. Talk soon.
TAG

#LiveWithIntention #NeverGiveUp #MusicIsLife #brokenaxlessuck #TrainHard #BikeFarther #YesYouCan #NeverSayCant

Wednesday – Muscle Confusion, Gym Etiquette & Good Food!

Well… hey there. Welcome back to Wednesdays blog. IT was an awesome day today. It started with the usual…bringing Harmony Grace to school. She’s a funny kid and was in a singing mood all the way to school today. She’s been fixated for months on ‘Frozen’ so we sing ‘Let It Go’ a lot. lol.

Straight from there it was to the gym to get my day started. That included a nice swim followed by a muscle confusion workout. I try to throw one in once a week to get my body out of its routine and so it doesn’t expect whats coming workout wise. The swim got me nice and loose and I hit the muscle confusion work hard. I’ll post the whole workout below as usual, but its very intense. Its non-stop, and the fun part for me is all the other people in the gym who stare at me, trainers included, all with that ‘what is he doing?!’ look on their faces. I love that. I apparently annoyed someone in the pool…who was not much older than me…because I was ‘swimming too fast and long and making her feel uncomfortable about what she was doing.’ Honestly, thats not my problem. If you go to the gym just to say you go to the gym, then thats your problem. I go there to work hard. My 2nd half of my confusion was in Workout Room 1, which was empty. I asked them to turn off the AC. The room was 67 degrees. I can’t workout with cold wind from an AC blowing on me. While I was in there, a few people came in and complained the room was too hot. Deal with it. You’re there to sweat…not chat. I will never understand people who pay for a gym membership just to waste their time and money. I see them all the time…sitting on a bike reading Facebook and barely pedaling…but hey, ‘i biked today’. Or the ones on the stair machine going really fast….but using their arms to hold 70% of their weight OFF the machine…WTF. Just get off the machine. You’re wasting your time and mine since I’m waiting to get on that one! Gym etiquette is a very lost art on many. I miss the gym I used in Key West. Almost everyone there was just moving at 1000mph their whole workouts. It was awesome and motivating. YOU didnt want to be the one seen as the slacker. Up here, the hard workers are the ones looked at funny. Also, since I’m bitching about this, people need to also learn to wipe down a machine or bench when done with it. I see too many that don’t and its just rude. Last thing I want is your funk on the bench I’m about to lay down on. lol.

After the gym, I ran a few errands, and headed home to take care of some music business stuff. My band was booked for a gig, but something felt wrong about it, and sure enough, it was a scam. It was through The Knot, which is a really reputable site, but even they have scammer issues. It was some kind of money scheme where they were gonna send us a bad check and score our bank account info from it somehow. Who knows how they do it, I’m just glad we caught on and got away from it all. Sucks.

I made a KICK ASS dinner tonight. Vietnamese Marinated Steak over rice and a radish & cucumber salad…lots of Jalapenos…lordy it was good and hot. Yummy. I’m doing my best to cook fresh, eat clean and healthy. Laureen and I have been trying Blue Apron and now Hello Fresh. Great food, easy prep, you do all the cooking which makes it very rewarding as you eat it, and the food is fresh and really good. It doesn’t cost anymore than going shopping on your own, you have less waste, and eat really clean.

I was going to run again, but my legs were really tired from the day workout and I decided not to. I did some extra stretching and I’ll make it up tomorrow. Laureen went out for a drink with some friends and I spent the night with Harmony Grace playing, watching one of her shows before bed, then getting her ready and up to bed. Rocking her at bed time is one of my favorite things in life. I’m gonna be sad when she outgrows it. Now its time to relax a little before bed. I’ve been trying to get into bed by midnight so I can get about seven solid hours of sleep each night.

Stay well. Talk tomorrow…
TAG
#LiveWithIntention #TrainHard #YesYouCan #NEVERSayNo #HarmonyGraceRocks #EatClean #FadDietsSuck

WEDNESDAYS WORKOUT:
Pool – 2000 yard mixed swim.

Mixed Round One – 3x with a 30 second break between each set.
Push ups (10) –> Jumping Jacks (30) –> 20 yard run –> Squats (20) –> 20 yard run –> Jumping Jacks –> Pushups (10)

Mixed Round Two – 3x straight with NO Break
Reverse Dip (20) –> Jumping Jacks (30) –> 20 Yard Run –> 10 Yard Lunge Walk –> 10Yard Run –> 10 Yards Toy Soldiers –> 10 Yard Run

Mixed Round Three – 5x with a One Minute Break between each Set.
3 laps around the room
Heavy Bag – 100 Jabs (50 left/50 right)
Heavy Bag – 50 Punch Combinations
Jump Rope – 50 Jumps
3 laps around the room
Tire Flip – Length Of The Room with 176lb tire
TRX – Row @ 10 Reps
Bicep Curl @ 10 Reps
High Pull @ 10 Reps

Stretch, Short walk to wind down. Hydrate a LOT during this workout. Have fun!

Bike Day…did I fall or not?! :-)

So I took the new bike out today for a first ride in the clips. Before hopping on, I hit Youtube to find out how to adjust the tension on the clips, and I adjusted the tension in the clips to the softest setting so I could get out quickly. You’re not as locked into the clips this way since they give a little, but until I really get the ankling motion down, its a good, safe place to be. I did a nice relaxed 2-mile walk to loosen up. I was definitely tight after the last few days of working out.

Before I went for my ride, I practiced clipping in & out and stopping on my street riding and stopping next to my lawn (in case I fell) for about 30 minutes. After getting comfy, I took the bike on a nice 5 mile ride. During the day, my neighborhood is very quiet traffic wise, so its nice to ride (or run) with little worry about cars. The clips definitely make a difference in the ride as you feel very connected to the bike. Each stroke is far more powerful then using cages or nothing. My Specialized Rock Hopper has cages, a stiff steel frame and is about 30lbs, plus the gearing isn’t set for speed. Hills are where you really feel how that bike isn’t made for racing. The new bike is 21.2lbs, an aluminum frame and carbon fork. ITs only an 8-speed, but thats all i need for the way I ride. I’ll post all the specs on the bike below. I did the short 5 mile ride in 20 minutes…about a 15mph pace. I want to get that up to about 17mph by race time. I’ll also say that biking in the gym doesn’t hold a candle to a real bike on a real road. MY legs let me know right away that I have a bunch of work to do. 🙂

The rest of the day was hanging out with Harmony Grace after she got home from school, making a kick ass healthy dinner, then giving HG a bath and getting her to bed. Theres nothing in there world like the time I get to spend with her. I’m lucky I have the career i have that lets me dictate my schedule.

Tomorrow will be a crazy workout and I’m looking forward to it. I’m still trying to get my nutrition dialed in, but I’m on a good pace of dropping weight at about 1.2 pound a day. I’ve got 14 to go by race time. I just need to get it really dialed in to maximize my energy. I’m 2 1/2 weeks into workouts again and am out of gas by 11pm. I need to get things to where that doesn’t happen.

Ok…time to post, have a little protein snack and get to bed. Talk soon.
TAG
#LiveWithIntention #TrainHard #NeverGiveUp #NoQuit #BikeDayRocks

PS – I didnt fall once today! So, thats something… lol.

A little about the bike…
Specialized Allez E5 8-Speed – Black with Red & White Highlights

Bottom Bracket	FSA outboard
Brakes	Tektro dual-pivot callipers
Cassette	Sunrace 11-32
Chain	KMC z7 8-speed
Cranks	FSA Gossamer Pro 6066 alu, 50/34
Fork	FACT carbon fibre
Fork Offset	4
Frame Material	Specialized E5 Premium aluminum
Front Derailleur	Shimano Claris
Front Tyre	Specialized Espoir Sport, 700x25mm
Front Wheel Weight	1380
Handlebar	Specialized shallow drop 42cm
Head Angle	73
Headset Type	Specialized integrated
Rear Derailleur	Shimano Claris
Rear Tyre	Specialized Espoir Sport, 700x25mm
Rear Wheel Weight	2020
Saddle	Body Geometry Toupé Sport
Seat Angle	74
Seatpost	Specialized aluminium 27.2mm
Shifters	Shimano Claris
Stem	Specialized, 3D forged alloy 100mm
Trail	6.2
Weight (kg)	9.62kg (21.2lbs)
Wheelset	Specialized Axis Sport, 20 spokes front, 24 spokes rear

Monday Madness

Hey all! Happy Monday. Hope you all had a good one. Mine was as full as I could possibly make it and I’m exhausted sitting here typing this. But its a great exhausted.

So this blog is going to include a review of my new running shoes, comparisons to my others and more. Today started with dropping Harmony Grace at school, then heading right to the gym. Pool and upper body workout was nasty. (i’ll post it below) After that, it was home for some protein, then off to Bike Barn in Whitman, MA to payoff and pick up my new Race bike! I got a Specialized Allez, and had it fitted with clips for my new slip in shoes. I have Profile Design GT Jammer Aero Bars coming this week along with water bottles and holders. Once I have those, I’ll be getting a full bike fitting done. Cant wait.  I’ll probably get a new helmet and gloves to to color match to the bike. If I’m gonna finish the race moving slowly, I’m gonna at least look good doing it! LOL. I tried the clip-in pedals for the first time today and promptly face planted on my lawn. lol. I gave the bike a little spin around my street and then wiped out again in my driveway trying to stop. 🙂 I have to get used to getting in and out of the clips. Its not easy to start. Your mind doesn’t think in the right motion. So it’ll be a few days of quick rides on my street and then trying not to crash on my lawn.

Venzo Clip In Racing Shoes and Cleats & my Specialized Allez

After I put the bike away….for my own health reasons…lol, I had my yearly physically today at my Dr. Thankfully, all is well and I’m very healthy. BP, Weight, pulse…etc…all good. Better than I should be for my age. Then I hit my chiropractor and got adjusted. Its something I think everyone should be doing regularly. Its SO good for your body.

After that, I put on my new New Balance Vazee Pace running shoes and took them out for a 5k run. I’ve been trying to find the shoe that’s gonna work well. Last week I ran the Zante V2’s which, while I love for gym shoes, I hated as runners. No support, too soft, and not enough stiffness in the shoe, the mid-sole or the sole. Friday I tried my 1080 V4’s. I have a love/hate relationship with those shoes. They remind me of my 890s, but are a bit stiffer, with a bigger drop, and the T-Beam. My foot has never gotten used to the T-Beam, but I will admit it does support the foot very well. I don’t love running in them, but I don’t not love it either…if that makes sense. After running in the Zante’s, the 1080s felt amazing, but by the end of the run, my feet were reminding me why they never made it to #1 status for me.

Today I tried the Vazee Pace V2. I’ve read a LOT of great things about them. They fall somewhere between the Zante and the 1080. The mesh upper is a tad bit soft for my taste, but I think with the right lacing I could remedy that. The REVlite Foam midsole was definitely made of a stiffer material than the REVlite in the Zante. The landings were far more controlled and my ankles werent working nearly has hard to keep me in a good pace. The sole is thicker than the Zante, but not quite as thick as the 1080 (or the 890). It definitely has a FAR better landing zone than the Zante though…much more akin to the 800 series shoes over all…and that stiffness was evident within the first quarter mile. ITs quoted as having a 6mm drop and I could feel the difference from the 8mm drop on the 1080s. It does make me work a little harder. I’m a forefoot lander, so the shallower drop makes me have to get further down with each stride. Its always been a battle mentally for me with my stride and drop. I’m not a fast runner (8:30 mile on my really good days), but I do get more speed from a 6mm drop. But I’m more comfortable in an 8mm or 10mm drop. I think its just going to be me finally committing to one and getting used to it.

Overall, the Vazee Pave V2 was a very comfortable shoe. I ran well in it and I think its going to be a keeper for now. There are more NB shoes I want to explore, especially as I get more and more back into running again, but for now, I think I have my training selection set. I have to be very picky with my knee as to what shoes I run, especially in longer races, so we will see what I do in the future. I’m putting pictures below of the Zante, 1080 and Vazee so you can see the comparisons physically and on the soles.

1080 V4

Zante V2

Vazee Pace V2

1080 V4

Zante V2

Vazee Pace V2

Time for a shower and some bed. My body is tired from 2-a-day workouts and a weekend of long and tiring shows. 🙂

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Todays workout – Give it a try!
Pool – 1000 Yard Freestyle Sprint – 20 laps NON stop.
Bench – 3×10 @ 45/85/95 lbs
Bench – 1 x 30 @ 45 with 10@inner grip, 10@standard grip, 10@wide width
Straight Bar Curls – 3×10 @ 40lbs
Dumbbell Presses – 3×10 20/25/27.5 lbs
Dumbbell Curls – 3×10 20/25/27.5 lbs
Shoulder up and outs – 3×10 @ 10lbs
Cable Press 3×10 @ 22/27/32
Cable Curls 3×10 @ 17/22/27 lbs
Ab in/out/crunch (on a bench) – 3×10
Hanging Reverse Crunches – 3×10
5k run

There ya go. Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for making it better!

Have a great night and day tomorrow. Talk soon.
TAG
#LiveWithIntention #TrainHard #TrainIntense #NeverGiveUp #YesYouCan #GymLife #RunForestRun

Sunday Funday!!!

Hey there…well THAT was quite a Sunday! Sunny and 90 degrees today and the first REALLY nice Sunday this season. As full as it can get in every way! It started at 8am with waking up Harmony Grace to get her ready for her gymnastics class, and to get me ready for the gym. Laureen takes her to gymnastics, and I get my workout in at the same time. Today was a special day for Harmony Grace at gymnastics as it was her last class, so they had special awards and certificates of completion and they got up on an awards podium. For me, it was light cardio and Leg Day. Fun, but tiring leg workout. I’ll post it below. 🙂  Then Laureen and HG picked me up and ran home, showered, got dressed and went to a backyard birthday party for a girl from HG’s school. It was a fun time, but hot. That ended at 2p, and we shot home so I could grab my gear and head to my gig.

The show started at 4p at Barretts Ale House in Bridgewater, MA. It was our Sunday Funday Trio outside on the sand of me, Vere Hill (Keys,Vocals) & Jazz Robertson (drums). The place was packed, rowdy, lots of kids, and SO much fun! We were supposed to play from 4-7pm, but the tip jar decided we were staying until 830pm… lol. Its not exactly hard to convince us to keep going if we have nowhere to be. The song selection today was crazy…reggae to rock to R&B to 80s New Wave to standards to Frank Sinatra to Louis Armstrong to just about everything else. Vere, Jazz and I laugh almost as much as we play music, and the crowd really jumps on board with it all. Truly a fun day.

Now I’m home, doing laundry, typing this blog, and drinking a recovery shake. lol. Tomorrow, I get to run my new New Balance Vazee Pace running shoes (Pictured below) and I’m excited to see how they feel. Once I do, I’m going to put up and comparison of the 3 shoes I’ve tried for running.

As for todays workout, it was all legs, and some cardio. I’m working hard to lose weight…down 10lbs already in 2 weeks…and spreading the work over my whole body. Trying to keep everything very balanced in the workouts. So, here was todays workout if you want to give it a try. Remember, I’m still building back from the knee injury, so the weights aren’t quite up there yet… 🙂

Sets are usually 3×10. Weights per set will be listed right after with a / between each sets weight.
Pretor Elliptical – 10 mins on Random, Level 8
Single Leg Press – 3×10 (each leg) @ 15/20/25 lbs
Double Leg Press – 3×10 @ 55/65/75 lbs
Hamstring Curls – 3×10 @ 30/35/40 lbs
Glute Extensions – 3×10 @ 55/60/65 lbs
Hip Abduction – 3 x 10 @ 145lbs
Hip Adduction – 3×10 @ 100lbs
Squat Walk – 20 yards x 3 @ 0/20/20 lbs
Squats – 3×10 @ 45/65/75 lbs
Treadmill – 1/2 mile walk at 3mph and a 3 degree incline
Stretch – Hamstrings, groin, calves, quads

Let me know what you think of that workout! Any suggestions on improving it are very welcome. 🙂

Good night world. Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.
#LiveWithIntention #TrainHard #NeverGiveUp #YesYouCan #SundayFunday #MusicIsLife #MyJobRocks

New Balance Vazee Pace

Saturday…Not What I Planned…

So its Saturday…I planned on a workout today, but after only 3.5 hours sleep, I was up with Laureen to bring Harmony Grace to her first swim class at Goldfish Swim Class. She’s been taking swim classes at the YMCA in Bridgewater for 2+ years, but to be honest, the classes there are more to get them used to the water more than learn how to really swim. Goldfish School is a real swim school and teaches them how to actually swim. Harmony Grace did great for her first day and we’ll be there every Saturday from now on. I was exhausted after swim class and crashed out til my afternoon gig. I decided to forego my workout and take today as my ‘off day’ this week.

The Saturday Shit Show…what can I say about it?! Its been 8 months of Jeff Rosen and I doing this show at Main St. Sports in Plymouth and it gets better every week. Its raunchy, over the top, rude, crude and hilarious. Think a raunchy piano bar show with two guitars…except today, Jeff wasn’t there. I did the show alone which is no biggie. ALWAYS a good time and always a day to remember. We did several toasts to Batman today in honor of Adam West’s passing and I wore one of my Batman shirts. I had no gig after the day gig, so my 3-6pm gig turned into 3-730p. I ate a healthy salad with apples, grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, & chicken before going on…which is good since its the only day of the week I drink. And Jameson it is! The song selection today was all over the place, which is exactly how I like it.

Now I’m home and thinking about tomorrow’s workout at 930am. After reading my body and taking today off, I’m So looking forward to tomorrows workout. It’ll be Cardio and Leg day. 🙂 Its 11pm right now and I’m going to head to bed as soon as I post this.

For those interested, I said I’d be posting my workouts for you to check out…SO below are my workouts from Thurs & Friday. Make sure if you’re working out that you keep a workout log this way you know what you’ve done and what you need to do! I have my ‘little black book’ and never go to the gym without it.

See you tomorrow. Thanks for reading along. Have a great night and see you tomorrow.
TAG

#LiveWithIntention #TrainHard #NoExcuses #SaturdayShitShow #SaturdayFunday

Thursday Workout:
1500 Yard Mixed Swim… 600 yards freestyle, 100 yards flippers/kickboard, 100 yards flippers/hand paddles, 100 yards hand paddles/pull float, 100 yards hand paddles, 500 yards freestyle.
5k Run.

Friday Workout:
Matrix Bike – 20 minutes – Rolling Hills Workout – Level 8 – 17.5mph
Bench 3×10 – 1 @ empty – 1 @ +20 – 1 @ +40
Dumbbell Press – 3×10 – 20lbs, 25lbs, 27.5lbs
Straight Bar Curls – 3×10 @40lbs
Dumbbell Curls – 3×10 – 20lbs, 25lbs, 27.5lbs
Up & Out Shoulder Raises – 3×10 @ 10lbs
Single Arm Straight Bar Snatch –  3×10 – 25lbs, 27.5lbs, 32lbs
Cable Press – 3×10 – 22lbs, 27lbs, 32lbs
Cable Curls -v 3×10 – 17lbs, 22lbs, 27lbs
Ab Crunches/In/Outs on Bench – 3×10

So there ya go! Get on on it!

Back To It…Been Too Long!

Hey all! Its been a VERY long time since I blogged on any kid of regular basis. Honestly, with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, I felt like i said all I need to there. But I’ve noticed I’m writing longer and longer posts, especially now that I’m working out again, so maybe its time to get back to blogging on a regular basis.

Theres been a lot going on in my life the last 2 years…in a nutshell, I came off the road for two reasons… #1 – to be home and be a dad. I didnt want to be a Skype dad, so that meant being home. I knew that I had to get established up in this area and that would take some time, but its all come together and I’m working quite steady here at home now. It took about 15 months to really get the ball rolling, but my summer calendar is about as packed as I can handle. #2 – I damaged my vocal cords. Well, let me rephrase that. I developed a bad acid reflux condition that damaged my vocal cords. I havent talked much about my vocal issues and the journey Ive had to take, but I’ll do that in an upcoming blog. ITs an interesting story that continues to evolve.

As for working out, I’m finally back at it after about 16 months of inactivity due to several injuries. I finished my last triathlon with a torn left bicep and a torn right calf. My Dr. suggested I take some real time off…several months…to let them truly heal. As soon as I healed from those, I came back and promptly broke my left foot. Fun. That put me on the shelf in an air cast for 10 weeks. As soon as I got clearance to run again, I strained my right patellar tendon, putting me back on the shelf for 6-7 weeks. Sigh. SO, here it is, June 9th and I’ve finally ben back at it for two weeks now. I am feeling better and better and more in a groove every day and chomping at the bit each day to get to the gym.  I work out at the YMCA in East Bridgewater, MA. The gym has EVERYTHING including a pool, so its perfect for me.

I’m gonna start back blogging regularly again, and they will be a mix of music, sports, fitness, nutrition and life in general. I hope you’ll join in, enjoy what I write, chime in with opinions and suggestions on what I’m doing and what you might think I can improve on. My training is based on triathlons…swim/bike/run. I need to be strong in all three facets of the game, while also gaining solid all around strength. That said, I want to get back to possible running a half marathon. It will be a big challenge with my knee (My Dr and physical therapist both said I should never run again…and well…yeah. 🙂 ) I’ll post my actual workouts for anyone interested so you can see what I’m doing…and feel free to use any of the workouts I post. I’m not a ‘weight lifter’ and I despise Crossfit, mostly due to the mentality. But I do a lot of body weight mixed cardio workouts that are killer and of my own design. Nutrition will be a big part of it, so that will be a lot of the discussion…from food, to snacks, to supplements.

Somehow, thru damaged vocal cords, coming home, and being hurt for basically two years…I’ve stayed positive and upbeat thru it all. It hasn’t been easy, and there have been ‘moments’, but I’ve always believed there was a way to get thru it all. I’ll prob talk about some of that as well. Especially the staying positive part. 🙂

OK. Hope you’ll subscribe to the blog, and expect to see me posting a lot. Thanks and Talk soon!  The subscribe button is right over there —->

#LiveWithIntention #TrainHard #MusicIsLife

Have Baby…Will Travel…

Hey there! Welcome to this weeks TAGLINE! Thanks for popping in. Its been nice to see this blog growing each week so far! Make sure you subscribe so you’ll get an automatic notification when they come out…go ahead…I’ll wait.

Done yet? Good. Thanks!! OK. so let get to it. I’m writing this blog from 35,000 feet up in the air on American Airlines Flight 1533 from Miami to Boston. It’s a full flight, Harmony Grace and Laureen are sitting next to me and it’s our first time all together on a flight. Kinda cool. Its really amazing being a dad.

This weeks topics:
– June In Key West
– ‘Days Like These’ Promotion kickoff
– ‘Days Like These’ Music Video
– Live From The Dawg Pound Music Series
– Traveling with Harmony Grace
– World Cup
– Random Thoughts
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So my month in Key West is over. June was one of my best months ever as a performer, entertainer, for my fitness and as far as business is concerned. It was a great month as a vocalist as my voice is really starting to come around to it old self and I sang some of my best shows in a year. Its mentally comforting to find myself hitting notes I’ve been scared to try for a long while. When you do something for so long and take it for granted, it sort of messes with you when it just doesn’t work. So to be back in the ballpark of y old self was amazing. Some of my older originals, old Journey, Styx, Boston and bands with vocalists I’ve had to shy away from were easy. And I lasted all 21 shows at full force and was even able to jump up with the Durtbags at Durty Harrys and rock some songs out full band, which I haven’t done in a while. In May, if I did two shows in a row took me out for a week. I still have a lot more to do with my vocal therapist, but it seems we are on the right path.

Aside from musically, I had some of the best workouts I’ve had in a long time this month. I ran the Tutu 10k Relay and my team took first place overall. Was nice to get that medal to add to my collection. My workout partner/trainer Jenessa kicked it into high gear with our muscle confusion and cardio work. I’m running strong & swimming better than ever. My biking might be my weak spot right now due to lack of road time, but I’ll kick it the next two weeks getting ready for the Triathlon in Falmouth, MA on July 12^th.
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Promo for ‘Days Like These’ has kicked into full swing. Watch on my Twitter (which is headed for 7000 followers!!!) and my Facebook art pages for lots of upcoming details. We are giving away a signed guitar, LOTS of downloads and more. Its really nice having such a dedicated team around me. Dave Tedder and I have been together for 13 years now. My new Social Media Manager, Mohd Imran, is just kicking ass with raising the awareness on all my online fronts. My art master, Joe Duhamel is helping to put together a kick ass visual package & promo art. I’m truly in love with this EP and hope that you guys like it even half as much.

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The music video for ‘Days Like These’ is coming together. Anyone who wants to be in it has to get their video in by July 7^th. I’m really excited to see what everyone comes up with as far as their submissions and editing all the silliness into a fun video that represents the song really well!
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I’ve decided that once every other month when I’m home, I’m going to start doing live web concerts from my studio, Dawg Pound Studios. They concerts will be called ‘Live From The Dawg Pound’. You can tune in, interact and we’ll have some fun from the comfort of your own living room. I’ll take requests, tell stories about my originals and we’ll go all over my catalog. These will be 60-minute shows. Watch for the date for the first one to be announced in the next few days, But I’m thinking the 21^st or 22^nd.

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So, Harmony Grace made her first trip to Key West! Laureen and Harmony Grace came in on Sunday 6/22 and stayed the rest of the month with me. She did SO well on the plane and just traveling in general. She’s such a happy and wonderful baby and seems to adapt well to whatever we introduce her to. It was so much fun having her meet all of our Key West family. HUGE thanks to Dani Holiday, Jorden Bringle & Laura Andrae for ALL they did for us on this trip. From airport pickups, to baby stuff loaners to letting us borrow a car, you guys are amazing and just showed why we love that little island and the people on it. Harmony flew on her first plane, went to her first beach, saw her first Key West shows and smiled and giggled thru it all.

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Is the World Cup still going? Does anyone still care? Did we give everyone a trophy yet? I mean, we lost and still advanced, so it’s kinda like Little League Baseball these days. It’s ok not to win. You’re still a champ in our book. Sheesh. And I’ve had no choice but to watch a little as it was on during my shows. I will say, those guys are some great actors and take dives as good if not better than the Miami Heat. Excellent flop skills kids.

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Random Thoughts:
–       The new Night Ranger CD, ‘High Road’, is AWESOME. Classic NR sound and amazing musicianship.
–       People in airports of all shapes, sizes, ages, colors, creeds, religions & sexes all love itty-bitty babies. I can’t begin to tell you how many people changed direction just to come say hi to Harmony Grace.
–       Congrats to my friend Aryk Crowder for a successful Kickstarter Campaign for his CD project “2X4”. Aryk is a kick ass singer/songwriter from Chicago, so do check him out. 30% of his campaign is going to help the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
–       Hogfish Grille has possible the best seafood in Key West.
–       I still will never do hot yoga again. I was asked 3X this month.

Well, that’s about it for this week. It’s been really nice to see more and more folks checking out the blog. Please chime in and lets make it a conversation. I’m excited to be home for July 4^th for a change and not gigging. We’ll be partying up lakeside with all our MA friends at Mike & Kim Kostas’ house. I hope you all have a great week and July 4^th. Be careful and don’t lose any digits.

Watch for the ‘Live From The Dawg Pound’ date announcement, for more ‘Days Like These’ promo info, and get those videos to me!

#LiveWithIntention #TrainIntense #NeverBeSatisfied #HarmonyGraceRocks #DaysLikeThese #JohnTaglieri

Thanks all! Talk next week.
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Life Gets In The Way…

Hello all! Welcome to this weeks TAGLINE! Its been a fun week, and theres lots going on…so, lets get to it.

This weeks topics:
– A Day Late – Life Gets In the Way…
– A great week of gigs
– ‘Days Like These’ EP news
– Harmony Grace comes to Key West!
– World Cup Madness
– KFC Hoax
– Random Thoughts
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Sorry that this weeks blog is a day late. Its been a it crazy the last week with gigs, prepping for the start of promo for ‘Days Like These’ and Laureen and Harmony Grace coming into town. My schedule has been hectic and I just havent had time to sit and write the last couple of days. As I type this now, we are just back from gym/lunch and Laureen is feeding Harmony Grace. We have about an hour before we head out to dinner and then prob home for the night. I love the pace but unfortunately I’m late on the blog! 
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So, playing in Key West has its ebb & flow nature sometimes. Busier times of the year mean bigger crowds and conversely, slower times mean smaller crowds. That said, it doesn’t always affect the quality of the crowd. Some of the most fun I’ve ever had here were to smaller bunches of folks. This past week, has been exactly that. It been a little slower in town, but the nights have been busy. And the quality of the crowds has been fantastic. Lots of weddings/bachelor/bachelorette parties and truly fun, upbeat happy people looking to have a good time. Two of my gigs at The Lazy Gecko (which are all four hour shows) turned into six hour shows because the crowd and I were just in a zone and I didnt want to stop. No one was on after me, and the bar gave me the ok. Sometimes, when lightning strikes, you go with it. So I made 3 simple rules…#1 – They keep drinking, #2 – they keep tipping both me and the bartenders, and #3 – they sing loudly to all the songs. They do that, I’ll play an all request show from here on in and stay as long as all three rules keep going. They turned into two of my longest but most favorite Key West shows I’ve ever had. I’m hoping its a good sign of what the summer here will be like!
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Promo for ‘Days Like These’ has officially gotten underway. We are heading for 6,000 Twitter followers, 4,000 Facebook Fans, are holding #1 on Reverb Nation for my local area in MA and more. We are setting up a bunch of online radio and some traditional radio, press, interviews, PR and more. I’m truly excited about this EP and can’t wait to get it out! But til then, there will be a lot of teasing. I posted a video sampler of the EP it its had over 500 views in less than a week between my YouTube page and my record labels page. We will be giving away an electric guitar, lots of downloads of my catalog and more. Its gonna be an awesome time getting ready to put this EP out!
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Laureen and Harmony Grace landed in Key West Sunday night. Its Harmony Grace’s first real trip. She flew on her first airplane and did amazing. She fed on the way up and down and slept the rest of the flight. She’s had a fun time here in Key West so far meeting all the Aunties that are fawning over her! Dani, Jorden, Melissa, Joy, Laura, Jenn…everyone just steals her from us and holds her all night. She is alert and enamored with all the new faces. Its amazing to see her trying to put it all together. She’s really starting to find coordination and you can see her trying to touch everyone and connect with them with her eyes. Its so wonderful to see all our friends having such a fun time with her. This is her first of what will be many trips here, so I’m looking forward to her having a ton of friends here!!!
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Have you been watching the World Cup? Yeah, me neither…lol. Look, I get it. IT brings everyone together. Cool. I dig the camaraderie of watching a game and getting into it. What I don’t get, and never will, is the bandwagon need to be cool. SOOOO many people are SO into it…really? Because I’m willing to be they don’t watch ONE soccer game at any other time. And I guess the holier than thou attitude that comes along with “I LOOOOVE SOOOCCER” just annoys me. I hope Team USA does well, but I’m still not gonna stand around saying I’m a fan. 
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Did you see the story about the KFC Hoax? If not give it a quick read…
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/24/local-report-brands-story-kfc-booting-pitbull-victim-hoax/
I feel SO bad for this child. Not only did she have to endure being attacked by the family dogs, her shitty parents use her to try to get money, and they outright LIE and basically steal $135,000 from KFC as well as SO many generous people who took pity on their ‘story’. They should be forced to pay back every cent, they should be prosecuted for slander and theft, and their child should be taken away. What they did is nothing short of extortion and I hope that KFC goes after them.
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Random Thoughts;
– I’ve got a triathlon coming up in 2 weeks…and can’t seems to stop eating Ruffles potato chips and Frito Lay French Onion dip…eeesh. Hence why I don’t have six-pack abs. That said, I owe a lot to my trainer Jenessa Berger for constantly keeping me inspired.
– Harmony Grace’s favorite Binky is her Monkey one. Due to that along with her long toes and fingers, she’s inherited the name Liddle Munkey Gurl. 🙂
– LeBron James has opted for free agency. Further proving to me that he’s a douche.  🙂

Thats about it for this week. Chime in and let me know your thoughts. Thanks for an amazing week online and off and for all the feedback on last weeks blog! Talk next week!
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#DaysLikeThese #LiveWithIntention #TrainIntense #HarmonyGraceRocks

Home Alone and Running Around Naked…

Hey all! Welcome to this weeks TAGLINE Blog. I hope you are well and having a great week. Lots to talk about…busy week personally, professionally and a few note worthy stories from the web that caught my eye. SO…lets get to it!

This weeks topics;
– Rooming with someone vs not
– Running
– Gig Recap
– Vocal Issues
-Twitter hits 5000, FB hits 3500
– EP Sampler
– Friday The 13th
– Wayne Wax Tattoo Article
– LeBron James

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So for many years I’ve been on the road. Some of that travelled solo, some with a band. Here in Key West I stay in an apartment owned by the management of Irish Kevins. Great place, right on Duval and 4 blocks from work. Nothing fancy, but it doesn’t need to be. Most times I’m here alone. I’m usually the only traveling musician when I’m here. But there are times I have to share the place with another musician on the roster who is in for a week or so. Just like on the road, it really changes your whole at home routine. I always had my own apartment. I never ever wanted roommates, unless we were dating of course. I know how neat I am and I know it would drive me nuts if someone else wasn’t. Plus I need to be able to make noise whevever I want. That means playing music, watching TV, playing guitar, etc. On the road, I’ve had to share many hotel rooms with band mates, as well as had my own, just like here in KW. Mentally, theres such a BIG difference between the two. You have to think every time you open your door to go to take a shower…is someone else home? DO I need to be dressed? LOL. I can’t take a night and lounge on the couch in my undies or less. I have to think when i’m looking in the fridge ‘Did I buy that or is that someone else’s?’ Always making sure no one is in the bathroom before walking in…you get the idea. When I’m alone, I’m very neat, dishes done, floors swept, stove cleaned, bed made. but I’ve always loved the freedom of doing what I want when I want. Having a roommate for a week, or on the road changes all that and reminds me every time, no matter how great the person or experience with them is, that I am definitely made to not have them! LOL. That said, I live now in MA in a multi-generational home with 7 adults, 3 kids, 3 dogs and 2 cats. But its different because they are all family. If I was still on my own in an apartment, I know that Id be living alone with no roommates…no question.  How about you?? Roommates…yay or nay?

That all being said, my temporary roommate just left this morning and I have the place to myself for the rest of this trip. Excuse me while I run around naked for a bit…  🙂
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I’ve been back to a better gym schedule and running schedule this week. I lost some motivation for about 10 days but it seems to be coming back! Its the hard part of working out alone. Sometimes its hard to push yourself. My runs this week have kicked butt and feel amazing. I have a triathlon in a month in Falmouth, MA and really want to do much better than my time in my last Tri, which was 1:47. So I gotta keep pushing. I’m trying to get my runs consistently in the mid 8 minute/mile world, which is proving hard for my old knee. Feel free to yell at me on Facebook or here and tell me to get my ass moving! LOL.

Speaking of running, I ran in the annual Tutu 10k Relay here in Key West this past weekend and my team took First Place Overall! We won by ONE SECOND but thats all that matters. Thankfully we had two really young, and really fast guys on the team to start and end it. The rest of our team ran well, but I know I’m not that fast!! But it was a good team effort and my first ever First Place finish and medal! Was a nice feeling.
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It was an interesting week gig wise. The island is not that busy right now, and the crowds are seemingly lacking in stamina. I’ve been playing night and closing shifts and while every gig had its moments throughout the night, a few petered out earlier than I’d hoped or wanted. Though Sunday night at The Lazy Gecko was a DREAM gig. Perfect crowd…packed but not overly, loud, energetic and everyone of them in for the long haul and for the fun of it. I said when lightning strikes, you go with it. I was supposed to play 730-1130p…I ended up going til 140am! WE had three simple rules…They had to keep drinking, keep tipping both me and the bartenders, and singing along with all their might to all the songs I played. They held up their end for 3+ hours and we had what turned into the best party on Duval for the night.  They made me play better, and I made them drink, laugh and dance. My voice was tired after 6+ hours but worth every second. As an entertainer, it was the night we all dream of. I hope I have a few more of them this month.
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So another reason this week was kinda awesome was my voice. It’s working again. For about a year now, I’ve been battling bad acid reflux issues that damaged my vocal cords…actually scarred the edges. Its been a true struggle most nights to sing. I had doctors tell me to take 6 months to a year off and let everything recover but that was just not feasible. This past May, I went to the Mass Eye & Ear Institute in Boston and got a full scoping done, strobe light and all, and while there is some scarring from the acid on my cords, for the most part they are in really good shape, especially considering the beating I’ve given them in the last 12 months. I went into Vocal Therapy and we have been working to get me reversing a lot of bad habits I’ve acquired to just get thru all the shows with the damage. It’s all working though as even in May, doing just two shows in a row was a struggle, and now here I am in June, 10 four hour gigs in, one being six hours, and I still feel good and am hitting notes I havent hit in a year. I’m not back to 100% yet, and who knows if I’ll ever be. I’m not 21 anymore, and I have over 3500 shows on my vocal cords so some wear is unavoidable. Its been an amazingly frustrating year. but my voice is definitely on the road to a good place and I’m excited for where I’m heading back to.
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Twitter & Facebook have exploded for me as of late…word of mouth has really sparked my numbers and we broke 5000 followers on Sunday on Twitter and 3500 on Facebook! I really never thought we’d get that far and its still growing…its a great feeling for all the work that goes into it by my team. I work with great people and they are kick ass at what they do.
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I posted a link yesterday to a Sampler of the upcoming EP ‘Days Like These’. If you havent checked it out yet, please do! There are one minute snippets for each song to give you a good flavor of it all. I’m REALLY proud of this one and August 19th can’t get here soon enough!  Heres a link in case you missed it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq8prWwUpSs
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Random Thoughts:
Did you all have a good Friday the 13th? I woke up Saturday to see a lot of Facebook friends saying their lives went haywire the night before! LOL. I had a strange gig night, but the day was basic. SO….how was yours??
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Did you see the article floating around Facebook about Tattoos and what they tell about you? It was written by some asshat named Wayne Wax. You can read it here:

5 Types Of Tattoos That Mark You As An Idiot

Let me say this. I have two tats. The one on my right arm is a copy of a necklace that I wear that Laureen got me when we first met. To me, its the beginning of us and I put it on my arm to symbolize that. It’s called The Watcher and means inquisitive and ever Learning…which describes me to a tee. My left arm has my dads Staff Sgt. stripes from when he was in the Air Force, along with dog tags with his birth & death dates. It keeps me connected to him and means the world to me. NOW…do I think some tats are douchey as Mr. Wax points out. YES. Sorry kids, but if you got a tribal wrap on your big swole bicep because everyone else at the gym has one…you’re a douchebag. But to me, if you got a tat for something that means something, then I have no issues at all. I honestly don’t even care if you have a tribal and got it for a douchey reason…but own up to it. And don’t walk around like it really means something to you. lol. But to be truthful…who cares. What you do to your own body is YOUR choice and who is anyone else to judge you for it (except if your douchey…then you deserve douchey judgement  🙂  )
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Did y’all see the Miami Heat get the ever loving crap beat out of them!? Made me very happy. I have nothing against the Heat as a team, but LeBron James is just the top tier of assclown in my book. And it makes me happy to see him not win. And whats with the cramps Nancy…take a Midol and get back on the court. I ran the Boston Run To Remember Half Marathon with a cramp in my calf for 9 miles of the 13…and I’m not getting paid millions to do it! For the money you’re making and for how much you run your mouth about being the best, you should NEVER come off the court, short of dying on it! LOL.

And for the record…Michael Jordan is STILL the best basketball player to ever step foot on a court.
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Well…thats it for this week. I hope you enjoyed this blog, share it with your friends and chime in! I really want to know your thought on all of the above! Have a great week and see ya next Tuesday!
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