Sean Hagerty

A few weeks ago, Anthony Cekay (of inglorious Freedom Hater’s fame) invited me to an open jam at the Gibson Showroom, part of an opportunity with his friends at Rockethub. After a previous night of insobriety at the Russian Vodka room, coincidentally only a few blocks away in Hell’s Kitchen, I struggled my way to the converted recording studios– now turned high-end rehearsal rooms on 54th street in NYC. I quickly bumped into Leon, the bass player for Anthony’s “Spectacular War Museum” project that we had done a while back, and was thrust into the midst of Anthony and his friends. He directed us to this amazing room of Gibson instruments, mostly guitars, but with a few basses, and — the rays of light shining down from the heavens — an incredible mandolin:

Lovingly referred to as “Dylan’s mandolin”

I was blown away by the incredible detail and beauty of this instrument. Such a joy to play, as well.

In the jam session, we played some bluesy jams, but also Anthony’s various songwriter friends got to play some of their music along with anyone who wanted to play. I was happy to play an old Freedom Hater’s classic:

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Passerby – (live)
June 2nd, 2011
Gibson showroom

Here’s the first round of folks, who ended up playing on this track:

So all in all, hang-over be damned, it was a really fun experience.

Anthony’s has a podcast called Page 4 Music, if you want to check it out.

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Thursday, March 31st, I’m sidelining on violin with California-based songwriter, Eric McEnty, otherwise known as “Hand.”

He plays some very beautiful, old-school kind of folk– really solid songs, released on Union Pacific Records.

Also, you can catch us on April 5th at Zebulon. Info for that is here.

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I’m excited to announce an upcoming show at Urban Stages, where I’ve been running sound for their “Musical Greats” series. Many new songs and instrumentals to be had with this concert, including a never-played-live dance soundtrack, and a new Owen Pallett cover, and collaborations with fellow multi-instrumentalists Arvi Sreenivasan and Will Hanza.

Arvi and I have a concise set of wordless songs, developing melodies across a terrain of guitar, e-drums, violin, and mandolin (and melodica!)

Will and I have a free-flowing suite of abstract loop-based improvisations, venturing into electric and acoustic atmospheres.

Saturday, March 12th @ 10:30pm
Urban Stages – 259 West 30th St (between 7th and 8th ave)
$12, including a free drink

http://www.urbanstages.org

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Will Hanza and I will be doing our looping-duo project, 10 / 10ths, this Wednesday, improvising around some of our songs and playing some instrumentals. It’s FREE, so come out and enjoy the cozy vibe of Phoebe’s Cafe, in East Williamsburg with some guitar / violin mayhem.

10 / 10ths
Phoebe’s Cafe
323 Graham Ave. (between Metropolitan and Devoe)
Wednesday, Feb. 23rd, @ 8pm – FREE

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Saturday, December 11th. I’ll be performing as part of Urban Stages’ Cabaret series, playing a solo show. I’ll be looping violins, mandolin, and samples, singing and playing a bit of piano. Featuring a smattering of different songs– new songs, some Freedom Haters classics, and some indie- covers.

With special guests Isaiah Singer (bass) and Anthony Cekay (saxes) on a few tunes!

Saturday, December 11th (10:30 PM)
Urban Stages – 259 West 30th Street (bet 7th and 8th Avenues), New York, NY
$12

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