oBriens Pub in Santa Monica
12.01.06

I played a few songs along with some other guests, most notably my good friend and killer songwriter Jay Sousa from 50 Cent Haircut. I sit in with his band on keys whenever I can. The night was very cool. Being back at O'Briens will always remind me of my Paper Sun days.

photos by Jacki Sackheim

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Cafe International in San Francisco
11.27.06

photos by Shanti Wilson

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New Shows

11.19.06

I'll be in San Fran this weekend for a show, I'm looking forward to that. Arms Around the River will be mastered on Dec. 7th
and then I'll send it out to be pressed - the cd release party will be at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood early next year.

These are some of my best songs yet - Marc Moreau did the mixing, along with my friend Brandon Krueger who mixed a few tracks and Cythia Catania who had a hand in it as well.

This will be the third album I've produced and I am really getting the hang of it.

For the record, the songs that I have had playing from my site for the last few months are not the songs that will be featured on the album - I have some outtakes, some
really esoteric Krister Axel songs, and some live stuff available here on the website that WILL NOT be featured on the next album (not all of it, at least). I'm sorry if I did not make that clear early on.

I guess maybe there really is a market for the Krister Axel version of Georgia On My Mind.

I suppose I'll have to put out a cover album a la Perfect Day by Chris Whitley. That'll be my next project.

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Redshift
10.16.06

I started a new blog. I suppose I've gone a bit political.
someone had to.

In other news, my album Arms Around the River is almost done. Final mixes will be posted shortly. Hello.

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The Freeze
09.11.06

I found this in an old notebook, dated 05.17.1997 (written in Madison, WI).

just this little stash of survival

never had a moment to think

radio voices sound like someone I know

moonlight makes me want to have a drink

I listen to the rhythm of the traffic

hiding in the silence I project

push me through the womb of the future

bear me as an infant to protect

an island on the ocean planet 'solo'

wailing of the unborn tragedy

wiping from my eyes the mess of martyrs

the burden of my passage through the freeze

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A Kiss
08.30.06

This is my sexy girl giving me a kiss at her birthday party last weekend.

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Arms Around the River
08.29.06

This is the cover of my new album. :)

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The Playboy Mansion
08.26.06

For the record, I never cancel a show. I have to go back to March 10th, 1995, for the last show cancellation that
I was ever party to. Over ten years ago - at The Chamber, Madison, WI (no longer there). Good times.

Anyway, the reason was that I had an invitation to the Playboy Mansion that I couldn't refuse. So thank you all for being so understanding.

She told me her name but I forgot. Maybe it was Cassandra.

This is me, in the grotto, getting wet.

This is Hef's pet Toucan. He's got monkeys, rabbits, birds. It is literally a zoo. A really little one. I didn't like it at all. Very natural
looking, except of course for all the cages.

I hate to be judgemental, and I am not intimate with the details, but it does seem to me that if people like Hef each gave a small
but significant push for progressive politics instead of stuffing Toucans into cages, we might not be in quite the mess that we are now.
Anyway, thanks for the invite buddy.

So that's it and here I am - signing off from Hef's mini-zoo, where the playmates still wear the same outfits, but now in modern pastels.

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Sunset Boulevard

08.15.06

I work on Sunset now
where dreams die and take shape
where highways are twisted at the throat
of the green that once was
sometimes with more choice
comes less freedom
more sugar in place of food
sirens for a handshake

bright lights casting longer
and longer shadows
soon the earth will erupt
and reshape the landscapes
in her likeness
to invade the invaders
with mountains for fingers
she brushes the cities
from her brow. As if

to invent a simple fabric
between God and Man
she turns over
her bed

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Jamaica
08.07.06

August fights with bold teeth

the rumor of a cold winter

I don't know why I said that. It never gets cold in Los Angeles.

I was in Jamaica not much more than a month ago. It feels like much longer than that - it is amazing how long you can put things off for.
We were there for the 4th of July and it was in full bloom, the sun was hot and the breeze was cold. The streets in the big cities were mostly
all right and the highway to Negril was almost new, but everywhere else there are holes in the street like missing teeth.
The land is so rich and green but the people are very poor. Buildings everywhere along the smaller highways stand in a half-constructed ethereal realm.
The whole western island seems to be in perpetual work-in-progress mode where the bags of gravel lay untended and the doors are all open as if the notice
came suddenly that there was no reason to work anymore.

We had a great time and Jamaica is a gorgeous country but it is a bit unsettling to know how much power money has been given in our society.
Lavinia and I rented a car in Montego Bay and drove all the way to Treasure Beach. It was such a long drive that we decided to
split it up on the way back and stay in Negril for the night en route.

This is Lavinia, in all her hotness. There is not much more to say about this picture, she is the love
of my life and it is also quite obvious that she is the sexiest woman that has ever lived. Here she is just outside Jack Sprat's. The water was very blue at that beach.
That was a good day.

I brought my Martin and played it a lot. Lazy days.

We saw some amazing sunsets.

Our room was totally private, right on the water. The ocean was very loud but we loved it.

I got to play some music, I played a few songs during the set break one night at the hotel. It was totally unplanned and was a real highlight for me.
I met a jamaican musician named Toby One and we became friends. Cool man. His friend Wendell played tambourine and held the mic stand.

People all over the world are amazingly gracious and giving. Everyone we met was essentially kind. It is just a shame that such a beautiful
place can be in effect annexed by big-business tourism without the people of Jamaica ending up with much of anything at all.

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07.09.06

These are the lyrics to my new song Summer Drug, in honor of my new friend Kim Dellavedova.

We did a show together last week at The Stone and it was very cool. Summer Drug was
the first song I played and the one Kim liked the best. As it turns out we are both mad for
Chris Whitley. I was just listening to A Perfect Day
yesterday and thinking what a gift that album was. Thank you Chris. You are still loved around the world.

Kim tells me there is a video rental shop in Melbourne where she grew up that is constantly playing
Loco Girl and other songs off of Dirt Floor for the customers, and if you can guess
the name of the song they will give you a free rental. If only I lived next to a place like that where they serve
drinks.

Peace for the winter I pray for you

that you find what you wanted to

in that old yesterday

you get no second chances babe

you walk out in the pouring rain

you get some kind of lost again

I've been waiting for you

to change your mind
I'm learning how to turn back time
I'll say good night but I don't mean mine
You're a summer drug

I guess that's good enough

You're still blind from the summer flame

love-drunk and whisky-tame

on that old yesterday

you wake up and see the sky

you got no good reasons why

you're not just wasting time

I've been waiting for you
to change your mind...

don't you know what feels good?

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06.27.06

Everyone is confirmed for Roots Rock for Lovers.

I have always wanted to play a show at the Stone. It is right in Hollywood and I know the lights
will be shining on us in the hip dive room of our time. Hollywood is the new West Hollywood which puts Koreatown in
as the next Hollywood.
Anyway Sally Jaye is a total heartbreaker, Shawn Pander is like molasses on
broken glass and Brandon Krandon will make you believe. We got everything
from a diddled-eyed Joe to a damned if I know.

I'm glad you'll be going. They serve 4 kinds of whisky and I plan to try every one.

Get there early, stay late and drink just like it's Saturday.

I will be playing acoustic guitar for the first time in a while, and if the wind blows right I may get my
harmonium shipped from England just in time to play it for you.

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06.22.06

I was talking to a friend of mine last week, and he asked me what I've been up to.
I replied that I was adding some informative current events
links to my home page in such a way that I can update and append to them often and easily.
His reply was: what are you doing that for?

- which I thought was sort of odd. We are literally exploding the federal deficit, funneling hundreds of billions
of taxpayer dollars every year into wrong-headed priorities for a clumsy military. International diplomacy is at an all-time low
and the value of the dollar is eroding but you wouldn't know it by watching TV or reading any of the major newspapers.
Not to mention the completely overt lawlessness of a power-drunk and peerlessly incompetent administration.
Yet, there is no perceived need for unbiased information.
That's a lot of kool-aid.
Colbert truly said it best.

you can start by reading the Rolling Stone article by Robert F Kennedy entitled -
Was the 2004 Election Stolen?.

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06.16.06

Coronado is very cool. Many thanks to Nancy Peace for hooking us up with a great gig.

Tomorrow the band is tracking with an A-list engineer in a badass recording studio and I am really looking forward to it.

I'll keep you posted.

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05.19.06

I got a few pics back from my show at Molly Malone's last month - all photos courtesy of Whitney Cline / Blue Stella Photography.
I also heard that you can see me on one of the Cheyenne promos that are running on MTV right now - you know, for about half a second. Nice.

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05.15.06

Yesterday was my birthday.

Life is really good these days. My new album iMTHEGUN is coming along nicely.
I have a recording session coming up at NEW MONKEY STUDIOS,
which some of us will remember as the studio that was
a labor of love for Elliot Smith, that tragic and beautiful poet.

It will be a very deep experience to explore my own creativity as a songwriter and composer on his beloved keyboards. I have
always found that every instrument has its own voice and personality, and this is even more true for vintage keyboards like antique pianos
from 1917 and a 50's-era harmonium. Sigh.

Every time I meet a new piano, a song is written. This has never failed me.
The best part is that I am finally doing a recording to tape in a place where I know the air will be full
of muses and electricity and above all, microphones.

I won't be gigging very much this summer, but if you live near San Diego you can catch a show with the full band
on Coronado Island.
It's an outdoor Cancer Benefit called RELAY FOR LIFE on SAT JUNE 10th.

Yes, I'm having two birthday parties;
and yes, I quit the Cheyenne Kimball band, for reasons that shall remain private - I will say only that we parted on good terms and I wish her nothing but the best.

I think on the MHD Network they are still airing a live show that I did with her in Breckinridge this past January.

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04.02.06

More pics from SXSW -


The corner of Congress and 5th

The lovely Jenni Alpert w/ Tom Freund

Me and my old friend Jen Lowe who was playing percussion with Ben Taylor

John Popper's harmonicas

Cesar Chavez street at night

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03.22.06

South by Southwest was completely inspiring.

Highlights:

Witnessing a true legend perform, Ian McLagan.

Jamming with John Popper. He literally walked in off the street while I was playing a song, and stepped up to the mic with his harmonica. It was gorgeous.

Singing We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In the Morning with Naimee Coleman at the Gram Parsons tribute.

Seeing Josh Ritter for the first time.

Sitting in on keys with Ernie Halter.

Playing two-on-a-keyboard with Jenni Alpert while Tom Freund sang You Ain't Going Nowhere.

See you next year, Austin.

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03.12.06
This ad is running in the LA Weekly this month. All hail the mighty Amoeba! A special thanks to my friend Mary Patton.

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02.27.06

I will be honored to help host the Amoeba Records sponsored
Gram Parsons Tribute at this year's South by Southwest Music Festival.
The amazing line-up musicians that I will be performing with includes members of Wilco, The Minus 5, and REM. This whole weekend in Austin is going to be completely surreal.

Amoeba Records will feature me in March as a Homegrown Artist. Hell yeah I'm homegrown. Look out for ads in the LA Weekly and the Campus Circle.

And I love this picture, taken in Breckinridge last month courtesy of my friend Noah over at MTV.

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01.16.06
I've been on the road since right after the New Year.
We kicked it off with a show at the Mint, my friends Chris Pierce, Foster Timms, Jay Nash and I. And then I went right to Vegas.

I've been playing keys lately with Sony/Epic artist Cheyenne Kimball and it's pretty awesome. In the past month I've met some very cool people from both Sony and MTV. Cheyenne's new show on MTV will be airing early this summer, called Cheyenne 15.

Yup, she's 15 and she rocks.
So while I'm writing more songs for my next album I'll be on the road with Cheyenne. Here are some photos from our show at the Breckenridge Riverwalk Center for the MHD Network Music with Altitude Concert Series. It was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit but who cares - this is rock and roll, baby.

This show will was filmed in HD and will be airing on the new MHD network sometime in late February/early March.
Here's a look at my keyboard rig. Hey Nord, where's my sponsorship? That's a Nord Modular on top and a Nord Electro.

This was the view from my hotel room. Nice place. Not a lot of air, though. You lose your breath just tying your shoes when you're up close to the sky like that.

This was a first for me, everywhere we went there were cameras. It's fun for about 45 seconds and then it gets annoying. Poor Cheyenne didn't have a moment's peace. MTV was very cool though, good people. Thank god for that, it could have been a lot worse. Be careful what you wish for, imminent fame = 0 privacy.

So that's it for now, I'm putting the final touches on another EP release that I'm hoping to have finished by the end of the Spring. I've been working with a few new producers, Cynthia Catania and Brandon Krueger and some others. Stay tuned for more updates... And happy new year!

k