2015 March and April Shows

Annual poster updated!

New member and more hair! This year's Wanted Poster signifying our St. Patrick's Day shows is here.

Designed by John Hanan III

We are playing two shows on St. Patrick's Day at Dublin Pub on Tuesday, March 17, from 5-7pm and 8-10pm ($5 cover).

Then to celebrate Tartan Day, we play at Paddy's Bar & Grill Saturday, April 11, from 8-10pm.

Hope to see you there!!

2015 Homebrew Season

A preview of beers I will be making this year. 

Its been over 2 years since I last brewed beer and I can't wait to get hopping again! These first two beers were brewed last month and are currently fermenting away. The last two are likely this month's contenders. If all goes according to plan, I will be brewing 2 batches at the end of each month.

The following labels are all works in progress.

KBA Ale is an Imperial Scotch ale named after my band, Kilty by Association. This is the second time I have made it, as it was a definite favorite the first time around. So far, it look to match the last batch's 9.3%!

A first go around for this one, Thai Tea Whitey is a Thai tea infused white ale. Its one of my many "mad scientist" concoctions. Thai tea, coconut water, orange peel and vanilla beans highlight this ale. I expect this is going to be a low ABV%.

Batch 2 planned for February, PBJ was a crazy idea from 2013, and it turned out a big hit that year! PBJ is just what it says--A wheat ale (the bread) infused with peanut butter and blackberry jam. Described by a friend as "drinking a PBJ sandwich".

A smoked porter is not an original idea, but I hope my twist on it is. Serengeti is going to be a South African inspired smoked porter--Although my "secret" ingredient probably isn't very secret! This is also on the docket for February.

Rock For the Plunge!

Rockin' the polar bear!

My band Kilty by Association will be playing at Omalley's Saloon on Saturday, Feb 7 to benefit the Special Olympics. Music starts at 8pm, we go on at Midnight!! There will also be a 50/50 raffle.

Since this a punk rock show, we have pulled out our slower and lighter tunes, and will be rocking it hard to cap off the night.

Dublin Pub

Kilty by Association is heading back to Dublin Pub!

We will be playing Friday, August 29th, from 9pm-12am. There is a $5 cover. If you live in the Portland area and like Celtic music with a rock edge, come on down to Dublin Pub and enjoy the show!

I have slightly reworked the poster from our last show, adding a wide shot of the city of Dublin. This poster has been added to DeviantArt.

Hope to see you at the show!

Dublin Pub

Here is the poster for my band's next gig.

This was one of the most challenging posters to date! I knew I wanted a stylized "K", but had no idea what to do with the poster.

There is quite a bit of symbolism in the "K", some deliberate, some accidental--Music, growth, Celtic, aggression, luck, among others. I am pleased with the end result, but if I had more time, I would probably noodle it more.

The rest of the poster, is really simple. An oval vignette over a green/red tartan with simple Celtic text for the gig details.

I have uploaded this poster in addition to the rest of the collection of my band's posters to Deviant Art. To see the entire collection click here.

Thanks for lookin!

Alternate Band Logo

I worked on this over the weekend. Every time I look at it I add/change something... I have to call it done at this point.

At first, I was designing this orna-"metal" "K" (HA!) for our next band poster. But after seeing it on it's own, I think it works as a logo too.

I should be done with the poster tomorrow.

That's is for today.

2nd Annual Rockfest BBQ Party

My son will be singing with my band again during his birthday party this year. 

Last year's party was such a huge success, were doing it again this year. Deathbot has been practicing one of our songs on guitar--there are only 2 chords. He doesn't have it down yet, so it will probably be a day of decision whether he plays.

Here's hoping for good weather!!

2014 Tartan Day

My band, Kilty by Association will be playing at Paddy's Bar and Grill in downtown Portland, Saturday, April 5th!

Here is the poster for our next gig. I simply made a few changes to last years poster. Looking forward to going back to Paddy's. They are always an excellent host.

Designed by John Hanan III

Our St Patrick's Day gigs turned out great! At one show, we were asked to play a second set and wound up playing a 4-hour show that day! Good times were had and good drinks were consumed!

If you want to know more about my band, you can check out our Facebook page.

March Gigs

My band has a new member! Our bassist left the band a few months a go, and a long time friend of mine has joined the Cletic cause a few weeks back.

We have 3 shows in 8 days coming up in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I reconfigured last years poster, grouping all three shows together.

Designed by John Hanan III

Hope you like it! If you want to know more about my band, you can check out our Facebook page.

Ardbeg Scotch Party

Well, my plans for 23 more posts by the end of the years have slipped by. They days have been a blur with the looming holidays and my wife going in and out of the hospital. She is home now, but has began the process of retiring and starting disability.

Enough of RL... on to why I am here!

My band has another gig. After our last show, we were offered a weekly spot at Paddy's Bar & Grill. We unfortunately had to turn down the offer due to scheduling. Kilty by Association only practices once a week, and collectively we simply don't have the time. However, we countered with a once a month gig and Paddy's liked the idea.

The event will be showcasing Ardbeg Scotch. There will be Scotch tastings and, well us! Here is the poster I created.

The concept and composition was my idea, but I turned to Lord Grimskull to draw the line art. I then dropped in the colors, the background and added the text.

Only 1 practice and 1-1/2 weeks until the show... can't wait!

Animal

For my band's last show, I dressed up as the Muppet Animal.

I used colored hair spray for my hair and my skin. For what I could spend, it seemed the most durable and had the best coverage.

The ankle and wrist shackles I made out of craft foam. I cut the strips out of a large sheet, and bought a package of shapes. All hot glued together with strips of Velcro for easy  on and off.

The chain was from a Halloween decoration. I made a choker out of Velcro and looped it through the chain.

The gig was a huge success!! We were offered a weekly spot at the bar, but unfortunately we had to turn it down. We said we could do a monthly show and it looks like that may happen.

Samhain

My band has a gig on November 2nd celebrating Samhain, a Celtic harvest festival. We are getting a lot of good buzz and hope to get a really good turnout!

I designed the poster. I started out laying everything out in CorelDraw (vector graphics), but as the design developed, it looked too "graphic". So I printed what I had out and traced it giving the art a more rustic feel. Then I scanned it back in, opened it in Photoshop, finished a few more details before coloring it.

Drinking by Association

My band has another gig, this time with another band opening for us! Drinking Birds will be opening for Kilty by Association on July 12th!

Poster by zorcon

We are returning to one of our favorite local spots--Velo Cult for [about] a 2 hour set.

New Rock Star in Town

For my son's 10th Birthday, he asked if he could sing with my band. It made me all tingly inside knowing my son looks up to me and want to take part in playing music. My band mates were amazing--They embraced the idea and encouraged and coached my son during the two practices he came to.

Marcus actually practiced quite a bit more than twice. I record many of my band's songs during band practice and listen to them while I am driving (I spend about 2 hours a day in the car). Often my son is with me and over time he learned almost all of our songs.

A few days ago, we had the backyard BBQ. Kilty played about an hour set, with my son singing 4 songs as an opener. Marcus did such a great job! The party was a huge success, the weather was nice, and we had a blast.

I really appreciate my band mates helping to make this a very memorable night for Marcus!!

Kilty goes (In)Sane!

Design by Jason Raines

My band played a Birthday Party gig a few days a go.  It was an amazing show! We had a blast as did the audience. Best of all, the birthday boy did too. The venue was perfect for us and it is only minutes from everyone in the band, so I expect we will play there again!

Me drummin' along!

We played about a 2 hour set and then closed the bar down. Unfortunately, but awesome Kiss-like platform boots and the guitarists coon-skin cap were lost! That was a bummer!!

If you want to see more pics, here is an album of the show.

Props - Viking Helmet

I have mentioned before that I am in a band (one month shy of a year ago!). But I don't think I ever said that in March I made a Viking helmet to wear on stage.

I was initially trepidatious about sporting this at our gigs. But to my amazement (and the band's), I get approached constantly before, during, and after our shows with people asking me for a photograph, to try on the helmet, and all around positive comments! I have even had a line of people to see me!!! What an experience!!

Front of the helmet

Before I joined, the band started out as playing Celtic/Punk covers. At the time (and still) the lead singer, and founder, wore his clan's kilt while the rest of the band was in street clothes. As we added members, and started writing our own songs, we were also adding global folk influences.


It was around that time we decided that each member should adopt a character--A pseudo-version of their ancestry! I am half Norwegian and chose to add Viking elements to my stage outfit. Since we have a strong Punk edge, I decided to not dress in traditional garb.

Back view

I thought long and hard about buying a metal helmet. There were about 5 styles I looked at on Amazon that were under $100. I had been given gift cards and cash for Birthday/Christmas specifically for band needs. However, I eventually decided that fit and weight were going to be issues while I performed, and eventually chose to make my own helmet instead! (Thanks Dave!!)

Toy Helmet (Image taken from interwebs without permission

Never making anything like this before, I bought an adult toy helmet, thinking I could simply paint it (I do have those skills). Unfortunately thy toy helmet barely fits my soon-to-be-10-year-old son, let alone my big ol' noggin! At that point, I had a string of gigs in 2 days looming ahead and had to make it from scratch or else do without for the next 5 gig's.

First Attempt frame-work

I started out scavenging the horns, top spike and fur rings from the toy helmet. Then I went to Michael's and bought craft foam sheets (ala scrap-booking), textured felt, and googly eyes. I didn't really have a plan, I just started cutting and gluing. All was OK until I started gluing in the felt inserts. The second insert was a little off center and it completely warped the helmet... I had to start over!

The bad news was I ran out of craft foam, but the good news was I found these half round "beads that worked out much better as the rivets.

Inside the helm is tac "welded" with hot glue

The second go around was a breeze! I now had a template to follow, and was able to tweak the design in a few places, making it a more durable item. Once everything was assembled, and the glue cooled, I sprayed the inside with 3 coats of liquid rubber. After that dried, I primed everything in black.

I wanted to go simple on the paint, applying a base coat, ink wash, and a simple dry brush. Then I coated the silver with and horns with a brush on gloss coat. Finally, when everything was dry, I slid on the furry rings.

Photo by Digital Style Photography

This is a pic taken at one of our recent shows. He caught me in a strange expression, as if I was deep in thought.

I hope you like it! As always, questions and comments always welcome!

Tartan Day

Designed by John Hanan III

My band was on local TV yesterday promoting our next gig! We will be celebrating Tartan Day this coming Saturday--Unfortunately we were unavailable to play on the actual day, so this is a Post-Tartan Day Celebration. Paddy's is a local Irish bar and one of the oldest in Portland. We play there for both St Patrick's Day and Tartan Day, so it was really great of them to accommodate our schedule this year.

Wanted Poster

Designed by John Hanan III

My band has 5 gigs coming up in the next 5 weeks, with 4 of them in a 4-day stretch, and 2 of those in the same day!! Here is a poster I created to promote all 5 shows.

We have learned 3 traditional songs, a cover, and finished an original specifically for the 3 St. Pattrick's Day shows, but all of the songs will be added to our rotation.

Our style is best described as Celtic Folk Punk, and our biggest influence is The Pouges. However, we are starting to branch out into other styles of traditional and original songs like polka, bluegrass, and other cultural influences.

Hope you like it! If you want to know more about my band, you can read this previous post and check out our Facebook page.

Bikes, Beers and Bawdy Ballads

My band has a gig tomorrow night. It is our first show in town with our current line up, so we are all really excited!

Charcaters Drawn by Lord Grimskull
Colored and Designed by John Hanan III

The venue is Velo Cult. It is a bicycle shop by day (hence why we are all riding bikes) and a bar by night--Very Portland!

A good friend of the band [edit: Lord Grimskull] drew the line art, and I did the coloring and graphics. The poster has gotten rave reviews and we hope our show lives up to it!

Hello

Image used without permission

Hey guys! I have not had much to say over here for quite some time (7 months!!), but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy... I joined a band--Kilty by Association! We are a celtic/folk/punk band and have had a gig almost every month since June. If you are interested in checking us out, here is our FB page. We are in the middle of uploading a bunch of songs from our latest gig, and we should be finished with a 3-song CD by Christmas.

I also recently finished this year's home brews.

This was one of my most popular past brews,
so I made another batch!

This was another of my most popular past brews,
so I made another batch of this too!

 There are 4 stand-outs this year... Kona Storm (a coffee porter), Witch Hazel (a chocolate hazelnut nut-brown)--also a remake, KbA Ale (a 9.3% scotch ale)--named after the band, and a surprise hit, PBJ (a peanut butter and blackberry jelly wheat). The other two are quite good too... Quaker Beer (a maple brown sugar oatmeal stout)--named after the famous brand of oatmeal, and Autumn's Secret (a macadamia pumpkin ale). I always make labels for my beer (and soda). Click here for the album of all my creations.

Now that the cool days are here, and I am caught up with the band's current catalog, I will be posting the few projects I did manage to complete over summer and will start up some new (and old) ones!

Before I go, I do want to give a shout out to a cool Kickstarter project that I can't wait to get my hands on. It is called Boss Monster. The game is inspired by classic video games, and challenges you to become a villain, build a dungeon, lure adventurers, and destroy them! Check it out here.