Middie Buzz Anniversary

Bibi Maldonado from Middie Buzz invited Clique back to Likquid Lounge to perform at their 5th Anniversary Party. Nick and I had a great set! Devon Riley was videotaping so we should have some good footage soon.

Recording and iTunes

Spent most of August working on my first single “Hardly Breathe”. I finally got in Let E'm In studio with Dominic Fallacaro and recorded the song. Dominic quickly mixed and mastered it and now I am an iTunes artist. You can download it here

Performing with Emish in Warwick

OMG! I can't believe I got the chance to open for the wildly popular Irish Rock band, Emish. Nick and I, performing as Clique, did a set at Railroad Green in Warwick on July 26th. There had to have been 300 people there! Thanks to Village of Warwick Summer Concert Series, Emish, Ed Mesic and The WVMS Guitar Club for allowing us to play. Here's a link to one of the songs that we performed that day. Click link: Sara Bareilles, Love Song.

Slow Jams

I had so much fun performing with Nick last week. It was cool to experiment with so many different genres and tempos. Nick adjusts his style so effortlessly. I love collaborating with him! The gigs were not perfect, but considering we only had time for one rehearsal, it was pretty good. Some videos from Middletown

Regents and Rehearsals

What a relief to be done with finals and regents! Thursday was my last day in Middle School. I'm so psyched that school is over, but so many of my friends will be leaving our District. I'm gonna miss them so much! I am looking forward to being at the high school, though. No more crazy strict dress codes and a little more overall freedom. Nick and I had a four hour rehearsal last weekend getting ready for this Saturday and Sunday. Since Sean will be in Ireland, I am doing a slowed down set on Saturday at Something Sweet in Middletown, New York from 2-3 and Sunday from 1-2 at the Warwick Art on the Green Event at Pennings Farm. This is my first full hour set with a full band, so I hope it goes well. Brianna Flood will be helping out on violin and my brother, Conor will be playing guitar on a few songs. I also had a very productive performance session with my coach Stephen Brush.
Come see us play:
Sat 6/28 2:00 - 3:00 - Something Sweet Dessert Cafe
Sun 6/29 1:00 - 2:00 Pennings Farm Market

The Bitter End

After The Spider was invited to the Youth Arts Forum Musical Bash benefiting Cystic Fibrosis, so we got to play at the infamous Bitter End last weekend. It was a killer line-up with Giullian Gioiello (who had a role in my favorite show The Carrie Diaries), The Machines, Pampalibros, Sawyer Fredericks, Juice and Brand of Julez. I was blown away at the talent! I felt lucky and excited to participate. Here are a few pictures. Don't ask about the hat. I was just feelin' it.

Finding Bliss at The Body Art Barn

To complete my Careers assignment, I was lucky enough to job shadow my yoga idol, Michelle Dawson at The Body Art Barn. I learned so much today and aspire to create a life, career and practice in yoga, like Michelle.

Sugar Loaf Springfest

After The Spider finally had a chance to play in my hometown. We played at the Sugar Loaf Spring festival over the Memorial Day weekend. Sounds by Denim Ed had us sounding our best! Thanks, Ed. It was a perfect day with perfect weather. I got to spend the rest of my day at the festival with my friends. I hope we have a chance to do more of these local gigs. Performing is much more fun when I'm surrounded by all of my friends.

Lots of shows coming up in Sugar Loaf, Atlantic City, Newburgh, NYC, Middletown and Hoboken - Check us out!!!

Classical Weekend

I'm still coming off a high from last weekend. Playing Violet at the WVMS production of Willy Wonka was so much fun! I'm going to miss my Wonka family.

Yesterday I had hours of oboe rehearsal and the performance for Orange County Music Educators' Association All-County Music Festival. It was a long day, but Bacchanale made it worth it. Now I'm off to the dress rehearsal and concert for the College-Youth Symphony at SUNY New Paltz. Between Friday and the end of today, I'll probably have played 15 solid hours of oboe. That's a lot of blowing.

Despite my crazy scheduled, I'm psyched that May is here. Welcoming some warm weather and a new season of America's Got Talent #AGT to premier on May 27 8PM!!!

Killing it with After The Spider

Even though it was Spring Break, I was crazy busy last week. After The Spider played at a Hospice of Orange & Sullivan Counties benefit at Billy Joe's Ribworks in Newburgh. We had a chance to work in some of Sean's new songs. They were very well received by the crowd. The highlight for me was having Mr. Gaskins join us in "I Can Hardly Breathe". He added so much energy to the number. We also participated in the Planet Honda Battle of the Bands in Union NJ . Out of over 30 entries we came in 2nd place, beat only by the amazing southern rock band Triple Addiction . It was by far our best performance as a band. There was a big crowd, a big cash prize and a big celebration. They had professional judges that gave really helpful feedback. They sound system and sound engineers, Hellhound were killer. It was the best quality audio we've seen as a band. Check out a clip from the Battle of the Bands: "I Can Hardly Breathe".

AGT Audition

I had such a fun time auditioning for America's Got Talent. Meeting Nick Cannon was crazy! Start to tune in to AGT on 5/27 at 8PM and maybe you'll catch a glimpse of me.

The Venue and Ventnor Coffee

After The Spider played at The Venue is Campbell Hall last weekend. I've never played there before and really liked the place. It is affiliated with the Live2Create Project which uses proceeds to provide musical opportunities to children in need. http://live2createproject.org/ We were lucky enough to pack the place with our fans, so we played to a very large and friendly crowd. We did about ten songs and sold a bunch of shirts, so it was a really great night. Thanks to everyone that came out. We felt the love! Tomorrow night, we're playing a Battle of the Bands in Ventnor, NJ, which happens to be my mom's hometown. We probably won't know too many people, but hopefully we can make some new fans! We're scheduled to go on at 4:10, so stop Ventnor Coffee and check us out.

Bittersweet Night and New Beginnings

Last night was my last performance with the WVMS Guitar Club. It was so much fun to jam on stage with my friends. The show was sold out and everyone I knew was there. I'm going to miss it so much. It's the one activity where practices are as much fun as the show. It's been my favorite part of Middle School. I can't believe it's over. I'll still get to see Conor play in it for two more years and there are some really talented 5th and 6th graders I look forward to watching the next few years. This morning, I was up early for All-County auditions, then drama practice. Then, After The Spider had a rehearsal. Even though I was wiped, we made a lot of progress on our setlist. We'll be at Jigg's Thursday night and we'll use it as a rehearsal for The Venue gig on 2/22 in Campbell Hall. I hope all of my friends and family will be there for that gig, since it's our first one in Orange County. I am also preparing for my solo set when I open for Cliff Eberhardt at Music at The Mission in West Milford on 2/15. It's my first semi-professional performance, so it's a big deal to me. I hope I don't disappoint anyone.

Exciting Week

I have a really exciting week of music. The WVMS Guitar Club concert is coming up and I can't wait. It is, hands down, my favorite activity. I also have some other things in the works. I can't discuss it now, but I look forwarded to posting some good news soon.

Nick's Birthday!

We performed at my favorite drummer's birthday party last night. It was so much fun hanging out with the Gaskins' family and friends!  Man, they can dance. I need to brush up on my moves.
Happy 16th Birthday, Nick!!!