View from the stage tonight.

Voodoo Lounge. Riverside, CA

Local Fires, Los Angeles California

Lots of ashes on my car again this morning. 145,000 acres burned so far; 38% contained. This is what my car looked like in the morning, living about 10 miles from the origin of the Station Fire in La Cañada Flintridge, California.

Not So Giant Robot

Another Little Tokyo gem.

Cell Phones and the Recording Studio

Here's some advice I read about in the Hot Tips section of the Harmony Central newsletter:

Turn Off Your Cell Phone

You probably know to turn off your cell phone ringer during a session—the last thing you want is some weird ringtone intruding on a killer acoustic recording. But you may need to go even further and actually take out the battery. When cell phones update, and sometimes when they receive a call, they may generate "hash" that can get into signal processors, amps, pickups, and other electronics found in the typical studio. What's worse is that this may be recorded without your actually hearing it, until you play back the recording. So, if you're involved in a crucial session—particularly if it's a live recording—you can probably do without your cell phone for a bit if removing the battery ensures you won't get any nasty interference.

—Craig Anderton

Welcome to Hell. Jacket Required.

I had a surreal moment at Dodger Stadium last night when it hit me that 1) Joe Torre's wearing a Dodger uniform, 2) Manny Ramirez is up to bat as a Dodger, and 3) my friend Jeff who's wearing a Yankee cap is yelling "Come on Manny!"

A few years ago, these three things coming together would've been a sure sign that hell has frozen over.

Blood, Sweat, but no Tears

Trail of blood I left on my keyboard after my organ solo in Voodoo Chile. The band was ROCKIN' today!

What's in a Double Entendre?

Does my horoscope telling me I'm going to "kick ass" mean that I'll have a good day, or that I'll get in a bar fight?

IANYAN Mag Article

Musician Armen Chakmakian Composes Song for Neda
By Liana Aghajanian on June 27th, 2009


The ongoing protests over a rigged election and freedom from a 30-year regime in Iran have inspired Grammy-nominated musician Armen Chakmakian to compose a song for Neda Agha-Soltan, the woman who died on the streets of Tehran from a single gunshot wound, yet has been a symbol of this new, brewing revolution and garnered an outpouring of support from all corners of the world.

“She lost her life in the street, and over and over and over again on video on the internet and news programs,” Chakmakian said on his blog.

“I didn’t use the word ‘die’ on purpose because she is alive in so many people’s hearts now, and has been an inspiration to many…giving courage to those who continue to fight for their freedom in the streets of Iran.

Watching her pass before my very eyes for something she so strongly believed in, and being so willing to put herself in harm’s way was moving beyond words.”

Chakmakian posted the demo version of the song, “Neda’s Calling,” as a free download. The song includes audio from the video of Neda’s passing, as well as a video I included in this post of a woman yelling at Basij forces violently patrolling the streets.

Chakmakian is the former keyboardist for Grammy award-winning band Shadowfax. In addition to releasing two solo album on his label TruArt Records, two of his tracks appear on the popular “Buddha Bar” compilation albums. He has also worked with composer John Bilezikjian as well as Djivan Gasparyan. Recently, Chakmakian toured South America with Circque du Soleil’s show Saltimbanco as a keyboardist. He has also exclusively composed music for televion shows “Showtime at the Apollo,” “The People’s Court” and “Extra.”