Big in China Video

John Prine's "Great Rain", Uncle Mike's, NYC.January, 2012.

Unrest and beauty in Sichuan, China’s Wild West

I have a real soft space in my heart for Western China. It's a beautiful place filled with fascinating people - many of them Tibetan. Though outside the border of Tibet,  much of northern Yunnan and western Sichuan are on the Tibetan plateau…
, ,

Butch Trucks loves Big in China

I had a pleasant surprise a couple of months ago when I randomly received an email from the Allman Brothers manager saying that drummer Butch Trucks wanted to chat with me - he had read Big in China and was really fascinated by it. This led…

Are pink ribbons evil?

The headline above is intentionally confrontational and I don't really  think pink ribbons are evil. I believe there has almost certainly been at least one very positive outcome from all of this, which is that women going through chemo or…

The Ultimate Soul Train clip – the O’Jays featuring ReRun

Well, I'm a little late weighing in on the sad demise of Don Cornelius because I didn't think I had anything special to add... until I found the following clip. It was hard to pick a favorite Soul Train clip because there are so many wonderful…

God Shammgod and basketball in Taiyuan, China

Today is the release date of Jim Yardley's Brave Dragons: A Chinese Basketball Team, an American Coach, and Two Cultures Clashing, a book  I have been thoroughly enjoying. Jim, the Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times Bureau Chief, was a…

Alan Paul and Big in China Videos

I finally got some decent video of my current band. Two tunes from Uncle Mike's, NYC 1-13-12 are below. Looking forward to seeing many of you Saturday, March 3 at TSTI. Bob Dylan's "You're Gonna Make Me lonesome When You Go": John…
,

Surprise CD pick: Jaimoe’s Jassz Band. WSJ and Guitar World interviews with Jaimoe and Jr. Mack.

I spoke with Allman Bros drummer Jaimoe about his great solo album and his band's gig tonight in NYC for the WSJ Speakeasy blog. This was really a pleasure because I really enjoyed  the album, Renaissance Man, far more…

Jamming with Mark Karan – “Got Love”

In honor of last night's totally fab Ratdog concert broadcast live from Bob Weir's TRI Studio, I uploaded another tune from my completely fun night playing with Ratdog guitarist Mark Karan. The song is the Woodie Alan original "Got Love If You…

Mark Karan, lead guitarist with Bob Weir…and Alan Paul

Mark Karan with Bob Weir and Ratdog for the first time in... a long time... Rehearsal for a live online broadcast, which airs tonight, Weds. January 25 at 8 pm EST, 5 pm PCT. Mark Karan with me, Norm and Chuck at San Fran Big in China…