I just got back home from one of my rare outings.
I went to see a Pat Travers show here in NYC.
My close friend Sandy Genaro plays drums with Pat and I promised I'd be there.
Glad I went. The band was tight beyond belief and Pat is such a great guitar player that watching him was inspiring.
Pat and I have been friends for a long time, a sweeter guy you'd never meet.
I played some shows with him a while back and loved every minute of it.

I've been doing nothing but writing the entire month of January.
My problem is, I keep coming up with new songs and I tend to want to go where my mind - and my fingers - take me so..
Fear not my trusted minions, I remain steadfast and committed to my August completion schedule.

I have a couple TR shows much later this month and they're right in my own backyard so I needn't pack a bag.
These are the 4 Acoustic shows - 2/26, 2/27 & 3/2 & 3/7 we'll be doing at the City Winery in NYC (sans Prairie).

I'll also be doing shows on Feb 8th with the Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp - Corporate Event in Erie PA
Feb 9th in NYC with Ricky Byrd - short 30 minute set for Music Cares at The Cutting Room NYC
March 3rd in Del Ray Beach Florida with Rockers in Recovery for a local Treatment Center

Kasim

Happy New Year.
I can't remember a time when I didn't say "I hope this year is better than the last one".
For me, that sentence has never been more true.
Of course there are specific reasons why 2011 was particularly difficult and just because you might have seen me smiling and yucking it up at a gig, it doesn't mean I felt that way when the light's went out.
Thankfully, the past has been laid to rest and there are so many good things to look forward to in 2012.
I've been working on my record every day and am sending out a new demo for subscribers this week.
My projected release date is the same day I announced starting it in August 2010.
I think two years to the day is fitting.
I was thinking that December 22nd might be good too. This way, if the Mayans prove to be that incredibly foresight-full, no one would care that I took too long to finish.
Unfortunately, as I've stated in prior posts, the songs I'm working on are my best ever.
It takes a lot for me to say that.
Now, I owe it to everyone including myself to be done in time for at least a few good listens.
I'm also planning a string of solo dates starting in mid April through the middle of May.
I'm sure I'll be playing the usual places and hopefully some new towns too.
So you see, already 2012 is headed to be a very good year.

I wish us all health and happiness in the coming months.
Keep your loved ones close, be kind, be gracious, forgive others and yourself.
Most importantly, be grateful for what you already have. There is always someone with so much less.

Now I gotta get back to work!

Kasim

Just back from a short trip to the west coast.
Thanksgiving is done and my BD is in one day.
Where did the year go?
The illness and subsequent loss of a loved one consumed much of my life in 2011.
Thanks to the help and support of my children and those close to me, I manage to soldier on.

It's crunch time for my record.
Putting some finishing touches on new songs and getting ready to turn demo's into records.
I've turned down offers for solo shows in order to spend as much time as I can on writing and recording.
There are at least three new demo's that will be sent to subscribers in the next few weeks.
What I think is my strongest material to date.

The Utopia shows were wonderful and I'm sure everyone who attended one would agree that they were all very special.
The loss of Moggy Klingman was difficult to deal with and the only thought that eases the deep sense of grief is that he is no longer in pain.
I know all too well how it feels to watch someone you love slowly slip away.
In Moogy's case, he lives on in the beautiful music he made while he was here.
Laurie will live on in my children.

I wish everyone a safe, healthy and happy holiday season.
Enjoy your friends and families and keep them close.

NOVEMBER,
In all honesty, I wasn't looking forward to the Utopia tour.
It wasn't the Utopia that I was a part of and my role in the band for these shows was simply singing background vocals.
I was certain it was going to be 3 weeks of thumb twiddling.
I've never been comfortable on stage without playing some kind of instrument
As much as I love singing, I need to be holding more than a microphone to be at ease.
The rehearsals were short and unfortunately, after the second day it became apparent that Moogy wasn't going to be able to tolerate any amount of traveling given his health.
Having to make the decision to go forward without Moogy and have him join us for the shows that were closer to home was a difficult one.
Given the fact that Moogy was the main reason we were doing these shows in the first place, missing his persona on stage, his distinct playing and his bad jokes was going to be hard.
Of course it could be done but it wasn't the way anyone wanted this tour to proceed.
Todd mentioned that I might be able to pick up some of the slack on what we'd be missing without Moogy's keyboards and I gladly jumped at the chance to busy myself with the challenge.
I'm not a great keyboardist. I'm nowhere near as proficient as one needs to be in order to play this kind of music but little by little I'm picking up parts here and there and I'm happy to go the extra mile to help round out the sound.
After a week on the road I can honestly say it's one of the best tours I've done.
John Siegler, Ralph Schukett and Kevin Ellman are some of the nicest guy's I've ever had the pleasure to work with.
Not only great musicians but wonderful to be around too.
Considering I've spent so much time in the past with musicians who 'thought' they were extremely good, it's refreshing to be around those who really are.
So, I've gone from dreading a tour to not looking forward to it ending.
Funny how life works.

Ahhh Fall. Autumn. That wonderful time of year when I get to wear a jacket.
I love my jackets.
I'm here in London, Camden Town to be exact.
We played Manchester on Saturday and tonight is the first of three shows at The Jazz Cafe.
The show in Manchester was only eclipsed by the enthusiasm of the audience.
I don't know wether it's because we were THAT good or simply because Todd doesn't get over here all too often.
Of course I'd like to think it's the former.
I can only hope these London shows are as good.

By now everyone who has a spot on the CD cover has received the link for '15 Minutes'.
The version that will be on the CD is turning out to be better than I expected.
Tomorrow I'm going to be spending the afternoon with my good friend Phil Thornalley.
He has co-written some of my better material, 'Are You Happy Now', 'Yellow Cab'...
I was able to squeeze in two days of songwriting with him which I'm sure will result in at least one new tune.

The only other must-do while I'm here is a trip to Fortnum & Mason to stock up on honey.
French Sunflower, Tasmanian Leatherwood, English Bell Heather....
I know I'm going to have at least 20 pounds extra in my suitcase for the trip home.

Once back in the states, I'm back in the studio everyday, all day.
Except for walking the dog and picking my son up from school, don't call me unless it's really important!

Kasim

After a relatively calm August, mostly spent writing and finishing new songs, I've gotten busy again.

Last weekend saw me traveling to Akron Ohio to play the opening slot for Rick Springfield and The Motels at The Akron Civic Center Theater.

Quite a thrill really. Especially because I debuted a new song called '15 Minutes' that I had just completed a few days before.
It reminded me of a time a few years back when I did the same thing in Columbus Ohio with 'The One Sure Thing'.
I believe I had just fin ished that song in my hotel room the night before I played it in a club there.
I recall having the lyrics on a sheet of hotel stationery at the foot of the mic stand to remember all the words.
I had a couple days to memorize the words to 15 Minutes so, no need for a cheat sheet.

After the show, I made a beeline back to NYC for a day off before starting a short string of dates with TR. We played Sellersville PA last night and I'll make my way to the next show in Bay Shore Long Island sometime this afternoon.

I'm going to be sending out a guitar and vocal demo to The Project subscribers of the new song. Just one of three that were finished in August.

Right after the TR shows, I have a couple of weeks to write and record before head ing to the UK for five shows with Todd.
I'm more than happy about this trip because it means I can stock up on some gourmet honey from Fortnum & Mason.
Just watching all the "proper English" shopping there is enough to make me want to be there tomorrow.

Back to the record for the rest of October along with two solo shows on the 17th and the 22nd.
I'll be posting the particulars shortly.

After that? ......... Stay tuned.
Kasim

August.
August is to the Summer as February is to the Winter.
Neither here nor there.
A no man's month in relation to the season.
More of a last stop before a change than being in the midst.
Not a single major holiday in 31 days, at least not in the USA.

I purposely waited for this particular update because I had a very interesting few days this past weekend.
I took a short break from writing to participate in a Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp.
I was one of seven counselors for about 45 Fantasy Campers.
Mark Hudson, Kip Winger, Dave Rosenthal, Joey Stephco, Rudy Sarzo, Teddy Andreaous and myself were assigned campers to whip into shape, form a band and ultimately perform 3 songs each on stage at Bethel Woods Amphitheater. Just a few hundred yards from where the original Woodstock Festival took place on the same weekend in 1969.
Joey Stephco and I were co-counselors. We were assigned the younger campers.
Five kids ranging in ages 11 to 16.
I've known Joey for a very long time and we both share stints in The Neverland Express.
Joey's time in that band was the very first tour in 1977. He's got some interesting stories about his experiences during that time.
But I digress.
I had a great time with these kids. Teaching them how to play together, picking out three songs for them to learn and watching them come together for the final performance on Sunday on a big stage,.
The lead singer was the cutest 11 year old girl who fancied herself Janis Joplin incarnate. Her name was Ruby Rose and we decided to name the band Ruby Rose And The Misfits.
The Bass player was a trip Tyler. He drove me nuts. He was a cross between Billy Sheean and Jacko Pastorious. He never stopped playing. Literally. Once he strapped the Bass on he would not stop noodling! If I had a nickle for every time I had to yell TYLER! STOP NOODING! I would have made more than I was paid for the whole camp.
The guitar players, Mike and Kyle were the sweetest kids and the drummer Mike was actually extremely good. He was all of 12.
They picked 'Purple Haze' and 'I Love Rock And Roll' as their performance songs and they made such quick work of learning those two that we had time left for them to write and original song called 'Rock Is Dead'.
On Sunday we all piled into two tour buses and made our way from NYC where the rehearsals took place to Bethel Woods for the big show.
I have to be honest, when it came time for my band to go on I was sweating like a stage mom.
I wanted them to be great and I couldn't have been more proud of them or the work they did over the previous two days.
They were GREAT. Even Tyler rose to the occasion. I wouldn't even be telling you this if it weren't the case.
If I ever get asked to participate in another camp, I'm insisting I get the younger campers.

Now I'm back home, writing again
I've been doing some collaborating with a good friend Bob Burger who is a wonderful song writer.
Mainly to try and get past some speed-bumps I've encountered.
Looking forward to my short solo set in Akron over the Labor Day weekend and the TR dates right after that. Then back to working on my record.
I'm coming up with some of the best material I've ever written and it might be taking me longer than expected but to me, it's worth taking the extra time.

All for now.
Thanks to SW for allowing me to post this for you all.

Kasim

More than half of 2011 is history.
The year is streaking by.
I had a great time at the Rock and Roll Survival Camp hosted at the Full Moon Resort in the Catskill Mountains.
One of the highlights for me was writing a song with some of the campers and performing it that night at the Jam Session that followed each days events.
I thought the participants did a wonderful job in coming up with some wild lyrics.
I made the lyric writing a little game. I went around the room with each person getting to contribute three words at a time to complete a sentence. Didn't have to make sense. It turned out to be pretty funny.
I'm almost done with the TR Classics Tour except for four days in Japan at the end of the month.
I'll be home all of August working on my record.
I know it's taken longer than expected but it really has to be right in so many ways before I present it to you.

The TR shows have been great. By now most of you know what songs we're playing and it really is 'Classic Todd'.
All the favorites done in various styles.
Now all we have to do is get those counts offs right and we'll be golden.

I'm not going to make any more promises regarding new material, just going to remind you that the songs will be coming... soon.

Kasim

June...

I'd love to say I've been hard at work on my record for the past few weeks.
Unfortunately, pressing family issues have taken precedence.
That being said, I'm back to work as I write this and I'm confident I'll have something finished very soon.

I'm about to start a new TR tour very soon and am looking forward to playing some Todd songs I haven't had the pleasure of doing in a long time.
This tour will be different in the sense that there will be three separate sets each night.
One Acoustic set sandwiched between two Electric sets.
Just what songs will be where is still a mystery to me.
I do know it will be exciting though.
The addition of John Ferenzick on Keyboards will be cool because Todd has a new warm body to pick on.
That tends to deflect the stink eye away from Prairie, Jesse and myself.

No solo shows until I have new songs to play!

Kasim

Just got back from Buffalo.

In a state of semi-consciousness I made the decision to drive.

Wasn't so bad on the way there but 900 miles later I'll think twice next time.

Never mind my petty foolishness, I made it there and back in one piece and have a sore backside as a reminder.

One of the best things about the trip was the Musicians Clinic I did on Saturday afternoon.

It was wonderful to see so many young people in the audience and I made sure to gear my thoughts and comments towards making them aware of what it's like to be a working musician.

This was the first time I played a solo show in Buffalo and it was great to see so many familiar faces in the audience.

I had a wonderful time sharing my songs and stories with everyone there.

Now home, and with the majority of the month ahead available to work on my record I'm going to promise at least one new song before I leave in June for the next round of shows with TR.

Wish I had more to report but I think it more prudent to get to work!

Kasim

Catching my breath yesterday and today.
Used to be I was out on tour for a couple months at a time.
That had it's good and bad points.
Somewhere around the half way mark in a two month tour, you got really home sick.
The last week was usually torture.
When I go out for two weeks, I barely get my sea legs back before it's time to go home.
I'm not complaining, I'll gladly take the two weeks of touring.
It's just that on a longer tour, you have the chance to get into a routine.

I do have a ton of work to do over the next two and a half months.
Back to working on The Project.
Writing and recording.

I do have a couple shows in at the end of this month.
I'm looking forward to the Master Bass Clinic in Buffalo and the show that follows it later that night.
Then at the end of May, I'm doing another show with Ricky Byrd in Florida for a recovery center.
It's always fun playing drunken sailor music with Ricky.

The Todd/Healing shows were fun, great crowds and those gigs always feel so much like a big family get together.
Especially when we all occupy the same hotel.
I'd like to know who was smoking cigarettes on the 5th floor in Toledo?
I could smell it as soon as I got off the elevator!
I'm pretty sure someone got whacked with a $250.00 room cleaning bill.
This time it wasn't me!

I'm gonna promise at least one or two more snippets of new songs by June.
This doesn't mean I don't have more done, I'm just parsing it out.
Lets catch up at the end of this month.

Kasim

MARCH-ING-ON

I'M KNACKERED.

LAST WEEK I WAS KNEE DEEP IN BEATLE MUSIC.

HAD TO LEARN 40 SONGS IN A WEEK FOR THE SHOWS I JUST PLAYED.

I CAN NOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE OF WORKING WITH MIKE PORTNOY, NEIL MORSE AND PAUL GILBERT.

THESE GUYS ARE CLASS 'A' MUSO'S AND I HAD THE BEST TIME ON THESE THREE GIGS.

I HAD GOTTEN AN EMAIL IN LATE JANUARY ASKING ME IF I MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN DOING A 'PROJECT' WITH MIKE PORTNOY... HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS BUT SAID YES GIVEN HIS PEDIGREE. WHEN I FOUND OUT IT WAS A BEATLES TRIBUTE THINGY I SAID ..... OH NO PROBLEM. I CAN COVER THAT.

AS USUAL, I PUT OFF LEARNING THE SONGS UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE AND FREAKED OUT BECAUSE I REALIZED JUST HOW DIFFICULT IT MIGHT BE.

REMEMBER, SIR P. NEVER REALLY HAD TO PLAY A LOT OF THESE SONGS AND SING THEM AT THE SAME TIME AND I DIDN'T WANT TO SHOW UP UNPREPARED - ESPECIALLY WHEN WORKING WITH GUY'S I NEVER HAD BEFORE SO I WOOD-SHEDDED FOR A FULL WEEK.

I MANAGED TO PULL IT OFF WITH A MINIMUM AMOUNT OF CLAMS AND I THINK I MADE SOME NEW FANS TO BOOT!

THERE WILL BE A DVD RELEASED LATER THIS YEAR FROM LAST NIGHTS SHOW IN NYC.

WHATS ON THE HORIZON?

I'M BACK TO WRITING, PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON A COUPLE OF NEW SONGS FOR MY CD AND BEFORE I KNOW IT, I'LL HAVE TO PUT THAT ON HOLD ONCE AGAIN FOR THE TODD/HEALING SHOWS COMING UP LATER THIS MONTH.

I'M ACTUALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO APRIL AND MAY WHICH ARE 2 MONTHS I DON'T HAVE MUCH AT ALL GOING ON SO I CAN CONCENTRATE ON NEW MUSIC.

ON ANOTHER NOTE, THERE HAS BEEN SOMEONE GOING AROUND PRETENDING TO BE ME. I KNOW, I KNOW. WHY ME?

ANYWAY .... IF ANYONE GETS ANY EMAIL(S) FROM THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ADDRESS - INFOKASIM@AOL.COM OR HAS RECEIVED ANYTHING FROM 'KASIM NATION' THIS IS A BOGUS PERSON. I HAVE HIS NAME AND ADDRESS AND AM DEALING WITH IT BUT PLEASE KNOW IT IS NOT IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM RELATED TO ME, KASIMSULTON.COM OR KASIMINFO.COM.

IF IT CONTINUES, I WILL POST THIS PERSONS NAME AND ADDRESS AND WE CAN ALL PRETEND TO BE HIM.... WOULDN'T THAT BE FAIR GARY?

ANYWAY, LOOK FOR SOME NEW SNIPPETS OF SONGS COMING IN APRIL.

KASIM

Goodbye January...

What a month! I can't remember when a January was this busy.

Usually, the Music Biz shuts down around December 15th and doesn't get rolling again until late January.

I've been busier this month than any January in recent memory.

Certainly busier than if I had continued working with a food group.

Between my solo webcast, the My Record Fantasy Camp, working on demos for my CD and the Utopia shows this past weekend (a very special event), I've barely had time to catch my breath.

One of the highlights of the My Record Fantasy Camp (aside from all the great attendees) was getting to play one of my favorite songs - I Don't Mind At All - on stage with Brent Bourgeois and Larry Tagg.

February is shaping up to be just as jam packed.

I just got back from a recording session for a secret project with Jim Stienman and this weekend I have a solo show in New Hope PA.

February 16th sees me in Connecticut for a corporate party with my good friend Earl Slick and then on the 19th I'll join Glen Burtnik in New Jersey for a John Lennon show. I get to sing two John song's with Glen, 'All You Need Is Love' and 'This Boy'.

As well as join the choir for a massive rendition of 'Because'.

This month ends with me doing 3 shows with Yellow Matter Custard. This is a band formed a few years back with Mike Portnoy, Paul Gilbert and Neil Morse... I'm filling in for Matt Bissonette (I'm a big fan of his). I'll be singing a bunch of Beatle tunes and I couldn't be happier about it.

In between all this, I'll be working working working on my CD.

Just a reminder that there are still a few spots left for the cover so, get your pictures in soon!

I'll be doing an update here on KI beginning of each month to keep everyone apprised of what I've done, what I'm doing and whats coming up so .... check back for the March 1st note!

Kasim

Details about Kasim's solo gig this Friday (4th) can be found here and about how to get on the front of his forthcoming album here.