Fools Banquet is an event all about making music, and inspiring one another to new creative heights.  We started the banquet in 2004 and even with everyone’s busy schedules every year we find a way to turn off the cell phones and step away from our e-mails and focus on nothing but the act of being creative for a few days.  Fools is different than making an album for your band because it is not focused solely on the end product, because the act of writing and creating is just as important as what you finish the day with.  The rules are simple. Everyday you are put into groups of two or three and you must finish your song, and record it by the end of the day.  There are some unsaid expectations that you will put the effort in to making great music whatever that may sound like.  Every year is made up of Fools veterans as wells as newcomers.  I have had a lot of people ask me about who came this year so I will name a few while trying not to sound like I am dropping names.

Ryan Miller (Guster),Jarrod Gorbel (Honorary Title) Allan Vest (Starlight Mints) Imani Coppola, Miles Zuniga (Fastball), Carrick Moore Gerety and Ryan Lindsey...

By the end of this years Fools Banquet there were 20 new songs of all styles.  Songs with names like Battle Cry, Fate, It's Magic, Bring Up The Sunshine, Your Not the Only One, and even Marshmallow Lovers (Yes it was a dare).  Some day soon I am sure some if not all of these songs will see the light of day, but for now they have played their role in helping to inspire and stimulate the musicians that wrote them.

In addition to the music of Fools for the last few years we have been doing a group painting.  We take a large canvas and divide it into squares for each song that is written. Here are some pictures of the making of one of my group’s paintings, as well as a few pictures of people working in the studio.