Sats

Just realized mom died 30 years ago. People often say "not a day goes by I don't miss them." But honestly I don't know what I'm actually missing. I've forgotten so much it's like trying to reconstruct a blurry image, holding on to a degradation. Information loss. A picture so pixelated and photocopied: high contrast yet low resolution. So what I miss is at best an approximation, not at all representative; missing pieces filled in by ego and self-mythology. Dad was already out of the picture. A teenager on my own, the circumstances wielded as a ready-made excuse. Did I exploit it? Was it a convenient explanation with no allowable retort? ...like an objection that could never be overruled by the presiding judge? I don't know. Probably. Being cripplingly self-aware, I mostly kept it hidden. I'd rather be hated than pitied. An internally deployed insecurity balm. But what if it's what we all do? To greater or lesser degrees we modify and press into service the thing we miss. It's the way the ones we've lost are actually giving back to us. Same as in life, sometimes that relationship is put toward productive purposes...sometimes less so. If there's a person being missed, maybe it's myself. All the counterfactual versions of myself. A life in dialogue with a person that never existed after a certain point. As they say: "Not a day goes by that I don't miss them."

[That's a wrap on my first harvest] (the work continues for fellow interns from @neoteric_wine and @labofermento ). It came at a period of change and uncertainty. And that's what winemaking is. The move across country, after 18 years, was a bet on an outcome unknown, a wager steeped in diffidence and no little fear. Harvest was a way to both hedge and double down. Couldn't have asked for a better crew and way to get my feet wet (literally). Thank you Jolie-Laide for taking a chance on me: no doubt many better qualified people were available. And giving the dingus a place to hang. Your reputation is fully deserved and I'm the beneficiary of my time there more than whatever little I contributed--beyond constantly cursing 🤬 every banged shin or skinned finger. One of the highlights was getting to work on Le Lube, the house wine for @valleybarandbottle and @valleyswim.club . What an incredible ethos of winemaking. Diligence in service of cleanliness. Commitment to the highest quality fruit. Doing for the client that which they don't even realize was an option. Now im addicted. Open to 2026 harvest options... 📸: @bobby_ro_bert

*Last flight as a Washingtonian* DC is a place I love. DC is now my hometown. And I'll damn sure miss it. And my heart breaks for the city. 18 years I'm still struck by this view and got a bit emotional catching it this time. The thing I'll miss most is the community of folks I discovered outside Washington. The people from the city we call DC... ... our circle of "bartenders and bassists" - the service industry folks and musicians grinding it out every day and keeping me up late at night. Im proudest of joining these folks to perform on every stage in DC, from grand palaces like the Kennedy Center and Smithsonians, the legendary 9:30 Club, to grimey corner joints. We've opened a few restaurants and jumped in to work the line in the kitchen when someone needed a favor. This place has been through a lot. And it'll get through it i know it. I was predisposed to hate this place. And I did. It's not your fault: NYC chauvinism is a birthright. Turned out it just took time to wear down the contempt. And goddamn did this place do it. Lots of people see views like this, or what's portrayed on the news or in movies, and they're not wrong thinking that's Washington. But it's not DC. DC is the city I love. DC is now my hometown. And I'll damn sure miss it.

Music has a funny way of being more than just the soundtrack to life—it becomes the conductor too, shaping the rhythm of our choices, our connections, and our biggest moments. Over a decade ago, Satya and I met playing this exact same song—one he wrote—on a gig for a mutual friend. That night kicked off not just countless shows together, but a friendship that turned into family. This clip is from our last time playing together before he heads out west. It’s bittersweet—Backbeat Underground won’t be the same without him, but I know whatever stage he steps onto next, he’ll carry the same soul, groove, and energy that made us proud to call him one of ours. Safe travels, Satya. California, you’re in for something special. @saxdrop @backbeatunderground #BackbeatUnderground #FarewellShow #FullCircle #MusicianLife #DrummersOfInstagram #LiveMusic #MusicFamily

[ moving to Cali ] Sonoma you do it to me. I first came out when the world was shut down and connections were harder to come by. Boarded an empty flight and landed at an empty airport. And that was it. The town felt easy. Like a worn in jacket. And so back and forth for 4+ years it went. In some ways it's felt like a lifetime's worth of emotions in that stretch. A community welcomed me in, into their homes and businesses, into the grooves they've built after years being here. But it's all owed to my brother @tannerwalle who's like the skeleton key to the town. It turned out he was quietly selling me an idea neither of us knew really existed. And so it goes we'll jump in the car and make our way West in search of a new adventure (and a metric shit ton of wine while working at @jolielaidewines )

💔 Came out of 2024 kinda numb, for a variety of reasons. So in some ways I was steeled for a hit, but DAMN not a haymaker like this. Andy was unpretentious enthusiasm. He only wanted to build the scene. He helped build a whole scene before I ever showed up in town. He was a mentor and a confidante. Never annoyed by my pestering. Never hesitating to make introductions. Connecting us to labels, a distributor for our first vinyl... Those first couple Funk Parades, helping me book multiple gigs, making sure I could sprint between venues. No one embodied the open, cooperative, collaborative spirit of DC like Andy. You was good people. You was #DCasFuck. You will be missed 2Tuff. Spread that light King. #RIP

[1st pic: gotcha day / 2nd pic: years later] Lady Dingus McFairchild aka Honey -- you came home 7 years ago, about a year old. @nuzzi_n8r had to drive so I could hold you, all shaking and tense. You didn't make a single sound for days. I thought you were mute. You quickly became the mascot for our late night parties in Brooklyn, a regular sighting around the Senate, and the best hang for lazy Sundays. The dog food packaging says you're a "senior dog." Let's hope not too senior...so many more people to jump on as soon as they walk in the door. #adognamedhoney #dogsofdc

We back outchea...with the multi-Grammy-winning drum duo from Snarky Puppy...at the coolest venue in town @backbeatunderground

See @backbeatunderground for the full song #funk #souljazz #202creates

Little bit ago, the @backbeatunderground gang got together in the rehearsal space and tracked a few songs live to tape. Hopefully we'll do more of it this year. Credits Song: Moranic (or Honey, I Shrunk the Chords) Music by: John Wedeles and Satya Thallam Recorded by: Ken Barnum (BIAS Studios) Filmed/edited by: Travis Edwards (District Park Media) #funk #jazz #souljazz #Boogaloo #202creates #dcmusic #washingtondcartist #Washingtondc #originalmusic

The cover of our new EP is inspired by #dontmutedc: "A battle over music and public space," the conflict between a city's longstanding rhythms and the discord of gentrification. The title "Mutual Housing Association" comes from an experiment run by four black GIs returning from WWII. Working as musicians in L.A., they couldn't find affordable yet dignified housing, and so they pooled their resources and created a cooperative, progressive, Bauhaus architectural vision in defiance of the covenant laws which discouraged black ownership. Both are responses to a multi-generational struggle to define their place athwart the ever surging waves of commerce and exclusionary policy. Link in bio Music: @backbeatunderground Photo: @arejayjames Design: @electronicgerald #202creates #washingtondcartist #washingtondcmusic #washingtondclife #dcmusic #gogomusic @dcmusicreview