VOTE FOR ELLIOT!

Our fantastic On The Road correspondent and Ingrid Michaelson drummer, Mr. Elliot Jacobson NEEDS YOUR VOTES!!

Modern Drummer magazine is having is annual readers poll contest and you can VOTE FOR ELLIOT in the BEST POP DRUMMER Category. Just click HERE for entry and info!!

On The Road w/ Elliot Vol 6 - LILITH FAIR EDITION

Our corresponding road blogger, Elliot Jacobson has had one hell of a busy summer. He just got off the road with Ingrid Michaelson as she was on tour with Keane, but right before that he was on the road with Ingrid for Lilith Fair. The return of the female empowerment festival hit a few speed bumps this summer in poor ticket prices and bad promotion, but Elliot gives and amazing insider's look as to how the tour went down and how much fun and how great it really was for everyone involved. Take a look! Be sure to follow Elliot and his happenings on www.elliot-jacobson.com and up to the minute feeds on Twitter @elliotjacobson.

I've been a Sarah McLachlan fan for many years so being invited to play at her Lilith Fair festival 2010 was exciting. My first impression of Sarah did not disappoint. She's down to earth and incredibly nice. She was cool enough to play hacky sack with crew members backstage in Denver.

Before our first performance, I walked around the village area of the festival and checked out my friend Anya Marina play on the ABC stage. There were two stages outside in the village and the third stage was the Amphitheater itself. At around 5:30 we all started getting ready for our show in the Amphitheater. We all took note of Sarah McLachlan and Emmylou Harris watching our set from the side of the stage. We sweat a lot and our objective being to win fans and have a blast.

After our set, we indulged in fantastic catering provided by a company that uses local farms. (The tour was "green", using corn plastic cups and providing recycling bins around every corner.) We had the perk of watching all of the other acts side stage. Metric went on after us and rocked harder than anyone that day. Emmylou Harris followed. I especially enjoyed watching her band. All of the musicians were older brilliant Nashville players who had clearly been performing and recording for their entire lives. Finally Sarah McLachlan closed the show. I was truly blown away by the band and her powerful vocal performance. It was clear why she's had such a successful career and was able to come back to fans after such a long absence.

The days finale consisted of Sarah inviting some of the days artists on stage with her to sing "Because the Night". Ingrid was chosen to sing and we came up to support her. Although Ingrid was rushed to the emergency room after our performance with a migraine, she STILL made it back to the festival for the big event. It was definitely one of the high points of my career to share the stage with such incredible artists and musicians. I played some percussion and sang with the rest of our band.

After a day off, our next Lilith show was in Kansas City, MO in the Capitol Federal Park @ Sandstone. The set up was similar, with a total of three stages including the main stage. Once again, the food was stellar. On the main stage, Metric was first this time, and we played right after. Before our set, we got to catch some of our friend Erin McCarley's set on the ABC stage. The Court Yard Hounds, featuring two out of three of the Dixie Chicks, performed that day on the main stage and absolutely killed with their pop bluegrass sound and elaborate hair and makeup. Emmylou and her band, again, sounded so good. My favorite performance of the night was Heart. One of the loudest and most energetic shows I have ever seen. And the Wilson sisters are pushing 60! I was especially blown away by the musicianship and showmanship of Nancy Wilson.

Once again, the night ended with "Because the Night" after Sarah's set. Ingrid was asked to sing the bridge of the song, so we all joined her onstage. This time, I stood behind the mighty Matt Chamberlain, along with all the other drummers from the main stage bands, and played percussion. If you don't know who he is, look him up! Matt is a living drum legend.

The next day we played (what we thought would be) our final Lilith Fair set in at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis, MO. By this time, all of us in the Ingrid band had made new friends, bonded with the other musicians and crew, and were already sad knowing it would be our last day hanging with these amazing people. But the day was once again filled with top notch music and food. I'll never forget that catering OR the great people I met.

The highlight of this day was watching "the queen of hip hop soul", Mary J. Blige, and her band. EVERYONE was side stage for this one. Mary J. covered "One" by U2 AND "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. I wasn't sure how Sarah would follow this time, but she did beautifully. Finale was bittersweet, but just as amazing as the other two nights.

After the show, numbers were exchanged, iPhones were bumped and lots of hugs went around. Chris set up his trademark flavored tobacco hookah and we had members of Sarah's band and Metric join us for some much deserved decompressing.

Several days later we got the word that Lilith wanted us back to perform in Hartford, CT on August 1st at the Comcast Theatre. This was especially exciting because our good friends Sara Bareilles and her band were also performing. I had never seen Cat Power perform before, but I enjoyed her set, watching from side stage. Her band created a dark, jazzy sonic background for her vocals. Sara and her band followed with super tight vocal harmonies (sung live by her all dude band). I watched from the crowd perspective with Ingrid and Allie. Later that evening, the legendary Indigo Girls performed to a very energetic and appreciative audience. It seemed like everyone knew every word. They performed acoustically, with only a backup vocalist/multi-instrumentalist. Emily invited Sara, Ingrid and Sarah to come out and sing "Closer To Fine." It was very moving to watch, knowing that the Indigo Girls helped pave the way for all three ladies.

After finale, we were invited to the end of tour party. We learned that Sarah organizes this type of thing at the end of every tour to celebrate and recognize the hard work and contributions of everyone who works in productions and on the crew. It started with a video montage projected onto the side of the theatre outside, highlighting each of the members of her team. Then a timelapse video of an entire single festival day followed, starting from the set up of the stage and ending with the crew tearing down and cleaning up.

Sarah and her band dressed up as either roadies or groupies while Sarah's crew put on a performance of their own. The whole "concert" was held in a tent in the back of the theatre. The crew band went by the name of Ragweed Nightcap and played mostly classic rock covers while the guys in Sarah's band "teched" for them, and the ladies danced around. I had the pleasure of playing tambourine alongside Matt (who was playing some kind of hand drum being hit with a Barbie doll) for "Ticket to Ride". After the live music was over, it turned into an all out dance party, DJ included.

Of course, we busted out the hookah. This one was so good, even Sarah herself had to try it. "I'll use my Yoga breathing", she said.

What Ingrid Michaelson and her band had to say:

"I really loved the feeling of acceptance and support. It did not
matter what stage you were playing on, everyone was treated without he
same respect. I felt like part of something much bigger than me. And
I got to see Sarah McLachlan dance around at an after party."
- Ingrid Michaelson (Follow INGRID on TWITTER @ingridmusic)

"Each night, everyone was invited on stage for a big finale rendition of "Because The Night". I would normally stand off to the side a little but Sarah McLachlan would lovingly usher everyone towards her. One night this happened and before I knew I was center stage and was singing with one arm around Emmylou Harris and the other around Nancy Wilson. Needless to say I almost peed my pants."
- Bess Rogers (Follow BESS on TWITTER @bessrogers)

"A memorable moment for me was bonding with one of MJ's background singers about our love of the same Essie nail color (Haute as Hello), then watching them all take the stage and give the most amazing, moving live performance I've seen in a long while."
- Allie Moss (Follow ALLIE on TWITTER @alliemoss)

"Being a part of Lilith Fair was like joining a big extended family where everyone was genuinely enjoying each others' company and sharing in the joy of making and watching music. It was one of the most positive environments that I've ever experienced.
- Chris Kuffner (Follow CHRIS on TWITTER @chriskuffner)

Thanks to Sarah, all of the crews, the artists, the musicians and especially the thousands of people who came to see these shows for your generosity, love, and positive energy. Follow me on Twitter (...and of course - FOLLOW ELLIOT ON TWITTER @elliotjacobson) for even more news from the road on our October headlining tour!

Some photos taken by Elliot:

Backstage


Sarah Set List
***Elliot Jacobson is a corresponding writer for Officially A Yuppie, he drums for Ingrid Michaelson, Bess Rodgers and many more. Keep up to date with Elliot on Twitter by following him @elliotjacobson and stay on top of his happenings on www.elliot-jacobson.com.

For MORE PHOTO's & BEHIND THE SCENES LILITH ACCESS, "FAN" the YUPPIE on FACEBOOK!

With This I Think I'm Officially A Yuppie

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ELLIOT IS #1!!

In a recent readers poll for Modern Drummer Magazine, Officially A Yuppie corresponding writer and Ingrid Michaelson drummer Elliot Jacobson was voted #1 in the "Up and Coming Drummer," category!

Congrats Elliot! They picked the best!

That issue of Modern Drummer hits newsstands next month!

On The Road W/ Elliot Vol 5

I'm a lucky guy. I get to tour all over the country with my best
friends (the Ingrid Michaelson band) and play music for the best fans
in the world. People often come up to me after the shows and ask if
we're all really close friends because it looks like we're having so
much fun together on stage. I'm happy that our friendship and positive
energy come through.

After tour is over, I am always happy to return home to Brooklyn, NY.
I still spend a lot of my time with the respective members of the
band, but try to prioritize my time by focusing on my love life, NYC
based friends and communication with family.

I also enjoy spending a lot of time at the gym, and simple pleasures
like watching movies on my couch with my girlfriend and cooking
dinner. I've recently started learning to cook Thai food and my curry
will be perfected before the next tour (I hope).

Touring is fun, but it requires tons of energy and focus every single
night. It usually takes me about a week to adjust again physically and
mentally to "normal" life. I like to wake up early when I'm home
(around 6am) whereas on tour, I will wake up between 12pm-2pm for load
in (unless we have morning promo first). When I finally adjust, I feel
recharged.

Although I'm not playing music every single day, I still stay busy
when I'm home. I perform and record with various friends/artists
including fellow Ingrid band members Bess Rogers and Allie Moss on
their respective solo careers. I also play with Jenny Owen Youngs,
Lelia Broussard, Lauren Zettler, Ricky Valente, and others. I play at
venues in Brooklyn and Manhattan and often travel out of town for a
few shows at a time as well.

Being home allows me time to go into the recording studio with many of
these artists as well. I currently have a lot of exciting recording
projects in the works with Bess, Lelia, Jenny, and another Ingrid band
member/producer, Dan Romer.

I hit the road once again with Ingrid on June 7th. We're playing
several dates on the Lilith Fair tour and will also be performing at
this year's Bonnaroo Festival. I list all of my performances with
Ingrid and other artists at www.myspace.com.elliotjacobsondrummer.

Elliot Jacobson is a contributing writer to With This I Think Im Officially A Yuppie. Elliot drums for the links of Ingrid Michaelson, Jenny Owen Youngs, Bess Rogers and more.

1000th POST SPECIAL!

THIS IS IT! WE HIT A MILESTONE! Normally when I do the landmark postings, I have a laundry list of people to thank that have brought me on this past and aided me along the way to keep going. This time around, since it is such a special posting, I wanted to share thoughts from some of my favorite artists to show you what they think of Officially A Yuppie! Take a look!

"Sal and his peeps at OfficiallyAYuppie.com are doing an amazing job of covering fresh, creative music and the entire NYC scene! They're not too hip for the room, but definitely have hip taste. It was a great to sit down and talk with him about the new Living Colour record last year." - Doug Wimbish, Living Colour

“You know what they say, don't trust any blogger under a thousand." – Franz Nicolay

“I read www.officiallyayuppie.com every week. Sal has his finger on the pulse of both commercial and independent music and entertainment. His blog has something for everyone and his interviews are always insightful. Plus, Sal's a great dude!” – Elliot Jacobson

“Thanks for these great questions” – Mary Foresberg Weiland

“So, does this make me a Yuppie now?!” – Mickey Leigh, Joey Ramone’s brother

“Thank you for the interview. I really appreciate the interest in my project. Be well” –Ben Kenney of Incubus

“It was good speaking with you. All the best.” Ian Mackaye

“No Crap Questions” – Rab Allen of Glasvegas

“Thanks so much for taking interest in our band” – Emile Mosseri, The Dig

On the Road with Elliot Vol 4

Just before he hit the road with Ingrid Michaelson on a co-headlining venture with Mat Kearney, my special road correspondant Elliot Jacobson told us how he preps for any major tour. Take a look at the fourth installment of On The Road With Elliot!

Hey Friends,

With less than a week and a half before the next Ingrid Michaelson
tour, I'm spending all of my time preparing for the road. We're doing
about a week's worth of college shows, and then moving onto a 22 date
co-headlining tour with Mat Kearney. I've created a "to do list" so
that I stay as productive as possible in the short time left before we
step on the bus. I can't speak for everyone else in the band, but I
would like to now share with you, the readers of the Yuppie Blog, some
highlights of how I am personally getting ready for the first Ingrid
tour of the year. Enjoy!

My first order of business was to make sure my taxes were completed
before I leave for tour. There's no WAY I would be able to find the
time or summon the mental focus to do this while traveling around
playing in a different city every night. I sat on my living room
floor, watched and episode of LOST, and separated all of my receipts from last year into different expense categories. Then I put on the
Comedians of Comedy starring Patton Oswalt because I have a lot of
receipts. I actually have fun with this and get a sense of
accomplishment when I finally hit the post office to mail everything
to my accountant!

I try to stay fit and active while on the road. I even maintain a blog
about touring and fitness called The Healthy Musician. For this tour,
I decided to purchase a few extra items that would help me stay in
shape even when there won't be a gym around. I bought a jump rope for
cardio and two pairs of exercise bands for resistance training. I
might even buy a product that lets you do pull ups in any doorway
without drilling holes. I'm in the process of learning new exercise
moves with all of these toys and will be posting a blog entry about it
soon. ( You can check out my blog at
http://thehealthymusician.tumblr.com/ )

Every time I'm about to leave for a tour, I contact my musical
equipment sponsors and order any supplies that I'll need. The good
people at Vater Percussion sent me enough drumsticks to last the
entire tour. I also ordered these babies:


They're called Skull Slick Nuts and they're also made by Vater. They
go on top of each cymbal and essentially keep the cymbal on the stand.
As you can see, these specific ones are shaped like skulls and GLOW IN
THE FREAKING DARK. I'm so excited to have these on the road and can't
wait until they come! If you're a drummer, check out
http://www.vater.com/ for the Skulls, and a ton of other cool stuff.

Packing is always one of the most important aspects of preparing for a
tour. This time, we will be stopping home after the college dates, so
I won't have to actually bring all of my clothes onto the tour bus
right away. Even so, I'm making sure all of my laundry is done before
next week, and buying a few new things to wear now so I can have my
bags packed as if I wasn't coming back. Aside from clothes and
bathroom related items, this time around I am bringing my ESPRESSO
MACHINE! When I was doing my taxes, I saw exactly how many times I
visited Starbucks last year. Then I thought, "If I had my espresso
machine on the bus, I could sleep more, save money, and STILL drink
Mocha Lattes everyday!" I can't wait to tell the rest of the band...I
just told Bess and she's bringing her blender! It's going to be a
party!

People are always asking us what they can bring to us at shows. Most
people bring baked goods or other food. Well, since I'm here talking
about packing and planning ahead, I would like to officially provide a
list of things that I NEVER get enough of and always need on tour. If
you come to a show and bring me any of these things, you will be my
hero and I will hug you! (See below.)


From left to right:
Old Spice Hight Endurance Pure Sport Deodorant
Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter (Chunky)
Nivea For Men Hair and Body Wash
Nivea For Men After Shave Sensitive Skin Extra Soothing Balm
Zyrtec-D Allergy and Congestion
illy Ground Espresso Coffee Medium Roast For Espresso Machines
Crest Glide Comfort Floss Mint
Equal Exchange Drinking Chocolate 57% Cacao Content
(Back) Kashi Go Lean Cereal

As I said before, if you bring any of these things, you are AMAZING!
You can drop them off with our merch person and I promise they will
get to me safely.

Finally, before we leave, we're trying to schedule at least one
rehearsal together. As of today, we're not sure when that will be
because everyone is pretty much going through their own personal
preparation rituals, but hopefully it will happen. I'm fairly certain
we will be covering Britney Spear's "Toxic" on the co-headlining tour,
so I will have to spend some time learning the song AND our
choreography (yes kids, if this actually happens, we will be dancing).

That's all for now! See you again soon!

VOTE FOR ELLIOT!!!

My special road correspondent and drummer to Ingrid Michaelson, Elliot Jacobson needs your help! He has been nominated in Modern Drummer magazine's Reader's Poll. Please vote for Elliot, I cant think of a better guy that deserves this more than him! Here are the rules, via http://www.elliotjacobson.tumblr.com/


Vote for Elliot in Modern Drummer Poll
I NEED YOUR HELP. =)

My favorite magazine, Modern Drummer, is doing their annual Reader’s Poll again. I’ve been told that I may have a shot at winning this time around, so I am calling upon you, the good people of earth, to help me.

All you have to do follow these simple steps:

1. Go to: http://www.moderndrummer.com/contest.php?id=800000071

2. Fill in your name, address and email address.

3. Fill in my name, Elliot Jacobson, under ROCK and UP & COMING. (I mean, you can vote for me in the METAL category, but I ALREADY know I’m the best metal drummer ever!)

4. Click Submit.

5. Tell your friends! Twit, Blog, Facebook, Email, command your soldiers to help. We need a lot of people behind this for it to work. Your help is appreciated more than you know.

6. If I win, I will do something nice to thank you for voting. And I’m going to make it DAMN good, too.

*****The deadline is Feb 15, 2010.

Thanks for your help. =)

On The Road W/ Elliot Vol 3

A Day in the Life - Elliot Jacobson

From September to November, I toured across the country and into Canada with the Ingrid Michaelson band on a bus with 12 bunks, a
kitchen, bathroom and two lounges. We played 47 shows, most of which were sold out in advance. We rarely took days off. We woke up in a different city almost every day. We worked hard and played hard. Here is a day in the life of the Ingrid Michaelson band.

10am - On average, this is the time when the first person would emerge from the bunks. Typically, this would be either Allie Moss, (acoustic guitar player/back up vocalist), or David Mann, (tour manager and front of house sound guy). Most days, the bus would be parked at a
hotel in the city we were playing at that day. Although we slept on
the bus, we would share one hotel room from that hotel in the morning
(called a "day room") so that we could shower, workout in the gym,
freshen up, and do laundry, if there was enough time. One by one,
everyone would eventually get up and we would take turns using the day
room (unless we had a lot of fun the night before, then some would opt
to sleep until we arrived to the venue). Most if us would hunt for
coffee and maybe food. Starbucks is always our first choice on the
road because we can always count on their consistency. We don't like
to compromise our caffeine.

1:30pm - At about this time each day, the bus would leave the Hotel
and drive to the venue. Sometimes the venue would be just across the
street. Sometimes the venue would be 30 minutes away. David would
usually take this time to try and wake up the last of us. While the
bus would be moving, the front lounge of the bus would become crowded
with Bess Rogers (electric guitar player/backup vocalist), Allie,
Lauren Glucksman (our merch girl), David, Dan Romer (keyboards, percussion, vocals etc.) Chris Kuffner (bass guitar and backup vocals), the openers, and anyone else riding with us. Lap tops were open, conversation and coffee would brew, as we looked out the bus
windows to see what little of the city we could.

2pm - The bus would pull up near the venue and our tour manager would unlock the trailer for load in. Most venues had a small crew on hand to help us move all of the grear. Merchandise came off first, then our equipment. Our young bus driver from Mississippi, Mick, would get a car to pick him up and take him to the hotel to sleep in his own room for the day. (We created a Twitter for him and posted some of his funny quotes throughout the tour at www.twitter.com/busdrivermick) Unless we weren't unable to find coffee and/or eat some breakfast before load in, we would begin setting up our gear as soon as we
finished loading it all into the venue. Once we set up, the sound crew at the venue, with David, would begin setting up all of the microphones and checking cables, etc.

3pm - More often than not, at least three of us failed to find food
before load in, so another food hunt would take place. We all prefer to eat breakfast style food when we wake up, even if it was at 3pm. So that's what we would look for first. Sometimes we would be successful in finding breakfast food, sometimes we would eat Vietnamese or Thai instead. After eating, most of us would explore the shops or sights around the venue. Because we were on the clock and on foot, this wasn't always easy. We might be able to find some cool vintage clothing stores, cute coffee shops, or some touristy stuff.

4:30pm or 5pm - Soundcheck begins. Or so we thought. Typically, we
found that soundcheck was pushed back so that David could prevent some potential sound issues before we invaded the stage. We killed time by napping, checking Email or Twitter, updating websites, calling home. Also, if we had missed our chance to shower in the morning, lucky for us, most venues on the tour had full private showers and bathrooms for artists. Some of us would shower right about now, or after soundcheck.

6pm - Sound check starts for realizes. Sound check would start with me hitting all the drums, then playing some fat beats so that David could get some good sounds in the house. Then, Chris would play is bass, and then we would play together, usually something like Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison or a really obnoxious (but fun!) busy funk improvisation. Then we would begin to go around and check all the instruments and voices for our monitor levels and the house levels. Dan liked to check his voice by singing (yes, with a melody) the legendary hip hop song "The Humpty Dance." Allie liked to check her voice with "Day Man" from
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. We played "Locked Up" from verse two, "Soldier" from the beginning of the double chorus at the end, and
"Mountain and Sea" where the band kicks in.

7:30 - The opener(s) sound checks. For the first part of the tour, it was Greg Holden. Then it was Greg Holden and Johnnny Marnell. Then it was Matthew Perryman Jones. Then it was Greg Laswell and Greg Holden. For Greg Holden's set, Allie, Bess, and Dan would join him for his song "Bar On A", so they would soundcheck this song with him. Similarly, Allie would sing back ups on Matthew's "Save You". Dan,
Chris, Bess and myself would play with Greg Laswell on "What a Day."Once we were done checking, we would find dinner. Sometimes the venue location or the whether made this difficult. In Houston, for example, it was so hot we could barely move, let alone walk around and look for anything. I was picked up by old friends and went to Ninfa's (about a 20 minuite drive from the venue). Many of the venues had catering or some sort of in house cooking (House of Blues, for example). We were usually successful in finding some great grub without looking to hard, thanks to our iPhones and Blackberrys. America is full of great food!

8pm - Doors opened and David would play Tom Petty's Wildflowers album in the house. He played this almost every single show. Backstage, our rider consisted of cheddar cheese, whole wheat crackers, chips and salsa, whole wheat bread, natural peanut butter, various fruit, veggie platter, hummus, whole wheat pita, various hot teas, local beer, Jameson Whiskey, White and Red Wine, and water. We would break into the alcohol a little bit before the show, and snack on the food periodically throughout the night. Some venues were a little more generous with the rider, offering us additional food. We tried to stay on the healthy side.

8:40pm - The opener took the stage.

9pm - Our pre show ritual would usually begin. Gathered in the green
room, we would stand in a circle and improvise some movements and sound. It's something to be seen and heard, not described. All I can say is that it was different every time and helped us come together, laugh, and get in the right mindset for the show. I think there's a video our there with a few seconds of a "ritual" on my MySpace page.

9:15pm - We took the stage and performed. This happened 47 times on
our last tour. Our set list included mostly songs from the new album, and a few favorites from Girls and Boys. A highlight of the show was when we all gathered around Ingrid's mic and sang "You and I" from the Be Ok EP. Before the song started the song, we showcased our Man Squad and Vag Force theme songs and competed for the audience's support.(Because there were three guys and three girls in the band for this tour, we naturally broke off into two opposing teams and gave ourselves these powerful names.) We're big on audience participation, so there were always parts in the songs for singing along and clapping. For our encore, we performed a variation on the song "Maybe" making it about our love of Mexican food. I'm sure there's plenty of YouTube clips out there of this. Then we did a bluegrass version of "Far Away" complete with Dan on accordion, and Chris on mandolin.

11pm - Right after the show we came straight backstage and take 10
minutes or so to talk about the performance and relax with some more snacking, wine, and beer. Before we broke down our gear, we tried to come out and talk to fans, sign a few autographs and pose for pictures. It wasn't uncommon for fans to bring us baked goods and other edible gifts. Some fans are incredibly creative. Depending on
the city, we might have guests in town who came to see the show. This was often family, old friends or other musicians and artists. After we broke down our gear, packed it up in the road cased and loaded out of the venue, with help from the venue's crew members. We would scramble to a bar or restaurant nearby to hang with our guests. LA is always the best time, because we have the most mutual friends there. This year, we stayed there for a few days, playing two sold out nights at
the Troubadour.

2am - Bus call. This means everyone needed to be on the bus before 2am so we could pull away at 2am sharp. The bus would usually stay at the venue after the show until this time. Before bus call, the venue would help us take the rest of our rider to the bus to save for later.

2:30am - We had a fairly large plasma screen TV in the front lounge of the bus and around this time, we would use it to relax and watch LOST DVDs, movies like Team America and Airplane, Christmas movies like Elf and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Every bunk had a mini fold down screen so that we could also watch from our bunks if we wanted. Some of us would begin uploading pictures on our laptops, editing tour videos, and chatting with friends on G Chat or iChat.

5:00am - Unless it was a particularly crazy night, everyone was
usually in their bunks and finally asleep as the bus drove through the night to the next city...



Dan Romer, Matthew Perryman Jones, Elliot Jacobson, Chris Kuffner (aka Man Squad) in fornt of our bus.

Allie Moss, Ingrid Michaelson, Bess Rogers (aka Vag Force) in front of our bus

Photo's by Deborah Lopez, http://www.myspace.com/deborahlopez

Follow Elliot on Twitter www.twitter.com/elliotjacobson

3 Year Anniversary

This is a big moment for me. I never realized that this site would take off as it has and last as long as it has gone on. I am very happy to be celebrating the THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of "WITH THIS I THINK I'M OFFICIALLY A YUPPIE!"

You may have already noticed a big change, the address to the site is no longer http://www.salvatorebono.blogspot.com/ - it is now http://www.officiallyayuppie.com/. If you use the old link, no worries it will still direct you to the right place.

In the three years this site has been active, I have a ton of people to thank so please bare with me. The following people have showed support, helped me in the process of getting interviews, sent me music. So Thank You to:
Henry Rollins, Johnny Marr, Franz Nicolay, John Baldwin Gourley of Portugal The Man, Royal Chains, La Roux, Little Boots, My Brightest Diamond, Patience Hodgson of The Grates, Adam Thompson of We Were Promised Jetpacks, Leah Marchesano, The Creature, Manny Valdivia, Jenna Campagna, Brady Brock, Caroline Borolla, Julie Arkenstone, Rosario Pellerito, Rich D Smoov, Tom Jaycox, Paul Boyd, Jennifer Corley, PJ Seivering, Jay Drizz, Logo, Valentine Lysikatos, Jennifer Crocker, Steve Lent, Phil Testa, Greg Pace, Kismet Films, Eric Grodeck, Scott Rossman, Le-La Cloutier, Bryan Kehn, Elliot Jacobson, Sarah Rubenstein, Tony Beard, MoneyPenny, Tyler Horvath, Debbie Pressman, Felice Ecker, Kevin Harry, Colum Ward, Rob Nieto, Matt Dufour, Catherine McNelly,Canada's Edmonton Journal, Absolutepunk.net, Idancetolaroux, Cliff Sarcona and Daniel Nigro of As Tall As Lions, Mark Palgy from VHS or Beta, Steven Chen of Airborne Toxic Event, Pete Galli, Adam Lucaus from Vonrenzo, Alison Prouty, Dan Haggis of The Wombats, Simon Bobbett, David Dargah of The Postelles, Daren Baber, EMI, Steve Pedulla of Thursday, Jon Langford of Your Vegas, Nathan Bayley of Blue Knives, Paper and Sand, Coldplaying.com, thevervelive.blogspot.com, Brooklyn Vegan, The Editors, Jonny Cragg of Spacehog, Glasvegas, La Strada, Arthur Kremer of Stellastarr*, Steph Pensa, Val Pensa, Nicole Garvey, Violent SoHo, Universal Music, Sony Music, Ian Mackaye, Girlie PR, Tell All Your Friends PR, Mpumi Mcata of BLK JKS, Jerm Reynolds of Hockey, Doug Wimbish of Living Colour, Keving Calabro, Amanda Palmer, Mike Zakarin of The Bravery, Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Sharon Timure, Heather Losik, Living Things and most importantly…

YOU!

Without you I wouldn't be where I am today. So thank you and I promise that what I have lined up for next year will be even bigger and better! Please stick with me!

With This I Think I'm Officially A Yuppie on Facebook

On the Road with Elliot Vol 2

In the second installment of Elliot Jacobson's stories from the road, my special corespondent has posted some behind the scenes videos of his last tour with Ingrid Michaelson. Take a look!








There will be more to come in coming weeks with Elliot, so stay tuned!

On the Road with Elliot Vol 1

Ever wonder what it must be like to live on the road as a traveling musician? From living in a van to a big fat tour bus? From selling out clubs, to playing in front of a crowd who has no idea who you are, or taking the stage at Madison Square Garden? Well my good friend Elliot Jacobson, who drums for the likes of Jenny Owen Youngs, Ingrid Michaelson and April Smith can tell you. Elliot will be a special road corespondent for the blog and I am proud to have him on board to answer these questions and give us an insight on what it is like being on the road, away from family and living a vagabond rock star life. In the first of many volumes, this first entry will be a Q&A between Elliot and I to introduce the idea and himself to us as he is on the road with Ingird Michaelson. Take a look at my interview with Elliot below and stay tuned as Elliot will be bringing us more insight in the weeks ahead.

How is life on the road?
Life on the road is fun but requires tons of energy. We're very happy doing what we love, so that keeps us energized even when we're running on fumes. Our laptops are essential in keeping up on the real world. Twitter, Gmail, etc.

What are the ups and downs from being in a van/bus/car and traveling around?
E: We share a little mantra and it goes like this "The highs are high and the lows are low." The typical "highs" are playing to full houses and feeding off the positive energy of the crowds. Doing a great job and playing a great show makes you feel like you're on top of the world. Also, I personally love trying new food and seek as many sites as I can. We're all very close friends in this band, so spending down time together is always very uplifting and satisfying. It's difficult for me to complain from the position I'm in, but the standard "lows" are missing loved ones, getting little sleep, moving gear AFTER shows, and bad sound on stage in our monitors. It happens from time to time.

Is it weird to go and play such big places with one artist and then smaller places with others?
E: I like the contrast. It shouldn't matter how large or small the venue is if you're happy doing what you're doing. Sometimes bigger does not mean better.

What is the best thing about being on stage?
E: The best thing for me is the element of unpredictability that comes with our live shows. We try to get the crowd involved. Every night is different.

What do you hope to achieve while playing for these women?
E: I hope we inspire some people and show everyone a good time. More importantly, I hope every night we win over that guy in the audience who came just because his girlfriend dragged him.

Do you play on studio recordings with the gals?
E: I play on the recordings. Most of which are produced by Dan Romer. I played most of Girls and Boys with one foot in a hard cast. I have been with Ingrid since before I graduated college. I started recording and performing with Bess Rogers on her solo work about two years ago. I'm on her latest release, "The Travel Back EP. I just did a recording with Allie Moss that will probably be released soon. I also play with Jenny Owen Youngs when my schedule permits, and record and perform with April Smith and the Great Picture show.

Who is better to tour with, its cool, no one will find out...
E: I hate them all equally.

If there was one thing you could take on the road with you, what would it be?
E: One thing? my girlfriend. Two things? My girlfriend and our imaginary dog.

Ever have the Almost Famous moment on the bus screaming and yelling, then singing "Tiny Dancer"?
E: Kind of. We like walking to our bus when there's a line of people around the venue and scalpers come up to us and ask if we need tickets. I'm flattered when people ask for autographs. It's very surreal.

How did you get hooked up playing for these girls?
E: I went to college on Staten Island and met Ingrid because she's from/was still living there at the time. We rehearsed twice and then went in the studio with our bassist Chris Kuffner and recorded "Slow the Rain". I met Bess through Chris Kuffner. Chris and Bess went to college together at Purchase. Bess joined the band after we went through a few guitar players. Allie, a songwriter from New Jersey, offered to play in the band "temporarily".

Granted you are touring with sensitive women and living like gypsies, but does it ever get crazy after shows? The old Rock and Roll clichés and after parties?
E: Don't be fooled by the sweet voices and sensitive music; Ingrid, Bess and Allie are forces of nature. They're each self sufficient and incredibly strong individuals. Aside from all of the endless hookers, drugs, we're all pretty tame. Right now we're watching LOST from Season 1 on the bus. We drink Hot Toddies, go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. We make videos and post them on Youtube and Tumblr blogs. Occasionally we wind down after a show by smoking Hookah with shisha and drinking some local beers.

Special thanks to Elliot and Sarah Rubenstein for the interview.