Above: that’s me performing with Nous Non Plus in East Germany in 2008 when our band was still actively recording and touring. That was the night that Dany Le Rouge danced to our music (no joke). It was also the night I blew a virtual kiss to a woman I had just started to date. Her name was Tracie B.

Music will always be part of my life and my family’s life. But I’ll never get to relive the precious years when my band had a top-10 college radio album (Nous Non Plus “Self Titled,” Aeronaut 2005). I’m so glad that Tracie got to see us play in Paris, New York, and Los Angeles before we were married. We actually got engaged after a rocking show at Spaceland in LA — way back when!

Today our music lives on through streaming (Apple, Spotify, etc.) and the many films and TV shows our music has appeared in. That means so much to me.

I still put out a record every year. And this year, the girls played strings on a handful of tracks on the album. That’s been such a rewarding experience for me. They put on their headphones and play like real pros!

Few things give me greater pleasure than knowing that my friends enjoy my music. So, once again, I’m sharing it here in the hope that it will provide some joy over the holiday weekend.

Click here to stream my new album, “Let the Party Begin” (Terrible Kids Music 2024).

And Houston folks: please join me for two sets of 80s covers with my current band featuring Katie White at Vinsanto, Sunday, December 8, 4-6pm; and join me for my last wine dinner of the year at Davanti with Chef Roberto Crescini on Monday, December 9, 7pm.

Thanks for all your support in 2024! Happy Thanksgiving and happy listening! Play it loud!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

We hope you enjoy the Parzen Family Singers’ latest Christmas song (below), featuring Georgia on violin and Lila Jane on cello.

It’s a track from my new album “Let the Party Begin” (please check it out on BandCamp!).

Wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

We’ll see you next week. Have a great holiday!

Man, I’ve been having a blast working the market this week in New York with my old friend Dino and his son Adam.

Bumping around Manhattan and Brooklyn and checking in with sommeliers and buyers across the city, I couldn’t help but wonder out loud, who the hell said that wine was dead?

A legion of young wine professionals would beg to differ!

Last night, we were invited to the soft opening to Chef Markus Glocker’s new wine bar Libera in the basement of the Ace hotel, with his much-feted Koloman brimming with happy diners above.

I loved wine director Max Weber’s by-the-glass list and was thrilled to find a bunch of wines, including Italian, that were new to me.

But it was the tinned fish, charcuterie, and cheese cart that stole the show.

Once we were settled and Max took our wine order, the cart service found its way to our table and we ordered a sampling of everything on offer.

We downed old school Champagne by the glass as we slurped up anchovies and sardines followed by pâté.

I don’t think that I’ve had so much fun in a NYC wine bar since I first walked into The Ten Bells.

Chef Markus has elaborate plans for the as-of-yet unfinished artwork above. It will ultimately become a multi-media space.

But it was still awesome to check it out. I felt buzzed before I even had a sip of wine!

With arduously creative, talented people like Chef Markus and Max opening an überhip wine bar in one of the city’s most dynamic hotels, it makes me wonder if there might be a glimmer of hope for all of us punters working the street with a wine bag slung over our weary shoulders.

Bravi Markus and Max! Thank you for a great time. I can’t wait to get back to your place. And thanks for believing in and propagating the human-vinaceous experience.

It’s not every day that a guitar solo can bring me to tears. But that’s what happened the other night in Atlanta after we finished up an epic wine dinner and headed over to one of the city’s mainstay blues and rock clubs, the Northside Tavern.

I had never met the amazing Andrew Black, above, or heard his music. I just happened to walk into the bar where he was playing that night.

During the first set I watched, our group had a great time rocking out to the 80s adult classics and yacht rock he was jamming.

But when he opened his next set, he went straight into the blues. And when I say the blues, I mean that kind that stirs and stews your soul.

An Albert King track was followed by Albert Collins jam, and even though Andrew was rocking a Les Paul custom, I could swear the Ice Man — the Master of the Telecaster — was in the room with us. And me and my eyes were goners.

Andrew and I got to talking before the night was over and he’s the nicest, sweetest guy.

It occurred to me as I drifted off to sleep that evening: a dude from Houston and a dude from Atlanta connected thanks to a musical genre — I would go as far as a saying, a medium — that is uniquely American in origin and spirit and a reflection of our country’s history, culture, and ethos.

The blues are an idiom that you can speak in Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Atlanta, and nearly every corner of the world.

I may not be the American that the incoming government wants me to be. But I’m still an American. And the blues are part of my cultural birthright, just like American jazz, American dance, American literature, American post-modernism, etc.

Our country and our variegated people have given the world so much in terms of the arts. And the world has often loved us back for it.

Thank you, Andrew, for helping me bare my soul and remember why I love to be an American. And thanks, man, for the great music and friendship. It was a wonderful night to rejoice in what is truly great about this country.

A one-day ride-with in Atlanta this week gave a beleaguered wine blogger a jolt of hope for our trade this week. (For laypeople, a “ride-with” denotes a “supplier’s” day “working in the market”; in other words, when a visiting winemaker, wine ambassador, or “supplier rep” spends a workday with a locally based distributor visiting clients.)

He was accompanied by the dynamic Niklas Foradori, above, winemaker for J. Hofstätter (his importer is the scribbler’s client) and the wonderful Wynn Pennington, a longtime veteran of the Atlanta wine scene, an ex-rocker and rave promoter, and one of the coolest dudes you’ll ever meet in the biz.

The tone was high and the speed was fast. Said wary content creator felt energized by the frenetic pace and the newly found camaraderie.

And then a chance encounter with a wine industry legend felt to him like a meeting with a sage Obi-Wan.

The wine industry is facing steep challenges, he conceded in a wide-ranging conversation about the state of the industry.

“It’s a matter of finding the wines that fit,” as he put it, the key to success in a rising sea of obstacles. It’s no longer about selling the wines you simply want to sell. It’s about finding the wineries that have a great product and are ready and willing to make the sacrifices needed to excel at this — let’s just say it — scary moment.

Thanks again to Niklas and Wynn. And thank you Obi-Wan! Stay tuned for a post about an amazing musical experience we had in Atlanta, one of my favorite cities in the U.S.

In other news…

A warm shout-out and congratulations to our friend, neighbor, and colleague Steven McDonald, wine director for the swank Pappas Bros. Steakhouse here in Houston and winner of the first-ever Michelin Texas guide’s top sommelier of the year award.

That Steven, above, on Monday, with my old friend Silvano Brescianini from Franciacorta.

Steven is a beloved Houstonian and a revered wine professional and mentor here in Texas. On Monday, at a lunch with Niklas, a leading Houston sommelier recalled how Steven helped him present his first wine dinner and launch his career as a top Houston buyer.

Steven is a family man (our kids play in the same middle school orchestra) and an extraordinary musician as well.

We all appreciate greatly that he brought this first-ever award home to Houston, the foremost “wine scene” in the state imho.

I’m super geeked to be returning to Vinsanto this Sunday with my bandmates (above) and not just one but TWO sets of music.

We’ve expanded our repertoire with a bunch of cool jams from the 80s (some that might surprise you).

We’ll be playing the main room at Vinsanto on the westside from 4-6 p.m., this Sunday, November 10.

No cover and Riccardo always has discounted by-the-glasses and Roman-style pizza known as pinsa. Katie’s vocals have never sounded better and Lucky’s bass is as mean as bayou alligator!

Please come rock out with us.

The next night, Monday, November 11, I’ll be returning to Vinsanto from 7-8:30 p.m., to present a super cool winemaker, Niklas Foradori, from J. Hofstätter in Alto Adige.

This event is also free.

Man, this is Italian Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, and Gewürztraminer at its very best. And Niklas is super fun. And we will have some older vintages to pour as well.

The next night we’ll be doing the same event at 3 Parks (Old Fourth Ward) in Atlanta, Tuesday, November 12, 5:30-7 p.m.

I’m super stoked to be reconnecting with the amazing Sarah Pierre, 3 Parks owner, and her staff. I have a feeling that Hue Society will be there, too. Please join me.

DM me if you need more info or just show up. No need to register and no cost for any of these events.

In other news…

I’ve been taking a little break from blogging during the election season. Next week, I’ll pick up with my Roman tour and then my incredible Neapolitan tour. Can’t wait to dive back in.

Tracie, the girls, and I are disappointed with the election outcome, as you might imagine. But life moves forward, with school and music lessons and rehearsals and tennis clubs and poetry readings and band practice and our careers and our activism… It’s time for us to hunker down and be the best Americans we can be. We know we’ll cross the next bridges when we get there. In the meantime, G-d bless America and G-d bless all Americans.

My best friend from childhood is a devoted Trump supporter. He sends me roughly 10 Instagram Trump-focused reels a day, many followed by impassioned notes imploring me to vote for him for the sake of my daughters.

At least a few of those reels are about undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes in the U.S. You need to vote Trump to keep your family safe, he writes.

When I look in my daughters’ eyes, I see young women who have less robust reproductive rights than their mother did growing up.

I don’t see illegal immigrants lurking around every corner trying to hurt my family.

Here in Houston, we are neighbors with all kinds of immigrants and I’m sure many of them or their family members are undocumented. We go to school together, we go to work together, we eat at the same restaurants, we exercise at the same gym, we go to the same parks and museums.

My friend doesn’t write me much about climate change. As far as I know he doesn’t see it as a campaign issue.

But our family does. As someone who follows viticulture carefully, I am all too aware of the havoc climate change is creating in my professional community. And we live in a hurricane and tornado corridor with an increased threat of natural disaster all around us.

Reproductive rights and climate change action are two issues that Trump has opposed and Kamala has embraced. Those are the two top issues for us in this election.

But another overarching issue is the hateful and often overtly racist rhetoric that Trump and some of his followers summon when advocating for their policies. We do not want our children to grow up in a world where American leaders use division and intellectual violence as political expedients.

My vote was cast for the candidate I believe will best protect and bolster the reproductive rights and climate resources my children will need to navigate the world and their lives.

Their parents may not be what Trump perceives as ideal Americans. But they, like their parents, were born in the U.S.A., too. Please vote Kamala for them.