Billy Conn: Fretless and Upright Bass, Vocals.
Larry Good: Lead and Harmony Vocals, Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Keyboards.
Paul Kuhn: Lead and Harmony Vocals, Cellocaster, Electric Violin, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Percussion.
Eliah Levy: Electric Guitar (eponymous debut album only).
Dan Sheridan: Lead and Harmony Vocals, Open-tuned Electric and Acoustic Guitars.
Todd Skarda: Drums, Percussion ("Live at the Wheeler Opera House," "Blend").
Paul Valentine: Drums, Percussion (eponymous debut album only).
Jamie Rosenberg: Engineer, "Blend" album: http://www.greatdividestudios.com
Gary Mankin: Producer, "Live at the Wheeler Opera House" http://www.garymankin.com
Dave Glasser: Mastering Engineer, "Blend" Album: http://www.airshowmastering.com
John Alagia: Producer, upcoming Treehouse release: http://www.johnalagia.com
Influences
Greg Mack: has anyone heard from my long lost fishing buddy, philosopher, musical friend?? MU graduate around 1989, from Springfield, Illinois, last seen around 1994 in Colorado; MIA since then. Any info would be much appreciated!
Some musicians, writers, and people who've helped shape me: Dave Matthews Band, the Police, Glenn Frey and the Eagles, the Samples, New Grass Revival, CSN&Y, The Band, Van Morrison, Lenny Kravitz, Joe Jackson, John Cowan, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Sam Bush, Daniel Lanois, Peter Gabriel, James Taylor, Ryan Adams, Sonia Dada, U2, Madonna, Wilco, Willy Porter, Freddy Jones Band, Beatles, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, John Hiatt, Doug Derryberry, John Alagia, Blues Traveler, Vertical Horizon, Elvis Costello, Jeff Buckley, Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, Crowded House, Dan Bern, Mike Viola, Dylan, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen and the East Street Band, Sheryl Crow, Guster, Aimee Mann, Sarah McLachlan, Toad the Wet Sprocket, DJ Logic, David Wilcox, Son Volt, Fleetwood Mac, Beck, Kaki King, Rolling Stones, Badfinger, Little Feat, Mike Kuhn, Kitty Griffin, Maggie and Steve Jacobus, Zach Egan, John Fonseca, Fenella Raines, Barb Bersche and the "Pup-Style" bass, Saffire, the Bedrocks, David Gray, Counting Crows, Robbie Robertson, Santana, Monkey Train, Hothouse Flowers, Gipsy Kings, Leahy, Mark O'Connor, Cat Stevens, Indigo Girls, Patty Griffin, Chris Isaak, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, John Irving novels, Dave Eggers' books, Huston Smith, Thich Nhat Hanh, the late Theophane the Monk, Kahlil Gibran, Woody Allen, Mike Meyers, Chris Farley, the Jerky Boys, Monty Python, Larry David, the English Beat, the Clash, R.E.M., Luka Bloom, Young Dubliners, Jimmy Ibbotson, Sandy Munroe, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, David Grisman, the Verve, Spacehog, Huffamoose, Pharoah Sanders, Miles Davis, John Coltraine, Al Dimeola, Jamie Rosenberg, Friends of Your Mother, Jes Grew, Marshall Crenshaw, Jimmy Cliff, King Sunny Ade, Bob Marley, David Bowie, Raul Midon, Rush, Boston, early Van Halen, Jimmy Hendrix, Lou Reed, Joe Cocker, Bob Seger, Billy Joel, Ben Harper, Barenaked Ladies, The Cars, The Waterboys, Big Country, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Bruce Hornsby, the Empties, Coldplay, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Yerba Buena, String Cheese Incident, Patty Griffin, Fishbone, John Mellencamp, James Brown, Emmylou Harris, the Jam, the Cure, XTC, New Order, Beach Boys, Squeeze, Mozart, Copeland (Aaron and Stewart!), and many more, too!
CALLING ALL Y'ALL WHEREVER YOU ARE! Tell your friends, hop a plane, train, automobile, and come on down to the beach! We are filming a video for Paul's soon-to-be-released single "Cosmic Love Sound" this Sunday at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, and you're all invited to be in it! The shoot will begin promptly at 6:45am (Sunrise) and will probably go for about an hour at the most. The first twenty-five people to arrive will receive a signed copy of "Cosmic Love Sound." I was down there this morning at sunrise and it was cool- dress in layers- think snowsuits over swimsuits. It is supposed to be sunny and warm up to the 50's, so it should be a beautiful day!
More great news! Paul's patent on his new musical instrument, the Cellocaster, was just approved by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Paul also recently had a master class with Daryl Stuermer, guitarist with Genesis and Phil Collins. They worked on Daryl's song "Masala Mantra," Daryl showed Paul his effects pedals, and Paul took pics of Daryl playing the Cellocaster in various positions. Paul recently played his Cellocaster on Dan Bern's title track to the Jonathan Demme movie "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains." It's a great soundtrack featuring music by Alejandro Escovedo and other wonderful artists, so check it out at iTunes or at your local record store. Paul Kuhn and Treehouse have produced three recordings, played about 1,000 gigs around Colorado and Utah, especially Grand Junction for some reason. Paul Kuhn has played Carnegie Hall, the HORDE festival in Denver, the High Sierra Festival in California, the Joshua Tree Festival, opened for Sheryl Crow, Barenaked Ladies, Guster, Whiskey Town, WAR, Warren Zevon, Sonia Dada, Better Than Ezra, Young Dubliners, Sam Bush and John Cowan, and many others before these artists became massive, world-wide icons. Paul Kuhn played in a band in college with Vertical Horizon singer Matt Scannell, has performed with the late Bobby Sheehan of Blues Traveler, sat in with Sean Kelly and the Samples, and DJ Logic. Paul also played on Doug Derryberry and John Alagia's first CD, "Southpaw," and on Dan Bern's "New American Language." Songwriters Dan Sheridan and Larry Good have each won the coveted Telluride Troubador Sonwriting Contest. There is a rumor going around that there will be a Treehouse reunion at the 2010 Telluride Bluegrass Festival, so stay tuned for more info on that. Treehouse songwriter Dan Sheridan has had music featured on network television shows, and Paul Kuhn's "Blackberry Jam" was featured on an extreme sports program on MTV. But so what, right? What's been going on lately? Dan Sheridan still resides in the Aspen area, recording and performing solo. Larry Good is in Marble, Colorado, composing music for films and performing solo and writing new songs. Paul Kuhn is back in Milwaukee, and plays solo locally, and tours and records with rising star Dan Bern, and sits in with the Samples when they're in the neighborhood. Paul is also active as a voting member of the Chicago Chapter of the Grammys. Treehouse bassist Billy Conn currently resides in Basalt and plays in the Natives with Steve Skinner and in several other area bands. Drummer Todd Skarda is playing in a band and doing session work in Little Rock, Arkansas. Eliah Levy has moved on to playing the Chapman Stick, lives in LA, and has released several albums of original material under the name "Eliah" on iTunes. Paul Valentine plays his drums with many Roaring Fork Valley bands. So Treehouse is currently on hiatus, but there will be a Colorado reunion soon! So for now we're sending out our songs here with a lot of love to you, the listener, hoping you will dig 'em. Treehouse's album "Blend" is now available at iTunes and all the other major download services.
Paul Kuhn and Treehouse's Friend Space (Randomized)
Thank you for your great music and wonderful voice and for being my friend, I enjoy your music very much and can't wait too hearing what you might have next too show me. I wish you great success in your career and again thanks for your friendship.
Here in Wisconsin we have a small window of opportunity to reclaim the public's right to use whatever medications,either natural or prerscribed in the maintenance of their health. I'm talking about the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act. Cannibas hemp has been used as a medicine for centuries. Eli Lilly had many preparations made from hemp that's recorded in their pharmacopeia in the 1920's. The DEA's Law Judge issued a statement that 'In it's natural state, marijuana is the most therapeutically active substance known to man.". Many who are like myself and have neuromuscular ailments are prescribed drugs that are far more harmful to us than the symptoms we are trying to get rid of. For myself it's about not having my kidney's shut down from trying to stop muscle spasms and ending the nerve pains that run down my legs that no drug prescribed by any doctor can ease. Ideally,as a Constitutional Right,we should be able to use any product that has a positive effect on our individual health. Cannibas hemp whether smoked,eaten or vaporized can do that for millions of patients and that right of choice should be ours,not lawmakers. But we find ourselves needing the aide of Lawmakers to get that right returned to us. If you support a person's right to use cannibas hemp or use it yourself, PLEASE contact you local Senator and State Representitive at; http://www.legis.state.wi.us and tell them to make the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act a law. Thank-you
In that dark lonesome place between a dream dreamed and a dream realized, I have left a little light for you so you will know that someone cares and believes in your dream. Just where it becomes the most dark and difficult to find your way, there is the light I left for you. It will light your way, through the doubt, the confusion, and the fears, It will stay with you all the way to the realization of your dream. And when your dream has come true, please go back to that darkest place where you have been, And set the little light there to give heart to the next sweet soul that braves the path to his or her dreams. Dreamers are the architects of greatness. There wisdom lies within their souls. Dream long enough and hard enough and your dream can be attained.
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence... Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
okay so i really really need you to do something for me. like reallyyyy bad. you know i was on america's got talent? and you VOTED? (well i HOPE you voted) :D well now i need your vote for somthing that means even more to me than america's got talent... MIX 94.1'S BAND BATTLE FOR BITE!!
(sorry for trite, yet necessary promotion) still keeping late nights? please paul you could really really help me out by going to this website: http://mix941.fm/pages/5165591.php and voting for me! the show is september 23rd on the house of blues main stage! eeee im so excited!! :D ill have tickets to that show next week and it is the biggest, baddest show ive ever played.
please spread the word!! i need your votes and i need you to be there!!! loveee, BRI xx ps: our band really rocks it, ive got the most BADASS musicians (kady sutton, steven van betten, and austin pooley; yeah we rock!!! <3)
When I decided to join in the experience of blogging and then found this site. I began to think about what to say. What I realized was how much I would need to change to actually register and enter this. Clicking on that button represented a kind of internal change. I often think about doing some little thing, like sending a card, but life is busy and I ignore those little urges too often. What I have realized I need to change most is my idea of how unimportant I am; how little I impact the larger world. I believed that those little things might be nice but weren't that important. My heart knows differently. I may not be able to stop a war or feed the hungry masses but I can say thank you. I can make a difference in one person's life by taking the time to smile at a stranger, send a card to a friend, or do any of the little things my heart asks me to do. Change is often about taking a risk. Writing this blog is that kind of risk. Maybe I don't have anything to say that rates as important but then again maybe it isn't what I say that is important but that I am willing to say it. So instead of writing pages and pages of thoughts that come to me and keeping those thoughts inside a file cabinet that will never be opened I am going to share those thoughts through this new communication tool. I am going to allow myself to change. I am going to share and find out who I am.
A man found a cocoon for a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. Something was strange. The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through all our life without any obstacles, that would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Not only that, we could never fly.
There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.
The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment. The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up. If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.
MORAL: Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season.
Hi, would you please vote for Jordan Jensen, he is an 11 year old singer with a great future. See the site below. We need to vote today, thanks for your help. He is a great young singer.
Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder. Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry part of the burden. As they walked Mark discovered the boy's name was Bill, that he loved video games, baseball and history, and that he was having lots of trouble with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend. They arrived at Bill's home first and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed pleasantly with a few laughs and some shared small talk, then Mark went home. They continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, then both graduated from junior high school. They ended up in the same high school where they had brief contacts over the years. Finally the long awaited senior year came and three weeks before graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk. Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker because I didn't want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had stored away some of my mothers sleeping pills and I was going home to commit suicide. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more, you saved my life."
There was a man played piano in a bar. He was a good piano player. People came out just to hear him play. But one night, a patron told him he didn't want to hear him just play anymore. He wanted him to sing a song.
The man said, "I don't sing."
But the customer was persistent. He told the bartender, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing!"
The bartender shouted across the room, "Hey buddy! If you want to get paid, sing a song. The patrons are asking you to sing!"
So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the very first time. And nobody had ever heard the song Mona, Mona Lisa sung the way it was sung that night by Nat King Cole!
He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar, but because he had to sing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in America.
You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel as if your "talent" is particularly great, but it may be better than you think! And with persistence, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may as well have no ability at all if you sit on whatever talent you possess! The better question is not "What ability do I have that is useful?" It is rather "How will I use whatever ability I have?"
Your presence is a present to the world. You are unique and one of a kind. Your life can be what you want it to be. Take the days just one at a time.
Count your blessings, not your troubles. You will make it through whatever comes along. Within you are so many answers. Understand, have courage, be strong. Do not put limits on yourself. So many dreams are waiting to be realized. Decisions are too important to leave to chance. Reach for your peak, your goal and you prize. Nothing wastes more energy than worrying. The longer one carries a problem the heavier it gets. Do not take things too seriously. Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets. Remember that a little love goes a long way. Remember that a lot … goes forever. Remember that friendship is a wise investment. Life’s treasure are people together. Realize that it is never too late. Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way. Have hearth and hope and happiness. Take the time to wish upon a start.
AND DO NOT EVER FORGET …. FOR EVEN A DAY HOW VERY SPECIAL YOU ARE !
There was a Nebraska farmer who grew award-winning corn. Eachyear he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon... One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked. "Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn." He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves. So it is in other dimensions. Those who choose to be at peace must help their neighbors to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.
The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.
There may be days when you get up in the morning and things aren't the way you had hoped they would be.
That's when you have to tell yourself that things will get better. There are times when people disappoint you and let you down.
But those are the times when you must remind yourself to trust your own judgments and opinions, to keep your life focused on believing in yourself.
There will be challenges to face and changes to make in your life, and it is up to you to accept them.
constantly keep yourself headed in the right direction for you. It may not be easy at times, but in those times of struggle you will find a stronger sense of who you are.
So when the days come that are filled with frustration and unexpected responsibilities, remember to believe in yourself and all you want your life to be.
Because the challenges and changes will only help you to find the goals that you know are meant to come true for you.
To Release isn't to forget, not to think about, or ignore. It doesn't leave feelings of anger, jealousy, or regret. It's not about pride and it's not obsessing or dwelling on the past. It's not about giving in or giving up. To let go is to cherish the memories, but to overcome and move on. Letting go is learning and experiencing and growing. To release is to be thankful for the experiences that made you laugh, made you cry, and made you grow. It's about all that you have, all that you had, and all that you will soon gain. Letting go is releasing and having the courage to accept change, and the strength to keep moving. It is realizing that the heart can sometimes be the most potent remedy. To let go is to open a door, and to clear a path and set yourself free---
Paul Kuhn and Treehouse, remember that it's easy to let go when holding on hurts so bad--so free yourself from all these expectations and just be :-) Hope you find the unity in my new single "Release" feat. JRockA.
So come peep the track! Stay creative and stay connected!! Hope all is utmost blessed and irie to da fullest :-) Your friendship and love is greatly appreciated.
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There may be days when you get up in the morning and things aren't the way you had hoped they would be.
constantly keep yourself headed in the right direction for you. It may not be easy at times, but in those times of struggle you will find a stronger sense of who you are.
Keep Believing in Yourself