Tonight Show w Billy Ray

Only two weeks after doing the Tonight Show with Miley, we were back with Billy Ray. Felt like we never left.


This time we were indoors, which was much warmer.


The night's guests:

I had a nice conversation with Kristin after the show. What a sweet gal.

Jaco IS Neil Young

This was the last Tonight Show with Jay Leno we'll ever do, as Jay is done in June. But maybe someday we'll be on the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien... I can only hope!

Cider Farm II: The Chickening

During my last visit to Washington, Noah and I returned to the cider farm. Only, this time, he knew the names of all the animals, instead of calling them all "puppy."



"More bunnies! Hi bunnies!"

Fun with Camera

Sometimes it's more fun to have a conversation through the lens of a camera.

Elevator Game

Noah really loved working the elevator at the hotel. He would say, "uh-gate-uh," and we would run down the hall, push the button, get in and go somewhere.

Except this time was different.

The Post-Premiere Nashville Bash

A couple hundred lucky superfans won tickets to the Nashville premiere of the Hannah Montana movie, and afterwards, they were bussed out to the Country Music Hall of Fame, where we put on a surprise concert of surprising awesomeness.

Here's the setlist:

You may have noticed some special guests. In addition to Billy Ray and Miley, we were joined by Sheryl Crow, Jeffrey Steel and Ed King.

Sheryl did a duet version of "Real Gone" (which she wrote) with Billy Ray, and we played her hit, "If It Makes You Happy", which was a total blast. Total pro, that one. Then we all rushed her for pictures:

L to R: Me, Sheryl, niece Ava

Sara, Sheryl, Carmel

Those are our new background singers, by the way.

We played Sweet Home Alabama with Ed King, the dude that wrote it. And after hearing countless awful bar bands play it, it was pretty mindblowing to hear his authentic version.

Jeffrey Steele has co-written several of Miley's tunes, including "Simple Song", which we played with him, and then we jammed on his song, "Hollywood Girl", which has been a favorite of Miley's since she was very little.

A lot of this stuff was put together at the last minute, so the band spent most of our day at the hotel, learning all these new songs. I actually kinda like it when they throw that kind of stuff at us.

After the show, I hung out with Mai, one of Miley's makeup people. I always love when Mai shows up. What a sweetheart.

Then we hopped on a plane and came home.

Pillow Hide & Seek

Boogie Morning

Dances with Goldfish

Noah's new thing on this visit was his obsession with the camera. He loved watching himself on the monitor, and I rarely got much footage before he started pointing at the camera and saying "Noah! Noah! I want to watch it!"

Here he is dancing and trying to grab the camera:

Noah's 1st Guitar Lesson

I finally had some time to edit the Noah videos from my last trip to Washington. Here is Noah's first guitar lesson:

Good Morning America

We were taping at the Hard Rock in Times Square. I think this was the first time we've ever played in a restaurant. Also, the first time I've ever been in a Hard Rock at 7am. Hopefully the last.

Soundcheck went very smoothly; no major disasters.

And suddenly the place filled up with Billy Ray and Miley fans.






What time again?

What in the world was Diane Sawyer saying at the beginning? "A huge hit off the tack?"



And Schmid Island got more camera time than ever.





Then we busted out a new track.

AOL Sessions

You can see video of the Billy Ray/Miley AOL Sessions show HERE.

Setlist:
The Climb
Full Circle
Butterfly
Back to Tennessee

Miley on Leno

We had the privilege of playing the last-ever outdoor concert on Leno. To celebrate, there was a backstage ice cream bar. It's all about the little things.

We came:


We soundchecked:


We conquered:


And then we waited:

Then we played "The Climb"



Followed by an internet-only performance of "Full Circle"

Noah Visit

Adorable videos coming soon (as soon as I have time to edit them), but here are a few pictures from my last Noah visit in Washington:

L.A. Premiere

The L.A. premiere of the Hannah Montana movie was a big success. I didn't get to see the whole thing, cause we were getting ready to do our thang in the dressing room, but what I did see was very fun and entertaining, and we were all commenting on how gorgeously-shot the movie is.

As the movie ended, the screen lifted, smoke poured out and Miley surprised everyone with a concert.

Here are some pics from our rehearsal with the orchestra:

You Can Still Watch

The RawRhythms show was a lot of fun. The always lovely Molly Jenson even stopped by.

You can see the show in its entirety here.

Wait, It Gets Better...

Check THIS out:


Somebody's really paying attention. They even got my receding hairline right:

I'm flattered...and slightly afraid.

I Am Made of Ones and Zeroes

Quintessential nerd that I am, I was casually browsing IGN for video game news. It's what we nerds do. And out popped a screenshot for the upcoming Hannah Montana: The Movie: The Game. Of course, it's still a work-in-progress (the title alone is proof of that), but have a little look-see:

What is interesting about this? They've duplicated our tour stage. Good for them! With selective attention to detail. They nailed the layout, but notice: no Jaco, no Vashon, no Jamie. Stacy may be hidden behind Hannah. All we see are three (oddly spaced) dancers...and, look at Schmid Island.

Look closer...

I appear to be wearing my actual tour wardrobe (tourdrobe?) and playing some sort of plexiglass plate instead of keyboards (it's the FUTURE!). I'm in a videogame! And they accurately depicted my blindingly white skin. Kudos, game developers, for knowing what matters.

I Will Answer Your Questions

On tonight's RawRhythms show (info in previous entry), you can comment and ask me questions that I will answer live. Or, if you aren't going to be able to watch the show, you can post your questions/comments right now by going HERE.

At 11pm Eastern/ 8pm Pacific, you can watch the show HERE.

RawRhythms

This Monday night, I'm doing a live performance and interview on RawRhythms, an hour-long internet music show. I'll be playing 6 songs. You can send in comments and questions for me that I'll be answering live! Tune in at 11pm Eastern/ 8pm Pacific to thestream.tv.

All-Covers Singalong this Friday!

This Friday, March 20, is my All-Covers show at Genghis. I'll be playing with my Small But Mighty Band (Jan Stolpe on guitar and Mark Stanley on percussion), and we're gonna put our own spin on Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Billy Joel, The Beatles, Elton John and lots more fun stuff.

I'm really excited about this one. It's gonna be a great time. Come on out and sing/shout/laugh along.

Genghis Cohen
9pm
$7
740 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
http://www.genghiscohen.com/