Welcome to the August 2001 News here at planetmullins.com.

Let me start by thanking all of you that have been dropping by the site...July was our busiest month at the site yet with 1960 hits and over 1700 new visitors. Its great to know that so many more people are checking out the music. Um, you are checking out the music aren’t you?

I added a few things to the site since the July newsletter went out.

The first thing you should know about is the slideshow....it is located on the http://planetmullins.com/index2.htm page. It is a new music track with 13 minutes of photos from various things I’ve done the past few years...Bruce Willis, Brandy, some TV show stuff, a lot of pictures that aren’t anywhere else on the site...and the best part of the show is the vocal part. Well, I’m not singing, but I do talk through the first 5 minutes or so of the show. This is really the best link to give your friends you want to turn on to planetmullins since its kind of a whole career and website overview in a movie style form. You do have to have real player 7 or higher to watch the show and a 56k modem or faster.

Another new thing I added to the site in July was a new article about my favorite web browser, Netscape Navigator. I have always been a fan of Netscape since its introduction on the web a few years ago. The article focuses on how Netscape was destroyed by AOL and Microsoft in the past couple of years. I was sad to see such a cool and innovative program meet its death. Check out the article at http://planetmullins.com/netscape.htm. Do you agree or disagree with me? Write us and let me know...any stimulating letters I’ll put on the site next month.

July seems like a blur, and so long ago already. I did the Black and Blue Ball in Santa Barbara which was cool because I got to see some old friends in my downtime...also I remember rushing off to the High Hopes benefit and dropping work on a new series for Disney to carve out the time on that Sunday.

First week of August was simply beautiful here in my part of LA....I don’t think it ever got above 70 degrees where I am even though people have been baking in the valleys and inland the past couple weeks.

Greg Vail missed the first weekend of the August gigs and a couple of budz came by and filled in...Jimmy Roberts last Friday, and Wilton Felder last Saturday. We were packed at both gigs and both guests were fantastic. Jimmy always gets the crowd going and we had the whole club up and dancing during the second set when Talaya from the WAVE showed up at the end of the Dave Koz show to say hello. Saturday Wilton just came and was his ultra cool self and gave us his ultra expensive and polished sound while I enjoyed doing new things at the piano that I hadn’t tried before. It was a great weekend. Was especially nice to see both gigs packed since the Long Beach Jazz Festival was going on both of those same nights and the Hyatt had weekend shows at well. I guess more and more people are finding out what the regular fans already know: the music is always great, and sometimes breathtaking-and it always costs you less than an outdoor show where you can’t get close to the band.

I guess its time to do a little explaining for everyone since the constant question keeps getting asked of me- “Why aren’t you touring?”

I will try to keep the answer brief but complete enough to give you enough information to know why I am happy staying home.

I have been touring on planes, buses, cars, trucks, vans, boats....since I was 12 years old. I don’t look at touring now the same way that I did in the beginning. Its a sad fact that there is little money to be made for most bands when they tour...from the top level down, there are very few bands that make money on the road. Last summer when I was traveling a lot, I just kept getting more and more bummed out because of how much money it was costing me to be gone...I am single and take care of my own stuff so staying in touch with my planet in LA is very expensive and I also abandon a recording studio when I leave. I leave, the studio shuts down until I get back. Hotel phones cost over 3 dollars a minute to check the answering machine. Also, no matter what requests for the appropriate equipment are sent ahead, what gear I ended up with on the road was usually a poor substitute for what I asked for. Pianos are not all the same, and neither are keyboards. The differences from one piece of equipment to another are so staggering that it can be like not even playing the same instrument. I was traveling with all the specific software for the keyboards I like and forgetting about even having a piano last year, and I was still having to carry three full sets of software because I could never count on getting the equipment I asked for. Then there is the matter of losing television work while away from home. Most people don’t know that just doing background music on a tv series pays almost 10 TIMES as much money as you make touring, and I have the opportunity to do television work. It just makes more sense.

I don’t want anyone to worry about me being stuck in small clubs where I may die a certain death and no one will ever know about me (a fan actually said that to me last week and was genuinely concerned). I play in clubs in LA because I love to play. I love to play a real piano, not the third choice crappy synthesizer someone in some strange city thinks I should be happy to have. I love to play in a room where I know the sound of the room and know the piano that I am playing on. I like the stability of that because I can create more freely and express myself better. I have to drive through some traffic to get to my gigs, but hey, try going from New York to Tokyo, clearing customs, driving three hours to a golf course and going live on National Television in Japan to find the piano horribly out of tune when you are live on the air and can’t stop playing even though it sounds horrible. I think I like sleeping in my own bed for at least a year and actually getting a grip on my work world and the various companies I own and have never had time to run. And it doesn’t hurt to be making some real money during the week instead of flying all over the place losing money.

And of course, I do have to say that after you have done a world tour with Bruce Willis, its really pretty impossible to top those conditions-Bruce was first class all the way and is an incredible boss.

All that being said, thanks to those of you that worry about me. I’m actually happy to be at home for awhile where I can just drive to my weekend gigs more rested and able to put on a great show.

At the first of this month, there were so many deals on the table and so much stuff pending, I was really worried about getting the site updated in time because of all the stuff hanging in the balance. As usual, my life refused to conform to my expectations and all the really big stuff on the table is still being finalized even two weeks after the first of the month. Many of you have been waiting for the Jerry Vivino (sax from Conan O’Brien show) interview. Well, you aren’t alone. We are waiting for it as well. Jerry has been extremely busy this summer as have we, and we had some lovely AOL to the internet email problems thrown in where we sent him the questions and he never got them. We lost a week there. Jerry assured me over the weekend that he will have the interview here this weekend. I am excited to see what he has to say-Laura asked him some very interesting questions which should interest any musician trying to get going in the business and will be of interest to the general public as well.

Also, many people have been asking about the Boys and Girls Clubs Concert this year, which has been held off until next year due to venue problems. The price of the Pasadena Civic is just too much in my opinion. I was hoping we could find a church to use by our deadline time, but it didn’t happen. If you know of a place large enough to have a concert like that that doesn’t cost a fortune, send us an email and we will forward it to the B and G Club folks.

In the meantime, here is some of the stuff you have to look forward to in the coming weeks-

Rob’s new lawsuit over his music (details TBA)

Rob’s fall benefit concert in LA (yes, I am doing a charity event and it will be HUGE but I can’t give out the details yet)

Rob’s new business relationship which will change the whole focus of his recording career for the next couple of years.

Rob’s CD release party coming this October (yes the new CD is finally mastered and will be coming out soon).

And of course, The Jerry Vivino Interview.

Well folks, that’s it for now. Thanks as always for your friendship and support. Greg Vail is back for the rest of the month, so drop by and ask him how the Peter White tour was. TTYS folks.

Rob Mullins

August 15, 2001