This is What I Saw (or at least the parts i remember)
“This Is What I Saw” is the refrain from my song Speculator, (Glockler/Genauer) and over the years it’s become a mantra — something between a reminder and a confession.The project itself started last year with a three-night residency in Boulder, Colorado — three nights, no repeats. As art tends to do, those shows (and maybe a few songs) caught the attention of fine artist Pete Nogas down in Georgia.. Pete and I became fast friends, though we have never met face to face to this day. We talked a lot about how visual art and music are two sides of the same coin. Somewhere in there, he mentioned the 100-song poster the Grateful Dead commissioned after playing Madison Square Garden for the 100th time. Then he casually said, “We should do that for 100 of your songs.” and then he just did it (see below). When the framed poster showed up in my living room, I realized Pete had seen me in a way I had never seen myself. His reflection of my songs back to me was one story not 100s of little tales. So I did what any self respecting lunatic does and booked 5 days at my buddies studio in La Honda CA. I had to sell him on the idea but in the end he caved, with enthusiasm and we captured 100 songs live in 4.5 days. On the 5th we jammed.. A few takeaways:
I’ve written an unhealthy number of songs in G and E.
My titles cover every letter of the alphabet except four.
I should’ve listened to my own advice more often.
I’m about 20% better-looking with a guitar in hand.
I don’t expect anyone to listen to 100, but for me it was a milestone — a look back, a laugh, and a reclaiming as I clammer forward. . If you’re curious, scope out a song or say 37, and take a minute to examine Pete’s 100-song poster as it comes into focus — it’s truly a standalone work of art.
Kickoff Commando Mission - Nov 21-23 Fairfield CT - 3 Nights · 100 Songs · No Repeats ·
We’re launching This Is What I Saw with a three-night, no-repeat, acoustic gauntlet. One man, his trusted Martin D-35. 100 songs played stripped to their essence (clothing optional) my imaginings tended by yours and rendered by fine artist Pete Nogas. Pete had the idea to create who illustrated a pen andt 100 song poster and he did it. One day sitting in my living room I was struck that Pete captured me in a way that I’d never seen myself. The refection of my ambling and ramblings in one seen. So then and there I decided “I’m doing it” Recordings: that is. To be precise 100 songs over the course of five days in the redwoods of La Honda, a caffeine-fueled sprint that produced , a head-trip of a journey. Yes a few flubs but no overdubs, At the end of Novermber comes the kick off shows — a three nights residency at Fairfield Theatre Company, Nov 21–23. Together they’re a single story told verse by verse across — ink, sound, paper, and Michalob Ultra — proof that after years of chasing songs, the songs boomarng back and start chasing you. Has to be cause they are definatley not coming for the Michelob
📅 Nov 21–23, Fairfield Theatre Company
🎟 Info and Tickets
How a Habit Becomes a Habitat
If you do anything enough times, you start to replace habit for habitat.. Then one day, (if you’re me) a friend with a mouth full of must be delicious ham and mustard a-chew shares an idea that initially sounds so outrageous - it fits in perfect with your instinctual habitat (insert ham) My close friend John Leccese, bassist, brother-in-arms, and long-suffering bandmate, coughed a little mid-ham-sandwich and said: “You know what you out to do, play your whole damn catalog. Three nights. No repeats.” #habitat. Nov 21-23 at the Fairfield Theater we ride again. Most people would’ve laughed and gone back to chewing, but with John’s encouragement ( As well as that of Scott Law and Annabel Lukins I booked a three night run in Boulder, Colorado. I played the first set each night and Scott and John played the second set with me.
Reid Genauer - This is What I Saw. (100 song Collection” Live from Sloth Mountain Studios - La Honda CA
“This is What I Ate” - Feat. John Leccese & A Ham Sandwich.
John and I were talking on the phone and between delicious sounding bites he said “You know what you ought to do [insert delicate slather] play your entire catalogs over three nights. And we did last April in Boulder. That sandwich moment became the seed of something bigger — a 100 song hand drawn poster, , 100-song acoustic project and a refection of this is what I saw - didn’t realize my double chin had a chin. : Over the course of five days,I recorded 100 songs. No overdubs, no polish, just six guitars, a questionable amount of caffeine, and my rapidly deteriorating judgment huddled in La Honda, California.
My friend Brian Sagrafena opened the doors to his aptly named Sloth Mountain Studios, and with Jason Cirimele engineering, we got to work. Five days later, I crawled out with one hundred songs — some wild, some wobbling, but all al theml honest.#MusicCantLie.
100 Song Poster Created By Pete Nogas
Pete Nogas @psychodelicpete on IG, popped on to my radar recently. Can’t remember exactly when but he started sharing a painting he was making that illustrated on of my songs “Truck Farm”. One thing lead to another and we became modern day pen pals of sorts. I had either done or was making noise about the 3 show run - no repeats, that took place in Boulder CO. Drafting off of that Pete came up with the idea for the 100-song poster, I’d never actually counted how many songs I’d written. Not once I just made them and moved on — instinctually, like a lemming with a guitar. But Pete saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. Writing songs for me has never been about tallying or cataloging. It’s more like fishing in murky water — something bites, you reel it in, squint at it, and decide: “16” Trout?” Great. Keep it and Move on. “Ugly-ass Catfish?” Back in the water. Unlike ugly ass Catfish Pete had a great idea “You remember the black and white 100 song poster the Grateful Dead made - we should do that” and he did he drew an icon or a landscape for 100 songs - somtmes inspired by a lyric, others by the title. Here’s the best part - I know Pete and yet we’ve never actually met…
There’s no finish line — just the next song. Always the next song. So when Pete’s poster arrived — this giant, psychedelic atlas of my entire s life — I was floored. I’d never seen the whole body of work at once. Never looked at it as a whole. For years I’d been living in my songs without even realizing it . The poster revealed myself to me?! Turns out I’m a tad obnoxipus but man am I a looker! This hand drawn artist feat It’s packed with Easter eggs, symbols, and probably at least one accidental sandwich crust. When I saw it, I realized he’d done something I never had — he’d captured my musical universe in one frame. The poster is the mirror image of the recordings — art folding back on itself until it looked like one 12 inch snarf of a meal.
Priously I just made them and moved on — instinctually, like a lemming with a guitar. Writing songs for me has never been about tallying or cataloging. It’s more like fishing in murky water — something bites, you reel it in, squint at it, and decide. “Big Ole Trout” keeper, Move on. Catfish?” Back into the mud, bud. The real trick is being honest with yourself as to what “species” song you’ve just caught
Strangefolk and Assembly of Dust: The Axis of My Anthem
It would be an omission of epic without naming the two forces that shaped me personally and musically, not counting cheeseburgers or Jerry Garcia of course.
Strangefolk was where I learned to listen to the horizon — to follow a melody even when I had no idea where it was headed. It taught me that songs are living things — they grow, they change, and sometimes they raise you right back.
Assembly of Dust was where that wandering spirit found structure. It gave muscle to the meaning, rhythm to the reflection.
Together, they are the axis of this story — the magnetic pull everything spins around. Strangefolk was the spark; Assembly of Dust was the forge. They were never just bands. They were communities, experiments, and occasionally, group therapy with amplifiers. Without them, there’s no way this 100-song project — or these upcoming shows — could exist. If Strangefolk was the spark. Assembly of Dust was the forge. And I was asleep in the back of the van/bus for both!
100 Songs Recorded in 5 Days. This is What I Saw Live From La Honda
This is What I Saw (So far) it not just an album or a show. It’s an invitation to step into a portrait that is both a reflection of you and me — its a messy, come on it, to the fun, the fucked up, the calm to the outright crazy, Alls you got to do is look so that you might see. To that end - see yah soon hippies. More to come soon. In earnest and never ending bending of notes and words -build us a song to hold the sound damn it - Reid
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.