Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
How nice!
  

    

The improvisational ensemble that began when Phil Savell and I
jammed at a holiday party last December has been developing nicely.
We now have a name - The Known Unknown (web site and all that are
coming soon) - and a stable quartet at the core: Phil Savell and
David Gans on guitars, Zach Partain on bass, and Neil Hampton on
percussion. We have played with a number of keyboardists, each of
whom has added a unique flavor to our musical discourse. These two
pieces are just the four of us.

 <http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/7961>
  

    
That's a very cool name.  How did you come up with it?
  

    
I'm guessing he was inspired, as many musicians and artists have been, by
Donald Rumsfeld.
  

    
And here I was thinking mathematics.
  

    
Rumsfeld's quote: 

        Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always
        interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns;
        there are things we know we know. We also know there are known
        unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not
        know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't
        know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of
        our country and other free countries, it is the latter category
        that tend to be the difficult ones.

Also, Errol Morris's interview/documentary on Rumsfeld from last year
is called "The Unknown Known."
  

    
Right, and that's why we can't get that domain for our band. We're going with
tkumusic instead.
  

    
Well, Morris's film is the opposite of yours; the name you want is used
by some anonymous messaging app. Several other versions of your name
seem available:

theknownunknown.net
theknownunknown.org
theknownunknown.us
  

    
Because I should be doing something else, I'll share a 2x2 diagram I
did of this some time ago. As much I find Rumsfeld a despicable human,
the concept behind his quote is pretty interesting:

                      AWARENESS
                known          unknown
          +-------------------------------+
          |               |               |
    known |    we know    | we don't know |
          |    we know    |    we know    |
          |               |               |
    FACTS |---------------+---------------|
          |               |               |
          |    we know    | we don't know |
  unknown | we don't know | we don't know |  
          |               |               |
          +-------------------------------+

I think you chose a great name for an improvistory band! It's also
meaningful that Morris chose the one quadrant Rumsfeld's quote doesn't
address; I'm not exactly sure what it means, though.
  

    
I agree that it's a good name for an improvisational band. We're gonna stick
with tkumisic.
  

    
music
  

    
Which reminds me of a question a good buddy used to ask, and claims
his Pop used to ask him as a kid.

"Tell me Something you don't know?"
  

    
You want a list?

Best sit down in a comfy chair, this'll take a while.
  

    
Howdy David!  So healthwise, how are you doing lately?
  

    

I'm doing great! Heart troubles recede into the distance. My last blood test
got a standing O from my cardiologist! Thanks for asking!
  

    
BTW I have four performances in the Bay Area in the next week:

Saturday, January 10: Sweet Blossom (DG, Jacob Groopman, Jeff Hobbs,
Roger Sideman, Neil Hampton) with Melody Walker and Jacob Groopman
at the Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. All-ages show!

Sunday, January 11, 7:30-10pm: DG and Dave "A-Bear" Hebert (lead
guitarist of Melvin Seals & JGB) at The Monkey House, Berkeley.
$10-20 sliding scale, BYOB. Email
reservations@monkeyhousetheater.com for location, info, and
reservations.

Friday, January 16: The Known Unknown at Second Act, San Francisco

Saturday, January 17: The Known Unknown at the Art House Gallery,
Berkeley CA




More info and more gigs at <http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html> 

I'm doing a southwest (CA-AZ-NM) tour in early February.
  

    
I'm glad you're feeling better (tnf).
  

    

I was sick all through that! I slept all day, played the gig, came home,
rinse and repeat. On my way to feeling better now!


Two gigs this week with my all-improv band, The Known Unknown:

Friday, January 16: The Known Unknown at Second Act, San Francisco

Saturday, January 17: The Known Unknown at the Art House Gallery, Berkeley CA
  

    


I'm on my way out for a short tour, including my first-ever gig in Iowa.


Friday, March 6, 9pm: Rumpke Mountain Boys and DG at Cosmic Charlie's,
Lexington KY

Saturday, March 7, 9pm: Rumpke Mountain Boys and DG at New Vintage, 388
Woodland Avenue, Louisville KY

Monday, March 9, 11pm: DG sits in with Devil Train at The Buccaneer, Memphis
TN

Tuesday, March 10, 9:30pm: Rumpke Mountain Boys and DG at Stanley's Pub,
Cincinnati OH

Wednesday, March 11: Rumpke Mountain Boys and DG at Mackey's Hideout, McHenry
IL

Thursday, March 12: Rumpke Mountain Boys and DG at DG's Tap House, Ames IA

Friday, March 13, 8pm: Dirty River Ramblers,Rumpke Mountain Boys, and DG at
Bodega's Alley, 1418 O St, Lincoln NE

Saturday, March 14, 8pm: Rumpke Mountain Boys, DG, and Wandering Trails at
Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis MO


More info at <http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html>
  

    
What is your count of US states, David?
  

    

I tallied it up a while back but I can't remember. I've played in lots and
lots of states. Not Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Iowa,
but I think I've played at least one gig in every other state.
  

    
You've been to Alaska?
  

    
Yes.
  

    
I crazy man flew <reet> and me up to Kenai a couple of summers ago to play a
string of house concerts.
  

    
The crazy man named Barry. It was a long weekend, for me, a VERRRRY long
weekend. Did get to see a couple of moose by the airport the morning we flew
out, tho!