Mike Esterheld: Home

I'm happy to announce that I've been given the opportunity to provide some pre-show music for a production of Romeo & Juliet, to be performed Friday and Saturday evenings October 7th through October 22nd at Lambert Hall in the historic Houston Heights neighborhood (1703 Heights Boulevard). The talented Jennifer Grassman (here's a link to her site) will be doing the pre-show proper, and I'll be opening for Jennifer, playing a short set starting at about 7:15 or so each evening. Jennifer has a beautiful voice, and I'm excited to get to hear her live for the first time.

Tickets for the play are $15, with discounts for students, seniors, and groups (as a bonus, opening night is pay-what-you-will, so that's your chance if funds are really tight). Upstage Theatre is a non-profit local group, and they're trying something new by doing Shakespeare. I'm in the play, so I guess I can't really be objective, but I think it's exciting. I've always had a soft spot for Shakespeare, and I'm excited to see more of his works performed here in Houston. So, if you're thinking of coming for the play, I'd encourage you to come a little early for the music. We'll try to make it worth your while, and set the stage for this great tragedy of star-crossed lovers.

One of the downsides to infrequent website updates is that whenever you do get the urge to post something new, it seems like it had better be something pretty spectacular. How else do you justify breaking the radio silence? But even if life does feel at times like we're operating from behind enemy lines, moving across dangerous territory, feeling out and calculating each move carefully (and believe me, I like the imagery), still, there's no reason to let months slip by without new dispatches.

There's so much information out there vying for everyone's attention these days, and so much of it, to be frank, isn't worth the pixels it's composed of. I don't want to be just one more contributor to all the dross that's already out there. But I don't want to let this whole enterprise go under, either, so I'm going to see about striking a new balance, by which I mean, initially, that I'm going to update this site more often. I'm playing with ideas (blog? music videos? haiku competition?), and I'll seek to find an approach that seems reasonable. If you're reading this, I'm grateful, and I want you to feel like my music and the stuff on this site is contributing something to the quality of your day and your relationships and your life. Maybe that's a lot to wish for, but there you have it. I'm an idealist. Always have been. Always will be. So, check back sometime. I'll see if I can't find a thing or two worth saying.

So....I'm not entirely sure where the time went. I assure you that it's been spent, and in ways both good and bad, no doubt. "Lying low" and "scoping out the local scene" turned out to be a much deeper rabbit hole than I imagined when I last posted anything to this site. We do tell ourselves the most fantastic lies sometimes. I'm not even sure if anyone is still out there listening. But, a fellow's got to begin again somewhere. And it seemed like maybe it's time to step out of the silence.

I haven't done nearly enough music of late, but I have started doing a bit of acting again, and for anyone in the Houston area, I should mention an upcoming show: Santa's Magic Timepiece, with Upstage Theatre in the Houston Heights neighborhood (upstagetheatre.org). This is a family show for the holidays, and we'll be performing the first three weekends of December at historic Lambert Hall. So, that's the update for now. I'm also thinking about trying to do some guerrilla accordian playing around town sometime soon. We'll have to see how that pans out.