I now have a limited supply of 100 CDs for sale NOW.

“…well crafted folk-pop that recalls the best of Paul Simon, James Taylor,

Bruce Cockburn and Dan Fogelberg…”         Kevin Matthews (reviewer)

Music that’s thoughtful, hopeful, and playful.  Music crafted to be classic,  timeless and ageless.

Click the “order now” button to get the Double length CD
for an introductory price of only $10.97 for a limited time!
21 all original songs

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(okay-this isn’t an actual photo at the scene but is does add some dramatic effect)

The concert from hell:

OK, so first I have to say that I’m not gonna name any specific names are places because I don’t wanna embarrass those involved.
So let me ask you a question…

Have you ever had things go so wrong with something you planned that you wondered how on earth could this be possible?

Well, check out the story…
Our band “Don’t Ask” was going to play an outdoor concert at the festival in a small town north of Seattle. The gig was going to be a “picnic on the lawn” and they were gonna invite the whole town. The bass player lived in this town and he said to me “just relax and stay at my house, have a few beers, and the rest of us will set up the stage and let you know when everything is ready for you to drive over and do the show.
Sounded good to me! So… why not?
So there I was- just chilling out having a beer waiting for the call, waiting… , waiting… , waiting…
“Oh”…I thought, “Somethings got to be wrong this is taking way too long.”
I called the drummer who is also setting up the stage and I ask “… I wonder if there’s a problem it seems like it’s taking a long time“.
He says to me “oh my god this is horrible! Everything’s all messed up you better get over here!“
OK so, this is what happened…
The mayor of the town owned the outdoor stage that they were going to set up. The stage was in pieces inside of a large trailer and a friend of the mayor sent a friend of his to drive it over to the venue.
When the driver got there the gate was padlocked and nobody had the key for the park. Also, nobody had the key for the locked gate. When they opened up the trailer my band-mates found there was a golf cart without an ignition key in the way of the stage sections. They had to send for the key from the mayor to take out the golf cart so that they could remove the sections but the mayor didn’t know who had the key for the gate. After someone came by with the golf cart key the band pulled it out and tried to hoist the sections of stage over the fence so that they could set up the stage. but they were way too heavy. Also there was a golf cart without an ignition key in the way of the stage sections. They had to send for the key from the mayor to take out the golf cart so that they could remove the sections but the mayor didn’t know who had the key for the gate. They tried to host the pieces over the fence (but they were way too heavy).
Eventually they found out who had the key for the padlock so they were able to open the gate to the park. The person driving the truck and trailer then tried to back up through the gate, however, they made a miscalculation and scraped off the entire side of the trailer trying to back it in. .
This was the point where I arrived.
After shaking my head in amazement, we did get the stage set up we also managed to get all our gear on stage, we did play that concert on the lawn so all was well that ended well.
All except for the fact that our lead guitarist was so flustered he could barely make it through the first few songs. He did eventually settle down.
However, I will never forget what a mess that gig was to set up.

Oh Well, at least I got to have a beer.
Let me ask…
Has anything this crazy ever happened to you?

Let me know.

Super excited about this project!

Take a listen to some “sample” tracks below…

C. 2020 Todd Christoffel

Cris Faget guitar leads featured on many of the songs.

click here to see the cd jacket and insert…

More details when the cds arrive.

A limited quantity of 100 discs have been ordered for delivery soon.

House pets a tale of woe…

A couple of years ago I had my favorite Martin HD 28 up in the living room on a floor stand so that I could easily access it when the mood struck to write a song.

Well my cat Loki was feeling rather mischievous and so he ran behind it one afternoon to hide from the dog who was chasing him.

Well the dog chased right after him right behind the floor stand -knocking the guitar with a bang to the floor and flipping it over -hitting the head of the guitar on the hardwood floors.

I will never forget the sound of the guitar hitting the floor KA- THWAAANG!!!!

The entire head of the guitar snapped off at the neck and was now just hanging with six strings attached.

Holy crap!

I could not believe my eyes or my ears I had had that guitar for decades. the Martin had a really sweet sound it even had been borrowed by other Songwriters to take to recording studios.

I was resignedly the fact that I would probably have to buy a new guitar to replace it.

Well… None of the guitars I tried sounded even close- even the same model guitar by the same manufacturer didn’t sound nearly as sweet. So… I took it to a guitar repair shop in Seattle.

Well I couldn’t believe it. the guy I brought it to was anxious to repair it because it was kind of his specialty to reglue the heads of broken guitars.

I was skeptical but left it with him hoping for the best and I’ll be damned if when I got it back (even though I could see a visible crack where he had glued it) it sounded just as sweet as ever.

A Happy Ending

I almost forgave my dog and cat.

Almost.

Needless to say now I have a wall bracket For hanging my guitar up and out of the reach of my pets!

This poor old guitar was broken by my flat-coated retriever…

Loki chasing a sunbeam

CRISPIN FAGET is a native of New Orleans, Crispin bonded with the guitar in his early teens and developed his musical skills without formal training. Despite a southern residency, his influences were British, notably Wishbone Ash, Barclay James Harvest and British blues a la Eric Clapton and John Mayall. In 1989 Crispin moved to Seattle and soon became a founding member of “String Theory” and later “Don’t Ask”. An occasional songwriter, his primary contribution  is the guitar, embellishing the songs with melodic accompaniment and solos. Additionally, he performs the vital function of capo position enforcement, citing (name withheld) for numerous infractions. Crispin has more than enough stage fright to offset Todd’s lack thereof but nothing a couple of pints and an appreciative audience can’t cure.

In the early 90s, Todd Christoffel and Crispin Faget formed String Theory with the concept of performing and recording the music they were creating. Over the following years other musicians passed through the ranks and added their talents to the voices and guitars of the two founding members. In 1996 one of these musical gypsies, Doug Aslin, decided to put down roots and incorporate his fine percussive skills into the mix. With a new member and new sound came a new name – Don’t Ask (Inspired by the standard refrain to the question “What kind of music do you play?”). Don’t Ask continues to perform in the Seattle area and has recorded two compact discs. The music is ever evolving and revolving around the twin pillars of originality and melody.