dream away

Inspired by Henning and his great website I will list the songs I performed at shows. Last night I played a solo set with Matthew Hebert at the Dream Away Lodge in Becket, MA. What a beautiful place, with amazing food and wonderful atmosphere. The music is performed without a PA so it was a little intimidating (as you can see from the mistakes I listed below) but it was a grand time. Here's what I played:



FIREFLY PARADE
THE PRESSURE IT FEEDS
TORTURE GROUND (aborted before 2nd verse, forgot words)
ISLAND OF THE BURNING TREES
FOREVER EVERY EVENING
GHOSTING
STAMP AND RELEASE
TORTURE GROUND (I remembered all the words and was encouraged to do it again)
JOIN ME WHILE I WASTE THE DAY AWAY (forgot 2nd verse again, head in hands...the sock monkey saved me)



Most of these songs I'm sure you don't recognize for they will be on my just about finished 2nd record. Looks like it will be out in November or so.
Hebert's set was beautiful. After a short break we all grabbed guitars and passed out percussion to all our friends and did numerous covers together. Great time. Thanks again to Matt for hooking me up. When he moves, he will be deeply missed.

Gonna.

Just when I thought my record was done. Just when I thought I had put the final touches on the final song. Here comes more songs. Ones that I like. Ones that fit in with these 11. Shit. I'm recording at home starting tomorrow (thanks to Jose). Gonna make some drums blowup and some guitars strum. Gonna make some ladies sing and play piano and cello. Gonna cut the cable of conventional record making. Going back to why I started this wonderfully insane lifestyle in the first place. Gonna put as many minutes that make sense on this CD as I can. If you're gonna pay 10 dollars for it then I have no right to make it only 40 minutes long. Gonna include various sound collages that I made back in 1990 or so. Stuff from tapes of daytime television and crazy band practice boombox recordings of songs making fun of Henry Rollins. I want to make this whole thing an experience, not just some jukebox throwaway singer/songwriter CD. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my last CD. Had a great time conceiving it and making it. That being said, I'm completely sick of that kind of mentality. Everything's safe. The songs all start and stop. The single is towards the beginning and the "weird" tune is at the end. Fuck all of that. Boring. Art should challenge you. Make you think. Make you get lost. Make you fucking FEEL. So bye-bye papier-mache cliches. So long safe, milquetoast world. Gonna challenge you again. Gonna kill the winners. Gonna spite the losers. Gonna get lost again. Gonna.
Upcoming solo shows:
August 25th - Dream Away Lodge - Becket, MA w/Matthew Hebert
August 28th - Apollo Grille private party - Easthampton, MA
September 16th - SPACE Gallery - Portland, ME
September 24th - Dartmouth College - Hanover, NH
October 18th - Bishop's Lounge - Northampton, MA

the gentle whisper

I hope everyone is having a great summer. I wish I could spend mine here. In Cuba. At the decadent and lavish Hotel Moron. I shit you not, that is the name of this hotel.
Speaking of hotels, I want to put in my 1 1/2 cents on the state of politics in the our country. 24,000 Iraq citizens/soldiers verified dead. Yes, 24,000. That's about 5,000 more people than all of Easthampton. Last night I watched Bush attempt to speak(and I'm not just trying to be a judgmental prick, the man literally can't form sentences)about the state of Iran's nuclear platform. He's basically ready to bomb them too. Parents who have children in the military really should consider funeral arrangements because this is going to make Vietnam look like an afternoon stroll through Look Park. For the record, I'm not a Democrat, Republican or a Liberal. I believe that democracy is on the brink of no longer being a viable means of installing a government. In my opinion the whole system has to be thrown and started from scratch. Coupled with the fact that our economy is in the toilet, the environment is being completely ignored (anyone else notice that our winter was 2 months longer than normal and our summer is the hottest on record?), and treason (Karl Rove) gets the proverbial turned cheek by the White House AND the press. All this chaos. It makes it hard to stay balanced. Hard to find peace. Hard to choke back the 24 hour bile.
Yesterday, I went to lunch with a friend at the Apollo Grille. We then put the finishing touches on a benefit show at the Pulaski Hall this Sunday. It's for a 22 year old friend of a friend who is probably no longer with us as I type because of ruthless cancer. Shortly after dropping off my friend (who's preparing to move across the country and loves to speak passionately from the heart about art and life) I took my beautiful dog, Scooter, to the park to go swimming. I had to hose him down when we got home because he was a mud pit. He hates it as I put my thumb on the hose to gently mist him. Crooked rainbows dancing across the glowing grass of our home. I was laughing like mad. As soon as it stops he goes on crazy, playful runs and smiles from ear to ear. We settled in for a few and watched 20 minutes of a Elliott Smith DVD and 10 minutes of the Sox. I then went out to dinner with the love of my life and then came home and fell asleep on the couch with her while some Judy Garland movie gently whispered us to sleep...
So, for those of you who let politics consume you my advice is just take a step back and look at who you are and where you are. If you can't find the balance and peace in that then you might as well book one of the rooms at the good Ol' Hotel Moron.