Saturday, November 18, 2006

Raga Against The Machine


Woke up in a curious mood and begin messing around with some Raga-like playing. Though the recording is 6 minutes long, that's actually a condensed idea behind what I did this morning, which was play variations on this raga for at least a half-hour, maybe longer; I don't recall. I was so sucked down into the marrow of the music that I was just another instrument in the orchestra at that point. 'Twas a pretty deep rabbit hole and it was nice.

So, here's another version - still very much a trance.

Raga111806.mp3

Friday, November 17, 2006

Hit The Home Running


The highway slipped underneath the car like a concrete treadmill set for "turbo." I made good time heading up to Ohio because five miles over the speed limit is my average speed. It's the grace zone. The legal buffer. Confirmed by law enforcement types all across the country. Six above the speed limit and you're pushing it. I did push it quite a bit on this trip, which is why I made such great time.

The leaves began to show their colors just north of the Georgia border. Brilliant yellows and golds and reds blazed brightly from the hillsides as I sped through, stopping only once at the South and North Carolina border for lunch at a Cracker Barrel across from Paramount's Carowinds theme park. From there, it was non-stop for Stewart.

Jerry and Mary Rockwell live in an historic house right on highway 329 in Athens County, Ohio. We met and then spent a couple of hours talking, during which time Jerry showed me his woodworking studio where he makes his incredible dulcimers. before I shuttled off to bed in their upstairs guest room. When the morning came, Jerry and I set up camp on their front porch and took out the dulcimers, talking more than we actually played. He's a fascinating guy filled with incredible ideas, lots of history about the instrument and a huge sense of the present. His awareness of the importance surrounding every moment was evident as we sipped coffee and shot the breeze on an unseasonably warm and bright sunny November day.

Presently, the Rockwell's drove into town to run errands, leaving me to kick back with a couple of Jerry's signature dulcimers and nothing on my mind but music. Normally, on these trips, you can barely remove the camera from my face as I work to capture images for posterity, but it was different this time around. Something about the cool air and warm sun inspired little more than the desire to sit and do some front-porch pickin', though I did squeeze in a few shots here and there, including one of their house with the Chevy HHR in the foreground. I love that car.

That was Friday, pretty much. Jerry and Mary came back to find me in exactly the same spot they'd left me; sitting on the front porch. Jerry and I picked up where we left off and then headed down to the old school where the festival would take place the next day, lugging a bunch of our electric equipment along. We jammed for quite some time - doing everything from meditations on "Skip To My Lou" to a neo-classical treatment of "Louie Louie" - all sprung from the mind of Jerry and interpreted through the fretwork that I mused up on dulcimer and Dulcitar. A handful of people were there to witness it - some of it got captured on video, but again - it was all about the moment and I kept my eyes pretty much locked with Jerry as we rolled through song after song. We left our gear there and got a good night's sleep in for the early start on Saturday morning.

All told, SEODfest '06 was great fun. All of my workshops went really well, due largely to the aptitude of the attendees, who ranged from beginners to professional performers. It was a rush to sort of fly by the seat of my pants, which is what I did for the most part. How to instruct a class on rhythms or free-flow improvisational melodies? You can really only do it when you've got everyone sitting there and can get an idea who you're dealing with and vice versa. My second workshop, "Primal Dulcimer", had the added element of a journalist recording the entire hour as I led the group through visualization of the Scottish highlands before launching them into melodic exploratory over a room full of drones; quite a lovely sound!

Lunch came and went - I made some phone calls to Jae, who was getting over an illness and a little stressed out. Cel reception was for the birds but we managed to get a complete conversation in before I headed back inside. By this time, the bright blue sky had been replaced by a more typically grey and overcast smear that dripped rain throughout the day. A chilly, bone-soaking kind of cold set in, making forays into the outside something that you had to bargain with yourself. "Do I really want to go out there?" "What will I get if I go out there?" "Is going out there worth it?" And of course, it was.

Throughout the day, the staff went onstage to perform short sets and I was able to catch a couple before my set at 2:30. Mike Oliver and his wife Marlene went up and did a very enjoyable set, he is a member of Everything Dulcimer, so it was nice to put a face and talent with a name. Khrysso Heart LeFey's set was enjoyable as well (as well as being a fascinating guy.) Going with the moment, I continued with my public explorations of "Song For George" and "Cluck Ol' Hen" before launching into the Ryan and Stacia Trilogy and then jetting for my final workshop, which was "The Dark Side of the Dulcimer." This seemed to be the most populated of the courses, though that might have been amplified by the fact that we were in a tiny pillbox of a room (heat worked good though.) This is the only class that I prepared a hand-out for and discovered, as I rushed to get settled in, that I had completely neglected to pack them into my briefcase; so I taught "The Pirate O'Reilly" from memory and promised to upload the tablature once I got back home, which I did.

The rest of the day was spent milling about, conversing with some of the other attendees and instructors, going through a brief informal tutorial on using Garageband for recording and stuffing pizza down my gullet. As evening fell, the staff concert began, allowing everyone who wasn't able to see the daytime sets an opportunity to enjoy the music in a more formal setting. Steven K. Smith, Mike and Marlene Oliver, Linda Sigismondi and Bill Schilling, Vici Gombaski and Sylvia White and Khrysso Heart LeFey all performed about three songs each and the crowd just ate it up. It was a warm room and an intimate setting with sweet acoustics that got filled with expressive, passionate, dazzling performances. Jerry presented my closing set as one by a "special guest" and gave me time to stretch out my fingers and voice a little bit. I performed "Gold Trails Hotel", "Sunday Morning", "One-Way Ticket", "Simon Brothers Mercantile", "This Road This Moment", "Positive Vibes" and relayed a few stories here and there that were well-received. When all was said and done, I'd been invited to perform at a couple of Ohio-based festivals, sold some more CDs (they began to move shortly after my first workshop - hooray for gas money!) and was told of a few other venues that would welcome my style of music.


All in all, you can color me encouraged. As a musician still seriously searching for my own voice, it's a right trip and a half to find that maybe I've already found it. Before this trip, I had never heard any music by Richard & Mimi FariƱa, and Jerry's quite a historian on those two, so I got up to speed pretty quick, as he sent me home with some recordings and books. He also made mention of the "Pacific Rim Dulcimer Project" and said that my sound was evocative of the "west coast" sound that was displayed on the album which featured a number of popular dulcimer players including Neal Hellman and Robert Force. It sounded like an album I needed to pick up. Any evidence of a place for non-traditional dulcimer music was all the proof I needed to stay the course. As much as I love what is known as traditional and old-time dulcimer music - it's always going to be a passion of mine to push the instrument into different directions. Maybe all those years of colloborative drought in the California 80's was enough to set the tone for the music that I'm writing and performing now. Who knew?

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

"Dear Mr. Bush" On Neil Young's Site

Aloha, cousins -

I'm still in Ohio, visiting with friends after SEODfest '06, which went extremely well. I was alerted to the fact that "Dear Mr. Bush", which I submitted to Neil Young's "Living With War" site, had appeared on the page as a new tune, I think this was yesterday.

Today, as of 11 a.m., the tune has gone from somewhere in the 800's to #248! That is effin' WILD! All I can say is, it's an honor to be included in a roster of such passionate music and I hope y'all get a chance to hear some of these tunes, as they truly reflect the conviction, the outrage and the hope that America is feeling across the board right about now. Spread the word to all of your music-and-peace-loving friends; and if you haven't heard Neil's latest release - do yourself a favor; get it, borrow it, and listen to it straight through. It'll carve a place in your heart, that's for sure!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Here In Ohio

What a rush these past few days have been! The trip up from Orlando was simply lovely; I pretty much ran straight on until the border of South Carolina and North Carolina, ate at a Cracker Barrel across from Paramount's Carowinds theme park (very difficult to sit there and look at a closed-for-the-season place of amusement with its wicked rollercoasters taunting me from so close) and rolled right into Guysville for a meeting with my hosts, Jerry and Mary Rockwell.

The first night was spent just talking and hanging out at their grand old house. The daytime was spent chilling with Jerry, who is simply a fascinating guy - well steeped in dulcimer folklore and music theory - until he and Mary went into town for some things, and I was left on the front porch with a couple of his dulcimers and a few of my own - just soaking up the beautiful sunny Ohio day.

SEODfest went off the next day without a hitch and though it began to cloud over and rain, bringing temperatures down, attendance didn't seem to be affected. My three workshops contained a healthy number of people who were talented, eager to learn and highly attentive.

I'm still in Ohio - visiting with my good friends Denny, Rose and Blake, who live in Seville; I head back on Thursday.

Great times, beautiful times. More to come - I think we're going to the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Oh, and Jae called me this morning to say that "Dear Mr. Bush" was listed on the Neil Young "Living With War" site. Very cool! I'm proud to be a part of that historical tribute to change in America.

Be well and healthy all -

Friday, November 10, 2006

Joanna newsom

--

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Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Ohio-Bound

I'll probably be away from the computer for awhile - but will blog in via phone. Destination: Ohio.

I'm excited to be performing and teaching at Jerry Rockwell's SEODfest '06 because the man is another force to be reckoned with in dulcimer culture and I'm pleased as punch to be getting some face-time with him, as well as actually participating in his gig. Holy Cow - I mean, really - how did I come to get involved with this?

It actually goes back to Stephen Seifert, calling me up and saying "hey, I think you should get plugged in to the dulcimer circuit." God bless Stephen.

So, I'm teaching three workshops:

Vox Rhythmata -- Bing Futch's highly rhythmic singing and playing style has earned him a reputation as "the rock 'n' roll dulcimerist" though his music spans many genres. In this free-flowing workshop, he shares techniques with an eye (and ear) towards incorporating various strum and picking rhythms as well as getting comfortable with playing and singing. 9 - 11AM Meeting Room

Primal Dulcimer -- free form channeling of energy into improvisational melodic and percussive playing. 11 - 12noon Kitchen

The Dark Side of the Mountain Dulcimer -- Exploring minor keys, drones, dissonance and musical conflict. Some of the most compelling and expressive music comes out of our shared human condition. 3 - 4PM Emily's Lobby


Jerry was very enthusiastic about presenting a free-flowing kind of curriculum, one that was edgier than most of the workshops you'd find at festivals around the country - so, I was encouraged to come up with some ideas that would really invite players to embrace the dulcimer in a spiritual way. I printed out some music to distribute, which will be the bulk of the "Dark Side" class - and the other two will be very much in-the-moment, which is sort of scary, but very exciting at the same time.

I'm also excited to be driving a Chevy HHR again. Mmmmmm. I drove one of these up to Kentucky Music Week this past June and, I gotta tell you, this is my next vehicle.

When Jae and I went to my 20 year high school reunion, we rented a PT Cruiser, which was a hell of a lot of fun and catapulted me towards wanting to buy one. It wasn't until I drove the HHR that I realized it was a superior vehicle and not a knock-off like I had dismissed it as earlier. It not only holds more cargo, but it also drives better, the cruise-control is immaculate, and it's more gas-conservative and ultimately, a more handsome car, in my opinion.

I drove a gold-leaf model this summer. Tonight, while picking the car for this trip, I spied several HHRs, but one caught my eye: it had a running board. (It doesn't take much to get me going.) It was also bone white, which had a certain flair, so as I loaded the gear into the back and got in, I also noticed that this particular model had a sun-roof. Sweet. I dunno how that will work when I get up to somewhat frozen Ohio, but the first half of the trip would be rockin', this much is sure.

I head off at 4 am, in order to get there by 5 pm or so. This is going to be a fantastic trip and I'll try to keep up with the developments as they happen. But I'm truly honored and blessed to have this opportunity to learn more as well as teach.

Monday, November 06, 2006

SSA Music Awards/Deland Original Music Festival



Here's some footage from Saturday's SSA Music Awards and Deland Original Music Festival. It was truly a blast! The two sets went great; first set, I did the "Ryan and Stacia" trilogy for a nice crowd. Second set, I broke out "Casualties of Faith" and "Dear Mr. Bush", both of which got an amazing response. In the video, though, I highlight a bluesy, electric mixture of "Song For George" and "Cluck Ol' Hen" as well as a very dramatic performance of "Caught."

Though it's kind of dark, you'll also see them announce my name as "Songwriter of the Year", which came as a complete surprise and nearly made me choke on the water I was swigging at the time. Huge thanks to everyone who voted for me - it's truly an honor!

Now, I'm hauling ass - trying to get squared away and organized after being out there with the gear and supplies for the J.O.B. Vendor table, which are now sprawled all over the living room floor. Jae's in Washington D.C. on a business trip and I'm heading for Ohio this Thursday. It's going to be a busy week after an even busier weekend.

If you haven't done so already, vote tomorrow! Vote for change, vote for peace, but vote!