Back In Action

I got a call from Randy this morning, he and Ann are back from their wedding journey to Bali and he's eager to get rip-roarin' after the break. Funnily enough, Jae got a call from Les Kippel as she was about to board a plane in Baltimore, inviting Mohave to be on the Jambando line-up for August 12th at Hard Rock Live. Also on the bill would be The SEAD, The Goldminers and our dear friends in snackdaddy. We know all the bands and have jammed with them on bills before, so it should be a right friendly evening of music!

Speaking of Hard Rock Live - I'll be there tonight shooting video for Cadillac Recipe. I've been getting a lot of band shoots of late, which is fantastic, because I enjoy it much more than I enjoy making promotional commercials for themed attractions (not that it ain't fun, but my heart's more in the music, obviously.)

I demo'd a tune today called "You Can't Make Me Love You", written in 2001, I think - very jazzy, though a friend said it bordered on being like, Monkees-Jazz, which is pretty damn cool to ponder. These days, I'm writing songs simply to write songs, and where ever they may be used is where they'll go!

I recorded all of the music using the Roland Fantom, adjusted the levels and then exported it into Apple Garageband. The vocals were recorded directly into Garageband with a little bit of reverb splashed on. Let me know what you think! I'm just a songwriting fool these days. : ) But I'm looking forward to jamming again - you don't have to push any buttons to get all the right combinations and special guest stars figure into the mix.

Singing of new tunings

I added a link to Mountain Dulcimer 1-3-5, which extolls the virtues of a relatively new tuning to the instrument that allows for use of all 12 tones in the western musical scale. It doesn't allow for droning, but then, I chord mostly, so this will be interesting, open up a few more musical doors in terms of mood and whatnot.

Mailed off a couple more packages this week - feeling sort of "meh" today.

The Girl From Israel and more...

I think I'm going to write a song about this girl from Israel that I was talking with today on ICQ. Her view of the United States was a fearful one, but I asked her if she was afraid of Palestinians and she said "yes", but still had a feeling that something horrible was taking place with America. She's on my contact list, perhaps we'll have a chance to talk again (and I say "perhaps" because, as Amy Steinberg said in one of her songs, "tomorrow is an assumption" - was that "Run, Don't Walk"?).

Our page on MySpace has been getting hit bunches lately. This is a cool place, it's sort of like crack for some folks.

Mohave music is also now available to podcasts via Podshow, which is a pretty nifty site that's in beta testing right now, check it out!

Jae is back from her rockstar tour of the country for the weekend - we're going to watch "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" on DVD and maybe go see the new one tomorrow. Maybe. You know, the whole "tomorrow" thing. London. Egypt. Orlando? You just. Never. Know.

Our first official review!

Big thanks to Ben Gardener over at OrlandoBands.com for placing us in the listings over there as well as giving us our first official review!

When an album can take you on a journey, and make you feel like you've experienced more than you've felt, you have something worthwhile and remarkable. This is precisely what Mohave has accomplished with their newest album "Clear Blue Trickling".

How cool is that? Read more by clicking the link above.

In distantly related news, The All Florida Indies podcast was mentioned over at Insomnia Radio today and urged to join up with the Association of Music Podcasting. Thanks Jason!

It's been quite a day, I've been busier than a team mascot at a playoff game. With Randy and Ann still out of town, the rest of the band has been able to go full steam ahead with other areas of life, the real job, the house, perhaps a smidge of social life here and there. But we're all anxious to get back into the swing of things. Except, perhaps, Randy and Ann, who are kicking back on a beach somewhere in Bali!

Workation

It's been non-stop here at Dark Studios, so much to do! clear blue trickling will be available through CD Baby, which in turn will make the record available to an amazing list of digital distribution centers including Apple iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, MSN Music, MP3tunes, AOL's MusicNet, Yahoo MusicMatch and more! We've signed up and are shipping the first CDs out to their warehouse, branded with our very own UPC bar code. Woot!

Jae set up a database for the album so we can keep track of the webzines, print magazines, podcasts, internet radio stations and newspapers that we've sent it out to. Every day, I submit a few more MP3s and get a few more addresses and package a few more press kits to go into the mail. With the final mastered copy in hand (yay!), we're set to go into the duplication phase here; we're still pricing companies and packages, making adjustments to the album artwork and so-forth.

In the meantime - wait a second, there is no meantime, it's ALL THE TIME!

More news to follow.....

Set-up for a column

I see a column forming in this circumstance!

I noticed that J.D. had commented in his blog about Saturday night, and I posted a comment over there - but in short, without creating too much drama, I'm not terribly concerned with what people think of my performance of the song (which is why the demo sounds the way it does, I've changed much of it since then, added chorale harmonies and re-tracked the vocals) - the vibe I was getting had more to do with the fact that I had put it together without the band. It's the same kind of vibe I got when I demo'd "Sanctuary". Sort of a "well, you're a one-man band, what do you need us for?" kind of vibe (that was actually spoken in jest by our old drummer.) It's obvious to me that the band sounds a hell of a lot better than anything that I demo, for the record. Since I'm not performing with Mohave for the money (even though it's great money and getting better all the time, thanks to Jae's hard work and our show, which continues to develop and improve), I know that most of my earnings will come from work that I do for other people, video, songs, jingles, sound design, whatever. This summer I plan on putting myself through "Songwriting Boot Camp", with hopes to churn out a song a week. I'll then post the songs on Garageband.com and see the responses that I get. Since I've forsaken listening to most music for the past ten years, I'm getting a re-education on production techniques and what kinds of things people like.

So what was missing, more than anything on Saturday, was any feedback. I'm looking to sell "Monsters" - I'm thinking commercial, but infusing it with the sound I've been working to develop since 1984. If I had my way, Mohave would always be around making music, with our current line-up and not some studio session players. But of course, that's up to everyone else. I'll not be the one to call it quits on Mohave - but I will be continuing to write songs with intentions to sell them to other artists. Obviously, that kind of methodology doesn't fit with Mohave's spiritually upbeat and laid-back groove and maybe that's what I was sensing. In any case - if it was a big enough deal, I'd make it so. But like I said, I think there are other circumstances that should be addressed at some point.

Now, off to the post office to ship eight more press kits! To Pennsylvania, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada and Spain!

On Rehearsal The Other Night

I spent a good portion of yesterday working on finishing the "Monsters" demo which I had brought to our get-together on Saturday. To me, it was just another of the demos that I regularly churn out so that the band can get an idea of what I'm going for with a particular song.

When I played it though, the reaction was, to say the least, odd. On some counts anyway - but as a whole, it seemed a bit polarizing. I'm puzzled, but not too highly concerned. As I've learned with this music, you just can't make everyone happy, so focus on the ones that accept what you do!

I won't go into details, but it was a good night overall, some great jams and wonderful food, good company (some friends came over to share in the munchies and music) - the kind of days and nights that we live for. It just ended sort of abruptly and awkward after I played the demo. I suppose I'm wondering "why?"

Birth Of A Song

This time around it was more like God threw me a football. Easy pass. "Go Long." 'Twas the day after 7/7 (just another in a parade of numbers - some countries lose track of the dates, but somewhere, somebody's keeping a list) and had been promising to sit down and do some intense songwriting during the band break. Intense not only because I was going to really sit down and do it with much determination, but because there were some really intense subjects to explore this year, and though I like singing happy-tree music, I keep a balance by writing whacked-out stuff like "Monsters At The Garden Wall."

Being mindful of the self-imposed challenge of writing tunes under five minutes in length, I hearkened back to the days of slave chants when the workers would sing as they did what slaves do. Massa always thought they was just singin', workin' folk, but the slaves were actually singing in code, making plans for their escape and expressing well-disguised contempt for their white slaveowners. Many years later, as that music developed into the blues, the code-speak would continue in an era that saw prohibition, the rise in popularity of marijuana and more songs of dissatisfaction towards authority and The Man.

"Monsters" is filled with code, and as it came gushing out in colorful spurts, you have to think of someone riding one of those big-ass brahma bulls with the huge horns and the big neck flap flying back and forth, crazy eyes, crazy maux-faux on the back, and when a song idea comes swooping in from wha-fu, you have to hop on its back and ride it, or it gets away from you. That's why so many musicians go running and scrambling over themselves (and you, if you're laying in bed next to one) to jot down bits of music, hum into tape recorders, sing into their cel phones, etc. Keith Richards reportedly got the lick for "Satisfaction" in his sleep. Woke up and grabbed a guitar to lock it down for all eternity. We should all be so receptive.

So anyway - it works on a lot of different levels, and I was careful to allow that vagueness so that you paint your own picture. I guess it's rock, or it could be pop, I dunno, I'm open to suggestions, so I made a demo.

I'm a Mac user (we rock!) and there's a program called Garageband (not to be confused with Garageband.com) that's a sound application where you can combine instrument loops with your own recorded sounds and MIDI input to create songs. Easy-to-use, comes with a lot of neat built-in effects, some of which sound even better than what I'm playing through on-stage (a Line 6 Spyder - for anyone who cares. It's a piece. Never again.)

To set a groove, I took a drum pattern and pasted it repeatedly into the timeline and then worked out the dulcimer part, found a really nice and crunchy sound. Tracked separate tracks for left and right dulcimers with a track of lead dulcimer. Put in and layered some different drum patterns to change things up a bit. I love working with loops - I don't spend a lot of time trying to program patterns (on the other hand, about a million other people have used those drums. I dunno. They sound cool. Laid in some keyboard bass and about fourteen tracks of voices, cymbals and other assorted production muckery and came up with this.

Bing Futch - Demo DuJour - 01 - Monsters At The Garden Wall (Remix).mp3 (3.5MB 3:53)

I did everything pretty much first take - the vocals were a pain in the ass, but I'm not shying away from that challenge either. But I am looking for input on the song itself, the lyrics, the melody, the mood, the hook, that sort of thing. Just c-n-s, let me know what you think.

I'm at a point where I've basically accepted the fact that not everyone's gonna like this stuff, so I should just focus on a groove and stay there. And that's what I'm doin', especially on my summer vacation, which I guess is a lot more like "workation."

Monsters.

Monsters At The Garden Wall

I watch a falling star
land right where you are
at your feet

you say it's getting late
there are monsters at the
garden wall
so far to fall

you don't scare me
I'm not amused
you must surely have me confused
with someone else
someone who could be you

there's nothing in my heart
that won't survive the war
of words and colors flown
of broken records, skulls and bones

to kill me you must kill my soul
to frighten, you must have control
control is sugar in your hands
falls from the fist, falls to the ants

you don't scare me
I'm not amused
you must surely have me confused
with someone else
someone who could be you


BRIDGE

wouldn't you tell me if you had another life?
wouldn't you kill me if I had another life?
wouldn't it thrill me then just to be alive?

music - july 8
words - july 9
14:21
copyright © 2005 J.O.B. Entertainment Inc. - All Rights Reserved.


We're officially on "summer break". As Randy and Ann ramp up to their nuptials in Bali, daily details have gotten crazier for them as they get closer to flyin' on the big bird. For that reason, we haven't rehearsed since the Fourth Of July gig, and performances count because you're always rehearsing anyway. But tonight, we're getting together to hang out, play music, record, have a little nosh, play some more. Wish each other well and give lots of great big hugs while partying like trained professionals, can you tell it's summer?

I'll post a demo of this tune soon; it's "different."

This song is dedicated to the victims of the London Bombings. May God watch over you and your families.

Recollections and News

Hoo-wah, what a busy weekend, not to mention hot. I actually think I lost about five pounds over the three days alone!

Reflecting back on our three gigs, I first think about what an amazing job Jae's done in booking these shows. (And I get to go home with her, too!) Friday's show in Eustis was an absolute delight and the highlight of the weekend for me, personally. We've performed there before, on a very cold night in February, but it was the anti-cold that day! Set up on the big stage at the end of the street, it was beautiful to walk around prior to our first set, standing on the lakeside pier, having a little coffee, watching the merchants set up their tents and fire up their grills. At one point during our first block of music, I asked the crowd to turn around and look down the street at the smoke billowing from the police department barbecues, the sunlight sparkling off the surface of the lake down a small town street filled with people, balloons, happiness - and the crowd slowly began to applaud. "We're blessed, we're blessed to have this moment," I said. We played three long sets and the final set was when the fireworks went off and I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of making music while the skies filled with such shiny brilliance. As people headed for their cars afterwards, they gathered around the stage in clusters and I played "The Star-Spangled Banner" with Randy and J.D. accompanying. If you were there, you remember - it was a beautiful moment to see all of these people, standing together in unity, raising a cheer and a shout, in celebration of freedom.

The next evening, we set up at 903 Cityside at Lake Eola, and though it didn't seem that the owners had done much in the way of promotion, the band, set up under a white canopy, still pulled in passersby, encouraging them to sit a spell under the trees. The food, which was complimentary, was excellent - especially the vegetarian falafel! It was also an honor to be playing outside in Lake Eola, which is Orlando's beautiful park center and also the site of the show we'd be playing on.......

July 4th. 95 Degrees. The madness was just beginning to bubble as we carted our gear (thankfully NOT having to bring a P.A. with us) down to the bandshell. People everywhere attempted to stay out of the direct sunlight, which was going to be no easy task for us, as the sun was dipping lower to peek right into the mouth of the bandshell. Jae and I walked around to find some grub, admiring all of the beautiful faces and energies that were collecting around the lake. Cox Communications, running the event, had all their radio stations out in the park broadcasting live; a charming hodgepodge of tastes and styles reflecting the folks who took up spots near their favorites. Frisbies flew, Tai-Bo dancers roundhoused, beer flowed, laughter rose into the air, the smells of food mingled with the scents of water, soil and the big cigar that I chomped on as we strolled. Hundreds more bodies arrived by the minute until the edges of the lake swelled with brightly colored swatches of fabric. The first band went on at 4pm, they were called The Day Band. As they wrapped up, the band pre-staged our equipment and prepared to endure the blazing direct heat. All in all - the sound was rather muffled on-stage, making it difficult to hear, so we did what we always do - we lunged into it with teeth, no matter. By the end of "Ring-A-Ding", we were already dripping with sweat. The unrelenting sun cooked one of my strings right out of tune, and I asked the band to groove a little as I retuned for "Black Indian", which led right into "The Star-Spangled Banner". Granted, the response to the latter wasn't as huge as it was in Eustis, but a lot of that had to do with the oppressive heat (people were only sitting where there was shade, frantically fanning themselves with cardboard props handed out by the Orlando Utilities Commission) and probably with a greater dose of jingoistic cynicism than could be found in the small-town American reality of Eustis. As Jae and I watched the fireworks later in the evening, it was a perfect end to a perfect weekend and we rushed home to beat traffic out of the area, flipped on the t.v. and saw Mohave pop up on Channel 6. A nice closing touch. All told, some 100,000 people were there for the festivities - and we were proud to have been a part of it.

We sold 14 CD's over the course of the weekend, and played for literally thousands of people. Through it all - this band worked damn hard, everyone toting gear, playing their hearts out, providing warmth, humor and inspiration. I always love introducing the members of the band because I want the audience to know Bunky, John, Randy and J.D. like I know them - wonderfully talented people with big hearts and eyes that can see far past the horizons of today into the dawns of tomorrow. This weekend featured our last public performances for awhile as Randy and Ann go to Bali to get married; meanwhile, the promotional push continues for "clear blue trickling". "Ring-A-Ding" is currently featured on Insomnia Radio podcast #33 and the band received a nice little write-up at Indulged.com (scroll down the page some):

What an interesting group of musicians. I had to include that little blurb from their MySpace site because they describe it better than I ever could.

Not normally my cup of tea, I can’t help smiling while Mohave plays on the media player. It is fitting that this Orlando band played their first show at Downtown Disney because this music is all about fairs and cotton candy and dancing.

On their MySpace site the song that grabs me is “The Miner, His Music.” Singer Bunky is so playfull, her delivery hits the ear in just the right way.

Thanks for all of the great vibes, from everyone! From those who came out to see us, to those who stayed to listen, from those who bought CDs to those who wore the beads that we tossed into the crowd, from those who have heard the music and have let us know how you feel to those who are sharing those feelings with others - THANK YOU! This is the reason that we make the music - it's a reward unto itself, and we're most happy when the audience is happy!

We're working on getting those pictures up from the weekend - have a great week and stay cool!

Busy, busy, busy

Well, I tell ya, this season has been like a fireworks display. Strong, steady, awe-inspiring, beautiful, and ending up with one huge BANG! I will come back and elaborate on the wonderful experiences we've had at the past two shows, but right now we're on our way to perform at the third and final show of the weekend and our last for at least a month. Thank you to everyone who sent e-mails this weekend, bought CD's and came up to tell us how much you enjoyed the music. That is its own reward!

Happy Independence Day!

Oy.

I'm getting a little burned-out. Something's got to give!

??????????

We've got rehearsal tonight, might be the only one before Friday's show in Eustis. I've been working on the "Star-Spangled Banner", which I think would be cool to do with Bunky singing - we'll have to practice the unison parts.

Every day has been spent doing some promotion for the album, not so much at once because it's a huge job and I've got to pace myself.

Speaking of which.....

Open For Suggestions

It's true that today, many kids don't realize that places like Disneyland and Walt Disney World are actually creations of a real man. And there are those who know who kindly Uncle Walt was, and they believe that he was a cartoonist who actually drew his creations and later turned to television and theme parks.

The truth of the matter is, Walt was an idea guy, but he called upon others to do the actual work. Nothing bad about that, as Clint Eastwood once said through clenched teeth "a man's got to know his limitations", and Walt certainly knew that he was no excellent draftsman, nor was he a carpenter or an electrician or any of those things, though he considered himself a filmmaker and actually did shoot a number of films. Walt knew his limitations and was always open to suggestions, which is why he surrounded himself with the sort of talented folk that he could delegate tasks to. His vision was solid, he knew what he wanted to achieve; but as one man, he lacked the skills to bring it all to magical life.

Within the band (and on this blog) I've made it clear that whereas I'm a songwriter and play dulcimer okay, I'm not a bassist or a trumpeteer or a drummer, nor do I have all of the necessary songwriting tools in my bag of tricks. But I do have a vision of what the Mohave sound is all about. So, keeping that vision in sight, when someone suggests something, I'm usually wide open to it; nothing's carved in stone.

This policy has recently extended to music reviewers over at Garageband.com - many of whom are musicians and have excellent critique for our songs. Many of them don't "get" the vision, and I acknowledge their comments without feeling the burning need to make changes to our songs. But some of them have very insightful things to say and I take them to heart.

Over the years, I've heard many comments about "Black Indian", most of them good, because you know, no-one really likes to walk up and tell someone that something they did sucked ass. But when placed in a situation where critique is welcomed, I've heard one thing from several people: the chorus hook needs to be mixed up a little bit. As it stands, this is the chorus:

trying to find my way in America (4x)

For the longest time, "Black Indian" was a difficult song for me to sing, in an odd range full of sustained notes that I wasn't really comfortable attempting. Lately, since my singing has improved (because I've been attentive to the process), I feel more confident with the tune. I agree that the chorus should be changed up a bit, instead of me singing the same thing four times. What more can I offer that hasn't been covered in this already emotional song? I'll be thinking about that over the next few days, and then I plan to implement some kind of change during next week's rehearsals. Thanks to "haystacker" for the insight!

Last rehearsal brought another song into the foreground that I hadn't thought about in ages. I was strumming a chord and Bunky and John both came in with some nice, moody touches. Randy chimed in on bass and I recognized the tune as an old number called "Arizona Twilight". Stepping to the mic, I sang this incredibly emotional song about an old friend of my mother's who was killed by a drunk driver. I think the band was of the idea that this was all being made up on the spot (Bunky gets this look on her face when I do something totally unexpected, she keeps playing, but she's looking at me like "whoa, where'd that come from?" She's so adorable!), I honestly don't recall what J.D. was doing with it because I had sunk down deep into the song for the first time in years; it all came flooding back. When we had finished (this was our first tune of the evening and by the end, I was emoting so dramatically that I became breathless), Bunky lowered her trumpet and said "what was that? did you write that?" and I told them about the tune, what inspired it and why it had suddenly popped into my head. I think we can do a lot with it and I'm looking forward to including it in our repertoire:

just a child, just a small inspired child
looking up to you, you treated momma well
mind sends pictures, big man, big smile
shiny badge and gun, with a heart

blue-red lights, a black and white
pulled up to our door, there you were
sometimes in uniform, sometimes civilian
always a light in my momma's eyes

memories of a seargent

borne away on the road
motor-home breaks down, your family waits
Arizona twilight cried upon the sight
with a flare as your candle in the night

twin beams caught you in the cross-fire
intoxicated maniac aiming for the flame
the ones that loved you dearly
stood helpless on that highway
an explosion rocked the sky, they screamed your name

memories of a seargent

my momma remembers, I do too
all we could've said are just unspoken words
the force came out to honor you
they buried you that day
it took one year to hear the news
it took one year today

memories of a seargent

I try in vain to pull the knife
and I curse the man who took your life
took your life away

I'm getting choked up just typing the words, you can imagine how intense it is when it's being performed. This is going to be a firecracker - and a song that I'll always preface by condemning drunk driving.

D'oh!

And after I plugged the drive back in, all was well. Sheeesh.

#$&@%!

Last night's rehearsal was shakin', man. We alternate between running through songs that we know, to keep them tight, and working through songs new to the band, in order to bring 'em to the table. We probably have about three and a half to four hours of material under our belts, which means we can break out with the Bruce Springsteen-sized set if so inspired.

Today would be just another day of sending out press kits and MP3 files to various radio stations and magazines, but one of my external hard drives is suddenly on the fritz; the one with all of our promotional materials on board.

After cursing loudly for a minute or so, I sent some positive energy over to it and gave the unit a once-over. I'm thinking maybe it's a power cord. I'm hoping it's not the drive itself that's gone wankers on me. There are plenty of data recovery companies out there, so I'm not worried - it's the inconvenience of it all. We simply can't afford unreasonable costs at this point, but as it is a business thang - we need to get this drive up and running. And soon.

Garageband News

Two tracks from clear blue trickling have been voted "Track Of The Day" over at Garageband.com

"Ring-A-Ding" will be prominently featured on the main Americana page Monday, June 27th. That's crazy-good visibility on a site that gets hundreds of thousands of hits every day!

"Gold Trails Hotel" will be on the Folk main page Wednesday, June 29th. "Track Of The Day" is based upon above-average ratings from reviewers. If you haven't been to Garageband.com - check it out - it'd be nice to win a $250,000 recording deal, but I think we can get along fine without it. Don't let J.D. hear that.

I'm mailing out the first review copies today; a radio station in upstate New York, a couple of podcasting stations, one local website. I'm being very careful about not springing all of our ping-pong balls at once. Just a little at a time.

I'm looking forward to rehearsal this evening - the last rehearsal was, okay I'm a cheeseball, but they keep getting better and better. The step where we were at before was an excellent place to be, because it was a step above what came before it. When our stock's going up, how can I not be happy? And we just have a damn fun time too, so it's a great time to just be "us."

Just Like Back In The Day

Back in 1994, I worked as an online content producer for the Prodigy Service, one of the "Big Three" online services at that point which also included Compuserve and, of course, America Online. MSN had still yet to debut as the "fourth network" and the web hadn't been quite commercialized yet; there was no instant messaging or chatrooms. Just a bunch of bulletin boards.

There were so many bulletin boards that, like web sites, you could easily spend all day leaping from place to place in order to write and exchange experiences with the other subscribers. Then along came a piece of software called the BB Newsreader or something like that. With one push of a button, it would go to all the boards you frequented, download the latest notes and threads, bring them back to you and you went to town replying and writing. All in one spot. You can see why it was immensely popular and the concept of it is very similar to the bits of software that you use to collect blogs and podcasts (which are basically audioblogs). As news aggregators and podcast receivers begin to receive healthy mention, it might be a good idea to examine the wave as it begins to crest over us. That's the way it is with technology. Some advances are swells and everyone sort of rises with them at the same time. Breakthroughs produce competition-style waves, with everyone fighting for space; the users fight to master the hardware and/or software while the developers fall all over themselves trying to create the most ergnonomic platform with which to surf the wave. (Why isn't there just one type of browser?)

I know. What the flip does this have to do with Nowhere, or the band, or even fiddlesticks in China?

Well, as I've been going about the promotion for clear blue trickling, it's become clear to me that the wave of the future, one that will be easily surfable by just about anybody, has to do with how we receive our media. The phone's been morphing into the t.v. which has been morphing into the home computer which has been morphing into thin air and morphing with eyeglasses, for crying out loud. We are assuming more and more control over our environment, over what we listen to and when and how. Personal systems appeal to the individual in us all, the one that is increasingly trying to get within itself. I mention all of this because we're living in a very intense time. It's a time of great stress, of re-awakening, of waking from a dream and realizing that your pants are on fire and that everything you know is wrong. In the mud but never of the mud.

People are rejecting all that's been forced upon them by corporate culture and are seeking the underground, especially through their media. And people are tired of paying good money for crap, basically. They know that there's a lot of real music out there, all they have to do is look hard enough and they'll find it, call it theirs, join the countercultural revolution. And for the moment, that revolution is the MP3.

So I'm sending them out like a nutcase, and learning a lot about the nature of the techno-forest. It's a trip, I tell you. It's a trip.

Hang On!

Friday's show at The Bamboo Room was like some sort of freaky dream. Cutting to the chase - I had intended to go up there and keep the groove rolling until a suitable point for taking a break. But when the set was over, turns out that they were only expecting us to play for two hours and we had burned along 30 minutes past that with what we thought was our first set! Without barely breaking a sweat (okay, I lie, I was soaked to the bone), we were prepared to go back up there and keep going, but management said, "you did more than you had to." Nice to hear. But we wanted to go up there and play some more!

And it was weird, like musicus interruptus, to have paced myself and saved something for later, only to find that we weren't going to be playing any more. After saying "we'll be right back", I realized that we wouldn't - and that I hadn't gotten closure. See, when we perform, I like to acknowledge the audience as part of the whole affair - we're the car, we'll carry you there, but the audience is the engine - they're what drives us to perform, it's not just about us, we could be about "us" in the rehearsal space. What really makes each show special is that we share it with a group of people. Some we know, some we've just met. In any case, I like to keep a connection going, and when we're finished playing, I thank them, thank the venue, thank anyone who needs thanking and send them on their way with well wishes and positive thoughts. But this time, not knowing we were finished, I left off with "we'll be right back", which left me feeling sort of awkward.

The band was incredible - Bunky went off like fireworks; I love it when she improvises into the stratosphere, her scat on "Ring-A-Ding" was world class, but then again - she's Bunky. Randy was a monster as usual, taking a wicked, growly solo at one point. John laid in solid support on vocals and everything else he touched. I thought J.D. did fantastic - turns out later on he tells me that he was just about to fall off his stool because we went so long. Every time I looked at him, though, he was looking fit to swim to Australia!

So, we hung out and sold several copies of clear blue trickling, signed some cool folks up for the mailing list and heard a lot of "you're not going back up? that's what we're waiting for", which is just mind-blowing to hear. I don't know how to act around that, it's so humbling - so glory to God for gifts of music!

Got to hang out with Russell, the owner, for a long while earlier in the day and it was awesome. He's such a knowledgeable, interesting, down-to-earth guy, and he LOVES some music - his love borders on the Divine there. It was just a treat to make that connection.

When you play The Bamboo Room, they put you up in a block of rooms at a cute litle apartment building across the street from the block that the club is on. Reminds me a little of the "Three's Company" complex, an "L" shape with a little courtyard filled with plants and trees, chairs and an umbrella table (and a grill that we need to use one of these days.) It's ritual now to hang out there after the show, and then meet there again and commune in the morning over coffee and pastries. The best part of our road trips, aside from getting to play this music we've created together, is the hang-time that we get to spend with our dear friends, getting to know one another, enjoying the time given to us, this break away from the machinery of That Fleeting Life. It is its own reward.

And The Reviews Are Coming In!

clear blue trickling is already making a splash on Garageband.com where we've got a few tracks in the ongoing contest over there. Our Garage Page shows some of the reviewing history of the band (we've been there since the site debuted six years ago), but there's never been a response like the one that "Ring-A-Ding" is getting now. It's been voted "Track Of The Day" and is currently #32 on the Americana charts. It will hold this honor on Monday, June 27th and will be displayed on the Americana main page for 24 hours. "Ring-A-Ding" also received several reviewer awards in the Americana categories of Best Male Vocals, Best Female Vocals, Best Keyboards, Best Production and Most Original for the week of June 20th! Thank you to those reviewers, for all of the positive and negative, which was actually rendered as constructive criticism.

The "Amplified Podcast" this week features "Come On With Me" during episode #6. This whole podcasting thing has really blown up, and though it's heartily predicted that the "fadness" of it all will wear off eventually, the concept or something like it will be a trend to watch. Making your own music choices based on an incredible pool of resources. I like it. I like it so much that I now have a podcast called All Florida Indies which is exactly what it sounds like. On the first show, "Ring-A-Ding" is in the middle block of songs. Nepotism rocks.

Things are getting crazy - and we're big on the marketing wagon right now trying to let the world know about clear blue trickling while making the final decisions about what duplicating service we're going to use and whether we'll have an eight-page or a six-page booklet inside. These are the tough choices.

Bamboo Room, Ho!

And awaaaay we go......