Here’s a great moment from five years ago. Lightning captured in a bottle. First song opens with references to Isaiah 9:6, the Bible text which, in an enormous transatlantic and cross-cultural musical coincidence, is one of the many high (and familiar) points in Handel’s Messiah.
Month: February 2018
Eating from your yard tip~Jerusalem Artichoke is a hardy beast that grows over 7 feet tall with yellow rebeckia flowers. You can harvest the tubers after the first hard freeze, but I think they taste better in the spring. The women I got them from sliced them raw onto her salad. They are also good …
Delroy Ledgister our Director of Photography just sent this behind the scenes clip of me showing the kids of Fleet Street in Kingston the song I pulled out of thin air about their urban garden & underground community center, LIFE YARD. Delroy captured a cool moment because one of the kids told me to song in …
New York-based singer/songwriter SHIRA will release this lovely single soon. “Butterflies” was featured in the indie film Landing Up and has become a live favourite. The track will appear on her debut album Till The Sun Comes>. . Shira says of the track: “For the longest time I couldn’t really feel anything after my dad …
The Fall of the United States from its temporary seat as the world’s greatest Superpower, can be boiled down to two simple facts, which reveals a terminal defect of the two party system. It’s like a self destruct button. The last Democratic presidents are among the most intelligent, eloquent, and well educated Presidents in the …
My friend Jordani Sarreal is putting together a music publishing and copyright workshop that is so incredibly timely for me. As publishing and the ownership of our albums is increasingly in our own possession, rather than Record companies, most of us have no idea what to really do in 2018. I will be attending her workshop and …
Canadian straight-up death-pop quintet Sc Mira have just released their new #badasswomen single ‘Give It Up.’ Gotta love the haunting chorus. It’s the first song of their soon to be released EP Drug Warm Coma.
An Argument Against Living in the Present Comedy and Literature are among the great escapes from the horrors of only LIVING in the present. People have always told me to LIVE in the NOW and be more present. I call bullsh-t. I think we ruined America in 2016 by only LIVING in the present. If …
Tadiman has been a friend of East Portland Blog for a while. He is Slovenia’s finest reggae artist. We featured his tune. “Kdor drugemu jamo koplje” a few months ago. Tadiman can be seen in the background of the video Davin Michael Stedman took on what would have been Bob Marley’s 73rd birthday. Now he’s …
Want to see me singing songs with the kids in Trench Town, as I described it? This is one of the files that was too big to upload in Jamaica. Now my host Ricardo isn’t world’s steadiest camera (phone) man, but I am grateful he was able capture this moment in nearly its entirety. It …
Just today, Yahoo! broke the story of federal documents identifying an extensive list of NCAA schools and players that have been involved in the recent recruiting scandals that have been investigated by the FBI. You can find their post here: https://sports.yahoo.com/exclusive-federal-documents-detail-sweeping-potential-ncaa-violations-involving-high-profile-players-schools-103338484.html One reason I’ve preferred professional sports to the NCAA is that the former make …
The Oklahoma City Thunder came to Sacramento on Thursday night at 33-26, fifth best in the NBA’s Western Conference, but they are a more dangerous team than their record suggests. For the first quarter in their matchup with the Kings, the Thunder were their better selves, shooting over 80 percent from the floor and building …
“What The President Said,” a new protest song by David Poe and Sister C, features voices from the Women’s March and the LAX protest. The song challenges a president who many believe is imperiling American ideals with outrageous falsehoods, divisiveness, brinkmanship and incompetence, aiming to pander to base voters before midterm elections this November and …
On the frigid Tuesday night of February 20th, I had the utmost pleasure of seeing one of my utmost favorite bands, Gogol Bordello. It has been nearly five years since I last saw these self-proclaimed gypsy punks. They hit the stage right on time. This time front man Eugene Hutz sported longer hair that hung …
Though the Reverend Billy Graham passed away Wednesday morning at 99 years of age, his failing health had taken him from public view for the last few years, and it was almost more of a surprise that he had remained a resident of our earthly realm up until then. For those younger than a certain …
You need this mobile sound system in your life. It’s a giant boom box with a motor and steering wheel. It’s like a tank of reggae love. Do you think it was built on a riding lawn mower or a golf cart? Either way this is another shining example of Jamaican innovation and DIY creativity. …
I got to have a quick little Goonies adventure with Lenni I-Music and Ras Isachar. They took me to the lost Pirate city and English fort, Port Royal. The young tour guide Andrew Gordon was terrific. His insights were aligned with the history I could recall from books I read before and after my first …
Captain Bobby and a boat called Dr. LOVE. A fisherman and his boat. Bobby is a 73 year old fisherman who will take you into the bay of Port Antonio as he chases his daily catch of lobster and more. Then he can grill or bbq the feast right here on the beach. Any way …
Last week, Terry Gross of NPR’s Fresh Air interviewed Finn Murphy, whose memoir, The Long Haul, was published last year. The interview was so entertaining that I immediately downloaded the book, and I was not disappointed. From its title and cover, one might think that the book would be a celebration of the open road …
My friends Bull and Joseph Whitmore and my new friend Jah T on guitar keeping Mento music alive. Jah T said something tonight that inspired me, that I want to share. But let me wait till after we do some more work with them tomorrow… But let’s just say I hatched a plan to bust Mento out …
This song is from a few years back, but this work of visual art is still worth a look. The video finds beauty amid poverty and shows the vibrance of the people of Jamaica with candid shots from life: soccer games, markets, backstreet gatherings etc. It’s bright and alive and better than any other video …
Just some notes from the Green Room of a popular day time talk show One of the great gifts of these trips abroad is perspective. It is fascinating to sit in a waiting room for a popular daytime television show and hear how notable Jamaicans process American tragedies that effect them because they all have …
Last Wednesday, in their last game before the All-Star Break, the Portland Trail Blazers hosted the Golden State Warriors in a game that was not only a barn-burner but also illustrated the current state of both teams, who would meet in the first round of the playoffs if their current #7 and #2 seedings were …
AND THIS HAPPENED: Before we went on National TV, Red Rose asked me who I had sent ‘Free Your Mind’ to, because the biggest radio station in Jamaica played the song. A friend of our publicist Susan Smith was sent a voice note of our song playing on the station. We had previewed the song …
Thanks to Pat Thomas for this Dylan quote. Pat is working on a Van Morrison bio right now. “Tupelo Honey has always existed, Van Morrison was merely the vehicle and the earthly vessel for it.” – Bob Dylan Ronnie Montrose’s minimalist guitar on this track from October of 1971 cuts the heart deeper than a …
I am going to be dropping a bunch of great videos today, because tomorrow I leave for Port Antonio with Lenni I-Music for the final stage of this second Jamaican mission. The comfort of Wi-Fi will be out of my reach. My trip truly began with Ras Isachar at Roots 96.1 FM. I wish I got to spend …
I am going to be dropping a bunch of great videos today, because tomorrow I leave for Port Antonio with Lenni I-Music for the final stage of this second Jamaican mission. The comfort of Wi-Fi will be out of my reach. My trip truly began with Ras Isachar at Roots 96.1 FM. I wish I got to spend …
The Foxfires are a four-piece band of immensely handsome and mischievous gents from New York. They describe their sound as Seagaze, a neologism they coined to explain their upbeat combination of indie rock, pop, shoegaze, folk, and surf rock. The mix forms a fresh, wind-driven soundscape you’d want to hear on summer beaches or while …
This is how you cut a Jelly. You just need a small sword. This is what Cocunut water is supposed to taste like. How do feel about our song ‘Free Your Mind’ blasting on the block in Kingston? (Video is below.) I am just along for the ride man. Jamaica gonna’ do what Jamaica is …
Heather O’Neill is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Her first showbiz job was passing out flyers for an English band in Liverpool when she was 16. “I’ve had my share of interesting day jobs,” she says. “A barista in New York City, an extra in L.A., a record store employee in Chicago. Remember those?” Lately …