I finally wrote a song about The Mongols. I was on the way to work listening to Persian history and the Mongol King Tamerlane comes up. What a name. I wrote this wondering wanting to sing about The Golden Horde of Mongols that ruled Russia up until Ivan The Terrible. Well it turns out the …
Oh this is dumb. But I want to know how dumb it is. Can you water proof regular cordless headphones? Probably not. I am betting 3 to 1 odds against me. None of the headphones for swimming are really suitable for a myriad of reasons, including the fact that bluetooth is trash when it comes …
I replied to my old and dear friend Richard Mockler just moments ago, upon encountering in my FB feed this latest evidence of his audacious creativity and legendary Montana charisma. Ahem, “Richard, to describe this exemplary feat of communicative compression as a Masterpiece would be to undersell, I think, its many charms! I for one …
Yeah, I am never getting past the House of Representatives, even when I’m 80. Thank you Justin Smith for pausing from your duties on keyboards to capture this Golden moment, moments after a fan said, “You said you would” And I said I said, “A f☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ck I did.” …and then I realized I was wearing the undergarments …
Recently as life’s challenges have seemed unsurmountable, like climbing a frosty ass glacier in just my adidas warm ups, I have managed to overcome that sense of helplessness and improbability, because of one secret. Sly Dunbar wants ‘Free Your Mind’ to be a hit, he loves the video, and is happy to tell people about …
My word. I rushed out of the house this morning to work out at Body By Impulse which I am excited to tell you all about, but knowing I wear the electric super hero suit there, I left in my pajamas, clinging to my work clothes in a bag. But at some point I stopped clinging to …
I have ten killer recordings to put on The Staxx Brothers‘ last record. I am not sure if they will all make it. But these are outstanding songs that just took a little more time. I note where we recorded basic tracks. Most of these songs could have been on Hot Chocolate. But that album had …
Ah a day off. Stingshark Sting invited me to his studio to work on vocals for my collaboration with Hold in Fyah, ‘Going South’. It’s this exciting new direction for me, where I bring a song to a band that I know will knock it out the park, and we cut it with the crew backing me up …
I am lucky that for the last three years I have worked with Chris Mcfann & Erin Mikkelsen on an annual Staxx Brothers weekend at der Hinterhof. Leavenworth is a magical little place. We actually picked one of the slower weekends between seasons to bring more business and original live music to the community. Chris is a visionary. He and …
Over summer I moved and downsized, so vegetable produce was limited. Luckily it was a bonus year for squash. At Fall parties gardeners brought their abundance of winter squash to share. Winter squash is the United Nations of vegetable in a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes. Winter squash have many health benefits from …
How do I write some novels, and make them truly come to life? I just take my Staxx Brothers albums, which are already sequenced cinematically, and breath life into characters in those songs. The narrative voices are already there. Every song is already a story. The videos are already my little movies – a literary …
You might want to come see me at The SeaMonster Lounge Saturday. It’s the end of an era. I can honestly say I tried as hard as I could and maybe harder than I should. Things are good. In some ways amazing. But it’s also time to move in a new direction. Trying to something over and …
Pamela Méndez is Switzerland’s best kept secret when it comes to singing and songwriting. Time to introduce her! Pamela is a singer blessed with a voice that can hardly be ignored. In her lyrics she manages to question societal issues without pointing any fingers. Songs are constructive, deconstructive. This is what contemporary art-pop with a …
I won’t share personal messages, but this thought I just sent to Anthony Cameron AKA Anthony Red Rose, is an exception. This was my reply tonight. I have had this song that came to me on guitar in 2009 that was this African sounding hybrid. It was like an expression of a style that did not yet exist …
I got this video of the DJs in Tobago playing ‘Free Your Mind’ and giving me love along with Anthony Cameron, Sly Dunbar‘s, and last night’s award winning ASCAP composer Lenky Marsden, then I ran my 3rd 5k in 34:25 through Forest Park without losing too much breath. I stay ready. You know you ain’t in the White …
Studio time with Mell Dettmer includes a history lesson on the richest man in history, Mansu Musa of Mali. His wealth in today’s dollars was like…47 Trillion? His road trip to Mecca was inconceivable. Malian history is rich man. I am not going to disregard Dead White Men. Many did fine work. But there is a much …
I have a lot of nice things to say about the latest remake of A Star is Born. I can be a critic as well. But Bradley Cooper still has a better voice than Kristofferson. Kris is actually a terrible singer and a brilliant songwriter that makes Lou Reed sound like Otis Redding. But this …
So yeah…I am joining a band in Kingston, Jamaica called Reggae Powerhouse Band. They wanted to add a lead singer that could write, front a band like Mick Jagger, and just flip the script a bit. They asked me to shoot a phone video to announce to share, so here you go. They want me to …
I didn’t want to do it, but I had to do it. The call is coming for me to go back to Jamaica to play some actual shows. I needed a better phone. The second trip I was balling on such a tight budget I had to bring this entry level Samsung, after rocking an …
David Rovics lives in East Portland. You can hear it in his music and commentary. He has recorded many songs in the course of his career but he recently started a podcast. This Week with David Rovics is a 5-minute (or so) chunk of music and commentary on history and current events, available for anyone …
Dinner with folks in Mays Pond. Read a few tales from this book, before this night cap of sweet port that tastes like Communion, and an episode of The Crown at present. The Scandinavians sure had a strange obsession with evil trolls murdering you on Christmas Eve. Christmas was their Halloween in terms of being …
Greg Roth is going to have a pretty nifty announcement about how I am going to be involved in his debut film. I am excited to do my part to help this beautiful story find its audience. There are a lot of great names there. Bubba Jones, Jason Tang, Michael A Wansley, and Andrew D.B. Joslyn. Great names involved in …
I have no photo of me in my brand new jeans because this sweeeeeet old lady that was helping me was being a sweet old lady and accidentally took a photo of herself. She apologized, but I told Elizabeth that this was a much cooler photo than a vainglorious photo of me saying, “Look at …
“Whitehorse” is a very personal song about youth, change, letting go. I lived in the Yukon for twenty years. Twenty. Years. I didn’t plan to stay so long. Like most people I met there, I went on a whim one summer and got drawn in. It is an intense, wild, gorgeous, scrappy place and I …
☆ Happy birthday to Eric Struthers. He’s one of New Orleans’ own livin’ and breathin’ true as blue guitar greats. If don’t catch him with Dr. John or playing with one of the Nevilles, you might want to catch him Nov 3rd at The SeaMonster Lounge. He’s flying up to play with The Staxx Brothers and few other artists …
I finally get to tell you that Band in Seattle is switching to KING 5! I had to keep that under wraps for a while. This is so big for that show. An NBC affiliate. Conrad Denke has put his heart and soul into that show, and working with him has been one of the experiences of my career in …
Walked through the living room, stopped myself. A commercial on TV. I thought, “Oh my god, they’ve finally made a biography of Neil Armstrong.” And as goofy as it sounds, I kinda got choked up. You gotta understand… I knew who Neil Armstrong was by the time I was four years old, I’m sure. It’s …
I visited some pear trees I planted seven years ago to find this first fruit on one tree. It was ripe and tasted amazing. Even small, good things can require an investment of years. Best wishes with your efforts. Keep working and expecting great things. – Paul Johnson
So many at this time of year “can’t wait for fall.” My wife loved autumn, for example. The crispness of the air, the decaying foliage’s bright colours. Apples and cinnamon. What fall really consists of, in these parts, is about three weeks of happy, bright pumpkin-time… followed by 5-6 months of drizzle, of ballbag-slapping cold …
https://youtu.be/hOmZXG19Ets The commercial above is inspired. Nothing more need be said. Queen is said to have been the most educated band in rock history. Every member had at least a college degree. Brian May got a PhD. Queen, the movie, is scheduled for release on November 2, 2018.