One of the first things you notice when the Golden State Warriors come to town is that their fans travel well. There were as many blue and gold jerseys as Blazer black and red outside the Moda Center before Friday night’s game, and the majority of them had the familiar number 30 for Stephen Curry, …
On March 6, 2018, Chicago’s fabled classic rock station, WLUP (97.9), announced it was being acquired by Educational Media Foundation (EMF). Since 2014 “The Loop” has been operated under a local agreement with Cumulus Media. However, as part of a bankruptcy filing last month, Cumulus withdrew plans to buy the station, and so the search …
This was last night’s last skit. I hope everyone caught it. I was amazed that with a simple, off-center concept they were able to get such a hearty laugh out of me, and I don’t laugh at much anymore. This tickles my weakness for the absurd while awakening nostalgia for good times and loud, dated …
I have found myself once again coming to understand what really happened in Jamaica, in this case, Port Antonio. Ignorance is a kind of reverse (but reversable) amnesia. I am realizing the significance of how I fell right into the heart of the Mento scene and met the ghost Errol Flynn. Well not really. But really. …
BJ DjSticky AKA Bluejay Hankins has been trying to get a new press release out of me for weeks. We polished one before I left for Jamaica but it was missing something. He needs a KILLER press release to the reach the estimated 1000 DJs that matter in the global Roots Reggae & Dancehall universe that …
On March 7 I had the esteemed privilege of seeing They Might Be Giants. It has been many years since I last saw them and only my third time seeing them. The first time was in 1988 and was one of the most entertaining shows I ever had the pleasure of attending. They did not …
Listen up, all you ska fans living on the west coast of the USA. If you haven’t already heard, there’s going to be a two-day concert on the beach in So. Cal April 28 and 29, 2018 showcasing some of the finest ska bands currently active. As the promo states, this is a two days …
After a wonderful writing session with the reggae powerhouse Hold in Fyah, I went to QFC for the only sensible thing I can eat on my new diet – 4 pieces of Baked Chicken I can spread over the next few days as if each piece were itself a giant bucket. On the way I went …
A lovely song and a lively video. Please give it a listen:
When I asked Israel Voice to give BrodieNation Music Festival a shout out up at Nine Mile on Bob Marley‘s birthday he took it a few extra steps. He launched into a completely improvised song from bottom of his huge Rastafarian heart, extolling the virtues and unparalleled greatness of Morgan Henley Epic Summer Party. This is what it looks like …
I just stopped in to see my friend Marilyn’s new location for Cafe Zippy LLC. I worked with her at her last location when I was doing locations for the TV pilot for Tabitha: Witch of the Order. The place is full of smiling faces on a beautiful day hinting at the promises of Spring. Places like …
Yolanda Nicole’s debut EP, HALFMOON has just come out. This work embodies the perfectly imperfect persona of Yolanda Nicole. The tracks are sassy yet sweet, angelic yet dangerous, and beautiful but crude. Yolanda’s powerhouse vocals bring these catchy tunes to life. HALFMOON was composed–Yolanda wrote all of the tracks– in a way to build balance …
My Great Uncle Daniel Santos. He got drunk and started Revolutions. He once yelled at Che and Raoul Castro in close quarters, exclaiming and finger pointing, “You muthaf☆ckaz said you were Revolutionaries, y’all didn’t say you were Communists. F☆ck Y’all. I’m out.” Then he lived to sing about it, because he was their favorite singer. …
I sat down with one of the coolest kids in school, Miss Jordani Sarreal to discuss her Copyright and Publishing workshop coming up Sunday March 11th in Tacoma. I can’t say enough about how important this workshop is to independent musicians today. Nor can I properly convey the street value of Jordani’s wicked set of …
This clip of Dean Martin is amazingly good. If only he was always this funny when drunk. If it’s an act, it’s a great act. Note his outfit: years before Miami Vice he is wearing Don Johnson’s trademark white jacket. Note also Bob Hope’s seeming indignation. It’s hard to say whether Dean was truly in …
I finally know the Truth! My parents got their DNA tests back and through my Mother’s Puerto Rican side I am not just a little bit African, I am a melting pot of many African tribes including Bantu, and portions of what comes up simply as Nigerian, the tribes of Senegal, the Congo, and the …
I just took a break from an assignment from Sick Donkey Records to polish my first draft of lyrics on a song called ‘West Indian Rock’ that I am singing with my great friend Lenni I-Music. He’s pretty much the best pal a guy could have in Jamaica or anywhere, and I really want to figure out a …
On the last day of February I celebrated by seeing England’s folk/punks Skinny Lister at Seattle’s Barboza club. Despite the dreary weather outside, Skinny Lister hit the stage bursting with energy, charisma and downright fun. Every member knows how to rile an audience. Singer Lorna Thomas beguiled everyone with her unadulterated charm. When she wasn’t …
I am going over photos from the ‘Free Your Mind’ video shoot at Hope Gardens & Zoo, Kingston Jamaica. Director of Photography Delroy Ledgister did me such a solid by sliding away with his video shoot’s second camera to get me some much need solo photos. It’s such a beautiful park on a such a perfect looking …
The lovechild of four southeastern Tasmanians; Valkyries combine poetic lyrics alongside beautiful melodies woven through distorted, salacious 70’s-esque guitars. “Serf” is the latest single from the band. Written for the soundtrack of a surf film by auteur Howard Groves, “Serf” is about the highs and lows of being a slave to a lifestyle. It has …
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.
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 …
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 …