the ONE thing I failed to do in Portland...

was music. playing, seeing, listening (well, does the radio count?)

Portland, Maine is an amazing little city. I counted 8 restaurants on one block more than once. And every one of those gastronomic temples were full or close to full on a windy, freezing, windy, cold, windy (did I say windy?) Saturday night.

I had amazing oysters at J's Oysters (thank you, Tony Bourdain for pointing us in that direction) and some fantastic Portland Beer, pan seared gnocchi that ruled and probably too much Cabernet which led to the lack of music (Robert Randolph and the Family Band were playing around the corner from our hotel but between the wine and the exhaustion I just passed out)...

I have always thought of myself as many things. The ONE thing that I'm almost...embarrassed? nervous? to tell people I am is a musician. I play music. I write music. I sing music. By all intents and purposes I should be firm and resolute in my "I'm a musician"-ness. For whatever reason - I don't pay my bills with it, I am still trudging through "paying my dues" at the tender age of almost 35, the songs are sometimes too personal - I shy away from telling people what I do. At a recent doctor's appointment, when he asked "what do you do for hobbies" I said "whatever my kids like to do" and it dawned on me 20 minutes after leaving the office that I should have said "play guitar" "music" or whatever.

I'm going to try to...no. I'm GOING TO say it more often. Maybe I can convince myself a little better.

So if you see me falter or hesitate, tell me it's ok, ok? :-)

Her Majesty Cry - the Valentine's Day Version

So some of you may know this song, Her Majesty Cry. Here is a live, special for Valentine's Day version.

 

You see, the song is about the love story of Orpheus and Eurydice - tortured Greek lovers, separated from each other by death and attempted to reunite by music, and failed miserably by...well, you'll have to listen to my "LOVE AND HATE" rant at the end of the song won't you? :-P

  
Download now or listen on posterous

HMC_Valentines_Edition.mp3 (7414 KB)

and if you want to buy the cleaned-up studio version, you can get it here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/her-majesty-cry-single/id412628842

 

Thank you

And have a safe Valentine's Day :-)

 

peace,

Dann

my superbowl prediction

So it occurs to me that there is a big game today. And this big game celebrates, with beer and food and more beer, the wonders of working together, no man for themselves, putting your ego in check and making sure you all do your job for everyone on your team to succeed. And the two teams playing today? One has no OwnER. It is owned by the fans, the citizenry, the true die-hards dedicated to making the team great, not making more money. The other team? One of the few success stories coming out of a once-super-important town, with the blueest collars around, the team NAMED after the people who made the town great.

It also occurs to me that this game is the biggest thing happening in the United States of America today. The America which supposedly idolizes capitalism, has banks that are too-big-to-fail whilst people can't pay their mortgage TO those banks because capitalism said their jobs would be better somewhere else. The America which announces the gambling profits of a few people every day on TV, radio and Internet at 4pm as "the bell" rings because someone decided that a three-block-avenue in Downtown Manhattan was the most important three blocks in the world. The America which allows segments of its population to think that the only way "out" is to kill - whether it's over drugs in inner-city housing somewhere or over [redacted] in some foreign country that their education failed to teach them how to pronounce.

So, which of these two IS America?

I'd like to think that the second is merely a highjacking (terrorist action?) of a few who will fade away, either from their own doing or because the voting populace will pull the wool off their eyes.

There is a reason the greatest Super Bowl of all time was won with the announcement "requesting to be announced as a team, your AFC Champion New England Patriots" (I may have just gotten chills typing that). Because in February 2002, America needed more than anything to be American. To celebrate being pulled together, to make sure that everyone knew that it was one for all and all for one, no matter who you were, how much money you made or where you came from. Teammates got each other's back, everyone did their job, and everyone enjoyed success.

Here's to a good 24-21 game. Won by a field goal.

Ah February.

so, its Feb 1st, my brother's 32nd birthday.

it's (yet another) snow day - our 4th in the past 2 weeks.

it's also the first day of RPM 2011. AND FAWM. They are 28-day music writing "challenges." I hesitate to call them contests because although there is a bit of friendly competition the ultimate reward is the music itself.

That's an interesting phrase "the music itself."

After 20 years + of writing and performing music (I was 16 when I wrote "Believe" which I still play at shows now), some good, some terrible, some pandering, some way too far out there, some great songs done poorly, some sounding much better in my head than what comes out, some coming out better than perfect, the question arises: why DO I do this? I mean, I'll be 35 this year, and I know that Pat Moynahan from Train didn't get his "break" til about this time but I always was hoping to follow the Bruce Springsteen on-the-cover-of-Time-and-Newsweek-at-26 trail. What I have now is the music itself.

I love playing. I love writing. I love that what comes out of my guitar (and piano!) this week is MUCH better than some of the things I did 15 years ago. I also love getting feedback from people, from people watching, people downloading songs, people listening. It is sometimes frustrating to not have the success I envision in my mind before a show, but I have the music itself.

It relaxes me. It excites me. It's a part of me. It might be a cry for attention. It might be therapeutic. It might be a vice grip on my youth. It might be the most mature thing I have ever done.

So, consequently, I enter this challenge challenging myself. Will something awesome come out of it? yes. If I don't knock Ke$ha out of her coveted spot(s!) on the iTunes top 100, I will be merely mildly disappointed, but more importantly I will have harnessed that creativity and honesty that many people lose when they enter the "grown up" world.

My theme this year? Numbers.