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Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Don’t Take Me Alive

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , on April 19, 2020| 5 Comments »

Steely Dan is one of those musical acts that has been around for so long that you kind of lose track of them, take them for granted or just plain forget about what they’ve done in the past. I know that’s the case for me. And inevitably, when I stumble back on them unexpectedly, I am reminded of how much their music was a part of my own past. I find myself singing along easily to songs I haven’t heard in years– no, decades.

They are always just plain good. Great musicianship, smart lyrics and strong hooks that pull you in. I always find myself asking how I don’t listen to them so much more than I do.

If you don’t know, Steely Dan consisted of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. In the 70’s they used a cast of incredible studio musicians– guitar great  Larry Carlton was a frequent player with them. Steely Dan was a very enigmatic group that achieved huge successes from both commercial and critical standpoints throughout the 70’s even though they retired from playing live in 1974. They broke up in 1981 then reunited in 1993 and recorded and toured consistently up until Walter Becker’s death in 2017. Fagen continues touring as the sole member of the band.

I loved their work at that time and listened to most of their albums on a consistent basis then. Like I said, I don;t know how they slipped away. Here’s a couple of faves from an album I really enjoyed– and enjoy now, The Royal Scam. Here’s Don’t Take Me Alive and Kid Charlemagne.

Have a good day, okay?

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I Contain Multitudes

Posted in Music, Painting, Poetry, tagged , , , , , , , on April 18, 2020| Leave a Comment »

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Walt Whitman: Song of Myself, Part 51

 

The past and present wilt—I have fill’d them, emptied them.

And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.

Listener up there! what have you to confide to me?

Look in my face while I snuff the sidle of evening,

(Talk honestly, no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute longer.)

Do I contradict myself?

Very well then I contradict myself,

(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

I concentrate toward them that are nigh, I wait on the door-slab.

Who has done his day’s work? who will soonest be through with his supper?

Who wishes to walk with me?

Will you speak before I am gone? will you prove already too late?

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Bob Dylan unveiled another new song a few days ago, a follow up to his 17 minute epic, Murder Most Foul. Its title, I Contain Multitudes, references a line from Song of Myself from Walt Whitman. It’s a line that I have used in the past, most notably last year as the basis for my series of face paintings, Multitudes.

The piece from that series, shown here on the right, is what I would consider the title piece for the series, bearing the title Multitudes. I see the faces in these pieces as being parts of me, small parts that make up a greater whole. Just as the masses of people that make up a nation, it is always filed with paradox and contradiction.

The good and the bad. The wise and the foolish. The happy and the sad. The humble and the greedy. The careful and the careless.

You try to focus on the better parts with the hope that is the part that people identify with you. But like a vast nation, you can never know which part of you is  perceived as your true self by others.

So, there you are, containing multitudes that contradict one another from moment to moment, trying to put on your best face. It’s all you can do.

Here’s Dylan’s new song. Give a listen and put your best face forward today, if you can.

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All These Things That I’ve Done

Posted in Advice, Current Events, Music, tagged , on April 15, 2020| 2 Comments »

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Another head aches, another heart breaks
I am so much older than I can take
And my affection, well it comes and goes
I need direction to perfection, no no no no, help me out
Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don’t you put me on the backburner
You know you got to help me out, yeah

–The Killers, All These Things That I’ve Done

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Lots of pain and anxiety in the world right now. Sometimes, in times like this, we go into survival mode and focus solely on our own needs. That’s only natural. But at those times, we often see only our own fears and pain– as we perceive them– and then fail to recognize the very real suffering taking place around us.

And there is plenty of suffering taking place.

The families and friends of the 30,000 killed by this virus — actually, probably a much higher number if you account for those who have most likely died from the virus but were never tested and therefore, not counted– can attest to the sorrow and suffering. Then you factor in those folks who have lost jobs and insurances and are now homebound, unable to go out into the world and fend for themselves and their families. The pressure from the anxiety of finding enough food and paying the rent and enough of their other bills to keep the lights and heat on is enormous for these folks. And I am not even mentioning the idea of having to to comfort and school their kids.

Makes my own anxieties seem small and petty.

So, take care of yourself, okay? But don’t block out these others, don’t downplay their suffering, please. Try to reach out in some way, extend a helping hand. It could make all the difference for somebody.

And for yourself.

Here’s a favorite song,  All These Things That I’ve Done, from The Killers. It’s one of those songs that make me feel both large and small at the same time. I prefer feeling large but sometimes it takes feeling small to set me into motion, to move beyond myself.

Have a good day. Do something good for someone today.

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Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Posted in Current Events, Music, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , on April 14, 2020| 1 Comment »

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My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Till then I walk alone

— Green Day, Boulevard of Broken Dreams

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At the top is another piece from my Social Distancing show at the Principle Gallery, tentatively scheduled for early June. This painting is called Shelter in Place. The interesting thing about this group of paintings of empty city streets is that most of them were completed well before the imposed isolation began. But the situation has certainly caught up with these pieces.

The scenes of empty streets from around the world that we have seen on our screens in the past month are often haunting. They really capture the feel of this crisis, especially the day to day rhythms of life.

Or lack of rhythm.

I know that this is my biggest takeaway thus far.

I say that this isolation is neither nothing new or daunting for me, as an artist and as someone who would rather be alone for the most part. I have spent over two decades happily alone in my studio. There’s a certain rhythm that I find in this solitude, one that is comforting and nurturing to the creative process.

But that is the rhythm of a self-imposed isolation, more like the feeling of a hermitage or retreat. This feels different. It is more claustrophobic, more imposed from the outside.

More like solitary confinement. The hermit’s cell might not be much different than the cell of a prisoner in solitary in size and adornment but the feel one has in each is distinctly different.

The hermit chooses to be cloistered there and finds ample space in that small cell to wander and explore the vastness of the mind. The prisoner’s experience is set upon them and the closeness of the cell becomes even smaller, more confined. Even the mind seems walled in.

The same setting but with two different situations and two decidedly different rhythms of being.

The current situation of shelter in place seems like an odd mixture of the two, sowing confusion in my role as either hermit or prisoner, which most definitely throws my rhythms out of whack. There are moments of productive peacefulness followed quickly by a high level of anxiety that leaves me listless, almost frozen in place.

Oh, how I long for my hermit’s rhythm to be completely restored…

Anyway, here’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams from Green Day. Seems to match up with the painting.

Hope you find your rhythm. Have a good day.

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Jesus, The Missing Years

Posted in Early Paintings, Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , , on April 12, 2020| 2 Comments »

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Charley bought some popcorn
Billy bought a car
Someone almost bought the farm
But they didn’t go that far
Things shut down at midnight
At least around here they do
Cause we all reside down the block
Inside at ….23 Skidoo.

–John Prine, Jesus, The Missing Years

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Though I am not what you would call a religious person, I do love good gospel music and am often moved by it. Usually, on Easter, I use the occasion to highlight this powerful music. I’ve highlighted the music of the great Mahalia Jackson and Sam Cooke‘s incredible work with the Soul Stirrers before he became the pop legend we all now know.

But on this Easter Sunday, as a small homage to the death of John Prine, I thought I’d play his song Jesus, The Missing Years. It’s not gospel but is a beautiful example of his humor and songwriting skills. I am using a live version because the intro to the song makes me chuckle. The song was originally from his 1991 album, The Missing Years, which is a favorite of mine with many memorable songs. I am going to throw another one in at the bottom.

The painting at the top also makes me chuckle and it’s sort of Easter related. I remember painting it about 25 years ago. The color in the sky got away from me and skewed a lot more pink than I liked. It just felt so wrong and when I looked at it all I could see was a pastel Easter egg. It kind of miffed me a bit and I scrawled the title under it that lives with me to this day–Its Easter! So Kiss My Ass.

As I said, I am not a particularly religious guy. I did, however, crop that part out of the image above.

This painting, a small one, never left my studio, of course. But I still like to pull it out once in a while. I have a laugh every time I do and it has actually grown on me. The pink of the sky doesn’t feel like such an egregious violation now. It’s a lovely little piece that I now find soothing when I look past that memory and title.

I wish you a nice Easter Sunday, if that is part of your faith.

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Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out With Me

Posted in Current Events, Music, tagged , , , on April 11, 2020| 2 Comments »

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The whole thing’s coming down so let’s just get out of the way
Well I’m not paranoid there is no conspiracy
But I swear Big Brother’s watching me
Turn on, tune in, drop out, give up with me

–Cracker, Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out With Me

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As much as I try to avoid the news lately, it seems to somehow find its way to me. Oh, there is an occasional bit of good news such as the amazing drop in carbon emissions around the globe caused by the world basically taking a nice long break. Air quality in cities that have long been recognized among the most polluted in the world are now at levels that are considered very good. In cities in northern India, the clear air has given them views of the looming Himalayas that haven’t been seen in a purported 30 years. City dwellers in these same cities are reporting that they are seeing the stars at night, something some claim to have never seen.

That’s a hopeful sign that the earth will quickly repair itself after we sloppy human pests vacate the premises.

Unfortunately, it seems like Mother Nature is urging us to leave a little quicker than we humans would like. Not only are we facing the horrors of covid-19, which tragically caused at least 2000 deaths yesterday here in the USA, I awoke to find that the Krakatoa volcano is erupting and that a highly virulent strain of bird flu has broken out on the turkey farms of South Carolina.

I had to turn off the news, fearful what new fresh slice of hell the next segment (and Mother Nature) might have in store for me.

Or rather, for us.

So, let’s turn on some appropriate music. A little Cracker performing their Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out With Me. If Ma Nature’s coming for us, maybe I best get out of her way. The figure is the Omega, the last man on earth, and the Red Tree is the Alpha, a symbol of new growth, of rebirth.

The painting at the top is titled From Omega to Alpha and is currently at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.

 

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The Dead Sea

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , on April 9, 2020| Leave a Comment »

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Like the dead sea
You told me I was like the dead sea
You’ll never sink when you are with me
Oh, lord, I’m your dead sea

–Dead Sea, The Lumineers

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Don’t have much to say today.

Oh, I have plenty to say. Just don’t want to say it and am pretty sure you don’t want to hear it.

So, I was looking at some paintings that are still out in the galleries that I could feature here and came across the piece above, Soul Boat. It’s from last year’s Multitudes series and is now at the Principle Gallery. There’s a certain clarity in it that I like but can’t clearly define.

After taking some time this morning to study it to see what that might be, I tried to find a song that might pair well with it. Of course, the first thing that jumped to mind were songs with titles like Ship of Fools. It’s a title used by many artists over the years and there were a lot of good choices from the Grateful Dead to Robert Plant to the Doors or a great piece of 80’s music from World Party that I featured here before. Then there was Nick Cave‘s brilliant Ship Song.

All of them would have worked perfectly well. Probably better than the song I ended up choosing but this morning, this song from The Lumineers jumped out at me. Plus I liked the video. Here’s their song The Dead Sea.

It might not be the perfect companion for this painting but who cares? They can coexist together on this page.

Give a listen and have as good a day as you can.

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He Was in Heaven Before He Died

Posted in Current Events, Music, Quote, tagged , , , on April 8, 2020| 3 Comments »

Saddened this morning to hear that singer/songwriter John Prine died yesterday from the coronavirus at the age of 73.

As I’ve noted here in the past, I have been a big fan for nearly a half century and many of his songs are so deeply embedded in my psyche that they are often the accompanying soundtrack to many of the events in my life. His songs were witty and wise while often reaching into the deeper parts of the human spirit and emotion.

His is a voice that will be sorely missed especially in these awful days when we are seeking for something that gives us direction or reminds us of our our own humanness. But his legacy is a lifetime of music that will speak for him from beyond the grave.

I wanted to play one of his songs today and there are so many choices that would have been easy to make. Paradise, Angel From Montgomery, Hello in There, That’s The Way the World Goes Round, Sam Stone, and on and on. I wanted something that you might not have heard if you weren’t a fan over the years. My choice was one used here on a post several years back that was concerned with the importance of kindness. It’s title is He Was in Heaven Before He Died.

I am pretty sure John Prine fell into that category.

Give a listen and have yourself some kind of day.

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GC Myers- Raised Up Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you’re already in heaven now.

—Jack Kerouac

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I am not sure what to do with these words from Jack Kerouac but I do like them and think they deserve to be passed along. I am a firm believer of kindness in all forms and believe that it is a pathway to a better life here in this world.

When I was waiting tables I found that my own attitude and demeanor often dictated how others responded to me. If I smiled and acted congenially, more often than not the person I was dealing with responded in the same manner. We are reactionary creatures and we instinctively respond according to the tone we encounter– rudeness with rudeness and anger with anger.

And kindness with kindness.

It’s our choice. If we can fight against our reactionary nature and choose to act and react with kindness, we can shape our world and then perhaps realize that a form of heaven might be within our grasp.

I have never had the faith or certainty of those who believe that there is an actual heaven waiting beyond this world. I would like to but I just don’t have it within me. So, for me, if there is to be a heaven it is something to be sought in the here and now. By that, I mean creating an environment that is honest, kind and gentle.

A life that is peaceful and quiet–that would be heaven to me.

So, when you’re out there today and face rudeness and anger, make the choice to react in a gentler manner and be kind. Your world might be one small step closer to heaven.

This quote reminded me of a song from one of my favorites, John Prine. The title pretty much sums it up: He Was In Heaven Before He Died.

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A Little Darkness on the Edge of Town

Posted in Early Paintings, Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , on April 7, 2020| 2 Comments »

Going forward, I think I am going to designate Tuesday as a No-News-Day. Just turn off the news and the social media. Whatever is there will catch up to me soon enough, that’s for sure. Listen to only music and try to focus on the work at hand.

So, Tuesday’s a No-News-Day.

And if this works out, maybe Wednesday, Thursday and a couple of others will follow.

Probably not Friday though. The masochistic part of me that seems beyond my control wants to go into the weekend at least a little pissed off.

So, I am starting this Tuesday No-News-Day with some comfort music. Well, at least, for me. It’s Darkness on the Edge of Town from the 1978 album of the same name from Bruce Springsteen, which was his long awaited followup to the classic Born to Run.

It was an interesting and dark period for Springsteen in the 3 years or so between the release of Born to Run and the making of Darkness. He had all these accolades for Born to Run which was hailed as an instant classic and seemed to be on top of the world. But he was in the midst of an ugly, protracted lawsuit with his former manager that stripped him of the rights to his music, left him broke and prohibited from recording. He survived by a heavy touring schedule with long epic shows that built up the base of hardcore fans that would support him for the rest of his career. This period of time was reflected in Darkness on the Edge of Town.

There was an HBO documentary from about 10 years ago about making of Darkness on the Edge of Town. In it, Springsteen talked about wanting to create a cinematic feel and sweep with the music, one that evokes a visual image with the sound. Sound pictures, he called them. I understood what he meant by that because I have always viewed my paintings in the reverse of this, as being visual music. As though the message or feel he (and I) wants to get across is caught somewhere in between the two mediums. Or maybe even more than the two.

I believe a lot of artists must see their work as a mixture and synthesis of multiple mediums. I certainly sometimes see my own work in terms of literature or poetry or cinema.

Anyway, this is an easy throwback in time for me. I am coupling it with an older small piece from 2006 that I think fits the song’s feel. This was from a series of small cityscapes that featured the outskirts set against skylines of tall buildings or industrial structures. I loved painting these piece and they still bring me a lot of joy when I revisit them.

Give a listen. Enjoy your own No-News-Day if you can.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg0ekQBmzKs

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Hold On, Hold On

Posted in Biographical, Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , on April 5, 2020| 6 Comments »

I was looking at this painting above this morning, one that resides with me now here in the studio. It’s from back in 2011 and is called Dissolve. It really spoke to me from the moment I realized it was finished and laid down the brush.

It still does.

It’s a simple piece with complex feelings, one that makes me immensely happy and slightly sad at the same time. It’s contented yet wistful and yearning, something mirrored in the beauty and solidity of the fields in the foreground set against the dissolving colors of the sky.

With it’s duality of feelings, it’s a very human piece, I guess. And that bit of humanness is what struck me this morning. While I have alternated between high and low emotions lately, looking at this painting for a bit seemed to modulate all of these feelings.  The lower ebbs are still there but there is a visible counterweight that takes away some of their depth, makes them more tolerable.

This modulating effect might be the most valuable aspect of my work, at least for myself. Without it, everything else that the work provides for me is worthless.

So, this morning I sit with this image in mind and feel… like a human. And, for the most part, that’s a good thing.

Hope you’re feelng human this morning and can find your way, perhaps with a little modulation of your own, to a good day. Here’s a song from one of my favorites, Neko Case, from a 2006 appearance on Conan. Here’s Hold On, Hold On.

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