02020-03-23 | Uncategorized
The Irish tell the story of a man who arrives at the gates of heaven asking to be let in, and Saint Peter says, “Of course! Just show us your scars.” The man says, “But…I have no scars,” and Saint Peter answers, “What a pity. Was there nothing worth fighting for?”
We musicians are used to fighting. For our livelihoods, for our families, for our hopes and dreams, for our calling. For our profession.
Link
The Irish have a good story for everything. :-)
And right now everyone can relate to these words, not just musicians.
02020-03-22 | Uncategorized
Animated illustrations by cartoonist Toby Morris and microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles explaining the importance of social distancing have gone viral after they were published by a website in New Zealand.
I imagine the East Coast Wave refers to the East Coast of NZ. It’s also exactly like the New Mexico Chin Salute, Jon pointed out. The New Zealand Sign Language, top fat right, is also very cool.
02020-03-21 | Uncategorized
I started to work on new music a while ago. Fortunately I have a studio building near my house so I can work as much as I want to. Every album since ¡Viva! was recorded and mixed here, with the exception of Leaning Into the Night, and every album since La Semana was also mastered here. Three of the albums recorded here were nominated for a Grammy: Opium, One Guitar, and The Scent of Light. For a number of years I haven’t sent albums to the Grammy folks for consideration and I am not part of the organization, so The Scent of Light will be the last nomination.
Since I am a loner not much has changed for me, at least regarding the recording aspect of my work. Normally my life is balanced by going on tour and being around a lot of people for a duration, before returning to my place. That’s not going to happen for a while so I will concentrate on recording.
A new album is still many months away, but skeletons of several new pieces have already taken shape. I was thinking of sharing one such piece with you. Bear in mind that this is a work in progress. I don’t have a title for the album or for this song, but since files and folders require names I called the folder AfroMenco and the song is called Twitch.. I have been listening a lot to Afrobeats music so I combined Afrobeats and Flamenco into a word. A good place to start for this kind of music is the Apple Music Afrobeats Hits Playlist. Maybe I will curate my own playlist and create a link to that…
At this point Twitch consists only of my guitars and Jon’s bass, some palmas, and programmed percussion. Robby hasn’t added his drumming yet. I like the space and do not imagine adding any kind of keyboards… but it’s early days. Let me repeat: this is a work in progress, an advanced sketch, and it may change a lot during the coming weeks and months… but that’s also the fun part, isn’t it… looking behind the curtain and seeing the evolution.
May this music make you smile and, perhaps, make you dance (or Twitch) in your kitchen or living room. Here is the LINK to Twitch. Be safe.
02020-03-19 | Uncategorized
Supporting Artists During the Covid-19 Pandemic | Bandcamp Daily:
To raise even more awareness around the pandemic’s impact on musicians everywhere, we’re waiving our revenue share on sales this Friday, March 20 (from midnight to midnight Pacific Time), and rallying the Bandcamp community to put much needed money directly into artists’ pockets.
If you bookmarked some music to buy later… tomorrow Bandcamp will waive their share from each sale, which means that all of the money goes to the musicians.
02020-03-18 | Uncategorized
Watch Fantastic Fungi Online | Vimeo On Demand on Vimeo
and
The Ultimate Guide to Microdosing Mushrooms (Backed By Research)
Eminent psychedelic researchers have also found largely positive effects of psilocybin mushrooms on mood disorders and anxiety.
In fact, The Beckley Foundation is spearheading the push for the legalization of psilocybin mushrooms, backed by long-term positive effects found in their research conducted on treatment-resistant depression patients. Recently, Oakland, California decriminalized all plant medicines including psilocybin mushrooms, a move that followed Denver Colorado’s successful referendum to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms.
