Oh how it's been too long....

Yes it has been damn forever since my last blurb on the Spiralsonic goodness. I'll be honest, in the midst of the craziness of my life I kind of forgot about it. "How could you???" I know...I know...Don't worry. I still love you all. Even though we never talk... 

Jamison- I enjoyed reading your post about finding the balance in life (at least that's what I made of it...) between chaos and order. Or between insanity and sanity. Or between crazy and calm. This is a balance that I struggled with for years. There was a period of time in my life that I really got swallowed up in alot of the negative of the world and I never really took the time out of my day to focus on anything positive. I was too busy thinking about all the trash on the ground, the pollution from the cars, the violence in the world and the ignorance in people's minds. I never looked up and basked in the beauty of a cloudy day or thought about how amazing something as simple as a raindrop can be. I reached a breaking point when I lived in Charleston and it was then that I realized that something had to give. I could not go on living life the way I was living it. It dawned on me that life is not about one extreme or the other. It is not about living in the chaos or the order. It is about living in both at the same time. I know that sounds odd and believe me it's really hard to describe in blog form but if you take a moment and think about the evolution of systems in nature you will find the same thing. Systems emerge in nature out of chaos. Eventually the system becomes so organized that it falls back into chaos and the pattern repeats. You find this in social systems as well as environmental systems. Anyway the point of all of this is that you have to choose your battles, make every day mean something and touch as many people's lives as you can in a positive way. At least that's what works for me. And as far as not having a million things going through your mind at one time, good luck. I think it's called being human.

Keep in mind it isn't all this pretty. On the way home tonight I starting ranting to my car radio as I was listening to NPR. There was no one in the car to rant to so the stereo had to take it. However in the middle of my rant I finally vocalized in an easily tangible form the details of the human cycle that has us enslaved in violence and ignorance since the very beginning. It's simple. It goes like this:

We buy weapons to kill people to take their stuff to make money to buy weapons to kill people to take their stuff to make money to buy weapons to kill people to take their stuff to make money to buy weapons to kill people to take their stuff to make money to buy weapons to kill people to take their stuff to make money to buy weapons to kill people...... 

Hope all is well with all.

-c.

What do you call them... feet?

Here's song no.4 in the collage series. It's a bit of a stab at trying to make dance-able free jazz with some Disney elements. All feedback is welcome.

What do you call them... feet

Also, I think the link will only work for 14 days from now, so get it while the gettin's good!


PS- Yeah, I took it there! ---->

V5

Just wanted to let everyone know that I saw the Vandermark 5 tonight. Ha!

personal issues...

I was wondering if I could seek some council from you guys on an issue I've realized has been somewhat of a problem for many years. Its only recently, with some spiritual "awakenings," have I come to meet it head on:

As you guys probably know, I am scatter-brained, probably ADD (ok, lets be realistic, ADHD) and tend to find myself in the midst of around a dozen different projects, almost exclusively musical in nature. Now, in a lot of ways, I celebrate this part of my personality and M.O. if you will, but as I have been doing a lot more meditating and such, I've come to a serious "question wall."

In many ways, finding a more zen-like state of being seems to be one more relaxed and "slower-paced way." Now, when I reach these states, I definitely get a taste of nirvana, and most assuredly experience bliss. But, my problem is that this is in many ways completely against my nature (fast=paced, all over the place, etc)

So I think I am need of some sort of koan, that perhaps one of you have kept deep in your psyche. How do I accommodate this precarious situation? How can I hold on to the tree-branching style of living while also finding my center?

Granted, I understand this is a personal battle I ultimately have to surmount on my own, but I was curious if you guys have had similar issues. Please feel free to share. This is the internet, for god's sake, and big brother knows all the facts anyway, so why not spout some abstraction for him too!

drumming experiment...

most of you guys know that a) i don't know how to play drums, b) I've always had fun playing drums and c) I want to learn how to play drums. Well, ellen's cousin Rachel and her husband recently acquired Rock Band 2 (i don't really play video games, so its sort o like when your friends have a cool game system and you want to go over to their house and play, haha)

Well, we started hanging out more and thus formed the band "Behold! The Scabbard" which features ellen on vocals (for which she kicks ass) and me on drums. So, after playing this game, I decided to do an experiment: I have probably played real drum set approximately a dozen times in my life, however, I am going to see if I can "learn" to play the drums via Rock Band 2 - now I know some would proclaim an injustice in that surely a stupid video game is absolutely no substitute for the real thing. I couldn't agree more, however,thats not the point. Here are a few arguments for my case.

1) the game is fun as shit - and the 80+ songs are practically all the original recordings (i think)
2) the drum is actually set up rather intelligently with of course a bass pedal for the foot plus 4 drums up high from left: hi-hat, snare, ride/hi tom (depending on song), bass tom. So its pretty logical -
3) when playing on hard and expert levels, they do an amazing job of replicating the actual drum part on the system itself

so, anyway, I might not be able to play this game but once every week or two (if that) so Im dorking out and spending an hour downloading all the songs on the game to listen to and study. yes its highly geeky, but what if somehow, after listening to these songs and playing this game a handful of times, when I sit down to a real drum set, I have new skill sets?!

Wish me luck, ....

p.s. I also think that I've always wanted to be a drummer and this is my silly little way of manifesting that :)

Another!?!?!

Here's the latest installment - the third. I think it's the best yet.

The Third.wav

I'm totally with you Jamison. I love hearing about your latest revelations. It seems like you are constantly having them, you lucky dog! Keep up the good work and keep us updated!

jer to the eremy

pleasant realizations...

... upon discussions with jeremy, i have come to more fully realize my importance as a musician and artist: via many philosophies of Joseph Campbell, I've seen that we have a vital role in helping maintain the ever present "mystery" and help create ever evolving perspectives on our life experiences as humans.... among many other things. I feel like our culture doesn't necessarily remind us of these things, so its important we do so for ourselves

.. . i have been doing a lot more meditating and singing with drones lately, as well as incorporating those into my more frequent yoga routine. I have had some deeply profound experiences which, in all honesty, cannot be done justice with words. suffice it to say, i highly suggest people explore this world more... if you haven't already :)

... I met up with some friends recently who were from out of town. They were into old school country and dancing, so I met them on Broadway, normally a place I avoid like the plague, mainly due to my probably unfairly assessed stereotypes of the kinds of people who hang out there (tourists, rednecks, douchebags, etc) However, the bar we went to had a slammin' band that played everything from texas swing to 50s rock, and many other styles.... really damned well.... and they didnt stop or take breaks... and they were playing for tips (and thus for the love) and there are numerous joints of this nature in Nashville downtown... along with of course a surprisingly varied group of crazy folks which helps the people watching parameter of going out. so.... even though I went to Austin a while back for the first time and said to myself "why cant nashville be more like this place" I am ever so slowly coming to realize the great and unique qualities of nashville. no place is perfect, just like no person is perfect, and coming to know its idiosyncrasies, both inspiring and even annoying, can ultimately be the best path to take

... I've had a number of realizations lately, but I will save them for a time when my hand isn't fucked up from falling down the stairs last night (a near injurious experience, and thus I have a new appreciation for life!.... if living isn't in part the constantly growing love with living, than I don't know what living is about... haha! thanks for being my friends and please feel free to use this blog as a place to smatter your thoughts like neon green spray paint from the vandals fist!

The Follow-Up

Here's a link to the next installment of my DJ career (the follow-up to the Christmas song). It's a love story. xoxo

Love Story.wav