Assignments

Some of you may know that I am also a teacher. Personally, I don't think of this as being entirely separate from playing music, as they are both rooted in the same fundamental desire to spread knowledge, wisdom and empathy to as many people as possible. These are simply different modes for doing so, with different ideas that I seek to convey.

I mention all of this because the songs that I am sharing with you today started as assignments that I gave myself, where I played the role of both teacher and student. 

The first song, Black Ribbon Day, comes from my recent album, Embers (2021). The assignment that I was working from was that I wanted to write a song about a specific historical event, something along the lines of Gordon Lightfoot's Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. However, instead of writing about a cargo ship that sank in Lake Superior, I wrote a song about the day that the citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia declared their independence from the Soviet Union by holding hands between their capital cities. I thought it was a beautiful story that more people should know about, and who doesn't like a little bit of self-taught banjo in their accompaniment tracks?

The second selection that I would like to share is called The Fool, from my 2017 album Good Night, Fahrenheit. The idea here was to write a song where only the voicing changes at the chorus, but the underlying notes remain the same. Basically, I wanted to see if I could write a four chord song and make it interesting. As it started coming together, it sounded more and more like a bitter breakup song, so that's what it became. I would describe it as something that lands in the vast, mostly vacant field between punk, country and space rock, if that makes any sense. Even when I'm working within the parameters of a self-imposed assignment, more often than not, I try to let the song tell me what it's about.  

As was the case with Black Ribbon Day, this next song was also an exception to that particular rule. There are several other tracks I have written over the years that also began as assignments by and for myself, but the last one that I am going to share with you today is called Extra>Ordinary. It comes from my 2019 album, Better Days. With this one, the goal was to write a song that fits into the "small town girl moves away to the big city" subgenre of rock music, but I wanted mine to be a story where things actually work out well for her. Otherwise, that never seems to happen in these songs. To be perfectly honest, I'm not thrilled with the vocals on this one, but I do what I can with what I've got. It's all part of being a DIY musician. 

Enjoy. Share. Go outside. Be thankful for something. That's an assignment. Now get to it. 

Thank you for supporting independent art. 

Post No Bills

You may have noticed that this site is ad-free, as are all of my other blogs. Personally, I am not a fan of advertising and try to avoid it at all costs, including my own financial gain. With that in mind, if you want to support my work, then I encourage you to buy my songs and albums (and books) wherever you get your music. 

That, my friends, is the only advertising that you will ever see on these pages.

Don't get me wrong: streaming is cool and very much appreciated, so please keep listening to and sharing my music. I love that. It is worth noting, however, that streaming services don't pay the artist much of anything, and that's true no matter who you are. 

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Today's songs that I would like to share with you are essentially musical expressions of my overall distaste for the advertising industry and its corrosive effect on culture.  

Living in Oblivion is about the passive consumption of mass media and its byproducts. It comes from my recent album: Embers (2021).

    This is not a drill

    Passivity kills

    Perpetual pursuit of profits

    The side effects are toxic

Fever Dream is about a society that produces consumers and little else. It comes from my second to most recent album: Better Days (2019). 

    This fever dream's not what it seems

    The sweat stings your eyes

    Can't you see?

    It's temporary

    All these things that consume our lives

Thanks for listening to my music and checking out my blog. If you dig what I'm doing, please share it.

The Things We Need

Today's songs that I would like to share with you are all about companionship as a basic human need. To be perfectly honest, I didn't realize how many songs I had written like this until I went to compile them here, but let's just say that this is merely a sample of my work that deals with this particular topic. You can find more songs that explore similar themes among my five self-produced solo albums.

The first song that I am sharing today is called We Are All That We Need. It is the last track on Embers (2021). As of right now, it's one of my favorite songs that I've written -- which, of course, changes periodically. I tend to think of this as my soundtrack to being quarantined. I hope you like it, too. 

    Like the water we drink

    And the air that we breathe

    I do believe...

    We are all that we need

Song number two of today's selections is called Wanderlust, from my 2017 album Weather Patterns. It's basically about recognizing the difference between the things we need and the things we want, and the things that really matter versus those that are ephemeral. 

    Sometimes it's hard to see

    That we've got everything we need...

    Is this love or wanderlust?

The last song that I would like to share with you today follows a similar theme. It's called Go It Alone, and it comes from my 2019 album Better Days. Once again, this song dissects the idea that we don't necessarily need a lot of people in our lives, but it is good to have at least one person with whom to share your days. 

    It's funny how these moments disappear

    So tell me all the things you want to hear

    I will hold you near, I hold you dear...

Enjoy the music. Thanks for listening. If you like what I'm doing, please add my songs to your playlists and share them with others. This is how it spreads.

Thank you for supporting independent art. 

Concealed Glock

When recording music, sometimes I like to sneak certain instruments into the background of a song as a way to fill out the sound spectrum. Several tracks from the three albums that I released in 2017 contain a hidden glockenspiel. Here are two of them:

The first is Cold Blooded, on Good Night, Fahrenheit. This song is about how human beings are fundamentally social animals. Thousands of years ago, we figured out that we're all better off together, but every once in a while, some of us forget that. 

Begin on Weather Patterns follows a similar theme. This song is about the need to see our words with action. It also contains some casual swearing. This is one of my favorite songs to end a set with, as I like to believe that the last line gives the audience something to think about: 

    If we don't take care of each other 

    We've only ourselves left to blame...

Plus I like the irony of the last song in my setlist being called Begin. I'll leave it to you to find the hidden glockenspiel in my other songs. 

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Original Miles has now officially surpassed Black Ribbon Day as my most streamed song on Spotify. Thank you to all of my listeners, with a special thanks to the tastemakers out there who are sharing my music. This is how it spreads, and I love you for it. 

Enjoy the music. Take care of each other. 

It is a Good Friday, Isn't It?

Happy Friday. Today's track that I would like to share with you is called Gravity, from my 2019 album Better Days. I wrote it with other corrupt politicians in mind, but I think that it aptly applies to Matt Gaetz and his accomplices as well: 

    They'd better start bracing for impact

    Because it's a long way down

    Don't think they're going to stay intact

    They'll break when they hit the ground

    And they are going down... like gravity

I always imagined the video for this as an elaborate pseudo-Rube Goldberg device that starts with cell phones falling over like dominoes and ends with a certain narcissistic sociopath behind bars. I'll leave it to you to fill in the middle part. This also happens to be one of my favorite songs to perform. 

(If you like that, here is a playlist of other songs of mine that are political in nature... and if that's not your thing, here's a playlist of pretty songs that I wrote.)

As a bonus track, here's a song that I recorded a couple of weeks ago. It's called The Regular. Basically, I wrote a bar song, even though I haven't stepped foot in a bar in well over a year. Let it be the soundtrack for your Friday evening:

    I am the regular

    Just an ordinary guy   

    Wasting my time

    Got nowhere else to be

    I just stopped in to see

    If I could get my usual, oh, oh... 

Enjoy. Share. Hold your elected officials to higher ethical standards. Stay cool always.