I would like to think that every trip and adventure you take has buried within some sort of insight or lesson that’s applicable to your life. Of course you have to be open to it cause these kinds of things WILL pass you by. It has become apparent to me that I had to travel to the other side of the world to learn two things in particular. I spent this past weekend in a secluded resort in Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains of Australia to take part in the union of two people that are IN LOVE. The ceremony and reception was littered with speeches and tears of love that even if your heart was as black as the night you couldn’t help but well up. There was so much emotion and heartfelt sentiments of love that I could puke. Of course that is my alternative to crying since my heart IS as black as the night, sometimes. Maybe it was because I have been very close to the groom for over 15 years or maybe it was because of my age, but hearing those commitments and watching him tell everyone out loud on a microphone in a banquet room was enough for me to realize that “I STILL don’t know what LOVE is”. No wonder I like that Ray Lamontagne song so much. Lesson #1 check.
MARRIAGE is one of those things that I am sure is wonderful but most of my life I have only heard about how things get complacent and you stop having sex. WTF? So this brought me to my second insight. A Tim Tam is MORE than just a cookie. It took a couple of Australians to teach me that. Evidently, you don’t just put these little delicious cookies in your mouth and eat them. First you bite off 2 opposite corners of the cookie. Then you dip the cookie in milk or tea and suck on one of the corners until the milk enters your mouth.

Finally, with one quick motion, before the liquid falls out of the cookie, you eat the whole damn thing and let the orgasm in your mouth just happen. It is awesome and I don’t even like milk all that much. It is more than just a cookie. Here is to finding out how to bite the corners out of marriage and long-lasting love so that it explodes in your mouth every time.

A friend of mine recently said that 2011 is the year that goes to 11. I believe her. I don’t know if it’s because the world is about to end and we should just crank it up to 11 and fucking rock, or if it’s because I watched the movie Spinal Tap WAY TOO much as a young rocker. Either way things are gonna get loud… REAL loud. Make that mean whatever you want to. Be loud. SO… some really cool things are happening and good music is floating around everywhere. Below I have included some good things to take note of. Also, up and coming for me in the very near future are some cool travel plans- FIRST if you are in the LoS AnGeles area next week come by and listen- I am playing an intimate acoustic performance at Genghis Cohen in West Hollywood. From there I am off to Sydney, Australia. I am planning on playing on the street mostly and capturing that on video. Who knows. Speaking of video I apologize for my slowed pace of YouTube content but I got one for ya… This is a song from one of my favorite records of 2010. The band is called The National the song is called Bloodbuzz Ohio. I was picking on my guitar, fooling around on the Rhodes piano and then developed this version. Hope you enjoy!

I am going to offer a slightly different take on New Year’s this year… Instead of reflecting on the past year, thinking about the ups, the downs, the wacky turns that your life has led, I say forget it. Have a spotless mind as you enter 2011. That’s what I’m doing. Not that 2010 didn’t mean anything cause it did, but I fear we sometimes hold on too long. Yes, it is nice to hold on to things that make you feel good, but if we hold on too tight we might miss more things that could make us feel good, right? For those that are sentimental about things such as New Year’s Eve I apologize. I don’t mean to take the sentiment out of our adherence to the Gregorian calendar we have adopted in the Western World, but at the end of the day (pun intended) we made all this shit up. Seriously, look up calendars in Wikipedia. So as we count down the end of this year CLEAN YOUR SLATE. Make moments that you would want to remember at the end of next year but won’t because they won’t exist anymore, and next year will be another opportunity just like this one is now. What has happened has brought you here, but none of it really matters anymore. BE HERE NOW. This is all you have. Happy New Year.

Ok,
Maybe you will but I want to share it with you anyway. There are only 2.5 things I would like to discuss right now. So it is OK if your attention span is short cause this will be over fast!

1. Recently I was asked to be a part of a new Emerging Artists compilation that will be distributed to colleges across the country. The company is called Go Forth Music and if you click the links you will see me in my studio talking in more details about this… help out if you can it’s all about the music baby!

2. MY BIRTHDAY IS AROUND THE CORNER!!! And that means it is time for a Birthday Extravaganza show/party- Yup. Another year. I am still alive and well. Come celebrate that with me. We will be rockin’ it and partying into the night post show- SAVE THE DATE!!

SATURDAY, DEC 4th Rockwood Music Hall – 7p

.5 – I am still recording my ass off working on a new record… this only gets a .5 of importance because I don’t quite have anything to preview for you guys, but soon… real soon.

Hello and Happy Summer!
Things are getting hot… real hot. First and foremost a big thank you to everyone in Texas who came out and supported. It was great to see everyone and I can’t wait to be back in September… yee haw!! While I was down there I continued working on new songs while getting closer to the finish line for my next record. This week’s video post is another track from the upcoming album. This was filmed with the help of my good friends Mike and Alyssa who made this live performance possible. Shot in one take and completely raw, “Heal” might be one my favorite tunes I’ve written lately. Hope you enjoy!
J