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Setting the Intention… Years ago I was studying under a Yaqui Indian elder and he spoke, and speaks, at length about defining our purpose, about setting our intention, establishing our identity and reaffirming it daily, hourly, every minute, and every second. Doing so helps us live our most authentic life. Some do this by quoting chapter and verse. Some meditate and chant mantras. My prayers are carried to heaven by Brian Wilson’s tender falsetto. My intentions are set through poets, songwriters, and novelists. I recently recommitted myself to this essential exercise in the form of a simple playlist during my morning shower. I stagger outRead More →

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It’s the heart that matters most…. In the song “Omaha” from the Counting Crows’ debut album August and Everything Adam Duritz sings “get right to the heart of matters, it’s the heart that matters more.” It’s easy to take that lyric pretty much as written: it is the heart, of any given issue or idea, that matters more than whatever window dressing or bullshit going on around it. This past Sunday, July 22nd, the band performed at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands, TX just north of Houston. I was there with my best friend…as has become a bit of a tradition over theRead More →

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Mountains and Glass This past Saturday the 14th brought The Glass back to the stage to honor and perform the music of Soda Stereo, the great Argentinean rock group that has influenced more bands than anyone realizes.  But more important than it being another performance by one of Houston’s best bands sharing a bill with other fantastic artists, was the reason for their gathering. It was a benefit show raising funds to help reunite families that have been separated at border crossings. As a friend put it, the evening was “our chance, however small it is, to try to move toward dignity and justice.” TheyRead More →

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Let’s talk about wireless headphones today! The persistent tinnitus and everything that goes with it led me on a search to find adequate headphones and earbuds with noise-cancelling features. I use them to block out and dull ambient sound while listening to masking tracks, different color noises, and music. They help with reducing and regulating the volume around me because sudden spikes in volume, loud noises, or lots of simultaneous conversations and clatter cause The Ringing to get worse which brings with it pain, migraines, anxiety, and vertigo. At this point, in addition to so many different medications, supplements, alternative treatments, and so many doctorsRead More →

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The Sticks! So a few months back a friend of mine turned me on to Mother Mother and I’ve written at and spoken at length of my obsession. Well, it seems to have bled over to my 3-year old son Young Master Oliver. No less than a dozen times yesterday alone did I hear “DAD! I want to hear THE STICKS!!!!” And so, as any loving and accommodating father would, call out “Alexa, play the Sticks by Mother Mother.” As soon as the drums come in, Oliver starts stomping his feet and bobbing his head and when we get to the “cause they’re ain’t noRead More →

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Man it’s hot. Seriously, this is bad. I can’t live like this. The “heat index” had us dancing around 108 over the weekend. 108! By comparison, Seattle is endured a high of 72 and will suffer through a week that will see the thermometer hover around 68. On the bright side there are a bunch of fantastic shows coming up. First up MIEARS has a pair of shows to wrap up a month that has seen her take her unique sound to New York and back. June 29th will find her in Austin at Cheer Up Charlies for a bill that also features Memory Keepers,Read More →

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The Beach Boys seem to be summed up in a couple different ways depending on who you’re talking to. There’s the one that dismisses them as so much early 60s surf fluff that lacks any of the depth that fellow California groups like the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, or the Eagles carry and certainly that of the Beatles. For these people I feel almost a sense of pity because they are missing out on so much. There’s another narrative, just as inaccurate, that depicts Brian as a brilliant but drug-addicted songwriter and producer who peaked with Pet Sounds, went nuts during the abandoned Smile sessions andRead More →

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I’m picking up Good Vibrations…. So let’s think of classic, enduring, compelling songs from the rock or pop canon. What comes to mind? “A Day in the Life” by the Beatles is certainly on anyone’s list as would be “the Abbey Road Medley.” Certainly “Bohemian Rhapsody” is heralded for the complex arrangement, ambitious production, and we’ve all heard the legend of there being so many overdubs that the tape became so thin in parts that they could see through it. We can go on with tracks like “Stairway to Heaven” or “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin and so forth. There’s one song thought that I seldomRead More →

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Mornin’! So I saw Paul Simon over the weekend! As far as I’m concerned Paul Simon is on a very short list of the greatest American songwriters…greatest songwriters ever. Being roughly 15 feet away from someone like that is always quite surreal. The show itself was mostly a quiet review of Simon’s incredible songbook. While there were nods given to his 60s work with Art Garfunkel, This show, at least in my eyes, was designed more for fans of “Paul Simon” and not just fans of “Simon and Garfunkel”. The crowd was mixed with at least three four generations of fans in attendance. Many wereRead More →

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So I thought it would be a fun exercise to make a list of “My Beatles Songs”. You know…the songs that really mean something to me, whether because of the lyric or because the song was linked to a specific moment or feeling in time but I gave up a few minutes into the process when by the time Rubber Soul came along I had listed about 90% of preceding albums’ tracks and then instead of just listing songs from Rubber Soul and Revolver I just wrote the album titles. haha No matter how far I stray into more “modern” artists I always come backRead More →