Shelter From The Storm - Bob Dylan

As a bartender once asked a bear in a very bad joke, "Why the big pause(paws)?" I apologize to everybody for the long delay, there are many reasons for this. First off, I just got over two consecutive waves of a nasty laryngitis that kept me from doing a lot of things (one being singing and recording). Secondly, the driving force behind this blog, or at least the wound that this project was meant to salve has become a very insignificant part of my life by now, so I'm currently searching for something else to motivate me. One source could be the music itself, and even if that for some reason doesn't work, it's a hell of a starting point. One thing that did inspire me to get back into this music was a great event in association with the Red Cross that I was asked to play at recently. It was a concert/poetry slam that was aimed at raising money and awareness for aid relief for the people of Haiti (photos from the event can be found here ). When putting a set-list together I immediately thought of this song, not just for the blatant literal meaning of the title but also for the way it conveys the beauty of being able to find solace through the grace of others. Whether it be a devestating natural disaster or a terrible personal dilemma, the greatest relief comes when you look up from the floor you're laying on and see hands reaching out to help you back up.

Unknown Legend - Neil Young

Hello everyone. A little late on this one due to medical complications involving the throat (that's what she said, I know). This week, in search of recuperation as well as familial and platonic birthday love, I made my way up to the great white north to my home town known as Glen Spey, NY. It's been cold, dark and icy here, but I had a wonderful, warm evening with Mom & Pop. On that same night I reconnected with an old friend and was able to play music with him in his all wood studio, which became a second home to me in my final years of high-school (seen here). Being there and playing the songs we did conjured up a whole lot of nostalgia for the area and got me thinking about the people I grew up with. This town, being what it is, tends foster idyllic fantasies of catching greyhound buses and finding lives of action and adventure. Many of these romantic dreams get crushed pretty quickly and more often than not, those kids who went out to find that find themselves back in town to stay living the normal rural/suburban life, for better or worse. What I'm noticing now is that many of my fellow classmates are starting to find themselves in this situation and many are already there, even some people that I once called family. I don't think of it as sad, it's just interesting to see this transformation occur before me. This song by Neil Young which Paul E. Mitchell (the friend I spoke of earlier) does regularly in solo gigs I think sums up this dichotomy between one's dreams and the reality of life better than anything else out there and it also paints a fairly accurate picture of my small town and some of the people who live there. Neil tends to be pretty good at that in general. Oh, and enjoy the banjo and the different background (my childhood home).

Tonight Will Be Fine - Leonard Cohen

Installment numero dos. I knew this song was going to make it on the list at one time or another, so it might as well be now. This is a song written by one of the most poetic songwriters of all time, Leonard Cohen, which has great sentimental value for me. Somehow it seems to resonate in both my times of despair and contentment. I first started really connecting with this tune at a time when I thought I was in love with a woman I knew I could never be with. After much trouble and strife I finally came to my senses and realized that it was all folly derived from my own self doubts and general waywardness at the time. After that, the song found it's rightful place as a sort of tribute or theme for the one true love of my life, the woman who was my life, paying homage both to her and the special bond that we had. Man she loved it when I'd sing this for her. Alas, now my life truly imitates the art, and I find myself in the same situation as our narrator nearly word for word. The song is now a collection of memories of what I had in the life I lived before, compiled into three short verses. If I've got to remember, those are fine memories.

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams

Hello everybody. I felt it would be appropriate to christen the new blog by starting off with a beautiful song written by Hank Williams, a man whose work is cited by all of the songwriters I love as an endless source of inspiration as well as a standard to compare one's work against. Leonard Cohen described him as being "...a hundred floors above [him] in the Tower of Song." He not only showed how to sum up an emotion in the simplest and most economic use of words, but he also showed that Country Western music could be a viable art-form. This song in particular has been sticking with me lately due to my own personal trials, but everybody feels like this at one point or another. This arrangement was inspired by versions by Johnny Cash, Keb-Mo and an amazing rendition I found on Youtube by user Sillykidssongs. Enjoy and tune in next week for more!

PS: Thank you Ashley for inspiring me to make an ass out of myself on cyberspace.