allherealltogether

 So it's been quite a year since my last post. I joined good flying birds, moved to indianapolis, became a pacer's fan, lived up the summer, and toured a LOT. It's been an amazing time. Sadly, I decided to leave GFB amidst all of this awesome stuff because turns out I don't have the money or energy to tour as much as that band deserves. It will always be a special time for me. Now the goal is to get a job with benefits and start saving for the future. In the mean time, I'm always going to be making folk music(and even touring just not for long periods of time and not as often.) I'm playing in two punk bands called Apyr and Gnarled Image as well. I lost my phone in nyc and have been slow to getting back on the grid other than on facebook HA but gonna be back on the grid soon.  I released some stuff on bandcamp that I've been sitting on to both put more music out in the world and also to let my friends who follow me on bandcamp know I am alive. these are two s...

Two days ago I got back from spending a week in Indianapolis. I went to play bass in Good Flying Birds for a weekend of shows, and then they asked me to play in the band permanently. Feels great to play fast indie pop on bass, especially with such a talented group of players. We played Chicago and Indianapolis. Both shows were kick ass. Our show in Chicago was in a motorcycle shop. And the Indy show was a house show. In Chicago, we had some Van trouble with the “Hoosier mama”. So a lot of wondering if we’d make it back to Indy in time.  Due to the snow storm in St. Louis I had to wait a few days to go home. So I kicked it hard. Watched a lot of movies, went sledding, almost got a turkey while bowling, made chili with a big group of friends, and heard slots of cool music. My friend Susie has a sick old Cadillac we were riding around in. The whole time she was blasting the best of The Beach Boys tape.

Been listening to OM a bit while visiting my family in Alabama. I can’t pretend like I’m super eloquent these days, and certainly talking about spirituality can be polarizing for people. Personally, I’m not really sold on any dogma or spiritual doctrine. I think Zen makes the most sense to me. OM kind of hits this niche of feeling grounding and meditative. OM is one of those all paths lead to heaven musical projects.  Gethsemane off of Advaitic Songs  has been stuck in my head a lot. The lyrics are so heady. Ezekiel saw the wheel The lyrics draw from different traditions, and specifically instances where an individual was faced with the power of the “divine”. The story of Ezekiel seeing “the wheel” that was surrounded by Cheribum is really intriguing. The song takes its name from the story of Jesus at Gethsemane looking for guidance of God before being betrayed by Judas. There, he was reminded of his own powerlessness and accepts his fate. I’m not a Christian, I do like a lot ...

Home for the holidays in Alabama. I’m one of those people that loves Christmas, the merriment, the cheer, seeing olds friends, spending time with family you don’t see; it’s pretty nice. Christmas music goes hard I’m a truther, okay? One of the staples in my family’s Christmas soundtrack is the “Christmas Album” by Jim Nabors. Jim (who grew up in Sylacauga, Alabama) was Gomer Pyle in The Andy Griffith Show. That show is my mom’s favorite, and the way that Jim Nabors’ “Christmas Album” holds a grip on my mom is wild. I HATED this album growing up, Jim Nabors has this huge voice, almost opera like? It’s honestly super impressive but as a kid I thought it was horrible. And the music has that cheap KPM records orchestral sound that is so good. Really creeping into elevator music territory here and I love it. Perhaps now im more sentimental, or my music taste is worse(not a lot offends me sonically anymore) but i love this album. It’s funny, it’s euphoric, it’s hard to listen to it and not g...

Went to the DMV today and wanted to incinerate the whole building. I may be nice but whenever I go to the DMV I turn into the crankiest version of myself, it’s like trying not to road rage inside a building. Anyway, I came home and blasted this to feel better.  My favorite era of hardcore has gotta be the early 2000s punk hardcore era. Tear it up, bones brigade, even the lockin out stuff, but for me the greatest album of this ilk has got to be Cut the Shit’s “Harmed and Dangerous”. Anthemic and juvenile and high speed. Outrageous spit at your hater lyrics. Bluesy guitar solos and the best energy. Best three opening songs of really any album.  I love punk played by dickhead hardcore kids  Im still harmed and fucking dangerous  

Not much to say, one of the most important albums ever. Sounds like a bubbling pool of saxophones that shoots up geysers of screaming solos. I used to throw this on when I would open the coffee shop because I know my manager was sleeping upstairs and it was time to wake up! Ascension