Juneteenth III: Music

Got a lot to say this time around, so I've separated it into three 'blog posts: life, politics, and music. This is the music edition.

A new version of "Dangerous Babies" might be a great idea depending on how things turn out in November. I've been doing more work on the album, I'll Live, which I now intend to release in late summer or early fall. Still a little bit of recording to be done, but I'm happy with the way the songs have turned out thus far, and I really like my rendition of Greta's Unmentionables' "The Bite." Take a listen to parts of this song and three others below, if you like.




Maybe "The Bite" will have to be the single off the album, assuming I decide to release one. Heh. I like that it still sounds recognizably like the song I've worked out with Jon, Anthony, and Mike, but it's definitely got my own vibe to it. I also like that there'll be a GU song and a Not An Exit song (y'know, the eponymous one). If the Hellevators had ever written anything original (had we been capable of writing anything original), maybe I could've thrown that on there, too... The Unmentionables need to get ourselves back to the studio, to jam again but also to record some demos of "The Bite" and the few others we've been working out. And to come up with more! I'd love to do some gigs with Greta's Unmentionables.

I have no intention of changing my plans for I'll Live by writing any new political songs for it, but "Dangerous Babies" is relevant at any time, regardless of who's in the White House or Congress (I think). Ditto for "Human Thing." I do need to finish writing the lyrics to "They Might Be Roses," and then get it recorded. I think the last of the recording for the album should be done within the next month. I'm looking forward to being done with the process as much as I am to having a new album. As I've said before, I think I may retire the idea of recording full-length albums after this, and just put out the occasional single or EP if new music comes to me...

Although I may do a shorter album (or longer EP) towards the end of this year or the start of the next, featuring stripped down and/or remixed versions of some of the I'll Live songs. That'd give me the opportunity to revamp "Dangerous Babies" for the next occupant of the Ova Office. Heh. We'll see. As always, please feel free to comment on anything or everything.

I need a vacation.

I really, really need a vacation. Fortunately, I'll soon be taking something for that: a vacation. This Saturday, I'm flying to Fort Lauderdale, and spending half a week with my cousins and half a week with my friends. It will be great to see them all, and it will be wonderful to feel Florida weather. I think I'll be dragging the Traveler guitar along, too.

Not that I haven't been keeping busy as the New Jersey winter lingered on and on this March... I saw Tania Stavreva and some of her piano students play at Steinway Hall; enjoyed Stephanie's last performance with the Dessoff Choirs at Symphony Space; laughed and reminisced as Serious Pilgrim's Martin Rivas, Pete Bavaro, and Tom McGivney performed together in public for the first time in nearly two decades at Rockwood Music Hall; watched the off-Broadway show "Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe" with Laryssa; and did a bit of birdwatching in the Meadowlands with Barbara.

I've also been working on some music. While Greta's Unmentionables has yet to get to Hellhound Studios this year, Jon and I did start piecing together a new Not An Exit song, "No Looking Back," and I've recorded about half of my own tune, "I'll Live," written in 2006 but only just coming to life now.

I've been preparing to overhaul the Web site, too. The last major renovation to AndersenSilva.com left it only slightly clunky, but also partially broken, and there was some content (like all the old Vitriol columns and the Frequently Asked Questions) that was left by the wayside; I plan to restore that. I'm bringing back a cleaner, simpler interface, trimming some fat, adding a few old short stories and poems I've recently rediscovered, and slowly but surely getting thousands more pictures added (though that process won't be done anytime soon).

I've also found two stories I'd started writing years ago, that I would like to complete, and then there's my unfinished NaNoWriMo novels, and ideas for a new short story and a new poem I came up with last month... A light bulb went off over my head this morning. I'd thought the left bulb above the medicine cabinet had burned out two weeks ago, and I just haven't gotten around to replacing it, but it seems to be OK again now.

Hopefully, the new site will be up by the end of the month, but for now you can get a taste at http://www.andersensilva.com/music.html; only the Gallery... of Death! menu links are live for the moment. Please let me know what you think, and I'll see you after I've absorbed some Florida sun! That reminds me, I need to start packing...

Swingin' in the Park

A month and a half ago, I dusted off my righteous rage, put on the activist armband again, and joined the Nightwatchman and the Occupy Guitarmy in a march and some music in midtown Manhattan on May Day. The rest of the month involved quite a bit of marching, too, including a trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, two weddings, Mother's Day visits to both my mom and Laura's, and a rare Not An Exit jam/recording session with Jon Wardell.

Jon and Andy: this is Not An Exit!

At the beginning of this month, I stood by and watched Laura march instead.  Well, actually, I watched her run, in a 5K race, her first, and I was incredibly proud of her.  She's planning on doing the 2013 New York City Marathon, and I'll be there to watch her, too!  Last week, however, I slowed things down a bit, and the two of us headed to a Victorian bed and breakfast, the Hewitt Wellington, down the shore (yes, we say "down the shore" in Jersey) in Spring Lake for an overnight stay. There was a brief period of rain, much of which we escaped by ducking into a wine shop, but the weather was otherwise wonderful, as were both the lake and the beach, and we even got to commune with the squirrels (and ducks) and swing in the park, though it wasn't after dark. We had an amazing if puzzling dinner Thursday night at Café Artiste; we were never given menus or asked for our orders, and by the time we'd figured out that the chicken special mentioned outside was the only meal available, we'd already been served bread, lentil soup, and salad. After sausage and peppers and a side dish of peas, we finally got to the chicken dish, which certainly lived up to the hype by Cosimo, as did the incredible peach pie we barely managed to tuck away, too.  Dessert was plainly not optional, and I for one didn't mind.

I brought my acoustic/electric along, too, and Laura snapped some nice shots as I played a little on the beach early Friday morning. (Speaking of pictures, I know I haven't updated the Gallery... of Death! at all this year.  Since Apple is doing away with iWeb, I'm thinking of migrating my photos to Picasa and redoing the Gallery from there instead of iPhoto/iWeb; I just need to get around to doing it.)  She found a sand dollar among the tide's remains, which was a nice surprise, and we got quite a lot of walking done.  I know we did, because I finally have a Jawbone Up that seems to be lasting!  I got this one (I think it was the sixth replacement since Christmas, though honestly I've lost track) on May 2nd, and it's still going strong.  The longest that any of the others went before dying on me was three weeks, and that was the original one Laura bought me.  At least Jawbone's customer support has been very good about it, and each replacement was sent to me at no charge, not even shipping.  If this one goes the distance, I will be very happy indeed.

On the Beach at Spring Lake

A week from today, I'm lugging the Danelectro to Jackson Square at Greenwich and Eighth Avenues in Manhattan to play some tunes outdoors at 2 PM for this year's Make Music New York.  It's free, as are the hundreds of other performances taking place around New York all day, so you should come get an earful if you can!  I'm planning to add my newest song, "So Much Happy," to the set, and there's a new T-shirt design available ay my CafePress shop if you're interested; for the new free buttons and/or guitar picks, you'll have to come to the show.  ;-)  The shirts feature my two main axes on the front and Slime's Doug the Slug, plus his hedgehog and penguin buddies, on the back (thanks, Laura!).  You know you want one...

Some days, trying to find time for everything (including updating my personal social media accounts and 'blog - and now I'm adding RebelMouse, too?!? - in addition to the "music" and Slime social media accounts; writing the dialog, and scanning and prepping the artwork, for Slime; making the occasional YouTube video; playing guitar; and of course waiting hand and foot on the Chinchilla Princess, Meguilla) after spending a workday on Microwize Technology's user forum, 'blog, and to a lesser extent its social media and clients' data issues can feel overwhelming.  I need to record a medley of the Police's "Too Much Information" and Living Colour's "Information Overload" as my theme song... but where would I find the time?  Heh.  Then again, the minuscule interaction my "music fans" (102 on Facebook, 90 on ReverbNation, and 294 (!) on Jango, allegedly) provide can feel underwhelming; I still haven't gotten any responses to my query as to which artist(s) I sound like or remind listeners of, and I'm not holding out hope for many people I know showing up at Jackson Square next week, though of course my honey will be there supporting me.  Still, in spite of dwindling time resources and limited active interest on the part of the general public, I'm not ready to give it all up and live a "normal" life.  I want to revamp my Web sites, I want to come up with more creative outlets for the Slime characters, and certainly I want to write new music ("They Might Be Roses" is brewing in my head, and maybe I'll finally pen a song about the experience of playing live, for real people) as well as record some already-written songs that haven't been laid down yet ("I'll Live," "When Giant Giants Attack!" and "Occasionally Tormented Soul," I'm looking at you in particular).  I want to spend more time trying to interest people in that music, for while I'm neither trying nor expecting to become the "next big thing" in music, I do intend to keep at it, and input and criticism can only help.  I want to keep writing in general, and boy, did this 'blog post turn out to be longer than I'd planned.  I want to stop using so many parentheses and semicolons; no, wait, I don't (I really don't)...  Slouching back on the couch and watching the game and the latest reality show is too easy and not satisfying at all, and besides, there are way too many people doing that already.  Also, I can't really teach Laura to play tennis that way.

After all...  Better that your life be a blur than a blurb.  Happy Flag Day!  Got somethin' to say about any or all of this verbosity?  Leave a comment, then!