Looking For Chicken With Teeth

I was sharing the package design for the new Wealthy Orphans album with a couple of friends a little while ago and the one of them asked if I was familiar with the African saying about chicken teeth.  I said no, and he went on to explain that where he grew up in Africa, sometimes they would say, "That will happen when chicken have teeth." This saying would be similar to us saying "when hell freezes over".  Impossible!

I have for many years been slowly building my reputation and career as a visual artist.  This has included art competitions, writing for grants, working with galleries around the country and even a couple museum shows.  I am now 52 years old and have been able to support my family doing this for now many years.  I am thankful for this -- and it has often felt like we are doing the impossible.

In 2005, I released my first music album entitled Seamless Life.  Our family moved to Brooklyn NY that summer and lived there for a year.  I continued to make art, but I also began to seek out ways to get my new CD heard -- as well as find opportunities to perform.  I played in coffee shops and the open mic at the Side Walk Cafe.  I did have one gig at the Side Walk Cafe, the birth place of the Anti Folk movement, where I played to 5 people on an early Sunday evening -- and one show at the now defunct CBGBs Gallery stage.  Even though I didn't get very far, I had begun, and I was learning.

It is seven years since the release of that first CD and I now have a band (we call ourselves the Wealthy Orphans) - which is two years old. We have our first new album as a band, entitled Throwing Glory (Which is a phrase that is lifted from the French lyrics of the Talking Heads song Pyscho Killer) online now. With A Little Piece Of The Pie, this makes my third album to date.  There have been a lot of new developments in the ways we can access music in these last seven years -- and it continues to evolve every day.

Trying to build a profile as a professional musician at this stage of my life sometimes feels like looking for a chicken that has teeth. Building a new career along side an existing one -- and keeping both potent, also feels like an adventure of constant learning.  Who could want for more?  One of my favorite quotes by Picasso is; “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”  I love that attitude and want to make it my own.

Paving The Streets With Gold One Song At A Time

I had the honor of playing a show with J Kutcham and the five fifths for the BLOOMFerments fundraiser. The first thing I noticed about Jay was his gold boots that he had recently spray painted. The second thing was that he was wearing spurs.  I am not sure the last time I saw a man wearing spurs here in town.  Jay began his set with three songs solo before he brought out the band.  He stomped time with those boots and the spurs added a subtle jingle to the rhythm.

Jay is a great story teller who writes songs that feel Americana with a strong punk edge and a hope for salvation in the rubble.  This is a man who still believes in the power of song to lift his listeners into the astral plane.  His heart felt delivery and boot stomping passion did just that last night for all those bellies full of probiotics sitting on the lawn with paper plates in hand.

Check out our new record!  Now on line here.

Working On Throwing Glory

 

This is where we are in the design of the new Wealthy Orphans album titled Throwing Glory.  These are woodblock images that are first developed with pencil sketches and then transferred to pieces of cherry wood which are then carved into the surface of the wood.  The next step is printing on to paper which is done by rolling ink on to the surface of the carved wood block, carefully laying a trimmed piece of paper down and then burnishing the paper that is laying on the inked block being careful not to allow the paper to shift in the process which would ruin the print.  The paper is removed and then allowed to dry.  This process of reproducing images is thousands of years old and done in the same way it has always been done.

Taking the time to make an elaborate hand crafted CD package design in an era of free music down loads becomes a potent statement and labor of love.  We want to send out something beautiful and valuable out into the world and this is what we are in the process of doing to our best ability.

Seamless Life

This is Rick Devon getting in close with his beautiful wife Stacey.  Rick and I have been friends and musical collaborators for many years now. Beside being a very talented musician himself he is the main driver behind the successful advertising and design firm GreyMatter Group.  Rick was a huge part of my first CD project titled Seamless Life and my second effort Little Piece of the Pie.  I share the song Seamless Life here for you to give a listen.

Listening Power

illustration from InvisibleElement

I purchased a nice pair of headphones the other day on line.  They shipped to our house yesterday and I am stunned by what I can now hear.  It is almost like when I was thirteen and got my first pair of glasses and could actually see clearly for the first time.  I listened to some of my favorite music and was hearing things that I had never heard before. I heard the various instruments go from one ear to the other. I could hear details and nuance that may have been completely lost otherwise.

I am not the kind of guy that typically gets into a lot of gear so spending just under a $100 for a pair of headphones felt pretty extravagant.  What I have are a pair of Red Wave Numark headphones that are often the choice for professional DJs. I am telling myself this is my fathers day present to myself.