The Bookcase Sessions 04 – Song For Paul Westerberg

Presenting the fourth in my periodic series of live acoustic demos recorded to determine which songs will be given the “album treatment” and appear on my next record, “Keyhole.” You can check out the first three songs as well, “Torn Apart”, “The Worried Days” and “Lily Hand Mantra.”

The purpose of the Bookcase Sessions is to determine which of these twenty five or so songs will make the cut on “Keyhole.” I’m counting on you to help me figure that out by rating, commenting on, favoriting and sharing these videos on YouTube. Please do so for “Song For Paul Westerberg!”

“Song For Paul Westerberg” was written on August 12, 1992.

Again, this little crowdsourced vetting experiment depends on your participation, so please be so kind as to rate and comment on the video at YouTube, and if you really like it, add it to your favorites and share it around.

Selznick Collectibles and Rare Artifacts Up For Auction

It’s a little weird to think that I’ve actually generated things that could be considered collectible or rare at all, but I guess it’s all a matter of perspective… in any event, there are some things I’ve created that some people may consider intrinsically valuable. Two of these things will be available to bid on in a very special auction event on Saturday, February 27th.

The Boom Effect

Over a month ago, I wrote about the sudden, unexpected death of my friend Tee Morris’ wife. Not only did this leave Tee a widow… it also left his very young daughter, who for privacy reasons we all call Sonic Boom, without a mother.

There’s nothing we, as friends, can do to replace the gap in Sonic Boom’s heart left by the loss of her mom. Instead, many of us have banded together to try and make Tee’s daughter’s future a little more bright by raising money for a trust fund in her name. The Boom Effect is an online auction event to that end.

Items From Me Up For Bid In The Boom Effect Auction

I’ve donated two things for the auction block.

Notes and Lyrics Sheets From “Anyman: The John Smith E.P.”

Last year, author J. C. Hutchins and I collaborated on a transmedia promotional project wherein we co-wrote several songs that I performed and recorded “in character” as John Smith, the protagonist from Hutchins’ book “7th Son: Descent.” These songs are now available as “Anyman: The John Smith E.P.” in CD or high quality digital format from Amazon.com, iTunes and other online retailers.

There are twenty sheets, mostly handwritten, of lyrics, notes and brainstorming generated during the months that I took our ideas and turned them into actual songs. J. C. Hutchins and I have autographed each one, and now these original, one-of-a-kind artifacts of the “Anyman” project can be yours… if you place the winning bid on Saturday, February 27, 2010!

Out of Print, Very Rare Original MWS Media Edition of “Brave Men Run – A Novel of the Sovereign Era”

Before Swarm Press came out with the very pretty “small press” edition of my first book, “Brave Men Run – A Novel of the Sovereign Era,” I self-published the paperback in 2005 through my own MWS Media imprint. This version of the book was printed and distributed through Lulu.com and featured the (in)famous orange “homunculus” clip-art cover.

This original edition went out of print forever in July of 2008, and as of this writing a used copy will set you back as much as $180.00 on Amazon.com. For the Boom Effect auction, I’ve donated a brand new copy that I will personalize and autograph for the winning bidder — making this not only a rare book, but a one-of-a-kind collector’s edition, too! Submit the winning bid and make it yours!

Participate In The Boom Effect Auction

The Boom Effect auction takes place on Saturday, February 27, 2010 beginning at 10 AM Eastern Time / 7 AM Pacific Time over streaming video via uStream.tv. Each hour will feature different types of lots — as I write this, there are nearly a hundred different items and services up for bid! For full details, check out the information for bidders. If you don’t think you can make the event itself, you can place proxy bids as late as 10am Eastern Time on the Friday, February 26, 2010.

I’ll be there — I hope you will be, too. It’s a great cause.

Coffeehouse Curmudgeon Comes Around And Comes To You

I used to play a lot of gigs at coffeehouses, cafes, and bars. Me, my voice, my acoustic guitar and a stack of notebooks and loose sheets of lyrics. At one point in the early nineties, I was doing three or four gigs a week, mostly at independent coffeehouses from San Clemente to Long Beach.

When I performed, I worked my ass off. All the same… I was, as the kids today like to say, Doing It Wrong.

Why would I say so? I’ll tell ya.

  • I played mostly originals, which resulted in being ignored or irritating the folks who wanted to hear covers that could soak into one ear and drain out the other while cleanly slipping past their brains.
  • When I did play covers, I didn’t play anything anyone knew. Examples:
    • Instead of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” I’d play his “Powderfinger”
    • Instead of Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” (which I dropped from the repertoire when Guns ‘n’ Roses picked it up) or “Blowin’ In the Wind” I’d play “Positively 4th Street” if I played an Dylan at all. I was more likely to play Leonard Cohen, really… and not (usually) freakin’ “Hallelujah.” “Famous Blue Raincoat,” baby.
    • Acoustic versions of decidedly non-acoustic songs like Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” or Judas Priest’s “Breakin’ the Law.”
    • Likewise unpopular (to most) punk and post-punk tunes from X, the Blasters, the Replacements, Joy Division and so on.
  • I didn’t get paid. Well, almost never. Sometimes it was free coffee and tips… I might leave with fifty bucks; more often I left with less than I brought in and a sore stomach from too much caffeine and not enough food.

Playing in coffeehouses can really, really suck. Sometimes you’re competing with coffee grinders, milk steamers and blenders. Sometimes you’re competing with the clientele: I once pissed off a table of ten people because my being there, sweating and singing my heart out, disturbed the fucking-can-you-believe-it “Magic: The Gathering” card game they were playing. That was extreme. Usually it’s just folks who would rather study or talk to each other than listen to you.

And yet, despite Doing It Wrong, despite the apathetic and sometimes hostile audience… I’m gonna be doing it again. Because I like playing music and it’s been too long since I’ve regularly done so in front of an audience.

Since, as we have established, playing coffeehouses can really, really suck, I plan on offsetting it with shows at your house, because you, dear reader, are, like, the opposite of suck.

Yeah… your house! If you’re within one hundred miles of zip code 92345 and can get me at least a hundred and fifty bucks, I’ll do two forty five minute sets in your living room. I’ll throw in high-quality MP3 downloads of the original music I perform there for every one of your guests who wants to give me an e-mail address.

If your house is farther away from me than one hundred miles, let’s work something out — it’ll probably involve food and lodging and a little more monetary compensation. We can talk about it. Or, for a hundred and fifty bucks, I’ll do a private virtual concert via the Interwebs that will be exclusive to up to twenty people — same deal, MP3s included.

Honestly, though, I’d rather play for you and as many people as you can squeeze into your living room, in person.

So let’s do that!

Meanwhile, tomorrow I’m calling the local coffeehouse about one of those potentially awful gigs because they invited me to do so.

Rawkin’!

Awesome Women Are Awesome

First, A Brief Update

It’s been about two months since my marriage ended in all the ways that matter. It’s been rough, and the complicated, unavoidable and stressful stuff isn’t exactly over. That’s adult swim; so be it. On the other hand, I’m more myself than I’ve been since the turn of the century, and becoming even more me. Believe me, it’s not all bad.

So there’s the capsule update. I’m not here to talk about that, though.

Women Included

All of my adult life, most of my closest friends have been women. For the sake of the two women I married, I let some of those friendships lapse. Some, including a woman I once counted as one of the three great loves of my life, I starved with deliberate neglect or damaged, probably beyond repair. I feel the void left behind.

A lesson I’ve finally learned; something the last twenty years has taught me: I’m not making that sacrifice again. When I eventually enter into a relationship with someone, they’ll have to understand that most of the people in permanent residence in my heart are female, and I’m not asking them to move out. These women are not competition to a new love — on the contrary, their insight and our shared history are part of who I am.

I have been diminished — less my true self — without them in my life.

If you want to know me, future love, you want to know them.

It’s true that my past with most of these women is complex. In almost every case, some degree of physical intimacy is part of our history. Some of us have been through some heavy shit together. Many of these women have seen me at my worst, and in some cases, I, them… and they’re still around.

Who wouldn’t want that level of understanding with one’s friends?

Now, in addition to reviving and strengthening the existing connections, I’m getting to know a handful of amazing women who are becoming, it seems, new friends. Old and new, these friendships have been very important to my healing this winter.

This One’s For the Ladies…

My friends, your laughter, wisdom, warmth and generosity of spirit fill up my heart. Your friendship reminds me to simply be. Your beauty inspires me. I see my potential reflected in your smile, and I feel my worth in the steady strength of your embrace.

Damn, you women are awesome. Thank you. I love you.

Sonitotum Bonus: Interview On The Dead Robots’ Society Podcast

For the fourth time, I’ve had the pleasure of being a guest on the Dead Robots’ Society podcast. Justin, Terry and Ryan are always great fun, and do a great job of balancing good questions with a nice dose of the goofy. In fact, this time around, we even managed to keep most of the goofy in check! Mostly.

The topic for the discussion is on creating a web presence, personal brand and author platform. We cover options on web sites, the use of Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, best practices and the importance of keeping perspective once you start building an audience in a particular niche.

Enjoy the show (MP3 link), and be sure to subscribe to the Dead Robots’ Society podcast!

 
icon for podpress  Sonitotum Bonus: Interview On The Dead Robots Society On Author Platforms [87:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (146)

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