Stand for Something

Art is something that creates itself. It forces itself into being. Through our souls. Through our hands. Our eyes. Our ears. Our breath.

Since is is birthed out of intention, we, as artists, need to have a passionate and larger intention. This path is not for everyone - I do think that real artists are actually called to pursue this path. And it frequently doesnt lead to fame, or even sustainability for that matter.

But that doesn't matter. We dont make art to live. We live to make art. It is in our very essence. Our very existence. I speak with seasoned musicians that tell me they would much rather have done something else, but they couldnt. This was what they had to do. And I can relate. (Though I wouldnt trade this for anything in the world - save maybe world peace and global compassionate consciousness).

We all need to stand for something. And artists even moreso.

Northside Last Night

There is something about the Northside.

I'm not sure what it is, but there is something there. I've always liked the club, from the first time i walked through the door almost a decade ago.

Its dark, intimate atmosphere and narrow space carries a spark. Something in the air.

Perhaps it's the Luigis that struggles in. That delicious dough and marinara.

Perhaps it's the ghosts.

They hold the refrains from the thousands of songs sung there. They hold the residue of the hundreds of artists' dreams and creations. They dance in the silence. They sing in the hum of the lights and in the pauses in conversation.

Or maybe I just project these feelings on the room.

Maybe I just want a space in Akron where there is some magical aspect. Some little place that is my own personal Greenwich Village.

Whatever it is, once my feet touch the stage, Im transported to the peace of comfort, yet inspiration. Even on those nights where 7 of us are in that room.

My Northside nights are a space where anything goes. Old songs not sung in years may be dusted off. New songs may be sung for the first time. Any song might be altered or re imagined. And of course, any cover that might inspire me in the moment might arise.

Last night, I opened with Coming Home, which i havent played in years. It was a song I sang for my dad's funeral, and always reminds me of him, though it's not about him. The version was special, and felt quite inspiring as it was leaving my mouth and fingertips. A full version of If was rolled out too. Affinity made an appearance as well. The Traveller made its second venture out ever. I really like this tune. It's potential grows everyday.

About an hour in, Cameron joined me, rocking the beat box. And the goal is always to make Cam laugh at some point & bust up the beat boxing. It's an inside joke i think. But it's fun!

Shortly after that, Courtney joined us for Mountainside, Must Be & Home. Home is always awesome. One of the most fun songs to sing, even though I had no hand in writing it.

 The night drew to a close with a magnificent Life that included a full fledged dance-a-thon in front of the stage. Possibly even a dance off between Cameron and Sarah. Then, it medlied into Kieshka, and I ran around the building. 

But it was the encore that really got some response. I only like to do covers that I feel I have an attachment to and that I can bring something to. Covers that lots of folks have done, or that have a "quintessential" version, I like to steer clear of as much as possible. But I'd had Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" on my mind this week. So it asked if I would sing it. And i did. It was magical. By far the best version I'd ever done of the song. Lots of passion. The room grew totally silent, and I could actually see goosebumps developing on everyone! What a feeling.

Maybe it'll ask to be sung again sometime.

Until next time!

Studio

I'm sure you've heard the news.

The band has a name. The Bright Lights.

After years of discussion and brain storming and crossing out lots of pieces of paper, we've arrived at this new name of musical enlightenment!

Have you seen the new "Meet the Band video?" It's the first in a series. Check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygjn7T4h5iE

In other news, we have been working hard the last month in the studio on what will be the bands 4th Cd (and my ... 14th).

This, as of yet unnamed record, will be released this Spring - if all keeps going to schedule.

We're all very excited about these recordings. They're some of our favourite newer tunes. And we've been able to experiment and flush out these tunes. We even have Tibetan bells on one of the tunes!

Keep tuned in for more info as we progress in this process!

Restaurants

I talk about food a lot.

I realize this. Many of my posts from the road are about food and restaurants. It's my little way of promoting good places that are vegan or are kindly to vegans.

There are a lot of them!

Every now and again, I come across an establishment that is quite hostile to the non-traditional western dieter. A Bob Evans experience my good friend had shortly after going vegan where they told her to "go someplace else," comes to mind.

I don't really fault these people. We live in a society that is wary of anyone different than ourselves. Many folks are raised to believe that different equals wrong.

That doesn't change overnight.

Also, every establishment has the right to serve whatever it wants. Though I would love to see every restaurant have a viable veggie option, each place has their own market, niche, and clientele.

This is why I never visit a steakhouse or a seafood place, etc.

What does confuse me though are when asked about their options, a place turns hostile.

Usually, when someone is rude, there are a whole host of things involved in bringing about that side of someone.

But can we change that behavior? Should we?

When rudeness dwels from a place of ignorance or lack of information, is it our place to educate someone?

Sadly, we can't send the ghost of Christmas past, present & future after ever act of rudeness... can we?

No, probably not.

My advice for rudeness is typically to look past it, and to send prayers of compassion to that person. We all need more understanding. We all need more compassion.

So, I ask you to send some thoughts of compassion to the manager at the Courtyard in Brecksville.

I have to admit, that the rudeness I experienced there (including "is this just some lifestyle thing? no, we dont accomodate special needs.") riled me up a bit. I wanted to tell everyone I knew to go out and either vocally boycott the place or that everyone go in asking for vegan options.

But then I thought, what would that accomplish? It would satisfy my wounded ego, but would it be a constructive way to bring about change?  Would this man be helped along to a place of greater understanding?

Doubtful.

So I am sharing my experience. Do with it as you wish. And please send this man, and the countless more out there, the seeds of compassion.

Winter

I breathe.




This breath hangs in the still cold air like a bird hovering in an air current before finally fading out into the patches of falling snow.



And I breathe in.



I breathe in calmness, and a warmth, despite the frost on the air. I breathe in the songs of the crows, and the songs of the trees. Their stories fill the forest like story time when we were in 2nd grade.



To many, there is only silence. The occasional wind-whipping through the pines. But to me, a tale older than any of us is unwinding, with all the vividity of any poet or campfire teller.



It says, “Come listen to my story.”



And so I walk on, snow shoes digging into the deep snow. The forest is already surrounding, and the mountains loom above, though today, the snow clouds are low, and the mountains can freely hide behind their curtain.



The powdery snow reaches up to my knees. No one has been here yet, since the last snowfall. I am breaking ground, blazing a trail into the forest. The tracks of a coyote dash out from behind a near tree, and cross my path, disappearing behind the brush on my left. The scene still playing like a ghost. It is a playful moment for the canine, mouth open in a near-smile, looking for a good time, and perhaps a chizzler. So it heads into the brush, it’s fluffy tail healthy and tinted with a rusty orange flare.



I can almost hear him yip in the distance.



All of the air has stilled now. Too cold for even the wind to be out.



But the mountains are peeking through the clouds, as though the clouds were a tattered old pair of blue jeans.



The sun is even spreading through the cracks in the sky. It throws shadows in every direction, and spots the air with colour.



“Reminds me of a day many years ago,” says a near pine. “The river froze early that year. Bison still wintered by here. Their snorting was a kindly lullaby. We would all close our eyes and just sway to the rhythm.”



The pine stretched into the sky, poking through a cloud. Its branches were full and green, even under the fuzzy sweater of snow.



A swan flew by out of the corner of my eye.

Another deep breath. My feet began rising and falling again, and soon I could see the bend in the river.



It was not frozen though. True, the sides of the river were frozen, but a good-sized channel dashed through. It roared softly as it passed.



A duck of some sort swam lightly by the opposite bank. It didn’t look cold, but I would have traded places.



The mountains were now mostly in view. The river came from that direction. There was a large field between us. In the summer, it would be full or bright yellow flowers and Indian paintbrush. And sagebrush. And the more than occasional grizzly bear.



But right now, 10 feet of snow lay of all of that.



The nearest pine extended its limbs and with a generous embrace, whispered, “Welcome home.”

Valentine's Specials!!

Want to get the perfect special Valentine's gift for your special someone?
Look no further!
You could have me come to your house and sing some songs for the 2 of you!

It's a Z-Valentine!

This is a special offer to all my wonderful Facebook blog readers!

Here are some options, suggestions:
1. I play a 35 min set of songs for you, and you get a copy of my newest record, Mountains & Meadows! ($75)

2. I play an hour set of songs for you, you get a copy of my new CD Mountains & Meadows, and I bring you some vegan chocolate & flowers! ($150)

3. I play a 90 min set of songs for you, you get a copy of my new CD Mountains & Meadows, and I bring you some vegan chocolate & flowers! ($250)

4. I play an hour set of songs for you, you get a copy of my new CD Mountains & Meadows, I bring you some vegan chocolate and flowers, AND i prepare a dinner for you! ($350)

4. For $1,000, I'll play all night for you!

(Prices are subject to negotiation)
Email me at zach@zachmusic.net or facebook message me. Dates and times are filling up, so reserve your spot today!

Mountains and Meadows Winter Western Tour 2010

The sun is setting (earlier each day), sending streamers of rose and tangerine across the marshmallow sky. Said sun sitting somewhere in that small window between the clouds and the ocean - that wee line of blood orange that stretches as far as the buildings will allow a view. Rain sprinkled here and there on and off for the afternoon, but it wasn't enough to dampen much. The waves still rolled against the sand. The cars still rolled along the freeways. And the traffic lights were all changing to red.

I can taste the salt.

Which feels good. My throat and sinuses have been in less than good health for the last week. The direct result of nearly 2 months without adequate sleep (and by adequate I mean 2 days in a row with more than 4 hours of sleep). Thanksgiving filled my belly and luckily my throat lasted through the 2 shows I had that weekend, giving out in a little Chinese restaurant in Dayton, and finally returning 2 days ago.

But it's the holidays. And I am thankful for many things.

I am not in Ohio right now. For one.

I am in the 70 degree ocean sunshine of southern California.

My little reprise from the real winter, which I will be experiencing in the extreme in 8 days as I venture up to Salt Lake City and Wyoming.

So every minute here is well-appreciated!

Getting into LA in time to do a short house concert, tasking my voice, I was able to rest a day and fully regain a good 65 percent of my vocal cords. I spent the day working on Peace Project and other musical endeavours, including planning another totally new Love Initiative set at the civic Theater in early Oct! (It will BLOW your mind... you will need to be there... i mean it).

My friend I am staying a few days with had the television on as I was waking up and gearing up for my big house concert in Pasadena. There was a show on about a father that pushed his very disabled son on 100's of marathons, placing 1st or 2nd in his age group in most of the events. His son was able to use a device that helped him communicate, where he could type out messages with his head. Despite his many disabilities, he communicated very well, and was a deeply compassionate person. He even graduated Boston University as the first nonverbal disabled person in the school's history, and he lives basically on his own, though he has no ability to move anything other than his head. Such a moving story. And the fact that his father is now 70 and still doing full marathons, triathlons, etc, is quite inspiring. And the pair has inspired other families to do the same thing. The capacity of the human heart is so great. It is so much bigger than the simple bodies that we see. The compassion we hold defies all odds, and cant be contained in just flesh and bone.

And from there it went on to a show about people who've won the lottery. I was only partially paying attention here. It seemed like mostly inspiring stories of folks who truly needed the money and used it or saved it wisely. And then it went on and on about a doctor who won it, and blew some $600,000 grand on home renovations and such.

Money.

The green God of America.

I revere and respect all spiritual paths, as they all rise toward a similar god of compassion.

But I will not bow to that paper god.

However, I would like to interject right here that I do have 3 CDs currently available (What I Meant to Say, Lost + Found, and Mountains & Meadows) along with comfy hoodies, t-shirts, buttons, and stickers that all make such wonderful gifts for the holidays! AND that January is the PERFECT time to host a house concert, because what else is there to do in January but have wonderful music and friends fill your home with joy and laughter and Love! (Email me... we'll make it happen!)

The house concert was in beautiful Pasadena. In the historic section of town.

This show was one of the main highlights of coming out to the West Coast this winter. My friend Randi Driscoll, who is amazing (I recommend going online and buying her new live CD - it really highlights what she does best, i think!), was headlining the event. Also there was Lisa Sanders, a great writer and heavyweight in the San Diego music scene. I had done a show with both of them in the legendary Java Joes in San Diego this past summer.

We divied up the show so that i played 4 songs, then Lisa played 4 songs, then Randi (and her percussionist extraordinaire, Noah) played a good 45 minutes, and then we repeated the process.

I loaded up on some marinated tofu cubes prepared by Whole Foods, and totally delicious, and then kicked off the show. The space was tight, as tends to happen in house concerts (especially with 60 attendees), and we had a beautiful fireplace as a backdrop. This always makes me slightly nervous, as on the mantelpiece sat several clay bowls and dishes from deep in the ocean and incredibly irreplaceable. That and there were candles. Lit candles directly behind me.

But I made it without damaging anything! And I still got to dance in the little aisle way.

The crowd were wonderful and utterly brilliant scientists from Caltech. I must say, i was deeply inspired to be in a room with such huge brainpower (folks there had species named after them!).

Something in the ether of the room really aided my guitar work. Some of my best guitar playing at a show, in a long time. I love when the bar gets raised!

Randi and Noah joined me for their favourite song, Distracted. And it rocked. Noah is amazing with a djembe, a pair of bongos, and a hi hat. And Randi sang lovely harmonies, taking the song to another place, which is always the best place for a song to go!

A major highlight: (and having nothing to do with me) they passed a hat and had everyone write some sort of scientific term down, and then Randi would pick the terms out of the hat and incorporate them into a song! She is pretty adept at improv, and pulled together this amazing, ridiculous and spectacular version of Blue Christmas (involving Love Waves - yes there is such a term -and ironically it referrers to an aftershock of an earthquake... - Bob Dylan, and several words none of us could pronounce!

That and her version of Dont Stop Believing ("even scientists studying the bottom of the ocean - or the moon - know this song") in which she vocally did the famous speedy guitar riff in the intro.

Brilliant.

The night ended with a rousing version of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" which brought back me, Lisa Sanders, her singing partner "Brown Sugar", and Randi's husband "The Whistler." We got a rhythmically-challenged Pips-style backing dance together - showing off our true talent (or lack thereof)!

If anyone reading this is in southern California, I highly highly recommend you coming out to our show on the 12th in Escondido "Randi's Jingle Bell Ball!" It features all 3 of us again, and will be so much craziness and fun, you wont know what to do with yourself!

I hope to bring Randi and Noah out to Ohio sometime this year, quite possibly during Peace Week (she has written a major theme song for the Matthew Shepherd Foundation and does a lot of work with this great organization). So if you see me posting that she's coming to Ohio, or anywhere else, you should go. You will enjoy.

Well, so it happens. My time is about up here in the cafe. My tea is out, and my car meter is nearly over. I'll check in again soon.

Until then, be the change you wish to see!

Namaste.
Zach