At my last show, I decided I would go all out and generate a full band track to play alongside. The next obvious step, of course, is to lay down a lead vocal track & put it out there for everyone to enjoy!

This song is a part of a larger project, one I’m calling “The Road.” I want to write & record a record that describes the journey we all take, from childhood, through adolescence, and into young adulthood. It’s a walk we all share. Each song in “The Road” will be about a very specific & personal moment in my life that I feel is representative of the journey, as a whole. I’ve got roughly 5 songs sketched out & will be bringing you more updates as they are recorded. Wish me luck. The 2nd half of 2010 will see me working on some very exciting content! Please check back for more updates as I take my walk along The Road.

Among his contemporaries, Elton John is widely considered the hardest working man in show business. While he’s been touring relentlessly, with the likes of Billy Joel and percussionist, Ray Cooper, on top of doing his full band shows & wrapping up the Red Piano gigs in Europe, new pop music from Elton has been strangely absent.

Many in Elton’s circle have speculated that the low sales of his last effort, the fantastic “Captain and the Kid,” have contributed to Elton’s sudden reluctance to record.

Late last year, Elton announced that work had begun on a unique collaboration between himself, songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, and early piano-based rock pioneer Leon Russell. Elton calls the new T-Bone Burnett-produced venture, “..a very personal work” that he’s extremely proud of. Above, you’ll find an audience record of a new song, debuted by Elton as he kicked off his “Under African Skies” solo tour in Johannesburg with Mr. Cooper on percussion. I played with the recording a bit to make it less muddy and more listenable. Upon first listen, it’s got a very bluesy foundation. It’s going to be very interesting to hear how Elton’s sound has evolved from this new joint-effort!

Over the weekend (Friday, March 19th, 2010), I performed a 2-hour solo acoustic set at Joe Sippers Cafe (Effingham, IL).

The performance was broadcast to the world Live, through Facebook. That very performance is now available to view online, at your convenience! Follow this link to view the show, in it’s entirety!

I have another Joe Sippers Show lined up on April 23rd. Check back often, for details about how you can catch this next show live!

I never expected a few innocent comments Elton John made, during an interview, could make me reevaluate what my thoughts on the state of our modern world are, but that very thing has happened.

A few weeks ago, Elton John was quoted in an interview giving his thoughts on Christianity:

I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.

I remember reading the headlines spawning from this and wondering, “This landed on Yahoo’s front page?” I’ve since been glad it did, as it’s spawned some interesting reactions from fanatics, via the following Yahoo news blog:

A Georgia man who posted a video of himself on the Internet holding a sign that said “Elton John must die” has been arrested for making terroristic threats.

After speaking with fellow Elton fans, I started seeing trends in the way people were reacting to Elton’s initial religious comments.

I, myself, think Elton firmly believes in his ability to influence popular culture through his statements. He’s proven this in the past, through his “coming out” Rollingstone interview in the mid 70s, and even through his more recent admissions of transgressions (drug addiction, eating disorders, promiscuity, etc.). There’s no doubt Elton’s openness has had an immeasurable impact on gay culture, and it’s assimilation into our modern world. I admire Elton for saying what he feels and using his reach to try and “stir the pot,” as I think, especially in American society, it needs stirring.

It seems my view is a minority, even among Elton fans. Some will say he lacks self control or that my optimism doesn’t make sense in a “real world” where there are people out there who will react to you. One went as far as to say, “Unfortunately, when it come to certain topics, your opinion could get you killed.”

Among these detractors, many are above 50 years old & are located in America. From here, some began to describe how they’d learned a certain way of thinking wasn’t an appropriate worldview to have, and still others said they had given up voicing their opinions altogether.

All of this brings me to my current struggle..Can a person’s worldview extend beyond their age/location/upbringing or am I looking at my future worldview, as I’m defending my current stance?

I’ve been thinking about this lately. With 3D visual technology being pushed further and further into public consciousness with gigantic media forces like Avatar (and into living rooms now, yes?), I wonder what’s on the horizon for audio.

I’m not as excited about the “shopping line tv” concept that the Woody talks about here, but I do see some amazing things coming from this sort of technology. In particular, how this may be applicable to live performances. Being able to control, specifically, which channels of sound an audience hears & how they hear them could be a production dream..and controlling these beams of sound so precisely that they only reach as far as you need them to reach..could this mean no more neighbors banging down my door when I decide to have a 3 am recording/jam session? Sign me up!

I realize the technology demoed here is still in it’s infancy. After doing some reading, it seems that high quality sound is more difficult to achieve than it seems when the above speaker is describing it, however, given time to evolve, I can see directional audio playing a major role in live performance..adding new textures & dimensions to the way people experience music..making it a more personal experience..bringing stadiums into the “living rooms” of the artists.

The program utilizes a digital camera to manipulate audio based on changes in pixel colors.

I consider this project an emotional culmination of all of that thought. During the last week of finals, I took a train back to my home town, and I brought a video camera with me. I went back to places I remembered that meant something to me, and I made note of songs I listen to that reminded me of those places.

“Music and Memory” shaped up into a collection of memories laid out like a set of piano keys. Once you click on the link, you can move your mouse to the left or right of the keys to pan in either direction. You’ll see little sections of videos playing, and when you click on a key, the memory will expand, revealing the full video and the song I associate with that place.

Each song and each place hold very special places in my past, and it’s still emotional for me to look at. Much is left to interpretation, so, while this is a very personal project for me, I hope others can interact and find meaning from their own experiences. Click the link below, allowing a few moments for the content to load, and interact with “Music and Memory.”

Music and Memory

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