There are forces, as there have always been, that would take away our joy. I say, don’t make it easy for them!
Our joy is priceless. It can’t be bought.
This is the inspiration for our latest tune “Beer Can Hats (the Rhythm of Life)”. It doesn’t take much to have a good time, a few fine friends and some rhythm and rhyme. Collective joy is powerful.
So, as an act of resistance, or for the sheer heck of it, don a beer or soda can hat, and find a “mosh pit of joy”. We’re in this together.
Enjoy this horn rich, bass forward, guitar sparkled, accordion laced instrumental with a sweet celebratory and exultant feel.
Guitar: Gary “GDub” Wium
Bass: Paul Olguin
Drums: Ian Luke
Trumpet & Fluegelhorn: Mark Nemoyten
Trombone: Ned Stone
Tuba: Johny Blood
and yours madly on Accordion
I embroidered this for a gift for a friend in the mid 1970s. I had forgotten about it until the man’s daughter wrote to me after he had died about 15 years ago. He had kept the piece all those years moving from Marin County, California to Kauai, Hawaii. In a super sweet gesture, she sent it back to me. A flash from the past for real.
I had never finished it completely, probably running out of time before I needed to present it. So onto my “to do” list it went.
The first task of refreshing the piece entailed opening up the frame, removing the piece and hand washing it – it needed it. Amazingly, the DMC brand Pearl Cotton threads washed up as bright as new.
Next, I had to fill in the spaces to complete the design. It had been decades since I embroidered anything but some skills just don’t fade. The majority of the stitches are “french knots” which are labor intensive and use a LOT of thread. Whatever possessed me to fill a 10″ circle with french knots is a wonder unto itself.
The frame was dinged and whatever gold leaf had corroded – humidity in Hawaii is a thing. I opted for buying a slightly larger frame so the new, now completed border stitches would have some space around them. I then sewed a loose running stitch on the outer edges of the fabric and pulled it to gather up the excess as I stretched it over a stiff paper board and placed the piece back into the frame. I didn’t use glass (there are differing opinions in needlework circles about covering embroidery). It came out nicely.
The sentiment that “Wonders Never Cease” is one I’ve had all my life. This piece of art making its way back to me definitely affirms that.
I wish you all a ghoulorius Pagan New Year / Halloween / El Día de Los Muertos! 🎃 🎃 🎃
Calm On is my most recent video. It features the beauty of Lake Okanagan, Penticton, BC and its current autumnal, avian denizens. The music is ambient electronica with accordion. Yes, accordions go with every kind of music!
Watch and enjoy a few moments of calm.
All the Rage is a spoken word YouTube “Short” — 60 seconds. Yes, there is some accordion.
I describe the piece like so:
“Something wonderful happens to a woman when she lives long enough, don’t ya think?”
We’re busy preparing for our shows in August so I gave the band a break from recording this month. I still wanted to publish a video so I put the finishing touches on a tune I composed in 2022. “flow like so” is a synth-soaked ambient piece with accordion. I built the mesmerizing, relaxing, chill video with footage from the Penticton, BC dam and channel.
Accordions belong anywhere in any genre, even flow. No musical borders. That’s my contention and I’m sticking with it. 🙂
For music nerds, the time signature is 7/4. The accordion is my musette tuned Weltmeister Achat. The synths sounds are all in GarageBand (the free Apple app) which just goes to show that possibilities are endless if you have a creative streak and like to play with sonic landscapes.
As I was writing California Love, I kept “hearing” a harp version. I asked fab multi-instrumentalist and longtime friend Roxanne Oliva if she’d like to do it and happily she said yes.
She recorded her tracks at her home studio, playing her Celtic harp, a 22 string Stoney End. She sent the tracks to me and I added parts. Next step was to Wally Sound for mixing and mastering mix. The result is a lovely instrumental, a movie soundtrack.
To listen and/or download a hi-fi version, go to our BandCamp.
I had oodles of fun playing with the theme of “hearts coming together” in the music video.
Roxanne and I have known each other since the mid 1980s, having met at Sonoma State University. We performed together in Mixed Company, a mixed-media theater company I formed with choreographer/director Diana Keener. (I must say, the shows we produced were waaaay before their time.)
We have criss-crossed in the musical world ever since.
I particularly love that neither one of has stopped making music. Can’t keep a dedicated artist down!
Check out Roxanne’s BandCamp.
Speaking of rocks, did you know that opals are mineraloids? If a gemstone has a crystalline structure, it’s a mineral. If it doesn’t have crystallinity, it is classified as a mineraloid. Amber and obsidian are other examples of mineraloids.
Opal is the birthstone for October, which happens to be my birth month. I’ve always found them fascinating, especially fire opals.
Now there’s some groovy / roll your own light show imagery. 🙂
Back when Phillip Glass was quite popular, I quipped that anyone could compose like he did. Well, if one throws stones …
Here is my composition “Those in Glass Houses” in which I mix some of my distinct sounds with some of my Glass-like passages.
It’s a pleasant, relaxing piece. 🙂
For downloadable version on our BandCamp:
On our YouTube channel:
The expression people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones is first found in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, written in 1385: “Who that hath an hed of verre, Fro cast of stones war hym in the werre!”. Source
I gathered up a few musician friends to record some of my tunes on February 14, 2004. What was a one album project turned into a crazy 20 year musical ride. Wow!
We’re celebrating with a new tune: Hold On, Let Go
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