2016

Single Pre-Release

Friends!

I am SO excited that my new record “We Came From the Dust” is going to be available TOMORROW (March 29)!  To celebrate Release-Eve, I wanted to let you hear a song from the album early.

This song is called “We’re Going to Make It (For Mary)”.  As you can tell, I wrote this song for my lovely bride Mary.  The last couple years have been pretty challenging as she’s working on a PhD in international conflict management.  It’s been so inspiring watching her chase after her dreams, and I wanted to write a song for the moments that are stressful or burdensome…so that she could hear it and know that we’ll always make it as long as we’re together!

Hope you enjoy, and stay tuned for details about the album release!!

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Album Release! Album Credits! Woo!

Hello there!  I hope this Monday morning is off to an excellent start for you!

I am absolutely THRILLED to announce that my new record “We Came From the Dust” will be available on iTunes on March 29!

Yep…TOMORROW!  WOO HOO!!!

This project has been the most challenging one yet.  At times it was downright awful working on it.  The songs didn’t come easily, and it’s the most I’ve ever invested in a record…money, time, energy, thought, effort…it completely drained me (and probably Mary, too).

That said, it’s also the most rewarding project I’ve done.  I think the music on this album is the most honest/transparent stuff that I’ve written (which is  a bit scary for me), and I am so excited about the performances of all the musicians that took part in this.

Speaking of….here are some stats from this project:

  • 20 musicians and engineers
  • 10 studios across 6 states
  • Thousands of hours and dollars and tears and curse words
  • 7 songs that will hopefully make a difference

Later today I’ll be posting another blog with a SINGLE pre-release, and some more specific stuff about the record.  But in the meantime, check out the wonderful artwork (Mary created it!) and read about the incredibly talented people that made this music a reality!

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Music is medicine. Music is sanity.

I recently heard a FANTASTIC TED Talk given by Robert Gupta, violinist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and wanted to share some of the profound things I took away.  I’ve also embedded the full TED talk at the end of the post, and highly recommend you give the full thing a watch/listen!

In the talk, Gupta shares the story of Nathaniel Ayers, a Juilliard-trained double bassist who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.  We’re probably all at least somewhat familiar with this story from the movie The Soloist.  Due to his affliction, Ayers dropped out of Julliard, suffered a complete breakdown, and 30-years later is living homeless on the streets of Skid Row in downtown LA.

Ayers had been refusing treatment after he had been “treated” with chemicals, shock treatment and handcuffs.  He was so scarred by these techniques that he became resistant to other methods of treatment.  As a result, he’s prone to episodes where he explodes or disappears for days at a time.

Gupta met Ayers in 2008 after a performance of the LA Philharmonic, and a few days later found out that Ayers was interested in having a violin lesson.  At the beginning of the lesson, Nathaniel was in a state of agitation, and seemingly close to an episode.  Here’s what Gupta said:

“He was talking about invisible demons, and smoke, and how someone was poisoning him in his sleep.  And I was afraid.  Not for myself, but I was afraid that I was going to lose him.  That he was going to sink into one of his states and that I was going to ruin his relationship with the violin if I started talking about scales and arpeggios and other forms of didactic violin pedagogy.”

At this point, the outcome of the lesson is seeming pretty grim.  But then:

“SO I JUST STARTED PLAYING.  As I played, I understood that there was a profound change occurring in Nathaniel’s eyes.  It was as if he was in the grip of some invisible pharmaceutical…Nathaniel’s manic rage was transformed into understanding, a quiet curiosity, and a grace.”

WOW.  “So I just started playing.”  This is incredible to me.  Someone on the verge of a manic breakdown was almost instantly calmed and centered just at the sound of music.  Gupta goes on to describe the rest of the lesson, as Nathaniel began playing (by ear!) snippets of different violin concertos.  They had conversation about composers from Bach to Sibelius, and Gupta realized that Ayers not only had a great knowledge of music, but a very personal connection to it.

Gupta continues:

“Through playing music and talking about music, this man had transformed…from the paranoid, disturbed man that had just come from walking the streets of downtown Los Angeles, to the charming, erudite, brilliant Juilliard-trained musician.

MUSIC IS MEDICINE.  Music changes us.  And for Nathaniel, MUSIC IS SANITY.“

Gupta explained that music was an escape for Nathaniel.  It allowed him to get away from the torment of his own mind.  Pretty powerful stuff.  I think there isn’t enough emphasis on this “side-effect” of music.  Often I ask myself, “Is this catchy?”, “Does it sound good enough?”, “Will people like/buy it?”, “Is this song going to help my career?”  All of those things seem so petty when you consider that music has the power to transform minds and souls.

Victor Hugo said it this way:

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.”

Imagine if we started filtering the music we create and perform through this lens?  NOT WHAT WILL SELL, BUT WHAT WILL HEAL?

I’ll let Mr. Gupta wrap up this blog post, as he says it very well:

“And I understood that this was the very essence of art, this was the very reason why we made music.  That we take something that exists within all of us at our very fundamental core, our emotions, and through our…creativity, we are able to shape those emotions into reality.  And the reality of that expression reaches ALL of us, and moves us.  Inspires and unites us.

I will always make music with Nathaniel, whether we are at Walt Disney Concert Hall or on Skid Row, because he reminds me why I became a musician.”

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“Damn you, we have an orchestra!”

Hello, folks, and Happy New Year!  I hope the holidays were warm and kind for you and yours!

I recently read an incredible article from the BBC, and wanted to share a few bits and pieces of it with you.  The article is called “Musical Willpower: How A Starving Orchestra Helped Leningrad Survive”, written by Jason Caffrey.  I highly recommend you read the entire article…it is fascinating and inspiring!

Long-story-short, the city of Leningrad had been encircled by the invading Nazi army and was under siege from 1942-1944.  Food and supplies were short in the town, and eventually about 750,000 civilians would die during the siege.

Karl Eliasberg, a conductor, received instructions to rehearse and perform Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony.  The few musicians who showed up were starving…and he had to piece together an orchestra.

Against all odds, in the middle of a ferocious siege, with loss of life and filth and starvation all around, an orchestra performed this symphony and broadcast it around the city.

Here’s what Olga Kvade, an 18-year old attendee, said about the experience:

“On the one hand I wanted to cry but at the same time there was a sense of pride.  ‘Damn you, we have an orchestra! We’re at the Philharmonic Hall so you Germans stay where you are!’ We were surrounded by Germans. They were shelling us, but there was this feeling of superiority.”

Isn’t that amazing?  I mean, I still can’t really put into words how that makes me feel.  This music and this performance was such an inspiration to the people of the city that it actually made people more defiant in the face of incredible odds and hardship.

Here’s what absolutely floored me about this story.  After the war, Eliasberg (the conductor) was approached by a group of tourists.  The men had been German soldiers in the siege of Leningrad.  From the article:

The men told Eliasberg that when they heard the performance of Shostakovich’s symphony they understood that a city of people who showed such spirit would not capitulate. One is reported to have said that his comrades shed tears when they heard the music.

“Here were people representing the opposing side of the war, who needed music just as badly as the ones for whom it was composed,” says Bychkov. “Because in the end it was composed for humanity. And the best proof is that today we still need it, we are still listening to it.”

What an incredible and beautiful example of the profound importance of music.  Shostakovich could have stopped composing all together when war was brought to his doorstep…but instead he began writing with an “inhuman intensity”.  Eliasberg could have laughed off the idea of putting together an orchestra of starving musicians…but instead he put it together, rehearsed it, and made the performance a reality.

Music is NECESSARY.  Composing it.  Rehearsing it.  Performing it.

You should know that Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony (Leningrad Symphony) is FANTASTIC.  I highly encourage you to listen to it today.  Just give it a shot…if classical isn’t your thing, listen to whatever it is that makes your heart beat faster and helps you come alive.  That’s the beauty of music…it could be anything!

Lastly, I just feel like saying to you…stay strong.  I don’t know what you may be facing today, but you really can make it.  It is my hope that no matter what life throws at us, we can all stand and defiantly say together:  “Damn you, we have an orchestra!”

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