A man off meds, is an interesting encounter, especially early in the morning before coffee.
Alarmed, is what I was. I tried to be engaged, but I only felt alarm.
I suppose engaging wasn’t the right thing to be, encouraging his crazy, but I guess it’s just my humanitarian nature to want to help people. Perhaps, just being near him worked to calm him down or maybe it was just a reality show, a “I got punked” scenario… Or just simply crazy being crazy.
It was, needless to say, and interesting way to begin the day.
He left finally and then I had a fantastically engaging conversation with a local Worcesterite who builds the most incredible looking motorcycles from recycled parts. So inspiring!

Now, off to the studio to finish the Albino Rhino album we’ve been promising for a year.

The Paradise presents: Living Colour
Picture by Meggan Cantlin

On why I love Living Colour!

New York  City, 1984, the most unlikely group of musicians came together to play rock music and form the band Living Colour. Out of Harlem, this group of friends, who collectively were inspired by an eclectic range of genres, but ultimately loved rock music, recorded and debuted their first album in 1988, VIVID. Vivid aptly describes the intencity of this groups nature and intentions: of strong color. This album stirred up a huge amount of controversy, due to the political nature of the lyrics which attacked Eurocentrism (a world view which believes Western customs and developments are superior to all else)  and racism.

Their lyrics also cross cultural stigmas regarding sexuality preferences with the song “Bi” and even made fun of some of the all white boy bands who were created by record companies with their song “Glamour Boys.”

“Open Letter (to a landlord)” addresses the impact of decaying neighborhoods and articulates the message, just because a neighborhood has fallen to shit and the buildings are decayed/condemned and are being demolished, doesn’t mean that the fabric of energy or the history of people who lived in that community don’t care anymore; it’s still their home!

Recently, I had the great honor, of attending their 25th anniversary tour of the release of VIVID at The Paradise in Boston. This small room crammed in a sold out show of 950 people. Crammed, is just putting it mildly. I wasn’t exactly sure whose hands were touching me at any given moment, nor could I determine if it was my own armpits I could smell or the two dudes on either side of me, but once the music started, it didn’t matter. *side note* One of the reason I love going out to see live music is everyone in the room has a common purpose, so for the entirety of 1-3 hours or so, everyone is connected to something and to each other.

The intent of this particular show was to play the album in its entirety; from track 1 and on, just as you would hear it on the record.

After 25 years it was evident to everyone in that room, that these guys still loved what they do. Their energy was amazing and they were so entertaining.

I love Living Colour because they use music to educate and advocate for what they believe in and what they don’t believe in. Music is a powerful and affective way to inspire people to action.

Corey Glover-Lead Singer
Picture by Meggan Cantlin

Vernon Reid- Guitar
Picture by Meggan Cantlin

Doug Wimbish- Bass
Doug was a member of the Sugar Hill Gang. (a hip-hop band in the 80’s)
Picture by Meggan Cantlin

Will Calhoun- Drummer
Graduate of Berkley School of Music
Picture by Meggan Cantlin

Please take the time to check out their official website and get their music…. you will be inspired!

It’s Sunday morning and I’m still shaking off the funk (not dirt & grime) from the night before. Feeling froggy, completely elevated.
Why?
It’s the high I get when I go and absorb the positive vibes of live music. When you are in a crowd of people who are essentially “just in the groove” you can imagine what a world in peace might be like. Everyone just chilling, grooving, loving, and happy!

I give credit to The Alchymistics, Strange Machines of Boston, and Satellite Rockers.  The bands for which transcended my body and mind into a place of bliss for 4 hours.

While grooving in the crowd I was handed a flyer for an upcoming music “tiny rager” festival in NY. It’s called Rock N Roll Resort and some highlights of events include the funky trio Soullive. I had the great honor of seeing these guys at the NEKF years and years ago and it was earorgasmic. I had the great privilege of meeting the brothers as we were all gathered around the VIP food tent. I must admit, I was crushing a bit, it’s hard not to with that kind of talent in the room. Another highlight is Chali2na(of Jurassic 5) whom I’ve adored for years. His voice sends chills down my spine. My first time, listening to the smooth vocal sounds of Chali2na was when he was in Ozomatli.

Here’s a panoramic of The Alchymistics at The Lucky Dog.

Ok… time to get my Sunday groove on!

So here’s my question of the day…. is this effective? Will this really save a spot, which technically, doesn’t really belong to anyone. Just because a vehicle was parked there when the snow hit and the vehicles owner had to dig it out, does this entitle them to Rock Star Parking for the duration of winter.

I almost set up a couple of chairs and thought I would sit out there and sip tea or play cards until they came back…. would they find that amusing? Probably not.

Earlier on today, as I was backing out of my driveway (which is directly across the road from this “spot saver”) and there was a car parked in this spot and the spot saver (aka table) was thrown into the snow bank. My neighbor came outside, he began to yell at the car, grabbed the “table” and threw it over the car. This table proceeded to slide off the top of the car and hit the side of my car. He was pretty upset, so I figured, I should just keep driving and not give him a lecture on how well his spot was NOT saved.

Apparently, the spot saver hadn’t worked!

This morning the sun has come out to play. On our drive to pick up bagels to bring home to the boys, Zelda and I were caught up into the sunshine and whirled away to a magical diner for breakfast.
Zelda loves bacon just like I love shoes. Any chance to eat it is a chance she will take every time. Personally, I’m totally down with just coffee. (Probably not the healthier choice for breakfast, but that’s life!)
While in this close knit little diner in Worcester, I can listen to multiple conversations at once.
Two guys in a booth are discussing plowing, weather, trucks, and mechanics.
The couple behind me is discussing vacation options; beaches verses skiing. ( if I could pipe in I would say do the beaches)
Just normal conversations. Every day “Joe” kind of stuff.
…. and then you have Zelda and I discussing dragons and folklore. There might have been something said about far off magical kingdoms.
I hope we are amusing others as they amuse us.

It’s not that I dislike being Stuck at home for several days, but, well there comes a time when a person can only take so much staring at the same brown walls before insanity seeps through.
My remedy….

Live original music just a hop skip and a jump from my home.

I find myself in Holden, Ma, listening to an all original folk rock band and I like it. It’s all slathered in groove in the same vein of Dylan and Seeger. Laced up with an amazing violinist and smoking female bass player. It’s even got the classic acoustic and electric guitar vibe of all true rock bands.
I’m good. This is good.

Left to my own devises: I make music mayhem.

Due to all the wondrous snow I’ve been home for the last two days as my work was closed down. With my free time, I decided to get back into the studio and start making music to go with lyrics that I keep writing.

It’s amazing how I feel after creating something… I guess as a human it’s in my nature to want to create and as a result it gives me a sense of fulfillment.

I’ve been working on this one for a little while, but I finally found the time to finish it.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/82219421″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

A while back I tried this “musings” thing and found it to be very therapeutic. I have tons and tons of thoughts that run through my brain each and every day, hour, moment, or millisecond, so instead of overloading my social media websites with the mundane nonsensical I thought why not build a whole website around it. No, it’s not narcissistic, or, maybe it’s marginally narcissistic.
When I was younger, Judy Bloom’s “Are you there god it’s me Margaret” younger, my teachers would get frustrated with the way that I learned things. You see, in those days, Special Education was still in its infantile stages and in order to get any testing the parents were responsible for making it happen, paying for it, and then advocating with lawyers to get the school to acknowledge the fact that some kids just learn differently.
I was one of those lucky kids. The ones who were teased, ridiculed, and mocked by my peers. NO this is not a “poor is me” story… my point is… my learning disability diagnosis showed that, although I have a high IQ, my auditory word processing was “flanked” a bit, or a little to the side, so to speak. My therapist recommended journaling, which turned into song writing, which turned into self-taught guitar lessons, which turned into the “super star” that is me.
Well, not super star by all “conventional” definitions, but I feel like I’ve succeeded in so many ways.
I really believe that being me is fantastic and that my experiences and hardships have helped me to grow into the strong-self-sufficient person that I am today.
We may not always understand the lives we are handed, but we should trust that there is always a reason!
Mine is to pass through this world and affect as many people as I can with the idea “be true to yourself”… it’s the only way to be!