First recording session

Ben Wah, Will, Kelly K and I got together yesterday at Kelly's studio in Shoreline. I was having trouble hearing myself in the headphones, and I'm not thrilled with my bass line, but I'll get another shot at it this weekend. I am thrilled to be working with this group again. I really like the laid back vibe and the way people are coming together and supporting one another. Next week Vickie A, Tracy and maybe Kelly B will join us to wrap up song number 1. My daughter Alex is in town, a budding guitar player, and she seemed to enjoy herself at the studio, watching us knuckleheads try to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

The Experience Songwriting Project (ESP) lives!

In May I wrapped up a nine month certificate program co-sponsored by the EMP and the University of Washington Extension College. The program was taught by three prominant Seattle musicians, each offering their own take on the art of tune-smithing. Sean Nelson, lead singer for Harvey Danger and writer for the Stranger, took the helm the first semester, the introductory course, where we broke down songs by their basic components, chorus, verse, bridge, etc. Sean researched his lectures well, and his delivery was awesome. He also had a real flair for picking up on the direction the class was leaning and letting the students go that way. Second semester brought Carrie Akre of Hammerbox, Goodness and a flourishing solo career. Carrie was brought in at the eleventh hour, but she looked like she'd been doing it all her life. She helped us focus on claiming our artistic selves, developing a habit and a practice of writing regularly. We wrapped up semester two with a late night gig at Hattie's Hat. Third and final semester brought Jon Auer of Posies fame. This semester was devoted to production, and Jon worked with each of the lucky 13 who had stuck it out, producing our songs and helping us record them at Glenn Sound and at various other local studios. He helped the class put together an excellent CD, which we named the Experience Songwriting project, and the experience wrapped up on May 25 at a gig at the Science Fiction stage at the EMP.
Boy, what a long introduction to get what I wanted to talk about, which is that the ESP group has continued to collaborate. We are meeting for the next two Wednesdays at Kelly Krisjanson's studio to begin work on the next album. We're recording one of Will Morgan's songs as an ensemble. We also have a gig scheduled for August 19th, a Friday, at the Flying Lion Cafe in West Seattle. It's looking to be an excellent summer.

Greenlake Almost Free Music Hall

I played a new venue on Saturday nigh. The former Presbyterian Church on NE Ravenna, now operated by the Presbyterian Counseling Services, has opened it's doors as a music venue, and I was lucky enough to be one of the ones to kick it off. Ned Olsen's son opened up, followed by Mike Kerrick and the Happy Pappy Band. I finished the night off with a good set, although I was a complete spaz with harmonica and capo changes. The venue has potential, and I look forward to returning, both as a performer and a listener.
I went to see Billy Corgan at the Moore on Monday night with Nancy. My friend Bjorn has worked for Billy for years, and he was providing IT support on this tour, which was very "hard-drive" dependent. I think the album "The Future Embrace" is brave. Artists who depart from their formula often get attacked by their loyal fans and often by the industry itself, which leans heavily toward conformity. The album strikes a strange balance between melancholy and hopefulness that I find intriguing and sweet. Billy C announced to the crowd that he was putting the Pumpkins back together, and the result was thunderous applause.
Kelly Krisjanson from the Experience Songwriting Project is putting together a recording session for the next two weeks at his home studio. The first song we work on will be one of Will Morgan's. I'm pretty excited about collaborating with this group some more.

Karl Rove is Bush's Achille's Heel

In the Greek tragedy written by Homer, Achille's is unstoppable until Hector shoots an arrow at his one vulnerable spot, his heel. As the investigation continues into Karl Rove's involvement in outing an undercover CIA agent, it looks like the Bush administration's own hubris will be it's undoing, a theory (and hope) I've had for some time. Here are the facts. Joe Wilson, former U.S. ambassador to Africa, wrote an article critical of the Bush administration's claims that weapons grade uranium had been smuggled in from Niger. History shows us that Wilson was right. The nuclear threat claim was based on a falsified memo that noone but the White House chose to take seriously. The Bush administration, led, as always, by mastermind Karl Rove, wasn't looking for the truth back in 2003. They had been planning to go to war long before the charade in front of the UN and Colin Powell's famous Power Point show. The Downing Street memos, recently released minutes of top secret meetings of the British cabinet, show that the Bushies had a flimsy case for Iraq being a threat and were "dummying up intelligence reports to suit their aims." So when Wilson's article comes out, Karl Rove retaliates, as he is known to do. But this time, he made a serious miscalculation. Valerie Plame, wife of ambassador Wilson, was an undercover CIA agent working on tracking down weapons of mass distrucion world wide. In other words, Rove's leaking the information to a NY times reporter that Joe Wilson's wife was a CIA agent put many people at risk, operatives Ms. Plame had been working with, members of the front company that had been set up to mask Ms. Plames work and others associated with her work. So Karl Rove outs this CIA agent and then lies under oath to the Congress and the American people about his involvement. He is a crook and a liar and a traitor to this country. He violated his oath of office and his top secret security clearance. He should be removed from his position, banned from public office for life and prosecuted as a traitor and a war criminal for his involvement in the lies and manipulations that were used to get this country to go to war. This administration is the filthiest, most corrupt, arrogant, misguided bunch of theocratic war mongers we've seen in 100 years. Rove needs to go, then Cheny, Rumsfeld, W, the whole lot. They all should be removed from office and brought up on charges for repeatedly placing the best interests of themselves and their political cronies ahead of the good of the country. Can I hear an Amen?