I have had friends of mine begging for me to blog about my travels lately. The problem is that I have been putting off blogging for so long now that if I did go in to any kind of detail about my travels since my last blog I would be writing a novel I am afraid. I am planning on writing that blog but for right now this is not it. I have to organize my thoughts. This is the short version: In November, I toured China, recorded in Wales, was in the States in January, Germany in March, and India for April. I got the flu in China, 2 strains of the flu in the States, and some sort of strange stomach bug in India. I have eaten parts of the cow that I did not know were edible as well as parts of a chicken that I would rather not have eaten and smiled graciously the whole time. I was the first Non-Classical Western artist to lecture at the Tian Jian Conservatory of Music and the Tian Jian Normal University as well as being the first international artist to perform at Naila Bagh Palace in Jaipur, India. I got very drunk during a jam session with a Mongolian Folk Band in Beijing and had the opportunity to perform with a traditional Rajasthani band. In Germany I became persona non grata to one of the most famous classical guitar builders in the world (He really really hates me now.)The list goes on and on so I will save it all for the thorough blog to come and leave you with some new youtube videos that you might find entertaining.
This one is the video treatment for a documentary about the influence of Michael Hedges on todays new guitarists. This was made by Grant Wakefield in the end of March.
This video is from Morchang Studios in Jaipur. This was a session set up after my performance at Naila Bagh Palace. I had just met the Rajasthani musicians playing with me. The Jews Harp-like instrument is called the Morchang..
Next week I will be playing the last UK music festivals of the Summer. This Summer I spent the majority of my existence living in a tent. Much fun. The festival scene in the UK has been very educational for me. The US market rarely sees the variety of talent that is available in the UK. I'm pretty sure that much of the US would not support much of the music and dance. In the current political climate of the US, some of the acts I have seen might be chased out of town with a pitch fork. That sounds like a scathing remark about the US public and it is in some ways. One of the most beautiful things I saw this summer was a Palestinian dance group. Its a shame that this kind of culture wouldn't make it in the states. In all fairness to my fellow Americans though, a few of the acts I witnessed this summer, deserve to be run out of town with pitchforks. I don't like ego centric artists!!! If you are reading this and you are an ego centric artist, get over yourself and stop taking the piss.
Last week I played Bestival on the Isle of Wight. It was the "best" I had seen this summer. I fulfilled an empty spot in my musical education when I got to watch the Beastie Boys on stage twice. They came to get down. I was thoroughly impressed beyond my own expectations.
The Re-Play festival is next week. It will be one of my favorites. It is the first time my name is billed in an ancient language like Welsh. The committee for the project has designated me as the "patron" for the project. I am honored. The Re-Play project recycles broken musical instruments back into the community by repairing broken ones and forgotten ones. When your website is brokenguitars.com and you destroy a small fortune in instruments, this kind of project can help to relieve the guilt from the wastefulness.
So I'm back from the most physically exhausting group of gigs I have ever had to play. I played 10 shows in 3 days at Glastonbury in a good 6 inches of mud (the shallow spots). We walked 15 miles (at least) to get to those 10 gigs. I came to the conclusion that I should have become known for playing two harmonicas at the same time. Regardless of the filthiness of the weekend I had a fantastic time. I take my hat off to the ruggedness of the British do or die party crowd. 170,000 people tramping through the mud and rain is dedication at its finest. I will have some pictures to post soon.
A 1/2 Marathon and move
Current mood: accomplished
I just finished up the most ridiculous week in my existence. Not absurd, just amazingly work intensive. I was supposed to be in London last weekend for the London Guitar Show. I have made one too many appearances in the UK without a work visa so I had to stay home and wait for the British Consulate to sort that out. Instead of going to London I decided to compete in the Country Music 1/2 Marathon. I would post some pictures but pictures taken after running 13.1 miles are not very flattering. I did get a medal but not because I won. The winner ran a whole hour and a half faster than myself. I've got some work to do. So if you have looked at my tour schedule then you would know that I am not going to be in the States pretty much all of the summer. I am coming home for the 4th of July because celebrating in the UK would be traitorous but for the most part I am going to be a resident of the UK. Erin and I decided that Nashville was not someplace for her to stay while I am gone so last Monday we decided to move from Cane Ridge, or Antioch (whatever the place is called now.) And we put all of our belongings in storage back in Amarillo. We are getting to be pros at that.. We have done it quite often. The routine is simple- pack all of the important stuff like mad and throw the furniture away. We got the whole thing finished in 2 days and then drove the 17 hours to Amarillo with performance stops on the way. I think that the trip was the first time the RV was loaded so heavy it looked like an old Caddy with a dead body in the trunk. And as always happens in the state of Oklahoma, the standard 50 mile an hour winds, and tornadoes. I love coming home. The wind and rain and tornadoes died almost exactly at the border with Texas. It was surreal. When they make a movie about me, it will be the scene like Brigham Young leading the Mormons into Salt Lake City. I love Texas in case you didn't know.
I just hit a milestone that never even crossed my mind. I have been getting endorsement "toys" in the mail recently. I am going to be endorsing and demonstrating for T.C. Electronic this year but the product that I am endorsing will not be ready until summer so they sent me something similar to learn how to use. Its a very fun tool ("toy') called the G-System and everyone who sees me play this year will get to see the glowing lights. I have been wanting to work with a company like T.C. Electronic for a long time. The big milestone was that I got another box in the mail with two tamborines in it. According to my research, I will be the first guitar player endorsing a drum company. That is the part I never expected, and in my opinion that is the pinnacle and confirmation of my musical career. Any decent guitar player can get a guitar endorsement. How many can get the drum endorsement I would like to know. The other endorsement change over the last month is that I will be playing Hofner guitars beginning this month. I am joining an artist roster that includes Paul McCartney. Remember the violin bass?
My buddy Seth Horan put out a new EP this year and though I rarely make listening recommendations I have to insist that any body reading this purchase his new EP called "Happenstance." Seth is making a name for himself as a songwriter and I would hate for any of my "friends" to go through life without making his acquaintance. You will find his myspace in my top friends.
Here is an interesting you tube video I recently posted. The interview in London makes me look like a freak which is what I set out to do I guess. And I am not from Nashville.
I live in....................TN
Current mood: amused
Category: Life
I had a grip of things that I wanted to blog about over the course of the last couple of months. Sitting down and doing though is sometimes tough. Generally I get that "I need to write that down" thought when I experience or observe the humorous, tragic, or idiotic and need somewhere to vent it.
I am from Texas and therefore a carniverous person by heredity. I have decided recently that there is no reason to feel guilty anymore. I was in Colorado and Kansas for some really freak snow storms recently. In two weeks the state of Colorado got 6 feet+ of the white stuff. The news said the cattle in the state were dying. Not from the cold, or from starvation but from dehydration. They weren't getting any water. I no longer feel guilty about eating an animal that dies of dehydration when there is 6 feet of water sitting on the ground. Plus they taste really good.
The most absurd thing that I have heard in recent weeks and a piece of information that firms up my view of the idiocy and illogical thinking of politicians has to do with the city that I currently reside in. I live in Antioch, TN, just outside of Nashville. It is a lower income town compared with Nashville. I live here because the rent is cheap and I am never home to actually live anywhere. The city has voted unanimously to change the name of our little town to Cane Ridge. I was worried at first when I heard that news that the name change had something to do with the religious implications of the former name. There is a much dumber reason than that. The city politicians believe that changing the name of the town will raise their property values because the name Antioch has been associated with an out of control crime rate for this region. Translation- "We don't actually want to do anything about the crime rate but we would like to sell our properties and move somewhere else." This kind of thinking really makes me want to vote. (SARCASM) So in 60 days I will have moved to a different town without really moving at all. That two guitars thing is cool but moving without moving is truly an impossible talent and one more skill that I did not know that I had.
I had a great year last year so it is really kind of hard for me to blog about the particulars. I am still not finished with my album. The reason being that it is becoming more and more difficult to find more than three or so uninterupted days to work each month. It has become quite frustrating. Luckily there is always something stupid going on around me to keep my spirits up.
I just got back from the NAMM show a couple of days ago. Musicians are the kings of bullshitters. No lie. I am not excluding myself from that generalization. Fortunately I found some real people in all of that. Old friends, new friends, and just nice people make the smell of bullshit quite tolerable. That is really all of the detail that I can include about that.
So I am sure I will have some more absurdities to write about again and much sooner than it took me the last time. Cheers
Currently
reading
:
Interesting Times
By
Terry Pratchett
Release date: 01 April, 1998
It is very evident that I am no good at blogging regularly. I think that much of the reason is that I am afraid to jinx what is good about my exsistence right now. If I blog about just the good stuff then I feel like I am bragging, and if I blog about the bad stuff then I am just bitching, if I blog about the small details then I am being petty, and if I blog about the overall picture I feel like I am being too philosophical. I know blogging can be like a diary but every diary I have ever tried to start ended up being a book full of jibberish. The whole blogging process makes me feel too self absorbed but I know somebody might like to know my state of being.
The whole summer tour went off relatively smooth. We got to most of the shows but one in particular cancelled as we were driving up but the rest went off smoothly. I personally drove 10,000 miles from May 17th to August 12th and strung my guitars around 15 times each (I brought 4.) We spent the last 3 weeks of our tour of the States in Hawaii and that pretty much made up for all of the bad stuff on the tour. It is a very hard thing to get stressed out in a place like Hawaii.
We were in Reno when I received an email and request to play a festival in South London the weekend of the 24th of August. I just got back from that festival last Tuesday and for those of you that asked me to blog about this experience in particular, I have to say that it was something big and pivotal in my career. In 20 years I might be looking back on the biography channel and describing that experience as the one that forever changed my life. It was not such a dramatic event in itself as it was an opportunity for me to step back and reevaluate my future. I think it was the long plane ride home when it all just clicked. I saw my future. Just a moment of epiphany when it just made sense. It could of all been dilirium from sleep deprivation, I've heard that happens and the truth is I have gotten a little fuzzy on the details from that moment.
The festival that I played at last week was at the Hampton Court Palace. It is a very historic site in London, dating back to King Henry VIII. In fact, I had the opportunity to stand in the room where Ann Bolen was held captive while she waited for guards to take her to the tower of London for her royal be-heading. Portions of the Palace were torn down and rebuilt in Baroque period architecture by Queen Elizabeth (the first of course.) It was definitely a unique place for my first show in England. I don't really have a total of how many people I played for last week. The festival brought in around 40,000 people but I don't think I ever had a captive audience of more than around 3,500. My guess is that I played for around 10,000 people all weekend.
I am home for now, until Erin and I fly to Reno for my good friends Seth and Gina's wedding. If your reading this Seth, " Good luck, brother." Until I find the motivation to blog again, "Cheers."
I cannot believe how "My Misery" has taken off on my space. I moved to Nashville last May with the intentions of learning to write immaculate music. I call Nashville my songwriters college. That song was the first that I wrote while I was here. It was co written with a friend who used to write for Gary Morris and Marie Osmond. I thought the song was pretty good but not as good as people have been telling me it is. I'm starting to change my mind. I have been seeing it as a lot of peoples added song and have been getting a lot of requests for it on CD. It does my heart good. Thank you "friends."
I was in Austin a few weeks ago and in an attempt to get away from the police (that is what I have been telling everybody. Actually, I was locked out of an apartment complex and too impatient to wait for the gate.) I jumped over a six foot fence into a 4 foot ditch. When I was younger a 10 foot drop wouldn't have hurt so bad, but this time it hurt like hell. I only now think of it because my foot is still hurting after two weeks. The doctor said that it is not broken but I do have a nice fat bone bruise. I was prescribed crutches (and painkillers), but that didn't last very long (neither did the pain killers.) The crutches actually hurt worse than walking on it, which in itself was very painful. I tried to stay home and off of my foot but instead flew to California for a string of last minute shows and one intimate house concert (Thank you Kerry=) I am just now able to walk on my foot without limping and I have been very depressed (inactivity does that to me.) I did realize something though. 1. I am not invincible (which sucks) and 2. I am getting older. I guess the truth is that I was needing something to remind me that I am turning thirty this year. yipee.
I had plans to write some elaborate blog upon my arrival back in the continental US but I have had little to say. I have had little to say in my songwriting also which sucks a lot worse. I don't make my living blogging, I do however make my living writing songs. It has been strange. I thought that a little vacation time would clear up the cobwebs but nothing. I did do something that I usually hate like pulling teeth. The infamous rewrite. There is a tendency with songwriters to treat their songs as children. If somebody takes the time to listen to the song and comes up with a list of how that song fails to move the masses, it becomes a direct criticism of the song writer. Similar to telling a parent that their kid is ugly. This last week, I did rewrite one of the ugly kids and I do have to say that the outcome was great. I will know how great when I take the time to take the songs to one of my songwriting coaches. Should be a lot of fun. My album is going to take a while at this pace.
In other bits of news, I have started rehearsing my drummer. He is good. Can't wait to show off the new songs and new band. And oh yeah, I have a new website. It is http://www.rodneybraniganmusic.com I have been working with some guys on this site for around 6 months. I will transfer brokenguitars.com soon. I guess that is it for now. If you happen to know a bass player in Nashville I am looking. He/she kind of has some high expectations to live up to. (See Seth Horan)
adventurous
accomplished
excited
amused
melancholy