I Am An Ignorant Poet

I am an ignorant poet.
not studied up on my lit-
erature. not knowledge-
able of the goings on.

1-3-5 is no silver spoon
doesn't promise me nothing,
but leaves me thinking;
I am an ignorant poet.

You say I can't bet my
life on music but then
what do I do with my chips?
We've all got to bet on

something, so it might
as well sound good. But
then again, as I said; I am
an ignorant poet.

I know myself and every
one else, but they just won't
take the time. If I am wrong
then show me right if you think

I'm an ignorant poet.
when you're standing up to a
challenge and forced
off balance, only challenge

will rise again. As far
as I'm concerned I'm right
you're wrong is made vice
versa. But I'll live my

poet life and play sweet music
through the bends
An ignorant poet is always
right until proven wrong again.

Medeski Martin and Wood

Add to bands I've seen:

Medeski, Martin, and Wood: Party In The Park - Rochester, NY

Last night Medeski, Martin, and Wood put on an amazing free show at Party in the Park, a series of concerts and fun in downtown Rochester. I was upset that I had missed the opening act of Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad but I will catch them again soon hopefully. This is my second MMW show and it lived up to the funky jazz fusion jam sound that I expected from them. I had an awesome time and there was quite the Jam scene there. When I saw them at the Jazz Festival last year, I didn't see as much tie dye and Grateful Dead apparel but was pleased to find a large portion of the crowd was sporting the various colors of life and music.

The Jacob Tapes

It was the music coming from my finger tips
it was the music

what was I sayin
before the sound escaped me
where was it going

I'm not sure if the sounds will come clear

keep coming out again
keep coming out again out again
keep coming out
keep coming out
keep coming out keep coming out

music music I'll keep coming out
music music I'll keep coming out



Here I am here I am all alone
you think I'd like it, call it my home
and I do

They keep tellin me to prove my way
through the sounds I hear and the crazy ways
they keep coming, into my brain
I call it music some call me insane
just sounds sounds in my brain
This is what I mean
see I've got poetry so deeply woven
and now it's growing out
out of my fingertips and in
in to whatever it may become
who would know
when things will change
those four chords always sounded the same
maybe one day
I'll have perfect pitch and understand
but until that day, just call me a man

A music man

there are little bits between I go astray
spending way too much, let my money get away
but in the end
it all comes back to me
who I am and what I wanted to be
A music man
with an end to his no where
no where: I won't go there.
Cuz that's just a path right back to me
and you'll see there's so many ways to sing
but only one of them
gets to be me.
If you could talk and listen to yourself for just one minute
not on a shelf
any way you could spin it
it's just yourself
and it's all coming back to this
and that's where the music's at.

sometimes it's just gotta be tough
let it free with everywhere to go
I don't even know
If these words will ever make it to your ears
I don't even know
If I can brave my fears
and going on and on again
going on and on and on until the end
A music man


So introspective
gives new perspective
on old familiars ways

The Things My Father Taught Me

The Things My Father Taught Me

When I have a kid,
I'll teach him what my father taught me.
Don't speak in absolutes kiddo
Because I won't always be there
And never, never happens.
Never give up, but always admit
When you're wrong. Stay organized,
Bundle up if it's cold
Or you're gonna get sick.
You can always try harder
And when I tell you something
Just say "Yes father, I understand."
People who know everything,
You can't tell them anything.
Don't believe anything you hear
And only half of what you see.
Always give back and what goes around
comes around so watch what you do.
Think before you speak and be aware
of everything around you.
Keep your friends close
and your enemies closer.
Laugh at yourself, don't be an idiot,
And think ahead.

Yes father, I understand.




Happy Fathers Day Pops, thank you for everything you taught me. I love you and you're on my mind and in my heart and soul every single day.

Air: Pocket Symphony

This album is incredible. Air is one of my top listened to artists and I only listen to this album. I plan on moving on, but it's so good that the other album I have (Moon Safari) just gets ignored. Pocket Symphony is just that. It's like a little orchestra of uplifting, stop you dead in your tracks beauty that unfolds from the pocket of just two people. The lyrical qualities travel well with the perfectly timed transitions and strange yet melodious sounds that emanate from their instruments. Wonderfully complex and composed of sounds that fill my bones and shake my soul, it is one of the best waking up or going to sleep albums that I have found but can also be enjoyed throughout the day and over and over again.

The name AIR is a backronym for Amour, Imagination, Rêve or love, imagination, dream.


I stongly suggest.

Cloud Machine

Cloud Machine

I am a worker in a factory.
The gears rotate, soft steel
clicking into place and twisting out clouds
high above the ferns.

I wish I could lay down in them;
fill their painted leaves with my vibrancy,
with the realism that echoes off the walls of my mind;
and let a miracle grow.

Whether my mind is caught
in these wide wet clouds
or like an imaginary window cling,
colorful clothes splayed like kitchen rags
and my back suction cupped
amidst the growth of the earth;
green fronds in the forefront of white accumulus.

I have no knowledge of green.
My hands are rough from the slow
cold turn of a cloud machine.



This is a version I'm satisfied with. It may go through several more incarnations, but this will do for now.

Music to my eyes: shows of the past year

I am not a musician yet, but I will be someday in the future. Most of what pays musicians bills is ticket sales and merchandise so I try to go to as many shows as I can and usually try and get a t-shirt in the hopes that others will follow my example and help keep the musicians of our day thriving. In this entry, I'm going to make a list of what I've seen this year so that a) I don't forget and b) it'll give you a good example of what I think is worth going to see even if you have to drive 6 hours. :-) I'll write a little bit about each show as well.

Motion City Soundtrack: U of R - Rochester, NY
This show was eh. The band that I loved so much in high school at a more angsty period in my life had lost its meaning to me but the performance was good and they certainly enjoyed themselves so I had a fun time as well. Things like repeating "This song is for love." before each song (literally) kind of cheapened the performance for me as well as the acoustics of the U of R gym being rather blase.

The Hush Sound: Water Street Music Hall - Rochester, NY
This show's headliner was actually "The Spill Canvas" an alt rock band of the likes of yellow card and such. I really enjoyed what the lead singer said in between songs at the show. He got the point across that he didn't care if we liked their music as long as we like music; something that really stuck with me despite my lack of interest in his type.

The Hush sound however was incredible. I enjoyed the female vocalist / keyboardist the most. She had a really swingy bluesy style and got really into it. The rest of the band was really enjoyable as well although not quite as expressive as Greta Salpeter.

Andrew Bird: The National - Ithaca, NY
All I can say is this man was playing violin in the most beautiful ways in a forest of horns. It was a great trip to Ithaca as well, somewhere I spent several years of my early childhood while my dad was at Cornell. I also go to see my cousin while I was there which was fun. Mainly, there was a man playing violin in the most beautiful ways in a forest of horns.



Andrew Bird: Philadelphia Music and Arts Center - Philadelphia, PA
This time as well.


Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Pittsburg (ish), PA
This was a really awesome show as well. It really put Conor Oberst's other music in perspective for me as well. He's a very lonely man, but lives the most glorious life of misery.

The Elephant Six Collective (Holiday Suprise Tour): The Bug Jar - Rochester, NY
This show was attended as a happenstance of my friend Derek needing a ride to it. He swore by it so Jake and I made our way in as well. A good opening performance by Walri started the night off but I never would have expected what came next. 7 foot tall metronomes and static the singing television. As well as a really good movie at the beginning of the show. It was held in a very variety show kind of way. Julian Koster I think was on LSD as his knee caps were sweating buckets down his shins and he spent a short amount of time rocking back and forth with his shirt color stretched over his face under the piano. He made the performance for me with singing saw and a fantastic banjo. Some of the greatest musics I've seen. Thank you Derek who got to meet Jeff Mangum of "Neutral Milk Hotel" after the show.

Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad: Water Street Music Hall - Rochester, NY
This was my first experience with this band entirely as well. What can I say besides Reggae, solid jams and mad good vibes. :-)

The Dead: Times Union Center - Albany, NY
Ridiculous.

The Dead: HSBC Arena - Buffalo, NY
Ridiculous.

Dr. John and the Lower 911: Lilac Festival - Rochester, NY
I've seen Dr. John before when I was way younger at Mass Moca and I found ten dollars! I went again hoping to find another ten dollars but also to hear his swampy hoodoo sounds. Sooooooo good. I haven't danced that hard at any of the other shows I went to. Also I could tell that the guitar player was good but he was really just keeping rythm during the show. I really wanted to see him let loose and at a point in the show where all the musicians got a little soloing time I expected it but it was still pretty tame. During the encore though he ripped that thing to shreds. I cannot express how good this show was. If you ever get the opportunity, go.














Animal Collective with opening act Grouper: Metropolis - Montreal, Canada
Okay, Grouper would be amazing to listen to as meditation music or if I wanted to hear crazy (and really cool) sounds but as a live act she was boring as shit. Her guitar playing was mediocre at best and it seemed the rest of the sounds were being played out of a walkman tape deck on the floor so I didn't really understand the talent of it all. Animal Collective on the other hand kicked ass. It was a bit loud at first, like make your ears bleed loud, not just normal second row loud but eventually I got used to it. They played an amazing set and I met a couple of cool people there as well. The crowd as a whole however tried to mosh. It felt like the animals were holding back toward the end of the show because they wanted to get the crowd to calm down and relax a bit. It seemed that they didn't really understand the music. I hope to see them again but this time I'm sitting in the balcony.






























Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad: Water Street Music Hall - Rochester, NY
As I said before Reggae, solid jams, and good vibes. Also the opener even though he was a bit wierd was really good. I don't know his name but he was a solo guitar act and I really enjoyed his style.

Robert Randolph and the Family Band: Rochester International Jazz Festival - Rochester, NY
Motha fucka learned how to do that in church. God Bless.

For the future, I may be going to the offspring for some good ol' Americana. As well as free MMW, Buddahood, Michael Franti and Spearhead, an undisclosed special event, and Gov't Mule at Fun in the Park this summer. Hope to see some of you there.

Life and Times

Lately I've been trying to find a second job, the search continues but I put in a few hopeful apps today. I also got my ukulele in tune and learned a bunch more chords for it so that was exciting.

I'm currently working on a poem as well. All I know so far is the title which will be "Cloud Machine." I have a couple of versions but nothing really cemented in my head yet. A lot of my poems kind of come to me as some sort of concise idea that I can transcribe to paper without much of an editing process, either due to my naivete as a writer or their solidity as concepts in my mind. This poem is a combination of two concepts that have a lot of meaning to me and that are very clear but their combination into one central idea was not one that I planned. I hope it will be readable soon. Usually I have a lot of time to devote to my writing at work in between customers so hopefully I will have something by Monday.

Other than that, Robert Randolph and the Family Band tomorrow followed by Tower of Power for free. So, Saturday expect pictures and a review. :-) Happy weekend and father's day to all.

Mr. Barrick told me he was going to make me a great house wife. I wouldn't want to disappoint the man!

Happy Birthday Josh!

Well, it's Joshies B-day today, so I thought I'd say a few words in his honor. :-)

Joshua Kenyon Eells, I never thought when I first saw your long haired ragamuffin self sitting on my balcony that it would lead to such an incredible friendship. You've since cut your hair but I hope that our friendship will grow much longer (haha, that's punny). You've been a great and positive influence on my life and I thank you for that as well as for having me along for several of the years that you've been on this wonderful planet. You're now 19 which is a pretty sweet year but it really just means that you can drink in Canada. :-D Best of luck this year buddy, I think of you often and hope you're doing well.

The Side Hill Gilly Wopper

The Side Hill Gilly Wopper is a truly mysterious bird. Like all birds, they have feathers. Feathers of all shapes, colors and sizes but not arranged awkwardly. Each bird has a different plumage and molts once a century. The most peculiar trait of the Gilly Wopper is that one leg is always elongated. It can be the right leg or the left but it is this limb which enables it to amble carelessly around Side Hill. Right legged Side Hill Gilly Woppers are able to travel around Side Hill to the left, and left leggers walk to the right. This has created a very strong and interdependant relationship between right leggers and left leggers as things are always needed from both directions. Mates of the opposite leg are usually chosen as it just makes things easier.

Due to their odd appendage, they are able to habitat the strange and mysterious place of Side Hill. It is a steep hill but a hill none the less. It is however too steep and tall for any predator to survive the climb. They would surely fall and be consumed by a large moat of sharpened sticks that the Gilly Woppers have gnawed and collected at the base of Side Hill. This defense has lasted many hundreds of years and has allowed the strange birds to live in a joyful solace for quite some time. They have never been seen by anyone as no one has yet pointed out their existence. Much like the boats of Columbus were not recognized by island natives until they were pointed out by a wise man who could perceive them.

Passerby have only heard their calls which are delicate and intricate as well as robust and deep. I hope to one day hear them again.

Scene but un-Scene

I consider myself a man of music, not necessarily well versed in all the classics and not necessarily up on all the new sounds that make their way into the world but I feel I have a good basis for appreciation. (Click my picture to hear my frequency). This band "The Dear Hunter," was started by Casey Crescenzo as a side project from his post-hardcore band "The Receiving End of Sirens." It would be categorized as experimental rock and prog rock. His voice has kind of a scene like quality but the instrumentation and the lyrics of the songs vary very much from that type of music. I enjoy the album "ACT 1: The Lake South, The River North" very much and think it's a very worthwhile listen for anyone with their fingers in prog rock, alternative or experimental, as well as those of you scratching at the walls for a better listen than Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, or Motion City Soundtrack, but with a similiar sound. Enjoy!