Category Archives: Uncategorized
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A City on the Verge of Revolution
My hometown cries out for help and investment from my generation. Not only the monetary investment to restore it, but the physical elbow grease and time that a city needs to be rebuilt. Being that I am a full time musician and weary of committing any time or money to anything because of my transient lifestyle, the idea wears on me. I have no idea what I can do but I want to do something. This is a poem about the challenges the city faces, but what I face also. I am going to do a series of poems on South Bend, IN and this is the first installment. Enjoy!
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A city on the verge of revolution
Slow but surely it rises
Dim lit hopes to find
A solution
Will I be the resolution
Or the prodder
Stay or leave
I can’t just pay restitution
If I stay I shall invest myself in the future
A price not yet determined
The man at the store
Is not afraid to give me the sermon
The streets can be brought
Back to original glory
Of the Studebaker nights
An all American story
–
At stake city buildings
Crying out for help
Asking to take its wings
Nourish it with fillings
Can these hands build back
What has been stolen away
Should I give up
Simply wait for yet another day
These streets and walls have gone on neglected
Yet I try to move out
All my things
I have collected
Only to be called back
With a voice so timid and quiet
Asking for help
While its soul is dying
–
Can I afford to stay
What help can I be
Even a little effort
Goes a long way I can see
People are inspired
Looking for revolution
So I fix the brim of my hat
And commit to be
Part of the solution
MM Shorts 217: The Bergamot
Hey that’s me! Enjoy!
Wonder
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This is a song about how my mind seems to wonder at all times. I have a very curious personality – and I feel this song really captures the way I feel sometimes. Enjoy!
Great Nostalgia – 13 Years Ago
Tonight post is short and sweet. We just rocked out at a sweet house party in Downtown South Bend the night before our big show here in the bend for St Paddy’s Day. I am kinda wiped out – but I will give it my best. I am feeling a little nostalgic because I realized that tomorrow will be our biggest performance in South Bend ever and I have been playing in the bend for 13 years!!! Holy shit! I played my first show when I was 15, my mom dropped me off at a local coffee house called “Higher Grounds” in DT South Bend. It was an amazing show and now tomorrow I will be on stage in front of 8,000+ crazy to look back at the journey – and funny how life works. But I am super excited – a poem will be written post show to summarize the feelings and emotions. For some reason word press is not letting me space correctly so this will be read by using commas (not for grammatical purpose)
All the chatter, Play it this way and what is the matter, Chords still ring out, I cling to this guitar like a mad hatter, I have seen many a shops open and close, Sang them a song before they had to dispose, Of all their assets and move out of town, Kinda sad to think that I would never again see them around, This town or any other for that matter, People have come and gone, Some great inspirations, Some not so much, But in some meaningful way it was my life that they touched, I think back with great nostalgia to the first show posters, My life since those first days has been nothing short of a great roller coaster, I have now traveled from coast to coast, I have found places I loved the least and the most, With my guitar I have traveled, I say this not to boast, My humble beginnings playing in Coffee shops to onlookers playing chess, I did not have a fabulous voice, I can honestly say that I gave it my best, Only 15 looking for a grand time, Little did I know that love and a calling I would find, Years went by, I continued to play, I tried to give it a little something just about everyday, Then music led me to my love, She landed in my life as gentle as a dove, She would sing I would play, Anywhere and we did not worry about pay, 10 years have gone by since then, I can not believe it has already been 10, Now we get to play on a much great stage, I guess you could say that we have turned the page, From the empty coffee houses to people packed in, I used to know this city when the music scene was thin, Now it is robust and growing, Songs are being written, People now create great art, I am humbled to think that I played just a small part, I hope South Bend continues to grow, What it will become in ten years nobody really knows, To do my part I will just continue to pick up my guitar sing and play, I hope for the best for this city one day, Wishing it the best on this St. Patrick’s Day.
Futile to Fertile
Spring is right around the corner. On a warm spring day this came to me as I relished in the final days of winter. Those days are some of my favorite of the year. Enjoy!
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Winter days fade
Into spring
Quiet mornings
Where the birds
Sing
The final snow
Begins to melt
And fade away
Winter is moving out
And
Must be on its way
For today
I admire
The winter cold
Windy gnarly
And brutal
My attempts to leave the Midwest
Always seem to be
Futile
Until the fertile lands
Of spring bloom
Once again
Bring back
Warmth and summers moon
All of this will be back
Very soon
And soon indeed
It will bring me joy
A young child
With a brand new toy
To run around under the sun
My heart swells
When it is warm
How the feelings come back to me
On this winters morn’
Shit My World is on Fire
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Here is a song that I wrote about how sometimes you let things go just a bit too long in your life before you decide that something has to be done. In a similar fashion as to that one time I was in college and left the pizza in the oven and forgot about it. I take a light hearted look at what an angel could do in that moment also – how it would really help because when shit hits the roof – you could definitely use some help in getting life back in order. So this is called “Shit My World is on Fire”. Enjoy!
Shit My World is on Fire
–
Well I’ve been thinking
About all this time up here
I’ve been wasting
The thing I do and say
Well I am no Angel
But if you see on please
Send her my way
She can save me from all of the trouble
I’ve been making
It would be so much fun
I’m just sayin’
–
Whoa oh oh
I look around and
Shit!
My world is on fire
Who oh oh
I can make it out
But only with an angel
Whoa oh oh
Look around and see
She can only take me higher
Whoa oh oh
Drink in that sun
My world is on fire!
–
That got me thinking
When God made this world
She was kinda funny
Now I am just running around now
Making Monday
But there ain’t no way
It ain’t that easy
Just take me and break me destroy me and build me up later
Take a quick minute and pass me
Your lifesaver!
–
Whoa oh oh
I look around and
Shit!
My world is on fire
Who oh oh
I can make it out
But only with an angel
Whoa oh oh
Look around and see
She can only take me higher
Whoa oh oh
Drink in that sun
My world is on fire!
–
Whoa oh oh
I look around and
Shit!
My world is on fire
Who oh oh
I can make it out
But only with an angel
Whoa oh oh
Look around and see
She can only take me higher
Whoa oh oh
Drink in that sun
My world is on fire!
–
Oh my world is on Fire
Fire
Fire
Oh my world is on
Fire
Fire
My world is on fire
I hope to have more videos and songs up with descriptions soon so stay tuned. I am casually working on a possible full length album as my first commitment is The Bergamot. A Pop/Rock duo and we play with a full 6 piece band so we can have killer dance parties. Check us out and listen to our entire catalog of work at http://www.thebergamot.com! Cheers!
Rest
This was written after a couple of weeks on the road. This trip included all of the major music hubs in the U.S. (in my humble opinion of course and for our particular genre). We had stops in New York, Chicago, L.A. and Nashville. We finally got to the end of our journey to a log cabin up in the woods on Traverse City, MI and I slept for basically 48 hours. At the end of the sleep I was able to get up and write some words that needed to be written down. They came to me in a early morning haze. So here it is a poem on rest – enjoy!
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Rest
There is one thing that unifies
This no one can contest
That when we fall asleep
The mind now at rest
The heart
Beats
And beats
And beats
–
To no similar tune
But in similar fashion
–
The mind at rest
I can attest
This is the best
Way to connect to each other
–
There are no preconditions
No medication
Or temptation
–
For one to connect
To others
Through this sensation
Of mind cessation
–
Temporary of course
But this might lead a course of action
To rest away the weary eyes
To come to negotiation anew
Many a times it has worked for me
And surely will do the same for you
–
Lights out in gentle style
Let the mind take the lonely mile
And hearts beat sustain throughout the night
And in the morning
Everything will be alright
Notre Dame song The Bergamot
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Our local team, Notre Dame, did not win the BCS title game but they sure did make a small town proud! Here is a song for the FIGHTING IRISH!
