Summer Rain

Summer rain falls mid day

filling the pavements

washing dead bugs and twigs away

cascading on grass so needy

pulling it beneath the earth

taking its fill and nothing greedy

grass blades bend soft with water pose

hoping that the sun will keep it live on loan

but the cloud has filled with pulled cotten clean

billowing the small stacks of steam

I sit and wander

how the world rejoices in summer thunder

for me under the roof i sit and watch

that water falls to the ground

filling the parched holes in the earth

with a simple pitter patter

the wonderful summer sound

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!

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

Wonder

Video

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!

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

Video

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!

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