A Little More Music...

Short of having the capability of embedding music files directly into this blog -- and in response to a few folks expressing some interest in hearing more and old Muse's tunes, I went ahead an signed up for my own MySpace Music page and uploaded a few of my unreleased solo recordings. These are songs that I had recorded at Acoustic Music Production in West Palm Beach when the Ashley Gang band (see posts and links below) was working on our second album. They are just me and my guitar -- all my own compositions based on real events.

"Home for the Healing" is based on Florida Author Patrick Smith's unfortunate experience during a north Florida winter road trip.

"WalMart of Her Dreams" was inspired by the tale told by a co-worker of mine whose wife was so anxious for the opening of a new Super WalMart near their home that she would watch the construction progress from her car.

"Cat" was inspired by an old yellow ferrule male feline who frequently visited our yard in vane attempts to woo our female house cat. Both have long since departed this world, but the song is left behind.

You can find them HERE.   I'll probably put up more over time -- some from the same sessions, and some from my 1996 solo album. And if you haven't already, please drop by the Ashley Gang's MySpace page here to check out songs from the whole band.

I'll also have a new photography website up in the next couple of weeks -- will keep you appraised of where to find it in the days ahead. And yes, this is all part of my life simplification project for 2009 -- just a couple more pieces of the puzzle falling into place.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

The Path To Less, Update 3: The Healing Power of Music

Some things you just have to deal with. Monday morning I flew to the Philadelphia area on business -- it was snowing and cold... but necessary. I love my job. Really. Every day I have the opportunity to have a positive impact upon the future of pediatric health care through the facilitation of biomedical research. Regardless of the altruistic value of that part of my life, it involves stress. Travel, personalities, deadlines, emergencies, ethics -- pressure to do the right thing. Part of the simplification process is making room for the necessity of job stress, and decompressing as a method of managing that stress. In addition to my love of photography -- this is how I do it...

That's me in the Middle, Michelle the goddess of vocal harmonies and fretless acoustic bass on the left, and Al, the king of Florida songwriting on the right -- three of five members of the Ashley Gang. This past Saturday we performed at the Women's Club in Eustis Florida -- a charming little town with a great music scene. There was a time when we did this virtually every weekend -- we were younger and gas was cheaper. But there was something special about this one.. I got lost in the performance.. in the music... found new meaning in the playing, in the singing, in the friendships. What a blast! The place was pretty much full -- friends and family from Orlando showed up -- we received a standing ovation at the end . Refreshing and fulfilling -- a wide awake meditation...
So here we all are... Michelle, me, Al, Mrs. Muse, and norm -- the most dangerous man in folk music (wielding an accordion or playing percussion on pans and assorted kitchen utensils and African instruments). This, above all else is what refreshes me and stirs my creative juices. If you're ever in Florida, come out and hear us some time... Simple.

Musique! -- (My Space Music for Folkie Geezers)

My long-time partner in music Al Scortino (that's Al on the right below and me on the left), being the tech-savvy marketing guru that he is has created a MySpace page for our band, The Ashley Gang...

If you're interested you can find (and listen) to us here. I wrote (and sing) song numbers 2,3, and 5 on the play list -- and Al wrote and vocalizes on the rest. I've been looking for a way to embed audio in this blog, but haven't figured it out (let me know if you have) -- so this is the next best thing for now. Two posts in two days... who knew? Enjoy!