I’ve been away from the site for a while as it hasn’t felt appropriate to rant to about nonsensical things like HOW SNL CONTINUES TO NEGLECT MELISSA VILLASENOR’S TALENTS or about GENESIS, HALLMARK MOVIES AND NEWSRADIO. Those things don’t really seem to matter much to me these days.
In my last blog, I wrote that I, like millions of others around the world, am so angry that nothing seems to change no matter how often police are caught harassing, brutalizing or murdering black people. There’s never any accountability on the part of the police. Over the past month, I’ve been in awe of the support for the Black Lives Matter movement across the globe and am hopeful that this time is different. It definitely feels different. I hope I was wrong in that blog. I hope things will change this time.
I do want to announce that today I launched a new video series entitled “Why We Write (and How!).” In this video series I am deep-diving into songwriting with some of my friends and fellow songwriters. As the title states, I am asking why people play music, what got them started and how they go through the process of actually taking an idea through to completion. Along the way we discuss songwriting influences and other personal stories relating to music. I find it incredibly fascinating to climb inside the minds of talented musicians and think that you will too.
In the first episode, I talk with my good friend Jon Fickes. Yes, the very man who I used to introduce as “The Blind, Ramblin’ Reverend, Mr. Jon Fickes” when we were much younger and much more naive, thinking we would be the next two Bob Dylan’s, even moving to New York City to “sing the folk” as they say. Wait, nobody fucking says that. That’s stupid.
Jon and I have known each other for a long time and he’s been a huge influence on my musical career. The first song on my first album was one of his (“The Dark Lovely”) and I closed that album with an 8+ minute epic (“Just Like Jon Fickes”) inspired by both Jon and by one of his old folk songs called “Just Like Odysseus.” I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Jon is my favorite non-Bruce Springsteen songwriter. I really mean that. I thought I was pretty fucking talented until I met Jon. Hearing him inspired me to get better at my craft. Every time he’s shown me a new song, I’m like “fuck, I want to make something that good.” I thought my last album was pretty damn good until I heard HIS LAST ALBUM.
To this day, I still consider Jon the greatest folk singer of all-time. Bob Dylan may have a slightly higher peak (thinking “Desolation Row” or “Visions of Johanna”), but no one can touch Jon’s ability to channel and hit every corner of the folk genre. He can do it all. Epic tales of rambling or sailing the seas, a sad recounting of lost love, beautiful imagery to express his stories and emotions, the way he weaves his own experiences in fantastical folk tales, the fluidity of his harmonica playing, the way he can finesse his voice to fit any tune or word or emotion; I could go on and on.
And he’s tackles rock n’ roll/pop these days with the same ferocity. If you’d like to read about how I feel about his post-folk career, read my reviews of his first album “TRY AGAIN” and his lead single “DISTANCE RUNNER” off his second album entitled “Closer to a Ghost.” I love both records and I believe you will too.
If you want to take a listen, here are some links to listen/buy:
https://aviewofearthfromthemoon.bandcamp.com/releases
https://thefraidies.bandcamp.com/
To stay updated as I post more videos in this series, go to MY YOUTUBE PAGE and click subscribe so you’ll be automatically updated when they post in the future.
But, enough of my yappin’, CLICK HERE to watch the video on YouTube or just watch below.