Announcing the release of Furniture Music IIthis Friday, Nov. 5th via Bandcaamp! The music is meant to be a companion to the OG of the same name and extends my interest in unadorned 6 and 12-string acoustic finger style guitar. I hope these tunes can offer you some respite as they have for me during the uncertain times of the pandemic and beyond.
As always, thank you for taking the time to listen!
Hope you are well. It’s been a minute. Hard to tell if this little website has much reach these days with so much being shifted to social media platforms but I’m still trying to update music goings-on as they come…
I’m thrilled to share the release Maples, Ash, and Oaks: Cedars Instrumentals, byField Works. “Based on the original Field Works album Cedars, this new suite of instrumental music brings the listener even deeper into the forest. For this special limited-edition release, Stuart Hyatt deconstructed each track from Cedars and rebuilt them one layer at a time. He removed the narrators’ voices and invited Julien Marchal to introduce piano as the new protagonist. The 15 new tracks are named from each line of the new poem, Deciduous, by Cecily Parks. The musical frameworks are based on the Field Works album Cedars, created by Marisa Anderson, Fadi Tabbal, and Stuart Hyatt – and performed by Julien Marchal, Youmna Saba, Dena El Saffar, Danny Paul Grody, Bob Hoffnar, Stuart Hyatt, Tomás Lozano, Nathan Bowles, Alex Roldan, Fadi Tabbal, and Marisa Anderson. The forest soundscape was recorded by Harrison Ridley in the Welsh countryside.”
I’m really proud to have contributed music to this extended work and its original companion, Cedars. Please have a listen and maybe even grab a physical LP (how novel, I know!) for yourself:
As always, thank you for listening and supporting!
I’m excited to be a part of the latest installment of SUPERMOON 8, a live event curated by LA-based artist Liz Walsh and co-presented by Last Projects Gallery. The live event takes place tonight, May 1st at 9p PST and can be viewed via YouTube or Twitch. Please look out for me around the 9:30 mark of the program, which is stacked with an amazing cast of artists (see image for full lineup).
Don’t fret if you miss tonights event… it will be archived via the linked YouTube channel. The piece I contributed will also live on my personal YouTube channel as part of an ongoing collaborative project with cinematographer and friend Ian Albert.
Wishing all good health and thank you for listening!
Happy to be included in another installment of Spectral Transmissions (presented and directed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher) happening this Friday, March 5th for the opening of the Portland International Film Fest. For this special festival edition, a host of filmmakers, writers, and artists explore how the past and the future haunt us today. My piece (“Harbor Island”) can be found on the virtual exhibit section of the program.
Program contributors include: Cliff Hengst, Donal Mosher and Mike Palmieri, Courtney Stephens, Nels Bangerter with Jack Bangerter and Nicole Billeschou, Lynne Tillman, Mark Elijah Rosenberg with Steven Christopher Quinn and Elliot PDS-70b Skaff, Steven Sheil and Jeanie Finlay, Kirsten Johnson with Dick Johnson, Matt McCormick, D-L Alvarez, Holland Andrews, Jason Hanasik, Johanna Jackson, Selections from the Public Domain Review, Chanti Darling, Danny Paul Grody, Nancy Andrews and Jennifer Reeder.
The program will screen for the festival duration, March 5-14. Tickets can be purchased here. Passholders will able to view through the festival watch portal watch.cinemaunbound.org.
Its an incredible lineup so please mark your calendars!
Hello, I hope this finds you well and most importantly keeping safe and healthy.
I’m very happy to announce my involvement in Cedars, the next Field Works album from Stuart Hyatt, a dual-language (Arabic and English) release featuring a wonderful mix of musicians, poets, and artists. The album is narrated by Youmna Saba and H.C. McEntire. Instrumentalists include Marisa Anderson, Fadi Tabbal, Dena El Saffar, Danny Paul Grody, Bob Hoffnar, Tomás Lozano, Nathan Bowles, Alex Roldan, Youmna Saba, and Stuart Hyatt.
The album is accompanied by a comic book illustrated by María Medem, printed by longtime Field Works collaborators PRINTtEXT, with poems by Youmna Saba and Todd Fleming Davis.
Please visit here to preorder. Listen the the two singles La’āli’ and The sharp smell of cedar below ahead of it’s March 5th release!
As always, thank you for being curious about what I’m up to!
Very happy to have contributed new music to Spectral Transmissions, a haunted-holiday themed program bringing together an incredible group of writers and artists of all stripes to bring a little spook to your festive season. The series is presented by The Portland Art Museum and North West Film Center. There are two components: an audio broadcast and a multimedia page, where you can find my piece, “Ohr Ein Sof / Infinite Light”. I hope you enjoy it!
Greetings and happy Halloween to those of you reading this today!
I am thrilled to share the meditative short film “Learn to Loose” by artists Billy Joe Miller and Kahren Hipscher. (Billy is responsible for the artwork to “Fountain” and “Between Two Words“)
Here is a nice description of the film by Dianne Cluck, who’s song of the same name served as an inspiration:
“Artists Billy Joe Miller and Kahren Hipscher created this visual accompaniment to an early version of Diane Cluck’s song “Learn to Lose.” The artists also worked with the instrumentals “Dawn” and “On Leaving” by your truly to make short related meditations. At times abstract or light-based, the video reflects on themes of loss, relationship to uncertainty, isolation, and deep transformation – particularly relevant themes in this current pandemic and climate crisis. In making the video, the artists drew from their personal experiences with chronic illness and grief, and art as transformative practice. Using elements in nature, their own bodies, and glass and mirrors to focus and redirect light, the video is a collaborative meditation in conversation with the music. Filming was done at or close to the artists’ homes with objects and creatures in their everyday environment.”
I am honored to share some new music on the excellently curated Halloween-themed benefit comp “A Little Night Music: Aural Apparitions from the Geographic North”, featuring an incredibly stacked roster of artists!
Alll proceeds go directly to the Feminist Women’s Health Center – an Atlanta non-profit providing compassionate abortion and gynecological care, as well as community programs aimed at advancing reproductive rights, health, and justice.
The limited double-cassette has now sold out but is eternally available in DIGI via bandcamp as well as on all streaming platforms (iTunes, Spotify…)
Earlier this week, the good folks at Aquarium Drunkard put together a feature celebrating 20 yrs of Three Lobed Recordings. To mark the occasion, a variety of people were invited to share thoughts on albums that have made an impact on them. I am humbled to have been included and grateful to be a part of this incredible family of artists!
Below are some thoughtful reflections on my LP “Between Two Words” (2013) by William Tyler and Chuck Johnson, both of whom happen to be personal guitar heroes and all-around solid human beings. Truly touched by these words:
Bandcamp is once-again waiving their cut of sales to support musicians being impacted by COVID-19 pandemic. 100% proceeds today will go directly to artists until midnight PDT. So If you are in a position to support, today is a good day to do so!
Please check you my personal page but I also encourage you to explore other pages, as many folks have shared new/unreleased gems specifically for today. A few that come to mind include buddies Chuck Johnson, Sarah Davachi, and Mike Weis. Additionally, there are a ton of amazing small labels that could use help to keep things afloat.
In other news, I wanted to share a sweet new playlist by the venerable Ben Watt who graciously included me on called “Season of the String”. It can be accessed via Spotify or Apple Music. He spoke about his inspiration for it on NPR a few days back. I’m truly honored he’s found my tunes soothing during these uncertain days, as I hope you do too.
Thank you as always for taking the time to listen and support!