A Human Struggle for Recognition

This morning, I had a little bit of time to think about why people blog. It was on my mind because I actually took some time today to read the blogs of a couple of good friends of mine. We don’t read our friends’ blogs (usually) because we already know what’s going on in their lives, how they feel about things, and how they’re continuing down this strange path of existence we call life.

The bottom line? We all struggle with a lot of different things, but there are common ones, too. Though there are obviously many reasons, I think blogging is motivated primarily by a desire to be recognized as a person, separate from everyone else. It’s a desire to find meaning behind why we’re alive; because if we’re all pretty much the same, we all live, we all die, we’re simply a part of the lineage of the human race, then what’s really the point?
Humans don’t just want to exist. They want to matter.
I don’t think that I blog because I’m searching for answers so much myself, but that I kind of hope that I can help other people cope with that struggle – that desire – and can move them in the direction of discovery for themselves…
My new album, Fundamental, really is the closest I’ve come so far to expressing this and other struggles common to the human experience in my music. If you haven’t yet, you should check it out, here:
To some of you, I know I still owe you copies of the album. I’ll try to make that happen this week. Sorry for the delay!

Mosquito Fleet / Milano Concert Review

This past Friday night, some friends of mine, Mosquito Fleet, performed at the local coffee shop, La Spiaza. While I don’t exactly like the “venue” or their coffee. Or the owner. Or how they treat the artists who perform there. I do like the atmosphere when there’s great, live music being played. Opening for Mosquito Fleet was a band called Milano – some very talented chaps from Chicago, whose lead singer, Joe Guerra, is artist-in-residence at The Line Church in Lincoln Park. Pretty cool gig, if you ask me…

So about the concert…
In a word: impressive.
I only caught a few tunes from Milano, but what I heard was polished, refreshing, a combination of alternative, folk-rock, and a hint of traditional country.
Mosquito Fleet? I love these guys. They bring it every time they perform, and this concert, the record release show for their new EP, was no exception. Without the luxury of having stage monitors, the band did more than just keep it together. Standing at the front, right up against the band – within inches of Josh, the bassist, and feet of everyone else, I had a chance to look back in to the audience and take pictures of the scene in my mind:
Laughter. Heads moving. The floor bowed down with each kick drum hit from feet jumping ever-so-slightly to the beat. Bass emanating from the house speakers gave me blurred vision. And several faces with glazed-over eyes, lips pursed and turned up with joy as ears take it all in: lyrics. music. life.
Even with flawed lead vocals on a number of songs – no doubt caused, in part, by the lack of monitors – Mosquito Fleet still got their point across: they love performing the music they write for the people who love it and they don’t ever want to stop.