Your songs aren't spiritual enough

Oh, you wrote a new one? Well the theology is incorrect. (C'mon, don't corrupt this innocent song about Noah and the animals by actually quoting the bible).

Well, it couldn't all be good, I suppose. Now I have personal experience with some of the reasons why so many of my teenage heroes hated living within the world of Christian music.

There are so many of you!

Dance 'til it hurts!

Though this doesn't occur in a simplistic or one-to-one ways, musical structure really does reflect social structure — and vice versa. We participated in a concert at an "anti-profit" coffee/community house in Portland last week, and the way the radical/anarchist-y people did music there actually gave me some hope for that movement. At least, in that it confirmed their ability to create some sort of collective way of life that follows a genuinely different logic from our mass-market (post-?) industrialized society. Simply put, they did music a lot like the people on the old field recordings I love, from societies before they get electricity and industrialism. That is, with little separation between "performer" and "audience," people spontaneously jumping onto their instruments to accompany whatever's going on, dancing, and feeling free to join in stomping and clapping and singing and humming, not in perfect unison with the 'leader' but notes and rhythms they pull from the air and from their heads, voices overlapping and interlocking in a diverse unity free from uniformity.

Oh but my poor words and over-intellectualized thoughts fall down and gasp feebly, not able to catch even the barest twinkle of the magic that was the best musical experience of which I've ever been part.

Thanks to all the people at Muddy Waters Community House Nonprofit who will never read this. Thanks for everything, but especially for all the hugs.

New eyes

I love how playing cardboard drums (and assorted paraphenalia) changes the way I see the world. These days I walk around wondering what things sound like if I hit them, and how they could be used musically. I value — treasure even — things like paper bags and egg cartons, which other people have too many of, and see as only fit for garbage or recycling.

Of course, destroying my "drums" during a performance and throwing the pieces into the crowd is pretty fun too ;)

The Blessing Tree

We have a new myspace site.

Ego-Deflating

There's nothing like recording to show you how badly you actually play your songs. It's just plain embarassing how long it can take to just get one full take where all three people don't make a mistake — nevermind play it the way truly great.

The great thing about playing live is that mistakes are always in the past, not haunting you forever. (Plus you can act like a goofball and people love it).

Adding some mulitmedia content

Pretty sure my main job in this song is just to look ridiculous and a little awkward, but here's a taste of the sort of thing I do these days.


Blessing Tree - Psalm 107

The Beatitudes | MySpace Video

Ashton couldn't join us for the first couple of weeks, so I got to play the toy drum, which is pretty much the best thing ever.

Also, there's a couple of videos on youtube under 'The Blessing Tree' where you can watch me play inaudible bass (the little camera does great at picking up the cardboard drums, but doesn't handle the low-end portion of the sonic spectrum too well). Oh, and also one with an overlong flute solo. (One day when I'm a real boy there will be videos of me on youtube that I don't find embarassing).

Summing up your life in two lines is fun!

Also a little disquieting.

[Somehow this post never made it out of my drafts folder, back when I wrote it about a month ago.]

A week from now I'll be playing the beatitudes out in BC. One of the performances will be at my friend Ben's home church, and they asked for little two line bios that they could print up in the bulletin.

I wrote out a few, just so I wouldn't get stuck on crafting the 'perfect one.' But then I couldn't decide, and just sent them all to Ben to pick the one he thought was best.

Apparently, I am incapable to describing my life seriously. (My life is a joke!) I present them here for other's amusement.

"Tim studies culture and music at Carleton University in Ottawa, and contemplates becoming a professional student. A few years back, he discovered that once you've learnt enough to play a few instruments poorly, it's not hard to just keep adding more."

"Tim reads too much for his own good, to the point where he has concluded that becoming a professional student might be the only positive contribution he can make to society. He once tried to escape from his pastor's kid upbringing by running away to a Christian commune. "

"Tim studies culture and music at Carleton University in Ottawa. He is still trying to figure out 'this Jesus guy.' " OR "He is still trying to figure out how to wrap his head and heart around Jesus."

"Tim studies culture and music at Carleton University in Ottawa, and plans on being a student forever. He listens to music and reads too much."

[He chose the last one. Not the funniest one, but probably the most 'appropriate' one.]

Inappropriate typos

(Setting up shows via e-mail can be dangerous).

"We'd love to come perform on your penisula."
"It's wonderful to see all these ideas pooping up."

This is what you look like after rolling logs down the hills of BC

Attractive, isn't it?

The most noticeable difference about the forests of BC (at least on Bowen Island, and as compared to Ontario) is that there are ferns everywhere. It's kind of like being in Jurassic Park.

Wearing two sweaters and a tuque to bed is adventuresome, but I have to admit I appreciate being back in the 'civilized' world, with central heating.

Riding the train across the country and spending a couple of weeks at a camp whose builings were (mostly) unheated, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about the hunter-gatherers — and even European homesteaders — who once lived here. It's kind of amazing they even were able to survive. There is still so much empty space in our country; it's weird how as our population has grown, the countryside has emptied out.

Cd covers

This is what the Beatitudes cd covers/packaging look like so far. I came up with the folding/cutting 'design' after spending way too much time on youtube looking at impossible cd cover origami. (You can't really see it from the picture, but the back opens up like an envelope). Yayy no plastic! (And only two small tabs of paper waste).

Credits: the lion is by my friend Janet (thanks again). The abstract fire is by Franny and Theo, two twin toddlers Katie (another friend) babysits. The rest are from these notebooks that get handed out at the church I semi-regularly attend, Ecclesiax.

I created a black and white template (of the liner notes, correctly positioned on a standard 8 by 11 sheet of paper), and then pretty pictures can be photocopied or drawn onto it. So we're hoping to continue to come up with new ones, as we come across more adapt-able art. (And a drawn cover is one thing we're always happy to trade a cd for).