That’s right. “Live at Lestat’s” will be/was the last physical CD I make as an independent artist.

It just makes sense for me. It’s environmentally friendly, it’s less stuff to lug around in my gig bag (and to store at home) and ultimately, it’s cheaper for me to make an album. I know it might sound like a bad idea, especially to my music friends who have been selling CD’s for as long as they’ve played music. But this is the right choice for me and for my generation (as far as I know). Maybe I lose that immediacy of having something to put into someone’s hands at the end of the show and I lose that opportunity to make a fan. But there’s always other merchandise ideas that can be created in the physical CD’s place like shirts (which I’ve been talking about forever) and posters, etc.

Luckily the next album is still a ways off and I’ll have time to think about this particular issue more. I’m sure I will find a way around that and I’m sure that technology will as well.

Anyway, the thought went like this (hit it): what if you modeled your life after the concept of “no waste”? I had that phrase in my head and was really only focusing on sustainability and the natural environment. But as I thought about life, I thought “no waste” could apply to the way I live life. Here are the levels of this mantra that I can see (so far):

• Environmental- This one seems obvious but to really lessen the negative impact of my life on the world around me.
• Resources- Try not to waste anything (food, money, energy, breaths, etc.).
• Perception- Not every idea or goal will be successful but “no waste” means thinking of them as successes in the sense that I’ve learned something from them.
• Music- Working on refining the art and becoming more lean and more mean(ingful) with my songwriting, guitar playing and singing.

Also, stay tuned for a very special and possibly unflattering video documentary on yours truly! You may even get to see my terrible poison oak rash!

Yesterday on my run, I found myself listening to Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” and through the rhythmic pounding of my feet against the pavement and my near heart attack, I misheard the lyric about making a “mountain man leave his home”. What I thought I heard was “got what it takes to make a mound of sand out of stone”. So I paused for a second (although not literally because I really had to get home to pee) and I thought that was a cool retro-lyric. Very Hendrix-y a la “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” so I typed it into my phone and I’m hoping that it shows up somewhere in a new song soon.

Just earlier in the day, I ran across the ambiguously quoted quote, “good artists borrow, great artists steal” (T.S. Eliot or, possibly but improbably Pablo Picasso). And while I think I understand the undertone of sarcasm, there truly is an ounce of truth with that statement in regards to new music and I think coming to terms with that idea will allow me more freedom. I’ve always tried to create something new and string together chords that people don’t usually hear and while that may be a great pursuit, I also don’t want to be limited by it. Besides, after a thousand years (probably more) of tonal music, I’m sure someone somewhere has come up with stuff that sounds kinda like the little songs I’ve written. And as a musician that listens to a lot of music, it’s really easy for me to fall into the trap of judging people for sounding too similar to this song or that artist.

So, my new perspective is that everything is new because I created it. It’s something I believe in and something I will support. Obviously, there is the risk of sounding too similar to whatever you are inspired by but if you stay true to yourself, it would be really difficult to do so. So if I do sound like someone’s chord changes or lyrics or melodic idea, there’s nothing to be worried about because it’s simply paying homage to the past and putting it in my voice, which truly is new.

Here’s an incomplete list of checklist of stuff I’d like to accomplish in the next few months (in no particular order):

• Nationwide tour
• Skydiving
• Bungee jumping (COMPLETE)
• Start recording full-band album
• Learn to speak Chinese (Mandarin)
• Become a better cook (COMPLETE/On-going)
• Take up new athletic activities like soccer, surfing, etc. (COMPLETE/On-going)
• Go on more outdoor trips per year (COMPLETE/Going backpacking again in July)
• Visit New York, Boston and Washington DC separately from a music tour
• Travel overseas somewhere
• Write one really great song
• Collaborate with more people that I respect (COMPLETE/On-going)

They may not seem like much, but they are big things for me. Hopefully, I can check off more of these as the year progresses. If you’d like to partake or help with any of these activities, the more the merrier!