All things go, all things go.

Drove to Chicago.

We finished tracking guitars with Chris Bober at Chicago Sound Lab on Saturday. I have a song that I need to add a little bit of piano to, one to change the lyrics on, and maybe a few vocal overdubs to do. First I have to sort though the original vocal takes and see if there is enough to work with from takes that didn't make the cut as a whole.

Our friend Matt Schulz, one of my favorite drummers in the world (and my boy-crush), put us on the list (for the second time in three nights, thanks Matt!) for the sold out Holy Fuck show at the Empty Bottle. They really have me thinking about music in completely new ways, releasing tension at times with a heavy groove instead of just a consonant chord. The music I'm making right now might be too straightforward to incorporate it, but I'm taking on a new project soon, and I think there's a place for it. More to come on this soon, I hope.

Here's Sufjan on Morning Becomes Eclectic:

I was born during a Memorial Day parade.

Danielle was born the next day.

The Cleveland Botanical Gardens were open without charge this past holiday weekend.





At times this spring I've become obsessed with popping dandelions. If I see one in our yard, I have to pop it, it's the rule. There were times that the jagged silhouette of dandelion leaves were burned on my retinas. Still, I like blowing on a puff of seeds, and even though I didn't capture that very well in this picture, I like it.

Sweep away your worries...

I really hoped our friends Joe and Carolina could cast our first video for us. They're one of the best looking couples in Cleveland, and they met at the now defunct 80's night. All we needed was a single dancer.

Putting out some sort of casting call made me nervous, I didn't want to have to reject people on a couple photographs, or even worse, after some sort of dancing audition, not that I needed great dancing, the concept was based on a Mommartz film I found of a short of mod-ish girl dancing by herself.

Joe and Carolina couldn't come up with anyone, but everything worked out.

Our friend Lauren (her band Chief Bromide just released a new album) did the videography. Stacy Candow shot still photography. Gina Mirto danced.

Oh it's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spent it with you.

We didn't drink sangria in the park, but we did have peanut butter milkshakes from Swensons afterward.

Most of our trips to the Cuyahoga Valley coincide with fall foliage, or snowfall. Until today, we've overlooked some of the more lasting beauty of the park for the fleeting splendors.

My poetry was lousy, you said.

My parents kept the record player in the dining room of the house I grew up in. Most of the time the room was purely utilitarian, and all but a couple of the memories I have of it involve Christmas dinners. The record player, and listening to Donovan in particular, as well as once deciding I was recovered enough from the flu to play ping pong and discovering I wasn't, are about all I can come up with.

My love of Dylan came from my dad, The Beatles too, but by the time I was digging through his record collection, it had spent too much time in an attic in Ohio, and most of it was warped.

My mom on the other hand has at times questionable taste. A fair number of Christmas dinners were eaten with new age versions of carols in the background, but she has moments of clarity too. Tim Buckley, Leonard Cohen. We saw Joan Baez with her on Saturday.

Joan was great. Besides Dylan, she covered John Lennon, The Carter Family, Elvis Costello, and Donovan. I would have left happy having only heard Diamonds and Rust.

My favorite YouTube videos are usually taken from live television performances from Europe. I can't quite embrace home movies made at concerts. I searched and search, and before finding the right version to post, I found that Judas Priest covered my favorite Joan song. I've never really listened to JP, and even knowing they took their name from a Dylan song, it surprised me. I wonder if the shred bands that covered JP's version and posted their clips knew where the song originally came from.

This is Rock & Roll

There is no way you won't be disappointed if you stop watching before it's over.

Don't bother concealing your thievery

This isn't the first thing I've stolen from Even Cleveland. Danielle recommends it for Clevelanders and nonClevelanders alike.