Keyhole View 2015
through the window I watch the mechanical world
snarl and belch like an angry beast,
its synthetic blood glistening
as it pumps through the veins of this city
but after a life in the woods, I like the bustle
it is energetic, alive
from time to time I yearn for the simple life again
to return to my cabin on the island
but it never twinkled as much as it did in my dreams
could never quite find a way to make that little shack stay up
I woke one night, glistening with sweat
I saw the scales of dead fish
shining in the moonlight
and a great sickness in the ocean.
childish as the day we were born
lost as the animals around us
running and panting in the summer haze
we close our eyes
only listen to the voices that live inside this dream
thanks us for our patience
tells us there’s still time to wake up
please stay on the line
as I unpack all the versions of myself from my mind
in one version I waited on the beach until the sun went down
then walked toward the forest and
past the owl that only looks back and
that woman in the well
I learned the lessons of deer and salmon
and other wise creatures
they embody the secrets I longed for
but my thoughts are always stretched,
trying to find balance.
from my suburban trappings
I imagine the inlets of my youth
at night I sometime wake to find myself in the backyard
searching for that secret trail back to my childhood home
scouring the bushes for that keyhole view
sometimes I pretend the car headlights are fishing boats
the intersections turn into coves of twinkling lanterns
where fishermen and their prey take shelter in the bay
until the storms have passed
the moon rises, the men drink on their boats
and even the fish relax.
and then someone honks
and yells “get the hell out of the way asshole!”
The Dead South, a gold rush vibing four-piece acoustic set from Saskatchewan, infuse the genre’s traditional trappings with an air of frontier recklessness, whiskey breakfasts and grizzled tin-pan showmanship. Their sound, build on a taut configuration of cello, mandolin, banjo and guitar, speeds like a train past polite definitions of acoustic music into the grittier, rowdier spaces of the bluegrass world. – from: thedeadsouth.com
Here Lies Man are a quintet originating from Los Angeles. Founded by members of Antibalas in the Spring of 2016, Here Lies Man mixes heavy fuzz rock with afrobeat and art rock to compose a sound all their own, taking the musical world by storm with their eponymous 2017 debut. The band gained quick attention for their “What if Black Sabbath played afrobeat?” thesis and was praised by many critics for an innovative musical style. – Article: fandom.com Photo: The Georgia Straight 
Elza Soares b1937 is a Brazilian samba singer. In 1999, she was named Brazilian Singer of the Millennium by BBC Radio Radio. She was married to football player Garrincha. Her father was a factory worker and guitarist, and her mother was a washerwoman. She was born in a favela in Rio de Janeiro. During her childhood, Soares played on the streets, spun wooden tops, flew kites, and fought with boys. Despite poverty and having to carry buckets of water on her head, she had a happy childhood. When she was 12, she was forced by her father to marry Lourdes Antônio Soares, also known as Alaúrdes, and within a year later gave birth to her first child, João Carlos. Soares liked to sing, and when she needed money for medicine for her son, she participated in a vocal contest. When she was fifteen, she gave birth to her second child, who died. After her husband became ill with tuberculosis, she began working at a soap factory. At twenty-one she was a widow, alone to raise her children: four boys and one girl. She dreamed of becoming a singer. When she was thirty-two she had a relationship with soccer player Garrincha. She was vilified by Brazilian society, with many accusing her of breaking up his marriage. She was shouted at in the street, received death threats, and her house was pelted with eggs and tomatoes. On April 13, 1969 her mother died in a car accident. Garrincha, Soares, and her daughter Sara were also injured. Garrincha was driving drunk when a truck merged into the lane and Dona Rosário was thrown from the vehicle and killed. Soares and Garrincha remained married for sixteen years (1968–1982). Garrincha’s friends did not accept Soares as his wife, instead calling her a “witch.” Soares tried to curb her husband’s dependence on alcohol by visiting bars and pleading with them not to serve her husband. The couple had one child, a boy, born in 1976. In 1983 Garrincha died of cirrhosis. On January 11, 1986, her son died when he was 9 years old in a car accident as he was coming back from visiting his father. It had been raining and the driver lost control of the vehicle. The door opened and the boy was thrown into the Imbariê River. Soares was desolate and considered ending her own life. She left Brazil and toured Europe and the United States. After many years of searching for her long lost daughter, they were reunited after Soares returned to Brazil. On July 26, 2015 Soares lost her fifth son, Gerson, when he was 59 years old. He died of complications of a urinary tract infection. Soares had six children: João Carlos, Gerson, Gilson, Dilma, Sara, and Garrincha. Wikipedia
Born 1966 in Sweden, Anders Osborne is an American singer/songwriter who tours solo or with his band, as well as playing in North Mississippi Osborne (N.M.O), a group formed by Osborne and North Mississippi Allstars. As a teen, Osborne started playing guitar and listening to Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell records. He was influenced by the vocal styles of Ray Charles, Van Morrison and Lowell George, Robert Johnson and recordings of African drumming. "Blues connected everything together for me," Osborne recalls. "The early rock, the R&B, the jazz, the singer-songwriters. Blues was like a thread running through everything." He began playing in Open D tuning, which gives his fretwork a signature sound and feel. "I first heard Open D on Joni Mitchell's Blue" he says, "and my fingers just fit the tuning." Wikipedia 
Image: Rudolf Hausner – Die Arche des Odysseus via 
Image: North Sea Jazz Festival
