St. Louis Holidaze

sending out my solstice greetings to all !
I plan to take in the Monet exhibit tomorrow
at the S L A M .  Forest Park is beautiful.
Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays/ Happy New Year !

. . . this just in . / IRAQ

I heard a news broadcast today and the reporter
stated that during the formal ceremony officially ending
US troops  in the country, no Iraqi government officials
were present.
 4K American soldiers lost their lives.
4 billion dollars spent.


I wish history had a rewind button . . .

December in da Lou.

recently returned from a brief visit.. ...
I am blessed to have a great partner / soulmate/ lover/ confidant
who gives me life + love.

The  mongomon  recording project is in the final stages and LK and I will
enjoy  presenting it to you. I honestly feel as if this new work-
is my v e r y best effort to date. We will be updating the website
and keeping you informed on FB as to the release date of the new
album on CD Baby .

late / early musings . . . .

tonight the reggae ruffins rocked the house ! joined by the m i g h t y  horn section
from Murder City Players for most of our second set, it was fat and sassy baritone sax
bone, and trumpet pumping up our sound ,adding many smiling faces to the packed house.
this was a great one. I will remember it .

N O V E M B E R 2011

. . . this weekend we turn back our clocks 1 hour. less daylight. bummer.

WORLD SERIOUS . . .

I love baseball. the game. the rules. the drama. I always have.
When I was around 8 yrs. old, I wanted to be a pro baseball player.
In the spring of 7th grade, my mom refused to let me play that summer
on the little league team I had played on for 4 yrs. due to the fact that my
gradepoint average was not up to snuff. (as they used to say) so. . . .
little Tommy Wood from Kirkwood  Mo. ended his dream of ever
playing baseball in the big leagues.

The Stl. Cardinal baseball team is currently playing in
The Fall Classic. I am happy for the team and our fair city !
I still want to play in the majors. 
in my mind, I am on that field.

Late October In St. Louis

World Series baseball begins tonight in my hometown . Thousands of fans will
brave the cold temps to watch their team play in the fall classic.
During this evening   north winds will produce windchill in the upper 30 's.
I will be working in a soulard bar , playing my original songs during game time
enjoying the baseball game on a flatscreen :out of the elements.
Excitement is in the air. Best of luck to the St. Louis Cardinals !

Happiness . . . . . .

Whenever I have a Horizon to move towards, a distant " goal " , or accomplishment to
work for, I feel  more content . Even if  the  horizon is far away in the distance,
and barely in sight, the target is established, and I work  my plan to move in that direction
knowing, believing , and attempting to reach that goal : the understanding  and acceptance
of this feels incredibly significant to me.

RECORDING PROJECT

After I spent a glorious week in my beautiful woman's arms, out west in the desert
of Nevada, I returned to the recording studio and to the work at hand.Sunday night.
LK and I are moving our project closer still to its finished version. We will spend
many more hours working/mixing before the final touches are eventually added, however,
progress and promise are our working companions. He is an engineering genius.
I am v e r y  lucky to be working with Larry Kornfeld. I believe that this work will be
my absolute best ever !!

musings . . .

ending of the midwest summer is upon us. I do not miss the
temps of 100 degrees plus. humidity, no thanks. I'd much rather
have a couple of layers on with no humidity and a crisp autumn
fresh air chill to the night air.


tonight I hung out with friends in St. Louis and enjoyed the tunes
of the Grateful Dead as played by the band Jakes Leg. good musicians.
Venice Cafe garden was open, soon there will be bonfires when the
fall shift moves us all closer to early winter.  October is one of my
favorite months.  autumn is here. fleeting. temporary and beautiful.

Early Autumn musings . . . . .

. . . . . .every year after the summer's hot and humid weather has driven me indoors
to escape the extreme temps, I  look forward to the cooler drier air and gorgeous
golden light of autumn.  I think that this is my favorite  season.  I love the springtime as well,
but there is something special about the season's change that runs deep in my soul.
the crisp clean air and colorful leaves . I am grateful to be able to experience one more
autumn in the midwest. my heart feels happy .

labor day weekend-

this summer is the 4th hottest on record .

weather disasters this entire year seem to have amped up a bit.
lots of snow.  flooding. wind /dust storms. cyclones , drought,
excessive heat.  my heart goes out to the many who've been victims
of storms, flooding, etc.

sending a big shout out to Bluesweek + Bluescruise in da Lou !
H I P P Y  L A B  OR   DAY !

more studio progress. . .

" we gotta stop meeting like this, I mean when are you
gonna stop staying up to all hours of the night rambling
on about your happy little songs playing in some studio;
spending time tweaking and changing and mixing and giving
importance to each and every little detail of . . ."

yep. tonight was yet another excellent studio session.
Mp3 release of one new one onto www.mongomon.com   soon come.

Questions ?

why is the local reggae audience in St. Louis Mo.
divided by race? unity is a concept . an idea not practiced by those
who pontificate such action within  our St. Louis reggae music community.
Is there a "community ? " common ideology? haters.
I am tired of their selfish, unproductive hypocritical ways.
racism sucks bad. jealousy is ugly. why be a hater? why?

August Dylan Train. . .

performing our monthly show @ venice tonight
was exhausting at times and also almost desperate

on the survival level . . .
at least in theatre.  personell cancellations , and spontaneous
song selections actually worked well.
thanks for listening. . . .

Recording Project @ mongomon

 . . . it's late / early.
tonight's studio time continued at its quick pace , LK and I brought
a bit  of new life to our cut Mandela . spending lots of energy
on the tonal qualities of tracks we've already recorded on this song when it
was first recorded during late Feb. '11. listening with" :new" ears.

we plan to have this one near the finish line in the weeks ahead.

p    e    a    c    e    -

musing . . .

Tonight 's show at the Shanti  here in St. Louis, soulard area
to be certain, dogs are allowed to sit with their owners if
they behave, ( owners that is ) so I met a few new cainine
in front of the stage. well behaved.
wishing for a miracle. good room . small  audience.
I know that I try really hard. no shit. I still
see what I do as art. an artist at wo r k . in a very
humble manner , I graded my performance tonight
an A-, so I felt satisfied.
p  e  a  c  e   -

mmmmmm good.

just tasted one of the best strawberries of the season.
listening to summer's night sounds through open windows.
layers of insects sounds  singing away, and before long will become
faint whispers as autumn approaches. I am thinking of my father's
love for a bowl of great strawberries. he grew up in rural Kentucky
so maybe fresh fine tasting  strawberries reminded him of home.
the ones that I 'm enjoying now,
remind me of him.  -  p  e  a  c  e    

. . 3 :15 am mild August night -

 G  R  E  E  T    I N G  S  !

Fojammi hooked it up , y 'all.
blah blah blog  is.  that's all it is. is .
what ever it is. has become is. as is.

musings . . . ..

LK  and I really had a wonderful music mixing session
tonight . we accomplished alot.We work very quickly at times, 
continuing to add  necessary changes with our mixes , moving through
eq adjustments, tweaking  instrument tones, adding  "spice" sometimes,
detecting  unnecessary conflicts of sounds, and creating  new  ear candy
to digest until the next recording session. Wonderful to be  moving
closer to our goal of presenting you , our loyal listener with the finished
version in  Mp3 format .  currently basking in the glow of  quality work.

Recording Project @ mongomon

  G  R  E  E  T  I  N  G   S   !

 Our current recording project ( "mongomon") is  progressing v e r y  nicely.
producer / recording engineer Larry Kornfeld and I are extremely proud
of the way our efforts are shaping up ! The first single from this work in progress
is a song titled " A new education - positive foundation". You will be able to sample an Mp3
of this song hopefully  during August. The completed 4 song "EP" is due sometime before
the end of this year. We will let you know as things progress in the weeks ahead !

My album is available at CD BABY !!

  G  R  E  E  T  I  N  G  S   !

My music is available as a digital download  through CD BABY.

We released our album this past January for international audiences
through CD BABY a  website that provides single song purchases
which can be downloaded to your iphone, ipad, or ipod  for a small fee.
the title of the album: " Where the Dear and the Antelope Play".

recording project at Mongomon summer 2011

G R E E T I N G  S !


We have  4 brand new songs in the works at the moment
and our  project  is moving along   astonishingly well.in my opinion.
Many, many more hours of studio time remain  ahead of us to complete
this new work , however, our pace  has been both proficient, and
steady.  The new songs share a common thread musically and emotionally.
My love of the reggae music vibe in its many forms is apparent within the
musical textures of our  new work. At this point, our working title is simply
" mongomon " and for now that seems perfect!