As a freshman in college, I found the poetry of Federico García Lorca inspiring (be sure to follow the hyperlink to read some of García Lorca’s work). I remember trying to imitate the style of the famed Spanish poet, without any real success. However, one of the poems found its way onto the album I … More The Ballad of Hank: Inspired by Federico García Lorca #Songs #NPM22
Rather than add a few more photo poems today (I may add some later this week), I turn to the newest song in my constellation series. It’s been six months since I last wrote something musically, a sad commentary on the pace and priorities of my life from a creative perspective. It’s not that I … More The Lesson from the Lesser: Ursa Minor #Constellation #Songs #Stars
What if John, Paul, George, and Ringo provided the soundtrack for a musical revival of Charles Dickens’s immortal A Christmas Carol? Thanks to The Muppets, we already have at least one spectacular musical version of Dickens’s classic, and I’ve even seen one staged in Pittsburgh. But as I wrapped up our study of the novella … More Hey Scrooge! Imagining The Beatles Christmas Carol
Christmas reminds me just how much I’m not at home. Strangers now own the house where I grew up outside of Philadelphia. Five years ago, my parents sold it and moved to central Pennsylvania to live closer to my sister. Shortly thereafter my mother passed away. As much as I enjoy visiting my family there … More Coming Home
I’ve returned to the series of constellation songs I began working on a few years ago. I had stalled out on Ursa Major, finding the Greek myth less than inspiring. There’s only so much of Zeus being a lusty deity one can stomach. On revisiting the constellation itself, I found the fact that the two … More Ursa Major – Constellations Vol. 2
This morning, March appeared to be moving out like a lion rather than a lamb. As I sat drinking my coffee before heading up to my room for a day of distance learning, my greatest joy was watching my nearly seven-year-old son running around outside gathering the fallen branches and collecting any toy debris blowing … More Appreciating Where We Are
Last night I came into The Observatory (what we fondly call the great room of our addition) to find Aidan and Ethney watching Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, starring Ciarán Hinds. I have fond memories of the older boys watching this classic film years ago, but last night, it struck me as especially timely. I had … More Advice from Sir Walter Scott: It’s Time to Stop Pretending
A few years ago, my wife, children and I put together a family Christmas album as a gift to our families, complete with original songs, popular covers, and literature readings by my daughter and young sons. Heavily inspired my musicians such as Branches out of California, Sleeping at Last, and The Muppets Christmas with John … More Make Some Time for Tea
Driving out to pick up my weekly order of organic whole milk and grass-fed beef this afternoon, I was struck by the relevance of a song I recorded back in 2012 with my sons for our Full Fathom Five EP: “Gardens of the Grave.” In a time when I have intentionally limited my consumption of … More The Gardens of the Grave
Years ago, my eldest sons and I began recording a series of songs that was meant to follow up our Full Fathom Five EP. My good friend, Jeff, who has run sound for many of our concerts, invited us to his basement to lay down the tracks in a more professional manner and away from … More For Such a Time as This: “God Who Hears”
the deepening ground 