The Machine’s Pump Volume 23 – #4 – April 2020

I’ve been staying up later than usual and sleeping later than usual. Sometimes I don’t get out of bed until noon. I’ve been making big plans about various home-improvement projects and actually starting on about 1% of them. I’ve been watching and ignoring the same news you’ve been watching and ignoring, I’ve been hanging out with Jane, my wife, a lot, which is pretty easy. We’ve had a lot of practice. Although I’m sure she wishes she could have her weekends back. Also hanging out with our animal menagerie way more than normal, which I’m digging most of the time. Dogs want to please. Cats want to please themselves. It’s a good thing I’m crazy about all of them. Cooking and cleaning up after cooking has been a good way to fill the hours. Also, I don’t mind sitting and staring and am trying to get even better at it. I’m thinking about the best way to do virtual concerts and iPhone video premieres (See Below). In general, I’m constantly wondering how musicians and artists can actually be engaging and exciting to an audience without being in the same room. This requires me to think out loud, way more than Jane cares to hear, about how to make any artistic expression desirable and relevant enough to be sustainable, now and in the new version of the future. Live music was already struggling anyway. That’s no secret. So, perhaps this is an opportunity to reintroduce ex-club goers, for instance, to something they forgot. Jeez, I have crazy ideas in stable times. Remember those? Stable times? Well, now that we’re living in WTF Land every bizarre minute, I can barely control my need to create solutions for everything around me, specifically how to make art and music fit into a rattled, insecure society. How do you get people to stop and focus AND make it worth their effort? Musicians’ iPhone concerts can come off looking like people playing for tips on the street, which is fine. Some of the best YouTube videos are street musicians blowing everyone away. But, generally, people don’t want to hear more than a couple of songs from street musicians. I always feel like if I invite someone into my realm, it’s my job to see that they are entertained or intrigued or that I’m providing a different perspective which they may find interesting. I always felt like that was the power of Brave Combo. That’s our thing; to screw with a song or a style or a sound and re-present it to our audience so they hear it differently. You know, like an optical illusion. People like optical illusions. There are many challenges involved. One, of which, is to not be too clever. I only play music I really, really like and it’s important to me to interpret my perception of that beauty to someone who goes to the trouble to check out what I’m doing or thinking. I never want anything to overshadow that; the musical specialness. Our hora version of “People Are Strange” has been incredibly valuable to us. It’s a sure-fire get-em-on-your-side show starter. The idea of a Doors song as a fast polka has been a guaranteed mood-lifter for over 40 years. And there are still plenty of people who get the humorous juxtaposition. But, it also works very, very well as a straight-up hora and we regularly insert it into long group dances at weddings and bar mitzvahs. The Doors came up with a great piece of music and playing it well is as important as any shock value we add to the picture. We have standards, you know!!

You can check our itinerary of live shows if you want, but keep in mind it may all change tomorrow or just disappear entirely. I figure concerts, festivals and even club shows will be the last to recover. If you see a musician walking down the street, please tell him or her how sorry you are that people can’t gather right now and start crying, if you can. Six feet apart, of course. This all sucks even worse because most musicians have fragile egos. What a sad world. You know, on second thought, if you see a musician walking your way, just cross the street and don’t risk an encounter. It would just be awkward.

The new album or rather collection of songs is finished and mastered and ready to sell on the road. Uh-oh. No road. So, maybe we don’t need CDs for a while, but we are making videos for all the tracks and will be releasing those through various means, starting immediately. Keep watching our website and social media for fast-breaking news.

And, actually, do check our itinerary occasionally. We will be doing more stuff online, for sure. Maybe a lot more and we want YOU to watch.

Okay, gotta go avoid doing several things and just play with animals. However, it’s nap time around here right now. Hmmm. Which one will I wake up? I love guessing games. It might have to be Twitchie. She’s the only one awake and looks ready-to-go! I hope you are having as much fun as I am! Go team!