When I asked Israel Voice to give BrodieNation Music Festival a shout out up at Nine Mile on Bob Marley‘s birthday he took it a few extra steps. He launched into a completely improvised song from bottom of his huge Rastafarian heart, extolling the virtues and unparalleled greatness of Morgan Henley Epic Summer Party. This is what it looks like …
I just stopped in to see my friend Marilyn’s new location for Cafe Zippy LLC. I worked with her at her last location when I was doing locations for the TV pilot for Tabitha: Witch of the Order. The place is full of smiling faces on a beautiful day hinting at the promises of Spring. Places like …
Yolanda Nicole’s debut EP, HALFMOON has just come out. This work embodies the perfectly imperfect persona of Yolanda Nicole. The tracks are sassy yet sweet, angelic yet dangerous, and beautiful but crude. Yolanda’s powerhouse vocals bring these catchy tunes to life. HALFMOON was composed–Yolanda wrote all of the tracks– in a way to build balance …
My Great Uncle Daniel Santos. He got drunk and started Revolutions. He once yelled at Che and Raoul Castro in close quarters, exclaiming and finger pointing, “You muthaf☆ckaz said you were Revolutionaries, y’all didn’t say you were Communists. F☆ck Y’all. I’m out.” Then he lived to sing about it, because he was their favorite singer. …
I sat down with one of the coolest kids in school, Miss Jordani Sarreal to discuss her Copyright and Publishing workshop coming up Sunday March 11th in Tacoma. I can’t say enough about how important this workshop is to independent musicians today. Nor can I properly convey the street value of Jordani’s wicked set of …
This clip of Dean Martin is amazingly good. If only he was always this funny when drunk. If it’s an act, it’s a great act. Note his outfit: years before Miami Vice he is wearing Don Johnson’s trademark white jacket. Note also Bob Hope’s seeming indignation. It’s hard to say whether Dean was truly in …
I finally know the Truth! My parents got their DNA tests back and through my Mother’s Puerto Rican side I am not just a little bit African, I am a melting pot of many African tribes including Bantu, and portions of what comes up simply as Nigerian, the tribes of Senegal, the Congo, and the …
It was a little surprising that Billy Graham got a full state funeral treatment for his memorial: lying in state in the US Capitol, flags across the nation lowered to half mast, and President Trump attending the funeral service in Charlotte, NC. Perhaps it was to be expected, given the current coziness between Trump and …
I just took a break from an assignment from Sick Donkey Records to polish my first draft of lyrics on a song called ‘West Indian Rock’ that I am singing with my great friend Lenni I-Music. He’s pretty much the best pal a guy could have in Jamaica or anywhere, and I really want to figure out a …
Funny (not funny) how Putin just went full Dr. EVIL and hosted a PowerPoint demonstration about how we are losing the Cold War complete with how he is ready to take out Florida like Kruschev. This is what out intelligence community knows and the people will pretend isn’t happening, because the truth is too inconvenient. …
On the last day of February I celebrated by seeing England’s folk/punks Skinny Lister at Seattle’s Barboza club. Despite the dreary weather outside, Skinny Lister hit the stage bursting with energy, charisma and downright fun. Every member knows how to rile an audience. Singer Lorna Thomas beguiled everyone with her unadulterated charm. When she wasn’t …
I am going over photos from the ‘Free Your Mind’ video shoot at Hope Gardens & Zoo, Kingston Jamaica. Director of Photography Delroy Ledgister did me such a solid by sliding away with his video shoot’s second camera to get me some much need solo photos. It’s such a beautiful park on a such a perfect looking …
As a Capitalist pig I have to admit a terminal cancer our economic system is that we still have gun companies after selling ourselves 300 million guns. We have enough guns to arm every baby in this country. We have enough guns for everyone, and enough ammo to till each of us 100s of times. …
The lovechild of four southeastern Tasmanians; Valkyries combine poetic lyrics alongside beautiful melodies woven through distorted, salacious 70’s-esque guitars. “Serf” is the latest single from the band. Written for the soundtrack of a surf film by auteur Howard Groves, “Serf” is about the highs and lows of being a slave to a lifestyle. It has …
Here’s a great moment from five years ago. Lightning captured in a bottle. First song opens with references to Isaiah 9:6, the Bible text which, in an enormous transatlantic and cross-cultural musical coincidence, is one of the many high (and familiar) points in Handel’s Messiah.
Eating from your yard tip~Jerusalem Artichoke is a hardy beast that grows over 7 feet tall with yellow rebeckia flowers. You can harvest the tubers after the first hard freeze, but I think they taste better in the spring. The women I got them from sliced them raw onto her salad. They are also good …
Delroy Ledgister our Director of Photography just sent this behind the scenes clip of me showing the kids of Fleet Street in Kingston the song I pulled out of thin air about their urban garden & underground community center, LIFE YARD. Delroy captured a cool moment because one of the kids told me to song in …
New York-based singer/songwriter SHIRA will release this lovely single soon. “Butterflies” was featured in the indie film Landing Up and has become a live favourite. The track will appear on her debut album Till The Sun Comes>. . Shira says of the track: “For the longest time I couldn’t really feel anything after my dad …
The Fall of the United States from its temporary seat as the world’s greatest Superpower, can be boiled down to two simple facts, which reveals a terminal defect of the two party system. It’s like a self destruct button. The last Democratic presidents are among the most intelligent, eloquent, and well educated Presidents in the …
My friend Jordani Sarreal is putting together a music publishing and copyright workshop that is so incredibly timely for me. As publishing and the ownership of our albums is increasingly in our own possession, rather than Record companies, most of us have no idea what to really do in 2018. I will be attending her workshop and …
Canadian straight-up death-pop quintet Sc Mira have just released their new #badasswomen single ‘Give It Up.’ Gotta love the haunting chorus. It’s the first song of their soon to be released EP Drug Warm Coma.
An Argument Against Living in the Present Comedy and Literature are among the great escapes from the horrors of only LIVING in the present. People have always told me to LIVE in the NOW and be more present. I call bullsh-t. I think we ruined America in 2016 by only LIVING in the present. If …
Tadiman has been a friend of East Portland Blog for a while. He is Slovenia’s finest reggae artist. We featured his tune. “Kdor drugemu jamo koplje” a few months ago. Tadiman can be seen in the background of the video Davin Michael Stedman took on what would have been Bob Marley’s 73rd birthday. Now he’s …
Want to see me singing songs with the kids in Trench Town, as I described it? This is one of the files that was too big to upload in Jamaica. Now my host Ricardo isn’t world’s steadiest camera (phone) man, but I am grateful he was able capture this moment in nearly its entirety. It …
Just today, Yahoo! broke the story of federal documents identifying an extensive list of NCAA schools and players that have been involved in the recent recruiting scandals that have been investigated by the FBI. You can find their post here: https://sports.yahoo.com/exclusive-federal-documents-detail-sweeping-potential-ncaa-violations-involving-high-profile-players-schools-103338484.html One reason I’ve preferred professional sports to the NCAA is that the former make …
The Oklahoma City Thunder came to Sacramento on Thursday night at 33-26, fifth best in the NBA’s Western Conference, but they are a more dangerous team than their record suggests. For the first quarter in their matchup with the Kings, the Thunder were their better selves, shooting over 80 percent from the floor and building …
“What The President Said,” a new protest song by David Poe and Sister C, features voices from the Women’s March and the LAX protest. The song challenges a president who many believe is imperiling American ideals with outrageous falsehoods, divisiveness, brinkmanship and incompetence, aiming to pander to base voters before midterm elections this November and …
On the frigid Tuesday night of February 20th, I had the utmost pleasure of seeing one of my utmost favorite bands, Gogol Bordello. It has been nearly five years since I last saw these self-proclaimed gypsy punks. They hit the stage right on time. This time front man Eugene Hutz sported longer hair that hung …
Though the Reverend Billy Graham passed away Wednesday morning at 99 years of age, his failing health had taken him from public view for the last few years, and it was almost more of a surprise that he had remained a resident of our earthly realm up until then. For those younger than a certain …
You need this mobile sound system in your life. It’s a giant boom box with a motor and steering wheel. It’s like a tank of reggae love. Do you think it was built on a riding lawn mower or a golf cart? Either way this is another shining example of Jamaican innovation and DIY creativity. …