spring broke loose with a firey Aries birthday night at Vincent’s where we were joined by maestro Cliff Goodwin, one of the guitar legends of central masssachusetts, and with good reason. we all managed to squeeze in for our maiden voyage and have booked the Burren in Somerville on September 7th for a second show with Cliff. this was followed by a trip to the crescent city for the second weekend of Jazzfest 2024, kicked off by the Rolling Stones, still reigning as the greatest rock and roll band in the world. Mick was in particularly good form, and of course everything sounds better with an English accent. my son was finally able to break the Stones curse after 3 misses in 22 years, which had become a family challenge we now have behind us. as always, there was more good music than anyone could know what to do with over 4 days, so, after recognizing Cranston Clements’ performance with the New Orleans Guitar Masters (more on Cranston later), i would say that my favorite moment was Moroccan guitarist Mohamed Choukri with his incredible 5-piece band. breathtaking.

i’ve pretty much surrendered myself to the drug that pulls me here and there— opting not to resist the excitement that comes with discovery— wherever it is. this month brought me back to the big apple- the first trip i’ve made here since the brink of the pandemic in march of 2020. i can’t tell if new york has changed or if i just see the bigger picture after so many years. i enjoy the energy it inspires, and the way it makes me up my game just being here. this was a volunteer trip to reconnect with some folks i met in 2019 who are playing in the big new space of the modern music industry— a very different buisness than the one i started in so many years ago. i come to them as a time traveller who somehow survived the digital transformation which started in the 1990’s, while still living in my 1960’s shell — a bit of an artifact, i’m sure, but one who remembers the reason we all got started in this game to begin with, which sure wasn’t about the money. the cramped offices on 55th street are now replaced with pencil towers with catered kitchens, not that i mind this, i just mourn for those who never “got to” sweat it out the “hard way”. it all started because i am a musician, and i got to know— and survive— in a business that i love.

we are so very lucky to have lived in a time where we’ve experienced the influence of the Beatles, either directly or indirectly. as i think back to that 9th night of february, 1964, when i first saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, what i remember most is the hope. there was a promise of change, of love, and of deliverance from a gray world to something in technicolor, and, for a time, that was to be so. the long-term effect was a belief that the world could become a better place- would become a better place- if i believed that it could and would. i’ve carried that hope throughout my life and it has sustained me when things looked like they were getting dark again. and eventually, i’ve found my way back to the light. i suppose there are many factors that have propelled me- my country and race of origin, my socio-economic background, my family of origin, and just plain luck. but what i believe in is that message of hope that came into my consciousness as a 9 year old boy listening to the Beatles.

we’re here in the future looking back at the flash that was 2023 with all the good, bad, and in between— we’re traveling in time. many of us are lucky to be in places without war or poverty, but not all of us. many of us have avoided sickness, or have good medical care, but not all of us. i am immensely grateful for the goodness life has bestowed on me and while i’ve worked hard during my life, i don’t for a minute think that luck hasn’t played a part in the life i have today. someone once told me, “happiness is wanting what you have”, and today, i definitely do.

as we slip into sagittarius and the run-up to the solstice, we enter that time of year when we celebrate our brother, Paul, the original van Gogh Brother, a maestro and a mensch. the van Gogh Brothers would not be what they are without Paul, and Paul has been my personal musical foil for almost 30 years. his influence informs everything i write and, with Clay, determines what we record. within a few short years of my return to music in 1992, i was introduced to Paul by drummer and percussionist Jim Treacy, by way of my childhood bandmate, supporter and imprimatur, Mark Zamcheck (another maestro). it was very clear very fast that Paul and i were simpatico, with identical musical lexicons, influences and leanings. Paul leaned heavier while i lived in myriad genres. we found our common language and it thickened over time. today this bond, borne of common love and respect, defines the centrality of our sound. join us as we celebrate Paul on December 9 at Vincent’s Worcester, home of the van Gogh Brothers.

can you imagine being swept away by a flying demon to a mountainous lair somewhere in the sky? can you imagine this demon coming on to you while you try to hide your disgust and fear? were you even a little bit tempted? can you imagine this demon saying, “you’re my sinner girl”? well, this is “sinner girl,” our latest track, which was inspired by a dream a good friend recently shared with me. she told me about this part of the dream and the eerie story leading into it, and i just couldn’t shake the words and images. i walked around thinking about it for days until i finally expelled the whole business in a song. and then it came back. as i was mixing the original track with producer David Minehan, i started hearing a rap, a la “walk this way” by aerosmith and run-dmc. so we tracked down RAL in Washington, DC, and he delivered in spades. we took this new pile of sonic madness and sent it out to Anthony J. Resta in LA who added his sci fi mambo lab-ness to it and produced “sinner girl (feat. RAL)”

I’m beginning to see a trend in my travels as I discover one cool dive bar after another… It’s not the boozing— I’m not much of a drinker anymore— it’s the gestalt of the dive. The right kind of dive. The real, and the surreal. Some bars try to be dive bars and they’re not. You can always tell. They have the accoutrements of dive bars- the cool barback, the wooden tables and chairs, maybe a tin ceiling— but they lack the authenticity. The deep, unexplainable intangible vibe of 100,000 drinks at the bar by crazy, cool, lonely, beautiful, offbeat loners, losers, lovers, writers, ravers, would-be politicians, traveling salesmen, and artists. And the crazed, first-thing-in-the-morning, dyed-in-the-wool alcoholics. These characters are the most important. Each scratch on the floor, the bar, the doors- evidence the presence of the holy.

the 2023 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival marked my first as a part-time resident, and it was special indeed! the karma kicked in from the minute i got to the airport in boston, and the new-to-NoLa spell got broken with new friends, high times, and the return of synchronicity. old pal tom hambridge popped up on the jumbotron, drumming with buddy guy on the mainstage, the highlight of the weekend, and i got to hang out with family and friends like a local. i got a few more sticks of furniture and picked up my new Guild D-25, and started writing. the new pad started to feel like home. after i returned to boston, i got connected with one of NoLa’s top guitarists, cranston clements, (annie’s dad), and i’m looking forward to hanging out with cranston when i get back to town in june for my son’s birthday. life’s next chapter is unfolding.

in what didn’t strike me as unusual at the time, the boy/girl song couplet of billy boy and sinner girl came pretty much back-to-back as a package this late winter/early spring. as i was mulling over the latest material for our new record today, the boy/girl billy boy and sinner girl parity hit me. these two writings represent a bit of a turn toward “dark folk,” or “modern blues.” as is often the case, the songs came calling- they weren’t invited. my friend abed wrote about billy boy this morning from Palestine, “It’s absolutely brilliant! And I LOVE the darkness of it, did not expect that! Sooo good.” but please judge for yourself here!