My Talk From The Dallas Museum, Plus A New Guitar Video & Custom Hat

"The world is not to be put in order; the world is order, incarnate. It is for us to harmonize with this order."

– Henry Miller

"Darwinians make the fuss they do about the 'randomness' of mutation only in order to contrast it to the non-randomness of selection. It is not necessary that mutation should be random for natural selection to work. Selection can still do its work whether mutation is directed or not."

– Richard Dawkins

“We are part of the mysterious. Rationality is only a thin veneer with us.”

– Carlos Casteneda

Flashback to May and it's The Manifestation Celebration – where I am somehow giving the most freewheeling, speculative, and controversial talk of my life so far to a packed presentation hall in the Dallas Museum of Nature & Science.  If the museum only knew what went on under their roof...well, it'd be because they found my recording of the talk, which you can finally download for free:

It's a real roamer of a presentation, taking us through biology, astrophysics, psychology, and philosophy to arrive at the suggestion that our solar system's passage through galactic space might trigger cascading changes in the Sun's magnetic fields, Earth's geological activity, the evolution of life, and ultimately human consciousness.  (It stirred up quite a conversation on my facebook wall...feel free to chime in!)

In other news, here's my latest in a growing series of custom hats!  I'm taking orders, so if you're in the mood for a new lid, just email me with your specs (address, budget, and hat size/color – unless you have your own for me to paint).  I suggest clicking on the picture to appreciate it in its full blooming detail...

Lastly, here is the live video of "The Made & The Born," an ultra-spacey adventure in guitar looping at Tribal Convergence 2011.  Recorded deep in the Oregon rain forest, the damp cold air stretching off into endless midnight, this haunted piece exemplifies my efforts to adapt each improvised piece to the place and time.  You can download this track (and now the entire ninety-minute album) for free...

Watch this in HD!

Many more beautiful things to come when I get back from next week's Rootwire Music & Arts Festival (where I'll be not only playing an afternoon set and a sunrise set, but giving a workshop and painting live all weekend).  Hopefully I'll see you out there...it's going to be the best boutique small festival of the summer.

In the meantime, I'm gearing up to take my music touring to the next level and could use your help!

I have spent the last three years working hard to reshape my life (quitting jobs, living out of my car) so I can re-dedicate my life as a creative offering...and now my career is moving too fast for me to keep up.  If any of you are interested in helping me find a booking agent so I can keep giving my music and painting the time they need – or if you know event promoters or venues that would enjoy my special brand of heartfelt virtuosity – please make the introduction!  I'm looking for audiences ready to listen and be inspired (bar gigs are generally a failure), and am open to playing in all kinds of unique settings.

The opportunity to make music for you is a gift I cherish.  I know a lot of you signed on for this newsletter because of my paintings, but if you like the music please tell your friends.  I run this circus on zero marketing budget and every success I have had so far is because of the support of enthusiastic people like you.

You know where to find me...