Michael Garfield's Love Without End Tour Newsletter: December 2012

25 December 2012

Every Day Is A New Year | MGxGRC Hat #2 | Ethereal Underground | Land Without Evil


"There is absolutely nothing to transcend...only all of Creation to unite with."
Jeffery Wolf Green

"All things are possible once enough human beings realize that everything is at stake."

Well, we all lived through the long-anticipated 2012 Winter Solstice and civilization's first encounter with the cosmic inflection point: on December 21st, our Sun aligned with black hole Sagittarius A* at the heart of our galaxy.  A lot of people thought something crazy was going to happen, myself included...but it seems increasingly clear that the ride is just getting started.

The embrace of this accelerating change is the subject of my latest painting, as well as new musical and theatrical projects that have swept me up into exciting creative collaborations.  Isn't that why we're here?  To trade surfing tricks and astonished eye contact as we try our new lives on for size...

And now, some of my finest work ever.  Thanks for reading and have a blessed holiday!

My New Collaboration With Grassroots California

The response to my first embroidered and silk-screened design collaboration with Grassroots California was overwhelming – I didn't make it to a single festival this year without seeing at least one person rocking that hat, and it was a huge honor and surprise to get so much positive feedback.

Like the first one, only 420 of these will be made.  Preorder through me and you not only get the satisfaction of supporting the artist directly (thank you!) but I'll be happy to sign or personalize it for you, too.  And every preorder comes with an exclusive live EP of electronic guitar music.

Preorder price is currently less than retail, but that's bound to change before I get the hats in early February.  Interested parties, hit me up soon!

Every Day Is A New Year

"Once we abandon this obsessive fanaticism of absolute complete knowledge, we can continue on with our process of discovery without the headache of a deadline.”

"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd."

painted live at
• Rootwire Music & Arts Festival, 2012 08 18
Papadosio (electric), Dopapod, Ott, Akara, Papadosio (acoustic)
• The Parish, 2012 09 15
Kaminanda, The Human Experience, Brede
• Art Outside Festival, 2012 10 20/21
Mother Falcon, Russ Liquid, Andreilien, Stephan Jacobs, Brede, ONE4ALL, Pharo, Metranohm, Thriftworks, Henry & The Invisibles, Pyramid, Dimitri's Ascent, Pumpkin
• Texas Music Theater, 2012 11 11
Papadosio, Octopus Nebula, Holding Space
• Cirque Lunaire at La Zona Rosa, 2012 12 01
Bluetech, Phutureprimitive, Ex Stus
• Whompadelic Wednesdays at Club, 606 2012 12 12
KiloWatts, Crazy Fingers, inertG, SoundShaman

Click to view the process:


Ethereal Underground's New Studio Album
"You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path."

Acoustic and digital, real and imaginary, freestyle and remix, far out and close up, awake and dreaming...  Ethereal Underground is the visionary collaboration between me and beat wizard Tristan Gulliford, aka Dreamcode.  

Between the original sessions and more than a year of Dreamcode's patient sculpting, over 100 hours of studio detail work went into Strangely Familiar – resulting in an ultra juicy 33:33 of...something...not quite witch house, not quite space hop, totally luxuriously weird.  Check us out on FB.

Land Without Evil

I just finished an eight-show run doing live music for this amazing production by Agent Red & Sky Candy, and filmed by PBS for their series, Arts in Context.  A story of colliding cultures in an age of transformation, adapted from the novel by Matthew Pallamary...we got to perform at the historic Stateside at the Paramount Theater in Austin and yes, it totally raised the bar.  Getting to work with such talented dancers, aerialists, video mapping projectionists, actors, live musicians, lighting engineers, and costume designers is just...wow.  This is why I love Austin.

Check out show's teaser trailer:


Custom Painted Hats

I almost hesitate to advertise these, as I'm currently sitting on a huge stack of orders.  Thanks to everyone for your patience!  But if you're in the market for some special way to grace your crown, take a look at my whole gallery for ideas and drop me a line.




An Inspirational Interview With Ideamensch

Last news but maybe the most interesting:  I recently sat down with Mario Schulke of Ideamensch, a website to inspire your entrepreneurial spirit.  He asked me some big questions, and I answered...  Here's a taste:

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Do what only you can do. There are a thousand people in line behind you except for what critical node in the working body of our species? This is a place where “your deep gladness meets the world’s needs.” (Frederick Buechner)  Go for that.

What is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
I remind myself that my resources are of many kinds, that luck is one of them, that help comes from strange places, and that I’m doing this for love, not money. (Money is just the blood that keeps the body working. I don’t need a basement full of blood.)


04 December 2012

My Talk From Rootwire, Best Hat Yet, & New Live Music Archive

"There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality
– and then there are those who turn one into the other."
– Douglas Everett

“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.”
– Albert Einstein

Thank you all for supporting my efforts to make my life an inspiration and example to others, to help people find a way to bring their work and creativity together.  All of us can live a life of passionate and illuminated service.  Here's how I'm doing that, for now:

My Talk From Rootwire Festival

Just say yes to evolution!  The talk I gave at Rootwire Music & Arts Festival in between awesome offerings by Jamaica Stevens of Tribal Convergence and visionary artist Amanda Sage, and featuring a guest appearance by the awesome electronic producer Evan Skytree Snyder.  May it serve you in your continued growth and learning...

"I think there is a great deal of coming out right now, as we admit ourselves to ourselves.  As we step forward and identify as children of the planet to the parents who may still be identifying with nationalistic or industrial concerns, with specific ideologies or cultural affiliations.  These are things to be celebrated because we no longer rely on them.  They're an art form, now, not a technology of survival.  Terence McKenna said that culture is not your friend, but that's not entirely true; culture is an art project, now.  It can be our friend if we raise it to learn to be our friend, because the choice is ours."

Custom-Painted Hats

Orders for more detailed, time-intensive hats have been coming in, and I've been having a blast with it!  Check out my full gallery of 100+ painted hats if you'd like inspiration for your own custom design.





New Live Shows, All Free at Archive.org

I put out a lot of music.  A lot.  In order to separate studio-produced or deeply-curated live albums from less epic (but still worth-sharing) recordings, I've decided to launch a page at archive.org's etree Live Music Archive.  These are all partial shows – some more complete than others – free and fun and full of silly banter and strange sonic experiments.

If you like what I'm doing enough to buy some music, here & here are two great albums worth sharing. I'm about to record a long-overdue studio album and can definitely use your help to bring it into being!

Thanks, and enjoy...


Fifteen minutes of raw, molten basement jams with acoustic & electronic drums.


Twenty minutes of touchstyle guitar etudes & silly banter from my show in Boulder this summer.


On sacred land in the desert outside of Albuquerque this summer, I let it get as weird as possible....


A pretty solid sampling of both my acoustic singer-songwriter music and cyberacoustic improvisations.