“Playing small doesn’t serve the world.”
– Fred Rogers & Marianne Williamson
“Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.”
– John Kenneth Galbraith
Hi friends! I've been soul-searching about how to balance my responsibilities to a very diverse and heterogeneous audience, and between my duties to myself, my family, and my career. This morning I posed the question to Facebook and the overwhelming response was support for making whatever transformations (and reclamations) I find necessary to keep doing work that nourishes my soul.
This is all to say that you're going to see some changes in this blog, and soon. Most of the folks who followed me for paintings have already bailed — as I did from twelve years of live art back in February 2020 — and since everyone I know seems to want to shrink into a far more manageable scale, I'll understand if you decide to leave as well.
But: Stay. My best work's still to come. I am about to wrap up two extraordinary projects I have spent ten or more years on EACH, and there are flowers blooming in the graveyard of my past lives that I cannot wait to wrap up in a big bouquet for you.
So here we go, again, down a deep rabbit hole...feel free to follow it however you're inspired to.
In this newsletter we have: new big band electronic and solo acoustic music, a vulnerable interview with a legendary artist whose studio just burnt to the ground, reflections on a provocative recent generative text-to-image art exhibition, and copious new podcast episodes to help you navigate what is starting to feel more and more obviously like the long-awaited Technological Singularity...
Love & Thanks,
Michael
New Solo Singer-Songwriter-Storyteller Live Album
Recorded live in Santa Fe, New Mexico on 3 September 2022.
My friend Kevin Wohlmut (the only person I've ever let guest-host Future Fossils Podcast, and one of the most active members of our Facebook group) is BY FAR one of the most generous supporters of live music I have ever met. It was an honor to play this show for his house concert birthday party bonanza, alongside the very talented Dust City Opera and Austin Morrell from Albuquerque.
Over the last fifteen years, I've overemphasized technically intensive electroacoustic sets and neglected my stripped-down acoustic singer-songwriter roots. This show was a return to form — meaning, also, a storyteller format where I spent a good third of my set regaling my audience with humor and cerebral nonsense.
A mix of old and new songs and a philosophical dive into science fiction turning fact, learning to love yourself, the tension between individuals and collectives, video game obsession, political revolution, and my wonderful family. Enjoy, and thank you for your support!
A New, Insanely Ambitious Concert Series in Santa Fe
We already have a ton of fresh faces confirmed for March, including saxophones and new painters who will collaborate on a single large canvas provided by our awesome sponsors at Artisan Santa Fe. If you're interested in participating in our upcoming events drop me a line and I'll add you to our planning email thread!
My First A.I. Art Exhibition: "Hyperborea"
(As noted in the Wikipedia entry for Hyperborea, some ancient Greeks regarded the mythical Hyperboreans as the founders of Apollo's shrines at Delos and Delphi...so, fitting given everything I've said elsewhere about the potential of text-to-image MLA synthesis as a kind of 21st century Tarot.)
Which do you find most compelling? Which ones make you go "I want to be there!" or "Wow, I REMEMBER that place!" This has been a strangely emotional exploration for me — especially after rediscovering Avatar on Disney+, bingeing the wonderful docu-series Myths & Monsters (especially episode two, "The Wild Unknown"), immersing myself in the controversy around Graham Hancock's new Netflix docu-series, and consequently realizing just how deeply these visions of other worlds have penetrated the collective imagination...
Thanks for trekking with me into the Mystery!
PS — I know this medium is controversial, which is exactly why I'm experimenting with it. My artist friends and I have been subject to a lot of hatred for doing so lately...please don't subject us to any more of it, but do consider the practical critiques of its current forms and consider joining the collective processing of the nuance demanded of us in these strange and unfamiliar waters.
