Okay, okay.  I can’t help but write about this:  These are strange days and I have this persistent nag in the pit of my stomach.  There is a sort of prolific tension in every corner of life–it’s everywhere.  I see it in people I know and in people I meet in passing.  It is the result, perhaps, of the long-abused elasticity that binds the human condition to its world.  These are difficult, chameleon days.  Something has to give–there will be a windfall.  I don’t even want to know when or what or how–I just want it to happen.  Like a fireworks display in a neighboring town–a light on the horizon.  But I get the feeling the crux of the changes will be close to home.

Last night I was sitting at the park bar with some friends.  It was a lovely night despite my unease.  The Grammy Awards were on television but I kept catching myself staring out the windows.  I’ve never really cared about that Grammy nonsense anyway.  Unhinged idiocy–one of the many reasons I do not own a television.  I was just sitting there doing my best to assuage the general feeling of unease with a quick moment of good company and familiar surroundings.  It is a physical feeling and it takes all of my mind to keep from jumping out of my skin.  Restless but maintaining the outward calm.  This is how I know that something is happening.

December, 2009:  I remember thinking to myself that the decadence of the fall was bleeding into the winter and that the maniacal behavior would have to stop.  And I also remember an active decision to let it continue until the era, for lack of a better word, came to an end.  So it has come to an end.  What remains is this knot in my stomach.  The source of many thoughts and many late nights.

What was I hoping to see last night as I watched the snow fall around the hollowed decay?  I was looking for a doorway at the end of very long hallway.  Metaphorically:  a way out of one of the old buildings.  Something for me to sprint towards.  In the terror of these times and in the comfort of friends and low talk.  In the middle of the anti-wonderful 2010 winter.  In that place where no one is looking.  And then finally finding myself on the ground floor.  Everyone and everything is long-since gone.  Just a little bit left:  the last stretch before the doorway; 2 months or maybe 3.  If I can keep up the speed and run for the right door, well then I just might be able to breath a little open air before this whole damned thing falls in on itself.  A war of attrition.

There is a new song called Linden Tree.  The historical context is what matters here–a Schubert song I could not shake off:

Text from Wiki:

Der Lindenbaum (The Linden Tree)

He comes to the linden tree, with its pale flowers and heart-shaped leaves. that stands at the gate; in the shade of this tree he has dreamt many beautiful dreams, and in the bark he has carved words of love. It was his favourite place. Now he passes it with his eyes shut, even though it is deepest night, but the branches rustle to him, ‘Come here old comrade, find your rest here’. A gust of wind blows his hat off, and many hours afterwards he remembers the tree, and it seems to say ‘You should have found your rest here.’ It is a tacit invitation to suicide. (In Die Schöne Müllerin by the same author the rejected lover actually drowns himself and finds rest in the friendly brook where he dies.)

My current favorite.

The deep dead cold of the winter and suddenly we’re back in the rehearsal space.  It seems to me that rehearsal spaces only have two temperature settings:  Freezing and Sweltering.  This is February and the space is very cold.  I remember rehearsing above the Metronome in New Center–or maybe it was not so much rehearsing as just having a place to go and make noise.  Anyway, that was the same deal:  hot or cold.  The owner of the place let me keep the space long after I could no longer keep up with rent.

Anyway, we are back at it.  And the space is really cold.  Just a couple more months and we’ll be out of there–the irony being that we’ll vacate the space right as the weather turns.  Surprising?  Not at all.

The new material is sounding good with the new lineup.  It’s heavier than anything I have ever written.  These sessions should be something special.

Snow again tonight.  Nothing drastic but still cold and windy.  A good reminder that spring is a long ways off–provoking strange memories in a rare moment of solitude.  The last few days have been this way:  amalgamations of third-degree history lessons, periodic bouts of nostalgia, and the overwhelming re-realization that you cannot please everyone.  Now is a good time for listening and watching.  Even if what you see and hear is borderline crazy.

Since my last post on this page–or on any page, for that matter.  Here’s a little update:  Where it Began is finished and ready to go.  It’s a long record and it was a long time coming.  So it’s probably of little use for me to try and explain why I am on a war-path to record another album before I start spreading any of the music around.  But whatever–here goes:

The music sounds different live.  Much more aggressive and electric.  So much so that I am going to record the record live to tape.  And we’re going to film it.  I don’t know where I left off, really, but there is a band now.  And while the group is in a bit of a flux, it’s still a group.  Maybe I should start there as my last post was on May 28, 2009.  I built a band, finally.  And then we rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed.  The band is a three piece.  We had a couple shows and then a couple days of rehearsal in LA.  Then more shows and a trip out to New York.  And then more shows…this is how it happened.  We just kept rehearsing and playing.  And we made some videos.  Random recordings, too.  By September, we were knee-deep in plans for a live-ish record.  Our idea was to run into a studio and play the songs live.  That’s all there is to it.  A few more gigs and another trip or two and suddenly we had to dig for another drummer.  It was a difficult situation but I do believe we have pulled ahead of it.  I pulled the plug on live shows for now so that we can focus on prepping to record.  We’ll play out again in Detroit on Friday, March 12th.  Details in the near future.

A lot has happened:  building and rebuilding a band, traveling, shows, writing, getting mugged a couple of times, moving from rehearsal space to rehearsal space, from apartment to apartment.  A great escape and a great return.  Friends leaving town.  A couple new guitars.  Maybe a few too many parties.

But the vitals are still good so this thing moves forwards.  Here’s a little bit of it…

At The Filmore Detroit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjyLWaOVLyE

At Smalls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bsO_vBLdF8

At PJ’s Lager House http://www.youtube.com/patrickdavy#p/u/3/ZJL2-ITPvTA

My page http://www.facebook.com/bravethewalk#/pages/Patrick-Davy/56467044843

And some random stuff on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickdavy/

More on the way.  Happy 2010.

http://www.themusicninja.com/the-joke-is-on-everyone-says-patrick-davy/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=the-joke-is-on-everyone-says-patrick-davy

This one is from the Music Ninja:

“The Music Ninja is a music blog out to discover the great songs from the past and present. It primarily focuses on independent music from all genres and tries to stay away from mainstream music that you would listen on the radio. There is a lot of great songs being created everyday that most people never get the chance to listen to, The Music Ninja is trying to change that one song at a time!”

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It all gets me wondering if I shouldn’t just go and release a different vid I have for the Joke…itchy trigger finger on this one…

This evening I took a walk on Belle Isle.  The sun was in the hanging spot.  I have watched the sunset from Belle Isle before.  The light never falls behind the city but just off to the side of it.  Like it’s avoiding the point.  Which happens a lot with people which is why I tend to personify something as benign and distant as a sunset.

I think I am going to name the band “the ghosts” so I get to be patrick davy and the ghosts.  I like the and the something’s part–I bring this up because I booked a gig this weekend.  While we haven’t rehearsed yet, I can never pass up a chance to make noise at the Detroit Music Hall.  The next couple nights will be long rehearsals.

But that is the best way to get something rolling.  To really jump in.  And when a place you love is in a pinch, it’s almost irresistible.  Check out the venue here Detroit Music Hall.  There is a small performance space below the main theater.  It’s like a jazz grotto with food and drinks–a really killer place.  And it has fantastic history.  Occasionally, I play there with The Strange and I always get a good feeling.  Not to mention the fact that it has a real grand piano–a total rarity.

Anyway I am excited to get the full band rolling.  It’s a feeling I remember but not one that necessarily repeats.

http://www.thiswinkis.com/2009/04/fool-me-once-shame-on-you-fool-me-twice.html

So it’s time to build the band.  I have settled on a three-piece:  drums, guitar and bass.  I have been looking for players for a long time but was unable to find the right fit.  Going from the recording/mixing mindset to the live performance mindset can be difficult.  But the actual creation of this record has been extremely diverse.  The material begs to be played live.

Then again, the live show is going to be a little heavier than the record–not emotionally, just sonically.  Which is the way it should be.  I need the performance to be a little different than the recording.  There is so much fear these days about misrepresenting a project by playing it differently live.  That’s ridiculous.  It’s idiotic to assume that a song, even a recorded one, should or could be replicated live.  A real song is different each time through.

But lately, live shows have been walking down the other path.  Most of the time I see a band these days, they do their best to mimic the record.  Sometimes they play to their own cd–does anyone else feel insulted when that happens?  Like I just came to your show to see you play your music almost exactly how it sounds on the actual disc?  Except, of course, that everything will be a little out of tune.  And I might even catch a few moments where the temps don’t sync.  How wonderfully inspiring…  Unless you’re playing to 2ok people, leave computers out of it.

Some groups warrant playing to beat boxes or drum machines.  Sometimes a tour calls for a particular vibe–and in those cases it works.  But not rock bands.

Needless to say I am nixing the loops, beats, macbooks, drum machines, and play alongs of modern “live” music.  Because it’s bullshit karaoke.