Keep The Light Burning

After we spent the day at the recording studio, emptied our souls, made some music for hours and hours... there is a smile on everyone's face and the engineer turns off the gear... reluctantly ending the night. The musicians walk out and all they can think of is to keep the night going. So the only thing to do is to sit outside the car and pour out more and more songs until a somber quietness settles over the gang. I got to bed and as I lay there falling into a slumber, I think... I am glad to be here - proud to be alive, and then I make myself a promise... 'keep the light burning'!

Thanks John Carrol, Tia and Pierre Chretien for the music and the dream in this picture... Keep the Light Burning!

The Beach Shack

Cape Cod's beaches are as serene as they are mysterious. It's long arm reaches through banks of sands and beaches that seem to go on forever... melding into the endless ocean waters. Only the residents will tell you of the cape's bare season. In the days of summer, the cape is full of life. A grown up kid's dream... and a child's dream too. But when the winds start blowing from the north and bluefish near the end of their feed, a curious thing happens. People migrate faster than the birds and fish do. The cape becomes somewhat of a lonely place, all of a sudden you become aware of all its space. Near Province Town, a half hour walk from the 28 to the ocean reveals a small village of beach shacks like this one. With a warm wind and a sky of eternity, I wish that one day maybe you and I can have our own grain of sand in New England's 'never never land'.

Otha's Stables

Otha Turner was a farmer born in 1907. He led a simple and meaningful life people say. In the heart of the Mississippi, here is my favorite shot of Otha's Stables. Two beautiful horses reside here. Horses that grew up with the sound of Fife and Drum.

Mississippi... knows how to party!

Otha Turner started a tradition in Senatobia, Mississippi. Every late august weekend, the tradition comes alive. Standing right in the middle of it, I looked around and everyone was either dancing and had a big grin on their face. A sense of deep tradition and seriousness made the experience quite profound. Here is one of the drummers.

It has been a packed summer and for good reasons I have slacked on keeping up with posting photos. However the summer travels have also provided me with an armload of stories and pictures which I am about to share with you over the next weeks and months. Let's start here. Not two weeks ago, Liz, two close friends and I decided to take a road trip down to Mississippi for the Otha Turner Family Goat Roast. Otha Turner is a legend of the Mississippi Fife and Drum tradition. He started a tradition of family picnics which run to this day. The experience sent shivers down my spine. Life, reality and dreams mingle here. Time slows down, dreams grow roots. I met a man named R.L.. Something about him was really deep and simple, like his honesty of musical expression. RL doesn't play for money - he plays because that's where he is from and that's what he knows how to do.