Filming in New York - August 2012 Newsletter

Her scent ever so slowly

drifting away

Like laughter once heard

where children once played

but where love once echoed

life will grow:

Phoenixes born anew

It’s late. The people are tired from a long day. They crowd around her on a bench, and by the tracks nearby, listening, or pretending not to, entranced. She sings sweetly, purely, evocations of hymns, cathedrals, light. Her cello hums along longingly, deep and rich, a lion befriending a lamb. No one speaks. Movement is slow, uncalculated, unlike the rest of the howling city above. The song reaches its final beckoning cry and trails away. The people applaud softly, yet with implicit esteem. A moment later, sounds of the approaching train, the spell beginning to wane. The people gather their belongings and scurry off through the open door. One man, smiling widely, embraces her with the warmth of a dear friend, before then turning and joining the rest. She is alone now, quiet. She smiles, almost imperceptibly, rests her head on the broad maple shoulder of her closest friend. The train speeds away noisily, into the darkness, and is gone.

And so is life. Frame by frame, a bittersweet masterpiece unfolding incrementally before our eyes. Moments as these, transient and often indistinct, representative of the humanity underlying the script. How often are we able to capture these fleeting gifts when they ever so briefly grace us with their presence? Life is busy, often spent off in some void, planning— or else, avoiding life in the name of living. The very same technology that bridges seas so often serves to create the seas to be bridged. I witnessed something beautiful in my three days here in New York, a city of millions, immigrants from every corner of the world. Despite its megalithic, sprawling stature, there is a hominess, a sense of community, a propensity for poignant, often synchronistic moments such as this. One guy I met called it the smallest city in the world. Somehow a microcosm of all of life.

Back off to Philly now, a lovely show planned for the 10th at Burlap and Bean (I’ll be bringin a band!!), then a couple weeks in the studio, with a trip to San Diego, L.A. and the S.F. Bay Area to follow that. These beautiful moments are all passing so quickly, one leading to the next, to the next. And yet I realize they are only ever as beautiful as the attention we give them. The more fully we are able to inhabit each, to explore them from the inside out, the more we feel apart of this exquisite film that we continue to co-create. I, for one, hope to be present during the filming. . . .

See you on the set,

O

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Stitches & Seeds - July 2012 Newsletter

Stitches sewn/ seeds sown—

the first, a love song singing farewell;

the second, a prayer whispered at dawn….

To be tended and cared for,

as if a grandmother, or a child--

All, reminders of what we might yet become.

One adventure winding down, another preparing to bloom.... It’s been a beauty of a maiden ride: Asheville, Nashville, Atlanta, DC, Athens, Charlotte, Savannah, Baltimore, Birmingham and beyond— all lending me their stories and their songs— another spectrum of colors stitched into the tapestry of my world. Been on the road now for the better part of two months, and with only a week left before I land, I can feel the end preparing to make its rounds. But rather than frame it like that, let’s call it… the beginning…. For as one flower withers, another conspires to bloom. Indeed— bringing with it all the excitement and freshness of new life, limitless potentiality poised to illuminate yet another unexplored frontier.

Sometimes that next frontier resides in the place we call home. This time next week, I’ll be back in Philly— a whole nine weeks wiser, and that much closer to my dreams. It’s all so very exciting, these visions of what’s in store…. Feels like Christmas in July. Daydreams of the next great adventure already beginning to flutter through my mind and heart like--butterflies— fresh from the cocoon and still delighted by new wings. These are the daydreams that eventually define what we become. How long has it been since we allowed this excitement to determine our course? Since our rightful ruler Intuition reigned supreme over her headstrong and willful subjects, Intellect, Logic, and Reason? Magical things begin to appear when this hierarchy is firmly in place. If we must built it before they will come, we must envision it before we begin to build. With all the anticipation and joy of a child, unable to sleep as she prepares for the arrival of St. Nick.

Focus soon shifts over towards the fall, and its approaching Southern Swing, version 2.0 (+ Memphis, Austin & New Orleans!)— but first, I’ll be busy this summer scouting players and laying down rough tracks for what will eventually be my first full length LP (hopefully by Spring 2013!) Also gonna be gearing up for a couple homecoming bangers, the first of which, I’m excited to say, at MilkBoy Philly alongside The Quixote Projectand a whole slew of other Philly favs. Hope to see ya there. But in the mean time, what are y’all excited about?? Drop me a line or two about where you’re at, and where you’re workin on going! I’d love to feel the texture of my community’s dreams…. :)

Sewing/sowing along….

O

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The Ride of my Life - June 2012 Newsletter

One good thing about music

When it hits you, you feel no pain

--Bob Marley

I’m atop a houseboat— floating off lazily somewhere along a pleasant stretch of the Tennessee River…. the Great Smokies in the distance, their hue a blend of the robin’s egg sky above and the army-green water below, bridges between the heavens and the earth. The clouds all seem to be napping in the stillness of the afternoon heat, saving their fiery alter egos for later, when the sun decides to call it a day. The cormorants are floating about peacefully, probably digesting their latest meal, while the warblers converse sweetly amongst the treetops which decorate the nearby shore. I dare say that all is— for lack of a less ambiguous word—perfect— and yet— here it is: I feel like shit. Say what?? How is it that one can find themselves in a setting as idyllic as this and yet still feel so irrefutably lousy? If this is the self-perpetuated lot of the archetypal tortured artist, then I’m thinkin maybe I shoulda been a plumber. Just yesterday I played my first houseboat concert on this very same deck, and church was in session: music, laughter, clapping, dance— pre-teens to retirees— a community in bloom, the energy flowing as smoothly as this river is now. And yet, here we are, in this moment— the ease, the flow, the fine southern gentleman calling out “FREEEEBIRRRD!!” from his passing boat— all now gone.

It’s been 3 weeks since I set off on this lil southern swing of mine, with music as my faithful and inspired copilot. These past two days serve well as the symbol for the ride. The ride of my life, for that matter. One day mountain tops, the next, valleys. Not that I’m opposed to valleys per se— they are nature’s version of perspective and contrast. It’s just that when my eyes are beholding a mountain, while my heart is inexplicably off wandering though some dark valley of the soul, it makes it a tad bit difficult to be here— trying (/pretending??) to enjoy the ride. But I guess that’s precisely where music so often enters back in…. as a compass, a lifeline, a post-it note reminding you of God; it is our way of going with the flow, of feeling what needs to be felt, of transmuting a mood, of somehow— amidst the undergrowth and vines— uncovering our Self.

And Lord knows I’m lookin— 11 cities down and 12 more yet to come…. each stop along the road another lookout, another perspective, another insight into how the world spins— and just maybe— a clue or two as to why it is we’re here spinnin along with it. So, enjoy the spin... or if that feels like too much to chew on at the moment, then peace and blessings to you en route…. All things come from here.

Spinnin along,

O

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Van Gough, and the Southern Swing - May 2012 Newsletter

Where we're going, the song i'm singin keeps going til we've found love

Where we're going, clouded vistas turn golden their tears become love

And all of them changes remind us to face it: the time has come. . . .

Sitting here at the Hot Spot Diner in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, biding my time as my brand new 1990 Integra gets checked for road-worthiness, her maiden voyage swiftly approaching. I leave Sunday for my very first ‘Southern Swing’, set to see me across 11 states, and once again offer up the first day of the rest of my life, a life that I can finally say I have chosen with all my mind and heart. Even the aspects of it that include embarking upon a journey spread out over two months and 3,000 miles of back roads and highway, with about three confirmed places to stay along it course, playing shows that— if I’m lucky—might just offer me enough money to hobble onward, on to the next city, driving a car that would’ve been the envy of my friends had this been say, 1992. Yes, I choose it all.

Except for maybe my current soundtrack here at the Hot Spot— nah— I don’t choose that. In fact, it’s this very brand of paint-by-numbers, music-for-the-masses which in part drives me to do what I do: aspirations to sensitize and stimulate ears de-sensitized and de-stimulated by ‘music’ like this, courtesy of EZ-101 or whatever it is we’re rockin to— offering instead a brand of music that nourishes and suggests and challenges and provokes, and maybe, sometimes, serves to soothe just a bit of that which ails us. It’s fascinating to think how we could live in a world so rich, so full of beauty and depth, and yet have so much of what greets our senses do so with merely a hollow, uninspired thud— leaving us to wander on to the next thing or place or situation or pretty face in search of a simple affirmation of life, a reminder that all is indeed beauty, all is infused with grace. For I suppose that even the least colorful, scentless flower in the bunch has room to inspire, if only we could see it for the Van Gough that it probably is. And under that line of thinking, I guess that leaves room for even EZ-101— who at the moment has decided on a delightful throwback from Bon Jovi, and his unique breed of lighter-waving heart-string-tugging ballad-rock. . . . ;)

A quick shout to my PA crew, I hope to see ya out, waving them lighters later in the week at one of my last two local shows til mid-July, (Thursday @ The M Room & Saturday @ Burlap and Bean) or else, pass the flame on to any friends down south ya think might jam on my groove. . . .

Swingin with it all,

O

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California Dreamin' & Freedom in Form - April 2012 Newsletter

LOVE

within the opposition,

where salt water meets fresh—

that's where I reside

Over the past handful of months, I’ve become fairly adept at planning life a couple or even a few months out. It’s a brand new concept for me, but I’ve been managing. But lately, been pushin these new skills to the absolute limit, with shows now planned through April—— of 2013. Let’s put this into perspective: we’re talkin here about the same dude who, this time last year, would’ve been hard pressed to plan for dinner later tonight, let alone for a series of metaphorical dinner parties taking him into and beyond the looming apocalypse. Quite the unique opportunity indeed. Never before have I been confronted by something that has so thoroughly forced me into a master-class exploration of the concept of Freedom in Form. . . . the ability to stoically embody composure and grace, while lured and taunted by the many appendages of this Divine Game in which we find ourselves. But this is The Work, is it not? To operate within a framework of consciously created guidelines, en route to an ever deepening sense of openness and joy. . . . To stay here, today, while at once sowing seeds for tomorrow, and harvesting the lessons and wisdom from yesterday.

It’s been a month for the ages, on this journey of mine back home. Harvests in spring, seeds continually planted and tended, others poised to sprout just beyond the glowing horizon. March saw my first live radio appearance, first tune on the radio, first headlining gig and first college-based music conference. . . (the last of which has me plannin them gigs into the new year.) This coming month has in store a first visit to NYC, a triumphant return to the SF Bay Area, and four shows back here in Philly. Then, in May, the summer fireworks officially begin: two entire months out on my first lil Southern Swing. . . . Baltimore, DC, WV, Nashville, AL, Atlanta, SC, NC, VA. Oh, what’s that?? You say you got friends down that way, who’d be thrilled to host me for a house concert? Or introduce me to their bigwig-music-biz friends? Or let me sleep on their couch and eat their food? (Throw me a bone y’all!! ;D )

In all seriousness though, my new life as a working musician has me swiftly coming to realize the value of and necessity for a symbiotic, interconnected community; a web of individuals coming together with their strengths (and weaknesses) to create a living, breathing work of art. So much of the dream that we’ve been taught to believe in is so often centered merely around personal gain, and usually at the expense and detriment of the whole. This paradigm is tired, and fading away as it makes room for the new. So as it does, let us aspire towards a bigger, more inclusive dream, one that better nurtures our communities, so that our communities may better nurture us. . . .

Exploring the form, nurturing the dream,

Orion

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Do your thing. It's what you're here to do. - March 2012 Newsletter

Today, ten years disappeared

when i woke up they were gone.

And in their place, a memory that said

'You can't trade Now for all that's to be--

or else you ain't really livin at all...'

Before, when I would wake up in the morning, the sensations I was greeted by often ranged somewhere between ambivalence and dread. Before, when asked what it is I do, I would usually mumble something that roughly translated into not what I’m here to. Before, my fears and my excuses were sacred mantras I carried with me like a posse of parasitic best friends, quick to unleash them upon people and situations that threatened my rickety sense of self. Lucky for me, before needn’t be predeterminate of whether there be an after.

For the first time in my life, I feel connected to the bigger plan. When I go to the store, or to get gas, or when I sit quietly, taking in the stars, I feel like a musician. I feel aligned with the constellation I was born into, with the sense of duty that was decided so many moons ago, the last time God and I lingered over tea. I still feel fear, as well as the tendency to unfurl a scroll-full of excuses to anyone who’ll lend an ear. But only on occasion, and even if I do, it’s rarer still when I actually believe the nonsense they impart.

Funny thing is, this isn’t like me—I haven’t yet “arrived”, or “made it big”, or reached the “destination”. There are no seas of fans, named in my honor, roaring wildly, my visage mirrored back to me from their undulating swells. There are no flashing lights, no world tours, and alas, no groupies. So, positioned under the normal train of thought, I’d quite clearly be Nowhere. A No-body, flittering about aimlessly amongst the rest of the guppies in an endless sea. And yet, here I sit, a Rockstar. (At least, in my own eyes… ;) Yeah, things done changed. What exactly you ask? Simply the fact that I’m finally out there doin it. That I spend the majority of my waking hours each and every day actively working towards the Dream of Dreams. And doing so without being tricked by this rascally lil Dream of mine into thinking that it has more relevance than what’s happening here, now. Easy to go there for sure, especially when an unfortunate percentage of your time on a stage is still spent in front of folks who are clearly not appreciating your unique brand of musical prowess to the extent that is unequivocally warranted… ;)

So, go do your thing y’all—or go figure out what your thing is—then walk towards it, with unwavering purpose. There is no higher calling than this. To simply do your thing. In doing your thing, you are the fullest expression of You, and you inspire others to be the same. I’ll be workin on this aim to the max this coming month, co-headlining two huuuge shows, MilkBoy Ardmore and The Tin Angel, as well as performing live on The Folk Show with Gene Shay on WXPN. And if you haven’t yet heard the news, I recently released a couple new tunes; you can choose the link of your heart’s desire in the section above. Hope to see you out, and spread the word of a good thing!!

Doin my thing,

O

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