Press Photos
I’m Through With Love - Up tempo Version 🏎️💨
Getting ready to head to NM tomorrow and practicing tunes in between teaching and packing. I’m always fascinated by the power of a fresh mind. I think it’s easy to let the dust of everyday life cloud the reality that things only truly happen once. To me it’s part of the pursuit of the artistic mind to find this headspace and create from there.
I’ve been playing this tune for years now and at this point it’s a well acquainted friend to a handful of heartbreaks. “I’ve locked my heart, I keep my feelings there. Said I’ve stocked my heart like an icy Frigidaire.” How can you not love it? I am here for the sappy ❤️
This combination mixed in with a fresh cup of coffee and last night’s half a cinnamon roll brought forth this goofy and fun version of I’m Through With Love. Having fun with the rhythm and surfing the chords over the solo 🌊
The passage of time is one of life’s greatest flavors. It takes time to synthesize ⏳
Play it again friends 🎶
I just love chords so much 🎶 Trying out noodling over some new ideas 💡 Feels like the sun rising in a different way 🌄
C - Em7 - Fmaj7 - G7
C - Em7 - Fmaj7 - G7
Cmaj7 - Cm7 - Abmaj7 - Dbmaj7
Cmaj7 - Cm7 - Abmaj7 - Dbmaj7
Cmaj7 - Cm7 - Abmaj7 - Dbmaj7
Cmaj7 - Dm7b5 - Abmaj7 -G7sus4
C 😁
Keep calm and noodle on 🍜
The world becomes more and more beautiful with each passing day. In a way that looks at the reckless hate of the world and defiantly says that love will always be the champion of the realm. It brings buoyancy to the spirit and drive to the mind. It’s a form of strength and a pool of inspiration. In our luckiest of days we are given the vantage point and small moments to express this wisdom. All the beauty of the world is already there, we just need to see it.
Thank you to all you beautiful people for your grace and love that has given this whacky mind sight to see the beauty. My heart is grateful and my being fortified. You bring so much light to my life ❤️
Mahalo all the wonderful hands at the Port Townsend Ukulele Festival and @ukulelesoiree for bringing us together. Please keep spreading the love and bringing people together through music and of course the ‘ukulele ❤️
Be a verb. Be compassionate ✊
New flyer for the Las Cruces UkeFest! So excited to be teaching with my friends and to head back to NM😁 See you folks there!
In the afternoons I become so incredibly inspired when I look out my window. I can hear birds chirping and see spring flowering over a fresh Seattle. On a clear day like today you can even trace your fingers along the tops of snowy peaks in the distance.
So when I see the gold folding into the room from the west, I grab an instrument and see if poetry will strike today. Amongst my favorite things in life watching the sunset and playing ‘ukulele sits at the top. It’s something I have continued to do since I started playing as a child and remains a deep comfort for me. The warm sun on the crisp wind takes me back to upcountry Maui and the songs that rang in air.
I first heard this one from Country Comfort and always thought it was a pretty song. Over the years it has taken on deeper meaning and has been blended with my love for the movie. To me it’s a symbol that the world is large enough for dreams and the truest expression of our experience comes from the love we share.
So as I bask in my nostalgia here is a loose performance of Manhã de Carnival. Sorry the sun is bright but just think of it as an added effect. At least we are in theme 🌅
Stay beautiful world 🌎
Chasing Purple Butterflies
Practicing the guitar by a sunny window in a reverie that makes my heart smile 😊 I hope you’re chasing your purple butterflies today 🦋
Villanova Junction(ish) - Jimi Hendrix
To me Hendrix is a symbol of the potential of the human spirit and just how powerful music is as an art form. In a world of commodified music he stands amongst the giants on the mountain that remind us just how deep the world can be. I’d imagine from their lofty view that all our deeds make complete sense. Both in our terror and beauty.
So I look back at a young version of myself and remember feeling like his music was as vast as the ocean and I had only a glass of water to understand it. Pouring over the records, thumbing through books, and buying any piece of gear to get closer to that sound. While inching closer everyday I couldn’t help but feel even further distanced from my goal. Under every stone there were dozens of pebbles and under pebble a million grains of sand. In my lifetime could I even come close to Hendrix?
No. There will never be another. Though I think there is a certain nobility in the pursuit. In which we can only hope to be stained by his spirit. Sometimes you just gotta pick up your axe and fight like a farmer.
So I’m focused on trying to be a bit more like myself everyday. He has laid the path in front of many us and in walking those paths we might just find out who we are ❤️
Think lightly of yourself and deep of the world 🌎
Jam on ✊
Then You Can Tell me Goodbye - The Casinos
Honestly, I just really like this song 🎶
Follow the things you love ❤️
I love the adage, “From one thing know ten thousand things.” To me it’s an acknowledgement that the world is filled with wisdom and the governing flow of life washes through all things. In this mindset comes a yearning to understand that wisdom in a way that is humble and awe inspiring.
Aside from being raised in a home full of art, curiosity led me down this road and kept me seeking that understanding through it. While poetic and beautiful in the honeymoon, this became the cornerstone of practical steps to growing into a future me. I headed to my local art supply shop and bought some cheap ink, brushes, and paper and threw caution to the wind.
With no subject I just let my hands move to their whim and tried to enjoy the movements of the brush. Pouring into each motion the words “The Only Opponent is Within” started to burn in mind fresh from a recent read through of the book Zen Guitar. I feverishly followed the impulse and wrote out these three sayings that have lived in my practice rooms for the past 10 years (last pic).
Since then I have continued my practice at a leisurely pace, enjoying my development like an aging flavor and celebrating in the small successes. It became a mirror to how I could practice music and I gave myself the grace to stop focusing at my inadequacies and set my being toward growth. I continue to collect these brief pearls of wisdom that help align myself with this version of me that is grateful and curious.
So in my inspiration I wish to enter the 36th chamber and share this love of life with you. No second takes and no reprints in the spirit of the motion.
As Nina Simone sang:
“I wish you could know what it means to be me,
Then you’d see and agree that every man should be free.”
At a fest near you 🎶
Live in love and share it with the world friends ❤️
Played on some changes and felt a good flow on the guitar today. Just trying to have some fun noodling around Nightbird and starting to notice that my ‘ukulele mind and guitar mind are finally starting to agree with each other. For me it has always been a different approach but I am finally glad to see the two fellas getting along today. So thanks for letting me play the big guy and hope you enjoy the noodles 🍜