my music & performances – Page 13

September 2016 Singalong at Barton Springs

We had another great annual installment of my bday singalong – I turned 44 on Monday, a day after the singalong – on Sunday at Barton Springs. My main man Doug showed up with guitar and played along with us. It was a beautiful morning.

Laurie shot this nice little video of us singing George Harrison tune:

July 2016 Singalong at Barton Springs

With summer upon us, we moved the singalong to Barton Springs to beat the heat Sunday, July 3rd. It was a wonderfully windy and somewhat overcast day beneath the trees, with a good holiday-weekend crowd of bathers on the hillside.Â I am happy to have finally delivered a new songbook, covered, bound, with the lyrics to fifty songs.

The Songs

1. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by The Beatles
2. ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE by The Beatles
3. HELP! by The Beatles
4. HERE COMES THE SUN by The Beatles
5. LET IT BE by The Beatles
6. MOTHER NATUREâ€™S SON by The Beatles
7. RAIN by The Beatles
8. STRAWBERRY FEILDS FOREVER by The Beatles
9. THE WORD by The Beatles
10. TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS by The Beatles
11. WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIEND by The Beatles
12. YELLOW SUBMARINE by The Beatles
13. HALLELUJAH by Leonard Cohen
14. TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS by John Denver
15. THERE IS A MOUNTAIN by Donovan
16. A HARD RAINâ€™S A-GONNA FALL by Bob Dylan
17. BLOWING IN THE WIND by Bob Dylan
18. FORVER YOUNG by Bob Dylan
19. I SHALL BE RELEASED by Bob Dylan
20. MR. TAMBOURINE MAN by Bob Dylan
21. THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND by Woody Guthrie
22. GIVE ME LOVE (GIVE ME PEACE ON EARTH) by George Harrison
23. CLOSER TO FINE by Indigo Girls
24. DAYS by The Kinks
25. WHATâ€™S SO FUNNY â€˜BOUT PEACE LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING by Nick Lowe
26. IMAGINE by John Lennon
27. GIVE PEACE A CHANCE by John Lennon
28. ONE LOVE by Bob Marley
29. REDEMPTION SONG by Bob Marley
30. THREE LITTLE BIRDS by Bob Marley
31. PEOPLE GET READY by Curtis Mayfeild
32. AMAZING GRACE by John Newton
33. RUNNIN DOWN A DREAM by Tom Petty
34. ONE WORLD NOT THREE by The Police
35. SPIRITS IN THE MATERIAL WORLD by The Police
36. SHOWER THE PEOPLE by James Taylor
37. WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele
38. RAINBOW CONNECTION by by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher
39. ALL I REALLY NEED by Raffi
40. IF YOU WANT TO SING OUT, SING OUT by Cat Stevens
41. MOONSHADOW by Cat Stevens
42. MORNING HAS BROKEN by Cat Stevens
43. THE WIND by Cat Stevens
44. I STILL HAVENâ€™T FOUND WHAT Iâ€™M LOOKING FOR by U2
45. LOVE RESCUE ME by U2 (Bono and Bob Dylan)
46. INTO THE MYSTIC by Van Morrison
47. SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT by Wallis Willis
48. A PLACE IN THE SUN by Stevie Wonder
49. HEAVEN HELP US ALL by Stevie Wonder
50. LEAN ON ME by Bill Withers

For a bit of background, here are the criteria I used to chooseÂ the songs.

Is it about higher love? Usually about charitable loveÂ (not romantic/sexual), brotherhood/sisterhood, unity, peace, wonder, mystery, gratitude
Is it eccumenical, non-denominational? (No particular faith, all inclusive)
Do people know it? (Is/was it popular? Or can they learn it easily?)
Can people sing it together? (Is it rhythmically regular and melodically feasible?)
Is it appropriate for all ages? (Does it make references that are too adult?)

Sara H. shot this video of usÂ singing Hallelujah, which ended up being kinda funny because I had some extra verses in my version that didn’t make it into the songbook of lyrics. I didn’t even realize that I sang two verses by myself while everyone paused confusedly to figure out what was going on. (I found this video of another singalong of Hallelujah with Rufus Wainwright.)

We have a family tradition of going to lunch afterward where Maile and I usually reviewÂ how it went, laughing and cringing and trying to learn how to make these better. Because this one was both such a good one, and fraught with the missteps created by the new songbook (and my slightly different version with chords), there was a lot to go back over. But overall it was a great morning, and in order to notÂ obsess I made these three rules for myself as the essential job I must remember to do:

Show up. (My main job.)
Get into it. (Put my heart intoÂ singing.)
Let it go. (Don’t obsess.)

Here was the view from our hillside spot.

Thanks to Sarah W. for the great shot at top of the whole crew (with our girls running around).

January 2016

Here is the story of myÂ Â January, in pictures, songs and videos. Â We started the new year by hostingÂ a New Year’s Eve dinner.

Gray, playing guitar for us after dinner, by the fire

Maile, Anais and I spent a lazy Saturday afternoon with Townes having a picnic and wandering around Zilker park.

Anais and Maile, running w Townes at Zilker park

My tall shadow, waving atop the big rock in Zilker park

Anais snapped these shots of us at dinner one night.

Our first week back at work I ran AV for the Black Student-Athlete Summit. Here is aÂ UT-Austin panel of collogues.

Leonard Moore moderates a panel with Thais, Darren, Louis, Devin, and MJ

While I was helping run the BSA conference, my brother Pete was in town to attend the MLA conference and present withÂ a panel of War Lit writers.Â It also happened to be free-week at many clubs downtown, so we Â walked 6th St. and stopped in a few clubs on Red River.

First we hit the Mohawk and caught a band, then singer-songwriter Ben Ballinger.

Ben Ballinger at the Mohawk — Ben Ballinger blowing theÂ harmonica at the Mohawk

Then we hit Cheer Up Charlie’s to meet up with Pete’s fellow panelists, Patrick and AB. We arrived toÂ Girls In The NoseÂ , a band of older women. They were great. A friend informed me that they are a lesbian band that’s been going for decades. And what a refreshingÂ contrast to the cool, unintelligible band that was playing forÂ hipsters next door.

I was smiling before I could see them because as we walked in they were singing about the “pedagogy of the pussy.” Then there was “More Madonna, less Jesus!” MyÂ favorite, that was in my head for days, went, “We juxtapose the pantyhose with FREE-DOM, FREE-DOM!”

Girls In The Nose at Cheer Up Charlie's — Girls In The Nose at Cheer Up Charlie’s

Peter, Lauren, AB, and Patrick at Cheer Up Charlie's — Peter, Lauren, AB, and Patrick at Cheer Up Charlie’s

War Lit Panel at the MLA Conference: AB, Patrick, Stacey, Peter, and Roy

Anais with a pretzel monocle (downtown waiting for Peter’s panel)

Sunday Singalong at Stacy Park — We had a beautiful Sunday Singalong sitting in the sun at Stacy Park

We biked the boardwalk and had a picnic with all the lovies.

OPNTHDOr (some old artwork of Anais's I found going through a box of her art) — OPNTHDOr (some artwork of Anais’s I found going through a box of her art)

A glimpse into Anais's tiny world — A glimpse into Anais’s tiny world

Anais's room, after she spent a long time cleaning and organizing — Anais’s room, after she spent a long time cleaning and organizing

Gray and I jammed at his place. Check out the selections below.

Gray's Delay Delay, which can be heard in our jams below — Gray’s Delay Delay, which can be heard in our jams below

I photographed and video taped the UT MLK Day ceremony and march to the capitol. Jessica edited it together into the video below.

Girls scouts at the MLK statue on MLK Day

This little guy stole the show!

Marching to the capitol, we ran into Casey and Natalie, Georgia and Adele (lower right w Anais)

A misty morning shot of the river on my morning commute along the boardwalk — A misty shot of the river on my morning commute along the boardwalk

A full-moon shot of the sunset from the boardwalk on my commute home — A full-moon overÂ the sunset from the boardwalk on my commute home

A day at the Menil with Maile's folks, Joe and Ellyn — A day at the Menil with Maile’s folks, Joe and Ellyn

Maile and Ellyn, lounging on the grass above my approaching shadow — Maile and Ellyn, lounging on the grass outside the Menil, withÂ my approaching shadow

Looking up at the cedars in the front yard at Tomball

Maile took me on a great date to see Kool an the Gang at the ACL Live stage.

Doug and I saw Thomas play with Bryce’s band, Brother Superior.

Brother Superior at Blackheart — Brother Superior atÂ TheÂ Blackheart

We FINALLY took Anais out on our kayak and it was a magical morning on GORGEOUS day

Epic bday jam at Gray's — Epic bday jam at Gray’s

Gray and his blue Telecaster on a sea of color

And I’ll end with a song that I improvised one night in the studio. Channeling Mark’s frustrations with DC, I looped some vocal lines and spit this out:

January 2016 Singalong at Little Stacy Park

We resumed our Singalong for the New Year in Little Stacy Park. I was thrilled to be playing a new, handmade guitar that I got for Christmas. Check out this beauty and listen to how nice it sounds as we sing, below.

UT Night at the Trail of Lights

UT sponsored a night at the AustinÂ Trail of LightsÂ again this year and I got to play on the community stage again, this time with coworkers Krysta and Thais backing me up. Had a great time playing the gig and a great time taking Anais around the trail, on the ferris wheel, and to spin under the Christmas tree of lights.Â View the whole set of photos on Flickr.