Oct 12 - just got asked to play a show, Sunday Oct 19,  opening for Barton Carroll (Crooked Fingers) and 13 Ghosts. Crane Orchard played with 13 Ghosts six years ago (?) when I lived in Birmigham.  Both artists are on Skybucket Records, a Birmingham imprint that has been doing a lot of good stuff. Some of their other amazing artists are the Dexateens, Dan Sartian, and Through the Sparks.  The show is at the M Room in Fishtown. Hope some folks can come out. 

Oct 8 - jeez - sorry for being so absent. Life just keeps going and then its October...Just got the Earthless, Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky LP and guess what? It’s amazing!  Just keep flipping it over and over...Very pleased, money well spent.  The shows in NYC were nice. The performance at Texas Firehouse was both great and horrible. The art was amazing; it was fun, etc...But I was really nervous before/during/after my bit.  I put up a screen basically so I could hide if things started going really badly and to protect me from rotten tomatoes or other flying objects, and to obscure the performance a bit. It was really strange putting up a boundary where I couldn't see people's faces or any reactions....very strange. About halfway through I just decided not to give a fuck and go for it. The basic theme of the performance was being a human animal and returning to instinct and intuition. I know we're supposed to be above all that, but that’s where my head has been for the last thirty two years so it's a hard habit to break. The piece ended with a chorus of god knows how many birds and swamp noises culled from various LP's in my "other" pile. I really enjoyed putting together the pre-recorded stuff and will probably use some of the sections in future shows. Speaking of which, I don't have any scheduled right now. Stay tuned.

August 10 -  not much to report here. Started practicing for two upcoming shows.  The show at Texas Firehouse will be a short, mostly improv set. Not sure how that's going to go, but that is the nature of improv, yes? I will incorporate some more analog/unpredictable accompaniment. Should be fun, plus other performers and great art. All this is part of a Jason Villegas curated show entitled, "Poppers". This will be my first visit to Texas Firehouse, a place i've been wanting to see. The Firehouse shares roots with one of my favorite veunes, Okay Mountain Gallery in Austin.  Oh and speaking of Texas, Jana Hunter in Philly friday night! Can't wait. Israeli singer/songwriter Noah Babayoff was just added to the bill which basically rules. 

    Saw Schooner and Regina Hexaphone in Philly last week. So nice to see old friends and make new ones. Both bands were wonderful. Some moments of Regina Hexaphone's set were purely sublime. Schooner's set was solid as usual. The mix was  light on the low end which made things super crisp. Maria Albani has taken over bass duties. Her bass sound had a sort of clear, sixties cruch to it. This, plus Katherine's whislting key parts, made things quite jaunty! Whenever i see them they sound different, which is one of the reasons i love going to see them live. Reid's voice is one thing that never changes though -  its always amazingly gorgeous and velvety.  Go see them when you have the chance. 

June 19 - So Somehow managed to erase all of my old entries becuasei am not so smart when it comes to web stuffs....no biggie, just two years of tour diaries, rants about current loves (and hates), hopes, fears and general behavior.  Honestly, it's nice to have a fresh start, so here's my perception of where i am and where i have been.

 - - - I have been laying low since SXSW shows to  finish up some new recordings and produce a new demo.  I am also in school and work full time so, things have been taking a little longer than the three day recording session  that birthed the first Ponieheart full-length,Touch to Love(recorded an produced by Jamie Stewart). Damn, that was awesome, and a great way to punctuate the three years it took to complete, "Spread Your Lies Wholeheartedly", the first full-length by my band, Crane Orchard. So, as label boss, songwriter, lyricist,  and all around control freak, I decided  to release the discs together. It seemed a wonderful way to celebrate the marriage of an inabilty to self edit and the wonders of digital recording. Oh what a wonderous baby I created!!! the double CD, Ponieheart Crane Orchard, Touch to Love / Spread Your Lies Wholeheartedly!!!!!!!!!. Was released in January of 2007. Perhaps the grandeous concept and lengthy title is a side effect of my involvement with Rainywood, the pre Brightblackmorninglight combo. As drummer, bassist, and lapsteel player on their first tours with Bonnie Prince Billy, I developed a weakness for nonsense, mischeif and mispelled words.  Ultimately, those gypsies continued to wander but i had other plans.... I decided to persue my dreams of being the token male in an all female grrrl punk outfit, Candy Dish, as well as the short lived bassist of Pferd, on of my favorite bands. Deciding to take a try at the singer/songwriter thing, and next thing you know, Crane Orchard was born. Those were the golden days of reckless abandon and the dream-team lineup. But you know how those things go; we got older and uglier, and we couldn't stay up that late anymore, so we threw in the towel and Ponieheart became my Nome de Band. Never one to  sit and squander, I decided to slice the roots once again and relocate to Bucks County, PA...so here i am, the happiest man in the world making melancholy music. This dichotamy sustains my quest for  for authentic life. If you think i'm being sarcastic, you bet i am! Who knows what the future holds, but i share with you my past and present, and my desire for a world free from  tyrany, you know?

what next???  There is a rumor of a show in Sept at the Texas Fire House as some sort of  performer, but i know very little about it. For now i'll just keep on slashing away at the American Dream. Please  listen to some music and enjoy your life.