wnyc performance

We had some truly great weather earlier this week–totally clear skies, mid-60s. It’s a minor shame that now, when it is the weekend, it’s cold and wet again. I was going to take my precious Martin 000-15 to Main Drag today to get a truss rod adjustment–the action’s been out of whack for a while and it really needs to get fixed so I can get back to playing it–but this is not the day for that. The weather is supposed to be 2 degrees warmer tomorrow, on average, but still rainy. Maybe I will summon up the wherewithal to make the trek tomorrow. Instead I’ve been hunkering down today. I watched the latest Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli movie, Ponyo, and like the last couple, it started off really strong but kind of ended on a saccharine note. Okay, maybe I’m geeking out a bit too much–it’s a cartoon intended mostly for children. Let’s be real.

So, what do I have to report? It’s been a while. For one thing, my session with David Garland at WNYC airs tomorrow! My music will be broadcast from an antenna on top of the Empire State Building–the definition of sublime for me. If you are interested, all of the songs I played are available for free download from the WNYC website. The picture above was also taken by David. What a fun experience that was. The session will also be available on the NPR Music website sometime this week. What else–I have a couple shows coming up in April–one at Rockwood Music Hall, and one at Zebulon. We will see if anything else crops up.

Last night I opened for Taken by Trees and El Perro del Mar at the Knitting Factory, and it was fun. I didn’t forget too many words, my fingerpicking wasn’t too clumsy and I could just hear myself above the chatter. The crowd seemed to like it. El Perro del Mar was hypnotic. This is the sort of thing I came to New York to do–hopefully it will become a more frequent occurrence as the weather warms up and I feel more energized and inspired. This coming week I will be doing something I am even more excited about–an interview and recording session with David Garland at WNYC’s studios in west SoHo/south West Village (which is it?).

When I left work today, the smells of impending spring were all around me, and it wasn’t as cold as it could have been. It may only be mid-February, but one can dream.

Than the palest blue.

January 18, 2010

The winter slowly eggs me on. I have some ideas for how everything will culminate in the spring, or at least in the summer, but who knows, really? The most I can do at this point is, true to the season, piece together some of my remaining scraps of ambition and protect them until the [...]

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Bluebells

December 20, 2009

During the blizzard last night, I was in the middle of recording a song for my new record. It’s called Bluebells–everything you hear is me so far, even the drums (which is a new adventure for me). You can hear/download an extremely rough mix below.

Bluebells by Will Stratton

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The Numberless Masts.

December 15, 2009

How things change, and how quickly those changes take effect. I now work full-time on the Lower East Side, and I live for the time being in Astoria, Queens, just a few blocks from the studio where I recorded the last two records, and where this winter, if all goes well, I will leave with [...]

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Husk of young stars.

November 20, 2009

Sometimes the best motivator for making music in an era when albums are decreasingly commercially viable is simply to provoke, to stretch yourself, to prove that everyone has you wrong. As I plan my third full-length record, I catch myself thinking this more often than ever before, and while sometimes I wince at my own [...]

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To posterity.

November 9, 2009

Maybe I have said this before somewhere, but it bears repeating: I love recorded sound for a very specific reason. Music is typically transient, ephemeral, bound by the space and time in which it occurs, but recorded music brings the illusion of permanence, and even a small degree of the real thing, while still being [...]

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No Wonder, out today.

November 3, 2009

Today my second full-length record, No Wonder, came out! You can check it out at Amie Street, iTunes, Amazon, and similar purveyors of aural-digital experiences. I expect that some people will like it a lot, and others not so much. Either way, I’m excited to see what everyone has to say about it. In related [...]

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A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.

November 1, 2009

For anyone who might have missed it, my free EP, Vile Bodies, is now available for download at bolachas.org. My new album, No Wonder, comes out on Tuesday. Exciting times.

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He on dry land loveliest liveth.

October 26, 2009

I am on the mend. I had to cancel this preceding weekend’s events (two shows and a recording session for a website), because I have been ill. I’m feeling much better, though, and hopefully I can resume normal musical activities with the vigor they require soon. In the meantime, here is a list of records [...]

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