30 December, 2005

Resting up to come out January/February 2006 solo acoustic. Got a stack of shows and always looking for more. Got new T-shirts too. Pls buy one when you see me. I'll be in Philly, Delaware, Virginia, Ohio and Upstate New York in the next few weeks. Check the website for details. http://www.thepeasants.net

Please note that we put NINE COMPLETE SONGS on the Music Page of the website from the three different Peasant records. Feel free to download them and pass them around. If you really start to like them, buy them at CDBaby.com.

Lastly, my brother Andrew turned me on to this cool video about 9/11. He's over in England and they're not as heavily censored. You can check it out for yourselves right here.

http://www.question911.com/linkout.php?filename=SecretEvilOf911.wmv

It's called Secret Evil of 911. Google it if the link doesn't work. Hope to see some of you soon and I wish everybody a Beautiful 2006. Peace!!

11 December, 2005

Kids tumbling all over this fancy long island coffeehouse as I'm trying to play my acoustic thru the dying sound system. Jeff Darosa, former Peasant, '98, walks in with stunningly beautiful woman. Starts calling out old Peasant numbers. My two brothers, Paul and Andrew, are there w/their kids. Andrew is over from Leeds, England w/his three kids. Don't see much of each other since he moved over there 15 years ago. This gig is an excuse to play for the family. Turns out better than expected. People showing up out of nowhere and CD sales booming. Thank you Grind Coffeehouse and Dessert Bar of Bellmore!!! Highly recommend. See tour page for details.

Had to leave too soon. Coming back to Boston just after the first big snowstorm. 95 North with big sheets of ice. Weird. Came back for Beefy DC practice. Haven't played since last spring. Firing up the old Tribute Ban d for a few shows around New Years. Doing a benefit for Addicts in Recovery at Johnny D's in Somerville on Wed., Dec. 14. We go on at 11 pm for anyone interested. We play all the classic Bon Scott hits.

Will be arranging a few more short tours out to Upstate New York, Delaware/Pennsylvania and Ohio. Keeping busy during the long, cold winter.

3 December, 2005

Sitting in the Public Library in Ithaca, NY. Had a great show w/the good people @ The Blue Frog in Cortland last night. Though booked w/only two days notice the whole town was covered with flyers. Did all acoustic. Great audience. Bunch of kids were there too. Love playing to kids.

Am at ABC Cafe tonight at 9:30 pm. Freezing outside. Snow. Ice. Winter in Upstate New York. Ithaca is a big college town with lots of smart, liberal people. An oasis of intelligence in a desert of ignorance. I hope some people show up. Though I sent posters I see no sign of them anywhere. This is pretty standard. Some local Boston boys are playing next week. The Tarbox Ramblers. Real road warriors. I always see their posters out and about when I'm touring.

Love Your Enemy stickers are making their way out all over the place. Just gave one to the Librarian. She said we gotta remi nd people about that. Can't argue with a librarian. They know...

.28 November, 2005

Quote of the day
“Innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm.”

26 November, 2005

Featured @ Shout Out Loud For Peace Coffeehouse in Hartford, CT last night. Audience was incredible. In a beautiful building right off the highway called Artspace. Hartford, CT is a ravaged city. 24th Most Dangerous City in the United States. Lots of shootings. Lots of Cops shooting black kids. It's a War Zone. These people really want peace. At home as well as abroad.

25 November, 2005

Drove from Washington, DC to Boston, MA Wednesday night. After battling torrential rain, Thanksgiving Traffic, a burning Oil Truck, some overturned, smashed up cars and a blinding Snow storm, I arrived at 8 am, crashed and made it to Ray's Thanksgiving Feast. Ray of Beefy DC. By the way, Beefy DC is doing a benefit show December 14th @ Johnny D's in Somerville for a recovery addict program.

The more I learn about the US Government, the more disgusted I get. And I'm already pretty disgusted. Terrorism by the Colombian Gov't, funded and directed by the US Gov't, is going on right now. Our tax dollars are going to death squads in Colombia under the title War on Drugs. Whenever you hear that phrase War on Drugs, insert this far more accurate phrase, War on Poor People. The actual drugs are flown into the US by CIA planes to military airports where there is no search or seizure. The War is against p oor people fighting for a piece of the pie. But you already know that.

Another story I heard while at the SOA Protest this past weekend. A former nun who was sent down to Latin America to teach children recounted her experiences. Sent by the Catholic Church to teach kids how to read and write this woman began getting threats almost immediately. She was abducted after a short time and repeatedly raped and tortured over a course of a few weeks. Locked in a room with her interrogators, she said one of them was unmistakably an American. He was their coach, probably a CIA operative. She has 113 cigarette burns on her back. What's that they say? Freedom Isn't Free?

Tonight I'm playing a solo show at The Shout Out Loud For Peace Coffeehouse in Hartford, CT. Will be trying to set up solo shit throughout 2006. CDBaby.com has been doing a great job selling Love Your Enemy. What else? It' s getting cold up here.

20 November, 2005

Thousands young and old clogged the Main Entrance to Ft. Benning today. Meanwhile, the front page of the local newspaper was covered with coverage of a free show paid for by the government downtown to honor Ft. Benning. It was one more of many obvious news blackouts or misrepresentations I've seen in my time.

Passionate Peace Activists were everywhere. Many high school and college age people chanting, marching, acting out scenes of torture and massacre. Many nuns too, many my mother's age. Alot of older folks well into their silver years out protesting. People in wheelchairs, veterans of all the recent wars, lots and lots of folk singers and just folks.

A huge procession of people carrying crosses as people on the main stage sang the names and ages of people killed by graduates of the Ft. Benning Death School was very moving. At the end of the parade , the marchers laid the crosses of each murdered person at the main gate of Ft. Benning. It was an incredible site. Thousands of crosses. On some of the crosses you could see the age of the person who was killed. One of them had the name of a two day old baby boy on it. Really brings it home how our government is really waging a war on children of poor people. Both in Latin America, Iraq and here in the USA where One out of every 36 people is in jail. In Georgia, one out of every 15 people is incarcerated. The freedom we are enjoying in the US is not so hot when one out of 15 of us is enjoying the hospitality of the United States in jail.

A Columbian woman in a beautiful, bright red dress spoke about Colombia. She said all the money being sent to Colombia right now by the US Government is being used to kill peasants, union organizers and anyone who tries to help the poor. She said please urge President Bush not to send any more money to Colombia because it is killing her people. It is not being used to fight drugs as the Bush Administration likes to say. Big surprise there, I'm sure.

It started to rain around 3 pm and they called off the music. The Protest is pretty much ended for the vast majority of folks here. I have no idea how many people were there but it was quite alot. Perhaps 20,000. Maybe more. I don't know. I'm heading back up to Boston now. Peace!!!

19 November, 2005

No Lie Can Live Forever!!! So said a very eloquent Southern Baptist Minister just now. I'm standing at the Main Gate to Fort Benning, one of the largest military bases in the world. There are 14,000 people here already. Fort Benning is the home of the School of Assassins, a military school responsible for the deaths, assassinations, rapes and tortures of many, many thousands of men, women and children. It's sickening to hear. Former prisoners, women who were raped and who's children were killed inside their pregnant bodies, the stories are horrific but as long as this place is open for business, we will keep hearing them.

Chris Chandler and I just did our set on the main stage in front of this monstrosity. We've been setting up sound systems and lugging equipment around as well as playing whenever we can. It's been pretty busy but very cool too!! Most of the people here are older Christian men a nd women from Pax Christi. Alot of grey haired men and women, both former and current clergy, Veterans both Vietnam and Iraq, punk and hippie kids. Bunch of college students too!! Very serious bunch. These people are the kindest bunch of folks I've seen in a long, long time. Everyone welcomes us with a smile. It's crazy!!!

Tomorrow, Sunday, is the big showdown where they read the names of thousands of people who've been killed by this school's graduates. There's a march and thousands of crosses representing every murdered man, woman and child are laid at the gate of Fort Benning. It takes a few hours and is a powerful thing. No Lie Can Live Forever!!! The sooner this place is UNfunded, the better. Peace!!

13 November, 2005

Been sawing some wood in my own bed the past week, enjoying being home, seeing my cat Sid, reading the awful news. Saw members of Frank Zappa's old band The Mothers of Invention tonight in Worcester. They're out on a six week tour playin' Frank's amazing songs. Played Joe's Garage, Cosmic Debris, Wind Up Workin In A Gas Station, I Don't Wanna Get Drafted and a few other things.

Drive South tomorrow. Open mikes along the way down to Ft. Benning, GA where 20,000+ gather each year to protest against the school down there. Called the SOA, School of The Americas (also known as the School of Assassins), this is where the US Military trains Latin American Soldiers in torture, assassination and counterinsurgency. Your tax dollars are paying for this. For more info, go to http://www.soaw.org/new/.

Graduates from the SOA are responsible for some of the worst human rights violations in Latin America. They've killed, raped, tortured and assassinated thousands of people throughout Latin America. These are the guys who raped and killed those four churchwomen down in El Salvador in the early 1980s. They also assassinated Arch Bishop Romero while he was saying Mass.

Friday, Nov. 18th Chris Chandler and I will be doing one of his spoken word pieces at the benefit concert. Then I'll do one of mine. We'll do it again on Saturday. The protest goes from Friday to Sunday, Nov. 18-20. Come down if you can. More is better. We all need to stop our government from it's killing, torturing, money and war psychosis.

6 November, 2005

The Assassination School. That's what they called it. It was a school run by the CIA down in Latin America, training Latin American soldiers in Counter
insurgency, torture, assassination and population control.

The people of Latin America got so understandably antagonistic toward the school that the United States had to move to school back up here, to Fort Benning,
GA. It was called The School of The Americas or SOA but was still the same training camp of death, torture and control it was down in Latin America. Tonight in
Jamaica Plain a fundraiser was held to raise funds for the annual trip down to Fort Benning, GA to Shut Down the SOA.

Every year about 20,000 Americans go down and protest this abomination. When you pay your taxes each year you can rest assured that some of those dollars
are going toward training Latin American Soldiers on how to control their own people thru torture, assassination and terror. Pretty sick, isn't it?

Another little fact I learned tonight. The US Gov't sends $ 30 Million dollars a day to Israel. Crazy, huh?

30 October, 2005

So Nashville was very cool. Had a great time w/the people at The Family Wash, a laundromat converted into a bar/restaurant. Played a set of songs acoustically to the very polite, listener-friendly audience. Jamey Rubin is running the joint. Jamey is a Boston transplant. Used to be in a band called Modern Farmer w/Reeves Gabrel and Dave Hull back in the early 90s I think? Had a great Sheppards Pie too!!! Really cool audience. People from TN, KY, AL, CO and VA. Band after me was playing Slide Guitar Country Rock Music. It was cool.

Drove to Asheville, NC from there. Played down in a basement called Fred's Speakeasy. Used to be a speakeasy during prohibition. Now owned by a fella w/a heavy New Yawk accent. Band sharing bill was real good too. Older dudes. Heavy into the Jazz/Fusion. Played their asses off. Did a jam version of a Lucinda Williams song that was way, way cool. I love her.

I did the solo acoustic set that worked so well in Nashville again. People were listening and clapping along though not many there. It was Halloween night and the town was crazy w/costume parties. Lotta drunk folks. Ate at a cool hippie restaurant called The Mellow Mushroom. The YMCA was top notch too.

This tour has been real easy. Seeing all my friends around the country. Not driving too much. Done with that. Am digging the acoustic but miss the band. Doing some Beefy DC dates in Boston Dec 14th and New Years. New Years is at The Abbey Lounge, of course.

28 October, 2005

Drove from Chicago to Nashville yesterday. 680 miles. Whew! Only long drive of this tour. Won't be
doing much more of that shit. Tired of the 14 hour drives. Call me a wimp. I don't care. It sucks.
Especially alone. And you can only kill so much time fighting with people on the cell phone.

Woody Guthrie's Dustbowl Ballads accompanied me from Rock Island, IL thanks to Chris Dunn. Great
stuff. I can hear where some of Bob Dylan's songwriting came from. Never really listened to much
Woodie Guthrie. Some are slower than others.

Am staying in the suburbs of Nashville at the home of Lewis and Maria Bogash. They've put me up in
unaccustomed style. Tonight I open for a local band at The Family Wash.

Lewis told me a little story. Four Swedish girls were playing on Broadway in Nashville one day and a
big Nashville Record Producer went down and signed them up. Cro ssed my mind to go down as well and try my
luck but then four swedish girls doing anything will get signed up by anyone for anything long. Defeatist
or realist? You decide.

26 October, 2005

Just got back into Chicago. Read a very kind comment from a kid out in South Dakota last night on the Peasant guestbook. Made me wish I was able to go out there this trip. Unfortunately not possible w/insane gas prices and my disinterest in driving across the entire country again. Very laid back tour. Minimal driving, much visiting with friends. Am digging it. Still must say thanks again to Punk Rock Kids of Rapid City, SD. One of my fave stops. I will be back!!! Until then, there's CDBaby.com.

25 October, 2005

At the Rock Island Library in Illinois. Been painting a house the last few days w/Chris Dunn. Chris and I had a great show Saturday night at The Peanut Gallery. Tons of folks, many from last time and we played all night. Also did the Open Mike Friday in Dubuque at Mississippi Mud. That place was JAMMED. Weird for an open mike. Both good. Spending some time w/Siobhan, the cutest 3 year old girl in the world. I'm her godfather. Crazy!!

Head back to Chicago tomorrow. Got one more in the Windy City then head south into Hurricane Country. Looking forward to it. Lotta great folks up here in the Midwest. I like the vibe. Real easy going and attentive. Very different from the frenetic, distracted audiences on the coasts. Got the opening spot at The Family Wash in Nashville Friday. See you there!!

20 October, 2005

Still in Chicago. Swim every day at the YMCA. Good for the mind. Me and Iggy Pop. Nuts! Went up to Milwaukee last night. Tavern owner runs a great little open mike on Wednesdays. He opened the stage with a bunch of great anti war folk tunes. Big Dylan fan. Was a great sounding room. Good attendance too. Sold a few cds. Night before was at another open mike in Chicago. Tonight I'm playing short bursts between acts for a show set up by the famous Flabby Hoffman @ The Underground Lounge. Should be fun. He couldn't give me an actual slot so I'm like the filler, sort of the commercials between the actual show.

Love Chicago. Big town. Very friendly. Did get pulled over last night though. Never fails. Might have something to do with driving around at 1 am in a strange part of town with out of state plates and a bunch of loud bumper stickers on the trunk. Maybe..

I was actually pulling over when they pulled me over. I was completely lost. After they ascertained that I do in fact own this bashed up Subaru (as if anyone else would), I got directions home. I don't begrudge the cops. Just doing their thankless, increasingly pointless job, trying to contain rising crime and violence in a country that has less and less jobs. I do not begrudge them. I just wish there was a better solution than an increased police state. Good thing I don't drink. I'd be in jail so many times over. I get pulled over more than a Black Man driving thru Beverly Hills!

Tomorrow I head out to Rock Island, Illinois where my good buddy Chris Dunn resides with his wife and two cute kids. We'll do an open mike in Dubuque Friday and a show in Rock Island on Saturday.

17 October, 2005

Forgot to say Columbus was stupundous!!! Victorian's Midnight Cafe was GREAT!! Lots of people, three different musical acts, Bob and I played a bunch together, and generally was great. A drummer and bassist stepped up and we did a full on electric set ie. Harvard Square. It was loose but very fun. Just got to Chicago. Am returning to Neutral Ground Cafe in Waverly on Friday, Nov. 4th before going back to beantown.

16 October, 2005

Riots broke out in Toledo, OH just down the block from the coffeehouse I played at last night. Heard about it while listening to the BBC on the radio. Turns out some Neo Nazi group staged a protest march against people being let out of jail, coming home and maybe starting to live criminal lives. People started rioting when the Nazis showed up. I guess the good people of Toledo don't appreciate the Nazis free speech. It's weird cuz they should be able to exist but the thing is they are just trying to stir up trouble. By rioting, the Nazis got what they wanted out of the good people of Toledo. Too bad, really. What do you do? Ignore them? Attack them? Give them flowers?

The curfew imposed in Toledo thinned the prospective audience but we still managed to have a good time w/the folks at Brewed Awakenings. Am up in Militiagan jamming w/Mickey and Leif today. And having a few steaks!!!! Chi-town tomorrow.

15 October, 2005

Left Boston Wednesday as the rain continued to flood New England. Got to Waverly, NY in six hours. A one block long railroad town with big old buildings long overdue for repairs. Beautiful, dirt poor place w/a way cool coffeeshop called The Neutral Ground.

Played two sets of straight Peasant stuff and two covers. People were incredibly attentive and bought a stack of cds from me. Crashed at a friend's place and got bfx next am at coffeehouse too! Great Wednesday gig for a guy who's got nowhere and everywhere to be.

Drove to Columbus, OH next and met up w/Bobby Starker (former Peasant and longtime Ohioan) at Victorian's Midnight Cafe. We did a half hour for the open mike and tried our best to promote the show tonight. Sunny and warm here in Ohio as the rain continues to flood New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. I wonder if GW still thinks Global Warming is bullshit. He's not an evil man. He's just ignorant. Very, very ignorant. But then you know alot of people are ignorant. What are you gonna do? Hate 'em for bein' stupid? That's like hating someone for being crippled. Love Your Moron!

8 October, 2005

Upstairs at The Middle East was respectably full when we started. Halfway into the set Ernie broke someone's bass drum and we played Mall Cows while he replaced it. Didn't break the second bass drum. The Glows were cool. Great organ and manic drummer. Jason and Suspect Device did that fast, loud thing they do so well and Ike Reilly was just right. Ike and his bandmates got a few Welcome To My Country T shirts. They loved the Statue of Liberty babe.

Sold a bunch of stuff and got paid very well. Thanks Middle East! Thanks Kristen for setting it all up and thanks to all of you who came out for us. I'll be hitting the road in 4 days. Looks like Columbus and Toledo, OH, Chicago, IL and possibly Nashville, TN, then over to North Carolina and back up. I'll be back in a few weeks. No big deal. Start playing inside. Rain today doesn't look too promising for Harvard Square tonight. Was hoping to get one last night in but may not happen.

3 October, 2005

Played Homeland Security live on WAAF tonight and a cop called up to win a copy of Love Your Enemy. He loves the song, which is all about cops assassinating a black man out in a field down South. People hear the truth in songs. You can't bullshit them. Took Manager Tommy with me.He got to see the inside of a big radio station and meet Carmelita, the woman behind the voice he's been listening to for years. In good company tonight. Cops and Vietnam Vets.

29 September, 2005

Homeless Squared in the USA!!! Tommy, our manager, lived in a tent under a bridge the past few summers. He's a Vietnam Veteran who's had some problems with alcohol and the law but his heart is gold and he works harder than any of us!!!

Anyway, about a week ago I got a call from Tommy. Some gov't goon squad from the City of Cambridge had gone down under the bridge and wiped him out, sort of like a hurricane. They took everything he had and threw it away. Coleman Stove, clothes, cooler, bed, light, everything... gone. Apparently you are not allowed to be a homeless veteran living under a bridge in the United States. Never mind Hurricane Katrina! And this in the People's Republic of Cambridge!

I thought about it and realized if Tommy were allowed to get away with this, pretty soon everyone would be living rent or mortgage free under bridges. Then what?!! Nobody would feel like paying for a mortgage. Then where would we be?! I'll tell you. We'd be no better than the American Indians who had no respect for land ownership. That's right. Redskins. The lot of us. Banks wouldn't get their pound of flesh. Landlords would have to pay their own mortgages. People would be free to set up camp wherever they wanted. It would be uncontrollable. We wouldn't be able to collect taxes. We couldn't pay for illegal invasions of oil rich countries. We certainly wouldn't be able to control the rest of the world!! Obviously Tommy had to go. He's on the couch.

If you live in Boston you may start to see Love Your Enemy posters for the Record Release party at The Middle East October 7th. Looks incredible thanks to Catherine Carter, Amanda Stark and Zanne de Janvier. Will be at Upstairs with The Ike Reilly Assassination, Suspect Device and The Glows. We go on at 10 pm and Ernie is playing drums. Come down and bring money to buy CDs!!

Almost finished booking my annual solo tour. This one will just go to the Midwest, the Mid Atlantic, a bit of the South and back up to New England. Many open mikes. A few good shows. One at The Elbo Room in Chicago. Repeat business @ Seattle's in Wooster, OH. Going to Columbus. Will play with Bobby Blasto Gutbucket Starker (fr Peasants) and Tom the Ukelele Man. Also stopping by Rock Island, IL to see my friends Chris and Elizabeth and the cutest little girl in the world, Shivon. I think that's how you spell it. I should know. I'm her goddamn Godfather! Poor kid.

25 September, 2005

Cool weather coming down fast here in New England. Took a seven piece Ukelele band out to Harvard Square with me last night. In from Columbus, OH. Bobby 'Blasto Gutbucket' Starker, one of the founding members of The Peasants, is playing Saxophone for Ukelele Man. They sounded like a New Orleans Dixie/Ragtime Band w/the Sax, Trombone, Trumpet, Harmonica, Ukelele, bass, guitar and drums. Even broke out the Ear Flute. Quite a circus.

Sure was great to play with Bobby again. We did all the classics. Black Coffee, Planet Earth, Good Thing Once. Like riding a bicycle. Love to just play guitar while somebody else does the singing!! Especially if it's Bob. He's a bad motherfucker. Sounds like a very pissed of Johnny Cash and god knows what else!! Ukelele man was great too. Strangest band to hit the pit all year, according to one of the Cambridge Arts Council monitors. Despite the cold, people were out. We tag teamed. Worked out pretty good.

Midwest Solo Tour for Love Your Enemy coming together. I've got about 7-8 coffeehouse type appearances booked. Going out a little past Chicago and back. Gas way too expensive to be doing standard 15,000 mile trip. Love Your Enemy is just gonna have to get there in the mail for now.

22 September, 2005

Playing this Saturday night in "The Pit" w/Bobby Starker, formerly of The Peasants back in 1988. He's on the road w/Ukelele Man, an eclectic outfit out of Columbus, OH. They are in NYC tonight, Somerville tomorrow and The Pit on Saturday night with us!! Bobby plays a MEAN saxophone. Sounds just like Bobby Keys of The Rolling Stones. He is also the writer of such staple Peasant numbers Black Coffee and Cigarettes, Stuck on Planet Earth, Good Thing Once and Up All Nite from the first Peasant release back in 1988. We were then known as The Velcro Peasants. Up All Nite still makes me laugh. You can't buy it but if you could, you'd be laughing too.

Been booking a very low key solo electric jaunt across the Midwest for mid October thru to November. Going to Ohio and Chicago, IL so far. Am trying to find places to play in Militiagan but people say I'm too late. I may just go play outside whatever Student Union I can find if the weather permits. Heard Ann Arbor, MI is a good place. Any ideas, pls let me know.

If you're in Boston, we'll be doing a record release for Love Your Enemy upstairs at The Middle East Restaurant, Cambridge on Friday, Oct. 7th. Pls come if you're in town.

15 September, 2005

WMBR-Cambridge just played DAYJOB!!!! Joanie RULES!!! I'm out of work and riding my bike alot in between sitting at the computer promoting LOVE YOUR ENEMY. I don't like this. But it must be done. If I don't do it, nobody will. Today I sent out TEN CDs to Music Magazine Review places. Also been trying to book a solo electric tour across the Midwest. Am getting a little discouraged. DON'T THESE PEOPLE KNOW WHO I AM??!!! Apparently not. Slogging away.

13 September, 2005

We played a memorial concert to victims of September 11th in Hartford, CT this past Sunday. A bunch of groups, speakers, activists and anti war type organizations were there. Many were upset about what has happened to the people in New Orleans w/Katrina. The Left was having a hard time loving their enemy but they did manage to embrace The Peasants, thanking us many times and even paying us a little something. A bunch of folks took home the new record too!!!

The Memorial was called Shout Out Loud. Shout out loud that peace is possible. It was for all the Americans, Iraqis and other nationalities who've ended up dead or hurt by the policies of George Bush and The Neocon psychos. People will continue to be used as canon fodder as long as these criminals are running the United States. Running it into the ground.

Cuba had a hurricane. It was bigger than Katrina. Somehow the Cubans managed to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people before it hit them in a few hours. There were no fatalities. Fidel Castro cares about his people. What does George Bush care about? Read on.

In the wake of Katrina, many nations offered assistance to the people of the United States. One of them was Cuba. Cuba has the best health care system in the world and the best doctors. These are facts you'll never hear in this country but the rest of the world knows it cuz whenever there is a disaster, Cuba sends its doctors and they are amazing.

Cuba offered to send 200 doctors to the US to treat Katrina victims. I don't know what happened to the offer. I suspect George Bush refused their help. He'd rather let poor Americans die than accept help from Cuba. This is our government. Welcome to our country.
Now Die!

5 September, 2005

Blue, blue skies here in Massachusetts on this perfect September day. Spent Saturday night rocking the oldies w/my college band from SUNY Binghamton. We played about 4 hours of classics for a neighborhood in Saratoga Springs. Was great to get out of the city and play some different stuff in a rural setting. Well as rural as you can get on a lake in Saratoga Springs. Place is getting pretty built up. Still it was a beautiful time w/old friends. At The Wedding, from Love Your Enemy, is a song about this great bunch of people.

This thursday afternoon I'm doing a solo electric show on WWUH University of Hartford, CT Public Radio. www.wwuh.org. Then Sunday, September 11th, The Peasants are doing a show in Bushnell Park, Hartford, CT called the Hope Out Loud Festival. The sentiment is that on September 11th we will all Hope Out Loud that a peaceful world is possible.

Friday and Saturday, Sept 9 & 10, we will be in Harvard Square as usual. Peace!

1 September, 2005

Lotta love in this town for The Replacements. We played a Tribute to them last night at The Abbey Lounge with a load of local bands. I had Paul Kochanski from the mighty Swingin Steaks on bass and John Cohan best known as drummer for Tarbox Ramblers. All the bands played great. Many, many excellent renditions of classic Westerberg songs. Was gonna do Fuck School but couldn't manage singing it and playing screwy Bob Stinson riff at the same time so fell back on tried and true.

Customer, Goddamn Job, If Only You Were Lonely and Bastards of Young which is actually a song that ends up about sending people to die in wars. Westerberg was The Man back in the 80s. Anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about should pick up Tim, by The Replacements today! Actually my fave is Pleased To Meet Me. Either one. If they don't end up in your tape deck for a month, you just don't like good songs.

28 August, 2005

Another exciting weekend in the Harvard Square Pit. Crack head that attacked John a few weeks ago was back to his old self, playing the recorder thru our set. He took a few solos. Everyone clapped. I think he felt like a member of the band.

Not many folks wandering around. Last big weekend before the summer is over. College kids streaming in. Will be a madhouse September 1 w/half a million people moving into apartments all over Boston.

Getting ready to send Love Your Enemy to radio stations around the country and world. Trying to amass list of people to send. Any ideas, please send to petecassani@yahoo.com

21 August, 2005

Fried from weekend. Great street action both Friday and Saturday. Did full four hours Friday and said goodbye to Francisco, the kid who did the wild dance steps during the shows all summer. Gonna miss him. Had Jose (bass) and Shawn (drums) on Friday and then Ernie LaRouche (drums) and Dave Lieb (bass) on Saturday.

Ernie is a longtime Peasant, first playing with me back in the early 90s when we used to play at Zoots, in the old Combat Zone, Downtown Boston. Used to be prostitutes, stockbrokers and rock and rollers, all coked up and getting loaded in this tiny place. Ernie filled in one night at the last minute. Didn't know any of the songs. Was incredible. Ended up going in the studio with us and recording Line Up, Drag and The Dirge. Those tracks ended up on Out On The Street.

Last night was best night so far. Good to have a drummer who knows all the stuff. Play without a worry. Was hoping I could get Steve Hart out there with us at some point but all hope of that ended w/a nasty phone conversation a few days ago. The divisive political climate in this country has finally destroyed us. Like 9/11, it was only a matter of time. At least we got to make the greatest Anti War Record of 2005 before we had to call it quits!!! Buy it on CDBaby.com today!!

13 August, 2005

Said farewell to the Harvard Square Summer School people last night. Thanks Indy! Can't wait to get that video. I know it's gonna be incredible!!!

New Love Your Enemy T-shirts and bumper stickers have arrived and look great. Sold the first bunch last night. No fights or confrontations. Pretty low key night. Good crowd. Friends from another street band will be doing a reunion show in the pit tonight so we won't be out. Should be a great night. They always attracted a huge crowd.

Rising death toll of soldiers in Iraq has finally forced Bush to acknowledge them though his administration has done everything possible to downplay, ignore or misrepresent casualties on both sides as well as damage it is doing to US economy.

Other little known fact: Huge rise in babies being born with grotesque birth defects to US Troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Radiation scientists have declared Iraq and Afghanistan to be unlivable countries due to huge amounts of Depleted Uranium dropped. Mothers are asking Is it normal as opposed to is it a boy or a girl in hospitals all across Iraq. So many horribly deformed babies are coming out. You can see photos online if you don't believe me but the truth is definately not pretty.

8 August, 2005

Usually quiet street recorder player was on some bad crack Saturday night and screaming at John Cohan, a huge guy who was playing drums for us. His maiden voyage with us. Welcome to Harvard Square, John!!! Then, toward the end of the night, I had a bright idea to do our version of Sweet Home Alabama ie... lyrics about rednecks, bigotry, poverty, etc. Soon as we started playing, one of the dirty street people who had been heckling us earlier came bounding up to the microphone all excited. Tried to grab the mike and belt out some lyrics to what was obviously his national anthem.

Tommy deflected the rebel who stood nearby thruout the song, flashing his belly button at me. On it was tattooed a swastika. You cannot buy this kind of entertainment.

After he got to hear some of the NEW lyrics to Sweet Home Alabama, he started calling me a bluebelly for making fun of Lynyrd Skynyrd. I wish you all could've been there. It was great. Funny thing is I LOVE Lynyrd Skynyrd. I'm just not a big fan of racism, poverty and ignorance.

Finished filming a video for Take 'Em Out. I have a feeling it's gonna be really, really good. Just have to figure out how to put it on the interweb. The kids working on it are pretty amazing. I'm really impressed with how professional these sixteen year old kids going to Harvard for a summer school course have been about it. The video was all their idea. They are doing all the filming and editing with cameras they borrow from their schools. I just do what they tell me. It's been pretty cool. Can't wait to see what the final thing looks like. If anyone has any ideas where we should send it, pls let me know.

1 August, 2005

Another stellar weekend playing on the streets of Cambridge. Love Your Enemy is making it's way out into the world. Jesus H. Christ would be proud. Spent Sunday working on a video with some kids I met in the square who are going to Harvard University Summer School. They are pretty good w/cameras and wanted to do a video for us. We're doing Take 'Em Out, the first cut from Love Your Enemy. I spent the day getting tortured in my basement.

31 July, 2005

Last night we introduced the new 11 song CD Love Your Enemy to The Pit in Harvard Square. It literally hit the streets last night, was a street release, made it out to the street, etc... Many who already own the other two records were picking it up. A woman I never saw before came up and bought all three. I think she liked us.

This record will NOT be available in record stores, at the mall or any of those other foolish places. The only way to get it is through us or at www.cdbaby.com. That way we can sell it for $10. plus postage. No labels, distribution costs or added charges.

Though the cover to this record is admittedly dark, (like Dante's Inferno, according to one fan) the back is sunny as hell (pun intended). And though the subject matter is a bit heavy, we of The Peasants are hopeful we can make the future better starting NOW!!!

And we'll be out again tonight. Come see us. And buy this new record!! Summer is in full swing here in Boston, the weather is beautiful and there are thousands of beautiful women walking around here. If you are not in Boston, you should be able to order Love Your Enemy from CD Baby in a few days.

27 July, 2005

1,000 copies of Love Your Enemy arrived last night from CD manufacturing plant. Began sending them out last night. Record looks and sounds incredible!!! Full color, 8 panel fold out. Will have them on the street Friday night for the first time. Shirts and stickers are coming. Should be here mid August.

25 July, 2005

Harvard Square/Friday, Saturday: Despite thundershower in middle of first set, had blast w/old college bandmates. Did all the old classics. Magic Carpet Ride/Steppenwolf, Southbound/Allman Bros, shit like that.. Didn't play very much Peasant stuff. Actually I don't think we played any. Didn't sell any cds either but the people of Harvard Square had a very special treat.

That was Friday night. Saturday night we went out again and this time I had Dave Lieb/Peasant bass player w/me. We did a full set of our usual stuff, street covers and Peasant songs. Then another. Third set had Perk and Leif up. Did all the best from the night before. Then finished off w/another set of Peasant/street covers. Sold a shitload of CDs and the good people of Harvard Square left smilin. It was way cool. Still waitin on that new cd.

17 July, 2005

Sweltering two night stand in Harvard Square. Due to much heat of a governmental nature coming down on us The Peasants had to play very quietly. We kept our roar to the dull level of traffic all weekend and were commended by the powers that police the square.

It is not as much fun playing at low volumes however it is better than not playing at all. Broke in Shawn Meehan, drummer, Friday. Played very quietly. Unusual for a drummer. Steve Hart is the only other drummer I know who can play quietly and brilliantly. Hope to maybe get him to come out one night this summer with us. Still waiting for new record to arrive in the mails.

Next Friday and Saturday night two old friends from my college days will be joining us in Harvard Square. We played in a band while at school. It was all covers from the 60s and 70s. Keg parties were our specialty. Girls and Beer were our pay. Quite a few of my friends got married around this band. Come out for a taste.

14 July, 2005

Been having a bit of a rough time out there in Harvard Square. Didn't realize it but we're supposed to be no louder than the background noise generated by the traffic of the cars. So we can easily be drown out in a second by any car driving by. If we are louder than the cars, we will be fined $25. each. Hmmm. I did not know this. Cambridge seems not as friendly as we thought. I guess this is the compromise so that thousands of bands don't show up and start cranking up their amplifiers.

We have been trying very hard to play at the 80 db level legally permitted by the City of Cambridge but it is unbelievably difficult. And it sounds terrible. I didn't realize how hard it is to deal with the monitors in the pit on a Saturday night. Now I see why the former band that played here was always complaining about "the new monitor." That person can really take all the fun out of it.

That being said, we don't want to blow out the other performers and be pigs about it. We're going to have to try to work within these guidelines. We'll be out both Friday and Saturday night this weekend. It's supposed to be beautiful weather and we might even have the new CD by then.

3 July, 2005

Good time on the street last night but crowds were noticeably sparse. Most people fled Boston to visit relations over the three day weekend. Americans don't get a whole lotta time off so we gotta take it when we can. Sunny blue skies, warm but not humid.
Tonight Americans all over the United States will be lighting firecrackers, some of which will blow up their hands. Happens every year around the Fourth of July. Only this year it's like the folks back home are expressing solidarity with the US Troops in Iraq, blowing themselves up much the same way our troops are getting blown up in the illegal occupation of Iraq.

2 July, 2005

No sign of Mick Stagger last night in the Pit. Slow for a Friday night. Everyone left town for July 4th. Still we had a good time with the pit kids dancing to some old Peasant punk songs. Andy Plaisted was nailing it last night on the drums. Very fortunate to get him to come out and play with us on the street. Exceptional drummer. Does mostly country, blues and singer/songwriter but is no slouch in the rock dept.
We'll be out again tonight with Kaz from The Ethnics on drums. Should be a good time. Got some more T-shirts. CD is mastered and at the CD Factory. Should have new record within a week or so. Am thinking of a record release party at The Abbey or O'Brien's in Allston. Dunno yet. Not too interested with playing in a bar when it's summertime and the street is teemin' and steamin', if you know what I'm meanin' !!

21 June, 2005

Though the schitzophrenic New England weather conspired against us, sending down a cold, dark night in the middle of June, The Peasants rose to the challenge and took the pit Saturday night. We rocked from 8 to midnight and everybody got paid. Tommy, our manager, has been doing an incredible job selling cds and T-shirts. I even ordered more!

Two virgins to the street will be accompanying me this Saturday. John Luguzzi, a paisan from Long Island and Berklee drummer with a healthy appreciation for red neck rock along with Jose 'Pepe' Hernandez on Bass. Jose is going AWOL for one night from the Cover Band Circuit and I'm glad to have him. Both are learning songs off the CDs. It should prove to be an interesting night.

Wish I had more to report. It's been a slow summer so far. Not booking clubs. Just the street. If I can get them out for it, we might even try to do Fridays. All the regulars in The Square have been great. Alotta shakin' goin' on down there in The Pit. If you haven't checked out Harvard Square on a Saturday night, you're ripping yourself off.

12 June, 2005

Harvard Square, Saturday night!!! Felt like standing in front of a hair dryer but wet. Sticky. Perfect. We did the 8 to midnight slot in the Pit again. Tommy, our manager, sold a ton of cds again and the band made enough to make it worth the trip. Lot's of street people out and about.
One guy, I'll call him Mick Jagger, kept staggering over to us trying to grab the mike and sing. He was slobbering all over himself and quite a nuisance but I didn't really notice him until Tommy had to subdue him. Great crowds. Tons of kids out. Bunch of really little kids dancing. Some of the pit punks did a few turns as well. All in all a typical night. Looking forward to more of it. We'll be out next Saturday night w/Andy Plaisted on drums again. He first played w/us last week and had such a good time, he's coming back for more.

9 June, 2005

Played a Benefit Show last night @ Johnny Ds. All the old Boston Rock Legends were there. Willy Alexander, The Neighborhoods, The Fighting Cocks... even The Peasants showed up to do a few numbers. All the money goes to Right Turn, an addiction counseling service to help musicians who've taken a few too many wrong turns in the words of Dave Minehan.
Anyway it was packed though don't think it quite sold out. I played some solos for The Fighting Cocks as well as The Peasants so I got to play a good amount. Was talking to my good friend Billy O'Malley, in town on a tour from Vegas with his band, THIRSTY. They are at The Abbey Lounge this Friday, June 10th for anyone who is interested in a kick ass live rock show. Anyway, Billy and I were chatting and the conversation turned to spiritual matters. I was gonna try to explain it but I think it may be too much for this news page. Something about just when you think you're the balls, the great creator throws you a curveball to let you know you ain't all that after all. That's all I wanted to say. Trying to stay honest. It's 24 hours a day.

5 June, 2005

Summer is finally here after a month of rain. Blue skies, 90 degrees, short skirts and not much else. Spent last three nights playing outside w/the band. The Pit in Harvard Square was open so we grabbed it and made a killing. Broke my personal record for selling CDs last night. Tommy, our new manager, had an awful lot to do with it. He is constantly passing the bucket and walking around hawking stuff. If it weren't for him, it never would've happened. That he is a Vietnam Vet with no teeth and a winning smile doesn't hurt either.
We will be out there every Saturday night for the rest of the summer if we can swing it. Still working on getting the new record, Love Your Enemy, mixed, mastered and out to the public but it keeps running into problems. Soon...

24 May, 2005

Met Dave, the mastering guy, down at JP Licks in Jamaica Plain today. Handed him the final mixes for Love Your Enemy. He's going back to Seattle tomorrow and will send the mastered album to me within a week. Pretty cool that he was actually in Boston when it was finished so I could give it to him personally. I know none of you really give a shit but I'm just real stoked to have this sucker almost finished. I feel like I've been living with it a bit too long. Should have it available for public consumption on the streets of Cambridge by mid June.

14 May, 2005

Hit the street tonight for first time in 2005. Tommy the Vietnam Vet was out dancing and taking money for us. We sold a few cds and had a good time with the people of Harvard Square. Still a little too cold for folks to be out in force. Ernie LaRouche on the drums, Dave Lieb on bass. Both Berklee guys. Monster Rhythm section. Everything sounds huge with them. Hope to do Friday nights consistently thru the summer as much as we can manage it.

11 May, 2005

Went to Woolly Mammoth Studios, Boston to re-record vocals for Hate Nation and Less & Less. Sounds much better now. Been working alot to release this record. Artwork is all done. Just waiting to mix these last two, then send off to Mastering place in Seattle. JP Mastering. Used to work with Henk out of Massachusetts. They mastered Out On The Street.
Also been practicing w/John Lynch on the drums. He's the new drummer for everything, including the street. Steve and I weren't seeing eye to eye on the record so he took a break. I kind've needed a break too so it's all good. I'm hoping to be on the street tomorrow night but it's been so sketchy getting out there the last few years that I don't want to say much about it. Rain's letting up so it's looking good.

21 April, 2005

Played a show downtown Boston at a strange yuppie bar with Beefy DC last night. People in the bar were mostly stock brokers and bankers. They were more interested in watching a baseball game than a live rock band. Hmm. I don't understand it. They paid us $1,000. to play while they watched a baseball game. I felt ever so slightly like the late great Ray Charles.

Ray Charles was hired to play for the Republicans after George Bush got into the White House. As Ray Charles played his songs, the Republicans who hired him talked, walked around his piano and generally ignored him. Ray Charles, a blind man who could tell if a door was open in a hallway by the echo of his footsteps. Ray Charles, a man who refused to play in Georgia as a protest to racism. Ray Charles, the man who's hit song, 'Georgia,' is now the official song of the state of Georgia. Ray Charles, who wrote more hits than anyone on the radio today played one of his last shows to the indifferent Phillistines of the Republican Party. I sort of felt like that... for a few seconds.

Outside this club, called The Place, people walking by stopped to listen. An older black woman from NYC stopped for a long time. She sang and clapped along to us for an entire set. She knew the words to the AC/DC songs!! A black woman from NYC!! Probably in her 60s!!! I played to her the whole set. It was beautiful. I can't wait to be back out on the street.

9 April, 2005

Played a concert in Somerville last night with the growing Anti War Movement people. Many excellent musicians performed. The Peace Movement tends to grow as more bodies are sent home. In this war, many of the bodies will be badly damaged but still walking around. And, as in all wars, much of the worst damage will be psychological and not immediately visible. What goes around, comes around. We will all pay a terrible price for the violence our government inflicts on other countries and their people. We must be the change we want to see in this country. Last night I got a glimpse of it.

29 March, 2005

Good show at The Abbey Friday night with Rick Barton and the Monkey Butlers of Portland, ME. Barton (The Outlets/Dropkick Murphys) doesn't get out much anymore and it was really good to see him. He had a super band. Paul and Jim from The Swingin Steaks and Steve from The Peasants. And some guy on slide guitar who was excellent.

We are done with recording AND mixing the new peasant record. Siegel and I spent Sat-Mon mixing the last seven songs and they sound great!! Now we get it mastered, figure out the order, the artwork and will hopefully have it available for purchase sometime in May.

Saturday night I played a few songs solo at an Anti War party in Jamaica Plain at a space called Spontaneous Celebrations. There was a mess of great musicians at this event. I got to jam with a few of them. We did Fortunate Son and Highway 61. Military Families Against The War were there too. As was a guy from a shipping Union. Was talking about how the union refused to transport military goods for this war in Iraq. It was good. Non cooperation. If everyone refused to cooperate in this war, it would be impossible to wage it.

On Friday, April 8th, another Anti War Concert is scheduled at Good Times in Somerville. The Peasants will be playing as well as a few other local acts. Check the touring page for details. This will be a great night of music and protest.

20 March, 2005

Howard Zinn, author of The People's History of The United States showed up at the Protest today in Boston Commons. He was at another protest in NYC yesterday. SIX HUNDRED Cities and towns all across the United States held protests against the illegal occupation of Iraq yesterday, said Zinn. You will not hear about it on CNN or FOX but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

As US Soldiers come home from Iraq and tell the truth to the people in the United States, the opposition to this illegal war grows, just as it did during the Vietnam War. The truth has a way of coming out eventually.

At the rally today in the Boston Commons there was a plan to shut down the Recruitment Center on Tremont Street in downtown Boston. This recruitment center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Today this same recruitment center shut itself down. We in the Anti War movement see this as a great sign. That a recruitment center will shut itself down just because a group of people plan to boycott it is an encouraging sign.

A bunch of bands played at this rally including my friend Dave Tree with his new band Superpower. They sounded incredible. Unfortunately there was one band that got up and said they were neutral. To play at a political rally and say you are neutral is like fucking without a dick. I don't remember the name or anything else about this band and I hope I never have to suffer thru them ever again. I'm sure they'll get signed tomorrow and be huge. Seems to be the trend.

17 March, 2005

Saw Steve Earle and his band at The Paradise in Boston on Tuesday night. He was brilliant. Great songwriter. Not afraid to express his opinion. Very vocal Southern Protest songwriter in the Woody Guthrie tradition and then some. Steve Earle is what Bob Dylan started out to be but couldn't handle. Dylan actually ran and hid from the mantle he inherited from Woody. Steve Earle is fearless. Spoke about ending the war in Iraq and showing up for every protest. Showing up for the poor American who's become cannon fodder for wealthy old men who never seem to see any of the violence they create. Show up for the Iraqi people who are being slaughtered.

When asked whether he thinks music can change the world Steve Earle said YES, definately. Music reaches all people deep in their soul so yes, he does. So do I. When was the last time you heard a song by a Right wing Republican that moved your soul?

Here is what Jeff Buckley had to say about music and people:

"I prefer to learn everything through music. If you want divinity, the
music in every human being and their love for music is pretty much it.
It's the big indication of their spirituality and their ability to
love and make love, or feel pain or joy, and really manifest it,
really be real...you have an Eden immediately from the time you are
born, but as you are conditioned by your caretakers and your
surroundings, you may lose that original thing. Your task is to get
back to it, to claim responsibility for your own perfection."
-Jeff Buckley

14 March, 2005

We are on hold for a few weeks with mixing our record so we'll be out playing a few shows. Thursday I'll be at Johnny D's w/Beefy DC for St. Patrick's Day. Friday The Peasants return to The Midway Cafe. Opening that show is The Glamourous Stuntcocks featuring Scarrie Carrie on lead vox. Scarrie is the artist who created the Burlesque Statue of Liberty on Welcome To My Country. She is also an explosive performer.

In other news, our beloved drummer, Steve Hart, has begun to give private drum lessons. Steve is the best drummer I have ever played with no question. If you've ever seen Steve Hart drumming with The Peasants you know what an amazing musician he is. Rarely is speed, power and taste so beautifully integrated in one person. Steve has it all. If you or someone you know is considering the drums, Steve would be an excellent teacher. With his job of 16 years closing down and a new baby girl in his life, he is very motivated to be your drum teacher. He will drive to you or you can go to him. Contact Steve via email:harbodrums@yahoo.com. You won't regret it.

9 March, 2005

Grueling day in studio on Monday. Was trying to get two remaining rhythm tracks, a few stray vocal things and EIGHT guitar solos done in 4-5 hours. Got thru six of the solos then Jim got sick of punching and I got sick of myself fucking up a song I've been playing in my sleep for 12 years.

Went home. Took a rest. Went back in Tuesday morning and blasted thru the two remaining solos in less than an hour. Did the more difficult one, Day Job, first. So do the hard stuff first always and then blow thru the rest. Lesson learned... again!

Went in today and started mixing. Take 'Em Out!! Day Job!! Homeland Security!! All done!! Mixed in a few hours. Sounding HUGE!! Jim Siegel is the man. We were starting to pick up some steam. Went for a dinner break. Came back. Jim got a call from some rock stars. They need to come back in and patch up their shitty record. They're paying alot of money. We have to wait again. We're on hold with mixing the rest of this record till March 25th. No hurry. We're not rockstars. We'll wait.

5 March, 2005

Great time at The Midway Cafe last night. Beefy DC, Andrea Gillis Band, Fancy Trash and Noelle from Damone. Place was packed. Everybody played great. Room sounded great!! A great little neighborhood rock bar, The Midway just keeps kickin' out the good times!!!

Working steadily on this new record. Started doing vocals yesterday. Will probably work through the weekend w/Jim @ The Outpost. This is the most we've ever taken to do a record. Not so frantic. He has nothing else booked so we're doing short, easy days instead of twelve hour marathon burnouts. It's nice.

28 February, 2005

Good weekend in the studio. Finished alll the rhythm guitar tracks on all eleven songs. Jim Siegel is taking a week off to rest then I go back on Friday to start the guitar solos and vocals. Should be done Saturday or Sunday. Then it's just the mix and the music is done.

Not by choice this record is our first all Pro Tools recording. The company that makes tape is not making tape anymore. It looks like tape is becoming a dinosaur. Hard to tell a difference. Siegel is faster and better with Pro Tools anyway.

Beefy DC show at The Midway Cafe this friday for anyone interested in the Boston area!!

25 February, 2005

Worked up rough mix of I'll Never Said w/Dave Hull at his home studio down in Plymouth. Strings, backward guitars and a hallelluia chorus. Going back to The Outpost this weekend. Something for everyone on this one. Metal, punk, rock, ballads and weird stuff. Our usual mess of styles. Dave found some really horrific war sounds for the beginning of Take 'Em Out. Pretty chilling stuff. Definately not for the moron looking for his next good time.

22 February, 2005

Sorry about the delay in updates. We seem to have lost contact with our webmaster over in Holland. Since January 22nd we played another show at The Midway Cafe in JP and started working up new songs for the third record.

With everyone being either married with kids or working all the time we don't practice much anymore but it doesn't matter. Went in the studio with eleven songs pretty close to mapped out and did most of them in the first take. Steve Hart did the first nine and Kevin Shurtleff of Scizzorfight did the last two. Billy Close banged out all the bass punches the next day. The Peasants don't waste time recording.

I was all set to start the guitars when Jim Siegel got a call from a frantic rockstar band begging him to fix some godawful mixes they made. As they are rockstars and have alot of money, I'll be on hold for a week or two. Jim will make a few bucks and I'll polish up on my lame guitar solos. This record should be done and available for purchase by maybe May? I'm thinking of calling it Rattle Your Jewelry and putting photos of ME on both sides of it. Whadda ya think of that?!?

Homeland Security, Take 'Em Out, Hate Nation, Skinny Waitress, Day Job and a new one called I Never Said will all be on this record. It'll be short and sweet. Sweet Little Asian too!!!

In other news, me and/or The Peasants have been asked to play some anti war shows in late March/early April. One show is Friday, April 8th at Good Times in Somerville and the other is Saturday, March 26th, somewhere in Jamaica Plain. Still waiting on the information. Stay warm!!!

22 January, 2005

With two bands stranded in snowstorms down in NY and the Middle East Restaurant in Cambridge closing for the night due to anticipated snow, we regretfully report the show will not be going on. There's nothing we can do about it. Mother Earth has spoken. We DO hope to see you next Friday night, however, at The Midway Cafe, 3496 Washington St. in Jamaica Plain, MA. We'll be playing from 11pm to closing time (2am). Come down. Mother Earth willing, it's gonna be a great night!

17 January, 2005

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr Day in the United States. It is a day when Americans pay tribute to a great black leader who was assassinated. The assassination took place immediately prior to a non-violent march on Washington, DC that was likely to cause great embarrassment to the current President. It is believed MLK, Jr was assassinated with the help, if not directly, of the CIA. Nothing was ever proven.

A student of Gandhi and non-violence, Martin Luther King, Jr was very successful in freeing blacks all across America from institutionalized second class citizenship, especially in the South.

MLK Jr followed many great non violent leaders to a violent death. Here are a few of them. John Lennon, Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Paul Wellstone. It is very ironic that men of peace often are killed, assassinated or somehow die in accidents instead of natural causes.

Men of war seem to live forever. Here are a few of them. Henry Kissenger, Richard Nixon, George W Bush, George HW Bush, Ronald Reagan, Augusto Pinochet, Ferdinand Marcos, Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, ...etc.

Here are some Martin Luther King Jr quotes. Peace!

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Dec. 10, 1964

===================

Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must ever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

====================

"A nation that spends year after year more resources on the military than on social upkeep is approaching spiritual death."

11 January, 2005

Studying up on nonviolence this winter in preparation for the Love Your Enemy Caravan. Just read a book of personal letters, articles, speeches..etc that Gandhi wrote throughout his life. The Essential Gandhi, by Vintage Press. Great read. About 350 pages. Highly recommend it to Jews, Christians, Moslems, everyone!! Gandhi found things he loved in all religions.

Possibly the second most influential person since Jesus Christ, Gandhi was devoted to the Truth and a close relationship with God. As a result, he was terribly accurate in his predictions about world events and actions to be taken. He knew what to do in most situations because he went to God first. Crazy shit I know but there's no other way to explain it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement studied Gandhi's methods "religiously." Nonviolence requires much bravery. You have to be willing to take a beating and not respond in kind. Not easy. But very effective. Gandhi freed India from The British Empire without firing a single shot. That's pretty amazing!!!

2 January, 2005

"Nonviolence is not some exalted regimen that can be practiced only by a monk or a master; it also pertains to the way one interacts with a child, vacuums a carpet, or waits in line. When ever we separate ourselves from a given situation (for example, through inattentiveness, negative judgments, or impatience), we “kill” something valuable: . . . people, things, one's own composure, the moment itself. . . . These small-scale incidences of violence accumulate relentlessly, are multiplied on a social level, and become a source of the large-scale violence that can sweep down upon us so suddenly. . . . One need not wait until war is declared and bullets are flying to work for peace. . . . A more constant and equally urgent battle must be waged each day against the forces of one's own anger, carelessness, and self-absorption."

Kenneth Kraft

This quote was on the wall in Amanda Stark's house in Portland, OR. She is the co-creator of the Love Your Enemy Caravan Tour with me. This is going to be a huge undertaking and very worthwhile. You will be hearing about it from time to time here.

Mahatma Gandhi was one incredible dude. Been reading about him this winter. He helped free India from the British Empire without firing a shot. That's pretty incredible. Martin Luther King Jr was a big fan of Gandhi too. I highly recommend reading about Gandhi. He is the man to model for these troubled times.

1 January, 2005

Happy New Year from Albert Einstein!!!

"He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."

Played w/Beefy DC last night @ The Abbey Lounge. It was a great time. Thanks to all the people who came out. The Peasants will be playing a few shows this January. First will be upstairs at The Middle East with Ike Riley. That's on Saturday, Jan. 22nd. Then the following Friday, Jan. 28th we'll be at The Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain again. Steve and Billy are on drums and bass so it'll be pretty sick. We might even break out some Classic Van Halen.

As I'm sure you all know, hundreds of thousands of people are dead and continue to die around the Indian Ocean in the aftermath of that horrific earthquake. You can help immediately by going to any of the humanitarian aid organization websites and whipping out your credit card. You can even earmark your dollars to go directly to the Tsunami Victims. I went to the International Red Cross site but there are many, many others. I trust all Peasant fans to do what they can. This part of the world is going to need alot of help over a long period. Money is the fastest, most fluid way to help. Many of the victims are children and they can't wait for GW Bush to suddenly feel compassionate. He's too busy clearing brush on his ranch. I wish he'd just stay there and let someone more qualified run the country. Peace!!