Writing again

Well it's about time something broke loose in my brain.... More songs are in the works, and I'm learning some new covers, too. Still in the market for a good gigging partner. I'll be in NYC December 8, paying tribute to JWL at Strawberry Fields. Not a gig, just happen to be in the city at the right time. Maybe I'll see you there!

Finally, I would like to thank Spider Robinson for once again including some of my music in his podcast (#73, "Music from the Heart") - once in the middle and again at the end. Spider's wife Jeanne continues her battle with cancer, but continues also to pursue her dream of bringing their book Stardance to the big screen, engaging David Gerrold ("Martian Child," "Trouble with Tribbles") to work on the adaptation. Check out the Stardance blog for the latest.

October 12, 2009

Holy moly! My mother's on Colbert?!

So I get home this afternoon from my "knitter's retreat" to find no fewer than seven voice mail messages from my mother. I call her back and we chat for a half-hour or so, and just as the conversation seems about to come to a close, she casually mentions that she's the guest on tomorrow night's Colbert Report. Seriously. How cool is that?

Update: Here's a link to the interview.

September 23, 2009

Dream of, for, with, and loving Jeanne

Who knows how many new humans went from conception to birth in the time it's taken me to update this page? I have no excuse. What's finally prompted me to post is new photos, from a benefit concert thrown for Jeanne Robinson to help pay her bills while she goes through chemotherapy.

Here's the story, from Spider's site:

"Earlier this year a brilliant surgeon, Dr. Andresz Busczowski, helped Jeanne Robinson beat back a rare and virulent form of biliary cancer. But it’s so rare even he can’t say how much time he‘s bought her, how soon it might recur—and her latest blood tests have been so discouraging they’ve now decided she needs to start chemotherapy as soon as possible. Besides the prescription drugs to counteract the chemotherapy, she needs special therapies and supplements, counseling, and extensive diet and lifestyle changes, to reduce her stress level and the strain on her liver to as close to zero as possible. All those things are expensive...and like many artists today the Robinsons were already running on fumes financially."

Continuing from Jeanne's blog:

"...After all these months of being silent and private about my illness, I recently said yes to my close friend Michelle Meyrink when she asked if she could organize a benefit concert for me. Others have since jumped in, including my Vancouver Buddhist sangha, Mountain Rain Zen Community, and a dear friend in Florida, Jan Schroeder, who has been auctioning donated items (such as rare Babylon 5 scripts and other SF memorabilia) on eBay for me. Goods or services can be donated for the auction by contacting Jan at dreamforjeanne@aol.com. Several other methods of helping out, including a straightforward PayPal donation account, can be found at http://wedreamforjeanne.blogspot.com/.

"Another way to help would be to buy our books from Amazon by clicking-through from Spider's site, so we can get the affiliate commission. We’ve spent decades holding up visions of humankind’s highest evolutionary potential while entertaining you enough to keep you turning pages. Any help you can offer is gratefully appreciated by Spider and me."

(me again)
The benefit last weekend was something I struggle to describe. Friends from their community and beyond put together an amazing group of musicians and organized a successful live and silent auction. Friends from their community and beyond filled the hall to capacity. Love was in the air. Spider serenaded. Tears rolled. Jeanne danced.

Dance on, sister from another mother.

In other news, our country appears to have finally noticed that we're broke, and has reacted (predictably) by borrowing more money. Terrific. In the face of all this, if you have a few dollars to spare, please consider donating to help elect Barack Obama to be our next President.

August 31, 2008
Common Good now on CDBaby!
My new CD, Common Good is now available for download, or to pre-order the physical disc, at CDBaby. The discs will be in my hands by the end of the week. I can hardly wait!

July 13, 2008
Radio Interview Tuesday Night
We finished the final mixes for the CD last week, and are headed to Paul Stubblebine's studios Monday for mastering. Tracks from the finished CD will debut this Tuesday night, July 15, from 10:00 p.m. to midnight (Pacific time) on KSVY radio. I'll be spending the evening talking with host Dave Robbins and sharing some of the new tracks. You can stream the program at KSVY.org

July 7, 2008
The War Goes On
We just finished mixing the first of the songs with Amos Garret's stellar solos, and I can't wait to share it! And it's a song that resonates a lot for me with the current FISA legislation on the Senate's plate right now. It's called "The War Goes On." Please give it a listen and let me know what you think!. As I write this, Eric McFadden is in the studio with us playing some unbelievably beautiful guitar on a song called "Where I Go." It's really, really gorgeous. I'm so damn excited.....

July 6, 2008
Poetry in Motion
My sister, Jane Mead, has just released her new collection of poems, The Usable Field. I so admire her talent and eloquence. She's amazing.

As for the CD, we're in the home stretch! We're currently mixing in the marvelous guitar tracks supplied by Amos Garrett for four of my new original songs. We should have all tracks mixed, mastered, and ready to go within the next couple weeks. Here's a preview of our version of Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic."

June 12, 2008
Great Moments in Film History
Last weekend I watched a hilarious “jam band” riff on the mock-rockumentary genre, a film by Les Claypool called "Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo," featuring the fantastic deadpan improvisational stylings of Oz Fritz, the genius recording engineer who’s working with us on the CD. You might consider adding it to your Netflix queue, if you have one.

On the recording front: Members of the choral group Cantiamo Sonoma have added their harmonies to a couple songs, and Ysanne Spevack played some stunning string parts for "Streets of New Orleans," among others. Ysanne will be interviewed on Hunnypot Radio on Monday, June 16, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. (PDT). We’re almost done with tracking, minus a few touch-ups on the vocals and the special contributions from out of town artists. We’ll start mixing this weekend.

In other news: Hooray for Plutoids! Former planets could do worse than become the namesake for a whole new kingdom in the celestial taxonomy.

May 26, 2008
Preview of Coming Attractions!
Our work at Prairie Sun continues, and the tracks are turning out really nice. We have most of the instrumentals completed, and I'm thrilled that the legendary Amos Garrett has agreed to lend his prodigious talents to the project with guitar solos on several songs. Vocals continue to be a work in progress, and there's much to be done in mixing, etc. but I think we're more than halfway to the finish line. In honor of Memorial Day and the servicemembers who have shouldered the terrible burden of the war in Iraq, I'm posting the rough mix of the song "Miguel." It's still a work in progress, but today seems like a good day to share it. (Update: Final mastered version uploaded 7-18-08)

News Archive]]> http://galemead.com/news.html#35 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800 Honest Music - Gale Mead - News http://galemead.com/news.html#34 July 7, 2008
The War Goes On
We just finished mixing the first of the songs with Amos Garret's stellar solos, and I can't wait to share it! And it's a song that resonates a lot for me with the current FISA legislation on the Senate's plate right now. It's called "The War Goes On." Please give it a listen and let me know what you think!. As I write this, Eric McFadden is in the studio with us playing some unbelievably beautiful guitar on a song called "Where I Go." It's really, really gorgeous. I'm so damn excited.....

July 6, 2008
Poetry in Motion
My sister, Jane Mead, has just released her new collection of poems, The Usable Field. I so admire her talent and eloquence. She's amazing.

As for the CD, we're in the home stretch! We're currently mixing in the marvelous guitar tracks supplied by Amos Garrett for four of my new original songs. We should have all tracks mixed, mastered, and ready to go within the next couple weeks. Here's a preview of our version of Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic."

June 12, 2008
Great Moments in Film History
Last weekend I watched a hilarious “jam band” riff on the mock-rockumentary genre, a film by Les Claypool called "Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo," featuring the fantastic deadpan improvisational stylings of Oz Fritz, the genius recording engineer who’s working with us on the CD. You might consider adding it to your Netflix queue, if you have one.

On the recording front: Members of the choral group Cantiamo Sonoma have added their harmonies to a couple songs, and Ysanne Spevack played some stunning string parts for "Streets of New Orleans," among others. Ysanne will be interviewed on Hunnypot Radio on Monday, June 16, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. (PDT). We’re almost done with tracking, minus a few touch-ups on the vocals and the special contributions from out of town artists. We’ll start mixing this weekend.

In other news: Hooray for Plutoids! Former planets could do worse than become the namesake for a whole new kingdom in the celestial taxonomy.]]> http://galemead.com/news.html#34 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0800 Honest Music - Gale Mead - News http://galemead.com/news.html#33 May 26, 2008
Preview of Coming Attractions!
Our work at Prairie Sun continues, and the tracks are turning out really nice. We have most of the instrumentals completed, and I'm thrilled that the legendary Amos Garrett has agreed to lend his prodigious talents to the project with guitar solos on several songs. Vocals continue to be a work in progress, and there's much to be done in mixing, etc. but I think we're more than halfway to the finish line. In honor of Memorial Day and the servicemembers who have shouldered the terrible burden of the war in Iraq, I'm posting the rough mix of the song "Miguel." It's still a work in progress, but today seems like a good day to share it.

April 18, 2008
In the Studio
We're on our way! After three days at Prairie Sun, we've got some rehearsal under our belt, and basic tracking completed on the first three songs, and I couldn't be more pleased with how they're turning out! Terry has done an amazing job of creating arrangements, and the musicians have been bringing each of them to life just beautifully.

Mooka and Terry have put together an amazing team, including Dave Weeks on guitar, Steve Evans on bass, Tim Gorman on keys, and Dale Chung on percussion. Oz Fritz is an incredibly talented and accomplished engineer, and is backed up by Prairie Sun's in-house engineers (Adam helped us out last week, and our old friend Matt Wright will be in the control room as we go forward).

More updates to come....

April 6, 2008
Letters Home featured in Spider Robinson podcast
I'm thrilled and flattered that Spider Robinson (one of my personal heroes, and among the greatest SF writers alive today) has included the song "Letters Home" in a recent "Spider on the Web" podcast. Check it out here, (scroll down to the 3/28/08 podcast) and while you're at it, give some of his other stuff a listen too.

March 31, 2008
After too many changes in plans, we're finally making progress on the new CD. With help once again from Prairie Sun Recording in Cotati, CA, we're on schedule to lay down basic tracks in April and finish overdubs, mixing, etc. in May.

February 28, 2008
Yes, I'm still here.... I was appalled when I realized it had been so long since I posted any news.... End of 2007 was busy, with songwriting, a few gigs for the political crowd, and a terrific dive trip to Belize with some of my best buddies. So far this year, I've traveled to Baja California and the Galapagos Islands, indulging my photography itch and sharing some quality time with my Mom. The photos are posted at my Shutterfly page. If you're interested, please email me for the password.

Meanwhile, I'm in pre-production for my next CD, which I'm co-producing with mentor and friend Terry Bradford. Lots of new songs in the works....

This is so nice! Davina Rubin sent a letter to the editor of the Napa paper about the concert at Copia. Very kind words indeed....

Many thanks to Sonoma Sun columnist JM Berry for this blushworthy review of our May 19 gig!]]> http://galemead.com/news.html#33 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0800 Honest Music - Gale Mead - News http://galemead.com/news.html#32 KRCB.org. I'm also on the schedule for "Busking With Dave Robbins" on Tuesday, Oct 16, sometime between 10 pm and midnight on KSVY 91.3 (You can stream it at KSVY's website. On both occasions I'll have a little opportunity to talk a bit about the Oct 20 peace rally, and sing a couple new songs.]]> http://galemead.com/news.html#32 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0700 Honest Music - Gale Mead - News http://galemead.com/news.html#31
I'll be joined onstage by Steve Della Maggiora on guitar. Over 1,000 people are expected to attend, and we'll be debuting some brand new songs. I hope you can join us there! More information about the event is available on the Sonoma Progressive Democrats website.]]> http://galemead.com/news.html#31 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0700 Honest Music - Gale Mead - News http://galemead.com/news.html#30 Prairie Sun and Hyde Street Studios. Our goal is to have the finished product in our hands in time for Christmas.

We're having a great time breaking in our new guitar player, Nazar Eljumaily and working out new arrangements in preparation for our July 24 gig at the Last Day Saloon.

Linda Lefler is putting the finishing touches on a feature article about me for the July issue of Napa Valley Life magazine. Today, wine country, tomorrow the world!]]> http://galemead.com/news.html#30 Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0700 Honest Music - Gale Mead - News http://galemead.com/news.html#29 We performed Saturday at the Last Day Saloon in Santa Rosa, as part of a tribute to soldiers killed in Iraq. After "Letters Home," a Marine who'd lost both legs in the Gulf War asked me to wear his "cover" (Marines baseball cap) for a couple songs. I kept it on for the rest of the show and he gave it to me afterwards. Knowing that I could touch even one person with my music makes it all worthwhile. We've been invited back to play July 24 -- details to follow....]]> http://galemead.com/news.html#29 Tue, 29 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700 Honest Music - Gale Mead - News http://galemead.com/news.html#28 letter to the editor of the Napa paper about the concert at Copia, and it ran today. Very kind words indeed....]]> http://galemead.com/news.html#28 Fri, 25 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700 Honest Music - Gale Mead - News http://galemead.com/news.html#27 blushworthy review of our May 19 gig! He writes: "To me, when Grace Slick was in her prime, she is easily ranked as one of the top five female rock vocalists of all time. After one upping Joni Mitchell on her CD, Gale took yet another legendary female vocalist and roughed her up a bit with an acoustic version of White Rabbit that sent chills down your spine, it was that good. Her show last week at Copia earned her two standing ovations. Occasionally you come across a singer/performer who has such incredible potential that it’s hard to look past. Gale is one of those people." Wow.]]> http://galemead.com/news.html#27 Thu, 24 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700 Honest Music - Gale Mead - News