____________Expressions in Song & Spirit & Social Change____________

Millennium Blues

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZJPQamZhQE

Millennium Blues, is what I answer when people ask what style of music I play. It is based, of course off of the ‘original’ Blues. Whether you wish that to be Piedmont, Delta, Chicago, or Downhome. The pentatonic scale has always sounded good to me, and speaks to my soul.  The Blues lets me know what John Lee Hooker means when he sings “The Healer” with Carlos Santana playing guitar. His ‘The Healer’ release may well be the beginning of the Millennium Blues. Which still sing from my spirit when I play music.

In the Beginning

I must recognize two friends and musicians without whose help, there would be no Millennium Blues – Scott ‘Maestro’ Peoples and David ‘Rasta’ Hopper. They kept me inspired through tireless rehearsals. And a few key gigs, which we had the fortune to be a part of. Maestro with his regal sense of timing and bountiful creativity. Rasta providing the discipline and drive while adding the most laughter to the soundscape. Whether we were lounging at the ‘Homestead’, or Homeschooling people at a lounge, the guys had the beat. My Brother James Hall, who has appeared on stage with some of Americas greatest rock stars. And has also been my biggest personal inspiration. These musicians are a reason that these Blues exist. Thanks to you all!

Another of the reasons that I play Millennium Blues is that the 4/4 rhythm is not the only one heard these days in ‘folk’ music from around the globe. I was fortunate enough to be able to produce my own radio show on KFAI in Minneapolis. “World Leader Pretend’ and ‘City Drops Dead’ being amongst the titles of my shows. Other DJ’s helped introduce me to styles and rhythms from around the globe, and these intricate patterns caught my ear, sending me home to Nashville, TN. Where the level of musicianship rang out in every twang of the banjo and melody played on mandolin. They say there’s ‘thirteen hundred and fifty two guitar pickers in Nashville’, and everyone seemed to be the best. Someone once asked me who my favorite guitar player was, and my only response could be: “What style of music?”

Another interesting facet of Millennium was brought up recently in conversation with a friend. Most of the challenges that the original bluesplayers faced no longer exist in today’s age of technology. There are a different realm of existential dilemmas facing the Millennial Generation. This generational angst, arising from corporate greed, ecological devastation, political scandal, Machiavellian megalomania, and a hopeless housing bubble. May have possibly found a voice through Millennium Blues. With songs titled ‘Right as Rain,’ ‘The Darkness,’ and ‘Friend of Kahn,’  The Millennium Blues explore societal branding, gender roles, inter-generational financially created conflict, religious dogma and home liposuction.

Finally then, if galaxy spangled cannot be a legitimate form of music, then Millennium Blues is the resilient breath, the irrepressible step, the transcendent scales, that are built into each voice, every song and dance which has existed within the human heart since the very first ‘hAUM.’