____________Expressions in Song & Spirit & Social Change____________

I was once asked, which Open Mic do you go to? There really is only one answer to that question, according to Michael Stipe and R.E.M. ‘All of them.’ – no reason to second guess. A blue collar tavern, a vacation musical mecca, or a devotee’s realm of pitch, palate and precision carpentry. Is any musician unbiased? There must be a reason why B.B. King plays ‘Lucille,’ and Willie Nelson continues to play ‘Trigger.’ Though each of these bards have a relationship to their audience, which places B.B. King in threads that Kanye should have worn when he was with J. LO, while Willie wears pony tails and overalls, which probably have been painted in; their choice of guitar signifies the troubadour’s familiarity with each instrument enhances each performance.

While playing to audiences is a hallmark of any seasoned performer, the Millennium Blues pushes aside presentation and reaches instead towards communication with the humorous subtlety of Chris Rock in the first ‘Rush Hour’ -“Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?” While the Blues are about relating to tone and toil of not having power or standing in the community, or society at large, Millennium Blues considers the possibility of balance between the truth of toil and the turbulent troubles of ownership and culture in modern society.

In order for the dialogue of societal change to begin, the topics must be understood. These issues of classism, racism, sexism, and nationalism are played out on a global level through music every day. If you would, a live action version of Hesse’s ‘The Glass Bead Game’ – a cultural response to Funkadelic’s clarion call ‘Let’s Take it to the Stage!’

Since these troubles exist in every nation, and the traditions of music in some areas extend to times when a stronger harmony existed between the land and the people, Millennium Blues holds that the cathartic synthesis of rhythm and melody (thesis) with the lyrical summation of the super-ego struggles of each generation (anti-thesis) is an imperative step in building a foundation of societal cohesion. The group of people adopting these methods, whether they be audience, congregation, or governed, will have a stronger framework of language and commonality with which to dialogue about possible solutions to life’s challenges, thus allowing music to return to its’ roots of celebration, communication and camaraderie with people and environment, and to be among the manners in which our society may arrive at the benevolence foreshadowed in John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme.’

Rhythm, meter, and rhyme each have a relationship to music, and therefore Blues and Millennium Blues. Of course, these words represent the way that the structure of music is discussed, without actually playing music, since music is a language, or as Stevie Wonder preaches, “a language we all understand.”

These basic ingredients of rhythm, meter, and rhyme make up the basic recipes to which all musicians adhere; the Staples of the Blues, the Cupboard of Cool. As our earth grows closer together in knowledge, communication, and sharing of resources, one of the best additions to the global culture has been World Music, which is unsurprisingly, an ancestor of Millennium Blues.

This skein of comprehension, this network of veins, provide for us framework. Background, through traditional melodies, rhythms, and instruments, and a direction to continue to push as the muses whisper, coax, and howl at those who have a penchant for Cloud Nine.

The 12 bar, or 16 bar blues are some of the most common recipes traded back and forth by musicians all over the world. These outlines allow for an instant dialogue to be begun by players of all levels. Perhaps this foundation is the reason that “Rock and Roll is here to stay,” though as some have noted, rock seems to abstract itself from rhythm, and as such is much more difficult to dance to.

Millennium Blues, on both hands, and tapping feet, or swaying hips, works to engage and involve the physical body in the body of knowledge being broadcast through the chords chosen by the composers. Through maintaining and merging traditional sounds and melodies with the types of ‘emo’ angst felt in today’s first world ease, musicians are sounding attention to issues where imbalanced rhythm of societal resource can be improved to the benefit of all creation.

An example of these types of lyrics can be found in my song ‘Grace,’ which will be released as a companion to the currently self-published “The Handbook of Poetic Phonetics.”

When I was a young boy, the winds they spoke to me, whispered into my ears the secrets of the birds and bees.

Now I’m not much older, but a harder road I walk. The wind’s always around me, reminding me of our first talks.

Grace grants, grants Grace! Flower and Bloom, Beauty Creates.

Where there is life to be lived, Appreciate!

                Dizzy from the noise of the loud and busy city, underneath the chaos, I hear hushed tones of greenery.

It’s really no surprise to find all living things can talk, telling stories of creation, the wind echoing these thoughts.

Grace grants, grants Grace! Flower and Bloom, Beauty Creates.

Where there is life to be lived, Appreciate!

Cold and lonely evening, long walk home, hearing hymns of praise that shake my bones.

Rhythms of nature, smells of the sea, reminding me of One Heart effortlessly.

Grace grants, grants Grace! Flower and Bloom, Beauty Creates.

Where there is life to be lived, Appreciate!

Please follow me on Twitter – @geoecholocution

Thanks for tuning in this week, and stay on line for further adventures!