MIdwestern Mornings Outside of Babylon
IN THE HEART of another drought filled midwestern summer, being committed to the house i thought i'd drop a line.
There has been an air of confusion it seems,.....around everything, maybe its the heat, the haze, the malaise of apartment bound days that seem to string together. Maybe its yet another stage of grief. I read the other day there are 5........i think i'm hitting number four right about now with a bullet.......pun intended. Plans for the rest of the year are shapping up nicely......3 weeks in Texas, then back east so far as i know.......i prefer not to know about every step of it cuz things change on a dime and i hate getting my hopes up for things to see them set adrift. Record is still on schedule for a Sept 25 release. Video will be done on Aug 1st....... feels kind of like a holding pattern , just waiting for things to start.......i know when things get busy i'll wish i had days like this where there is nothing much to do except marvel at your family and play piano....... have micro bursts of songwriting.......one song in particular is so good i'm avoiding working on it......cuz i don't want to be done with it........Heather said i'm thinking about it the wrong way and that when i finish it.......is WHEN i give it life.........so maybe that's tomorrow........its pretty much done......but its like a pretty girl in the room, you know she's there....you know she's looking your way.......but you wanna wait......savor the moment before you look back.........maybe tomorrow i'll go over and buy her a drink......and say " lets get outta here, whaddaya say?" i would love to hear if anybody has contacts in Texas.....Austin or any of the major cities.....places that would let us stay........cars we can rent/borrow.....baby sitters......piano's i can borrow.....or really any of the things that one needs away from home........if anyone has any idea's.......please get in touch....... thanks everybody,.........stay cool.....both figuratively and literally xo m easterly winds
Hey Everybody,
First off, wanted to thank all of you on the east for making this past 3 day run so great......it was our first run without Willie so it was a little weird, but i gotta say it was drastically easier. Word out from the East is that there is going to be extensive touring from September through the end of the year. So all of you who have written that i never make it to your town, i certainly hope to see you cuz i'm coming !!!! Sept 25th is official release date and i think i'm in Austin that night! Working on a new batch of songs over the last few days, which i'm very excited about.......very different stuff for me.........hard to explain.......but feels like i'm on to something....( may even slip one in at Lincoln Hall).....Looking forward to Lincoln Hall, feels like it will be the beginning of something. Friends Brian Koppelman and David Levien are down in Puerto Rico filming a movie called Runner Runner with Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake.....how cool is that??? Each day Willie continues to amaze....with a word, a look, an expression. Pauper Sky will be relaunching i hear, so i'm looking forward to that. Might have a bit of a facelift from what i'm told. Thanks to Mary from Texas for that! Don't forget about the coffee campaign over at mcdermottgear.com Its kind of come to a hault, for no fault of anybody, it just has. For your coffee needs, don't forget about it......each bag, hat, shirt feeds 7 hungry children in America. Hope to see many of you at Lincoln Hall, and the rest of you between now and the end of the year. Thank you for everything. God bless each and every one of you. xo m murder most foul
did you know there is no explanation for why a bumble bee can fly........the wingspan, the size of it......no one can explain why it has lift and can sustain flight......the theory is.......why can a bumble bee fly? Cuz it thinks it can.......
Its a beautiful thursday morning in Chicago,.....Cubs have lost 9 in a row,.....i slept well,for the first time in 3 nights, all is right with the world. There's a been a good bit of activity with the album. Conference calls with the label and what seems to be an amazing team of people. Planning tours, routing, release dates, etc. Its all been very exciting. A tad bit of bad news is that for the Lincoln Hall show on June 30th we will NOT be selling the record. The official release date has been moved to Sept 25th. So i apologize for that, however, we will be playing the album before the show, at intermission and after the show through the PA......we will be performing the album with the band, and will be sure you have a few songs to leave with . Had a good bit of fun with the stageit shows and i suspect i will start those again after the quick east coast run in mid june. You all were amazing and so generous i can't thank you enough.....The tour plans have us playing everywhere in the states, so for those of you who ask when i'm coming to town, i can state with confidence that i will be coming to a town near you in the span of oct- dec. Its gonna be a grind, the three of us traveling, so keep on your toes because i also might be needing a babysitter your town and will make an appeal to you to get a most trusted family member and child enthusiast to help out along this " All Hands On Deck " tour....... After recently finding syringes in my front yard whilst playing with Willie, it may actually be time to move out of the city.....it pains me, but as she gets older, within the course of two weeks having a woman murdered and found in our back alley and a syringe in the front yard......might be time to get the hell outta dodge.....and won't stray too far, as to not be near enough, but certainly been on my mind lately..... got a few new songs i'm happy to say might be appearing soon.......been a pretty quiet time on the creative front, i think after my mother died and the re-entry back into my life has been much slower than i thought.......still got my sea legs on occasion, but nightly visits from her while i sleep seem to stave off some of the madness that hangs like a cloak sometimes....... much love to you all...... see you soon.... xo m Murph, ...Get Up Murph !
Headed down to Nashville a couple weeks ago to play with some legends in the songwriting world. It was for a thing called Tin Pan South. I was scheduled to play with Larry Weiss, Peter Yarrow and Roger Cook. These guys had written some classic songs, Rhinestone Cowboy, Puff The Magic Dragon, I'd Like to Teach The World To Sing,....not to mention others that you would most certainly know. Was a great time...Peter Yarrow went first , then i went second and belted out my only pseudo hit " A Wall I Must Climb" and then Roger Cook said, in his most gentle English Accent....." Jesus i hope i don't have to follow Michael all night " to which everybody laughed......Heather is a huge Peter, Paul and Mary fan and Peter, ended up calling her after the show and had a very nice chat.
Funny how life can keep you in check. So i'm feeling on top of the world and i go to the airport for the quick turn and burn trip. So i see this film crew following around a very earnest looking bunch of musicians. " Oy " i think to myself......Sure enough, they are on my flight.....and the singer of the band has his guitar out at the gate......" Oy" i think again..." Are you serious?" They start boarding and these guys get on first.....so i think.....well whatever label they are on must believe to pay the extra dough for the entire entourage to be boarding early. I finally board, and see these guys are filming that singer guy who is in the aisle seat in row one.....as if the Pope were giving the homily. I of course am in the last row, window seat. Symbolic i thought. Then half way through the flight they say what a treat it is to have Mat Kearney on board....so he proceeds to sing his new single into the little announcement microphone and had to do it 3 times so the film crew could film it. Then they asked the entire plane to go crazy with applause as they go down the aisle ,.....as i said, i was in the last row,....so i was trying to take a nap.....so if you see this footage somewhere.....look for the angry guy in the last row, who isn't applauding . Life, can give you a reality check pretty quick. Wish i could have basked in my night before a little longer, but life moves on, and you gotta move on with it. This past weekend i got back from New Jersey where we were filming a new video for the new record. Some of the video has me in the ring with former professional boxer and current UFC fighter Scott Fairlamb. Most of it was staged, but to make it real i had to take a few shots, not at full strength but full enough. My neck is still killing me days later. There's nothing like getting punched in the face and body to wake you up real quick. The video was directed by Brian Fitzpatrick and his amazing crew for the 3rd video we've done......this one is pretty drastically different from our past work together, but then again, so is the song......Look for it soon. Up to Green Bay this week to open for Paul Thorn, who i've heard many great things about. I'm heading to see an intuit next week......that oughta be interesting...... xo m Spring Has Sprung
My sincere apologies that it has been this long. Everytime i write a blog, i'm always happy that i did and promise to do it more often. Kind of like therapy, but then months go by and i never do. I would always dread going to therapy, thinking of every excuse in the book to cancel or reschedule the appointment, but my fear of disappointing people would always outweigh my fear or dread of going and i'd end up going and be glad i did. Mind you, i haven't been to therapy in years.
I've stopped reading the Pauper sky board, do they still call it that? Things just started getting rather nasty and it bummed me out , so i just stopped reading. Its disappointing cuz when there were good threads going, good debate, i really dug it and it helped me see certain things i would not have normally seen. Then there came some rant about Wounded.....nasty things about my wife and i tried to remember, " When people are nasty, its because of something inside of them, not something inside of you that makes them the way they are. " That's all fine and dandy but part of me wants to fight.....regardless of how i try and evolve, how many books i read on spirituality, how many healers i go to,....if you fuck with mine....i still may just wanna knock you out. So much for my evolution huh? THe record is newly mastered ( we had two go arounds for that) and i really am over the moon about it. I feel like a kid with a secret and i wanna tell all of you this secret but i can't just yet. I must let the process take its course and in due time, we'll all know it. I think we are very close to announcing the record release show on June 30th at Lincoln Hall. Speaking of Lincoln Hall, sorry about the delay in the DVD......too many things, that are too long and boring and confusing to tell and even some of it i'm totally still in the dark about why certain things happened the way they did ....Regardless, DVD's should be going out imminently . I'd like to publicly welcome my new booking agent Laurel Falkenstein from Silver Leaf Booking. Laurel is amazing and i'm proud to have her as part of the team !! Hope to see you at Montrose Room on March 31.... talk soon.......xo The Dream Of The Pink Rabbit
I play with my daughter and i think about ways to spark her synapsis.......so i take her pink rabbit and i pretend its alive.......staving off the idea that its an inantimate object......before she becomes disillusioned to realize the dream before her is an illusion.......i started thinking just today that my life is much like this exercise i do with my daughter,......my life is an illusion......i have kept myself at bay from my real dream,.....which to this day i'm not even sure what it is........i know i'm good at one thing.....and if you are reading this you must agree with me........but seeing a little self or recreation of myself going for this pink rabbit i couldn't help but think( and pardon my carrie bradshaw here)......i'm no different from her....i'd love to stop her from having that dream or that illusion that , that pink rabbit is real......cuz its not.....but i want her to think that it is.....much in the same way i want to believe that, i am that type of songwriter that is so good that, my parents won't die,.....that my daughter is always going to be safe,.....that i will always seem noble in the eyes of my wife and daughter.......but i know none of that will ever happen......so tonight......i hate pink rabbit's...
Old Journals
Found an old Diary that i hadn't made a post in since Dec 11th 2001. So i dont' feel so bad that i haven't blogged in a while. The old Journal had some great stuff in it as well as some pretty ugly stuff in it. It started with me going to Warner Bros in LA and playing for their entire building, had the release of Surf and Gethsemane come and go, all the while my worrying of what would ever become of my career. 20 Years later and i'm still wondering the same thing. As the old adage goes " the more things change, the more they stay the same ".
Been keeping fairly busy, and WIllie is certainly making sure we don't get too much sleep, rest, peace of mind. Planning a tour of Italy for July/August with a filming of a documentary over there about the tour. For all you coffee drinkers, please help spread the word about the 2 blends of coffee we have. We are at 12,600 meals and we have about 87,000 more meals to go before wwe have reached our first goal. www.mcdermottgear.com is where you or others can help! Its about 1 month away from the anniversary show of 620 West Surf/ Gethsemane shows.....which i'm very excited for.....so hope to see you all out in full force......that will be the last band show in Chicago for at least a few months....... God bless everybody........will try and check in sooner than later.....but you know how that goes.... xo m The Angels
LA gets a bad rap. I like it there. I stay with my friend who used to work for my first manager back in 1990. She's great and takes great measures into assuring my comfort.! Getting out of Chicago the day before the 3rd largest blizzard in history was nice as well. Getting to LA and it was 70 and sunny, got upgraded in the rent a car by Enterprise Leasing......for free which was nice ( the reason is they saw our luggage and baby and said we wouldn't even fit into the car i had reserved) First night was very mellow. Willie was great on her first trip. Being that we flew Southwest Heather and I sat seperately on the plane but a nice gent allowed us to sit together for some of the flight. Willie was a dream. Not one outburst , no crying.....i was proud.
Tuesday was the Laker game.......didn't start getting nervous til about an hour before we left......but nerves were kickin pretty good on the ride over. We had a lovely dinner and had court seats which were amazing. Dian Cannon( sp) said my rendition was amazing....as did Ron Artest oddly enough......Phil Jackson gave me a nice smile and head nod as he's said many nice things about my anthem. Had a great meeting with a long time record executive who now runs a publishing company on Weds.......very fruitful meeting. Thursday i met with the rest of the publishing company at Genghis Cohen and they wined and dined us to our hearts delight. Show went good....was short, but i remember thinking " this is going quite good" Friday went over to a friends house in Silver Lake for drinks at their amazing new house rental and called it a night........ Came back to a post apocalyptic storm that had just knocked Chicago on its ass........Car was pretty buried but Heather can REALLY shovel snow!!!! Off to " Title Town" today for show with my old pal Willy Porter........looking forward to it..........Anyone else diggin American Idol......diggin it better than the past years. Steven Tyler is awesome in my opinion..... McDermott out.........Peace y'all....!! New Year indeed
Happy New Year everybody.......and welcome to what could turn out to be a most exciting new year. It certainly is starting off that way. I'll start with a bit of sad news but mananger Matt Suhar and i have parted ways after a good 4 year run. It was just time for both of us to try something different. As sad as that is i'm very excited about how this year has started. As most of you probably know by now we have launched a coffee line " Michael McDermott Legendary Coffee" We have our first signature blend and are preparing to have 3 more by next month. I'm heading to Indiana to pick out the blends and work with the roaster to bring you all the finest organic, fair trade coffee possible. For EACH BAG of coffee we sell, 7 MEALS ARE PROVIDED FOR HUNGRY CHILDREN IN AMERICA. The hunger rate has increased by 37% since 2007 !!!
Heading out to New Jersey for LIGHT OF DAY on sunday.....for a quick trip......Heading down to Nashville on the 23rd for more recording with Lex Price.......I'm doing a show with Ex Mobster Frank Calabrese Jr. who wore a wire to help take down the Chicago Mob......Frank has a book coming out and we are going to do a show together.....music and the mob type thing.....more details are soon to follow...... Heading out to Los Angeles at the end of the month and some shows and some meetings.......and there's a ton of other things in the works that i'm just not at liberty to talk about......odd that a man of faith is so superstitious ......but i am....... We're all in this together folks........i wish you the BEST 2011 and hope to see you real soon!!! xox m UK and JFK
Hey Everybody......
Just checking in......Willie just turned 9 weeks old and we are still doing our best to get some sleep. Getting about 6 hours a day but its broken up into series of two hours at a time it seems. I went to England a few weeks back thinking that i would actually catch up on my sleep but it was not to be. Greenbelt was great.....my first show at the Performance Cafe was packed.....heard something around 700 people. Was a short set./....40 mins....and was a very hurried soundcheck but the show was great.....having that many people in rapt attention when i did " The Silent Will Soon Be Singing " was my highlight.....i even got goosebumps during it. Was a moment i won't soon forget. At the hotel there is the tradition of workers of the festival meeting there late night for drinks. Well some of those nights turned into 5am song sessions....so there was no sleep to be had. I'd like to thank, Steve Foster, Dave Emmerson and Paul Chambers for making the trip so fun and successful. Came back to reality and did a few shows in the past couple weeks with the band.....tried out some new songs " Willie Is Coming To Town" ( wasn't so good) Prettiest Girl In The World ( went great) 5 Dollar Whore( loved doing it with a band) and look forward to really shaking the set up ....next week in Lemont at This Must Be The Place ...i hope to try even more new stuff.......so its a very exciting time for me lately, as a writer, and as a performer. There was a bit of an uproard about the prices of Monday Morning Madness. So i guess i will go on record and explain myself. Up until recently , in the past years i would write a song and have to hold on to it and wait to get the opportunity of making an album. I was happy that when those songs came out on the " official" record they were fresh to the listener and that i hoped would create more energy about the songs. With the advent of the internet, songs were available and i was always worried about people getting these early and when the record finally came out, they'd be bored with the songs.....even though they would sound better and slicker cuz they were done in a studio....the song just wasnt' as fresh to some people. That is the reason behind charging 3 bucks a tune......there are songs that i would love to just hold off and not letting ANYONE hear.....but with the state of the economy and my bank account.......i figure i will just charge a lot, so people who are REALLY wanting to hear it can....and those who would rather wait.....they can wait......it was as simple as that. I really dont' know when or how i will make a new record and its conceivable this may be my only way of getting songs out in quite some time......for i have neither the money or the investors anymore to think i will be going back into a studio anytime soon. Sad, but true. anyway......thats all the news for now.....thanks so much.......please spread the word......and not only the word,,....but spread the passion, about life, love, food, drink, art, film, literature, friendship, life......and if you can throw in a good word about me.....i sure would appreciate that too.... a few closing words from the speech that John F Kennedy was slated to give on the afternoon of Nov 22nd 1963, that he unfortunately, never got to give.....but the words ring as true as ever "There will always be dissident voices heard in the land, expressing opposition without alternatives, finding fault but never favor, perceiving gloom on every side and seeking influence without responsibility. Those voices are inevitable." much love m |
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