Songs of Our Fathers EP

EP release 2012

“Songs of our Fathers” is a crisp EP created by prattle on, rick.  This small band of Nashville musicians, featuring Patrick Rickelton, produce a type of sound which is very easy on the ears.  Described as Indie-Folk or Neo-Folk, their acoustic music is definitely foot-stompingly catchy. However, the EP also contains a rare timeless quality to it.

This is the music that you put on at anytime and it is appropriate for whatever the occasion.  Driving down the road with friends on your way to the beach, or at home alone; it simply works.  The manner in which Mr. Rickelton uses his lyrics with such efficacy and effortlessness, reminds me a little of the poet Kahlil Gibran.  On the final track, “Closer to the Source” the lyrics reflect a universal longing that we all feel at one point or another.  I thought about taking lyrics out of their context and I’m not going to do it.  Just listen to them.  If I had to say who this band sounds like, I would have to say Wilco, on their “Sky Blue Sky” album.

Rickelton contributes his talents on the acoustic guitar, piano, percussion, harmophone, accordion and vocals.  Deidre Emerson plays the cello, and Justin Baker and Josh Fuson are also featured artists on a couple tracks.

prattle on rick, will most notably be visiting the Green Bean in downtown Greensboro on Thursday, June 7th at 8pm.  Another excellent musician, Emily Stewart will also be performing.

Music is available on iTunes and at prattleonrick.com

Feature Project

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up. Not going to be submitting any poetry for a while. Started a new project where I want to do a feature film. Preproduction has begun.

America’s Oldest Teenager Passes Away

Condolences to the Dick Clark family. Losing a family member is never something you want to have to deal with in life, even if it is the inevitable. Having said that, if you are a relative of the late “great” you may want to stop reading now. Fans of Dick Clark can stop too, at least those with closed minds!

I’m going to play the role of the hater a little bit. In 2002, you may recall Mr. Clark’s appearance in Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine”. It wasn’t quite as memorable as Charlton Heston’s verbal assault, but it was noteworthy.

From the all reliable Wikipedia: “He was criticized for hiring poor, unwed mothers to work long hours in his chain of restaurants for little pay. The mother in particular works over 80 hours per week and is unable to make rent and gets evicted which results in her having her son stay at his uncle’s house. At his uncle’s house the boy finds a gun and brings it to school where he shoots another first grader. In the documentary footage featuring Clark, Michael Moore tries to approach him to inform him of the welfare policies that allow for these conditions, and questions him about the people he employs and the tax breaks he takes advantage of, in employing welfare recipients; Clark refuses to answer any of Moore’s questions, shutting the car door and driving away.”

Unfortunately, that is the last memory that I have of Mr. Clark. Two years later he was to suffer a major stroke in 2004. I have to ask myself the question, “Did the stress of the documentary’s allegations put him over the edge?” And I wonder, if Mr. Moore has any regrets or if Dick could do it over again, would he have done things differently. It is difficult for anyone in the spotlight to remain untarnished throughout their career. I think Dick Clark should be remembered for what he did for music and not for turning away a rogue documentarian.

I’m a 76er, so I missed the American Bandstand phenomenon but I’ll never forget him in Times Square every New Year’s Eve. “For now, Dick Clark…So Long”.

“Break it Yourself” by Andrew Bird – Album Review

“Break it Yourself” is Andrew Bird’s latest album release and is simply a must have. Rush out and buy one for yourself or your loved ones. Every now and then I feel compelled to harass everyone in my near vicinity when I come across what I deem to be “worthy” in the realm of art.  This qualifies as a masterpiece and it will be difficult for anyone to best it for my “Album of the Year”.
Discovering Mr. Bird through his stint with the Squirrel Nut Zippers in Carrboro, NC, I had no idea of what was to come from the Chicagoan.  Twenty years later it is difficult to believe that he has still escaped the attention that he deserves.  Few artists can capture the psyche of a generation and I believe that he has accomplished that. Notice that I did not use the cliche “voice” of his generation. Bird is far too eclectic to be nailed down. He is in a category of artists that separate themselves with their virtuosity and raw emotion. I always seem to equate him with Eliot Smith and Nick Drake. But he is more like Beck or maybe the Walkmen. Whenever you hear Andrew Bird, you know who you are listening to immediately.
His latest album is his follow up to 2009′s “Noble Beast”, and if it is possible, he seems to be getting better. It is his lyrics this time around, which ring the most true. It seems he has mastered the violin and guitar and xylophone and his patented whistle and now he has written his heart out. “Break it Yourself” begins in typical Bird fashion. Somber and sleepy until the 3rd track, “Danse Caribe”, picks the tempo up. Here, Bird transitions into a worldly blend of influences that present a challenge to count. The vocals are confident and bright as he sings, “Here we go mistaking clouds for mountains” before the song transitions into a calypso- like journey before returning into a scottish highland jig.  This song is truly amazing. “Give it Away”, “EyeonEye”, and “Orpheo Looks Back” are standouts as well. My favorite track on the album is “Near Death Experience Experience”. Squeezed into the middle of the album, track 7 of 14 is the kind of track one can listen to over and over and get something different out of it each time. Bird’s lyrics are notoriously cryptic and mysterious, but on “Near Death…” the fog is lifted at moments to reveal a world rich with life and hope. “And we’ll dance like Cancer survivors, like we’re grateful simply to be alive.”
On April 11th, Andrew played at the Bing Lounge in Portland and you can hear some of this new material on kinkradio. He also performed “EyeonEye” recently on the Colbert Report. He is currently on tour and will be playing April 18th at Ikeda Theatre in Mesa, AZ.

Pollen Eyes

I’m not sure what “Spring does with the cherry trees”.

So, how can you do that to me?

Mine eyes are swoll

with the season of bloom

and I can not distinguish what is in front of me.

Blurred, watery images of life

make me close my lids.

Let it pass before I am finished typing

these words.

Scrap Book

 

Memories rich with absent perfumes of the ones lost,
looking back where I am trying to move forward
to a place where tranquility lies like ash.

Pre-existing conditional, post-traumatic individual
with scrambled mind that does not like to sleep too deeply,
slips too easily into one-track mind remembrances.

All of what I am today, not yesterday.
All of what I am today, not tomorrow.

So, I set my table out for everyone to eat my feast of demons.

“THE GUY IN THE GLASS”

Foreword: I found this going through a box of my mother’s stuff that I had been delaying opening up since her death nearly three years ago. I remember her reading me this poem one night when I was going through a rough spell. This poem was written by Dale Wimbrow, and was typed by Raymond Bennett (my grandfather) in the 1950′s, found amongst his papers…

When you get what you want in your
struggle for pelf.
And the world makes you King for a
day.
Then go to the mirror and look at your-
self.
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn’t your Father, or Mother, or
Wife.
Who judgment upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in
your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He’s the feller to please, never mind at
the rest.
For he’s with you clear up to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous,
difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and
“chisel”a plum,
And think you’re a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re
only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the
pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heart-
aches and tears
If you’ve cheated the guy in the glass.