THE FAMILY STONE

The first thing we did was listen to a song called "Stratospheric Boogie," as performed by the first guy ever to endorse a Telecaster.

We recorded a bunch of warped-jazzy, warm-fuzzy, sweet-salty baby grand piano last weekend. Larry Lewicki (seen above) helped us out, sharing incredible chops as well as his home. He sent a too-kind thank you message (subject line: "Saturday was a hoot") that recommended the seen-below Sly and the Family Stone live performance on the Smother's Brother's show. "Sly," Larry explained "has been keeping me company on my walk to work."

Thanks again Larry!

MERCENARIES

Facts: 13 songs. Bass. Drums. Electric guitar. Acoustic guitar. Synth set to "Styx Mini Moog." Baby grand piano. Muir Woods Creek. Xylophone. Windchimes. Autotuned Brian Eno iPhone applications. Too many vocal tracks. Abundant handclaps. Next week: Sax. Pending: high school drumline.

Tonight: violin.

BRILLIANT RED LIGHTS

This is what it looks like when I'm doing what I want.

The greatest feeling I have known is feeling listened to. I mostly mean this non-musically. I relish those moments friends and strangers just pay attention. It goes both ways, I enjoy listening to my friends, sort of fascinating over their ideas and words.

The process of working backwards is understated in music history. My band is called Brilliant Red Lights—you can find an MP3 of our newest material at the bottom of this post. We just reinvigorated our personal web domain, www.brilliantredlights.com. On that domain are more than 70 downloadable links. These links download most of the songs, sounds, interviews, and demos we've created in over seven years together. In two clicks you could be downloading all sixty recordings in one file, or just and album, or just a song.

For my band, this is a grand example of working backwards. In 2002, we self-packaged our self-recorded music and handed out copies at shows. The idea was that people were busy and over stimulated, therefore we should offer something excellent sounding that could be easily obtained. To accommodate the maximum possible number of situations, we gave our music to anyone that asked and many that didn't. We had nothing to worry about, we just wanted to be listened to.

Having circled around many of the narcissisms and optimisms and breakthroughs and letdowns that writing songs has to offer, I can reassert my initial thought: the greatest feeling I have known is feeling listened to.

So, we posted all our music for free online. It felt liberating to set our webpage live last Tuesday, April 1. We let a few people know, and put up new music so our old fans and friends had a reason to check in. The response has been moving: in under five days we've serviced 500 individual downloads, all in all over 11 gigabytes of our band's music. These numbers include 150 copies of our new EP, and 75 copies of our last album. Even approximating conservatively, that's over 2,000 Brilliant Red Lights songs (at least 400 a day).

I can't mention these numbers with hurling a huge "thank you" out to anyone that's listened in. I also mean to encourage other musicians to remember what really feels good about making and distributing music. This experiment in sharing is so exciting and inspiring. To quote myself: it's undeniable.

"Tender Colors" video made by me.

Click to download "Tender Colors" by Brilliant Red Lights.

BRILLIANT RED LIGHTS' WEBSITE