In the Band

Sometimes you have to leave your zone of safety, you have to manufacture Inspirado. You gotta get out of the apartment. You've got to run with the wolves. You have to dive into the ocean bite with the sharks, or sometimes just treat yourself to an ice cream sundae with nuts.

Jack Black

Hey guys and gals! Welcome back to The Art of Caesura,

Rome was magnificent! We just arrived back the other day – in time for St. Paddy’s Day!

After introducing you to some of my music-making pals last week, this week I want to share some of the music that’s been made with some truly wonderful people along the way.

I’m afraid this is going to be a bit of a random little collection of songs I still have access to. There’s always a bunch of stuff hidden on some old CDs or laptop somewhere, but I found a few ditties on my old iPod to give your ears a taste.

My main band experience was throughout my undergrad, I co-founded and played and sang in an Irish Folk-Punk band called Good Craic. Some of the most fun I’ve ever had has been with these guys (and girl). At our peak, we were booked out a year in advance (for gigs around St. Paddy’s Day) we had whole line of T-shirts and headlined charities like: Folk-Rock for the Walk, or Shamrocking for the Cure. Anyway, Good Craic = Good Times!!

Here’s a song we recorded for our EP “The Wee One” at Columbia Recording Studios (where the Barenaked Ladies had recorded a couple weeks prior).

Waxies Dargle

Waxies Dargle is a traditional Irish folk song about two old ladies trying to get money to go on an excursion.

I’ve always had a blast sitting around with friends and a couple guitars, and some of these have developed into some sweet little bands and duos. Half the fun is coming up with the band name! When I worked in a grocery store we had a band called Paper or Plastic, I’ve been in Sweet Action, The Test-tube Aliens, Lion Among Ladies, The Frank-Starling Effect…

When one of my oldest friends, Chelsea, and I get together we form Brighter than Fuchsia, sit on a couch in the living room and bust out a song that we both know. It’s a ton of fun and I think our voices work well together.

When I taught in an anatomy lab I came up with The Respiratory Rap to help the students (and myself!) remember all the structures.

Respiratory Rap

Nowadays I’m on the search for some peeps to start a new band with…we’ll see where that takes me.

Thanks for checking out the musical edition of The Art of Caesura!

Drinking: Tons of Peroni in Rome!

Listening: Buskers playing Pachelbel’s Canon in D

Next Week:

My very favourite mini from The World of Smog…