“I believe that every human being has an understanding of art. What is separating us is smaller than what is unifying us.” —Thomas Hirschhorn
quote from Willie Nelson
“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”—Willie Nelson, 2006
group singing
“As the popularity of group singing grows, science has been hard at work trying to explain why it has such a calming yet energizing effect on people. What researchers are beginning to discover is that singing is like an infusion of the perfect tranquilizer, the kind that both soothes your nerves and elevates your spirits.”
interview with Bill Frisell
“The music is a … model of what human beings can be. When you think of all the words you use to describe music, you say harmony or tension and release and consonance and dissonance, harmony, rhythm. It’s a way of fitting things together. It shows you how people can be together….” —Bill Frisell, Nevada Capital News 1/12/19
read and listen to the full interview in Nevada Capital News
John Prine buys lunch for TSA workers
“The Nashville airport is my second home and everyone there always takes care of me,” Prine explained. “It’s nice to be able to do something small for them today.” —John Prine, the boot 1/21/2019
quote from Jeff Tweedy
“Speaking of bubbles…sure, we live in a bubble. I’d love for more of you to share our bubble though! It’s awesome! In our bubble I know cops and rappers and grocery store cashiers and artists and garbage collectors…so many decent people that don’t really care that much about people being different than they are. If you can trust a reality TV star billionaire when he says, “believe me,” surely you can believe me when I say you’re welcome in my bubble. I grew up in what I think might be something like your bubble. You should at least try this one! Come on in!” —Wilco Facebook page, 1/2017
Change Is Gonna Come, newport folk festival 2018
“there is a recognition that the world is a fucked up place and it needs changing, but there is also much, much more optimism and love and beauty, a feeling like, yeah, change is necessary, but it will come, maybe partly through the power of music and community like at Newport.” —neddyo, 12/22/2018
quote from John Lennon
“When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight! Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.” –John Lennon, 1969
the United Borders Project
fighting gang culture through music.
“To avoid hosting it in one crew’s ‘no-go’ area, Justin decided to set up the programme on a double-decker bus, which he then converted into a makeshift music studio and classroom. In the mornings, he would drive to Church Road, before moving onto Stonebridge in the afternoons.
“The idea to convert a double-decker bus into a studio came from a need to get my services to youths who had become cut off from certain colleges in Brent due to postcode violence,” he explains. “I know too many youths who would not dream of attending Willesden college because they are from Stonebridge. Crossing the Church Road divide would be seen as slipping, and vice versa.” — Justin Finlayson, founder of United Borders
Neko Case in tape op
“Everybody sings for different reasons. People use the term “vocal gymnastics” a lot. It’s usually used as a semi-negative term, but it’s a superpower. It’s not a superpower because you’re good at it, or as Bjorn Yttling would say, “It does not mean that you are ‘The Queen of Singing!'” It’s because you can do something physical with your body, like how I was talking about making a harmony with another person. It’s the same natural phenomenon that tore apart the Tacoma Narrows Bridge when it vibrated at a certain frequency. Feeling that vibration and resonance is heavy. It’s why a lot of times, a large group of people singing, even if they can’t sing, will make you start crying. It’s such a massive, unique way to communicate. It’s really heavy. It’s something that people used to understand a long time ago that we don’t really understand anymore. On a scientific level, sure; but I don’t think we understand it as a species anymore.“