QTN DECEMBER NEWS
The only thing there is to atmosphere is sphere itself...
A. The year view in the rear view
B. Parakeetfishhead finally up on Bandcamp
C. QTN music SALE – a sound gift to give
D. Epilogue
Hello to you all. It's been a while since I've compiled one of these and was in touch this way.
A. It's the last few weeks of an utterly impossible year overfilled with hairpin turns, blessed adventures, abrupt leavings of friends, family and heroes, unprecedented and disturbing upheavals, extraordinary experiences and so many facets of our swiftly tilting existence on the verge of total system collapse. As multiple apertures open wider, we somehow still must find the space to hold, to b r e a t h e , to refocus and revitalize this process of becoming.
Music is a tool in the box that has opened me to possibility and imagination nearly every day of this liferide and this year has been full of musical adventuring while celebrating the release of The Sound of Photosynthesis. Don't know what I would do without music through my hands and the wound wires and wood that centers and clarifies my focus while calming the rampaging elephants of the heart.
My traveling bounces have been smaller this year. I've enjoyed exceptional musical collaborations along the way with record release concerts in Texas, Oregon and Illinois, and great players with their huge talented hearts to a unified field of sound and unpredictability. I've gotten to continue to meet with the faces and ears who believe in this musicdanceprocess we know. All of this makes presenting music live all these years feel more like a privilege and a reward for this lifetime of work than ever before.
B. An album I recorded back in the last moments of the 20th century with a team of Portland and Austin musicians, Parakeetfishhead, has finally been released in a high-res downloadable form along with The Sound of Photosynthesis. Click through like the heels of those ruby slippers to brianQTN.bandcamp.com and have a listen. You can hear whole tracks there instead of 30 second clips and even stream whole albums.
Bandcamp is how I can make my music available directly to you and it supports me directly through your purchases of tunes or albums I've recorded.
C. For the month of December, to celebrate the return of the shortest night and to assist with your holiday gift list, my entire catalogue of songs there are now downloadable through Bandcamp for all of $36. That includes four whole albums – The Sound of Photosynthesis, Parakeetfishhead, Hearthearthearth, Guitarred and Feathered, the three song Food single and two other QTN rarities in whatever album quality files you prefer (wavs, FLAC or high res mp3s). If you prefer old fashioned CDs, you can postal order by emailing me here or through the Bandcamp page there. There! I've just done my first late night commercial. But wait! Theres more...
• The Sound of Photosynthesis hasn't made it to vinyl yet due to the unexpected loss of the truck I drove for the last 13 years last August. I got as far as making the reference master and it sounds wonderful with a needle riding its grooves so I have not given up on that pressing matter yet. I'm grateful for all the encouragement to proceed too.
• The QTNRG website is undergoing a long overdue housecleaning and overhaul and the new ear will bring it a much-needed new look.
D. Lastly here, along with music and participating in the world around us in its precarious state, I think it important to do our best to create spaces for pause and reconstitution; to explore whatever resources are available as often as possible; to not lose heart even in the face of the many system upheavals. Yep, constant vigilance, expanding awareness, broadening consciousness, and taking part in this whirl are always part of the deal. Terrence McKenna has said in times like these, we must push the art pedal to the floor. That may be the best I have to give this ol whirl...
McKenna also said it's not a new age; it's an archaic revival – so let's have archaic and eat it too...
Fortunately, it's too late to stop now.
Thank you sharing part of your journey with me. Some of you have been part for many years now, listening to these songs that comes through this voice and hands, coming to the shows, staying in touch, buying the records and welcoming me into your sphere. The folks who come with the couches I sleep on are a thoughtful friendly communitarian bunch and this ride would not be possible without that incredible circle of energy.
Reading your letters and thoughts is fine medicine for me too and email makes it easy.
Write to me anytime. I read em all...
Your corn forest pundit,
bq