As I gear up to start playing again, I’m going to be sharing some new videos with all of you. This week it’s one of the new songs I’ve written over the past couple of years:
The Little Girl of London. Hope you enjoy it.
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After our time at Sikhism’s most revered temple, it was time to head to the land of Buddhists. It’s been many years since I enjoyed my first cup of Darjeeling tea, so I was extremely curious as we made our way up into the mountains to find out exactly what this Himalayan mountain town (and source of the famous tea from which it gets its name) had to offer. Darjeeling is nestled away in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, and before we even reached the town, the drive proved to be an amazing experience. In the space of five minutes we’d driven past more gorgeous waterfalls than I’d previously seen in my entire life:
Punjab, a state in northwestern India, has a distinctly different feel from the other Indian states I’ve been in so far. It hosts a large Sikh population (one sees the bearded, turban-clan Sikhs absolutely everywhere), and also plays host to Sikhism’s holiest temple: The Golden Temple. Punjab is an interesting place to visit, especially for a westerner, as its the home of many of the things that the western world has come to associate with India. Specifically their food (the butter chicken here – a local dish – is the best I’ve ever had) and their music. Most likely anyone who’s ever listened to Bollywood music or seen the films, has heard reference time and time again to the Punjabis. In fact, most of the cuisine that westerners typically think of as Indian, has its origins in the Punjab state. There’s a good reason for this; there are more Indian expats living around the world from Punjab than from any other state.
Rishikesh, a city in northern India, is situated on the foothills of the Himalayas. It sits on both sides of the famed Ganges river, and sees thousands of pilgrims from all over the world every year. It is, by law, a vegetarian and alcohol-free city – so it’s about as far from Austin, TX as you could possibly get (aside from Texans’ love for burgers and barbecue, Austin recently topped the list of Forbes’ hardest drinking cities).
As well as being a lifeline for millions of Indians, the Ganges river is the most sacred river for Hindus, and they flock to the river from all over to bathe in its sacred waters. It’s also the place where Hindu faithfuls scatter the ashes of their dead. Our hotel was perched on the shores of the Ganges itself. My balcony window afforded an absolutely gorgeous view of the river, and the Himalayan foothills nestled in the clouds.
They say India is, first and foremost, a land of contrasting extremes, and they were certainly on display on my second day in Bangalore. Mere minutes from the spot where the hustle and bustle of traffic roared on, we visited one of Bangalore’s many parks and with just a few minutes of walking, entered a completely different world.
First, we took a morning walk through Bugle Rock park. It’s known as a ‘walker’s paradise’ with 750 to 1000 people visiting the park every single day. The park gets its name from the huge 3000 year old rock formation of the same name, which housed a watch tower built by a previous Indian ruler, Kempe Gowda II, over 400 years ago. The watchtower is still there today:
After just about 30 hours of airline travel, I finally arrived in India at 4:30 a.m. local time, marking the start of my first (of three) trips to this unique and beguiling country (traveling to India). I’d been warned more than once during my preparation for the trip that the cities would be loud – very loud. All the time. I’ve spent time in Manhattan, London, Rome and several other large cities, so I figured I’d already experienced the sort of noise they were referring to… close, but no cigar.
When I was touring as a musician, I used to write lots of song – something about being on the road always seemed to make them come more easily. They weren’t a good fit for the types of bands I was playing with at the time, though, so I never performed any of them, just set them aside for another time. When I decided to start performing as a solo acoustic musician, I got inspired to start writing music again, playing with some different types of songs and exploring some new things.
I’ve been a big fan of Indian culture for years; I love their music, their dance, their cuisine… so it’s with a great deal of excitement that I anounce that I’ll be spending several months there this year.
I’m going with my good friend and collaborator Chaya Rao to shoot a television series. It’s called Masala Yatra – and it chronicles all of India’s various regions and their cuisines – I like to think of it as sort of a combination travel & cooking show. We’re going to be making three trips over the course of this year and the early part of 2012, and our first two-month long journey begins in just a little over a month (I just got all my innoculations this week). I’m going to be maintaining a map of all the places we’ll be going.
I’ve wanted to be a filmmaker my whole life. I made my first short film with my dad’s 8mm when I was five years old and have, in one form or another, been doing it ever since. It’s something that’s always been important to me; I’ve written an average of one feature film a year for the past 12 years. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot to show for my efforts – mainly just a few drawers full of projects I was too unhappy with to let see the light of day.
I had my first little bit of “success” (emphasis on the quotes) a couple of years ago, when I was hired to write a western feature film which ended up being picked up and released by Lionsgate films as SIXGUN
The L.A. Times ran a great article and video profile this week of Glenn Morrissette, a musician and composer who lives full-time in his RV, whilst still working as a composer and recording artist. Glenn talks about how, with a very minimal setup, today’s technology allows him to roam free and do his work from just about anywhere.
