Blog of Sal

Tiger Town {poem} I showed up in Tiger Town Wearing a coat and shoes of brown I was still a saddened soldier, A wanderer, and a clown I made fast friends with artists and liars Troubadours, punks, and stone carvers In this gritty city Where the escarpment towers As the gardens on the bayfront harbour flower As the moon ensorcels with its arcane power At a gallery off the beaten path Where thinkers meet, to hone their craft I remembered the dream that we all had To color the world In psychedelic plaid To purge this culture Of meaningless fads To sharpen the purpose of the talent we all have

I recently said on a facebook post that I never ever used to play cover songs, but that recently I've been working on my version of Orbison's  Mystery Girl (I dig how it was released post-humously) and After the Gold Rush by Neil Young ( listen ). But I've been thinking, and I realize that MANY MANY years ago I used to play some Bob Dylan songs, I used to play the theme from Cheers, plus I a few Nirvana songs. Remembering back to those days I think the fact that I CAN'T play Wish You Were Here is the greatest testament to the idea that I hate playing covers. Being 15 felt like the whole world was conspiring to make sure that everybody played that song everyday, but I resisted successfully. Pink Floyd is really cool, but it's unoriginal to play their shit. Just like it's unoriginal to play music by The Doors... BUT the following tune has lyrics lifted from 18th century poet William Blake's  Auguries Of Innocence , so it's a double ripoff, and I th...

I just had the chance to hear the only two Neil Young interviews in the CBC archive. In one he speaks with Daniel Lanois about one of his latest records " Le Noise ". The other one is from 31 years prior. It's fun to listen to a young Neil rail against the music industry :) You also get to hear Scott Young (Neil's Dad) speak a bit about Neil. I highly recommend these interviews:  http://goo.gl/TslVm . He also speaks at length about the breakup of Buffalo Springfield. It appears that when Neil found those guys in '66 he really loved their sound. But by the end, creative rifts formed, and the energies were out of whack. Neil was producing some of the songs by himself, and he became increasingly indifferent to the work of the other members. Remember Buffalo Springfield? Neil also implies that at the age of 21 when he first showed up in LA, he already knew he really wanted to be a solo singer/songwriter. I often wonder how creative geniuses co...

Consciousness Beckons A poem about seeking lucidity within a dream: Consciousness Beckons (2006) T here's this dream out there hard for me to think of it as mine although I am in it somewhere near the end jumping up and down wearing a bathrobe, on a hotel bed and I show up in the middle too a caricature of myself at seventeen hopeful and determined, broad-shouldered wearing a clean white collard shirt There is a woman holding a fish, it may be a large salmon she explains to a group of interested citizens why it is important that we treat our environment with respect citing examples of misuse that relate back to the fish and as this woman's 15 minutes fade away I realize that this dream is on film These events all contained on a seven minute reel and I am watching it now in a small independent theatre called The Princess If you join me you will hear them too inviting voices from the hall there is no point in paying full admission now a superabundance of experie...

Last year my buddy Kris Gillis from back in Toronto sent me this track and asked me if I felt like trying to add some vocals. The ensuing demo turned out ok. You Have Control (simple version)

The Unborn I wrote this poem last year in a car on a road trip across the U.S. on old route 66.

EPISODE 4 - December 6th, 2009 Our first podcast post-relaunch, featuring the tracks: So Sick.. by Maki Arrival by Disease Summer by Your Heart At First Sight by Chris Donner Holly Wood by Letters To Jonah You are My Home by The Rivulets . Download podcast 4 Andrew from Your Heart will write a custom song for you, go here. EPISODE 3 - October 31st, 2009 The Halloween special, this show features music by: Inverted Grace Virtual Light Felicia Atkinson & Sylvain Chauveau Swail Unleash The Archers Vengeful Download podcast 3 EPISODE 2 - April 28th, 2009 This one features original music from across Canada & Europe, artists include: Heroin And Your Veins Whip Jill Zmud Alan Cooper The Flowers Of Hell Download podcast 2 EPISODE 1 - March 23rd, 2009 This puppy features music from across Canada and a track from Australia, artists include: Bob Cole RKX Toykult Migrating Birds Inverted Grace Swail Download podcast 1