Why I'm fighting to preserve The Grand Canyon.

4 days ago, Laura posted an article on my Facebook wall about a National Park. She does this from time to time, knowing how much I love the parks, but she knew ahead of time that this was not going to be one that I enjoyed reading. This one's headline read "Navajo Nation eyes Grand Canyon for development".



My heart raced, my jaw dropped, and I went straight to youtube before I even finished reading the article. Here was my instant reaction, which I made to help rally people in supporting what I see as a fight to stop this development.



When I caught up with Laura online, I think it was her who suggested going to Change.org to start a petition. I did exactly that, and set up the petition to go to several parties. Those parties include The Navajo Nation, Arizona politicians, the US House and Senate, and the President Of The United States.

So why am I fighting?

The answer is simple. I don't wanna see this…………
















.........turn into this…………….



Stone Mountain





Pigeon Forge



Niagra



Vail



"These temple-destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar." - John Muir.

"Leave it as it is. You can not improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it." - Theodore Roosevelt, as he stood at the rim of the Grand Canyon.

I fight because I hate touristy towns, I hate gaudy money traps designed to further the status of a few by exploiting the beauty that should remain unmarred for the enjoyment of the many. I fight because to see the Grand Canyon defiled by a "gondola, a restaurant, a half-mile river walk, a resort hotel and spa and RV park" would be akin to painting a mustache on the face of the Mona Lisa.



The Grand Canyon, and Nature as a whole, is a vast work of art that we cannot improve! We can only exploit it for our own commercial gain, which then leaves the following generations wishing we'd left if be so they could enjoy it's peace and serenity.

I also fight this for other damaging reasons. It's bad enough that the developments would be ugly, but bringing tourism to the Grand Canyon on that scale driven by the almighty dollar would cause irreparable harm to the ecosystems within the Canyon. Let's explain.



The Colorado River flows from East to West through the Canyon. The Navajo developments would be on the eastern edge of the Canyon, so any contaminants from tourists would directly affect the canyon itself. Imagine camping in the heart of the canyon by the shores of the Colorado and seeing garbage debris floating by? Imagine what contaminants you CAN'T see wearing away at the rocks and killing the species that live in the Canyon.

There's too much risk that I can see for me to sit by and let this happen without a fight. I may lose this fight, but I will not give up. I value these wild places so much more than developed tourist traps because they provide peace, serenity, calm, clarity, relief, fuel for the soul, and a sense of rebirth. Seeing what wonders awaited in the American West instilled a sense of pride that we could have such landscapes in our midst, and a sense of duty to protect them.

Fortunately, I'm not alone. I started a petition, which I linked above, but I'll post it again for good measure…..

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-president-of-the-united-states-stop-plans-to-develop-the-grand-canyon

As of this blog post, there are 88 signatures, including mine. My goal is for as many as possible, I've capped it at 1,000,000. I've got a long way to go. Fortunately, some Native Americans in the west who are much closer to the canyon than I am have taken this petition and shared it online. I've had signatures from across the country, which is flattering. I'm not looking for glory with this fight, but some are sharing it and mentioning me by name. It's flattering, and very touching, but the important part is that the petition is being shared, and signed, across the country.



It's been shared on Facebook, twitter, and on SaveTheConfluence.com. When I found the Save The Confluence website, I saw that there were many who opposed this as much as I did. Some Native Americans have found me on Facebook and added me or followed my feed. On the Facebok Page for Save The Confluence, it shows where people have shared the link to the petition. As word gets around, I can see this spreading, and I'm humbled and flattered by this.

This fight is one I am passionate about. I do not want one of our most beautiful natural treasures to fall victim to the almighty dollar. I do not want to have the Grand Canyon be segmented off into two areas (The Beautiful part, and the Touristy part). I do not want the history of the Grand Canyon to be written in terms of "Before the development" and "After the Development".

I want people to remember John Muir's fight to save the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite. He lost, but it was a valuable lesson when we realized WHAT we lost.

Hetch Hetchy Before it was flooded.....



Hetch Hetchy AFTER it was flooded.....



"Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man." - John Muir.

Please, sign my petition, and find another way to fight. We must protect these lands for the many by keeping them from being profitable by the few. These are OUR lands. This is OUR Country. Whether you're Native American, or your ancestors migrated here, this country AND this canyon belong to ALL of us!

Leave it be.

What a weekend…

Since last fall after returning from my family's home in Atlanta, I decided that I would take a trip down there with Laura during spring break. That trip happened this weekend. I left at 7:30 Friday morning from Marion, picked Laura up at 8:30 in Columbus, and we were on our way.

This was a big deal for me, cause it was the first road trip with Laura that would be of a greater distance than 100 miles one way. I love to travel, and she'd never been further south than Kentucky. I keep a tally of the states I've been too, so I was giddy at the chance to add states to her tally this weekend (whether she really cared or not…lol).

Driving through southern Kentucky we hit some major rain. We were looking for a place to pull over and eat, but decided to wait till we got to Tennessee because of the rain. When we got to Tennessee, it was cloudy, but not raining. So we sat to eat, but as we finished the rain we ran from in Kentucky found us. So we hit the road to get out of a heavy wet pummeling yet again. Stopping at a gas station south of Knoxville, we found ourselves facing another storm front head on. This one was more intense with lots of lightning. I got some really cool cloud pics around Riceville before all hell broke loose.







We got into Georgia, and hit my Uncle's house in Woodstock around 6:20pm. Some nervous small talk, some dinner on the grill, and a beer or two, then before you know it the conversations were flowing like water. We had a good time, and talked about a lot of things before they settled off for bed. Laura and I went to a nearby Walmart to buy me some tennis shoes, as I knew I'd want to do some hiking on this trip and my only pair were in disrepair. It's a real challenge to find a pair of 11 1/2 wides at Walmart at 10:00 at night, so I found a pair of 12 wides that fit really well and only cost $15. Not bad. They'd be put to the test the next day.

We woke up early, around 9 or so and wend down for breakfast. Rick & Cheryl had bought a new fridge and were going to stay behind while it was installed, so Laura and I made plans to head up to Stone Mountain and hike up the side. Around 2:00 we were in the car heading to Stone Mountain, and when we got there it was really hot out. Imagine walking up a granite slab that ascends 900 feet up with the Georgia sun beating down on my balding head. I got a mild sunburn, but it was worth it.

After about 30 minutes of tiresome walking, we arrived up on the summit of Stone Mountain. There were tons of people there, which turned me off to it a bit. I like nature, and feel that Stone Mountain should've been turned into a National Monument rather than a tourist trap, but it's too late for that now. There's a cable car lift that takes you to the top, a gift shop with soda machines priced at $3.25-bottle, and a major Amusement Park feel to the whole area. I liked this when i was a kid, but I'm not a kid anymore and would much rather they preserved the mountain and made only minor human accommodations to it to allow access to it's serenity. But it's too late for that. It's already privately owned, and it is what it is. Although, if a petition were to ever circulate requesting that Stone Mountain be turned over to the NPS, I'd sign.

Anyway, there were a ton of people up there. Screaming kids, a church groups of over 100 teens playing a loud game, foreign tourists left and right snapping odd pics….not a serene environment by any stretch of the means. But I still found a few cool photos, then retreated to a far corner of the summit that was relatively uninhabited by tourism.











I laid there with Laura, enjoying the relative peace for a few minutes before a herd of small children bombarded our secluded side of the stone. Noticing we were getting close to time to head back for dinner, we decided to retreat on foot back down the side of the granite tourist magnet. My aunt Cheryl had made dinner reservations at a nice Italian restaurant, and we had to get back in time to meet them.

Dinner was awesome. There's no comparing an amazing Italian dinner to anything of this world if it's done right. The salad vinaigrette was sublime and subtle, the bread rolls kept you diving in for more, and my dinner plate had me diving in until I knew there was no force eating room left in me. I ordered the Tour of Italy, which included Linguine Alfredo, Chicken Parmesan, and Lasagna with Meat Sauce. Laura had her italian favorite, Eggplant Parmesan. I'll need to learn to cook that for her, as I've grown to really like it too.

We retreat back home so that my aunt and uncle can watch the UK game, and Laura and I retreat to our quarters to watch TV in our respective food coma's. But by the time the game was over, Cheryl approached me like a hawk with a spoonful of cinnamon. She'd mentioned the Cinnamon Challenge to me at dinner, and I'd never heard of it, so I ignorantly agreed to try it. Here's the result, for all the world to see.



NEVER TRY THAT. EW.

Anyway, that was the extent of our Atlanta trip, and I had plans to stop in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the next day with Laura. But to do this, I had to get up around 5 am to get ready. I was on the road by 6:30 am to get to the park, and this was necessary because after leaving the park we had to drive back to Columbus Ohio. This would equate into 16 hours behind the wheel.

Big things happened at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There will be a separate blog post for that. But here's a hint...

Why I owe my new music career to Pomplamoose.

This was the video that did it for me. Let's start from the beginning.

I was in a band from the time I could be in one, up until I moved away from Columbus in 2006. I had been in a relationship at that point since 1999, when I was 18, and Sarah was going to grad school in Bloomington Indiana at IU. So I left the band, left my broadcasting job that I loved, and moved to Indiana. I was 25. I never really looked back to music for the remainder of my 20's.

By 2010, I had started a podcast about recording metal music, and made some friends in the podcasting community. I was also perusing a career as a recording engineer in Colorado. I was in love with the mountains, and I thought that after 11 years that I was happy with Sarah. But she wasn't happy, and looked for ways to change her situation to make herself happy again. That landed her a job back in central Ohio, so I closed my studio in Denver and moved back to the buckeye state.

Cue Pomplamoose.

Back when Pomplamoose released their cover of "Telephone", I saw my friend and fellow podcasting colleague Big Al Wagner post the video on (i think) twitter. I watched it, thought it was clever, but then moved on. I still lived in Colorado at the time. I thought it was cool to see the instrumentation they were using to create the music, and liked their quirky sound, but didn't give it much thought beyond that. I wasn't familiar with the original, and I just let it pass into the ether.

Little did I know…..

Fast forward 7 months after they release their "Telephone" cover to October of 2010. As you may have read, my life as I had known it for years began to come undone. Sarah began to express that she was having doubts about our relationship after 12 years, and I had moved away from the Colorado Rockies back to my birth home of Ohio. I started looking for distractions for the mental chaos that was going on, so I turned to recording podcasts to learn about more recording techniques, and I turned to youtube to watch people's studio sessions.

I think I'd have to credit Big Al Wagner again for posting something that caught my attention this time, but I honestly can't recall exactly what it was. But I found myself watching "Another Day" by Pomplamoose. I remembered seeing them months before when I was in my control room in Conifer, Colorado and passing it by after a brief watch. But this time, "Another Day" was the song that hooked me. I started watching, and watching, and watching, and digesting all of it. I was watching, and geeking out on the audio production tips I was gaining from the videos, I'd also be laughing at the goofiness that I'd see. I think part of my fascination was that it was obvious Jack and Natalie had a connection, and I was losing the one I had for 12 years. It was kind of like obsessing on what you were losing by looking at people who had what you were losing. I became rather obsessed with it for a brief period, I would watch the same 3-4 pomplamoose videos over and over, including Another Day, If You Think You Need Some Lovin, Mister Sandman, and Nature Boy. While watching, I'd get cues from the looks Jack and Natalie gave each other, and although that reminded me at times of what I was losing, it also helped in it's own way. So that helped make my fascination grow stronger.

By Christmas, I was watching a lot of other Pomplamoose videos, and had stumbled upon "Always In The Season".



Sarah and I were really big into holiday celebrations, and we were that sickening couple that would play christmas music in july because we enjoyed it. So this song became an instant favorite of mine.

Come January, I'm still in full distraction mode. I see Big Al Wagner post (yet again) on twitter "New Pomplamoose!" So I rush over to see their newest video for Achin Heart!



The holidays had passed, and Sarah had let it slip that things weren't going to be fixable. She was gearing up to move out, which she did on February 5th. But in January, I was still obsessively watching Pomplamoose videos. Being enrolled at Ohio State University taking business courses, and owning a recording studio in Central Ohio, I started taking notice around this time to a few things about their business model. I started noticing that they hardly played live, but they were being themselves and making pro videos that were gaining a following on youtube, which was driving their sales on iTunes! I started consuming it more feverishly now, watching for any business tips I could pick up.

Sarah leaves in February, and I start picking up my guitar again for the first time in almost 6 years. My former band mate from Day Nine, Josh Zeise, had started to come over to jam, and we started talking about forming a studio band. When the words "studio band" were uttered, it was like a light bulb going off. I realized that I wanted a chance to do what Pomplamoose were doing, and this was my opportunity. So Josh and I formed a band called Project DIVIDE. The approach I wanted to peruse here was to incorporate the same videosong concept that Jack and Natalie were using so successfully, and use it for a rock band. We began to talk about it, and decided to start working on a 4 song EP that would have videosongs. So we got to work. It's been kinda slow, but we're wrapping up work on our first EP (full time student with 3 jobs……cut me some slack).

In March, I was asked to perform at a show with an old friend as an acoustic act. I agreed, and decided to dust off my old collection of songs from 8 years prior when I was playing solo rock sets. This would be the first time I was on stage since 2006, and it made me decide to also peruse a solo career again. I decided that my solo career would also use the pomplamoose model, but I'd do live solo acoustic shows to generate a local fan base as well.

About this time, I got hooked on Jack Conte's solo career. With my own background in hard rock, Jack's solo style just seemed like a more comfortable fit, although I still love Pomplamoose. But Jack's song "Impression" remains one of my absolute favorites to this day.



I start consuming everything I can on the current state of the music industry, picking up where my industry geek-ery left off back in 2006. Some things had changed, but the basic principles were the same. So I decided to test the waters with my first videosong……



I chose the Buffy Theme because it was quick and simple, and would let me experiment with whether or not I was cut out to make videosongs. I like the results, and it's gained some small traction on youtube. I posted it to twitter, and Joss Whedon re-tweeted it! That was a MAJOR geek out moment for me……..



……and it was also a revelation that I could pull all of this off. If I could get Joss Whedon to repost it and increase my views exponentially in a matter of hours, then I could build a buzz about my own music. There was no looking back.

So with my new excitement for a second chance career in music, and my massive amounts of research into the industry (thanks Bob Baker, Making It In Music, and the millions of other resources I've found to re-educate myself…..) I started looking for new opportunities for a career in music. It even got to the point where in October, I had an idea to start a record label. We're working on starting it right now, but I'm using a lot of the knowledge I've regained after years of stepping away from the industry to carve my own place in the music industry. I now own a recording studio, am a member of Project DIVIDE, have a Solo career, and am Co-Owner of a record label that is currently in formation!

NONE of this would've been possible if Pomplamoose hadn't been there to get me excited about music again, and to help give me something to focus on when my life was going to hell in a handbasket. NONE of it. I'm now a rabid fan, and am stoked to find Pomplamoose on Spotify. I also have my own Pandora station dedicated to both Pomplamoose and Jack Conte.

I doubt Jack and Natalie will ever read this, and I'd be extremely flattered if they ever did, but if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be persuing my dreams again. So if you do ever read this on some off chance, thanks Pomplamoose. You've made a difference here.

P.S. - Who else can say they actually did something BETTER than Michael Jackson?!

The 2nd Amendment

I saw a really cool youtube video posted on facebook just now.



I like the music, kinda makes it seem comical. It's actually really cool to watch……

…..however I've noticed that some are using this as a reason to argue that "the government had better never take our guns away!"

Dude, nobody's trying to take anyone's fucking guns away. That's all just half-witted rhetoric that was started as a way of branding all Democrats as a bunch of pussies who just want everyone to hug each other and never be able to defend ourselves. That's far from the truth.

That being said, here's my take on gun control.

Let's ask the question of why we want, or need, guns.

"I want to be able to hunt"

Ok, so what are you hunting?



Ok, in that case, be a man and grab a bow and arrow. Better yet, man up and cut the little cute defenseless rabbit ear to ear with your little swiss army knife!

"But I wanna use a GUN!"

Ok, there are a good variety of them that will do the job.

There's a handgun…..



…..a hunting rifle…..




…..an AK 47.....WAIT!




So you wanna use THAT………to hunt THIS!?!????




HOLD ON THERE TIM!




I think your going a little excessive with the firepower! That level of firepower seems like it would be better suited to this kind of sport!




Hmm, isn't that interesting that they seem to be holding similar guns?!

Bottom line…..
You don't need excessive firepower. I don't give a flying fuck about whatever guns you own. I don't care if you're stockpiling because you're worried that some republican talk show host told you that Obama was going to take your fucking guns away. It's not gonna happen, mind you, but you have the right to own a firearm in this country.

That being said, I don't believe that a weapon like an AK-47 should be owned by civilians. Those are army weapons, and the army should be in charge of those. You'd be freaked out if I bought a tank or an A-bomb, and I'm equally freaked out knowing that my neighbor might possess the kind of firepower that could dispatch a small crowd lined up against a wall in 30 seconds.

I'm done.

Selling out

Ok, that's it. It's official. I'm announcing it to the world.

I'm selling out.

By selling out, of course, I mean that I'm going to do whatever it takes to get people to pay attention to my music so that I can make a living off of my music, and I'm going to do it on my terms.

Anyone who knows me knows that I've not been planning a traditional music career. Ok, sure, I go out and play shows, but quite frankly I could stop playing shows and still develop my career. It's called YOUTUBE people!

It's not gonna be easy, but quite frankly, I'm taking a much more focused business-oriented approach to it this time. I'm 30, I know what I want out of life, and the clock is ticking against me. It's time to act now so that I can get out of the poverty I'm in, and can make a name for myself as a musician as I've always wanted to.

I wish my colleagues in the Columbus music scene luck and lots of success. I hope to see all of you make it big. There are plenty of you talented enough to be played on regular rotation rock radio nationally! I'll support you all as much as I can. However, I'm shifting my career's focus to a direction that I've not seen any locals pay much attention to. Here's why.....

The fact is that we see the same 50 people go to the rock shows here in Columbus, with very little variation, and it's a different stage with the same faces in the crowd. They are awesome for supporting the scene, but there isn't much being done to bring new faces to the shows (at least nothing that's working, there are some people who are genuinely trying! I've pissed off a prominent one accidentally by getting passionate and letting my mouth run on Facebook without taking the time to consider what I was saying, and I regret that the exchange even happened, but what's done is done....sorry Ronni). I've spoken to people who feel that even though they enjoy the local music, that there's somewhat of a high school clique atmosphere at the venues. Also, the crowd shows up to watch their friends bands, then leave before the next band comes on. People aren't there to watch a good rock show, they are there to hang with their friends and go home. It sucks.

Basically, the writing that I see on the wall is that people in Columbus (aside from the small percentage of Columbus's population that actually do go to shows) care more about youtube, facebook, radio, TV, and movies than they do about what great original music they could see around town on any given night! So if live music in Columbus is dying at the hands of technology (and a smoking ban), despite the MASSIVE amount of talent we have here, then were is the music industry heading?

I for one believe the answer lies online. 20-30 years ago, the bands could pack a venue easily because there were little distractions. Now, it's hard to get someone to pull away from World Of Warcraft and Facebook long enough to go to a show. So the scene has dwindled down to it's core base, who support it to the bitter end and go to shows, but they may be all that's keeping the scene alive.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on the whole "local music scene" mentality. I've decided that I'm not going to focus locally anymore. Sure, I might live locally, and I might play locally, but that's a convenience factor as opposed to a limitation. Quite frankly, with the invention of social networking, the local music scene (at least in Columbus) kinda fell to the wayside.

So if no one's going to the shows, then where are they?

Online! DUH!

Look at the success of artists like Brett Domino, Pomplamoose, Jack Conte, Julia Nunes, and others! These are artists who have made international names for themselves independently, while earning a living, from the internet!

Look, people in this day and age are inherently lazy. This means that they won't be bothered to do anything out of their normal comfortable routine, and you have to now go to them to be noticed. If you don't have a presence online as a business, you're killing your potential to grow. A band is, by it's very nature, a business!

So steps have to be made to make a presence online. I've got some ideas in my mind for my own career, and I'll be implementing them, and posting about their success. This post isn't about my specific ideas, as opposed to a general overview of where I see independent music going.

So I'll keep you updated on my successes, and my failures, but let it be known that I've decided to sell out and make something of myself with my music. I wonder if there's a plaque I get now, or a trophy……….???

Why I don't want to sign to a record label…..

Why I don't want to sign to a record label…..

I'm a business man. I own a recording studio, am in business school, and am working on artistic endeavors with two projects designed to make money off of music that I was involved in creating.

I used to be a "slave to the record industry", wanting nothing more than to be signed to a label and "make it big"! But the more I learn about the music business the more jaded I get at the thought of someone else controlling my art and making money off of me, while I get the scraps.

Napster changed the way we consume music forever. I'm not getting into a discussion about piracy here, I'd be flattered if my songs were being shared on a P2P system. But I bring up Napster because it shows the power of the internet. Music consumers decided they no longer wanted to pay $20 for a CD of 12 songs, opting instead to bypass the music industry and just take the music! Again, I'm not getting into whether or not P2P is a good thing or bad thing, but no one can argue that Napster didn't help change things forever.

Now the consumer is in control, and it's all thanks to the internet! The consumer could turn to myspace (before it turned to myspam) to find new music that wasn't being approved by the corporate music industry structure. They could turn to youtube to watch Julia Nunes strumming her ukelele and sing her quirky songs, or watch Pomplamoose's infectious covers and originals. They can now network with other musicians across the country to book shows without the label telling them who they can or can't play with or what to wear on stage. They can now sell their music directly to their fans without pandering to the labels for a measly $0.15 for each record sold. They can, and have, become famous in their own right without playing a single show!




So now that the internet has broken the old industry model of corporate control and given the power back to the musician, it's hard for me to fathom giving my art to someone else to make money off of when I can just sell it directly to my fans and keep the fruits of my labors! The business man in me knows that I now have the power to get my music to a worldwide audience, and aside from not wanting to give up the control of my artistic choices, I also don't think it's a wise business decision for me to give up most of the revenues my art brings in just for the sake of being on Mtv and local radio!

The thing that artists need to understand is that they are not only artists, but they are a small business. According to economic theory, the goal of any business is to maximize profits. 15 years ago, the best thing for an artist to do would be to get signed to a label, as the label would provide the financial backing to produce an awesome album and promote the tour of the artist. This in tern would help the artist gain exposure. Basically, the label was a way of exposing your art to a massive audience. But the problem is that labels wanted to control what was being shown. This is understandable, they want to make money (they ARE a business first and foremost). But now that the internet has provided a way of providing mass exposure for an artist without the use of a record label, the record label is now a dinosaur that will be soon extinct.

With regards to a label providing funding for an album to be produced……..even though I own a recording studio and want everyone to pay me to record their music, I realize that a lot of people are now generating the skills of an audio engineer and are building cost effective home studios that are more than capable of producing top notch recordings. This puts the creative control and budgetary concerns back in the hands of the musician, because the musician no longer needs to seek out a huge loan from a label to hire a top notch producer to record a top notch album for them. If the album flops, the band members are in debt for the rest of their days! Why would anyone take that risk when much more sensible and cost effective solutions are available today?!

This is sort of a rant, and I realize that. It's not very organized, but I hope that the thoughts I portray in it are conveyed well enough for all to understand. The internet has given us the power back. We should take that power and use it to the best of our ability to build our careers on our own terms.

Thanks for reading.

In closing.....here's Julia Nunes on CNN, followed by my very first Videosong!