Music Is Revolution Benefit Event At The Emerald Theater In Mt. Clemens MI.

This past weekend our first Music Is Revolution benefit event went down in Mt. Clemens, Michigan, produced by Kevin Sharpe of Metro 37 Studio in Detroit. It featured 10 local Detroit bands who slammed out a variety of styles and craftsmanship, all of which was compelling and fueled with energy. That's what the MC5 influence means in terms of a legacy, and it is something to keep as a proud tradition. The atmosphere in the room, a room which was a splendid example of lost theater elegance from the classic age of the early 1900's, was uniquely spirited. Mike Scott, the owner of the venue, commented that he noticed a feeling of community spirit that he had not ever seen there or anywhere else. Everybody was cool, not in a club-crawler sense, not in a "Jersey Shore" sense, but in a sense that makes people feel happy and glad to be a part of something natural. It appears that the concept and the motivation of providing funds for music education in public schools for our young brothers and sisters was, and is, an honorable and popular cause. Right on! Society isn't changing until we give the next generation the values to change it. Then they will do what seems impossible to do in the current political atmosphere. Music can make changes. But what struck me about the evening was a phenomenon that I hadn't envisioned (those are the best); Music Is Revolution can bring us back together. Music Is Revolution can restore the communal feeling that we have lost over the decades. Is it possible that as a music community and culture we can restore our camaraderie? Man, what a trip that would be. I might be over-reacting, but anything is possible, and I would be super stoked to have anything like that come into play.

I know we have a great start and a great group of people helping with the cause. I wouldn't be surprised if a side effect of pushing for an improved public attitude toward education, music in education, and lessening the emphasis on capitalist obsessing brought us closer to the Utopian dream we played with back in the days of the MC5. I'm for it, bring it on.

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ARMAGEDDON?

Good day folks....or is it? Let's say we should enjoy it for what it is while we can. Two days ago a Tsunami ripped into the Japanese mainland as a result of an 8.9 seismic event off of its northeastern coastline creating a real life version of a Japanese horror film about death, destruction, and nuclear radiation such as those we often watched on television in the 1970's. The videos of this destruction showed an array of horrendous scenes; immense waters sweeping cars, ships, buildings and waves of rubble relentlessly through a city while creating rivers of streets wherever gravity dictated. The immensity and proportion of the scale was an all too familiar one, causing a flashback to those nuclear mutated creatures that crushed the static landscape and the miniature constructions of the human race. As I watched, I could almost imagine Godzilla or Ghidra stomping their way through panicked humanity, wreaking havoc and the collapse of an organized society. Ah, but it's not over; The nuclear plant that bore the brunt of the tidal force suffered catastrophic consequences. As of today, all four reactors of that plant have been damaged so severely that a total nuclear meltdown could occur with devastating results for the entire planet. In biblical times, and through the Middle Ages even, an event such as this might be interpreted as a punishment; a signal that God is angry. There is a name for it; it is called Armageddon.

So here we are. It's 2011, and what do we have to show that might be evidence that we don't deserve the wrath of God? Hold on; what if it is only a random event such as nature has a predisposed right of way to create? Then isn't it still capable of leveling the empire that mankind has constructed? And isn't it still a plausible moral measurement? Either way it might be time to reflect on the unavoidable demise of the life we have come to assimilate. Either way, at some point we will have to do some intense correcting, because when a path hits a dead end, a new direction is all that is left.

I have watched as the world has grown further and further from the terms the MC5 launched four decades ago. Throughout these years, the fate of advancing capitalism has undermined all of the quality from our sensory perception and creative imagination until we are barely able to connect with the essence of anything. That is because our whole existence is channeled by digital electronics and the capital gains of technology that captivates the consumer public. Instead of pursuing the technology of truer personal enhancement, we have created a world of quicker and immediate personal enhancement, but more importantly, a world of immense capital enhancement. That is, the largess of capital gain has become our ruling factor and god. The banks are running this world, not the people. This is not a sermon or a complaint that we aren't religious enough; that is everyone's personal matter. I don't care what anyone believes drives this existence. What I do care about is what do we get out of it, and brother, I think we are being cheated of our freedom by the financial monster we allowed rule our behavior. Watching the TV as the monumental destruction was taking place on the other side of the Pacific, I could not help but envision the allegorical end of the world taking place here and now.

Should the tsunami of 2011 reduce this world to a wash of rubble on a hilltop as in the story of the biblical Noah, then so it shall be and amen. But if we manage to escape once again our lack of understanding of the whys and wherefores of our decisions, it should be time to reassess our values, once again. We best pay attention to educating our children. We best pay attention to creating values that mean something instead of tsunamis of digital deference from creative forms of art and music. After all it is for every life to find meaning and truth for its taking. Let's remember that what it is to be enthralled with life itself.

As I stand here, looking down the last stretch of my own path, I still see the greatness of being alive. I still see the things that made it an overwhelming mystical trip. That I played in the MC5 was only one part of it, but what a part it was! Music is revolution!

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SELF PORTRAIT

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DOLL DRIVE RAFFLE PRIZE

Here is my art contribution for the 7th Annual Doll Drive Raffle. Numero uno in the Siren Series. The winner of this baby will own the inaugural piece. If you are in L.A., you can hook up with the Hell's Belles this Thursday, December 16, at Villian's Tavern in Los Angeles, free admission.

www.musicisrevolution.com

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