Windy Hill

There was the country road
went on forever
me and Leif hurling rocks
swinging sticks
on the way to town

Weeds all sweated
gravel in our sneaks
Fords occasionally
even a Packard
long enough to make us dream
would the girls all be pretty as Renee
would we fly

Dusk back at the bungalow colony
Pete the jockey took us out on Thunder
bareback in the fields
nothing but the night birds now
Vesuvius beneath us
and the orange sun

Note: Windy Hill is part of my poetry series on summer.

Elegy for Claude

We did take the world
Didn’t we, Niño?
Took all the dim bar light
And made it sing
Didn’t we, Niño?
Made the girls call our name
At least some of time
Didn’t we, Niño?

And even dared take the city lights
And bend them into dreams
Didn’t we, Niño?
And in the end
Knew for sure
How the gleam in your eyes
Would simply go on forever
We did know that
Didn’t we, Niño?

Claude Haton

Claude Haton


R.I.P. Claude Haton
My little brother
November 1, 1955 to July 19, 2014

Note: A benefit concert in Claude’s honor will be held August 1 in Cairo, N.Y. (proceeds go to scholarship fund for local high school students).

Twitter for the indie artist

Is Twitter useful for musicians? Since I added Twitter to my music artist strategy, with my release of “We’re America” and beyond, I decided to post a roundup of opinions on the subject.

Musician Steve Lawson, for one, gives tweeting a thumbs up, claiming successes in an interview on Andrew Dubber’s vimeo.com, saying that musicians must immerse themselves in Twitter. He does a good job of explaining the contextual nature of the technology. If a musician creates a story about his process of making music – the songwriting, recording, performing – he says, users will find him interesting. “Make it part of a narrative,” he says. In a post on his own blog, Lawson debunks misconceptions, saying Twitter has “substantially improved (his) life over the last year.”

A Bob Brown post on networkworld supports Lawson’s philosophy. Brown lists artists of all stripes who tweet, saying the majors tend to do a poor job, while indies who are more serious are also more interesting. Also check out Brown’s list of productive tools for twitterers.

The New York Times tech writer David Pogue covers the waterfront on the subject. His posts cover everything from photo criticism to tips for beginners.

If there is a bellwether on Twitter as a proven tool, it’s Ragan.com. Over the past year, hardly a day goes by without a headline on the topic. Ragan writer and social media guru Shel Holtz says the brevity issue is “a load of crap.” Rightfully, he explains:

Yes, the messages are short. But many tweets are just part of some greater content. Tweets direct you to blog posts, breaking news, videos, photos, just about anything you can find on the Net.

I, for one, am ready to discover the greater good of Twitter for the indie artist and will report further on the subject.

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