the marble tea webthing

Travel Light on Your Road

For some reason, I was reading an article about traveling songs and I remembered a song I’d written a few years ago but not posted here for you. I have the feeling I let it out somewhere though, so apologies if you’ve heard it before….

As much as I love seeing new places and experiencing hotel culture (yeah, I’m one of those weirdos that actually enjoys hotel rooms), I’m not particularly fond of traveling, and I think the main reason can be found in one essential preparatory act: packing. I’ve never found that sweet spot of bringing along just the right amount of items with me on a trip. Always too much or too little, but I’ve found that the less I’m toting around with me, the more pleasant the journey.

Some say modern developments in technology make it unnecessary to actually have to travel anywhere, allowing you to experience and interact with distant places and cultures without leaving your home. As great as that sounds to a homebody like me, we both know that one hasn’t really been to a place if one hasn’t eaten the food, breathed the air, and smelled the skin of the locals. But it’s interesting to me that I’ve driven down roads in Hawaii that I’d swear were exactly the same roads I’d driven down in Alabama, and sat in a park in Spain that you’d be hard pressed to convince me wasn’t a park in San Antonio. There’re lots of differences in this vast and varied world we live in, but there are also many, many similarities.

Now this song obviously isn’t really about traveling in that sense. It’s just a mantra for freeing up your mind and your body as you take your journey down life’s lonely and exciting highway. (And remember what the George-mouse said.)

Also don’t forget: There’s a 5-song EP called A Blizzard / A True Storm that’s available as a free download exclusively for Marble Tea Facebook friends. Come be one and get your copy!

I’d Rather See You Than Avatar

Not too long ago, I received an email from Hackydog that simply said,

I have a title that could use a song:
‘I’d Rather See You Than Avatar’

I’m not sure why exactly, but I connected with that and within about an hour had recorded the song presented to you today. (more…)

9 Stories

You can hate me if you want, but Catcher in the Rye is my least favorite book by J.D. Salinger. In fact, it’s not even one of my favorite books by anybody. And yet, oddly enough, Salinger is one of my favorite writers.

Certainly I recognize the importance of Catcher in shaping the lives and outlooks of any number of angry young men (and, perhaps, the women who love and hope to understand them), and I realize too the profound cultural impact it’s had. However, it seems to me that Salinger was just warming up with that one. (more…)

Masti Love Theme

Let’s start the new year’s gaggle of songs with an instrumental, shall we? Above is a recent one I wrote & recorded for an independent film about an ill-fated Hindu dating service. The film’s a comedy, and some of the humor reminded me of those over-the-top sixties films that I love so much (I mean, those colors and miniskirts are outta sight, cat daddy!). In the usual manner of things, I’d recently re-watched The Party (1968) starring Peter Sellers, and it seemed a not surprisingly appropriate place to start for a bit of musical inspiration. (more…)

Let It Snow

I love snow. Probably because, growing up in the Deep South, there wasn’t a lot of it around. Oh sure, we managed a flurry most years, but accumulation was a rare and meager thing: one inch and the whole town shut down. White Christmas? I didn’t know what that song was about until I was a teenager, since having snow on Christmas Day was never even a remote consideration. (more…)