Had a productive Wednesday at the Sedona Summer Colony — that’s what happens when you wake up at 6:30 AM. That’s actually and hour before my alarm was set to go off, but I was sure I’d sleep through it if I tried to go back to bed so I just got up and grabbed a cup of coffee and vowed to finish this song that I ended up recording yesterday afternoon with Skipper Kripitz. Skipper is a drummer from Key West who’s also here at the colony. Skipper and I are planning to do a short set for the Sedona art community on Sunday before I leave. Follow me on Facebook to watch the live video of the performance on Sunday evening. I wrote another song on Wednesday night when I suddenly channeled Hank Williams while I was in the shower trying to wash away the desert dust. I’ll plan to make a little video of that one to post on Thursday.

I hope you’re all enjoying these updates as well as the weird Sedona videos I’ve been finding. Speaking of, here’s an interview with author Mark Amaru Pinkham discussing the ancient mystical indigenous roots of the city of Sedona, and some surprising connections to the Yezidi refugees of Iraq. Here’s the word…

According to Hopi legend, Extraterrestrial Star People built Palatkwapi as a glorious city of sacred wisdom. It was here that the migrating Hopis learned their sacred rites and dances, as well as many mysteries of the universe. Since 1987, author, Mark Amaru Pinkham, has been blessed with the ability to envision Palatkwapi as it exists now – an interdimensional city that co-exists with the physical town of Sedona. Many of Palatkwapi’s temples continue to exist physically within Sedona in a water-worn condition and on higher dimensions they survive in their original perfection.

Through his direct study with the Yezidi priests of Iraq, Mark has further discovered that Masau’u is another name for the Yezidis’ King of the World, Tawsi Melek, the Peacock Angel and that the planetary monarch is due to soon make his presence known among the masses. Could it be in Sedona?

Find out more about how you can help the Yezidis. Here’s the video…

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My last post about Leonard Cohen’s early recordings has me excited to curate this conversation about someone we all seem to care so much about. Leonard’s not everyone’s bag and it’s really wonderful to see so many folks interested in the man’s complex, felt lyricism.

Not sure if I can find more unique documents to share about the man, but this film is another great take on Cohen’s beginnings that I’ve never seen before. This one delves back just a little farther into the roots of Cohen’s aesthetic which can seem mysterious and even self-generated without a closer look.

When we think about Bob Dylan’s work, it’s easy to draw the line directly through Ramblin’ Jack Elliot to Woody Guthrie and then out from there to the 1000 starry points that make up the constellation of American vernacular music. As a Canadian with a connection to the French language, Cohen’s music is particularly European, but it all starts with his high school Country/Western band, The Buckskin Boys. In Cohen’s songs, Hank Williams drinks a shot with Allen Ginsberg and Federico Garcia Lorca while the Buddha reads the Torah to L. Ron Hubbard. Here, Ray Charles’ rhythm and blues becomes entangled with the chanson traditions embodied by Jacques Brel, and they both find their place in the exquisite verses and high melodies of this most gifted singer/songwriter.

Here is Leonard Cohen’s Lonesome Heroes…

Stay Awake!

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