Hotel Chelsea (03.01.22)

If it's the first Tuesday of the month, you'll find me onstage at Hotel Chelsea. Photo by Kat.

Life happens fast. It doesn't always seem that way, but then some event or series of events occurs that makes you very aware that today isn't like yesterday at all. Between my last blog post and this one, Russia invaded Ukraine, and that alone was enough to make me acutely focused on the speed at which change comes.

As I often say here, this blog isn't a news reporting site. There are plenty of places to get actual, up-to-date info on something as important as what's happening in Ukraine. I just want to document a few things as I tend to do. It's an important time in history... and I'd really prefer that it wasn't. As the Stewart Copeland-penned line in a song by The Police says, "Life was easy when it was boring."

Sunflower Seeds

On Thursday, February 24, as the invasion of Ukraine was just getting started, a Ukrainian woman confronted a heavily armed Russian soldier. This, to me, was the first indication of how tough the Ukrainian people are in the face of adversity. A transcription of their conversation, which was captured on video, is below. Note that sunflowers are a national symbol of Ukraine.

Woman: Who are you?

Soldier: We have exercises here. Please go this way.

Woman: What kind of exercises? Are you Russian?

Soldier: Yes.

Woman: So what the fuck are you doing here?

Soldier: Right now our discussion will lead to nothing.

Woman: You are occupants, you are fascists! What the fuck are you doing on our land with all these guns? Take these seeds and put them in your pockets, so at least sunflowers will grow when you all lie down here.

Soldier: Right now our discussion will lead nowhere. Let’s not escalate this situation. Please.

Woman: What situation? Guys, guys. Put the sunflower seeds in your pockets please. You will lie down here with the seeds. You came to my land? Do you understand? You are occupiers. You are enemies.

Soldier: Yes.

Woman: And from this moment, you are cursed. I’m telling you.

Soldier: Now listen to me…

Woman: I’ve heard you.

Soldier: Let’s not escalate the situation. Please go this way.

Woman: How can it be further escalated? You fucking came here uninvited. Pieces of shit.

The Heroes of Snake Island

Also on February 24, news was reported from a tiny island in the Black Sea. Snake Island is a Ukrainian territory, used as a border patrol outpost. Two Russian warships chose to attack the island, which was purportedly occupied by only 13 Ukrainian border guards. The dialogue between the Russians and Ukrainians became a battle cry for the invaded country soon after it happened.

Russia: This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary victims. Otherwise you will be bombed. This is a Russian warship, I repeat. I suggest you surrender your weapons and capitulate otherwise I will open fire. Do you copy?

Ukraine Guard (to another): This is it. Should I tell him to go fuck himself?

Other Ukrainian Guard: Just in case.

Ukrainian Guard (on radio): Russian warship, go fuck yourself. 

The island was subsequently bombed. The first follow-up reports initially stated that all 13 guards had been killed in the barrage and were being posthumously named "Heroes of Ukraine" (the country's highest honor), but more recent updates say that they are alive and have been taken prisoner. In either case, the phrase "Russian warship, go fuck yourself" has become an iconic rallying point in this conflict.

The Ghost of Kyiv

This one is almost certainly war propaganda bullshit, but I don't care. A story came out after the first night of fighting between Russia and Ukraine about a single pilot who purportedly took his MiG-29 Fulcrum to the skies and in a single day took down six Russian fighters: two Su-35s, two Su-25s, a Su-27 and a МіG-29. This "ace in a day" tale is much more likely a morale booster to the Ukrainian people than anything based on fact, but the story has not been fully confirmed nor discredited. The unnamed pilot was nicknamed "The Ghost of Kyiv", and a legend was born overnight.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

What can I say about this guy that hasn't been said? He's a former actor and comedian who somehow was elected president of Ukraine in 2019 after (warning: irony trigger) portraying the president in a comedy TV series called "Servant of the People" a few years earlier. He's 44 years old, and has refused to be extradited from his country, opting instead to stay among his people at the front of the battle lines. No matter what happens next for Zelenskyy -- which could very well include his death as a main target of the Russian oppressors -- he will forever have the respect of the entire world for how he's rallying his people to defend their country. Hats off to him. 

Anything Else?

Logic would have said that Ukraine would have fallen nearly immediately to the military might of Russia. The experts had predicted that within a day or two, the Russians would have overtaken the entire country. And yet, here we are, a week or so into this conflict, and Ukraine is grimly holding their own. There have been all the international condemnations, and (much more importantly) there have been huge economic sanctions again Russia by a wide swath of the planet. Aspects of this conflict go way beyond the interaction of two hostile countries, and affect the entire global economy and even American politics in ways that are both profound and direct.

On a personal basis, I can't do much other than follow along as it happens, and wish the best for the people of Ukraine while also hoping this isn't the ignition point for another world war, or something even worse. Vladimir Putin is a terrible human being, and has many similar qualities to another terrible human being who was the head of another global superpower not so long ago. Ideally, Ukraine will make it through his with their sovereign autonomy intact, and perhaps the decision to invade his neighbor will weaken Putin in ways that allow him to lose the confidence of Russia's citizens.

Okay, How About That Show?

Ah yes. So in the midst of all this, as per my usual schedule, I performed on the first Tuesday of the month at Hotel Chelsea in Second Life. It's funny; in the paragraph above, I allude to not being able to offer any help to the people of Ukraine, but in my own way, I can, and that's by helping to spread information, sway popular opinion, and most of all, write and perform music that's meant to inspire people to stay positive and keep up the fight against evil. Many of the songs in my set, which I pointed out during the show, were chosen in direct reference to the invasion of Ukraine.

We had a nice-sized crowd there, mostly due to Max Kleene playing before me, but I'm always happy when a good chunk of his crowd stays around for my show. Photo by Kat.

A couple of insignificant notes. For various reasons, I hadn't performed "Got Guilt" by my band They Stole My Crayon since 2015, around the time the song was originally created. I'd only done Heart's "Straight On" once before, and had forgotten it's a really cool song. Also, my own as-yet unrecorded song "Something Else" was performed a few times when I wrote it back in 2019, but I sort of forgot about it after that, so I was glad to bring it back into the set.

My view from the stage. Photo by Kat.

Me, still in a mask. I'm becoming slightly more hopeful it will be off soon. Photo by Kat.

Final note. Right after the show ended at 6PM, the first State of the Union address by Joe Biden was starting. You have to take all SOTU addresses with a grain of salt; it's like deciding if a football team is good based on the enthusiasm of the cheerleaders. But overall, I thought Biden did very well and hit the right points with his messaging. 78% of the viewers polled, both Democrat and otherwise, approved of Biden's speech. That's a good thing. We have a long way to go, but the concept of a united United States is never far from possible. 

Hotel Chelsea set list...

Wildflowers (Tom Petty)

Wild World (Cat Stevens)

Straight On (Heart)

Something Else (Zak Claxton)

The Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon)

Invisible Sun (The Police)

River Man (Nick Drake)

Antiphon (Midlake)

Got Guilt (They Stole My Crayon)

seaside_demo (SEB)

Dead Flowers (Rolling Stones)

What I Got (Sublime)

Thanks to everyone who hung out for the show, with super duper pooper scooper thanks to the following who helped support it!

AutumnFoxx Sutherland, Tpenta Vanalten, Rusty Seisenbacher, Trouble Streeter, noowun Wind, blonde Avon, Nina Brandenburg, Maximillion Kleene, Kat Claxton, my terrific manager Maali Beck, and Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko!

Zak Claxton Happy Fun Show on Bandcamp (02.19.22)

Here's the entire show, unedited and uncut, if you wanna.
For the uninitiated: the Zak Claxton Happy Fun Show has been the name of any of my live video streaming performances going back many years, and happening across many online platforms. According to my records -- and yes, I document these things like any good insane person does -- the very first one was on February 6, 2010. Oddly enough, looking at the set list from that livestream video performance almost exactly 12 years ago, several of the songs were among those I chose for this show. There's a reason for that which we'll get to shortly.

Anyway, that first show -- done on a platform called Ustream which was pretty hip and new at the time -- went well enough that I scheduled another one that month, and kept them up for a good while. I also expanded into other livestream platforms, doing shows on StageIt, Streamjam, Facebook Live, and probably other things I've long since forgotten or no longer exist. I've probably done about 40 of these shows in total.

Looking quite serious while hitting that Cmaj7.

How To & Review: Bandcamp Livestreaming

So, as a livestreaming music performance veteran, I can actually give you some pointers and compare/contrast the experience on Bandcamp versus other platforms. I give Bandcamp a solid B+ (and no platform has been great enough for an A grade from me, so this is really good). If you're interested in doing your own livestream show on Bandcamp, it's similar to other platforms. Bandcamp has a full tutorial about it available. My short version is below.

1. Use a solid audio/video streaming broadcast software like OBS.

I was already familiar with OBS; it's become a standard for independent broadcasters like me, and is very popular among the podcasting/Twitch crowd. It has powerful and flexible features, and it's an open source software that is free. Seem too good to be true? It's not. OBS does everything that most people need, as well as many advanced features that most won't use but are nice to have around in case you do. Bandcamp themselves recommend OBS, so go get it (and it works great on both Windows and Mac).

OBS is fantastic. You can set up scenes like the one I have above for "ZCHFS on Bandcamp" where all my settings and audio interface/camera connections are saved. Next time I do a show there, I am one click away from starting my broadcast.

2. Set up your video and audio tools.

This is not a thorough tutorial... there are are tons of great videos on YouTube on best ways to setup your stuff for live video shows. But the short version is that your connected audio interface and camera should be automatically recognized by OBS. Get a good audio signal (loud but not distorted), get a good video scene (minimally making sure you're well lit... I opened a window shade). Bandcamp will provide a server and a stream key; you'll plug both into your OBS setup.

3. Test your stuff.

Bandcamp is super smart; you can't even schedule a show until you test your setup and make sure video and audio are working as planned. Assuming you get sound and picture to work, you can schedule the show in Bandcamp and continue to test as much as you want. Like any show, your attendance will only be as good as you are capable of promoting the show in your various ways. When the show is ready to begin, hit the "Start Show" button on your livestream page and that's it. You're live.

Once your show is scheduled, it will appear on Bandcamp's list of upcoming live streams.

What Good About Bandcamp for Livestreaming?

• Set up a virtual merch table and sell music that you have available on Bandcamp.
• Sell other merchandise items... physical media, t-shirts and so on.
• Get tipped through the same interface you use to sell music.
• No ads or other pop ups to interrupt the audience.
• Built-in live chat with fans and random audience members.
• Nice clear image and sound (contingent on the quality of the stream, of course).
• Your video gets recorded and can be downloaded after the show ends.

What's Less Good? 

Just one thing, and there's no way around it. Bandcamp requires registration on their platform to view the show. It's such a small thing, and yet it can be just enough to stop a person from impulsively watching your set with one click. Some people just don't want to register/login for just about anything. I'm not blaming Bandcamp for this issue; I'm blaming human nature.

On Facebook, I could go live right now and have easy access to potentially thousands of people who might watch my show with minimal effort, getting a little notification that "Zak Claxton is Live"... but I also have very little means to monetize a Facebook show without outright begging for tips to my PayPal or Venmo or whatever. Also, Bandcamp is an actual music platform, while Facebook is a completely evil company wringing the life out of every one of its users. It's total shit, and I don't like encouraging its use, to be honest. 

All that being said, I did sell several albums at my show yesterday. Bandcamp is smart for doing it the way they do, and I'll be doing more shows there in the future.

"Allow me to interrupt my own set with this irrelevant story," he said, gesturing wildly.

Any Notes on the Show?

Yeah, just a couple of them. I focused mostly on original music, which makes sense because that stuff -- both my solo album and music by They Stole My Crayon -- is available for sale right there on the Bandcamp platform. Since I planned a couple of covers, I was also able to include the music of other artists on my merch table, which felt like the right thing to do.

A cover I hadn't planned on doing but added for sad reasons was "It’s Easy (Like Walking)", the collaboration between The Sadies and Kurt Vile from 2017 that I liked so much. A couple of days before my show, Dallas Good of The Sadies died very unexpectedly at age 48 from a heart condition of which he'd only just become aware. I felt compelled to give some tribute to the man and his great band by doing the tune, and I'm glad I did. In fact, I'm bizarrely proud that YouTube flagged my video of the show with a copyright claim on that very song, meaning I did it so well that a robot thought it was a little too good.

I did promise the show would be fun. I meant for me, but hopefully you too.

ZCHFS on Bandcamp set list...

Falling Down (Zak Claxton)

It’s Easy (Like Walking) (The Sadies/Kurt Vile)

Longing On (They Stole My Crayon)

This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)

Garter Snake (Macie Stewart)

Blew The Dust Away (They Stole My Crayon)

Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)

Hannah Sun (Lomelda)

Box by the Cliff (They Stole My Crayon)

You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)

Things Under Trees (They Stole My Crayon)

*Zak Claxton on Bandcamp Improv (Zak Claxton)

*Indicates the first performance of this song.

Huge thanks to all who hung out for the show, and special giant thanks to those who helped support it!

Random Thoughts: Super Bowl LVI

Joe Burrow being folded into a small origami swan by Aaron Donald.

I've been a fan of NFL football since I was a little kid, which was about 750 years ago. I know some stuff about football; I participate in pools every year, I follow the ups and downs and ins and outs of every team in the league. And don't get me wrong; the game of football is fucked up in many ways. It's a violent sport that causes irreparable injury on many levels to nearly every player. And fully admitting my awareness of that fact, I still enjoy the hell out of it.

Here on the day following Super Bowl LVI, I don't have a lot to say, but a few things merit inclusion in this ongoing log of random whatever.

1. It Wasn't a Great Game

It was an okay game at best. I mean, it was close and wasn't decided until the last minute or so. But the overall play of both the Rams and the Bengals wasn't nearly as dynamic and exciting as nearly all of the playoff games that led up to the big one. Poor throws, dropped passes, porous offensive lines, very few big runs, a mostly conservative game plan... it was okay. If it tells you anything, ESPN's NFL Power Rankings the day after the game has the Chiefs and the Bills in the #1 and #2 spot, and neither of them even played in the big game.

Side note: despite being born in Cincinnati and living nearly my whole life in the greater LA area, I'm not a fan of either team, which made watching the game a lot less stressful.

The only other football-related note is that Joe Burrow is a young and very talented guy. You would assume it's an automatic given that he'll be back in another Super Bowl soon. Well, there was another guy who was one of the best quarterbacks of his generation, and he also made it to one Super Bowl in his second season... and never went back. His name is Dan Marino. I'm just saying... there are no guarantees, in sports or life or otherwise.

Speaking of QBs, is this guy a future hall of fame inductee? Despite having now won a Super Bowl, I'm not seeing Matthew Stafford as one of the all-time greats, but I suppose we'll see what happens with the rest of his career.

2. The Halftime Show Was Amazing

I couldn't be happier about the halftime show, because it was long overdue. How laughable is it that the hip hop world was never made a part of the NFL's biggest event until now? The show, centered around Dr. Dre and featuring Snoop Dogg, Mary J Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and a surprise appearance by 50 Cent, managed to be both too nostalgic for some and too Black for others. That made it pretty much perfect for me. The fact that conservative pundits were aghast about the show showed me that they did all the right things. I'd place it as the second best Super Bowl halftime show of all time, behind only Prince.

Didn't see it? You should, and I don't care if you're a person who can't relate to rap. Note that you can't see it here; the NFL is out to get me personally. No, just kidding. They just want to control the experience of their content, and... no, they hate me, they do. It's all true.

3. The Ads Were Ads

Much like the game itself, the ads were okay. Some were awful. Some were sorta great. Few were very effective. None were revolutionary. On a personal basis, as a longterm fan of The Sopranos, the spot for the new Chevy Silverado EV truck featuring Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler was absolutely enthralling.

This ad was aimed right at me, and it hit.

Some other ads sort of worth mentioning, I guess...

• Alexa/Mind Reader with Colin Jost and Scarlett Johansson.
• Toyota Tundra/Joneses.
• Lay's Potato Chips with Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen.
• The ad with the bouncing QR code that there was no way in hell I was going to scan. These fucking cryptocurrency people can all fuck themselves.

4. Snacking

I read a stat that I found hard to believe, but apparently it's true that Americans eat more food on Super Bowl Sunday than on any day of the year with the exception of Thanksgiving. For me, the Super Bowl is a spectacle of delicious snacking, rather than big meals. Kat came through once again this year with her incredibly good guacamole. 

Kat's famous Super Bowl guac. Avocados, garlic, cilantro, Serrano peppers,  lime, red onion. Prep an hour ahead of the game, let the flavors intermingle. Simple and delicious.

We also did a little more frou-frou snacking later in the evening, breaking out a truffle tapenade that was lovely with some sesame water crackers and Jarlsberg cheese. After the game ended, a barrage of various explosions shook our neighborhood via my fellow LA-area residents who were happy about the victory. I'm glad for all the true old-school Rams fans. I'd enjoy seeing my Raiders get back there someday, hopefully sooner than later.

Anyway, that was Super Bowl Sunday. I enjoyed it. As usual, I'm going to miss the NFL season while it's gone. I always do.

Hotel Chelsea (02.01.22)

I'd like to think all of my shows are special, but to paraphrase Orwell, some are more special than others. Photo by Kat.

I've done plenty of themed shows over the course of my 15+ year span of doing live solo shows in Second Life. It's very rare that my musical theme is for any specific purpose; it's almost always some random thing that I thought up while combing through my repertoire and deciding what I'll play. Songs that start with the same letter. Music from the '90s. Bands from the UK. Whatever.

That was not at all the case for my show at Hotel Chelsea on February 1, 2022, where I did a full hour dedicated to the music of two artists who have consistently been among my most important musical influences and inspirations: Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. My choice to cover and pay tribute to Neil and Joni wasn't at all random. It was because improbably, both artists were top news stories this past week due to a pretty interesting situation that we'll delve into below.

Neil and Joni in the mid-1970s, perhaps at the height of their respective creative powers.

Neil and Joni and Joe and Spotify

You've already heard about this, so I'll make the synopsis quick. On January 23, Neil Young penned an open letter to Spotify, a company that offers streaming music and audio content. It stated that he felt that popular podcaster Joe Rogan was responsible for purposefully spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccines that help prevent it, and that the platform would have to choose to host either his music or Rogan's podcasts. Spotify, unsurprisingly, opted to stick with Rogan, so Neil followed through and had his music pulled down.

For the benefit of anyone who doesn't understand, Neil never expected that Spotify would choose him over Rogan. In 2020, the streaming platform had paid Rogan $100 million to have exclusive rights to his content. Rogan's podcast is very popular among a coveted demographic: young males with spending power. About three quarters of his audience are men with an average age of 24 years old.

Shortly after Neil's ultimatum, his friend and fellow respected musical artist Joni Mitchell followed suit, stating on January 28 via her website that, "I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue."

The goal here for both artists was never to shut down Rogan, but to call attention to the fact that major media platforms have a responsibility for the content they host and disseminate, and to that end, they both did a hugely successful job. Conversations have been happening worldwide in this regard ever since Neil made his initial statement, and it's an ongoing situation that continues today.

Neil and Joni today. It's amazing to consider how these two septuagenarian artists can still generate front page news simply by expressing their opinions. Side note: while Joni has retired due to various health issues, she was just honored by the Kennedy Center for her lifetime of achievements, and Neil is still making music, having recently released the album Barn with his band Crazy Horse.

Where Do I Stand?

That's easy; I stand in support of the same opinion that Neil and Joni expressed. I have been very consistent on this topic throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccines work, and the vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer (and to an extent Johnson & Johnson) have been extraordinarily successful in allowing people to have better odds of avoiding COVID and/or not having severe illness or death if they catch it anyway.

I did not want the topic of my show to be about bashing Joe Rogan. I really don't think he's the real focus here. I defend the First Amendment vehemently, and people like Joe can continue to state their opinions regardless of what others think. However, as has been the case on many topics from vaccines to elections to racism and much more, the focus is on the platforms that allow the spread of misinformation of many sorts. In fact, after I did my first song, I opened my show with the following statement...

"Old Neil and Old Joni were in the top of the news. They decided to have their music pulled down off of Spotify because they felt that there was content on the Spotify platform that was misinformation about vaccines. I gotta say, I'm not here to support that, and I'm not here to go against that. I'm here to play music for you guys. But I am here to say, it takes a lot of nerve to give up a source of income as a musician, and take your music off the most popular streaming platform in order to take a stand. I admire that, and that's all I'm gonna say about that."

And that's all I did say. No ranting, no throwing guilt at people for their outlooks. As I said, I was there for people to relax and enjoy a night of music, but I did want to be sure they knew exactly why I'd chosen these two artists in particular to honor at this show. Once that was done, I moved on to focusing on the performance, which went very well. More on that in a few.

The only thing I'll say about Joe Rogan, whom I neither love nor hate nor really care about in any sense, is that he's not the person that many of his fans seem to think he is. He endorsed Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential election. He supports cannabis legalization, gay marriage, and other libertarian/centrist outlooks. Joe is a comedian who provides entertainment to people, and I'm not here to judge how seriously people take entertainers (self included) regardless of their level of influence.

Let's Talk About Spotify and Streaming

Having nothing at all to do with this current controversy about Joe Rogan, a lot of people have now become aware of the vastly unfair and inequitable business model of Spotify and, frankly, most music streaming platforms as a whole. In 2022, there are basically three ways to purposefully experience recorded music: a physical purchase (like a vinyl album, a CD, a cassette, and so on), a download (where you pay to download and then have continued access to a song or collection of music) and a stream (where you pay a subscription fee to a service where you can listen to thousands, or even millions of songs or other audio content like podcasts upon demand). The streaming model also allows for free access to content that is supported by ads, which is pretty much like radio except the listener chooses the songs they want to hear.

It easy to see why many people choose the streaming option. It's very much in line with how people in the modern era like to get all their entertainment, like they do when watching video content via services like Netflix. It's very convenient, and it's relatively cheap. I don't blame anyone who likes to stream music.

However, there is one thing that many people are just now learning about, which is that in comparing the three methods of music distribution, streaming is extraordinarily unfair to the people who create the actual music. The typical pay rate an artist receives when their song is streamed is $0.0015. In other words, to make a penny, the song must be streamed about seven times. If the song is streamed 100 times, the artist might get 15 cents. If a song is super successful and is streamed 50,000 times, the artist gets about $75. An important thing to keep in mind: not all artists are paid at the same rates. If you're an artist on a major recording label who is well known and it's to the benefit of the streaming service to attract listeners to have your music available, you'll likely get a higher rate that's negotiated by the label. Taylor Swift makes more per stream on Spotify than, say, Zak Claxton.

Let's compare that to downloads, where typically the artist receives about 70% of the revenue. Those same 50,000 downloads (as opposed to streams) will pay the artist $35,000. That's still not a huge annual income, but it is a viable number. The $75 they get from the equal number of streams likely won't cover a week of groceries, much less rent. 

The royalty rates for streamed music have a lot of variables, and not everyone is paid the same. It's complex and it makes comparison difficult, but here's a graph from Soundcharts.com that gives you a frame of reference.

Are All Streaming Services Bad for Artists? Are Some Worse Than Others?

Well... yes, compared to traditional sales of physical media or the download model. Spotify, as the market leader in music streaming, gets a pretty bad rap on this topic, but frankly other streaming services, which include dozens of platforms like Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz, and many more, can be nearly as bad (or worse in some cases). Pandora and YouTube Music seem to be at the worst end of the list, with Amazon, Apple Music, and Tidal tending to pay a somewhat better royalty rate to the artists who provide them with content. Some of these services also offer better-sounding audio quality compared to Spotify, if you care about that. Here's a big list to refer to and compare.

The reality is that people like streaming. There will never be a way to put the genie back in the bottle. Fortunately, there seems to be a certain percentage of people who still enjoy owning physical media, or enjoy being able to own their own music and support artists in ways that go beyond the instant gratification of a stream.

My personal favorite online music service is called Bandcamp. They tend to focus on independent artists that I prefer, and they are extremely fair in terms of percentage of artist compensation. You can preview complete songs before deciding whether you want to buy the music, and they also offer a way to buy both physical media and merchandise from the artists who are represented there.

If you're looking for a music service that lets you discover cool new music and is very fair to the artists who make it, the choice is easy... it's Bandcamp.

How About That Show?

Ah, the show was just great. We had a large crowd to start with, with Max Kleene being there in the slot before mine, and many of his crowd stayed around for my show. We also had a nice influx of others who came in for the promised Neil/Joni music, in addition to a smattering of my regular Zakster fans.

A superb crowd hangs out after Max's show to hear me do my Neil and Joni tribute. Photo by Kat.

While I've played all of these Neil and Joni songs before, in some cases many, many times, some of them have only made very rare appearances in my set list. Photo by Kat.

In case it's not obvious to everyone how I feel about keeping up the fight against COVID-19, I continue to wear my mask in SL as I do in real life, and will continue doing so until the point where I would be comfortable in that same club in reality. Photo by Kat.

One note about some of the songs I chose. It's difficult to perform some of them simply because they are often in alternate guitar tunings... especially in the case of Joni Mitchell. I explained to my audience how both Neil and Joni contracted polio as children. For Neil, it left him with a pronounced limp ever since. In Joni's case, it left her without the hand strength to fret guitar chords in the way most people do. This led to her exploring different ways to tune the guitar and achieve some amazing and unique sounds as a result. The downside is that like most musicians, I don't like taking up time during my set to tune and re-tune the guitar. That's one reason that many of her songs, as great as they are, stay buried in my repertoire. 

Side note: between Neil and Joni, I have well over 60 songs that I've performed from time to time. It's more than any other artist I cover, for the simple reason that I love sharing their great music and keeping people aware of their greatness over the course of time.

Hotel Chelsea set list...

Free Man in Paris (Joni Mitchell)

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Neil Young)

Court & Spark (Joni Mitchell)

Don’t Let It Bring You Down (Neil Young)

A Case of You (Joni Mitchell)

The Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young)

Furry Sings the Blues (Joni Mitchell)

Old Man (Neil Young)

All I Want (Joni Mitchell)

Harvest Moon (Neil Young)

Sex Kills (Joni Mitchell)

Heart of Gold (Neil Young)

Huge thanks to the many people who came to Hotel Chelsea for this special show, with extra thanks to the following who helped support it!

Jenaia Morane, Elaine8000 Resident, Troy Shoreland, Canuck Dismantled, Hairy Thor, Bec Jigsaw, jerzzie Reece, Trouble Streeter, Maximillion Kleene, StevenStrikker Resident , Kat Claxtonmy terrific manager Maali Beck, and Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko!

A Look Back at the Second Life Neil Young Archives

Circa 2007, the Second Life Neil Young Archives had a barn, a little stage, and a whole lot of info about the musician himself. Photo by Kat.

An old friend, of sorts, has been in the news this week. To be clear, Neil Young doesn't know me in any way conceivable. I one time briefly spoke to him on the phone at work, yanking the call away from a tech support rep at an audio equipment manufacturer, and another time sat near him at an awards banquet in the '90s, and listened and laughed while he railed mercilessly about the shitty audio quality of the Compact Disc directly in front of the Sony executives from Japan who were responsible for it. That's the extent of my personal contact with Neil. It's not much.

So no, all I am to Neil is one of millions of people from multiple generations who appreciate his music. And frankly, as a person who makes it a point not to idolize musicians or other famous folks, I don't put Neil up on some pedestal. He's a dude whose music I like and whose outlook -- politically, socially, and so on -- happens to align well with my own.

I really wouldn't have predicted that in 2022, this guy would be dominating the news cycle, but it's a strange world in which we live.

What's Going On with Old Neil?

A lot. In November, he turned 76 years old. In December, he released his 41st studio album. It's called Barn, and he's back with the current version of Crazy Horse, which is a whole lot of most other versions of the band, with Ralph Molina on drums, Billy Talbot on bass, and his old cohort Nils Lofgren taking the role of rhythm guitar, piano, occasional accordion and backing vocals. Just last week, he premiered a film about the making of the album. It was cool. His ladyfriend Daryl Hannah directed it. I watched the premiere on YouTube.

But the reason that Neil has been in the news in recent days has nothing to do with any of that. He chose to have his music pulled from the Spotify music streaming service because of their continued support of the Joe Rogan podcast and its continued misinformation campaign about COVID-19 vaccination. Interestingly, as a result, I'm seeing a ton of people discovering Neil's music, talking about Neil, and looking into alternatives to Spotify as a result. It's kind of unsurprising that Neil manages to benefit from something that would be detrimental to other artists with less integrity.

I've seen more talk about Neil Young in the past few days than in the past few years. I'm sure he's enjoying this as much as anyone.

Zak Claxton's SL Neil Young Archives: A Retrospective

This is what I really wanted to mention, because at the moment, there's no other record of it. Back in 2007, I wanted to create something unique in the online virtual world of Second Life. With the help of Kat Claxton, who was running a virtual design company at the time, we put up the Second Life Neil Young Archives. It actually got quite a bit of attention from both the early metaverse community and the world of Neil Young fandom; here's an article on the NY fan blog Thrasher's Wheat about it. 

The whole thing was contained in a two-story barn structure, with a pleasant little outdoor area that included a small stage and other accoutrements. We took a look at some of the buildings on Neil's ranch in Northern California to get inspiration for the virtual build. It used a lot of textures of wood and rust, appropriately. On the bottom level were walls covered with every album Neil had done to date, categorized between his time in Buffalo Springfield through CSNY through Crazy Horse and the rest of his solo work.

You could actually use a little rope swing to jump from the second story into a pile of hay that was down near the stage and the windmill. It was really cool, especially for 2007. Photo by Kat.

There were dozens and dozens of albums on display, arranged in time sequence through Neil's long career. Each album had the track listing and all credits. Photo by Kat.

More of the downstairs album zone. Photo by Kat.

Upstairs became an homage to the then newly-released NY Archives Vol. 1, along with a display on Neil's instruments and a chill zone straight from the cover of On The Beach. Photo by Kat.

The top level had representations of Neil's famous instruments, like his Martin D-45 acoustic guitar, his "Old Black" Gibson Les Paul, his Fender Tweed Deluxe amp, and even his Hohner Marine Band harmonica on a holder. In 2009, when Neil finally delivered his long-awaited Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 box set, I updated the upstairs area with graphics showing the full timeline information that was included with the package. There was even a little spot upstairs to chill, with the setup of beach chairs and umbrella from the On The Beach album cover, along with virtual beers to drink and virtual things to smoke. 

I have to say, we did a really great job on the whole thing, and we had a ton of people visiting the sim and even joining Second Life specifically for the purpose of hanging out there. I certainly didn't have any official authorization to give Neil a presence in the virtual world. I put it up because it was a subject I knew well and thought that people would enjoy. I was quite public about it and no one from Neil's camp or record label ever complained, so it stayed there in Second Life as a digital museum of sorts for about six years or more.

Where Did It Go?

Well, like many things in life, my Second Life Neil Young Archives required time, effort, and money. It was located on an island sim that was owned by Kat primarily for her virtual world development business. When she moved away from that business to spend time as a software developer for a bunch of entertainment companies (ironically including the label that Neil Young records for), she no longer had the time to do much building in SL. The end of the business meant the end of the costly island that she'd owned for that purpose.

We moved the SLNYA to a large parcel of a mainland sim for a couple of years, but then even that became more costly than it was worth, with Kat and I having less and less time to spend in Second Life for any purpose. Eventually we downsized our entire SL land parcel to a small space, and there was no room for the SLNYA.

And so, the Second Life Neil Young Archives is gone... sort of. It's actually not; the whole kit and caboodle is in a Zip file of sorts in Kat's SL inventory. An archive of an archive, if you will. And who knows; someday if I find myself with the luxury of time and the desire to do so, I could find a plot of virtual land and set the whole thing up again. But for now, I'm glad to have these memories of a little chunk of a world that's ephemeral by nature. I'm proud of the work we did on the SLNYA, and I can say it was a good use of time for a person worthy of the effort.

Terry's Place (01.16.22)

A fun Sunday afternoon, rocking at Terry's Place. Photo by Kat.

Hello you. I'll tell you about my show at Terry's Place, which went really well and was fun, but I'm also going to start with various random things, as I tend to do. We'll get the to the show eventually.

Good Job, Las Vegas Raiders

In as much as I had hopes that the Raiders could get their first playoff win since the 2002-2003 season, it was not to be. However, this team was never supposed to even be close to the playoffs. An unplanned coaching change in midseason? A team torn by the turmoil of a star wideout facing murder charges? An NFL record six walk-off games, all won with no time on the clock? My genuine opinion is had the Raiders somehow made it past a scrappy Bengals squad, they never would have handled an opponent like the Bills or Chiefs. Anyway, it was a super entertaining season (and I can now watch the rest of the playoffs with much less stress, with my team not being part of it), and I'm already pumped for next year.

Yes, I'd have preferred a win, but just getting back to the playoffs was way better than what I'd expected. Here's to next year, Raider Nation!

Omicron Days

Maybe it's just me, but it kind of feels like most people are pretty much giving up on fighting COVID. I supposed after almost two years, it's understandable that a certain sort of person just accepts defeat. Like many areas of the USA, Los Angeles County has seen a massive surge in cases in recent weeks, and while hospitalizations and deaths are down due to a large percentage of the population being vaccinated, some people are still not taking the basic precautionary measures to avoid this shitty illness. We now have 2.26 million cases in LA County, and 28,059 deaths. The United States has seen 65.8 million cases and 850,000 deaths since this shit started. Well, the rest of you people might have thrown in the towel and waved the white flag, but not this guy! I'm triple-vaxxed, I'm masked up in all public situations, and I'm going to do everything possible to get through this unscathed. If I still end up getting it, it won't be because I didn't do everything in my power to win this war.

COVID-19 new cases here in LA County. Look at that spike that started in mid-December. It's literally the worst point ever in the entire pandemic. Thankfully, most of these cases are mild and the death rate is much lower compared to 2020 and 2021. Data from the New York Times.

Visiting Family

On Saturday January 14, we were finally able to go visit my elderly mom and her husband, and do a belated holiday gift-giving and dinner. It was my first time seeing them in person in exactly two years, despite them living just a half hour south of here in San Pedro. Everyone there, which included my niece and my step-brother, was vaccinated and had tested negative for COVID. It was great to see them all. We had a good time, and did it safely in a way that didn't imperil the old folks.

In addition to human family, I got to see this giant doofus as well. Good boy, Atticus.

And Now, The Show

Terry's Place in Second Life always has a nice, relaxed vibe. I've played there several times now and always really enjoy the setting of the venue and the people who come see live music there. We didn't have a huge crowd, but those who were there seemed to really enjoy it. The venue usually features me every few months as part of their "Sunday Showcase" events that are presented by the SL Enquirer.

Ninja Antwoord, who runs the place, told me on my first outing there that he enjoys '90s alt rock, and I tend to build my set lists there using that genre as a starting point. For whatever reason, both my voice and in particular my guitar were cooperating very nicely on Sunday. That's not always the case, of course, so I appreciate it when it happens.

Still rocking my mask in SL, just life real life. It will be a great day when I remove it, because that will indicate that I'm cool without it in real life as well. Photo by Kat.

It was cool pulling out some of my more rare tunes. The list of songs I do in Second Life is now well over 600 songs deep, and I really should make it a point to play some of those deeper cuts more often than I do. Photo by Kat.

All of my previous shows at Terry's Place had been on a smaller outdoor stage. This time, it was at a neat snow lodge. I enjoyed the change of scenery. Photo by Kat.

I've said it many times... I don't need a giant crowd to have a great show in SL. Everyone there was having a good time, and I'll play at Terry's Place anytime they want to have me back. Photo by Kat.

This show couldn't have happened at a better time for me. It's been a super crazy time at work in recent weeks, and it's been rare that I've had an entire day off, weekend or otherwise. Having this show on Sunday allowed me to stop worrying about deadlines for a good chunk of the day, focusing instead on just performing live music. That really helped lower my overall stress level, and I feel better going into another busy week having done this show.

Terry's Place set list...

Vasoline (Stone Temple Pilots)

1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)

Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)

Jaywalker (Andy Shauf)

No One Knows (Queens of the Stone Age)

I’ve Been Waiting for You (Neil Young)

Low Key (Tweedy)

Nobody Home (Pink Floyd)

Doctor. My Eyes (Jackson Browne)

Nearly Lost You (Screaming Trees) 

Pretty Pimpin (Kurt Vile)

Behind Blue Eyes (The Who)

*Show Ending Terry's Place Improv (Zak Claxton)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.

Huge thanks to all who came by, with special thanks to the following who helped support the show!

RamblinrozeSpiritweaver Resident, EzSilver Resident, Twostep SpiritWeaver, Bee Blackrain, ChristineAntwoord Resident, OooDonnaooO Resident, Harlow Davi, Trouble Streeter, Kat Claxton, my terrific manager Maali Beck, show sponsor the SL Enquirer, and Terry's Place head honcho Ninja Antwoord!

Hotel Chelsea Rooftop (01.01.22)

Rocking the rooftop of Hot Chelsea on a chilly first day of 2022. Photo by Kat.

Happy new year... I think.

I woke up on Saturday January 1 feeling slightly off, a sensation that lasted the entirety of the day. To be clear, since I don't drink alcohol on New Year's or otherwise, there was no hangover involved. This "offness" was accompanied by a sore throat and some chills and such. Nothing horrendous; I was still able to perform music for a full hour at Hotel Chelsea's special New Year's Day event that afternoon, which went well. But with the huge surge of the easily-transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19, it wouldn't be a huge shock if I'd picked it up.

Unlike previous times over the past almost two years of pandemic, it wouldn't be a huge concern if I did end up testing positive for the disease. I mean, it wouldn't be good either, and frankly my bigger concerns at this stage are in regard to the long-term implications of contracting COVID-19, not the immediate illness. I am fully vaccinated and got my booster shot in mid-December. If I have it, it's unlikely I'll be hospitalized or worse. So, depending on how I'm feeling over the next couple of days, it might be wise to get tested. I'm already feeling better on Sunday than I was on Saturday, so my optimistic view is that I'm perfectly fine.

It being the start of a new year, I'd like to talk about the concept of time for a moment.

What Is Time?
Time is a way of describing the seemingly unidirectional sequence of events that "moves" from past to present to future. We're already in trouble with that definition. What is the present? Is it now? Or how about... now? Wait, you already read that in the past. Too late. Let's stop this maddening and futile exercise.

Instead, let's talk about how people perceive time and try and measure and subdivide it. We have a calendar that helps us keep track of things... useful for human activities like planting crops and dressing appropriately. We have a planet that spins, giving the illusion of a sun that rises and sets. We have clocks that tell us about the measurement of the passage of time with a pretty good degree of accuracy (though even that is an illusion, because the passage of time is unique to each various frame of reference... learn some more about Einsteinian relativity for more info on that topic).

Anyway, time does seem to sort of exist in various ways, but the more contextual aspect of it is how we measure it. A year is the amount of time it takes for Earth to make a full rotational orbit around the sun... sort of. The actual time is 365 days, 5 hours, 59 minutes and 16 seconds, so roughly every four years, we have to add a day so that the calendar stays aligned with the universe. Not very precise if you ask me, but whatever.

Like most things, time is weird.

Happy New Year?

So, we get to this point where we call it a new year so we can all do the same things at the same time, sort of. And people say things like, "Last year was terrible." First of all, I am very sorry if every single day in the past 365 was terrible for you. That seems awful. But I doubt it's true. And in my experience, at the end of every single goddamn year, people are much more likely to comment about how bad it was, as opposed to talking about all the great things that happened. This is human nature, whether I agree with it or not. Negative events last longer in our memories.

Do you know what years people think they like? They like the years that happened long ago, before they had a bunch of stress-inducing responsibilities. Even people who admit that their high school years were a nightmare tend to say that times were better then than now. I'm not going to tell them they're wrong, but again, with human nature being what it is, aspects of nostalgia seem to paint a prettier picture than the reality of the moment.

So to wrap up this silliness, I've never had a good year, and I've never had a bad year. I've had great moments and terrible moments. Some lasted longer, and some were very short lived. I expect that good things and bad things will happen in this current period of rotation around our little star that we call 2022, and my generally optimistic outlook has me hoping that there's more good than bad. Either way, I'm not going to worry much about it, and just do the things I do to survive and find enjoyment where I can.

Good things will happen in 2022. Bad things will happen in 2022. Some people will have better years than others. One thing that's been more true than not in my 52 year on this planet: when I anticipate good things, they seem more likely to happen.

How About That Show?

Yeah, that was cool. Let's talk about that. So, for whatever reason, I've done a lot of shows on January 1. It's not a typical day for live music. Most of the live shows are attached to New Year's Eve, not New Year's Day, but looking back, I see that I performed on January 1 in 2018 and 2012, and also have a bunch of years that I've done shows on January 2 or January 3. It's a good way to start a fresh year, doing the thing I've done for so much of my life and hope to continue to do for many years to come.

A small but happy crowd on the roof. Photo by Kat.

This insane little being is Shyla the Super Gekko, Hotel Chelsea's events manager and a person who really appreciates good music. Side note: SL used to have a lot more non-human avatars and I always enjoyed that. Photo by Kat. 

There was a time when I would never have thought I'd still be wearing a mask -- in real life or in SL -- in the year 2022. I was wrong. As I've stated many times in the past, my mask in SL comes off as soon as I'd feel comfortable being in public without a mask in real life. Photo by Kat. 

This show at Hotel Chelsea was a bit different than my usual gig inside the Mexican restaurant at street level. Instead, it was up on the roof, a place I'd never been before. It was cute; they'd decked out the place with a little stage, and people seemed to be in a good mood when I arrived. Joe Paravane, an SL musician who I enjoy, was doing the set before me as I warmed up and got my stuff set up to play.

It being a new year, I decided to make "Old & New" the theme for my set, and alternated between songs of the 1900s and 2000s, with a number of tunes in my set that were released in 2021. I also had a couple of songs I'd never done before, which is always fun for both me and my audience. The crowd was small -- something I'd expected on New Year's Day -- but those who were there were having a good time.

My view from the snowy rooftop stage. Photo by Kat.

Hotel Chelsea Rooftop set list...

*Doctor, My Eyes (Jackson Browne)

Garter Snake (Macie Stewart)

River Man (Nick Drake)

*Jaywalker (Andy Shauf)

God Only Knows (Beach Boys)

Bird of Paradise (Cory Hanson)

Pigs on the Wing - Parts I and II (Pink Floyd)

Gardenia (Iggy Pop)

Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)

Sleeper in the Valley (Laura Veirs)

Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie)

Among the Leaves (Sun Kil Moon)

*Happy New Year's Chelsea Improv (Zak Claxton)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL.

Big ol' thanks to everyone who came to the show, with special super thanks to the following who helped support it!

noowun Wind, Thunderfoot Lorefield, Kedwyn Parmelee, CalebDominus Resident, Joe Paravane,  CharityDevine Resident, Kat Claxton, my terrific manager Maali Beck, and Hotel Chelsea manager Shyla the Super Gecko!