Mark Westin: Mark's Ramblings

I performed as part of Peace Songs night at the Listening Room in Cold Spring, NY on March 5. With my handy Flipcam (incredible little HD camera) I captured the flavor of the event on video, and fortunately even managed to appear in it myself (thanks Joel for shooting). Check it out.

I've been shooting videos of my fellow Hudson Valley artists at the Listening Room on Thursday nights in Cold Spring NY. No vids of me yet, cause I'm usually playing instead of shooting myself, but I'll get 'em there soon enough. Meanwhile, enjoy the other folks here.

A song by Ken Veltz, who I've had the pleasure of performing with this past year. I'm one of the voices singing (faintly) on the out choruses. Please copy the URL and send it to friends - it's a great sentiment.

Now that I've succumbed to the pressure and put up Myspace and Facebook pages (as well as Twittering for awhile), I've observed a curious phenomenon of the web.

I used to tell people they could find me on the web at spinachworld.net. I figured they would get everything they needed - contact info, music clips, links to merch, videos, and even the guestbook (which seemed to me equivalent to the comments on Myspace). I can track usage of this site, so I could tell that response was kinda flat.

Then I put up a Myspace and Facebook page, with essentially the same information and links available here, and all of a sudden it's off the hook - I'm connecting with people every day.

Now, I'm not the one going out and searching for these people - they're coming to me based on me telling them I have a web page. The only difference is that instead of directing them to spinachworld, I direct them to Myspace.

Some of these people aren't even Myspacers, they just want to check out the songs. So why are they going there when the same amount of mouse-click and keyboarding would bring them here?

Anyone? Bueller?

You can now find me on MySpace and Facebook. Friend me, babes.

I just read this article entitled (ahem), Beets: The New Spinach
I like beets fine. Didn't used to - when I was a kid I broke out in hives the first time I tried them and then didn't eat them again for several decades. But I like 'em now. And there are some valid health points and decent preparation ideas in the article.

However...and let me make this crystal clear...beets will NEVER be the new spinach. Only my beloved spinach will be SPINACH FOREVER.

So, New York Times: Let's call a moratorium on the whole "X, the new Y" thing, K? It's not especially clever and it might hurt some feelings. I mean, how do you think the color black feels after all the slights it's received? Every other week something's the "NEW black".

Personally I never saw anything wrong with the old black. For that matter I never saw it as old or new.

Okay article, lousy title.

Every so often ya gotta paint the walls and mix it up a bit, just to keep things fresh.

So that's what I did. Hope you like the revamped site - it's a work in progress.

I've been fortunate in recent weeks to take part several times in a fantastic songwriters' round in Cold Spring, NY.

It's called The Listening Room and it happens on Thursdays at the Cold Spring Depot, a joint right at the end of Main Street by the train tracks.

As a songwriter, it's everything you could want, starting with (as the name suggests) an audience that actually listens to what you're singing. They laugh at the funny lines, cry at the sad ones, and sometimes even sing along. Yes, they'll sing along with original songs that they've often never heard before, usually encouraged by the ringleader of this shindig, Ken Veltz.

Ken is also one to sit by the stage area and drum along with your tunes on some handy percussive surface. He can actually play drums, so he keeps good time and throws in a few tasty fills here and there. I know I enjoy it when he gets into one of my grooves.

There's a community of really strong songwriters of all stripes, and everyone is very supportive of everyone else's work. At most other venues where you might gig, you want to go with your A material and put on a polished performance. At the Listening Room, people jump off cliffs all the time, trying new songs, works in progress, and just plain goofiness.

I'm almost hesitant to make this too public because it's such a great gig, but I'm writing this because for those of you who like the kind of stuff I do, it's worth the trip. And if you're city folk it's an easy train ride from Grand Central, so there's no excuse. Like I said, it's right by the train tracks.

I'll be back there as often as Ken lets me, and I hope you'll come check it out. You can always check my Live Dates page to see if I'm on the bill any given week, and get linked to directions and times from there.

I've posted several videos on the See Hear! page.

These are spoken word essays about various aspects of life and pop culture that are part of my ThrobbingCow videoblog.

Musicians will definitely want to check out "The Virgin Britney Dream" (Paris Hilton fans too), while journalists and culture vultures will enjoy the two part "From Bands to Bandwidth" and "Two Turntables and a Cameraphone".

The others are pretty cool too. Enjoy!

I'm now available from the following digital distributors. Search "Mark Westin" to find it.

iTunes
Ruckus
BuyMusic
GroupieTunes
Muze
Tradebit
Napster
AudioLunchbox
GreatIndieMusic
Inprodicon
MusicIsHere
PayPlay
Verizon
Amie Street

Check it out!!!

After far too long, "dirty folk" is back from the pressing plant and ready to go. I'm incredibly pleased with how it came out. The cover looks great and the disc sounds terrific. Some of my best work I think.

It's in the process of going up on CDBaby and iTunes now. Stay tuned.

Just wanna let you know that my original creation, the Penguinicon, which looks like this: (8>{OI
...is now available on t-shirts and hats at the Spinach World store . You can click the link above or visit the "Buy Stuff" page over on the top of the right side there ---> Be the first on your block to own this high-fashion item from the first Spinach Couture Collection! What does it have to do with music, you ask? Hmm, you'll just have to wait and see...

Hey kidz,
Move From Center is now available on iTunes!!!
Download all your fave tracks now!

Hey there -
It's been a hectic few months so I haven't posted as much as I'd like.

On the music front, "dirty folk" is finally in final mix and it will be out within months, so expect an annoying group email soon. And if I can believe the people who handle these things, my earlier CD "Move From Center" should be available on iTunes, so pay yer damn 99c and get a track or two now, k???

You might consider organic spinach, and for that matter organic anything. Now more than ever, pay attention to what kind of food goes into your body.

To say nothing of the fact that organic foods just taste better.

No matter how the MAN tries to bring us down, he will never vanquish the mighty green!!!

Doing my part for awareness, here's the latest on tainted spinach. Hang in there, leaf lovers, we will get through this.

In case you haven't heard, the FDA has issued a warning about E. Coli contamination of fresh bagged spinach. Read the full info here.

It's a dark day in leafy greens history, my friends. But don't blame the spinach. If you're gonna blame anyone, blame the industry food-handling standards that allow this to happen.

A brand new song by Mark Westin & Steve Giordano is featured on the soundtrack of the motion picture Fast Lane Summer, a great film about top fuel drag racing. Check out the tune on the See Hear! page.

...is on the See Hear! page. I released this early in response to the current Middle East situation.

"Open mike" and "Approximates a soul", two more tracks from the upcoming "dirty folk" album are available for your listening pleasure on the See Hear! page

I've been struggling with the final stages of completion for "dirty folk", my new album. The original idea was to do a record that was as live, immediate, and one-take as possible, warts and all. I'd sacrifice technique for energy, emotion and pure balls.

That's the spirit in which I recorded. But when I got to the mix phase I suddenly found myself filled with conflict; what order should the songs go in for best effect? Should I turn up the guitar or move the vocals to one side? Which song should I "produce up" for most commercial potential?

And then I remembered what I was doing this record for. I'm doing it as a gesture of respect to all the artists before me, who influenced me musically and personally, who shaped my worldview and taught me how to express it. To all the artists who spoke through their songs or through their example about the way life really works. About politics, society, religion, humanity.
You know, all the 'difficult' subjects. All the ones that requre individual thought to comprehend. All the non-commercial ones.

I realized I had to leave my record alone. I wrote the songs as best I could and sang 'em as best as I can. And I'm leaving behind a document for future generations to know that life on this planet wasn't all manufactured, processed and focus-grouped before being implanted into the willing brains of a love-starved public.

So I'm making the record I want to make - unvarnished, immediate, real. As a tribute to the artists before me who did the same in their time. The artists who attempted to say something whether or not anyone was listening, whether what they were saying was in vogue at the moment, and even whether what they were saying made any sense at all. The artists who searched for truth in all its myriad forms and struggled to bring their discoveries to a wider world. In short, the artists who MATTERED.

PS - re: the above ramble, I have a recurring nightmare that when 3000 years have passed and future civilizations or aliens are digging us up, they will judge our civilization only by what survives in the greatest quantity. Check out "The Virgin Britney Dream" video for the full version of the tale.

The first song, though not necessarily the first single, from my upcoming "dirty folk" album, is on the See Hear! page now. Check it out.