My Fellow Travelers,

There is a Golden light at the end of the tunnel.  It grows brighter and brighter as we advance upon our course, bolstering the promise of a new Era.  It was this time two years past when I began to enter the most dramatic creative epoch of my adult life.  With the fall of the first leaf, original ideas began rushing into my consciousness at a profound rate – overflowing onto my daily page.  As fast – faster than I could write, I kept a record while ordinary words spontaneously clothed themselves with the splendor of Solomon and danced around in my mind’s ballroom in elegant free-form.  These moments in life are to me, undeniable demonstrations of my purpose, reverting me to a child – with all the wonderment and newness of life therein.  Throughout those autumnal days and nights, I did not venture far from this Holistic state; nor from my home, other than to launch my frame into the density of Nature so that I might chance to find an external counterpoint for the beautiful scene within.  It was a fine period of introspection in which I became richly acquainted with my creative source, followed by a summer of harsh realities when I was forced to confront my core philosophies and to weed-out those that were in conflict with the realization of my purpose.  Since, I have established a balance between being and doing which has made it possible for me to plug-in to the aforementioned Divine flow at will – framing limitless abstractions so that they may be shared for $0.99 apiece.

Most of the selections which will appear on ‘The Golden Age’ were penned within these past two seasons of Fall.  Therefore, I am delighted by the fact that it will be released into that cool, dry air.  Methinks it will make more sense then.  At this point, however, I am finding it virtually impossible to listen to this music objectively. As a result of the mixing process, which necessitates repeated, critical listening; I have become to close to every nuance of every movement of this body of work to assume any sort of fresh perspective.  I cannot even fathom the impression that one or another might come away with upon its first listen! Many among you have expressed great anticipation for that first impression and so let me assure you – I am equally eager!  I promise in earnest that I will impart a sample just as soon as I receive the final mastered copy, which is expected to be in the second week of September.  Until then, I must reiterate that I sincerely appreciate your continued support.  I have come to greet every day with an enormous sense of Gratitude that could only be diminished by an attempt to express it in words.

Mr. H.

At our Basement show on July 6, I was approached by a gentleman named Kevin Kaz who informed me that he had surreptitiously captured a video of our performance which he would impart for a nominal fee. What a brilliant idea!  It was reminiscent of stepping off a roller-coaster at Disney World and being solicited to purchase a photograph while under the influence of adrenaline.  Of course I would trade my money for an objective view of that memorable moment!  Not more than a day after a simple online transaction there was a disc in my mailbox, the contents of which I  found it to be of the highest quality.  I am grateful for the ingenuity of this fellow!  His other works may be found on his Vimeo Page.   ~Hazelwood

It has become exceedingly necessary that I should express my sincerest gratitude for those who have taken an active interest in the progress of my upcoming album.  In these early stages of what I intend to be a life-long career in the recording arts, you are the pioneers of a land which is yet to be discovered.  Each of your posts upon this and other of our pages is like a National flag, planted upon the surface of Mars.  It is by virtue of your curious nature that this site stands to be colonized by future adventurous music fans, and so I am truly humbled and inspired by your openness.  I thank you wholeheartedly.

There have been several developments since my last post.  One important announcement is that I have decided to change the name of the record to ‘The Golden Age’.  Mr. McMahan and I have spent the past week in his home studio, making some finishing touches to the tracks before we set about mixing them down.  In listening to those eleven selections as a whole – after having gotten away from them for a month – I was able to listen more objectively than ever before.  As I have mentioned previously, we made the decision to go back into the House of David and record a song entitled ‘The Golden Age’ at least a month after the initial tracking sessions.  And to me, it seems a fitting title track and the perfect ‘last song’ on the album.  It is commonplace to put a lot of consideration into selecting the opening song on an album, but I have an almost equal fixation on how the album should end.  That perfect last song just wasn’t there…until ‘The Golden Age’!   Interestingly enough, the opening song is yet to be determined.  The album will be rendered within a fortnight and I have complete faith that this initial track will emerge and the rest will fall into sequence. 

Another important tidbit is that we have been booked for two performances at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville!  These dates are September 24 and October 15 – each on a Friday.  It is quite an honor to be asked to perform in the midst of priceless works of art and in such serene, marbled environs. 

Last night we did a set at The Wine Loft in The Gulch area of Nashville.  It was a wonderful moody environment with an attentive and gracious crowd.  I extend my warmest thanks to the staff there and everyone who came in support.  Tonight, we appear once again at The Family Wash in East Nashville.  It will be the same stripped-down manifestation of the New Transcendentalists as last night – Mr. Goforth on lap-steel/harmonica, Mr. Estes on bass, and my-self.  Our set begins at 9pm sharp.

Until we meet again,
Mr. Hazelwood

The Basement is my very favourite place to experience and to perform live music in Nashville.  The layout, lighting, and/or unseen aspects of that environment are inexplicably conducive to the intimate exchange of energy betwixt performer and audience.  It is appropriately termed ‘The Basement’ as breaching its discreet rear entrance is liken-to taking refuge in a storm shelter – amidst a swirling squall of worldly complexities.  I like the safe, underground feeling invoked by this dimly-lit dive, both on and off the stage.  I have witnessed countless shows there which I would categorize as ‘magic moments’, being saturated in that certain something that makes for an awe-inspiring performance.  Stand-out performances by Sarah Siskind, Jennifer Niceley, The Altered Statesmen, Kurt Wagner of Lambchop, and many others rush into my mind as I recall that feeling of musical transcendence.  Certainly, there have been many great performances there which I have missed altogether, and so other minds have surely been impressed with once-in-a-lifetime experiences within that space which have managed to evade my consciousness.  But in those sanctified moments of my recollection, I have no doubt that every other present soul was equally inspired and engaged as I was.  It is among my philosophies that this is the aim of music – to invoke this mysterious, collective experience that I want to call Unity.

Last night, from the vantage-point of the stage, there were undeniable moments when logic was suspended just long enough to allow that unnamed entity to flow into our performance.  It seems to me that the degree to which every participant – musicians and spectators alike – is willing to surrender in this way is directly proportional to the success of the performance – ‘success’ being defined in the aforementioned terms.  I am at a loss when I attempt to intellectualize this experience, so I will say only this:  It felt Good.  From my position in the stage-lights I was only able to discern a room-full of shadowy figures.  I often find these lighting conditions favourable, because in my opinion it is detrimental to a performer to gauge the response of an audience in-the-moment, or to second-guess any myriad of perceptions in-order-to adjust his performance in alignment with some imaginary expectation.  Emerson said it best: “Shall I preclude my future, by taking a high seat, and kindly adapting my conversation to the shape of heads?”  It would serve no end for me to deliver some performance that I could only mistakenly presume one would want to hear.  Moreover, it feels extremely liberating to allow for the possibility that my own perception could be the correct one!  This is how last night’s performance felt to me – as though my own intuition was served.

After the performance, that collective body of silhouettes disintegrated into individual personages with features and expressions and encouraging remarks!  It is inexpressibly gratifying to receive such an overwhelmingly positive response after having detached from a need for it.  It is at such a moment when I am completely fascinated with the perceptions of others with regard to my music.  I want to know what they see and hear and visualize, and if it speaks to their experience of life.  I want to know how they came to be there, and recognize the synchronistic undercurrent of those logistics.  I want to say a silent prayer of gratitude for having crossed their path.  The same goes for my band-mates, the New Transcendentalists.  I feel very grateful to have had the opportunity to share the stage with each of these highly-creative individuals.  Yet, having said all that, I have the sense that our stage-show has yet to become fully actualized.  Upon the release of ‘Days of the Visceral’, I fully expect our presentation to have reached greater and greater heights. 

~ Mr. Hazelwood

The Family Wash, being blocks from my estate, has become for me a place of solace.  A laundry facility – turned music venue, it is a place where I am often inclined to test my material – to ‘come clean’, if you will – absolving my-self of a persistent sense of duty to broadcast those epiphanies which have come to me from the enigmatic now-here.  Creation is a cycle.  I fully believe that if I do not share my gifts – those things which make me joyful – I am blocking a flow, and hindering future creative ideas.  It is an economy of creativity.  Inspiration is a currency which must circulate, and so I must spend freely, and with faith that more is on its way. 

Tuesday evening I claimed the stage for a half-hour, presenting an abbreviated set of music with only the aetherial half of the New Transcendentalists – no rhythm section.  It is interesting to me how variations in accompaniment can transform the quintessence of a repertoire of music.  This set felt very mellow and spacey, lacking in an energy created by rhythmic pulse, yet revealing nuances of feeling which otherwise might not be prevalent.  All one can do in such a moment is to let go of any presuppositions of what should-be and surrender to what-is.  In doing so, I found great reward in the passages of this mild-tempered set of music, and I trust that the audience did as well. 

As our album release is a mere couple of months away, it has become apparent to me that I need to schedule some appearances surrounding that event.  Perhaps a Fall Tour is in order!  Already, I have begun to coordinate with various personages to facilitate future bookings, and have met with flattering receptivity thus-far.  However, if any among you are inspired to recommend a venue befitting our aesthetic or another act with whom we might clique, I would be delighted hear from you!

With Gratitude,
Mr. Hazelwood

Circumstance having granted us a month-long reprieve, it was satisfying to return to the studio on Friday, May 28.  The producer Mr. Joe McMahan and I met at the House of David with a clear set of objectives – to finish any overdubs which could only be captured in that space, as it would soon be occupied indefinitely by other recording artists.  Primarily, this meant we had to finish the few remaining vocal tracks, since the vintage Neumann tube microphone (cmv-536) – which had been an integral part of my vocal sound – was property of the studio.  Also, if any additional piano parts were called-for, we knew it wise to make use of the beautiful-sounding Baldwin grand piano while it was still at our disposal.  Once this was all finished, and if there was still time, I had also hoped to lay down the basic tracks for a new song entitled ‘The Golden Age’, which had not been ready to record during the initial sessions.  I am pleased to announce that we did all of this and still had time to consolidate and copy the entire album’s files (with the help of an engineer named Mr. Adam Bednarik) to a hard drive to be transferred to Wow & Flutter – Mr. McMahan’s studio – where we will mix and render them to be mastered.

‘The Golden Age’ needed a sparse arrangement – or else it would not have been feasible to track it this late in the process, as the logistics of setting up and conducting a full-band session would be too time-consuming and expensive to justify doing so for only one song.  This session was merely my-self on guitar and vocal, Mr. Ryan Norris on piano, and the aforementioned Mr. Bednarik on upright bass.  In the end, – due to the pure creativity of these instrumentalists and Mr. McMahan’s clear vision and respectful guidance – the song became everything I had hoped it would be, and more!  With that, it pleases me to exclaim that we have moved into the next stage of this album project, and thereby a huge step closer to its release!  I am so eager to reveal it to you that I can scarcely contain my glee!

Also, I would like to make mention of my recent efforts to improve upon this web-site, particularly this Journal.  It had been my intention all along to blur the lines between reality and imagination – as cosmically-speaking, I find that there is no such distinction.  But, it eventually occurred to me that this was creating a chore for the reader, to decipher real-world information from the smatterings of my creative mind.  Therefore, I have created two categories – ‘News’ and ‘Musings’ – one being Non-Fiction, or a place to garner ‘facts’; and the other being Fiction, or ‘the free realm of my imagination’.  I do hope this will clear up any confusion and/or concerns with regard to my mental health.  Just so you know, this post has been categorized under ‘News’.

Good Day!
Mr. Hazelwood

Photo by: Amy Hall

News   ~   Musings

Dear friends,

As the release of our album ‘The Golden Age’ is drawing nearer, I have decided to re-establish this periodical to be in first order, a source of News.  In the past, it has served me well as a place for my creative Musings, but the season has come for me to focus my efforts on busy-work.  However, as I may still be inclined to engage in the occasional act of creative writing, I have narrowed my post categories down to these two. I thank you whole-heartedly for your interest, and hope you will visit regularly as there are many exciting announcements to come!

The author,
Mr. Joseph Hazelwood

It is appropriate that I should begin to-day’s edition with a statement of gratitude, given that my arm will not allow me to write anything else.  Admittedly, my curious nature would often call me to explore all manner of cynicism, despondency, and other such delusions; but over time that subtle, life-affirming voice of my intuition has become sweeter and more alluring than the misleading exclamations of habit.  I am eternally grateful, to-day, to have discovered an overgrown path to this high vantage-point, from where I might survey my-self and my surrounds objectively – revealing Universal Truths which stand to serve my highest Good.

Nothing is as it seems,
but only as I deem. 

 ————————————————————————————————————————-

I have received many letters, as of late, inquiring as to the status of my up-coming body of works, Days of the Visceral.  Therefore, I shall take this opportunity to make the following promulgations: 

~ We have not scheduled an official release date as-of-yet.  From prior experience I have learned that it is not wise to do so without a final rendition in-hand.  The success of an album release has everything to do with inertia, and there is the possibility of unforeseen circumstances which might compromise that force of Nature had I instigated it in haste.

~ In our initial sessions which spanned the breadth of three days, we were able to capture a total of eleven songs, in full live performance, with up to eight musicians.  Currently, my plan is to include all of those tracks as well as one other – The Golden Age – that is yet to be recorded.

~ As the studio – The House Of David – is currently occupied by another recording artist, – Justin Townes Earle, I’m told – it will be at least a fortnight before we are able to return to the task of Mixing.  Once we are engaged, this process might take a week – as will the final process of Mastering. From that point, I expect duplication to take a month.  This suggests at least two months before I actually receive the first copy.  This would in-turn insinuate that we will be releasing an album in the Autumn.  Perhaps a safe prediction would be my birthday on October 7.

~  I have selected a series of paintings by my good friend Ms. Wendy Walker called Moody Landscape to be incorporated into the artwork for the album’s packaging.  I will post an image of the cover here as soon as I have completed the design.

~ I am intrigued by the concept of releasing the album on vinyl as well as compact disc, although I have not investigated the logistics of this undertaking.  If there are any opinions of this topic among my readers I would surely welcome them!

On-going,
Mister Hazelwood

Probably a year ago, I made the introduction of a gentleman named Mr. Jace Freeman who it turned out was a brilliant filmmaker in the early stages of his career.  Occasionally, and often over a pint of ale, we would discuss menial topics of far less consequence than his or my art, until Mr. Freeman made casual mention that he had heard a rough recording of The Grey House in visiting one of my virtual destinations.  It was then that he revealed an interest in making a short film which would supplement the then unrecorded final rendition of that surreal lullaby.  We would eventually meet at a coffeehouse where we would discover an aesthetic kinship in the way of imagery and effect.

The images from The Grey House came to me in a dream.  There was an ominous-looking grey mansion perched upon a hill of bleak and desolate surrounds.  I surveyed that damned edifice from afar with a feeling of utter disgust as though it was the fount of my unfortunate plight.  Yet, The Grey House is a song of inspiration and awakening, for my thoughts and feelings were instantaneously transformed with the entrance – or exit rarther – of a sentient being.  A lovely woman she was, the archetype of purity and grace, and she descended from this sinister abode with all the good cheer and light-hearted presence of an angel in Heaven.  Her alluring beauty alone was enough to quell the most petrified of hearts, but that which she represented would be the thing that completely transmuted my every idea of Heaven and Earth.  This rare beauty, and her child-like heart were seemingly un-affected by those dismal environs!  She was not victim to any of it.  In turn, I began to question if there was anything ‘wrong’ at all!  Perhaps this horrid scene was a product of my own perception..? 

When I outlined this for Mr. Freeman, he seemed even more inspired and compelled.  We set a date for Saturday, April 24 for the initial shoot – a month in the future.  On Friday, April 23, I left the studio with a CD of rough mixes which the producer, Mr. McMahan, had rendered for me.  In listening on my way home, the recording of As the Storm Rolls In stood-out to me as a particular piece of magic.  I contacted Mr. Freeman immediately to suggest the impulsive notion of discarding the past year’s anticipation for The Grey House and filming a video for As the Storm Rolls In, in its stead.  Had the director been anyone else, he might have considered this a flighty notion, but Mr. F. in fact reveled in the idea of honoring the moment!  It is in this way that we truly do see eye-to-eye. 

As synchronicity would have it, a storm did roll in on that day of shooting.  Mr. F. sealed his camera with plastic and duct tape and we shot a video in the midst of a torrential down-pour, high winds, thunder, and lightning.  It was an exhilarating experience to risk our lives for this decidedly worthwhile cause!  As it seems that Mr. Freeman is likewise a man of Faith, neither of us was overcome by fear.  The result, I’m told, is a wealth of inspired footage.  I eagerly anticipate that day when I can reveal it to you!

~Mr. H.

During our recent sessions at the House of David, I was able to snap off a few photographs.  Here is a visual sampling of those magic moments which have more artfully been documented in sound-recording.  That hallowed weekend will forever live in my memory as a time of joy and pure creativity among the most talented and agreeable group of men and women I have ever had the pleasure to work with.   ~Mr. H.

1972 API Console

Mr. Goforth

Ms. Dickinson

Mr. Leago & Mr. McMahan

Mr. Norris, Ms. Shires, & Mr. Perkinson

Mr. Hazelwood & Mr. McMahan at the Console

The New Transcendentalists