I've noticed that the geography has maintained but the neighborhoods have changed. A particular person can effect the the way we see a new place. I believe in the power of a busker, limited, mobile, listening for the mystery each place posses, falling in love over and over again, every medium matters, every contradiction, elevating dark corners, keeping both sides alive, revealing one another.

I expressed the lives of these places in 'Drugs 'n Hymns' which is due out march sixth. I will also share thirty five millimeter photos of hands that have been documented in a book appropriately titled 'The Drugs 'n Hymns Hand Book.'

Charlie, Keisha, Julie and I are also making homemade slides and shirts for next year- they search for quality in all they do- very shortly there will be a page to find all this business-
Bless-

the gods have spoken and they desire light-
they are looking for bringers of light to aid
the hairpin cosmic shift, the next, the turn-
they require the love of a gardner-
this is the great work-
i watch the delicate work
as they carry food over the shoulders,
as they
smile into the darkest night,
into the many rooms-
i have been with many planes, trains,
boats, undergrounds, busses, cabs, bikes, shoes,
bare feet, and wheel barrel in order to get a glimpse
of the flowers who are in blossom, the brave
who live on the fringes of time-
a new hour is here and im once again
with the streets and souls of the pacific-

in memory of Klaus- a man of letters

Last stand in London

Last stand in London will be at the Regal Room in Hamersmith on April 28th- all are welcome-

London is something to see when the sun comes out from her cave and shines on her city- from shorditch to regents park and in every corner a humble celebration takes place- not just the royal wedding or long easter weekend, but the ability to sit on sunlit curbs with a red stripe,
A rolled smoke and witness the effortless cool- to walk through whistlers staircases or purchase bagels as the morning advances on brick lane- curry on the streets or installations of White gowns that hang over cold black water -evenings with dub step records and folk icons barley remembered, listening in studios to old and new friends who are about release new material- drives in the country, sleeping in stone houses with thatch roofs- Playing with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the Old Vic Tunnels- documenting sounds and songs in eleventh century castles- my faith in humanity restored with Niall, liz, Julian, Laura,Sharon,Marns, Nienka, Rien- tubes, busses, feet, and astral projection for transport-

I will do some Snake Oil Salesman Nights 'SOS' at the R-Bar on Fridays from Korea Town in Los Angeles for May, then Off to support Daniel Lanois and the Black Dub for another tour-

Rocco's Blog 8/10

In Austin we:
saved a baby
witnessed the dark sermon of Bob Dylan
played everyday and night
Fell in love with music again
watched the sun come up every morning
sweated
the Austin sun
swam in the eerily cold water of Barton Springs
broke into swimming holes
encountered the incredible forward thinking, radical, vinyl spinning souls at Justine's
(thank you Pierre, Justine, Jardine, and everyone else, this trip is impossible without you)
thanks to the Pub
lived in a 1950's Spartan trailer for a week
documented with tape recorder and A1
camera

Now tripping back to Los Angeles on a twenty-three hour non-stop burn-
The pacific awaits- We look forward to playing a couple of residencies from the south to the north (times and locations to be revealed soon)

Field recording experiments and folk shows in Europe are hopeful if all comes together- reaching out to friendly's now!

Bless,
rocco

Rocco's Blog 7/7/10

Bryan and myself drove three days before the full moon from Los Angeles to Portland- we stopped in Oakland and we began to document- I've been collecting stories concerning the supernatural on an A1 camera and four-track cassette deck- our version of field recordings (praise Alan Lomax for documenting the priceless treasure of the human spirit)- I'm never quite sure what to do with these materials but I have a good feeling about them-
Blind Willie Johnson has been on my mind- his voice came over the airwaves by some sudden stroke of luck and I melted in my seat- Angels running from heaven to the physical world and full moons, volcanoes in Iceland, New Orleans, all this information, I’m sorting it out, normal bias cassettes from radio shack-
I would like to thank my friends in Germany, France, Norway, Scotland and other great neighborhoods on the other side of the pond for your kind words and actions-
I will be tripping down to Austin to play a few dates in late July- I will continue to participate in a residency on Monday nights at the Saxon Pub for the month of August-

Rocco's Blog 4/7/10

in search of quality-
I've been tripping from Kingston to Oakland and a
few stops in between-
i've been collecting image of the villages, cities, and people who i have been fortunate enough to meet- blogging took a brief break because i do not carry a computer with me on my travels - only a few items which include: national, pocket knife, tape, small grab of clothes, book to read, book to write in, and the use of local talents to help document sight and sound-

i have written some words for the true kings, those who are fearless in the face of the conventional wisdom- i wanted to record where history, hope, and the drum lives- producer, engineer and friend Mark Howard aka "Dirty Howard" had done some work in Jamaica and was familiar with a talent from the area who went by the name Dizzle.
(who played along to what could be considered folk songs). The results were worth the trip alone, we felt as if we created a collision of the written word, beats from the ground, and the energy that only an eighty-year-old Duolian can create. The God's were with us-
we recorded the live sessions in seven nights- my friend and gorilla-skateboarding-film-geek Ted Newsome from "Two Headed Horse" decided to come and film the live sessions- along with our trips through Port Antonio, Kingston, and the Blue Mountains. i'm currently going through footage with Ted to let others experience the happening with us. Thank you to Mark and Daniel Lanois for there encouragement with this trip.
-when i arrived back home, as usual, i was a bit restless after having been creating music on a very focused nightly basis. i go through these cold depressions when a thing is finished. I miss the music, the laughs, the coffee, the weed, the water, the soil- i decided to strap my national to the back of my machine and take off for the East Bay for a while. i know i looked mad (with everything i own tied to the back) by the expressions on the faces of people i passed. I had never ridden that far and thought it would be something to see PCH without being in a cage- i stayed with a friend, and explored for two weeks (graffiti is alive and well), which is different from going straight to the show and leaving directly after- i came back down through the central valley which opened into big skies and great distances, so great you feel small, then smaller-

after dropping out of the commercial world i have had to be more resourceful- efficient- raw- however, i have been afforded the opportunity to live amongst those who place quality above the popular-
as a result i will be playing stripped down shows over the next couple of months until we are able to share this next record, which will take a minute to sort out how it will be shared- i've got hope in my veins- my grandma said i might be able to borrow her ride for the tour- i want to see you in your hood-
bless,
rocco