PYTHIAS BRASWELL || NOTES FROM THE FIELD
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS
FOUND UPON THE GROUND OF BEING
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10/20/19 at Hudson Hall in Hudson, NY (L to R: Terence Murren and Michael C. Hays)
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Dearest Friends and Allies,
The latest exciting news is that Thy Merciful Teeth, the newest Pythias Braswell full-length album has now been released! It is finally free to roam the wilds of public opinion and potential enjoyment. After spending multiple years living semi-homeless and pretending to be a medieval monk in a stone tower - I decided to climb down with my scrolls and join the Vikings.
Press the magic button below or visit the Pythias Braswell website to get the album.
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Listen, download, or order the physical album so you can feel it in your hands, see the pretty pictures, and read the profound lyrics, guided with ease and clarity by the miracle that is our written language.
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The cover is an old geological survey map of an area along the Susquehanna river in Pennsylvania. The image and its river continue unbroken, meandering gracefully across the back of the album booklet.
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Inside the booklet, continuing with the unintentional geological theme, is an image of me half-buried in a garden plot outside the First Presbyterian Church in Hudson, NY. This is the very soil, infact, that grew nutritious foods to sustain the head (body not shown) in the picture. After experiencing partial burial, I can honestly say we should not fear the grave. It is actually very soothing to be embraced from all sides by the earth. [A different image appears in the booklet, but this is from the same shoot. Photo by Dan Southard]
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WE THE PEOPLE
Here in Monterey, California, I've been playing outdoors a lot - that is until the air became permeated by disease - and learning a lot about people and music by doing this.
I have been threatened, exploited, praised, scorned, treated to enormous and undeserved generosity, and a witness to a whole rainbow of beautiful and ugly behaviors simply by standing outside and singing.
I have learned that The People united will never be defeated, however, there is no accounting for the musical taste of some of The People.
I have learned that if you refuse to play "Happy Birthday" for The People, they may think you are some kind of demon from Hell (I don't always refuse by the way).
I have learned that music is a powerful and healing balm for the wounds inflicted on all living things by the industrial landscape.
I have learned that The People can be very open and giving, and those who are feeling more closed are softened and illuminated by music. As a river of life streams past, you can almost see the moment when the internal molecules shift. This seems to reinforce how much we (The People) all need music, as we tromp down the avenues of stone and plastic, yearning for something to assimilate.
For now, the action has grown still, and Cannery Row is silent except for the seagulls singing their echoing layers of wave-like choruses, and the sea lions moaning their whole selves across the cold water at night. In the morning you can even hear some tiny song birds - never audible before the shelter-in-place order.
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8/19/20 Pythias Braswell at the Beverly Lounge (L to R: Matthew Moorman, Terence Murren, Michael C. Hays, Otto Hauser)
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AUTUMN LIBERATION TOUR
Before-before, in the fall of 2019, I embarked on a triangular, three show tour called the Album Liberation Tour. I was going to call it ALBUM EXODUS, which is much better, but I thought this would too readily bring Bob Marley's album, Exodus to mind so I changed it.
The tour occurred commemoratively in the regional nebula where Thy Merciful Teeth was born - New York's Hudson Valley. Autumn is a very special time in that part of the country. I felt very honored to be there, singing with a group of my favorite musicians as the leaves were falling.
Some highlights from the tour included:
- Being bombarded by a drunk wedding party during the end of our set at Dogwood in Beacon, NY
- Playing with the excellent songwriter Wes Buckley (who has just released his new album, Dancing the Bliss) at the Beverly in Kingston, NY
- Getting to attempt to explain the process and philosophy involved in the making of this album in some radio interviews. One of them was with Tom Roe on WGXC 90.7fm, a vital mainstay of public radio out of Hudson. They feature everything from experimental sound art to local news.
To listen to that interview go here: https://wavefarm.org/radio/wgxc/audio-archive/hf2r0g. The interview begins at 1:12:20 of the sound file.
- Playing at the historic Hudson Hall in Hudson, NY (THANK YOU Hudson Hall!) and singing in tribute to the late and very great Christina Malisoff. Malisoff was an employee at Hudson Hall. She welcomed me in one cold, winter night and offered me the opportunity to practice on their baby grand piano. The piano parts written and practiced there can be heard on Thy Merciful Teeth.
- Driving from show to show in an old, green Chrysler New Yorker with Matthew Moorman, who contributed some deep and powerful guitar to the Pythias Braswell sets.
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Moments from the 2019 Album Liberation Tour
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Wes Buckley at the Beverly Lounge in Kingston, NY
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Otto Hauser
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Matthew Moorman
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Terence Murren
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H.E.R.
In more recent news, a very enjoyable show was played on Valentine's Day weekend at Old Capitol Books in downtown Monterey. I had the privilege of being joined by local songwriters Leche Malo (feat. Chelsea Riddle), and Rodger the Rover! who all performed inspired sets. Terence and Monika Murren just happened to be visiting Big Sur, so Terence honored the Braswell set with his bass playing.
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Vanessa Mekarski graced our performance with a new and fascinating art form. Dressed in a simple smock of her own construction, she became the human emotional resonator (H.E.R. for those who like acronyms) for the Pythias Braswell set. Alternating between long periods of embodied stillness and a slow-motion expressive dance, her movements and moments of stillness charged the air with significance and meaning, sealing the power of the song ritual. [Photo by Tom Rebold]
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I finally got my act together and entered NPR's Tiny Desk Contest. Here is the submission. There had to be a desk in the video, so I dragged one deep into the woods and sang to the birds and bugs and bark. [Desk-finding credit goes to the intrepid Heidi Lockwood]
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YOU ARE AMAZING
Ok, that's most of the news for now. Please be sure to tell everyone about the album. Play it for your friends and your enemies and for inanimate objects and for slime. It is such a joy to finally be able to share it with you. Thank you so much for joining a moment of your story with ours as this wide galaxy continues to explode and expand.
Until we meet again!
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SOME GRATITUDE
Monika Murren took all the photos and one of the videos in this issue, unless otherwise credited. Many thanks go out to her for providing such beautiful documentation.
Will Rahilly video recorded the Beverly show, and lugged himself all the way up from NYC as well. So many thanks to him.
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8/20/19 Playing the new song "I Will Be Your Friend," at Hudson Hall in Hudson, NY
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