Over at MassLive.com, I am the Featured Download this week. Head on over to download your copy of You Were A Cynic and Other States. They were recorded back when Mr. State Shirt himself was in town. He even played the melodica on Other States.

Lyrics to You Were A Cynic:

You were a cynic when I knew you long ago, but since then things have changed somewhat. Some years have passed and now you find yourself alone. Your time at home is bittersweet. In time, the failures that you hid inside yourself and hopes you have will coexist. But every hourglass you smashed against the wall has somehow failed to prove your point. Has somehow failed to prove your point.

Lyrics to Other States:

Every single friend of yours has moved to other states. Now every lonely evening feels the same. Who will listen to you? ‘Cause you have burned some bridges and have stepped over loose change. And now you have no-one to call who will listen to you. No one who will listen to you.

This Friday, I have the opportunity to open for Western Massachusetts singer/songwriter, Mark Schwaber. I’ve known Mark for a long time now as most musicians in the valley do, having common friends and acquaintances. Mark writes a great music blog called Feedback for MassLive (where I work), he ran Night Owl Records in Easthampton where I purchased many a cd, and over the twenty or some odd years we’ve both been making music in the valley, we’ve been on the same bill a few times and attended many of the same shows. Aside from my normal appreciation that Mark is a ‘valley musician’, I can honestly say that Mark Schwaber is one of my favorite musicians anywhere. There are some of his songs that just absolutely floor me every time I hear them… ‘Dignity in Death’ for example.

Mark has been performing with Sara Gomes lately, and from what I hear, it’s nothing short of magic. Sara Gomes is the wife of Tom Gomes, who who used to play drums in a band called Killswitch Engage (and now owns his own drum company). The main guitar dudes in Killswitch are Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel.

Adam and I got together when Killswitch was still in its infancy to record the Smokejumpers album. (more…)

Kristen and I went to Cafe Lebanon today for lunch. It was delicious as it always is. She posted some pictures, in fact. Working in downtown Springfield is often a drag, but there are some pretty good places to eat. We don’t go out to eat for lunch THAT often, but yesterday and today we did. Actually, yesterday she took some pictures of our trip to Rein’s Deli. Those pickles are garlicky. And delicious.