Ship in the Desert
Desert Hot Springs, California All the crazy weather brings to mind one of my favorite Joan Didion quotes,...
Subtle Organic Notes
It was wonderful to receive a letter back in the age of snail mail. I lived in a one-room apartment on the edge of the...
Interrelation
Quarry Park, Monterey, California They noticed me first. I wasn’t even aware of them until I felt something staring...
Disjunctive Polarity
Asilomar State Beach, Pacific Grove, California We’ve had about twenty storms this season, and they’ve all been...
Everything’s Coming Up Roses
Tournament of Roses Parade On New Year’s Day 1971, the Englewood, Colorado high school marching band performed in...
Love Will Find a Way
Monte Vista, Monterey, California The sun set as I stepped out the door for my evening walk. It was later than...
Such is Life
Peters Gate, Monterey, California It rained all day yesterday, glorious, coveted, wet dripping rain. The air felt...
Morrie’s Alchemy
Rising Park, Lancaster, Ohio Several years ago, after dessert on Thanksgiving evening, while everyone sat around the...
Bits and Tatters
Asilomar State Beach, Pacific Grove, Califonia It was all sun and storm on the beach. Which one would win didn’t...
The Moon and Stars
Asilomar State Beach, Pacific Grove, California In front of me is the Pacific Ocean, dark and brooding, churning...
Nepenthe
Nepenthe, Big Sur, California I arrived at the scenic overlook just before noon. A low-hanging cloud left the view a...
A Spiders View
Point Reyes, California It's five a.m., but it feels like three. There's a small fire in the heater glowing in the...
Dripping Sweet
Wind-Ripped Maple, Monterey Peninsula The plum was perfectly ripe, sweet, and bursting with juice and flavor. Rays...
Ruffled Feathers
Asilomar Beach, Pacific Grove, California I sat on the side of the bed and gazed into the full-length mirror, but instead...
Muted Silence
Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, California I rolled into the graveyard shortly after dawn, the grass color just...
Dripping White Clouds
Del Monte Forest, Monterey, California As I walked along, the sea haze began to roll in and cover the forest in a...
Don’t Be Cruel
August 17th, 1977, I was on my way to work, driving down La Brea Boulevard in Hollywood, listening to my favorite radio...
The UnGarden
Sunset Manzanita, California Native What makes a garden feel at ease with itself? I love different garden...
Blue Jeans and a Mr. Pibb
Monterey Bay, Monterey, California We grabbed a window table at a cafe in Moss Landing. The smell of potatoes...
Not a Thing
Venice Beach, California The Venice Pier had that blank, tilted feeling empty tourist spots have. The dawn sun cut...
Del Monte Forest Philharmonic
The wind sings through the Monterey Pines, a short flourish overture with a low drone, mid-range whip, and a treble...
A Hanging Moment
I could describe what I’m seeing or hearing. I could even go deeper and explain how I feel and what’s happening around me...
Sea Lion Love
Monterey Bay, Monterey, California As streams of dawn light glimpsed through the broken cloud cover, I rolled up...
Moths in Silhouette
Big Sur, California Oaktree moths fly through the evening sun, setting them aglow like fireflies, while a simmering...
Last Rays of the Afternoon Sun
Del Monte Forest, Monterey, California My walk took me further than I expected. That often happens when I'm upset, and try...
Hidden Value
Euterpe Farms, Ojai, California I have an old, chipped porcelain cup, probably WWII war surplus. My mom used it...
The Truth About Mothers
Monterey State Beach, Sand City, California I’ve been thinking about my mother as we all have the last few days, and...
Beyond all Reason
Canter's Restaurant, Hollywood, California Canter’s is undoubtedly one of my favorite restaurants. It has been...
Listen for the Birds
Veteran's Park, Monterey, California Earth day fifty-two. It seems odd that we only have one day a year dedicated to...
Gracious Acceptance
Mount Pleasant, Rising Park, Lancaster, Ohio As soon as I stepped into the house, I recognized it. It had been some...
Oh, Nothing
Monterey Bay, Monterey, California One night several years ago, I couldn’t sleep, and even the calming things I do...
A Subtle Scent
Point Lobos, California State Reserve It was wild to realize that crazy storm was inside my head. Contrast provided...
The Stillness Betwixt
Monterey Bay, Monterey California It seemed so large at the time. As my sister Joan and I played on a swing set in...
Three Wishes
Sunset, Monterey Bay, Monterey California I'm finding it difficult to write because everything I put down seems...
An Insoluble Scent
Cannery Row, Monterey, California It started with a feeling. I don’t know if I can describe it, but I understand it...
Stairway to Heaven
Veteran's Park, Monterey, California There are 185 wooden steps up the Stairway to Heaven to the Huckleberry Hill...
An Irish Twinkle
Sunrise, Monterey, California The unemployment office sent me to a place called Mecanex Corporation, a factory that...
El Porto
El Porto, Manhattan Beach, California One of my favorite surf spots was El Porto in Manhattan Beach in front of the...
More than Anything
Bright stabs of sun filter through the fig tree, the plants glow with every shade of green while a blue-sky circling...
Some Kind of Magic
In the ‘70s, I lived with three roommates in a rental house in a Denver suburb. We set up the communal stereo on a shelf...
Concurrent Connection
Monterey Bay, Pacific Grove, California That's the second time today I turned my head and caught someone staring at me or...
Two Words
El Carmelo Cemetery, Pacific Grove, California I had a New Year's Day missive written and ready to go about a shiny...
Anti-Scrooge?
Toyon Berries, California Native I'm not really qualified to write about the holiday season, having been a Scrooge...
Stringless Kites
Monterey Bay, Monterey California It was in the forties this morning when I pushed my bike into the street. As I...
A Notch Below
I love breakfast places. Not the fancy luxurious hotel kind; those always have an edge of intimidation for me, an uptight...
Otherworldly Gauze
Santa Monica Pier The dense morning fog was beginning to lighten when I crawled out of bed. Every thought that...
Owning the Ephemeral
Pacific Grove,California We walked into town to find a place to grab breakfast. The sky held a menageriof clouds...
Ineffable Layer Cake
El Carmelo Cemetery, Pacific Grove, California Dawn, Sunday morning, as I rode my bike along the Monterey coast,...
No Subscription Necessary
I have a love affair with vintage audio gear. There, I said it. Even though this equipment tends to be large, uses a lot of...
Half Buried Bug
Quarry Park, Monterey, California Quarry Park is a short walk from our house. As the name suggests, it's an old...
Appreciative Touch
Photo by Bob Beland I was the house recording engineer for MCA Music's publishing studio when they created a new...
More Love
Lovers Point, Pacific Grove, California Parked on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant on Alvarado Street, sat a...
Ordinary Stillness
Commons Park, Denver, Colorado Last night I couldn’t sleep. After a few hours, I decided just to lay there and rest...
Park or Art
Washington Park, Denver, Colorado We recently spent our last day in Denver, my hometown, faced with the decision of...
Irreverent Smile
Skid Roper, Robert Feist, Mojo Nixon Mojo Nixon burst into the control room with a two-foot plastic statue of the...
Brushes and Spray
Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany “The art world is spun-up with so many elements, it overshadows the work,” I...
Free Maintenance and a Cardboard Box
Topatopa Mountains, Ojai, CA I was having “one of those days.” At least that’s what I thought. We dropped our car...
The Essence of Simplicity
Jettenbach, Germany If I have a method to mixing a song or a film, it's this: I find the core essence, the essential...
Scattered Shards
Studio C, A&M Studios, Hollywood, Jim Novak, London May, Tracy Stevens (top), Robert Feist, Tim Swenson, 1988 ...
The Poison of Self Consciousness
Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany As a recording engineer, I always recorded the first take, no matter what it...
Carefully Executed Mayhem
Monterey Bay, Monterey, California Hours before tourists would begin strolling the pier, I rolled up to the bay,...
Ten Thousand Albums
Joseph Beuys, Das Kapital Raum, Hamburger Bahnhof Museum, Berlin, Germany My first paid job in a recording studio...
Captured in a Box
Monterey, California Just after first light, I went out for a romp on my bike. In Monterey, California the sun rises...
Meeting the Future
Cannery Row, Monterey, California One Saturday morning in 1990, I drove across Hollywood and walked into a room with...
Breathing the Same Air
I'd heard of the band Agent Orange. They were considered surf punk, but I'd never been to a show, nor could I remember...
The Unsigned
Yesterday, I went through a large box of tapes I recorded years ago. The majority were demos or unreleased albums...
In the Broader Sense
Allan Holdsworth with recording engineer Robert Feist during the recording of the Metal Fatigue LP circa 1985 The...
Mysterious Blue
Monterey Bay, California The bay looks different every day. I can't ride my bike past it without taking photos, so I...
Harvesting Random
Zomevhere, Berlin, Germany I used to have a fixed idea of how a snare drum should sound. I’d spend hours changing...
Something Beautiful
Asilomar State Beach, Pacific Grove, Colifornia The sun sparkles through raindrops, dripping from trees like cut...
Intention Retention
Quarry Park, Monterey, California I love these rocks. In Quarry Park at the end of the path, in a place that holds a...
Calm vs Chaos
Ojai Valley, California I worked for a record producer who loved chaos. I'd get to the studio early to set up mics,...
Acquiescence
Venice Beach, California Well, I guess I have to ask the question. Why do people spend so much time looking for a...
It Pulses
Upper West Side, Manhatten, NY A subway station, Broadway and something, Upper West Side, the smell, and the wait,...
Save your earth. You can’t get off.
Asilomar State Beach, California April 22nd, 1970, the first Earth Day, I remember standing in the courtyard of my...
My Very First
Clandestine holiday decorations courtesy of Scott Burns and friends. My first electric car looked like a cross...
Melody Crush
Analog, Magnetic Biosphere Do songs appear in your mind for no apparent reason? For me, they creep up in pieces,...
Alpha and Omega
Lovers Point, Pacific Grove, California Here we are, a new start, spring and easter, and an egg-laying hare. I hear...
A Thousand Generations
Downtown Monterey, California The direction seems to reverse, and I become an observer instead of an initiator. It...
Nothing rattled Delbert
Lovers Point, Pacific Grove, California I worked in a factory with an eclectic collection of characters. One of...
asking-wanting-hoping
Veteran's Trail, Monterey, California “If you wake up at 3:00 a.m., you should meditate," was my instruction. I took...
Flowing Dark Hair
Ravenswork Studios, Venice, Califonia The first time I met artist Jim Barrett, he climbed out of his white station...
Test of Time
“World Time Clock” Bettina Pousttchi, Berlinische Galerie It all started in the late ‘70s in a recording studio in...
Pale Blue Sensation
Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii The sky grew rich with deep orange hues streaking across a pale-blue sky as I...
Three and a Half Words
Huckleberry Hill Nature Preserve, Monterey, California I know a Frenchman named Marcel. Several of us would...
A Call to Life
Cannery Row, Monterey, California It rained most of the night, but in the morning, the sun broke through the clouds...
Brighter Shade of Green
Sunrise at Monterey Bay, California It always seems to happen; I never know how I’m going to feel. I was surprised...
Good Cheer and Snow Bumps
Downtown Monterey, Monterey, California The other day, as I hiked down a trail with loose dirt, slipping and...
The Madonna and a Bear
Monterey Bay, Monterey, California The sun came up, and the birds and squirrels have been acting as nothing...
Pushing Green & Miniature Squirrels
I’m listening to the rainfall, but I never seem to hear just the rain. It’s always connected with something else. My first...
My Favorite One
Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, California I’ve been trying to think of something fitting to write about for this...
The Wishing Tree
How can I put this … I'm not at war against it or anything but, I'm not into Christmas. My family had trees when I was a...
Colorful, Dynamic Facets
Hamburger Bahnhof art museum, Berlin, Germany The other day, I saw a child's painting. It was nothing more than...
Sun Bleached Peace
Venice Beach, California When I met Tommy, he was managing a small motel spa in the desert. He had that slow,...
Wings and Wind
The wind blew. A morning sun angled through the trees, and chimes in the neighborhood rang an alarm of something...
Violins and Ethics
I was hired to record an orchestra for a Pacific Bell commercial campaign. We booked one of my favorite studios, Westlake,...
The Garden Door
I came across a pink door in the forest leading to nowhere. Have you noticed these lonely doors? Some of them are nice, all...
Living Gracefully
Morro Bay, California As we walked through the nursing home, it seemed like Grace knew everyone. Old ranchers with...
Replacement
Monterey Bay, Monterey, California When something isn't working in the recording studio, it can be a task to figure...
Only Sitting
Redwood Forest, Big Sur, California It had been a crazy day at work, not unlike most days, I suppose. I was late to...