We want to live full time in an RV – actually a travel trailer to be more precise – the kind that you tow behind your vehicle.

That way we can live on the road rent-free, playing wherever we can find a gig, whether it be in New York or Nebraska…and our living space won’t be that much smaller than our current NYC apartment.

That’s the plan.

“Largely dark but tinged with playfulness, Go Call the Captain tastily combines wistful folk, mellow rock, and pinches of gypsy jazz and bluegrass into a compelling compilation of tightly written tunes. Anchored by Elie Brangbour’s lithe bass, Eleanor Kleiner’s voice floats above largely acoustic textures, bringing to mind Sarah McLachlan or a melancholic Amy Lee; tracks like “Something Might Happen” and “Las Vegas” buoy up her voice further on rolling beds of acoustic piano. The title track, another piano-driven tune, is a highlight, simultaneously bringing to mind Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and the eclectic work of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. Though it dwells in the shadows, Go Call the Captain is ultimately uplifting — not an easy task to pull off by even the most skilled of ensembles. Well worth a listen.”

So much great energy has been wrapped up in this project – from start to finish.  The songs on this album span the entire life of The Whispering Tree – “Something Might Happen” was written before we had ever played a show together, and “Soon” was written a few weeks before we started recording.

And now our ten babies are all grown up!
We conceived them, birthed them, nursed them and now they are going on their merry little way! I couldn’t be happier for them – and for the world to get to experience their magnificence (yes, I am a proud parent but that doesn’t mean my children aren’t every bit as incredible as I say they are!)

Now I must put an abrupt end to this child analogy because I’m going to tell you where you can buy the album – and selling my kids just doesn’t have a good ring to it.

At amazon

On iTunes

Or you can pick up a hard copy at our FREE full band show tonight (4/6) at 9pm at Pete’s Candy Store.

While I’ve got your attention – don’t forget about our extra special CD release performance at the Folk Art Museum on April 30th from 5:30 – 7:30. (RSVP@folkartmuseum.org)

Hope we get to see you all soon!

I tend to say “you don’t want to miss this”  a lot – but this time I’m going to say it in bold, caps, underlined italics with an exclamation point just so you know how serious I am: YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS!

We are going to be playing with our wonderful little drummer boy, Chris Schultz, and the amazing Dan Tirer on guitar.  We are also working on getting some mandolin/lap steel action going on with the spectacularly talented Clifton Hyde – our original guitar player.

Please RSVP@folkartmuseum.org

See you there!

*See http://www.thewhisperingtree.com/blog/?p=127

A movieism is the use of an unrealistic cliche to compensate for bad writing/acting/directing.  Yet for some reason, moveisms are featured continually and chronically in movies.

Who bothers to write these terrible tidbits into screenplays? It is a mystery.

Is there one guy who goes from studio to studio? Unfortunately, no, there is more than one person spreading this tepid crap around.

Who agrees to continue putting them in films?  Lots of people who should know better.

There is such diversity and specificity in life – why continue regurgitating this nonsense?

I just don’t know.

I do know that someone needs to DO something about this – enough is enough.  I’m not even a film snob – I usually can’t even be bothered with subtitles or movies made before 1980 – but I just can’t keep my mouth shut any longer.

So I will take my grievances to the blogosphere and begin my list.

1. Woman wearing man’s collared, button-up shirt after sex.

Who fucking does that? (If they do, it’s only because they saw it in a lame and unimaginative movie.)

They throw this little gem in all the time. You may think you’re watching a substantial piece of art and then BAM! – there’s some girl wearing some guy’s collared, button-up shirt after sex.  LAME!

2. Very upset person sliding down wall (see diagram below)

Have you ever tried this? I have, and it is really hard – and I wasn’t even upset at the time.

Think of all the overpaid people involved in making these movies – and all the underpaid people standing in the background – and NO ONE stands up and says, “this is ridiculous.” Instead, multiple people sign off on these details, and they are ALL guilty in my book.

Sliding Down a Wall

3. Feedback whenever there is a microphone

EVERY TIME! They do it EV-ER-Y TIME!  We don’t need a sound effect – this isn’t radio – its film.  We can see what’s happening!  We recognize the object you are speaking into as a microphone – mission accomplished, now let’s move on.

4. ‘shling’ sound when someone picks up a knife

Someone needs to stop the sound effect guys – at least supervise them somewhat.  God bless them, they are really enthusiastic but tend to go a little overboard.

5. Shower scene after rape

Okay, we get it.  They feel dirty and want to clean themselves but there’s not enough water in the world – COME ON! There is an endless variety of things one might be doing after experiencing an intensely traumatizing event and all they can come up with time after time is taking a shower!?!?

Even better – they slide down the shower wall – MOVEISM COMBO – BONUS POINTS!

I’ll say it again – COME. ON.  What an uninspired waste of time.

6. Search Engine Montage

Okay, while searching on the internet is a pretty common occurrence  in real life, the search engine montage rarely works well in film and is most likely just another lazy trick.

I have included perhaps one of the best examples of the search engine montage, from one of the worst movie franchises ever made and also one of the most popular, the one and only, ‘Twilight.”  Enjoy:

7. People hanging up the phone without saying goodbye (and not because they are mad)

Do you do  this?  I certainly don’t.  So who does?  Apparently just characters in bad movies.

It’s really funny the little details that exist solely in the movie universe.

8. Crow squawking in abandoned place.

It’s not just in westerns, it’s everywhere…and it’s lame.

9. Changing facial expression suddenly when no one is looking. (ie. No one is looking so the bad guy reveals his true identity with a malicious expression.)

NEWSFLASH:  The age of the silent film is over.  Nowadays, movies have sound in them– changed the whole game!

Lazy writing.  Lazy and condescending.  Is there no legitimate way for you to convey to the audience what’s really going on?  Find another job – you do not deserve to get paid for shitting on your audience.

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Well, that’s all I have for now.  But rest assured there is no shortage of mediocrity, so this list will be expanding in the near future.  Feel free to send any moveism suggestions you may have!

I don’t know how to say this and sound normal, so I’m not even going to try: Being born into this world was like drowning (how I know this is another story – a really good one, too.)  Being suddenly surrounded by this reality was jarring, to say the least, and I think I have been working through the trauma of birth since…well, since I was born, and this theme is apparent throughout the album.

Not only have I been writing about this for awhile, I have also been drawing and painting houses floating in water for a really long time.

Our EP pictures a house in the water and for our new album I wanted to keep exploring that image.

The house is our human selves, our lives, everything we know, can talk about, can think about, can begin to conceptualize.  And the ocean is everything else.  And we are IN it but we don’t really know it.  There’s all this other stuff happening beyond the small reality we are focused in – we are floating in it, on it, we could reach out and touch it if we wanted to – but we usually just stay in our little houses.

So here’s the original painting I did.  Some people (cough cough) thought it was too amateurish so we started looking for a “real” artist to better convey this concept.

I’m actually really happy that we did, because we found Vitaly Umansky, and what he came up with was really quite perfect.

So here’s our amazing album art:

You can check out Vitaly’s work at his website, he is really spectacular: Vitaly Umansky Illustration

I entered R. Kelly’s world while watching this film and it was a jarring yet fascinating experience, like an anthropological study into the mind of primitive man.  Be warned, it is an endeavor to get through this and not everyone is cut out for this kind of journey.  If this sounds like something you want to experience I would suggest you don’t do it alone…and bring some Mary Jane along for the ride, because it is ROUGH! It will feel eight hours long, and you should also consider that there is some recovery time required, it took me about a week to feel normal again.  If you make it, you will have a perfect understanding of what a defecator is, and you will more readily be able to identify them elsewhere, and then run the other way.

Exhibit B – He’s Just Not That into You

Not only is this the most annoying title to say, it is also another prime example of defecation.  It took us more than one sitting to get through this.  First of all the dialogue/script was so disconnected that they may as well have been reciting the ingredients off the back of a shampoo bottle… I could not comprehend what they were talking about and had to keep rewinding to try to decipher the meaning of the words that were spewing forth.  It was a painful process.

Every message contained in this movie is insulting and degrading to the entire human race… this is not an overstatement.  Ironically, the misguided folks who wrote the book, wrote the script, or had anything to do with this film, actually try to pass this monstrosity off as a helpful guide for women, when in fact it is a portrait of society’s archaic beliefs about women and women’s resulting adherence to these unhealthy beliefs.  Let me clarify that when something is degrading towards women it is therefore also degrading towards men…these beliefs are a disservice to us all, regardless of gender (there is no separation!)  Our inherited beliefs about gender have caused a disconnect that most people don’t even know they have, and this movie displays it all …so thank you ‘He’s just not that into you,’ for allowing me to receive all of that so clearly.

2. MASTURBATORS

On the second rung we have the masturbators.  People who just want to hear themselves talk, show off their bodies, or fit into someone’s lame idea of what is ‘hip.’  It can feel like listening to noise or to animals yapping (although that is an insult to non-human animals.)   It’s entirely ego-driven and separated.  Dishonest.  Man-made.  Limited.  You walk away feeling a little empty and disconnected, perhaps inadequate or unattractive.  I won’t even list examples here.  Just turn on the radio or the TV and I am 98% sure there will be a shining example for you.  Songs about videophones, or regarding how much money and fame someone has, or music videos with half naked bodies paraded around.  “Look at this piece of meat…your penis could be inside of this.”  Songs and images that worship the cult of image and perpetuate ‘The Lie.’  (I don’t need to explain ‘The Lie,’ everyone feels it on some level when they look upon it; it is the absence of truth.)

3. COMMUNICATORS aka ‘Prophets’

Finally we have arrived at true art.  I feel better just thinking about it.  Artists who raise your vibration, make you feel, make you excited to be human.  People who channel something more than the limited reality we often become entrenched in.  You know it when you see it/hear it, it’s tangible and ineffable.  A sigh of relief.  Chills.  Tears.  Joy.  The human experience communicated clearly for everyone to see.  Such a joyful and loving act, shared so openly and vibrantly.

Exhibit A & B – Leonard Cohen and KD Lang

Leonard Cohen is the first that comes to mind when I think of communicators. ‘Hallelujah’ has been covered a million times – with good reason – but I haven’t heard anyone come close to KD Lang.  She is more than human in this performance.  She is performing a ceremony of some kind, reciting magical words.

Relax.  Open your hearts and listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvIORzoLzrY

We all wrote that song.  We all sing it.  That’s true art.  Recognizing your truest self in everyone and everything.  It’s transcendent.  Ego-less.  Formless.  Wordless.  Joyous.  We are ALIVE!  Together!  And we made a beautiful world!

In Conclusion

Bad art has helped clarify for me what real art is.  Bad art is entirely beholden to the delusion that we are separate; that we are individuals and that we are alone in this experience.  When people with no perspective on the human experience (people completely entrenched and committed to ‘The Lie”) attempt to communicate the human experience, they end up just regurgitating someone else’s view of the world, inadvertently illustrating ‘The Lie.’ Witnessing this disconnection allows us to recognize ‘The Lie’ elsewhere and call forth a more honest expression, standing in our own power and expressing our own unique and precious points-of-view.

Real art is a communion, a communication of the human experience.  I love delving into the strange world of bad-art and am so grateful for the contrast it creates.   It is a good indication of where we are collectively, and it makes finding true-art all the more refreshing, like a beacon of light when you are lost in a fog of confusion and delusion, a beautiful reminder that we are all one and we are all creating this life experience together.

Just wanted to update everyone on the album progress. As you know, we finished recording the album and I was just going to release it BUT apparently there’s this thing called ‘promotion’…and apparently we are supposed to be doing it. So, in short, I was a little trigger happy when I said the album would be out in October (obviously) and I am going to have to withhold these magnificent tracks from you for a tiny bit longer while we grapple with this new concept. Tentative release date is now in February.
The good news is that I found an INCREDIBLE artist for the album artwork. No cheap graphic design or cheesy photos for us! The preliminary sketches look great and are really evocative of the vibe of the album.
In other album news, we received honorable mention in the New York Songwriter’s Circle songwriting competition for the title track of the new album, “Go Call the Captain.”

We have just listened to the mastered tracks – they sound REALLY good.  Thank god for Elie, that’s all I can say.  Elie actually means ‘god is my help,’ although in this case Elie is my help.  He has an INCREDIBLE ear, and was present and active throughout the mixing and mastering sessions.  He can hear things I can not, so he did a lot of stuff that I can’t really hear but is probably really important.  He can also juggle fire…and  I’m still trying to find a way to incorporate that into the live show.  In short, Elie is an incredible artist and I am amazed that I get to work with him.

At the moment we are putting the album art together and then we should be good to go.

Can’t wait to share this with everyone!