M is for Manitoba ...

The more I head down to the legendary Mississippi delta, the more I realize Manitoba is an incredible place. That’s because all the things I love about the birthplace of the blues can be found right here in the place I call home: muddy waters, flat farm land, good music, good food, and good people.

Two of those good people crossed my path today. One of the them was Hal Brolund, who without a hint of exaggeration is the finest slide player I’ve ever heard. He’s also a great singer/songwriter, flat-picker, and finger-picker. Not a week goes by where I don’t dig into some of his tunes.

Today, Hal and I headed down to Lovey’s BBQ and Smokehouse on Marion Street. Roger and the crew at Lovey's are slow-smoking the best ribs, chicken, brisket, and pulled pork north of St. Louis. Hal and I were both satisfied customers today, but Hal expresses his satisfaction way better than I do.

He writes a song about Lovey’s … using the takeout menu as inspiration. Then he calls me up and plays it for me on the phone. (I should eat out with this guy more often.) Hal's new song has a great Mississippi John Hurt vibe. We're going to lay down a demo next week.

As Hal is playing his Lovey’s musical masterpiece for me on the phone, there’s a knock at my door. I open the door and in walks Blair Hordeski, with his new CD and posters (and a bottle of wine).

(Interesting coincidence: it was Hal who introduced me to Blair four years ago.)

I can’t say enough about Cold Cold Heart, Blair Hordeski’s new CD. The album rocks with an alt. country vibe. Blair sat down in my living room and we spun a few tracks on the MacBook. Impressive, but why settle for Memorex when live is right in front of you? I pulled out my Martin D-35 and asked Blair to give me a song off the new album, live and unplugged. Blair ripped my heart out with I Loved You More:

They always said we’re doomed from the start
You with the devotion and me with the scars
And now I know your friends were right
Six years and a week/weak moment in time

No one could have known
No never you
To break the promises we knew

No shoulder to cry on
No comfort to bring
No one to throw in the towel before the bell rings

I’ve lost and I’m one alone with the score
It just goes to show
I loved you more


Mix in vocals by Chris Thornsteinson (from Doc Walker) and Amanda Stott, grooves from some of Winnipeg's top session players, and Dylan Thomas Hermiston as producer, and Cold Cold Heart is a local disc with country-wide cred. Check this album out ... especially the title track, as well as Better Than Never and I Loved You More.

Country radio in Brandon, Portage la Prairie, and Dauphin are already spinning the disc. For now, Winnipeg’s QX104 fans are missing out. Cold Cold Heart is scheduled for release on May 4. I’ve got a few copies to pass around.

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I’m just a lowly rock ‘n’ roll preacher – a guy who loves Jesus and loves rock ‘n’ roll. As I watch 11:59 of this day pass into midnight, I can’t begin to comprehend the creative people who cross my path every day. I’ve been playing with singer/songwriter Royal Unruh and the band for seven years. Larry Updike and I are getting ready to launch the B-side Apostles. Sitting in with pro’s like Hal and Blair have been tastes of the big time. (And it was Blair Hordeski who christened the Rock ‘n’ Roll Preacher.) All made in Manitoba moments and memories.

M is for Manitoba.

And I’ve got another M to tell you about. She can clean her house, do ten loads of laundry, shake a bunch of kiddies off her leg … and produce some of the finest content you’ve ever heard on the GodTalk Radio Show.

That’s another blog post ... but here's a preview from the Blog Catalog spotlight.

M is for Manitoba, but check out M is for Mississippi, produced by Roger Stolle and friends down at the Cat Head in Clarksdale, Mississippi. I met Roger this summer and he's paying his dues to tell the story of the blues. For $40, you get the M is for Mississippi DVD, the CD soundtrack, and free shipping anywhere in the world. Worth the price of admission. (A tip for guitar collectors: Sled Dog Music in Winnipeg is selling a Silvertone that's a dead ringer for the one L.C. Ulmer plays in the film.)

A girl and her ukulele ... saving the world from itself one song at a time

Admittedly, I've added a few guitars to my "collection" this year. People who know me have been gracious. Very few have blurted out, "Why in the world do you need another guitar?" My wife still loves me. The bills are getting paid. I'm grateful.

FWIW: I DO ask myself one question before I bring home a new guitar: What can I do with this guitar that I can't do with the ones I already own?

Some similar kind of self-reflection might have been a good thing for the shoppers at a Long Island Wal-Mart who crashed through store doors this morning and trampled a Wal-Mart employee to death. Just a simple question: What am I actually going to do with the stuff I buy today? And maybe a follow-up question: Is the deal so good that I'm willing to kill someone to get it?

These ferocious Wal-Mart shoppers were lining up for "Black Friday" sales, the best day of the year to find a deal in the United States. It's typically a festive day: it comes a day after thanksgiving and kicks off the Christmas season. Best of all, it's the day that retailers (hopefully) see their balance sheets move out of the red and into the black. It's no easy thing being a retailer. There are huge risks and costs involved in opening stores, hiring employees, stocking goods, buying advertising, setting prices. My hat's off to anyone who owns and operates a retail store. They are the true heroes of a post-agrarian culture.

Retail spaces have usurped the dominant social spaces of the 19th and 20th centuries. The town hall, the one-room school, the community club, and even the church have been replaced by Starbucks, Cabela's ... and Wal-Mart. For better or worse, the passions and priorities of postmodern pilgrims are shaped by sales flyers (the new Bible) and sales clerks (the new pastors). This newfound influence comes with newfound social responsibility. Feeding the consumer culture may have short-term payback for retailers, but today's telling incident at the Long Island Wal-Mart should be sufficient warning that a consumer culture is ultimately a culture of death. It feeds our greed. It plays on our fears of inadequacy.

Retailers of the 21st century can make a different world by promoting a creative culture instead of a consumer culture. Start appealing to people's higher nature. Stop appealing to their baser instincts. Show people what they can create, instead of addicting them to consumption.

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One of the most creative people I know is Hal Brolund. (He's also one of the least consumptive people I know, apart from a curious devotion to fast food for breakfast.) Hal is a jack of all trades ... and a master of all of them. He's just entered the 2008 Bushman World Ukulele Video Contest and his Paradise video is fantastic ... and creative. (Please check it out. Your visit improves Hal's chances of winning.)

The people at Bushman Music Works "get" creative. Their company tagline says it all: "Together, we make the music." And their annual video contest encourages their customers to do just that - make music. Be creative. This is way different than simply "consuming" more ukuleles.

BTW: last year's contest winner has captivated the world with her creativity. Rochester, NY's Julia Nunes won the 2007 Bushman World Ukulele Video Contest with her version of Destiny's Child Survivor. Since posting her dorm-room videos on YouTube, Julia has been opening for Ben Folds (!!!) and releasing a new record.

(Julia's cover of the Bright Eyes' First Day of My Life proves that creativity and vulnerability go hand in hand.)

The mega response to Julia's songs proves that what the world really wants IS creativity. Consumption is just a shadow of the real thing.