The Bowerbirds have music that I would liken to a piece of earthen clay that has been crafted by a skilled artisan at a well-known folk festival.
In other words, I think that their music has fingerprints.
Bowerbirds were formed in 2006 in Raleigh, NC and are comprised of Phil Moore, Beth Tacular and Matt Damron.

I have a few Bowerbirds essential tracks for your playlist.
“Hooves” and “In Our Talons” from their album Hymns for a Dark Horse. And from their more recent album, Upper Air, I prefer “Teeth” and “Northern Lights.”
This is creative music.
By that, I mean it is music to play whilst drawing, sketching, sculpting, cooking — anything that requires you to tap into a deep place and make something — this is the theme music.
So get some of their ear candy and go create.

His name is Johnny Cash.
In fact, though everyone in the building knew him, he would still step to the microphone and introduce himself as if it were his first appearance on stage.  He would then be met with uproarious applause and cheers, then the performance would begin.
Today’s Mi4M is a bit different.

I am so excited about The Johnny Cash Project.  This venture is described as, “…a unique communal work, a living portrait of the Man in Black.”
The project is simple.  You enter the site and select “contribute.” Then you are shown three slides from which to choose.  The stills are from a video set to the song, “Ain’t No Grave.”  You select the frame of your choice, and then you draw over top of that frame and it is added to the thousands of other frames drawn by people all over the world.  The result is an amazing work that celebrates a man, his music and communal art.
So go and watch the video.
Be inspired.
By the man.
By the music.
By the legacy.
By art.
Go make your unique mark.
I have my frame selected…

Do you have a particular Johnny Cash favourite?  I will go first.

I am a lover of good music, good art and good t-shirts.  I also am a fan of good people doing good things to help or assist others.
With that being said, I came across an organization that blends all of those things together.  It is called the Yellow Bird Project — cool name, even cooler group of artists and philanthropists.

They describe themselves as:
“… a tree of creativity, with branches joining together indie musicians, charitable organizations, and t-shirts with a fashionable punch.  We’re a non-profit Montreal based organization dedicated to bringing our customers the finest of quality, originality, and philanthropy. We seek out only the coolest of cool artists, collaborate with them to design awesomely awesome tee-shirts, and give all the prettiest of pretty profits to charities of the artists’ choice.”

I think by their own description you can tell that they are pretty cool organization.  Check them out — my Devendra Banhart shirt (which will help fund the Teenage Cancer Trust) is on its way right now.

I have also added their banner to my blog (on the right sidebar) for quick and easy linkage.
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I am not going to lie — blogging is tough.  It is a good kind of tough.  It forces me to think, to be creative and to choose my words wisely.  I see it as an artform — like a marvelous statue I am freeing from a slab of marble.

Some days are easier than others.  I am ashamed to admit this, but there are days that you could determine my mood just by looking at my blog stats (see image below).

This is an actual still image from my blog stats.  You can see that May 7, 2009, is the last day shown.  You can see that the line chart dips way down.  You can also see that on May 4, 2009, blog hits were up.  It is funny how this affects me — it could be my mood chart, all based upon your views.

I will continue to hone my craft and ask that you keep reading and supplying occasional feedback.  So, that being said, I will continue to work through my tears today while thinking about the good ol’ days…like the 4th of May.

I just added some new artwork.  I am curious to know what you think…unless you think they stink.  If you do think they stink, I guess I would like to know why so…let ‘em fly.

Anyway, click here.