Do you write for yourself or for others? Does it matter? As a kid, before I could play an instrument, I would make up songs. There was "That House Is Haunted" which sounded a lot like "These Boots Are Made…

I started learning B♭ clarinet in fifth grade. I hated it. I wanted a trumpet, but my folks had a problem with the volume. Anyway, it's hard to learn music when you dislike the sounds you're making, so I gave…

An encounter with "Artificial Stupidity". I posted on an event for a gig today and facebook took the post down calling it "hate speech". What?! I gave the dates and band names and put up a drawing. Did the algorithm…

I attended high-school back in the Pleistocene Era and played electric guitar in a garage band. After graduation, I left the city and moved to a small town to attend college. Alas, there was no real rock there, just a…

It's here! The new album is finally done!

El Borko ¡Surf! is the first album with Cameron Wick on drums and James P. Daley on bass. I've been around the Pacific Northwest with these guys, they're fun to hang out…

Most people who have recorded an album know how much work it is. You have to write the songs, then play the songs, then record the songs. Then you gotta mix the songs, master the songs, make an album cover…

I enjoy talking about music and musicians but what's left to say about the big names in guitar? We all have our favorites. Debating is fun but the subjects are always the same. I have a list of three excellent…

It's fun to break down a genre into sub-genres and see what they bring to the whole. Here are four possible sub-genres for surf music; cinematic drama, barefoot beach party, hotrod hoodlum, and sensuous jungle tiki.

Cinematic drama is the…

Ask someone for an example of surf music, then get ready for many different answers. Some will say "Beach Boys", some will say "Dick Dale", some will talk about the Ventures or Duane Eddy. They are all correct.  

Surf music…

Like Indiana Jones sinking into quicksand, civilization seems to be struggling to keep afloat. Along with the woes of the world, we have our own private problems to solve. Sometimes it's hard to keep from being overwhelmed.  

Sometimes just knowing…

Thanks to everyone who came out to see El Borko or The Miller Brothers or any other shows this past year. Your support means a lot. Special thanks to Celeste from Yeti Set Go, Rob Tobias, Lisa Rennie, Beau Eastlund…

Everything has to be new all the time. Does everything have to be new all the time? Why does everything have to be new all the time? Everything new happens all the time. So every time a thing is new…

Sometimes we do things just to see if we can. This week was an example of that where I played an El Borko show in Seattle on Thursday, a Miller Brothers show in Eugene on Friday and tonight it's up…

I have been so lucky to find such a great band. Jon Neher is a loyal friend and a great musician. He brings intensity and life to everything he does. James P. Daley illustrates the maxim, "still waters run deep"…

I spend a lot of time promoting my band on various calendars, websites, and other Public Relations-y sorta things. You have to write descriptions of the band... over and over. Go to any events or band website and marvel at…

It's no secret that our expectations can affect our outcomes. But it's so obvious that we often forget, and then undermine our own projects. I had some recent reminders of this. Here are two examples.  

I just returned from a…

When you compose music, you might write down chord changes or lyrics. Some people actually write out a score. I do a little of each, but no matter how often I play it, I wanna hear what the finished product…

There's no such thing as an "unknown" band. If you're a band, and you play out, then someone must know you. I've played gigs where it was us and the bartender and two drunk people who left after awhile. So…

I like the early Rolling Stones, they were rowdy and innovative, but the Mick Taylor period is my favorite. I was a teen, discovering music and girls, and guitar just as the Stones were maturing into a great band. Time…

Playing in a band is similar to playing on a sports team. Each member has a particular skill. You have a practice schedule. You have gigs/games. At the gig/game, things don't always go the way they did at practice. The…

When making setlists, I imagine each set as a one act play where each song is a character or an event. In this context, a song has a role and a personality. The opening song is vivacious and engaging. The…

I hated my middle name. So I made sure my kids had NO middle names. When they got old enough to notice these things thaey said; "Dad! why didn't you give us middle names?". You can't win. 

Back in the…

I watched a bunch of youtube videos about songwriting. They covered a variety of subjects like how to write a hook, how to write a song, things you should do, things you shouldn't do. I'm not a prolific writer, but…

No... I don't mean in this house... This picture exemplifies what I like about Eugene, Oregon. You should google that phrase and be amused. It's cool to live in a town where people do stuff like this... "Like what?"... you…

Once when I was a kid, my brother and I made a lion's mane out of construction paper and taped it to the dog. Then we got a hula hoop and did a lion-tamer circus act. Our mom was unimpressed. 

…