New Video for “Kalamazoo” & Weekend Tour
Wow! Norovirus hit us multiple times here at the Vial/Burg house this month. I had to cancel a bunch of gigs, but fortunately, we are all well in time for an upcoming weekend tour in the Midwest!
On Friday (2/17), I’m opening for Frontier Ruckus in Kalamazoo at Old Dog Tavern to celebrate their new record! Tickets are $12: Buy here
On Saturday (2/18), I’m sharing a show with Chaz Hearne (Chaz & Alex) in Chicago at Uncommon Ground (Devon in Edgewater). Tickets are $8. Reserve seat here
Uncommon Ground, 1401 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL 60660
On Sunday (2/19), I’m returning to the Chicory Cafe in South Bend to play an afternoon set in South Bend! Noon to 2 PM. No cover.
New Video, “Kalamazoo” filmed by Charles Steen:
Bandcamp Sale – Neutral Zone Donations
“Secluded Vibrance”
West Virginia’s forsaken coke
ovens, a painter’s acid palette,
reddened the rocks of Douglas Falls.
Listen to the water whisper a story
waiting in secluded vibrancy.
That green pool of tears knows
the taste of our progress better
than we do, as those falls crash
stained rock, again and again,
a spectacular, grotesque end.
February 1-2, 2017
Photo credits: Adam and Christine of Virginiatrailguide.com, used with permission.
- Congress votes to end rule stopping coal mining debris from being dumped in streams http://ti.me/2l0B1M5
- More about Douglas Falls: Virginiatrailguide.com
- A hiking map through Black Canyon Trails: here
- The phrase “secluded vibrance” comes from photographer Matthew Kocin’s photo here.
Fred Korematsu Day – Tiny Desk Contest
January 30 is Fred Korematsu Day.
We recognize his protest of the Japanese Internment Camps as an American citizen, and his work in social justice throughout his life.
My Tiny Desk Contest submission is a song for him, “California Cries (May 30, 1942 – San Leandro).”
You can read lyrics here on Genius.
More about Korematsu here: http://www.korematsuinstitute.org/
Annotated Lyrics: A World That’s Bigger
For those who like the stories of the songs, I annotated the lyrics to A World That’s Bigger on Genius.
In an interview last week, music journalist Annie Reuters asked me about the literary allusions and motifs hiding within the lyrics of new record. (Former students probably just shuddered as they remembered Dialectical Journals for my class.)
Here’s a cheat sheet:
https://genius.com/artists/Mike-vial
