This song was written for my wife, and is about the day I bought an engagement ring for her.  I was in Aberdeen, Scotland missing my girlfriend terribly. I had made enough scratch from buskin to buy a humble engagement ring there. The one I picked out had some lines from a Rupbert Brooke poem inscribed in it which read, "I held your name and sewed the sky."  Those words became paraphrased into the chorus of the song.

Most of the lyrics for Green Room Mirror were written scribbled down on a napkin during of a low point a few years back. I was burned out from promoting my last album "Out of Place", and doing my last show. I was tired and stressed. But what I felt more than anything was defeat - I really couldn't even stand to look at myself.

When the time came to write a song to close the album, naturally I knew where to look.  I pulled out what I had scrawled years before, added some things, took away some things, and viola. I wove in the theater and  Commedia Dell'Arte players as a metaphor for what I was going through at the time.  The fact the Commedia Dell'Arte was a century-old forerunner to Vaudeville helped draw the album to a close very nicely.

Let me just say I REALLY had a lot of fun writing and recording this song. Response to this song is a subjective thing. Depending on who the listener is, it will either evoke serendipity or an unexpected shock. I'm content with either reaction. There is more of a focus on story-telling here.  The plot is simple enough; Romeo and Juliet scenario set in Oklahoma.

This song was penned about 2 years back - when you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a news story about Paris Hilton.  She's laying low these days, but the song can still equally apply to whoever Hollywood's latest idiotic "It Girl" is.  Honestly, this is where the U.S.press really disappoints me. We need the media to swarm and report on strong, intelligent women instead - and no, Sara Palin doesn't count.  When is the last time you read an article about someone like Amelia Earhart or Mother Theresa?

OK, so I'm slowly thawing from carbon-freeze and will be on the move again soon with a new album entitled Mayhaw Vaudeville.  It's a quasi-conceptual album. The original intent was to do variety show featuring grass-roots forms of Southern genres of music. To make a long story short; I got bored with that concept and included a few contemporary numbers, while still keeping with the "Variety Show" theme of the album: A traditional nine-act Vaudeville Show with a prelude and curtain call thrown in for good measure. Best of all, the album will be offered up as a download free of charge.

The Album release party will be at Avant Garden (411 Westheimer,  Houston, TX) at 9:00 on August 22nd. It's sort of a sneak preview, as attendees there will be the first to get free access to download the new album. We won't be publicizing the download location of the album for the rest of the public until a few weeks after the release party.

Till that time, over the next few weeks I’ll be posting a handful of selections from the new album here on myspace, along with corresponding blogs discussing the finer points of writing and recording of each song.

Stay tuned…

I wanted to thank everyone who took the time to vote for me in the Houston Press Music Awards. Unfortunately it seems the Susan Lucci curse shall continue for another year. I also want to thank the live music-going public out there who came out to show support for all the bands during the music showcase.

I also owe you an apology for the delay of the new CD, "Mayhaw Vaudeville".  The intended goal was to finish recording it by July and have it out by late-August. But Murphy's Law has a particular affinity for picking on us Alexander's, and as some of you know, I've been dealing with tendonitis in my right hand since early July. It's one of those things where you let it go and say to yourself, "I'll see how it feels next week and figure out what to do." The pain seems to dissipate a little over time and you think you're recovering, then it flares up again. I have no idea what aggravates it, but the pain makes playing instruments and even operating the recording console intolerable.

Being that I am among the 30 million Americans who can't afford health insurance or a visit to the doctor, seeing a professional about it is out of the question. I've had tendonitis before and it just takes a while to heal on it's own – no point in paying doctors and referral specialists hundreds of dollars just to tell me they can't do anything for it (Don't you hate it when they do that?). Anyway, as soon as it does clear up I will be back on track - only thing standing in my way right now is time. On the up-side, I am going to be releasing some of the material from the CD in advance. The first is up on my profile right now. It's called "Mayhaw Wine". I will eventually have a local cat throw down a muted trumpet solo on there, but for now I think the piece is alright for an appetizer. 

Enjoy,

-Lee

   Once or twice in a heated exchange, some people have been angry enough to go so far as to call me "unpatriotic" because I openly criticize the president.  I fail to see the logic in that assertion. The president is merely a public servant we vote into employment every four years – since when was it ever unpatriotic for managers to criticize their employees?

   There are many forms of patriotism, and none so remarkable as the men and women in the military service of this country (and their parents). But I think we would be remiss if we undervalued the honest, self-effacing patriotism that comes in the form of political dissent.  After all, it was acts of political dissention that gave birth to the U.S. Revolution and founded this nation before a shot was ever fired. And people like the Abolitionists, Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, and numerous other protesters in various causes over the centuries have proved their patriotism by fighting to maintain the integrity of the Bill of Rights so that we are ALL equally entitled to the freedoms that it guarantees. The dissenter's love for his or her country is like the love a parent has for its child…and a good parent doesn't condone misbehavior.

   That being said, some of you will notice a brand new political song on my profile called "Mr. Walker's Epilogue".  The song itself is fairly old – written as I was wrapping up the last album. It was inspired by the movie "Outfoxed", a scathing documentary on Rupert Murdock, FOX news, and their deceivingly biased support of the Bush Administration.  With the elections underway, I felt it would be better timing to release it now instead of later when the CD is out.

   To me, the song is a simple observation of the demise of a commander and chief that, in time, the U.S. will come to remember as "ineffective and disappointing" at best.  I intend for the song to remain free for downloading and sharing from now through the entire lame-duck phase and until the day the next President is inaugurated. I strongly encourage file-sharing and pirating of this song as much possible and hope that if anything, it will motivate people to get informed, get out and vote, and carefully consider who we're electing to that very important office for the next four years.

-Lee

  Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm all for freedom of expression, but there is one form of expression that my fair-skinned cousins have repeatedly abused…I'm speaking of course about the mustache. What spawned this blog was a recent visit I had with an old friend.  When I arrived at the cafe I noticed he was sporting a new mustache – Burt Reynolds style.  I'm not sure that I recall anything we actually talked about…the only thing I kept thinking about was that confounded mustache and how ridiculous he looked with it. I also remember pondering whether or not to call the Crime Stoppers hotline, because his face now resembled many I had just seen on the post office kiosk just a few hours before.  

   Now don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against mustaches in and of themselves.   In fact, I think they look rather distinguishing on SOME men.  But there is a certain demographic of men (which sadly, I am a part of) who shouldn't grow mustaches.  As a rule, white males between the ages of 14 and 40 should not where a mustache.  Fellas, it doesn't make you look cool or more distinguished – instead, it makes you look more like a registered sex offender or a serial killer, so please stop it!  If you've ever wondered why female joggers and parents with children leave the park when you come around…well, now you know why. I'm sorry I had to be the one to break it to you my brothers, but somebody had to finally come out and say it.

   As an alternative, please consider a nice full beard (which is back in style by-the-way) or at least a goatee. Sporting lamb chops or that Lincoln/Amish jaw-frame thingy adds a nice eccentric twist that you more rebellious souls might want to consider as a substitute, but for God's sake there should be no mustaches for Caucasians until they've gone through mid-life crisis first. The one exception to this whole mustache rule is if you grow a HUGE handlebar mustache which curls all the way up to the crow's feet on your eyes…now that's COOL!  

   If on the other hand, you have your hair styled into a mullet, then none of these facial hair rules will apply, because no matter what style you groom your whiskers into, you will still look like you're inbred.

-Lee