Nellie @ The Dakota, January 26, 2012
I saw Nellie McKay at the Dakota tonight. She performed “I Want To Live,” which was the closest her live show has come to recreating the depth and scope of her albums. I was reminded of how she was an inspiration for realizing the need to express myself through my own album. Nellie is courageous and bold; each song uncompromisingly hers in intent and inimitability. Listening to Obligatory Villagers for the first time caught me completely by surprise — it was what, Zappa and Bernstein caught in a compromising position?

The bonus of the night was the presence of the unkillable John Sands on drums. I hadn't even noticed him until she mentioned it (to my defense, I had a profile view and he was wearing a cap). So great to see him healthy and giving everything his magic touch (if one time a measure too soon).

Nonsense & Ostensibility now free to download
After doing some market research I have determined an exciting new price point for my album: free! (The album will disappear from iTunes and Amazon around February 14, thank you everyone who supported me and it this past year!)

I also took the time to tidy up the website and with greater horizontality and (hopefully) ease of navigatation. I’ve also added some track commentary alongside the lyrics, delineated into the two halves that comprise the album. Each song is downloadable individually on these pages along with alternate bonus versions of certain songs (“Septimus”, “In Memoriam” and . . . “Constellations”).

Yes, I have a new acoustic version of “Constellations” that features Elton on cellos (everything else, me). The end (spoiler alert) contains an additional epilogue verse that resolves the song cycle of Part II with a little more hope. (These songs are about the same two characters.) My next task is an acoustic version of “Circumstance” which once complete will make an all-acoustic alternate mini-album from “Septimus Prime” to the end.