JimBaumerMe, above the fold (Bangor Daily News, 12/28)
BIDDEFORD, Maine — All things considered, it’s been a decent year for Jim Baumer. The artist wrote a few dozen songs, put out his first EP and networked his way to 45 gigs at pubs and other stages across New England.
But it wasn’t that long ago that Baumer, a writer, didn’t play music at all. Although he’d always wanted to, it wasn’t until his son’s death that he began to devote time to it.
Mark Baumer was a writer and climate activist who died in January 2017 at age 33. He was struck by a car and killed in Florida while walking across the U.S. to raise awareness about climate change, and to raise funds for a friend’s environmental organization. He was reportedly wearing a high-visibility vest at the time he was struck and walking against traffic in accordance with safety guidelines. His death was a national story.
Sitting at my dining room table in June, I wrote a song that in many ways is my “Alice’s Restaurant.” By that I mean that it’s a song written in a vein similar to Arlo Guthrie’s late-60s classic—a sort of talking blues that spans nearly five decades of my musical journey from the age of 8 until now.
At the start of summer, I was just coming out of the chute relative to booking gigs. A mere few weeks into a calendar of bookings and venues that ran well into the fall and the eventual closing-down of many outdoor places catering to warmer days and music.
The cold and darkness of November now morphs into full-blown winter. My crowded calendar of the summer now has a smattering of dates marked in January, with other possibilities confirmed out into 2022.
Since I write my own songs, like “Finding a New Path,” the song I reference above, and my penchant and preference for the indie side of the rock landscape, I began seeking opportunities to play original songs, versus the summer-long slog of three-hour sets spiked full of cover material, even if what I cover tends towards my own preference for the more obscure side of music. There’s nothing wrong with playing covers if that’s your thing. It’s not really mine. So, where to look for opportunities and perhaps, a scene that still understands what indie once meant when it was still vibrant. And yes, Virginia, there are still places where indie still has street cred.
My blog has transitioned to mainly music these days. Well, most of the time. But today, I turn back to the political.
Truth be told, this post is still about music—because the songs I write and even some of the covers that I do are rooted in a space where certain political and moral ideas are central.
There’s a guy named Royce White. If you know basketball, you recognize the name and maybe know a bit about his story. He was a force on the court, but he’s become a much bigger force off the court. The hardwood could not contain his breadth and boldness. Continue reading →
In April of 2020, I attempted to reason thoughtfully with some leftist haters on Facebook. Rather than engage with what I posted, they simply attempted to shut me down with some lame “fact-checking.” It pissed me off. I wrote a song. That song was “Living in This World.”
In January, I released an EP digitally on Bandcamp, a great streaming platform for artists. The EP, “All You Stupid Sheep” takes a populist tack, calling out hypocritical leftists, Jeff Bezos, TPTB with their malicious divide and conquer methods set under the guise of “safety” and a so-called pandemic.
Recently, I’ve been considering other means of getting my music out to a wider audience. Spotify rips-off artists, so that’s out for me. Then I heard about Amazing Radio. The U.S.-based arm of the streaming service is 100% focused on helping new and emerging musicians. It operates Amazing Radio and CMJ, which together have more than fifty years’ experience of helping the world’s best new musicians get the break they deserve. CMJ was a big part of my DJ experience at WBOR during the mid-1990s, focusing on so many undiscovered bands and bringing them to the attention of DJs like me who was committed to playing new and virtually unheard music.
Last night I played a gig in Rochester, New Hampshire. It was a Wednesday night show at Mitchell Hill BBQ. On the way over from Biddeford, about 35 miles with a border crossing in Somersworth, I got turned around. I should have just shot down Route 111, but instead, took Route 9 instead. My mistake.
Showed up a bit harried. Had to drag my gear down the sidewalk nearly a ¼ mile because there was no parking due to outdoor dining barriers set-up along North Main Street.
I played the gig. Nothing from the audience. That’s fine. I gave them what I had for two hours including my epic mash-up of “Icarus” and “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore” and the first live performance of “Finding a New Path.” Made $17 in tips. It was a Wednesday night. Someone had to take this filler slot and I gave it the old college try. I’m appreciative for the booking, so “thanks Bob.” Continue reading →
I write my own songs. Not everyone does. I’d wager that it’s fair to say that many solo performers and bands that you’ll see at Maine’s various live entertainment venues this summer play mainly covers.
Don’t get me wrong, covers are fine. In order to fill a three-hour setlist, I play covers. Lots of people like to hear songs they’re familiar with. In fact, there’s a reason grounded in psychology for this and why covers are popular and often, necessary for gigging musicians to perform.
Petr Janata who is an associate professor of psychology at UC Davis’ Center for Mind and Brain indicates that the popularity of cover tunes is that when humans hear a familiar piece of music, it serves as “a soundtrack for a mental movie that starts playing in our head.” Janata states that songs can summon up “memories of a particular person or place, and you might all of a sudden see that person’s face in your mind’s eye.”
Is there a place for original music—certainly. Should I be playing all my own songs all night long? Probably not, at least not this year.
But, I do like coming up with my own songs.
Two weeks ago, I played the Kennebunk Farmers’ Market. My understanding was that it might lead to something semi-regular. Now, I’m not so sure.
I do know this. I got lots of $1 and $5 dollar tips. That tells me that people who heard me appreciated my music and they made a tangible show of their appreciation. I also wrote a new song just for that morning, about farmers’ markets in general.
I played it last week during a short video segment I call “Breakfast with Baumer.”
I’m pretty sure I was blissfully unaware of the danger lurking just below the surface of rock and roll. Perhaps the strains of a 4/4 backbeat, amplified guitar and bass, and the raw energy in those first songs blasted from the 2’’ speaker of my first transistor radio at eight-years-old was enough to complete that defining experience. I’ve never lost the magic and transformative elements of rock and roll on my life.
I had a transistor radio like this one.
If you don’t think rock and roll was once a seditious form of “entertainment” or something else, Google “GG Allin,” or do some reading about Iggy Pop. There are certainly others that could be called “dangerous.” The former is someone who, even if you think his anti-authoritarian stage antics including defecation and throwing shit is a tad over-the-top, Allin believed that his total embodiment of rock and roll was “an escape from consumerism and commercialism” and “a desire to return rock and roll to it’s rebellious roots.” What were those roots? And how the hell did it go from being anti-establishment to every single fucking pansy-ass rock and roll millennial buckling under and quivering in total fear to a virus that may or may not pose any real threat to them and their picking up a goddamned guitar. If GG Allin is a turn-off, look up Iggy Pop then. Is he now pimping for the man? I’m not saying rock and roll has to be scatological to be good. Not at all. But, damn!! What the hell has happened to the genre when everything is so passive and complicit with following a narrative that enshrines our corporate overlords? Seeking an alternative to Allin? I’m fine with Johnny Rotten. I’m a fan of Neil Young and play some of his songs. Continue reading →
I find that most people seem fixated on performers they’ll never meet or know. But they are “famous” and I am not.
Not going to make any comparisons between JimBaumerMe–who has only been working with any diligence at his lo-fi rock and roll craft for slightly less than three years–and let’s say Bruce Springsteen (faux populist), Bob Dylan (always been a fraud) and John Prine (who seems to be everyone’s favorite these days). But sometimes, to read all the hagiographic bullshit posted about artists that you probably don’t even own a fucking record by is really maddening (and hypocritical, too). Playing live music, live or even streaming, is much harder than most of you who can’t even form one cowboy chord, realize. But I’m sounding angry and bitter (my perpetual state).
Anyways, I’ve got another Sunday Morning Rock and Roll Church episode (the Easter 2021 edition) up on the platforms. I have an MP4 also, if anyone tries to de-platform me for my “mealy-mouthed millennial blasts” and railing against TPTB (like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and the other tech elites that are trying to shut down any reasoned dialogue).
And, oh, btw: this isn’t scripted. The emotions you see—the anger, and then, the very real tears from a father with a broken heart who lost his only son—those are real. And for those who walked away when things got too hard, there’s a song for you, too.
Lastly—where are all of Mark Baumer’s friends/fans these days? Just curious. His commitment is still worth considering in an age where everyone’s a bumper-sticker/front-lawn sign activist. Jesus certainly wasn’t.
For those who prefer to stream music on your phone or other device (in your car??) rather than watch video, I uploaded the audio track to SoundCloud. “Bumped” the mix a bit, too and took out the gaps and pauses.
Last week, streaming was a little too weird, with six screens staring back at me. So this week, I’m just going to pre-record and post.
This Maundy Thursday Unplugged Prayer Meeting was done in one take (no edits) down at the First Congregational Bunker Rock Church of Lo-Fi Salvation. Had fun making it and I tried not to go off the rails. Oh well….
It’s Thursday Night Unplugged Prayer Meeting/Maundy Thursday version
Thought the sound mix with guitar (acoustic) and vocals was a solid one. Played my Epiphone through the Vox and mic’d it directly into the DAW along with the vocals.
Setlist:
Broken Little Bird (JimBMe)
Main Man (T Rex/Marc Bolan)
Tulsa Time (Don Williams/Eric Clapton)
Wonderwall (Oasis)
Self-help bromide
Living in This World (JimBMe)
Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young)
Icarus (Gold Connections)
Music, like everything else, wasn’t intended to be programmed by algorithm. But, people seem to have succumbed: anything that isn’t easy, or pleasant, or makes them feel good about their pathetic lives is just deleted, or tuned out. Like populist rock and roll.
Try doing a Google search for “populist rock and roll” or “populist rocker.” Notice how Bruce Springsteen pops up? One of the articles is an older Spin magazine piece (from 1985) and another one on “The Boss” is from the New York Times and 1997. I guess if he’s the standard-bearer for populist rock and roll, no wonder it sets people off so easily. No one really remembers, apparently what music that pushed back against the establishment’s supposed to sound like. Oh, and see what I mean about algorithms? They fucking distort reality. And just so you know, Springsteen’s populist pose is just that: a pose. Remember the pathetic “unity in the middle” Super Bowl ad for Jeep?
But go ahead, keep looking for that populist thread running through what’s left of rock and roll. I won’t hold my breath waiting.
I ran through another Rock and Roll Church service Sunday morning. Got the stream to work, too. Weirdly, I had this odd, cascading thing going on during the Facebook Live stream. But, at least people showed up and could see and hear something. We’ll keep working to get all the speed bumps smoothed-out.
I’ve been playing “Stuck in a Nightmare,” my COVID song about lockdown and Janet Mills for a year. I wrote it in March, 2020. I’ve never played it live until today. There was this riff in the verses that sounded Bowie-esque. I couldn’t put my finger on the song. Ironically, it’s “Queen Bitch,” which seems fitting since Governor Mills plays so prominently in the sentiment of my song. I really like the electric version. This track was on Bowie’s 1971 record, Hunky Dory.
After a brief respite where Mary and I walked part of the beach at OOB, I was back down in the Bunker, working on recording a four-pack of songs I played during the morning R & R service.
Let me warn you. Don’t listen to it near flammable liquids. They may ignite.
I’ll post my video and then, Bowie playing, “Queen Bitch.”
There’s the screed about Jeff Bezos, and how his wealth has gone from $106 billion to $186 billion during COVID. So much for pandemics being tough on TPTB. I also reference Jimmy Dore, someone you might want to check-out if populism doesn’t offend you.
