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AI, Advent, and Playing Guitar (Music Newsletter)

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[Note: I’m reposting my latest music newsletter. I am now using Substack for all my music-related communiques. It might be a good time to sign-up if you want to stay up-to-date on the latest and greatest from JimBaumerME.]

When we moved from Maine to Virginia in 2022, I thought my days of snow and storm closures were over. And during that first winter, Virginia seemed to be a land free from ice and snow.

Our realtor told us that it rarely snowed in Virginia, but when it did he said, “the entire city shuts down.” Friday, we had three inches of snow and I was reminded of what he told me. I work for Lynchburg City Schools and they cancelled school for the day. Much of Lynchburg was also closed. Then, on Sunday night, with another similar snow event set to hit the Lynchburg/Roanoke area, I received my robo call from the school system saying we were cancelled on Monday.

 

This morning (Tuesday), I awoke to a frozen winter wonderland outside. Last night’s snow and frigid winter temperatures in the teens had made the roadways sheets of black ice, so once more, I’m home on a snow day. Given that it’s December and I haven’t put out a newsletter since the summer, it feels like a good time for an end-of-the-year summation of 2025.

Live music opportunities in Lynchburg continue to be rare events. I couldn’t have picked a worse place to opt to play original music. But, rather than allow bitterness to poison my musical well, I try to use my downtown productively—working on my guitar skills and writing new music. Then, when school gets out, I take my one-man-band show known as JimBaumerME on the road

In 2024, I met a small DIY community in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. A musician named Chad James hosted shows on his property outside of town. His bills at The Shack gave me an opportunity to find members of my musical tribe. Chad, Kip Gunnells (of the band, Kip Gloss), Chad’s girlfriend Alecia, and a few other people made me feel welcome that very first summer and so this June, I stopped off in Murfreesboro again. Even better, I got to play a show in Nashville at Betty’s Grill with Kip Gloss (Chad plays drums for them), and meet Milo and the boys from Wonderbad, as we shared an amazing evening and a really cool bill at one of Nashville’s dive bar gems. Prior to my foray into Tennessee, I played Asheville, NC, the hometown of MJ Lenderman (arguably one of the biggest names in indie rock at the moment) for the very first time, rocking out at The Burger Bar.

As AI continues to take over the world, I often wonder what will become of music, literature, and maybe, the future of mankind. I honestly don’t know the answer to that. However, since no AI has been used to write this newsletter or produce any music in 2025 (and this will continue in 2026), no new data centers have been erected to further the reach of JimBaumerME.

Since it is the season of Advent, I thought it appropriate to share some related news. In May, after decades of being spiritually adrift, I was curious about the Hallow app I kept seeing advertisements about. I downloaded it on my phone and began accessing a vast array of Christian material. Initially, I didn’t know it was a Catholic-based app. Having grown up as a “cradle” Catholic and walking away from my faith in college during a “born-again” phase, and then later, attending Bible College, my faith got tested and I apparently failed the challenge. Catholicism was the last thing that I thought would offer my life meaning. But after visiting a host of evangelical churches that dominate the religious landscape in this area, the Catholic Church felt like coming home.

I have been attending Mass every week since June. I find that practicing the Catholic faith helps ground me and offers me hope that I’ve rarely had, especially since the death of Mark in 2017.

So, what does this have to do with music, Jim? I’m not sure. Honestly, I don’t plan on releasing an album of Gregorian chants come RPM season in February. But don’t be surprised if my faith doesn’t pop up in some of my lyrics from time to time. One of my idols during my time in evangelical Christianity in the 1980s was a musician named Larry Norman. He is sometimes called “the father of Christian rock.” Larry was more than some marginalized Christian rocking out to Jesus lyrics, however. He was a talented songwriter, musician, and thinker, a friend to Dylan, Joplin, and others. I remember receiving his Solid Rock newsletter back in the 1980s while living in Hobart, Indiana, recovering from legalistic Christianity. Larry was a breath of fresh air, as he’d be referencing G.K. Chesterton, Malcolm Muggeridge, and commenting on how the church’s take on music and culture was lacking. Being more like Larry might not be a bad look for future JimBaumerME projects, but we shall see. At the very least, I might add another Larry Norman song to my repertoire.

Hallow has a great 25-day Advent challenge. The holidays have been tough since losing Mark. And, my wife Mary will tell you I’ve always been a bit of a Scrooge come Christmas time. But this year, I am finding new meaning in the story of Jesus and his birth.

Over the last two months, I’ve been learning a ton of new songs. These are covers and I vowed I’d never go back to playing cover gigs again. But, learning “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon, “Pink Houses” by John Mellencamp, “Roadrunner” by The Modern Lovers, and even “Born in the USA” by Springsteen has breathed new life into my ever-burgeoning set of originals mixed with covers. I look forward to playing some shows in the New Year and surprising people with some new material.

My guitar-playing continues to evolve and I marvel at how far I’ve come over the past seven years after picking up the guitar again to deal with grief and loss.

Please mark your calendar for January 10th. I will be doing a livestream, most likely via Facebook Live. I hope you’ll tune in and check out the ever-evolving stage persona of JimBaumerME. Also, for that music lover who has all the latest and the greatest, surprise him/her with some merch from my Bandcamp page.

From snowy Virginia, here’s wishing you all the Happiest of Holidays and the Merriest of Christmases.

February Is a Tough Month (for Love)/RPM 2024

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This year’s RPM Challenge was a walk in the park for me. Maybe, if I’d decided to push it and make a full-length and not an EP, it might have been a bit harder. But for some reason, the song ideas were flowing and I even have my next single in the can from this creative exercise.

My latest release

With this release, I embraced a bit of genre-shifting, or at least, I diverged somewhat from my usual indie rock. Granted, the first two tracks align with most of my previous input, save that the overall quality of recording has improved.

On the opening track, “Al Gore Rhythm,” I wanted to tackle the notion that to succeed in music these days, it really does come down to “feeding the beast,” which are the social media algorithms (or, Al Gore Rhythms) that seem to drive everything, talent or songwriting prowess be damned.

The second song on the new release, is an update in my musical narrative that really began with the death of my son, Mark Baumer. January was the 7th anniversary of his death and music has allowed me a space to find some healing of sorts. “100 Days (7 years later)” is an update on the story about Mark, and also serves as the single on this release.

The next track is probably one of the peppiest numbers I’ve done (at least in terms of music and melody, if not lyrics). Breaking out of my usual 115 BPM, “Rocket Store” could certainly fit the bill as a single. On this one, I really embrace Auto-Tune on my vocals.

During the making of FIATMFL, I’ve been playing around a bit with synth loops and other effects. That exploration delivers the fourth track, “Synth Wave Sweep,” which uses a synth loop to create a bit of “space” on the record between songs.

In 2008, I wrote my first Moxie book, Moxietown, which detailed how Moxie and my hometown of LIsbon Falls became epicenter of the Moxie universe. The central figure in that narrative was Frank Anicetti, “the Moxie man,” or better, “the Mayor of Moxietown.” This track, a simple acoustic number is my paean to one of the more interesting characters I’ve met in my lifetime. Glad I took the time to pay attention his stories.

The final track is me, my electric guitar, and a pedal board. Decided to have some fun, crafting a song, “Future Gaze,” best described as shoegaze, with lots of delay, distortion, and compression.

If you use Spotify, please add me to your playlists and give the new single a spin or two when it drops on Friday.

One Sheet for Living in Some Strange Days (indie rock)

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Artist: JimBaumerMe (pronounced JimBomberEmEE)
Location: Biddeford, ME
Album: Living in Some Strange Days

Maine-based indie rocker Jim Baumer recently released a new batch of songs on his latest release, Living in Some Strange Days.

Front cover, “Living in Some Strange Days” [Jonathan Braden design]

Baumer’s music hearkens back to a period of time when indie rock ruled college radio in the mid-1990s. Many of the tracks on Living in Some Strange Days originated during the past 2+ years of the pandemic, when he says he was “locked in my basement wondering if I’d ever play live again.”

Music has been Baumer’s path forward following the aftermath when his son, well-known environmental activist and poet, Mark Baumer, was killed in 2017.  Picking up his old Yamaha guitar he’d had around the house for 20 years, Baumer took it out of the case and started to play. He states “I’ve been playing it ever since.”

LISSD is a mix of solo acoustic material, rooted in 70s music and artists like Arlo Guthrie, Neil Young, Big Star, and T. Rex. The one-man-band electric songs like “Spaceship Flying Saucer Bluze” and “Soros Jam” are influenced by angular indie bands of the 1990s and similar to Pavement, Silkworm, and even some of the Amphetamine Reptile noise bands of that period.

A child of the 1970s, Baumer grew up with music that never shied away from the topics of the day. “TNT (Acoustic Mix)” speaks to freedom and protest and tilts against so-called leftists and their locking down of dissent in Canada and elsewhere.

Photo by Shawn Munro Edgecomb [design, Jonathan Braden]

The final track, “Kick the Darkness” is the first single from the release. It takes the refrain from Bruce Cockburn’s “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” and offers a glimmer of hope for anyone who thinks that we might be living through strange days.

Baumer has one prior release, an EP on Bandcamp called All You Stupid Sheep, which came out in early 2021.

All songs written by Jim Baumer
All instruments (drums, guitars, found sounds, loops) and vocals performed by Jim Baumer
Website: http://jimbaumerexperience.com/music/

Launching Rock and Roll Church-Sunday Service

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New England-style Congregational Church (Maine Memory Network)

There was a time when salvation really mattered to me. Perhaps it still does—just in a different way than before.

Music has been something that has offered me a way forward following the tragic death of my son, Mark. Back in August 2018, I never thought I’d be sitting here, promoting a Facebook live event—especially not an event like Rock and Roll Church.

What do I hope to accomplish with a facsimile of a Sunday morning worship service, sans the usual spiritual trappings? Actually, music has a spiritual component that’s often overlooked. I mean, Larry Norman, the father of contemporary Christian music, did ask the question, “why should the devil have all the good music?” Really! Norman knew that music was a medium that could be used powerfully—in his case—to glorify the god who he believed in and exalted in his music.

With a new EP out and songs that I’ve been playing now for a few months, I thought the time was right to roll out a setlist made up of these songs and a few others. Also, as COVID has shut down regular opportunities to play each week via open mics and gigs at music venues, this is a good time to develop some momentum with regular streaming gigs.

I plan to play for an hour or so. I’ll blend a few covers and I’ll probably offer some between song banter, some thoughts on things going on in the world, and a bit of background about the songs I’ll be playing.

Come on down to the First Congregational Bunker Rock Church of Lo-Fi Salvation and join the JimBaumerMe/aka, Reverend Jimi as he shepherd rock lovers through a unique rock and roll experience.

Rock and Roll Church
Facebook Live
Sunday10am

Get Back to Rock and Roll!!

Poems All Month

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We’re 10 days into National Poetry Month and I’ve not made one mention of it. That’s a damn shame!

I never paid much attention to poets as I’ve alluded to before. Then, Mark was killed and I wanted to know more about why he was attracted to poetry and certain kinds of poets.

Someone wrote me that he thought poetry was “a thing” and maybe I should glom onto that. He didn’t think much of my “diary of grief” style.

I’m not a poet and never will be.

Did you know Herman Melville wrote more poetry than fiction? I didn’t until this afternoon when, after spending most of the day on my writing-for-hire, I employed my speed-reading prowess I first learned back in the day at LHS, from Mr. Barton. I managed to tear through three books on Melville, Ambrose Bierce, and Walt Whitman.

Melville was a poet: “Melville His World and Work,” by Andrew Delbanco

Continue reading →

Medicare (for all)

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We are slightly more than two weeks ‘til the midterms. Will the Democrats gain the House (and Senate), or will the Kavanaugh nomination drive Republicans to the polls in higher than usual numbers? Then, there are the myriad of issues sliding past the lips of candidates. One of them I’ve heard and care about is the term “Medicare for all.”

Despite continued opposition from almost every candidate on the right, Democrats recognize that voters do favor something more radical than President Obama’s plan for health insurance. While “Obamacare” is far from the ideal, all “the party of no” can come up with is continued cuts to Medicaid and even the specter that they’ll at some point gut Medicare.

If you look at polling, the landscape clearly shows that more than half of the country (and 70 percent of those polled who vote Democrat) want some form of single-payer healthcare, which is what Medicare is. More than half of America’s doctors also favor it. So why won’t our elected leaders do something about it?

I’ve written about passing my insurance exam and being licensed as a life/health agent in Maine. Last fall, I passed my CMS certification to sell Medicare. My first year representing Medicare Advantage plans found my sales to be minimal. But I was happy that I got to make this step forward as an agent. What I learned is that most people age 65 (or heading there fast) know little or nothing about Medicare. Worse, they don’t know how to maximize their healthcare benefit options. Continue reading →

Not Quite As Dark

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It’s been awhile since I felt excitement coming home after work. No, I’m not sick of my wife of 34 years, and I have no intention of parting ways.

Actually, for the past several years, I’m usually the one who has been working at home, or coming home long before Mary arrives from her job, or evening workout with SheJAMS.

I adore the cat we added to our home slightly more than a year ago. Lucy is always happy to see me, whenever I return.

This time of year, when I’ve put away my umpiring gear (and volleyball referee’s whistle), as well as hung up the road bike for the season, the approach of darkness has elicited something akin to that claustrophobic feeling that makes breathing difficult.

We are now in week two in our new house. As we unpack the assorted boxes and crates and begin rearranging things into something that feels like home again, returning home after work elicits anticipation and a thrill as I head towards our place by the cove.

Yes, December is the darkest month, but this year, it doesn’t seem as bleak as years past. A new town and a new place to call “home” has a lot to do with that.

The Action Button

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Good ideas and solutions to problems are abundant. Everyone might be a critic, but often, criticism holds the kernel of a viable solution. The problem is that merely identifying a problem, or proposing a theoretical solution never results in fixing it.

There are reasons why. I’ve written before about how talking about an idea can actually run counter to implementing it. The age-old adage, “talk is cheap” is just that; talk requires nothing. It’s an idea, often poorly framed, without steps towards implementation. Continue reading →

Country at War

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The George Zimmerman verdict denotes a nation at a crossroads. Maybe we’ve already crossed some kind of line of demarcation. Post-racial America? Maybe if you’re a Beltway elite you think that. For those of us keeping score elsewhere, I contend we’re not at all.

While the Zimmerman trial garnered the lion’s share of coverage via the MSM, other news stories continued to trickle out.

Rolling Stone magazine, once the quintessential rock rag, featured Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev  on its recent cover. Predictably, the binary, black/white moralists were outraged, claiming that Rolling Stone “glamorized” Tsarnaev, giving him the “rock star” treatment. If you actually read the article, a nuanced, well-written piece by Janet Reitman, you might come away with the idea, like I did that circumstances and ideological persuasion can change people, turning docile, well-liked young men into cold-blooded killers. Continue reading →