Category Archives: Music

Soros Jamming

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I wrote my first song about George Soros during COVID because I felt we’d become so Balkanized as a country that there was little that opposing factions could say to one another. The binary polarization had made dialogue nearly impossible to have.

I also recognized that this division and strife was being funded on the left with money from George Soros.

Liberal Democrats had become so enraged about anything connected to Donald J. Trump.  A term called “Trump Derangement Syndrome” was coined on the right to describe and explain it. Stephen King definitely suffers from it. Probably Rosie O’Donnell, also. This seemed odd because there was a time when Trump was a beloved cultural icon, offered referred to as a “tycoon.” But not any longer. Most on the left have imbibed the narrative that Trump is anathema to our democracy.

Additonally, the left conveniently began turning a blind eye to the rioting and mayhem fueled by Antifa and BLM groups. You may as well lump in the litany of vaccine and mask mandates for businesses and schools and it began to feel like chaos was a strategy that Soros was funding, with the playbook being written by Saul Alinsky. This is an overly “glowing” account of Alinsy’s how to get whatever you want.

I have a beautiful chartreuse cat named Lucy. Lucy tends to pester me when I get up before my wife and she will not relent until I feed her. I began capturing snippets of Lucy each morning and I thought I’d do just Lucy, some drums and some heavy guitar and see how it sounded. I was also recording tracks for a full-lengh release that would become Living In Some Strange Days.  What eventuallyl became “Soros Jam (Biden Mix)” ended up on that disc.

[Lucy resents being compared to Kamala Harris]

Now, we’re watching the Democrats, the “party of democracy” once again reveal that they hate the other half of America and could care less about democracy of any kind. They’ve kicked Joe Biden to the curb and installed Cackling Kamala Harris (who sounds like my cat, Lucy) as their choice to unseat The Orange Cheeto. How will it all shake out? No one knows.

And of course, America’s legacy media organizations feign objectivity, yet peddle a set narrative favorable to Democrat’s political success. To say our media industrial complex ‘lies through their teeth” would be a gross understatement.

All this to say, I thought it was time to dust-off my jam, remix it and add a new snippet at the beginning, while tweaking the knobs a bit on EQ and other things.

Back from the Road/TennVaMa Tour 2024

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Six years ago I set out on a musical journey that I had no idea where it would lead me, if anywhere. Tragedy was its catalyst and something necessary for me to pursue.

I can still remember my first few awkward open mic appearances, just me and an electric guitar, trying to figure out what it as I wanted to be as a performer. I certainly had bands and artists I aspired to be like, or allow them to inspire me through their music. I’ve recited many of them before: Neil Young, Guided by Voices, Swearing at Motorists, Lou Reed, Pavement, Polvo, Elliott Smith, and so on.

Moving to Lynchburg in some ways was necessary in order to get out from under a mortgage. The city is cheaper in terms of housing and other factors–the weather is considerably more moderate compared to the harsher climate of the Northeastern part of the U.S., particularly the winters.

In terms of music however, there isn’t any sort of underground music scene. I know gurus like Matt Bacon talk about connecting and building collaboration within your local scene, but there’s really nothing here to connect to. My few attempts reaching out to a handful of people playing original music have been rebuffed. For the past 18 months, I’ve been figuring out some sort of Plan B. Rather than play 65 or 70 times a year like in the past, I’ve managed a handful of shows, playing covers mainly, which I no longer want to do. Continue reading →

Nashville, Don’t Let Me Down

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It’s about 8 hours from Lynchburg in Central Virginia to Nashville, Tennessee. You could do it faster if you pushed it, but I left early and wasn’t playing in Murfreesboro until Tuesday night.

When I was a writer and trying to push my prose up the mountain of recognition, Seth Godin was a “guru” of sorts. I know I’ll sometimes criticize the ubiquity of gurus, but there are some out there, like Godin, who are worth listening to and offer countless tips that move your craft forward: writing, music, maybe even mixed martial arts.

I’ve been following Matt Bacon on the ‘gram for a month or so. His stuff is so damn good (and practical) that I marvel that I’ve already started doing many of the things he talks about in terms of building a following. One of them recently was to find an area that you can tour regionally two or three times a year.

In many ways, this two-week tour is exactly that. Me, taking my all-original music, and playing cities and venues I’ve never played before. Including Nashville.

The DIY show I was part of on Tuesday night at The Shack was epic. Four different artists/bands, doing what they do, and showing support for me, the touring bard and minstrel passing through town. Chad James (aka, Karate Chad) seems to me to be a DIY force of nature in Murfreesboro. He’s originally told me he rarely does mid-week shows, especially Tuesday nights, but he made it happen. The link should be available soon on Twitch and when it is, I’ll post it, here. I’m also going to have some live footage of me playing what was about a 40 to 45 minutes set of originals.

[Shua, Murfreesboro singer-songwriter, covering Warren Zevon’s “Roland the Thompson Gunner”]

While Murfreesboro was sweet, my plan to play Wednesday night in Nashville fell through. The booking agent I’ve been working with texted me and told me that the venue has “discontinued all live music.” Wow! That fucking sucks! But, rather than let it derail me, I had a blast in Murfreesboro and I’m going to bring the same energy to Huntsville on Friday. Continue reading →

The Final Leg

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Two more sleeps at home before I hit the road for the last dates of my first regional tour.

The vision for this tour came together at the end of January. That’s when I first reached out to Happy Nomad Booking. I had an itinerary in mind that I hoped would take me to places that used to be solid indie rock stops: places like Morgantown, WV, then over to Pittsburgh, then back down through Virginia, before heading south.

Morgantown never materialized. I did play Harrisonburg, then Friday night was a great gig in Raleigh, aka, “indie rock city.” I sing about it on “Out of the Mainstream.”

Played a small dive bar near downtown called The Night Rider. Funky space and amazing sound (low ceilings always help). What was cool is that the original act, a power trio that wasn’t a good match for me, cancelled. Cooper Uglow ended up being a last minute replacement. He was perfect, playing solo, opening my show. Got to talk some inside baseball with him and Joe, the terrific bartender for the night. I rarely get to talk music with people who get my vibe.
Continue reading →

Loading Them Road Cases

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Since moving to Lynchburg, I’ve been making a musical transition. Oh, I’m still making and playing music, but my journey has diverged from the path where it began seven years go. Back then, I was just hanging on, struggling with the loss of a son, and my guitar became a means of finding some way forward after a devestating and seemingly senseless tragedy.

I initially thought I wanted to see if I could work-up a setlist that would allow me to get booked into clubs and other venues on the “cover circuit.” Every state and region has one.

What I learned is that if you have enough drive, and you can get on the phone and/or craft a compelling booking pitch, you can play regularly. Or, at least that was my experience in Maine. Before I knew it, I’d moved into playing some clubs in Boston, thanks to making a connection with a small booking agency. My first few years of playing live music, I’d play 60 to 70 gigs a year. That changed when COVID hit.

Then, my wife and I made a monumental decision. Real estate was at its peak in New England. We realized that this was our time for a new adventure and no more winters in the northeast. Off to points south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Lynchburg had affordable housing and it wasn’t a dump like some places that are affordable. But Lynchburg also has been a very hard nut to crack in terms of trying to book shows. I’m not going to belabor the reality that I was initially bitter and then, disappointed in the lack of places to play original music in the city and nearby.

Lynchburg, Virginia, USA downtown skyline.

What that initial experience provided, however, was the chance to really work on my songwriting craft. I’ve been putting out material on a regular basis. Then, putting it out on various streaming platforms, the central one being Spotify.

What has happened over the past two years is that my streams on Spotify have slowly ticked upward. Unlike many of the local musicians who get all the gigs, but have less than 100 monthly streams, my numbers have shot beyond 1,600 monthly streams and continue hitting upward. I attribute this to being willing to “feed the algorithm,” or the “Al Gore Rhythm,” as one of my songs on my new release, Some Singles+ talks about. Continue reading →

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.

Cover Song Friday/Flying Pizza

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I’m using the TikTok to post content, all in an attempt to keep Al Gore’s Rhythm fed and feisty. I edited this down for those who feel the need to watch shorter vids.

I’m covering one of my favorite bands from the Dayton,Ohio scene of the 90s, Swearing at Motorists.

@jimbaumerme #coversongs #swearingatmotorists #indierock #daytonohio ♬ original sound – JimBaumerME

Guitar Story (episode 2)

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Guitar Story will be my weekly feature where I share details and tips from my own journey of picking up the guitar again.

As someone once said, “the guitar is an easy instrument to learn; the difficulty comes in the mastery.”

I’m on a quest to master the instrument I love to play.

This week’s video finds me talking about the myth of talent.

If you are new to my music, you can find all my important links here.

February is for Making Records (RPM)

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February is for Making Records
Vol. 4/Issue 2

January here in Virginia has been frigid. We even got three inches of snow two weeks ago, after last winter being snow-free.

February is right around the corner and with it comes another RPM Challenge. Last year was my first year of participation. I ended up producing a full-length record over the 28 days of the month.

If you don’t know what RPM is, it stand for Record Production Month. The goal is to record and release original music during February. Participants set their own goal for release length. RPM is a global affair, with releases being made all over the world. Since 2006 when it started, tens of thousands of albums and close to 100,000 tracks have been created.

Last year’s original goal was for a five-song EP. Instead, I got rolling and recorded a 10-song full-length called Home Sweet Home. 

This year, rocking a full-time day job, I’m opting for the slightly shorter five-song EP format.  I’ve already started working on new songs and have at least two songs pretty much written.  Since I often write on the acoustic guitar, the challenge usually involves adding drums, guitar, and vocals and any other effects. As a one-man-band kind of artist, I play all the instruments on my records.

Over the course of the past few years, the music biz has shifted. Singles are now the preferred means of releasing new material. I released new singles across October, November, and December, so I’m really looking forward to having a multiple song release again.

Stay tuned to my socials for previews and updates throughout the month. If you aren’t receiving the newsletter, sign up to become one of the growing legion of JimBaumerME fans and know whenever there’s new events or releases on the horizon.

Yours in (indie) rock,

JimBaumerME