Life and music in Maine

What’s happened this past year and more (it’s been a while since my last post)? What a time it’s been. It’s been busy and I haven’t written – but I can offer lots of photos (all the good ones taken by my wife Kim!) Here’s the photo recap. If you remember my last missive from quite a long while ago – even while continuing to be involved in music – I found myself elected as a local official in my coastal Maine town and now I’ve been serving as a Selectperson on our Select Board (in other places known as the City Council) for the past year and a half. My office: It’s an amazing job, very intensive and demanding but incredibly rewarding. Quickly counting – in the last couple years – I’ve had way over 500 meetings of all sorts – board meetings, committee meetings, individual meetings as well as working on researching the issues, town paperwork, phone calls / emails etc.. But that’s not what I’m here to write about. Let’s get to the photos. We do a lot of interesting things in Maine. I find so many of my long time Los Angeles friends keep asking – “Where is it you live again?” “How cold is it?” “When are you coming back?” But I’m slowly winning them over with photos. Cold? It’s a state of mind. Last winter we drove 45 minutes to Augusta to a movie theatre (our favorite place for films) to see a movie. (Of course that’s way shorter in time than the drive in Los Angeles to go to a theater much closer). Nice balmy weather for us: We do have other winter fun. Clearing snow is my winter exercise program: Even more fun with a shovel on the deck where you can’t bring the snowblower: This of course is a view I get very often – my son loves to throw snowballs at me: But the big fun is the US National Toboggan Championships which are held in Camden every winter. Camden has a challenge race with the Select Board in Rockport (our next door neighbor town) every year and now that I’m on the Select Board I’m one of the team members. Here’s the scoop – a thin wooden structure with a solid ice track – what seems like an hour is only 9 seconds of terror – going in excess of 30 mph – I’m on the sled with three other team members: And we took the trophy this year for the second year in a row – by 1 / 100th of a second! I know it’s weird to some – but my wife and I love winter. There’s nothing better than a snowshoe in the mountains right near the house: Ice on the car windshield after an ice storm can be a bit of a nuisance – but it’s beautiful: As is winter on the house windows: And snowmen seem to pop up in our yard every year: Now we somehow manage to occupy ourselves waiting for winter every year doing other various things. We love our favorite New Orleans coffee – even while camping! That goes along with our morning hash breakfast cooked on the Coleman stove (we gain weight when we go camping): One strange thing in Maine as opposed to California – people actually swim in water that’s not in a concrete rectangle: People also kayak in the real big pond called the “Atlantic”: In the fall gotta stop by the Union County Fair: Another excuse to see fireworks: Funny the trees get all colorful for some reason in autumn: Pretty as they are – the leaves do tend to fall on the ground – nice thing about living in the country in Maine – I just somehow forget where my rake is: That time of year people do weird things with pumpkins: We do travel a bit…..we were at the Science demonstration on Boston Common last year and this young lady hit the nail on the head. There’s important and there’s important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As always we drive for music – two of the highlights in the last year. “Sunday Bloody Sunday”: Mr. Ed: And with a 12 year old in the family we’re on top of what’s really important. If you don’t know Dan TDM – you don’t know anything. We had to go to that concert: But perhaps my favorite band comes every year when winter returns: Soon it’ll be time to take them out of their summer storage again! In between all the fun I do lots of reading and read one of my favorite books ever this year – can’t recommend it enough: And oh yeah I keep listening to lots of music looking for artists that are very special. Let’s talk for a moment about music recommendations. When I was single in Los Angeles I just wasn’t a fan of casual dating. I either wanted to spend a lot of time with someone or none at all. So I was single a lot of the time. My friends would start to worry about me. So they’d set me up on a blind date. I would say “Why? You know I’m weird – I don’t like dating – I’d rather be by myself.” They would say “She’s perfect for you – we know how you are and she’s perfect!” Two minutes in to the date I’d think “My friends hate me”. Music recommendations are much like blind dates. Always somewhere between horrible and terrible. A local friend emailed me last year and said –“ I heard these brothers and I like their music more than anything else I’ve heard in years. You should listen to them”. I said “ok”. And never did. Until she bugged me again. So I listened expecting a “blind date” experience. That’s not what I got. Two brothers from rural Maine Sean the older – guitar, harmonica, ukulele, songs, lyrics, lead vocals, businessman, muse. Jamie the younger – guitar, bass (both kinds), piano, drums, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, whistle, flute, electronics, songs, vocals, recording, video production You’ll see them performing in concert & at music festivals all over – including Blissfest, Lake Eden Arts Festival, Grand Lake Stream, Sweet Chariot Festival, Atlanta Dance Weekend, The Portland Raindance, Foggy Moon Dance weekend etc. Coming soon a very exciting winter tour throughout New England with some great sponsorship! They write all the songs, play all the instruments, do all the recording and make their own videos. They do it all themselves. The more I listened and watched the more amazed I was. Here’s a simple way to hear the Oshima Brothers. Videos on YouTube (remember everything you see they did themselves) – we’ve just started building an audience for them. Here are three examples “Online” (How many brothers are there? Two. How many in the video – a lot more – how did they do that?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gr8T1fU8fs “The Way It Goes” – Life on the road in rural Maine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Z8lGDfrlo “Wild Caves” – Written about a friend who’s love was 10,000 miles away – halfway across the world (and filmed at 5am in the morning) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pdeIhO3Msk There are more videos at their YouTube Oshima Brothers channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOrUVb5ASpY_mD3QdMULNmg Marc PS – Wanna hear some advance tracks from the new Barnaby Bright album? Check out “Who I Am” and “Wave My Flag”: https://soundcloud.com/misharamusic/sets/barnaby-bright-2018/s-DzUtI Marc Ratner Mishara Music Website: www.misharamusic.com WordPress: www.marcrescue.wordpress.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/misharamusicLLC

Greeting from Maine – my new job, photos, fireworks, food & music.

Greetings all,

As I don’t do new letters / posts / blogs often anymore – I’m so busy it’s hard to find the time to write….and you’re so busy….you don’t have the time to read them anyway – so each edition now contains more than a half a year’s worth of photos from life in Maine.

Not a bad thing.

Less writing – more photos.

Done well – it can be a simple life here in the further reaches of Maine…..for kids it’s much like growing up was back in the 60’s…..and that’s not a bad thing.

As one friend said….”We moved here so my daughter could be a kid longer”.

As you’ll see – much of what we did this year didn’t cost much money and was perfect for family life.

My holiday wish is that it could be this way for all the people – especially the children – in the world.

Let’s start off with the new job.

Still got the old one – managing partner of Mishara Music and that’s not going anywhere – love what I do.

More about Mishara later on.

But when you don’t have any spare time – it makes no sense to go after another job.

One that hardly pays and takes a whole lotta time.

The application process was unlike any I’ve ever had to go through before.

But no one ever accused me of having much sense.

So I ran for elected office.

Our small town on the Midcoast of Maine is run by a Select Board of five individuals. (Select Board is our name for what other places call City Council – the term which is used in larger cities.)

We have no Mayor – the five individuals are the heads of the government in our town.

My new job:

My new office:

 

As many of you might remember – I did public service for over 20 years in Los Angeles – working on a mountain search and rescue team.

This is just another version of that.

I don’t rescue individuals or small groups anymore – now I try to rescue everyone in town.

It’s fascinating, intricate, time consuming and impossible – even at this level.

But I love what I do.

The next time we chat – I’ll fill you in.

In other news – Maine had a spectacular summer. The weather was virtually perfect.

We stayed busy.

We went swimming at great swimming holes.

Norton’s Pond:

Barrett’s Cove:

We went camping.

Who needs another photo of a tent?

Not me. (Well – it’s in the backround.)

Here’s what’s important.

Essential camping supplies for the first thing in the morning:

Even more important.

If you’re the nerd detail equipment person like I am – it pays off when you put together a really great cooking situation.

Because then your amazing chef / wife can turn out french toast (with great local sausage and local strawberries and Maine wild blueberries) that’s as good or better than at home (and of course local maple syrup):

Even though we’re camping – I always come home weighing more than when I left.

We went to a wedding – where they bride and groom hired a local oyster farmer to cater appetizers….the freshest and most delicious oysters you’ve ever had (he had harvested them just that morning)….and he brought lots….you could eat as many as you wanted / could….and we did:

One late afternoon we hit one of our favorite lobster pounds for a snack:

 

Fresh Maine raspberries and strawberries from our local farmers:

Lest you think this is just all about eating…..we did go to the small local county fair.

Rides:

 

Fireworks:

Ok – more eating – fresh Maine blueberry pie:

 

I did hit my favorite music convention – the Non-Comm in Philadelphia!

 

Oh dear – more eating – we went out for cheesesteaks:

 

But seriously it wasn’t all fun and games and food.

Music obviously is a big part of our lives.

I’ll let you have my secret to great presents for a wife.

I noticed that I never got it right – guys aren’t good at buying gifts for woman (at least I’m not) – until I realized that concert tickets were the way to go.

We end up buying tickets for each other as presents.

I surprised her with tickets to see James Taylor at Fenway Park (Arghhh we got caught in traffic on the way down from Maine and missed his opener Jackson Browne (but it was okay – he and James did “Doctor My Eyes” as an encore – a song that I played a long time ago when I worked in radio):

She surprised me with tickets – to one of our favorites – Jerry Douglas (of Alison Krauss & Union Station fame) touring with the Earls Of Leicester – what a great night – it was like stepping into the past at the Boothbay Opera House:

 

Then it was time to surprise our son Ethan with tickets to see that Beatle guy at Fenway:

More fireworks:

My turn – the concert of the year for my wife – big points for me.

Adele at Boston Garden:

She says it was her favorite concert ever.

It was truly amazing.

At Mishara Music we’ve been working forever on a new Barnaby Bright album – finally due in 2017.

In the meantime we’ve been doing some unconventional marketing.

Giving songs away.

Our mission is to “build the audience” and everything else will take care of itself.

Our latest approach is a “free sixpack”.

Six of their best songs that you can download

You can listen to a mini playlist of the six tunes on Spotify:

https://play.spotify.com/user/misharamusic/playlist/6fdDOCDClniAbGvwPGHDxQ?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

In the USA you can download them for free at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=B01F541DYW%7CB01F5428YQ%7CB00UIKC456%7CB009XY9SBQ%7CB007GU45P8%7CB007GU46IE

Internationally (and alternatively in the USA) you can listen and download the songs on Soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/misharamusic/sets/barnaby-bright-best-of

 

The other project we’ve been spending some time on lately is the “Poetry Rocks” album by poet / guitarist Dave Morrison.

Dave is a published poet (11 books at last counting) and has been featured with a different poem each day for a week run at Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac”.

Here’s his poetry website:

www.http://writerrocker.wixsite.com/davemorrisonpoetry

Dave’s also a long time guitarist and after a bunch of people over the years suggested he combine his talents – he did.

It’s like nothing you’ve ever heard. His guitar playing is wonderful, his spoken voice is calm yet engaging but his stories are like no other.

No one….ever….sees the ending that’s coming.

We’ve taken three of the tracks from the album and made them free downloads – “Fly, “Sad Ancestors” and “Best Poem”.

You can listen to Dave’s full album on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/user/misharamusic/playlist/34wKcksbfMrew21QFmoHyX

Download the three singles at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=B01N0LY9D4%7CB013QD7MA8%7CB00WXPXYQM

Listen and download internationally (and also in the USA) on Soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/misharamusic/sets/fly-sad-ancestors-best-poem

For me – listening to Dave late at night on a long drive in the car is the way to go.

Enjoy.

Need more free music discovery? Check out the 7th Mishara Music free sampler on Amazon – 17 songs – 9 different artists – all free!

https://www.amazon.com/Artist-Sampler-Mishara-Music-Favorites/dp/B01F541CVQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484491557&sr=8-1&keywords=mishara

July 4th was fun in Camden – music on a bandstand in the harbor which led right into the fireworks – yup – more fireworks (does it seem like our lives are all about music, food and fireworks?):

 

Family life is always fun in Maine….although times are changing….I’ve noticed that our ten year old is starting to notice cars as we walk by….this one caught his eye this summer….oh oh….I don’t think I’m ready for this:

 

We also discovered a great small shop in Portland that has a backroom pinball setup – always my favorite game and now that joy is moving on to the next generation:

 

We got some nice hiking in as well.

Here’s Sears Island:

 

Up and down the hill at Sewall’s organic apple orchard:

 

As summer turned towards autumn – the 12th annual Camden International Film Festival had it’s best year ever. Here’s the staff that put it together:

 

The fest has become one of the leading documentary film festivals in the world….and my wife and I have found over the years that the best documentary films we’ve been seeing are better than any of  the commercial films pouring out of Hollywood.

Here’s CIFF’s website – lots to look at:

www.https://pointsnorthinstitute.org/

Here’s a wonderful example of what you can see at the festival.

You cannot believe that this movie was filmed over a bunch of years with absolutely no idea on how it would turn out. It literally will blow your mind….and you’ll walk away with a new respect for documentary films and the people that make them:

http://www.merufilm.com/

Even you have zero interest in mountaineering this will be one of the best movies you’ve ever seen.

Go find it at Netflix or Amazon or somewhere.

You’ll be glad you did.

Speaking of other art forms.

I love books. I love reading.

We have an outstanding town library.

Here’s three of my favorite books I’ve read just recently.

Read one – read them all!

 

All the sudden it’s getting a bit chilly and the leaves are turning.

Two of my favorite trees in town are at the library:

 

And on the town common:

 

As the angle of the sun changes in autumn it makes for some stunning sunsets early in the morning – both of these photographs are shown just as they were taken with no adjustments or coloring. This is what we saw:

 

Ah Halloween – always a favorite time in town.

Here’s this year’s doormen greeting you if you were to stop by the house:

 

The Friday after Thanksgiving this year – Livingston Taylor played a wonderful show at the Camden Opera House (love both Taylor brothers in concert – they’re totally different but equally entertaining):

 

And……then…..boom……it’s cold……just how we like it.

Here’s our coldest morning so far:

But it was toasty by the time I got in the car:

 

Jack Frost has painted some wonderful designs this year so far:

 

And as the year closes to an end – happy holidays to all – hope you enjoyed a small tour of a simple but fulfilling life in Maine…..(as always I need to mention that my wife Kim took many of the photos – the one’s you think are the really good ones)…..and know that we’ll be having fun this joyous season because – as always – the Peanuts Band is tuned up and ready to play great tunes through the holidays:

To the new year we go!

All the best,

Marc

PS If you want to listen to something different for a change – try this Soundcloud sampler from my friend John Baker’s new classical label – Affetto Records. It features a song from all of the first 8 albums the label has released – a wonderful collection of different styles and all eight tracks can be downloaded for free.

https://soundcloud.com/affettoecords/sets/the-affetto-records-classical

http://www.affettorecords.com

 

Marc Ratner

Mishara Music

 

E-mail: marcrescue@gmail.com

Website: www.misharamusic.com

WordPress: www.marcrescue.wordpress.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/marc.ratner

Twitter: www.twitter.com/marcrescue

 

Maine Photos – Autumn, Winter, Spring & Music – the marcrescue blog

 

Greetings All,

 

I’ve been so neglectful about posting an updated blog that….

 

A: Most people have forgotten entirely about me

 

B: A few have actually reached out and asked about the blog

 

1. Not because they miss me  – they miss the photos

 

Life is so chock full of busy that I didn’t even realize it’s been a touch over six months since I sent an update.

 

So here in a nutshell – or rather photos….is what’s been happening.

 

(With a music update at the end – so you don’t have to wade through that to get to the photos)

 

 

Last fall was – as always – a great time to hike. Here’s what our town looks like from the top of Mt Battie as the leaves are changing:

 

Acadia National Park is not far away and hiking there is always good for the soul:

 

 

The annual Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) is a huge event in town. It’s rated as one of the top 12 documentary film festivals in the world. Quite nice for a town this small and so far off the beaten path.

 

But for good reason – it’s exceptional:

 

 

We had a great time at the anniversary showing of “Back To The Future” at a local theatre that showed it when it first came out (The Strand was built in 1926 – and is totally restored today).

 

Even better – a mysterious DeLorean showed up in front of the theatre for the film:

 

Can’t beat Halloween in a small town. The town closes down a number of blocks for a Halloween block party – and this year we had a flash mob show up to the tune of “Thriller”:

 

These weirdo’s were out trick or treating::

 

One of our favorite challenges – Beth’s Farm Market’s Corn Maze.

Maddening:

 

For the second year in a row we split up – me against the family – and they won.

I kept finding this sign over and over again – arghhhh:

 

Before you know it – it’s time for the annual Christmas parade….does yours feature a lobster…with Christmas lights on it?

How about a Lobster Trap Christmas Tree!

 

It was a year of weird weather patterns this winter.

But as always some interesting snowpeople appeared in the yard:

 

One great thing about winter is that the snow covers all the brush in the woods and with snowshoes you can hike places you can’t get close to in summer…..for instance you can find a tree that’s been ravaged by woodpeckers – hard to believe they can do this – but they do:

 

The hardest part about winter for us….it’s not the snow….it’s not the cold….it’s when the annual box of See’s “Nuts & Chews” box that my Uncle and Aunt mail to us from the West Coast every holiday season – turns into a box of empty wrappers….sighhhh:

 

Before you know it – Spring is here and it’s time for one of our favorite days in Maine – “Maine Maple Sunday”. The day when all the maple sugar houses open their doors for tours, free samples and the best maple syrup you can buy – straight from the tap.

We hit three houses every year. The first is Sparky’s (http://sparkyshoneyandmaple.com/) – close to us and besides great maple syrup – they also produce the best honey from their bees:

 

We also head to Simmons & Daughters (http://www.simmonsanddaughterssugarhouse.com/) for fresh “maple” cotton candy. Once you’ve had maple cotton candy you’ll never go back to the weird colored stuff they sell at fairs and circuses:

 

They really are two of the “daughters”:

 

Then it’s over to see Mark at Bradstreet Maple Farm (http://www.getrealmaine.com/farms/Bradstreet-Maple-Farm). Always a party with great samples (Didn’t get a photo of the maple fudge – the line was too long)

Waffles, ice cream with fresh maple syrup:

Great maple baked beans:

Mark always has a crowd around him because he’s always teaching people about making great syrup:

You cannot believe how wonderful the aroma is inside a maple sugaring house.

Can’t wait to walk in the door again next year:

 

A weekend trip to Portland is always fun….and it’s a wonder to take in the “Lock Fence” in old town by the harbor. There’s a chain link fence where people are allowed to put locks on – most with written or engraved messages:

I’ve already got a lock picked out for our family to attach next visit:

But spring time in Maine means it’s time to leave.

Leave?

Well for a few days – our favorite family trip / vacation is to New Orleans for Jazzfest:

The fest as always was terrific – even after some pretty heavy rains – and we forgot our rain boots this year – which is essential for muddy grounds….but a little washing and a hair dryer in the hotel rooms dries out even the wettest and muddiest sneakers:

Everyone always asks who was our favorite act….and I always say – no matter who the headliners are…when we were there Paul Simon, Tedeschi-Trucks etc….

(Here’s the lineup for all 7 days – we were at the Fest 2 days:)

…my favorite moments are hearing artists that I’ve never heard before and are amazing.

This year my wife and I agreed that our fav this year was the PresHall Brass – led by 82 year old saxophonist Daniel “Weenie” Farrow. They are the resident brass band at Preservation Hall….and soooo good:

A great reminder – however – of how fortunate and lucky the musicians are that have had great successful full time music careers – are the bands that are playing outside the gates….in the street….for tips.

These two bands….of kids…..were amazing:

 

In New Orleans it’s like that every year. In the streets around Jazzfest, in the French Quarter – the quality of the street musicians is just stunning.

Besides the Fest itself….and of course the food…..can you say “Oysters at Felix’s”?

There’s nothing better than wandering through the French Quarter admiring the architecture. Such a beautiful, historical place:

 

A lot of the buildings have historical plaques that tell the story of the building:

It’s now an art gallery.

But my favorite find was this one.

A red house with a nondescript store:

Even the plaque was sorta dull…..until you got to the end…..you never know what you’re going to find in New Orleans:

Whoa!

 

Speaking of streetcars…..we’ve discovered if we time it right.

We can spend the day at Jazzfest,

Hit the French Quarter for dinner afterwards.

Finish the night at perhaps the best place to end any night – no matter what time it is (they’re open 24 hours a day – every day of the year):

And then catch the last streetcar of the evening on the line heading towards our hotel:

A wonderful end to a wonderful trip.

 

A word about music.

Most everyone I work with at Mishara Music has spent the year touring, writing, exploring but not recording.

So we’ve been working under the radar – marketing and building the audience for our artists.

Streaming….although some might feel angst about it….frees us up to do some very dramatic promotions.

As streaming replaces downloads – we realized that we have even more freedom to give more music away.

So….our 7th Mishara Music free song sampler at Amazon.com…..which contains some of our biggest selling tracks:

The free download is at:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F541CVQ?ie=UTF8&keywords=mishara%20samplers&qid=1463442753&ref_=sr_1_1&s=dmusic&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0

 

Listen on Spotify at:

https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify%3Auser%3Amisharamusic%3Aplaylist%3A3X8lXbbALNV9CsthDoqrEf

 

Listen on Soundcloud at:

https://soundcloud.com/misharamusic/sets/the-artist-sampler-mishara

 

Enjoy!

Marc

PS Talk about tough decisions – my wife took a photo of me making one of the most difficult of the year (and truth be told – she took a lot of the photos above as well – probably the ones you like the most)….what boxset to buy on Record Store Day….so many boxes….so few funds!

 

Marc Ratner

Mishara Music

 

E-mail: marcrescue@gmail.com

Website: www.misharamusic.com

WordPress: www.marcrescue.wordpress.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/marc.ratner

Twitter: www.twitter.com/marcrescue

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maine summer photos with music & stories – Life in Maine with family & songs – the Marcrescue Blog

Greetings all,

My blog / email writing about life in Maine with family while running an independent music company has become a quarterly event it seems.

Simply because I write about our life and we spend so much time living there’s not much time left for writing.

But hopefully this makes each edition of my tales that much more interesting.

Summer in Maine is a time for being outside.

So I switch from the torture machine at the Y:

To the torture machine I use outside:

The biggest problem with the switch is a simple matter of gravity.

I use clip-in bike shoes and when you stop riding on the bike at the Y….

You just stop. The bike is on a stand. No problem.

My first ride this summer outside – I forgot about gravity.

At the end of the first big hill on my route I stopped for a break and a quick drink.

Forgot to unclip my shoes because I hadn’t thought about that all winter.

For those of you old enough to remember “Laugh-In” I looked exactly like the guy on the tricycle – who stopped and fell right over.

It was a slow-motion kind of moment – where you think “Oh oh….”.

You realize you’re going to fall over….you can’t do anything about it….even as it seems to take forever.

Landed on a rather sizeable rock.

Ouch that hurt.

Think I might have even cracked a rib or two.

But it only hurt to cough….for about three weeks.

I’ve had a great summer of riding….hopefully we’ll have a nice autumn and I can keep it up.  Great changing leaves on my ride as fall comes.

I’ll take photos.

In the meantime – we made the most of our local lake swimming hole.

Usually a late afternoon stop:

Maine has unique events that we can’t seem to get enough of.

Different farms open up their premises for visits.

Our first visit this summer was to the Glendarragh Lavender Farm.

26 acres along the St. George River and it’s chock full of different varieties of lavender:

I suspect it has the nicest aroma of any farm anywhere.

Our friends Lorrie and Patrick Costigan started growing lavender in 2007.  Their drying barn on the property dates back to 1790.

In 2009 – they made it easy for us to get all the different kind of lavender products we could want – they opened a lavender store on Main St. in Camden.

It’s so nice to have a unique shop in town that has no duplicate anywhere. The magic of a small town in Midcoast Maine is we’re too small for most retail chains so walking down main street is like taking a stroll in the 1950’s or 60’s. Independent, interesting stores.

Such a pleasure.

Check out Glendarragh at www.mainelavenderstore.com

Our next farm stop was for wild Maine blueberries.

Every year on Maine Farm Day we head to our favorite blueberry farm to pick some berries and buy some extras.

I never remember the name….but I always recognize the sign:

We didn’t pick this year because it was raining….but they had been busy:

This basket didn’t last long in our hands:

Summer is also baseball time.

We’re big Portland Sea Dogs fans (Red Sox Double AA Team).

A great stadium with a “green monster” wall the exact size of the one at Fenway and a perfect place to spend a few incredibly inexpensive hours:

This particularly night was one of their “fireworks” evenings and after a very tense, close game – alas they lost. Unfortunately the Sea Dogs after a great season last year are mirroring their big brother team in last place this season.

But a true baseball fan – especially the New England variety – isn’t so hooked on success – it’s the game we enjoy.

The Sea Dogs always do a great fireworks show:

Mid-summer –  it’s time for the “Lobster Festival”!

Music, carnival rides, crafts and a kid who’s discovered the joys of the “bungee jump ride”.

This year he did a flip for the first time:

Mom and dad prefer the Ferris wheel:

Always love the view – take notice of the second big tent:

The object of the “Lobster Fest” is of course Maine lobsters.

They serve a lot of them over the five days of the festival.

All in that big tent.

We visited on Sunday – the last day of the festival.

Here’s the count of lobsters served up to the point we were there and the latest batch coming out of the biggest lobster cooker anywhere:

It’s also been a wonderful year for music.

Remember the old commercial for that weird “hair” company?

Where the guy in the commercial says “I’m not only the CEO – I’m also a customer”

Well that pretty much describes me.

I run an independent music company.

Because I love music.

Especially singer-songwriters – that’s what our company is all about.

It all starts with the songs.

Ever had a difficult time buying presents for your significant other?

From my own experience – it’s tough.

There’s nothing like working extra hard to get something I think my wife will love….and then get the….”Oh that’s nice…..interesting…..what made you think of that?”

It never even gets out of the box, hangs around the living room for about six months and then straight into a closet or drawer – never to be seen again.

Arghhhhh.

I solved that problem

With tickets for her favorite artists in concert.

A triple win.

She loves the present and the artist – I love the artist – and get to go along to the show.

This summer she finally got the payoffs for her Valentine’s Day present and her birthday present.

Our 5th time seeing this guy together – nothing like a little “Steamroller Blues”:

Is there a better song than this?

We decided that this tour with a number of new songs from his new album was even better than the last time he came through Portland – how can a couple of Red Sox fans not love “Angels Of Fenway”:

A couple weeks later – it was the second payoff.

This time we had to travel to Boston and use some public transportation – the Green Line to Fenway Park:

Good news – bad news.

The good news – it was hard to get tickets – but we got in – and we were delighted – even though we were basically in the last row:

The bad news…..how is it that the largest guy in the stadium has the seat in front of me….and decides to stand up for the entire concert:

But no matter – it was a great night.

Can’t beat those songs – we love the “Piano Man”:

Speaking of songs.

That’s what Mishara Music specializes in.

I learned a long time ago that there are millions of great singers and musicians….but without great songs it’s basically a karaoke music world.

So we look for and sign great writers.

The challenge then for an indie music company – is how to connect the artists we have with the people that might love their music.

Love our radio play – but radio can’t play everything we have.

So we also love our steams on Spotify, Pandora etc and plays on Soundcloud.

But sometimes it’s best to go direct to our fans.

The best way to do that is give songs away – with no conditions.

Amazon has been a great partner in that.

In a number of different ways.

We’ve had six free song album samplers:

We’ve just recently starting doing individual song “sixpacks”:

Here’s our brand new “sixpack”:\

How do they do?

Through Amazon – Mishara Music has given away somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,300,000 free songs.

Feedback has been wonderful from the people that have downloaded free songs.

Here’s a sampling of the response:

Because of the response – more and more people keep downloading.

In the last week (Amazon changes the ranking hourly) I noticed at one point we had twelve positions on the Amazon Top 100 Free Album Chart:

And a few days later noticed that the songs from the latest “sixpack” were all inside the Top 30:

Curious?

Here’s some links.

This link takes you to the Mishara digital page on Amazon – there are over 70 free song downloads there:

http://tinyurl.com/MisharaMusic

Wanna hear the music first?

All of the albums have YouTube Listening links – you can listen all the way through – just search YouTube for the artist and album name.

For example – here’s the YouTube Listening Channel for our latest release by Cass Dillon “Oregon Road”

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9xqq6T1fTzCNrfwsv-36yA

Click on “Playlists” and you get a link that will play all the way through:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9xqq6T1fTzCNrfwsv-36yA/playlists

All our music is also on Soundcloud.

Here’s the two latest “sixpacks” as playlists on Soundcloud – just click on the link and start listening:

https://soundcloud.com/misharamusic/sets/mishara-music-free-song

https://soundcloud.com/misharamusic/sets/mishara-music-free-song-1

So it’s been a great music summer but today as I write this – is the first day of school here in Maine.

So we’ve been working hard to squeeze every last second of fun out of summer.

It was a very good weather summer here in Maine but it did rain from time to time.

A rainy day on a weekend?

A great day to head to the movies to see “Minions”

Of course – a new Minion was in order after the movie.

Had to be seat-belted in of course – Ethan is very insistent in that:

We had to have a “bring your Minion to work day”.

First he went to work with Kim at her office:

Then he took over my computer:

But maybe best of all – don’t know how he hasn’t had one for his first 9 years….Ethan finally got his first Pez:

The highlight of the summer is always the one week a year we get invited to join Kim’s Dad and Stepmother in the house they have for a week at Long Beach Island in New Jersey.

As soon as we arrive it’s off to the beach for Kim for her first beach walk:

I usually work during the mornings and head to join the family at the beach in the afternoon.

For me…

Beach and water? Check (I actually prefer swimming to hanging on the sand)

Umbrella? Check (I’m not a sun person)

Chair? Check

Towel? Check

Book? (The # 1 most important item for me on vacation) Check.

Ok, got everything I need:

We actually get up early every year and head to the beach to try and catch some sunrise photos.

Wasn’t the only one up early this year:

This past week was the Union County Fair.

I think we saw just about every parent we know with school age kids on the midway this year.

Ethan discovered the “YoYo” ride this year….over and over and over again:

The highlight of the fair for me is my annual caramel apple:

Three last photos for this post.

Yesterday was one last early morning walk on a Maine beach for Kim before school starts and signifies the change of season – even though it’s still officially summer for a while longer and we’ve got some fun things planned.

Beach walks are essential for her well being, No surprise when she gets photos like this:

As the sun starts to travel southward in the sky and our days in Maine are rapidly getting shorter – it’s a good time to post the opposite photo from Long Beach Island….this time the sun setting over the mainland….we spotted the sunset coming fast and actually ran as fast as we could to catch the last rays:

Isn’t that the way this summer has been?

It’s been the fastest summer I remember and it seems like we need to race to slow down…to appreciate what we have.

Especially when we look at the “real” world – it seems that the clowns have escaped from the Funhouse and we’re left watching them being covered 24 hours a day – day in day out.

Seems like this is where we need to build walls:

Marc

Marc Ratner

Mishara Music

E-mail: marcrescue@gmail.com

Website: www.misharamusic.com

WordPress: www.marcrescue.wordpress.com

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Twitter: www.twitter.com/marcrescue

Spring in Maine / Snow’s finally gone / Photos & Music / The best Presidential story gets better! – Life in Maine with family & music – the Marcrescue blog

Greetings All,

It’s been a very busy few months since I last wrote an update about life in Maine and the workings of a very independent music company.

If you read my last update – there was a story about how my family has a handshake connection with Abraham Lincoln.

At the end of this letter – I’ll reprint a reply to that story from a friend of mine that has a similar story about another great American president. Side by side – the two stories are astounding and remind us that our history is not as distant as we might imagine.

When I last wrote – Maine was covered in snow.

Which impacted our annual spring Maine Maple Sunday visits to our favorite maple sugar / syrup producers. They open their doors up one day a year for everyone to visit and celebrate the process.

We hit our three favorites again this year – first off stopping at Sparky’s – where they were busy loading wood onto the fire that boils down the syrup in a contraption that resembles nothing else.

The first thing you notice is that unlike most years there was still snow on the ground – a lot of it:

Of course this is Maine.

A reminder of that:

It takes a lot of wood to make maple syrup. On average it takes boiling down about 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of maple syrup:

We also love stopping at Simmons & Daughters Sugar House (always a party goin’ on) for MAPLE cotton candy – nothing like it:

And there’s no one more helpful and friendly than Mark at Bradstreet Maple Farm – he spends the entire day educating everyone about the process:

 

This year was going to be a complete mystery on how much syrup he was going to be able to produce.

Every season he has a chart of the previous year’s production and holds a guessing contest on what this year will produce.

Winner gets free syrup:

This year will be off – because putting in the taps on the trees was a bit more difficult. As Mark demonstrates – this was how deep the snow was – that he had to work through to place the taps:

You might think real maple syrup is expensive – but when you figure it out – I’m betting the producers don’t even come close to making minimum wage.

They don’t do it for the money – they do it because they love it.

This year we hit a another maple celebration in Vermont when we went to visit family.

Another state that takes it seriously:

They had lots of different maple products for sale at the festival but nothing came close to how wonderful these were – homemade donuts with fresh maple cream.

Forget about Dunkin’, Krispy Kreme etc.

They got nuthin’ compared to these:

And ya can’t beat the entertainment – free for kids:

Speaking of delicious.

Spent a few days in Philadelphia at the annual Non-Comm Music gathering – where public radio stations and music folks get together for meetings and amazing musical performances.

I was so busy running from one great performance to another I didn’t have a moment to stop to take any photos this year.

Except for the one time I slowed down for the yearly trip to Jim’s Steaks:

Thank goodness I don’t live near Jim’s or Nellie’s Donuts.

How do people resist the temptation?

I have no idea.

Of course the food in Maine isn’t too shabby either.

Backing up a bit to the end of winter – a snowstorm on Valentine’s Day is no surprise – but that didn’t stop us – a great night out at the Fog Bar in Rockland. Movie’s projected on the wall, a great new duck and sweet potato Shepherd’s Pie and fresh oysters!

But that winter of snow & cold seems long ago now.

Our indie music company Mishara Music released some very cool albums this Spring.

First a new EP by Cass Dillon – an amazing songwriter and performer. Second – an album unlike any other – poetry, storytelling and some great guitar licks by Dave Morrison and then – containing a track from both – our 6th free song sampler on Amazon.com:

Listen to Cass at our YouTube listening channel for his EP “Oregon Road”. Amazing melodies:

Listen to Dave on Soundcloud – storytelling like you’ve ever heard before:

We’ve found that encouraging people to sample free songs from the company builds our audience exponentially.

Here’s a sampling of some reviews on Amazon from our samplers – you’ll understand why we do this – we’ve been building a brand:

For our latest offering on Amazon this spring – we put together a sixpack of free songs:

Brand new this week on YouTube / Spotify / Soundcloud – is a 10 tune playlist of some of our favorite songs – with the kicker that they’re all available as free downloads on those Amazon samplers.

Here are the listening links.

YouTube link:

Spotify:

Soundcloud link:

So now here’s the link to Mishara Music on Amazon – where you’ll find those ten free songs and another 60+ additional free downloads:

http://tinyurl.com/MisharaMusic

How do all those free tracks do?

Charts on Amazon (and iTunes) change hourly – but checking randomly right now as I type this – here’s what Mishara Music has on the Top 100 Free All Format Chart on Amazon at this moment.

10 of the top 100:

As I tell our artists and anyone else that will listen to me.

Build your audience – build your brand.

More new music, artists and always additional free songs are coming this summer.

In the meantime – maybe we can sneak out a bit and enjoy this wonderful change in the weather.

The blooms on the apple trees this year were the most bountiful in years:

I have two favorite types of flowers and both are almost wild in Maine – they’re all over the place.

My favorite aroma flower is the lilac:

And my favorite visual flower is the Iris:

We also have that wonderful giant bowl of water called the Atlantic Ocean nearby.

The sailing schooners in Camden harbor have been prepping for a busy summer season.

You can sail on the biggest of schooners for a week:

Or for two hours on the “Owl”:

My wife lives for being outdoors in the summer.

We try to make the most of it.

A road trip ends up with a great view of the sunset over a small beach:

Our favorite used bookstore is only open on weekends in the summer in a small shack on an ocean cove tucked away on a side road in the middle of nowhere.

You’d be amazed at how many people find their way there.

(Of course – you need a lot of reading material around here startin’ about November for about five months or so):

Do people visit lighthouses because of the lighthouses?

Or because they just happen to be built in the most scenic spots?

I suppose we could do a survey – but once you’re there – who cares:

Got our first camping trip in.

For us camping is not so much about going to a different place physically – it’s more about the psychological change.

So we went all of about five miles down the road to Camden Hills State Park:

We can walk the path along the ocean and glimpse a view of a schooner sailing by and of Islesboro Island out beyond:

Our favorite campsite is in a wonderful stand of beautiful trees:

And if there’s one thing most important at the end of a great day of hiking and camping – it’s roasting marshmallows over the campfire:

This past weekend was fun.

Saturday was the annual Summer Solstice street celebration in our neighboring town Rockland:

Big fun – restaurants giving out free samplers of their dishes, games for kids, demonstrations, booths and on every side street they had music playing – acoustic musicians on one corner, a dj on the next, then a rock band – here’s a local jazz orchestra:

But my favorite this year was the Juke Rockets Blues Band.

What’s the old saying? “Youth is wasted on the young”

As you get older you learn to never underestimate anyone.

My suggestion – don’t ever walk up to the guy with the big white beard and say “Hey, you wanna have a blues guitar showdown?”

You’d lose.

Come to think of it – if ZZ Top is ever looking for an additional guitar player – I got the guy:

Sunday was Father’s Day.

I ran into a T-Rex at a showing of Jurassic World:

Remember when I talked about a couple of my favorite foods up above in the letter?

I gotta say – there’s nothing better than home cooking.

I got treated like royalty on Father’s Day.

First off Kim made a bbq hash for brunch – with smoked turkey from our favorite bbq joint – “4 Points BBQ” in Winterport, Maine. Smoked turkey, onions, garlic, peppers, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, some secret seasoning etc.

Alas no photo – but – here’s a photo of a similar hash from a camping trip last summer – that used some “4 Points” beef brisket instead of the smoked turkey – you’ll get the idea:

I thought that was my treat for the day – boy was I wrong.

Dinner at Kim’s mom was a total surprise – homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert – using corn bread instead of a hard biscuit – so much better – but the big treat was my favorite dish of all time – Crayfish Etouffee – made by Kim’s mom – who learned to make it when they lived in Lafayette, Louisiana years ago – with fresh flown in Louisiana crawfish.

I ate more food in one day than I usually eat in a month.

Nothing like Father’s Day with the family:

Which reminds me – let’s revisit that Lincoln story.

In the last post I wrote – I described the story of my father and uncle meeting an army veteran that my grandfather brought home from the “Old Soldiers Home” for dinner in the 1930’s when they were young kids.

Mr Carpenter shook their hands saying “Shake the hand that shook the hand of Abraham Lincoln”.

Turns out President Lincoln came to meet with his generals in 1862 and Mr. Carpenter was a young soldier at the meeting location and was part of the line that Mr. Lincoln walked down – shaking each soldier’s hand.

Which means that my father and uncle were two handshakes away from Lincoln.

Which means that I and my son (who’s 9 and has shaken the hand of my now 91 year old uncle – (who’s got his own great stories – read about him in the last post) are only 3 handshakes away.

150 years after the end of the civil war.

Pretty amazing.

But with this letter from my friend John Baker – who’s hand both my son and I have shaken – it gets better.

Here’s John’s story:

At my prep school in Groton, Mass, was a retired teacher, Mr. Richards, who had taught both my father and grandfather (class of 1909). Mr. Richards was revered. He died before I actually went to the school, but not before my older brother did.

On a “Parents’ Weekend” as it was called, in 1959 my father called on Mr. Richards (now THERE’s an old phrase) with me, my brother and my mother.

My father, after tea, became solemn, and asked Mr;. Richards to “tell my sons about the very elderly man you met and spoke of to my class back in 1934, my senior year, which was your annual story for the senior class.”

Mr. Richards nodded slowly, looked at us, and said “I haven’t told this story since I retired on 1951, but your father has asked.”

In 1888 when I was a student at this school, and home for Easter, my father introduced me to an aging member of our church in Boston. The man, it turned out, was over 100 years old. My father, who had seen and spoken to this gentleman many times, asked me to remember and revere that handshake, because, he said, “You have just shaken the hand of a man who, as a young boy, shook the hand of George Washington.”

Father then said that we two boys were to remember that we had just shaken the hand of a man who had shaken the hand of a man who had shaken the hand of the “Father of our country.”

Mr. Richards died a year later at the age of 90, and I must think that we may have been the last of his “boys” to hear that story.

John

So let’s recap.

History seems so long ago.

But in these instances – it’s close up and personal.

If we happen to run into each other and we shake hands….that means that you will be four handshakes away from Abraham Lincoln (I’m three) and five handshakes away from George Washington (I’m four).

Even better.

My son is nine.

In 2076 – the 300th birthday of the United States he’ll be 70.

And astonishingly – only three handshakes away from Abraham Lincoln and four away from George Washington.

I love history.

But history doesn’t need to be about events hundreds of years ago.

I was lucky enough to celebrate history earlier this year.

For my son’s birthday in January we did a 3 day road trip to NYC.

We ride the rails:

My wife and I were lucky enough to have signed up for a pair of tickets to a show last October that came through in December when we’d almost given up hope.

I’ve been in the entertainment business for over 40 years and actually had been to the show before – escorting one of the guests appearing that night – lady named Cher. Now that was an experience.

But tickets to this show – for the audience – were never given out to anyone except regular people that wrote in for tickets.

They never cared about catering to any VIP’s or the record companies.

You want tickets – you write in like everyone else.

They even warned you – if you’re chosen to receive tickets – you have to answer a random trivia question about the show.

I knew the answer to the question when they called.

They only wanted real fans in the audience.

My wife and I were real genuine fans.

Watched every night.

And miss him so much.

But we got to spend one great afternoon in the theatre for a taping.

I got a hat. A treasure:

I was there for a part of history.

Marc

PS We’re all busy these days.

Everyone I know is busier than they’ve ever been.

But I guess there are still people out there that find the time to do the unexpected.

Have a bit of fun.

Something I have to do more of.

Don’t know who and don’t know why – but I sure did appreciate it:

Marc Ratner

Mishara Music

 

E-mail: marcrescue@gmail.com

Website: http://www.misharamusic.com

WordPress: http://www.marcrescue.wordpress.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marc.ratner

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marcrescue

 

Greetings all,

(Look at the pictures, read what you want, download what interests you – but whatever you do….make sure you read the Presidential story at the end of the post. It’s mindblowing).

Now that it’s Spring officially I’m writing a blog about winter.

If you don’t live in New England you might have heard in a news report somewhere that we’ve had a bit of snow and some colder than usual temperatures.

Tsk, tsk.

As we all know the news media is always looking for something to fill their 24 hours news feed.

So they played up winter a bit.

As far as I’m concerned it’s simply my annual “Winter Conditioning Program”.

It did work a bit better than usual this year.

These past few months I’ve been able to utilize my conditioning program almost every other day.

Here’s what the weekly forecast looked like most every week – a day and a half without snow:

Here’s a description of how my snow days would go.

We have a double front driveway, a long back driveway and a deck that runs the length of the house that all need to be cleared of snow – plus some assorted sidewalks.

The back deck tends to build up in storms because of drifting and everything up there has to be lifted over the railing.

Can’t get a snow blower up there so it’s all by hand.

After I clear around us – I help four of our neighbors in the cul-du-sac for various reasons – out of town, young children, elderly etc – and then over to my mother-in-law’s house.

First thing – gotta charge my iPod.

Very important:

Second – always fun to see how much new snow we got:

Then it’s time to work.

I mix it up.

Snowblowing:

Shoveling:

Sometimes it’s a bit chilly.

Luckily Valentine’s Day is a heartwarming kind of day….because this is what we woke up to that morning:

But we have fun as well.

This year we built Ethan a snow cave / tunnel. (With a mini snowman on a beam to watch over it):

And it’s not just us – lots of people come out for fun in winter in Maine.

Our favorite winter event is the National Toboggan Championships held every year in Camden.

(Note I took this photo of the sign two years ago….this year they didn’t put up the Toboggan banner on the sign….they couldn’t get to it because of the snow:

This year it warmed up for the festivities:

Here are the rules – I love the part by the blue arrow: “No exposed skin except face. Face-masks and properly fitted ski helmets are recommended”. I wonder who they were thinking needed the reminder – this is Maine afterall?

The track is an old – fashioned wooden chute that’s ice coated.

It’s not long but it’s fast:

This was not a great run time – gotta get into the 8 second range to get into the finals:

Gettin’ four people on a flimsy wooden toboggan that travels 30+ mph is a challenge. The person at the back has no clue what’s going on – they’re just hangin’ on off the edge for dear life:

My team didn’t get registered in time this year so I sat this one out.

Whadda do if you’re not racing?

Eat of course.

Lots of nice folks haul out tents / shacks / trailers and hang out all day in really cold weather serving up some really good food.

Of course anything hot tastes great when it’s 5 degrees outside:

I made a major discovery this year.

I’m always on the hunt for the holy grail of fish chowder (way better than clam chowder) and this year I found it.

The trailer doesn’t look like much (and they got a lot of ribbing about the “Ice Cold Drinks” sign) but this innocent location had the best fish chowder I’ve ever had!!!!!

OHMIGOSH it was good:

Turns out Deb from Deb’s Diner in Waldoboro Maine was responsible.

Check out their FB page at https://www.facebook.com/debsdiner

But be forewarned – if you look at the page – it’s all about the things she’s making in the kitchen in the diner and it might make you jump in the car / board a train / hop on a jet to come visit – even in the middle of winter.

You’ve been warned.

Back to the races.

The racers take them very seriously…..

…..they come from all over with very fancy toboggans…..

…..maybe because they’re the coolest trophies ever…..

…..but as a racer checks the scoreboard…..you notice that many of the the team uniforms are unique…..

…..and some of the people cheering them on are strangely dressed…..

…..we do have fun in Maine in winter..

It’s also a great way to celebrate a notable birthday – with a sense of humor and a sweatshirt (that’s Deb on the right) that about 20 different people were wearing:

The toboggan races are also a great place to show off some toys.

I’ve heard it said that boys especially never really grow up – it’s just that the size of their toys get bigger.

Pretty hard to dispute that when it’s captured in photos.

I think I probably had a toy like this when I was a kid:

I sure did look longingly at this one….but can’t figure out how to justify it to my wife….but if we keep having more winters like this then maybe I’ve got a chance::

Meanwhile in the midst of all this fun there’s actually been some beehive type activity at Mishara Music and all the sudden there’s a bunch of new Spring releases coming.

Three to start – Cass Dillon, Dave Morrison and a new Amazon sampler:

First off – Tuesday March 24th is the release date for the new Mishara Music Amazon Free Song Sampler – our sixth:

I think it’s our best – certainly our biggest – 17 songs.

(The previous five have had over 1,800,000 free song downloads)

Here’s the Amazon download link:

http://tinyurl.com/MisharaMusicAmazonSampler6
Here’s a list of artists (in order on the sampler): Barnaby Bright, Cass Dillon, Meggan Waltman, Chris Ross, Ken Yates, Connor Garvey, Dave Morrison, Peter Bradley Adams, Clarensau, Gabriel Mann, Merlowe & The Dry Tear.

Some notes about the songs.

“Just The Same” by Barnaby Bright starts off the sampler – a track from their upcoming new album (first in two years) and to my ears it’s simply the best adult love song I’ve ever heard. If that wasn’t enough from them we’ve included a live version of “Made Up Of” from the last album which includes a cellist in the performance. You cannot tell it’s a live performance until the applause at the end.

New Mishara Music artist Cass Dillon debuts with a song titled “Friends”. The title says it all – friends are everything in life. The melody will stay in your head for days at a time….luckily you’ll be happy about that. More about Cass to follow.

“Rain” by Meggan Waltman is a song that’s haunted me for years. Meggan recorded and played me the song a number of years ago….and then completely disappeared.

I couldn’t find her anywhere. Phone disconnected, no longer at that address and not a hint of her on social media.

Then out of the blue she calls.

Turns out she went to Japan for a few years.

That’s one way to disappear – travel to the other side of the world.

We quietly released her EP “Nomad” in 2014 and now with this track on the sampler a lot more people will discover her.

The song is the essence of a dark rainy day – I may hate days like that but I love the song.

(And a side note here – the female singers on Mishara Music – Meggan, Kat Maslich, Sally Caggiano from Clarensau and Becky Bliss from Barnaby Bright are among the best & purest singers / voices I’ve ever heard. One of these days I’d like nothing better than to have a concert featuring just them. Even though I could get in for free – I’d pay to see it.)

Speaking of Clarensau – “Dance With Me” – the lead track from their 2nd Mishara album “This One’s For You” is as great a modern “first dance” wedding song as you’re ever gonna hear. Need one? Or know someone that does? This song is special.

Besides the three new albums coming right away….and the new Barnaby Bright coming right afterwards….there’s a new Chris Ross album – 3 years in the making.

Chris – with a great new band – is finishing the album – which will be titled “Young Once” in the studio as I type.

Prepare to be astonished.

In the meantime – before the band hit the studio – Chris recorded an acoustic teaser track “Drunk Women” for the new sampler.

As you might expect from Chris – the story is much deeper than that title suggests.

How do you handle a call from the “ex” who needs a ride at 2am?

You’ll also find a new acoustic version of his lyrical masterpiece from the last album “Your America” on the sampler.

Ken Yates also has a couple tunes on the sampler – from his “twenty-three” album – including the song “The One That Got Away” that won him the 2014 Ontario Arts Council Songwriting Award in his native Canada.

As we just passed St. Patrick’s Day how could we not include Connor Garvey’s classic “Irish Song” from his live “Before The Meteors” album. It answers the question of how a seemingly Irish lad through and through (his hair is THAT red) does not know a single Irish song to play on St. Patrick’s Day.

To match the playful Connor we’ve also included the stunning “Tattered Shirt” from the studio companion album to the live release “Meteors And Beating Hearts”.

What you may notice at this point…..these are some of our all time favorite songs from the label.

We’re giving them away.

The more we get people to hear our music the better off we’ll be.

It’s not so important to sell a track here or a tune there….it is important to build the audience for the music we love.

If do that – it will enable all of us to keep on making music.

Ever watch tv? Are you a fan of “Modern Family”?

Turns out the music composer for the show and a whole bunch of others is a gentleman named Gabriel Mann.

Two of his singer-songwriter albums are on Mishara. Check out “This Feeling”. You’ll understand why he’s in such demand.

The last track in order on the sampler is from a friend of the label – Danny Owen – who’s band Merlowe & The Dry Tear offers up “Table For One” – with a sound not quite like anything else.

Hmmm, what didn’t I mention.

Two more artists.

Peter Bradley Adams – the artist that helped start Mishara Music gives us a very popular track from his Mishara album “Between Us” – “I May Not Let Go” and from his new album “The Mighty Storm” – that he independently released – a song titled “Hey Believers”. There’s no one like Peter.

Lastly I come to Dave Morrison.

Two tracks on the sampler from his new album “Poetry Rocks”.

Why is it called “Poetry Rocks”?

Because Dave is a poet.

Let me back up a bit.

I met Dave here in Maine a number of years ago and we became friends.

I didn’t know he was a poet.

That’s good.

I hate poetry.

Anyday back in my old school days that we had to study poetry was a hard day for me.

Poetry just didn’t work for me.

So one day Dave mentions “Hey, I’ve got a new book coming out and I’m doing a poetry reading can you drop by?”

So I’m stuck.

He’s my friend and of course I say yes.

With every intention of dropping in….making sure he sees me and then sneaking out as fast as possible.

Did I mention I hate poetry?

I was the last one to leave.

Like nothing I’d ever heard before.

Dave knows how people feel about poetry.

That high school kind of poetry.

That’s not Dave.

Turns out he’s released 10 poetry books.

He’s been featured a number of times on “The Writers’s Almanac” – the Garrison Keillor daily feature on NPR.

But Dave was also a guitar player in a band for years and years.

He was toying around with the idea of combining his two skills.

I encouraged him and the album “Poetry Rocks” (release date is April 14th) is unlike anything else:

His first track on this sampler is “Being A Poet”. It basically addresses the scary subject that all writers face….”Hey I’ve got an idea for you to write about….”

On a more serious side is “Patricia Alone After 14 Years”

Mis-titled on the sampler – I left out the word “alone” – Dave said “Don’t worry about it”.

That’s the kind of guy he is.

Curious to know more? Read on. (But if I’d known his take on # 13 I would have re-evaluated this deal – they’re absolutely not!):

Wanna hear the track “Being A Poet” by Dave Morrison without waiting a moment more?

Here’s a link to a free download – no email or registration required (ever from Mishara Music):

http://misharamusic.com/free/beingapoet/

The other new artist I mentioned was Cass Dillon.

His EP is “Oregon Road”:

Here’s the story of how he came to Mishara Music.

The friend I’ve known longer than any other in the music business – Marc Nathan – called me up and said something like “I’ve been looking for the perfect artist for Mishara Music for years and finally found him. His name is Cass Dillon and you’re perfect for each other”.

He sent me the music.

I made a cd and put it in my car.

Cars are the best place for listening. Most cars have great sound and it’s about the only place these days you get alone time to listen.

But I didn’t have any driving plans for a bit – so it didn’t get heard right away.

Until my wife’s car had to go into the shop for a checkup.

My job of course – so she takes my car.

As she came in the door that night she didn’t say “Hi Honey”.

Didn’t kiss me on the cheek.

Didn’t pass “Go” and collect $200.

She said “WHAT IS THE CD IN YOUR CAR? It’s GREAT!”

Now you know the secret.

Our test marketing – even when it’s unintentional.

“Oregon Road” releases on Mishara Music April 7th.

Thinkin’ you’d like to know more about Cass?

You can hear “Friends” by Cass Dillon right this very second – and download it as well.

Here ya go:

http://misharamusic.com/free/friends/

Some odds and ends about winter that I didn’t cover above.

In spite of the cold and snow it can be incredibly beautiful.

The harbor is always a sight – winter or summer:

The sky against the whiteness of the snow just shines in color (thanks to my wife for these photos).

Our favorite family mode of transportation – winter or summer:

Christmas lights look mysterious with a bit of snow covering them (before they were totally obliterated by the snowfalls to follow):

A good lesson to learn….don’t forget to change out the screen door for the storm window before the snow comes – oops:

My wife does have a great recovery plan for coming in from the cold and snow when you’ve finally had enough:

I discovered binge watching on “Netflix”.

Which brings me to the promised “Presidential” story.

Lots of people I’ve met over the years have met various US President’s and there are some wonderful stories that’ll I’ll share the next time we meet up in person.

Though if we do meet up in person – this is the story to remember.

Don’t forget to shake my hand.

Why?

Ahhh, time for a history lesson.

Abraham Lincoln used to visit his generals and the troops during the Civil War.

Here’s a very famous photo of him visiting Gen George McClellan and his generals in October 1862 after the battle of Antietam (the Union name / the Confederacy called it Sharpsburg):

It wasn’t the first time he visited McClellan. Here’s a description of his travels for a few days earlier that year in July:

July 7, 1862 — President Lincoln and military party leave Washington on the Ariel to visit General McClellan and the Army of the Potomac at Harrison’s Landing at Berkeley Plantation.

July 8, 1862 — Lincoln arrives at Harrison’s Landing at 6:00p.m. He then reviews McClellans’ Army by corps and divisions until 9:00p.m.

July 9, 1862 — Lincoln talks with officers of the Army about military problems and records the results in a memorandum. He then leaves on the Ariel for the return trip to Washington.

Now here’s a note from the records of the Minnesota National Guard:

July 9, 1862- President Abraham Lincoln visits the 1st Minnesota, camped at Harrison’s Landing
This is important because?

Earlier this year we went to visit my Uncle Gene.

One of the few remaining veterans from the World War II battles of the Pacific.

He was a Marine and is one of those brave individuals who stormed the beaches of Saipan, Tarawa etc.

The stories – you can’t imagine.

He’s 91.

My son Ethan is 9 and they hadn’t seen each other for a few years and it was a great reunion.

Here’s Ethan showing Uncle Gene how he uses his Kindle:

My favorite Uncle Gene story is not about WWII – it’s about the Civil War.

My grandfather (a WWI vet) back in the 1930’s when Gene was Ethan’s age used to visit the old solder’s home in Minneapolis and bring some of the vets home for dinner.

One day he brought the oldest vet in the home – Mr. Carpenter – to dinner as Uncle Gene tells the story.

When he walked in the door Mr. Carpenter walked up to Gene and my father Dave (who was a year older than Gene) and said:

“Shake the hand that shook the hand of Abraham Lincoln”.

He told the story of hanging out one day with the troops….no fighting at the moment although the lines weren’t that far apart….and they saw a “tall drink of water” walking down the road with a tall hat on.

They yelled at him “Hey buddy get your head down before the rebs shoot it off”.

As the “tall drink of water” got closer they realized it was Abraham Lincoln.

Mr. Carpenter says they lined up all the troops and President Lincoln walked down the line shaking hands.

Let’s put this in perspective.

Ethan and I obviously have shaken my Uncle’s hand many, many times.

That puts us 3 handshakes away from Abraham Lincoln.

If you shake my hand the next time we see each other – that makes you – in 2015 – 150 years after Lincoln’s death – 4 handshakes away from him.

I find that astonishing.

But even more so.

Ethan will be 59 years old in 2065.

200 hundred years after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and he’ll be only 3 handshakes away from him.

Anyone shaking his hand will still only be 4 handshakes away.

A fifth of a century later.

I love history.

Welcome to Spring.

Marc

PS Wishful thinking:

Marc Ratner

Mishara Music

E-mail: marcrescue@gmail.com

Website: http://www.misharamusic.com

WordPress: http://www.marcrescue.wordpress.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marc.ratner

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marcrescue

Life in Maine w/ family & music – Photos of the year 2014 – the Marcrescue blog (Life in Maine with a nine year old)

Greetings all,

 

(Note – If you’d like to be notified when these about monthly posts come out – you can sign up on WordPress on the right or sign up for my FB or Twitter feeds below.  If you’d prefer to be left alone (I live in Maine where we all mostly prefer to be left alone – think it’s a New England thing) I understand.

 

As we all make “arghhh” type comments as we mistakenly write 2014 once more (and I will continue to do so until sometime mid April) here’s a collection of some of my favorite photos of the year.

 

Posted either because of the photo itself (most likely the artistic beautiful ones were taken by my wife Kim) or because of the memory of the moment.

 

I’ve also updated the latest events of the holiday season.

 

In no particular order.

 

Actually from the end of 2013 – we woke up to the aftermath of a rare ice storm on December 27th – where the particular mix of temperature and precipitation coated everything with ice.

Beautiful but dangerous:

Camden Harbor is always amazing.

 

Winter:

 

Or summer:

 

Speaking of summer – I think my favorite photo of the year (taken by Kim of course) is Ethan in a swimming pool.

 

Swimming is a big part of summer in Maine.

 

Here he is checking one of the local swimming holes after a storm:

 

Now that we’re solidly into winter 2015 – it won’t be long until we see the ice fishing huts out on the same pond:

 

Once Spring arrives one of our favorite family days is Maine Maple Day – where all the sugar houses open their doors and you get to see the sugaring process which involves lots of evaporating and distilling of the maple sap.  Each producer’s set up is different – some are using the same evaporators they’ve used for years and years and others are newer models of gorgeous stainless steel piping.  The freshly made warm maple syrup is delicious no matter which way it’s produced.  We always buy some from 3 or 4 different producers that day and it lasts us all year.  (And it’s much less expensive than what you pay in stores).

 

The aroma in the shed is wonderful:

 

Spring also brings the annual iris blooming in our yard.  My favorite flower – planted by someone long before we moved to Maine:

 

We try to do as many things as a family as we can and the opportunities in Maine are endless.

 

Summer camping by the ocean is a treat.

 

We go back to the same site at the Searsport Shores Campground every summer.

 

Kim loves to enjoy her morning camping coffee on the bench overlooking the ocean 20 yards from our campsite:

 

I look forward to the special breakfasts she makes.

 

Nothing like a beef brisket / sweet & white potato / onion hash made over the 1970’s era Coleman camping stove:

 

Is there anything more simple yet artistic than a shell on a beach – timeless (and taken by Kim of course):

 

Summer brings baseball and this year I managed to get one of the limited edition hats that the Red Sox official hat maker made after the 2013 marathon bombing.

 

It’s now my favorite hat and a reminder of how important and yet fragile life is and how important it is that we celebrate what we have every single day.  If you’re a longtime reader of this blog you might remember that we were right across from the marathon finish line that day having just watched Kim’s cousin finish her first Boston Marathon and we saw both bombs go off.  A day and tragic event we’ll never forget:

 

As most people are doing these days we are taking lots of selfies….as a family.

 

I had two favorites this year….this is the summer beach selfie:

 

Another favorite thing of mine this year was the Valentine’s Day card that Ethan made for me.

 

Better than anything for sale in a store:

 

After dinner nothing like a father son talk while walking in nearby downtown Rockland:

 

Ethan played his first game of adult Monopoly this year and it went perfectly as far as he was concerned….when dad went bust by landing on Ethan owned Boardwalk with four houses on it:

 

The other big game event that’s recorded in photo was our electronic candle lit game of Sorry – played during our 26 hour blackout that happened during the big snowstorm we had right after Halloween.

 

Dad got his revenge and won this time:

 

Thinking about old -fashioned things like board games takes me to Ethan’s new phone in his playroom.

 

During the blackout I took out an antique 1930’s era dial phone to see if the phone lines were working (all the new fangled electronic phones were useless of course) and Ethan loved it and insisted I hook it up in his playroom.

 

This is Ethan’s first phone – no mobile for him yet:

 

Summer in small town Maine brings out the community.

 

The library sponsors movie night in the amphitheater across from the harbor.

 

We all bring camp chairs and watch family films on an inflatable screen (don’t forget the bug spray):

 

Another summer vision – watching the ice spray waiting for your Sno-Kone:

 

Before you know it – it’s fall…..time for a cardboard sled on a grassy hill:

 

The end of summer also brings tomatoes from the garden in multi-colors:

 

Time to find a pumpkin:

 

Ethan planned the face for the carving this year and dad did a pretty good job of matching his design – Ethan was happy about that:

 

Every year the library has people bring their carved pumpkins to the town ampitheater for a get together – it’s always fun to see what everyone can do with their pumpkins:

 

My other favorite family selfie of the year – the “Halloween” edition:

 

As I mentioned – two days after Halloween we had a huge early snowstorm.

 

This is what we woke up to looking through the Halloween decorations on the windows.

 

I imagine that the tomato plants on the deck were not thrilled:

 

We all got to have fun outside.

 

Dad with a shovel:

 

 

Being so early in the year – Kim got to make the coolest snowman ever:

 

Ethan tested to see if the snow was any good for making snowballs to throw at dad:

 

My second favorite photo of the year – Kim’s “Moonrise”:

 

Time for holiday preparations.

 

In Maine – we head to the woods to find and cut our Christmas tree.  Hard work when it’s 20 degrees but very rewarding:

 

Every year one of the simple pleasures Kim and I enjoy is finding a few new ornaments for the tree.  This was this year’s haul – we loved the felt mistletoe, the Red Sox ornament was a birthday present from Kim to me and the star at the right was a school project that Ethan made:

 

We love the holiday parade in downtown Camden….we get creative with our floats…..where else do you see floats with a giant duck, a giant dog from the animal adoption center, a firetruck with a Christmas tree, the Rockport harbormaster’s boat, a giant lobster and of course our mainstay – a snowplow!

 

Afterwards we take to the streets and someone was out checking to see if the kids have been naughty or nice:

 

A few days later it’s time to head over to Rockport for their Christmas tree lighting and fireworks over the harbor.

 

Love the real lobster fishing buoys as decorations on the tree:

 

The wonderful thing about fireworks over the harbor is that you get to see the reflections in the ocean:

 

It’s very important every holiday season to make sure we’re thinking of other people – just not ourselves.

 

Ethan made donations to “Coats For Kids” and “Toys For Tots”:

 

With that done it’s time to make sure everything is set for Santa:

 

Ethan wanted to make it easier for Santa this year so he also prepared a checklist with an extra plate of cookies:

 

All the sudden it’s New Year’s Eve Day and time for us to set up the train set and get in some serious engineering:

 

Nothing like a another year in Maine.

 

A great place for a family.

 

It’s not a rich state – not a lot of money around – but we make up for it in creativity.

 

This gets my award for best Christmas decoration of the year.

 

I have no idea how it was done.

 

As far as I can tell it’s a real car.

 

It must be Santa’s for sure…..because based on the size of the trees and the rigging I can see…..there’s no way a regular person could set this up…..but then again it’s Maine…..and we make do with what we have:

 

Welcome to 2015 – my wish for everyone reading this and for all the people in the world is to have all the joy they hope for and to live in peace.

 

Marc

 

PS Mishara Music didn’t release many new albums in 2015 because all the recordings we were planning on – moved to 2015 – you can’t ask artists to write songs on a schedule.  As we side more on the artistic side than the business side – that’s ok – we don’t force the issue at all….so we spent most of 2014 introducing our existing albums and artists to new fans.

 

But that means some wonderful new releases are coming – so while we prepare to delight and amaze in 2015 let me remind that we love to give away some of our favorite songs….because we can.  We’re a small independent music company with no rules so if we want to gift great songs we just do it.

 

In no particular order here are 7 of our favorite free song pages – free downloads with no email or registration of any kind required – just click and enjoy.

 

From Ken Yates – “The One That Got Away”

 

The link – http://misharamusic.com/free/kenyates/

 

Takes you to this page:

 

From Barnaby Bright – “Made Up Of”

 

The link – http://misharamusic.com/free/barnabybright2/

 

Takes you to this page:

 

From Chris Ross – “Jack and Jill (Bottom Of My Grave)” – the hardest rocking song on the label

 

The link – http://misharamusic.com/free/chrisross/

 

Takes you to this page:

 

From Connor Garvey – “Old House”

 

The link – http://misharamusic.com/free/oldhouse/index.html

 

Takes you to this page:

 

From Clarensau – “Dance With Me”

 

The link – http://misharamusic.com/free/dancewithme/

 

Takes you to this page:

 

From Meggan Waltman – “Rain”

 

The link – http://misharamusic.com/free/rain/

 

Takes you to this page:

 

And one more song from Chris Ross – a new live studio recording of “Mostly Sober”

 

The link – http://misharamusic.com/free/chrisrossmostlysober/

 

Takes you to this page:

 

And there’s more where these came from.

 

The link – http://misharamusic.com/site/?page_id=18

 

Takes you to the Mishara Music website Free Song page:

 

Enjoy!

 

Happy 2015

 

Marc Ratner

Mishara Music

E-mail: marcrescue@gmail.com

Website: www.misharamusic.com

WordPress: www.marcrescue.wordpress.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/marc.ratner

Twitter: www.twitter.com/marcrescue

Winter arrived / Autumn was terrific / This is the anti-cyber buying post – everything is free / The marcrescue blog – life in Midcoast Maine with music, family & an eight year old

Greetings All,

(Note – this is the Marc Ratner / Mishara Music – occasional blog / email.  It shows up these days about every other month. Who has the time to write anything worthwhile more than that? That doesn’t mean that anything contained here is worthwhile….except of course the photos…I get lucky taking some and steal the really good ones from my wife…she’s the great family photographer.  If you’re receiving this via email and want off the list – just hit reply and ask off.  If you’re seeing this via the blog post on WordPress and would like to receive it via email.  Email marc@misharamusic.com and I’ll get you added to the list.).  Another great way to keep up to date on when I write is to follow me on FB at www.facebook.com/marc.ratner or Twitter at www.twitter.com/marcrescue

So it’s “Cyber Monday” as I write this.

Everything, everywhere is about – buy this – buy that.

So I’ve included a whole bunch of free song links in this letter – consider this the “Anti-Cyber-Buy” letter.

The letter is also all about our family adventures during this autumn season – mostly things we did for free.

Yes, for free.

It’s our way of getting away from the commercialization of everything.

Winter is definitely here – early and fierce – this is what we woke up to Thanksgiving morning:

How did we get here?

Last I checked – autumn was in full swing and we were making the most of it here in Midcoast Maine.

The wonderful thing about living in Maine is it’s easy and inexpensive to ditch the 21st century and remember that family adventures are the best way to spend time.

We attended the last fair of the year – the Common Ground Fair – put on by the Organic Farmers of Maine:

No fancy midway or rides here….and it might be the last refuge of people that started wearing overalls as hippies in the 60’s – but that’s a good thing.

A kid doesn’t need hi-tech rides – he can have just as much fun at the cardboard sliding hill:

Exploring the fair hiking trail:

Making a homemade hat our of natural materials:

And there’s no more fun than the hay bale jump:;

It’s a refreshing day away from electronics, video games and cell phones (virtually no service at these fairgrounds – makes dad’s hand shake).

We also did our annual exploration of Beth’s Farm Market corn maze….another wonderful family adventure away from the lure of computer games.

This year they really upped their game.  They made it a contest.  You had to try and find all the secret locations.

It was torture:

Dad thought: “Let’s make it a race!” So he competed by himself again Mom and the Kid.

An hour and 1/2 later I dragged myself out of the maze and we compared scorecards.

Notice the scorecard on the right with the two blue arrows pointing out two missing checkpoints?

That’s Dad’s scorecard.

Mom & Son skunked me.  They got all the checkpoints and had been waiting for me for 20 minutes when I finally admitted defeat and found my way out.

Before we left Beth’s we did a little pumpkin shopping:

One of the great town events every autumn is the Camden International Film Festival….which features documentaries and is now recognized as one of the top festivals for documentaries in the world.

Every year Kim works as a volunteer at the festival and it’s a highlight for her:

We attended two films this year – including a terrific documentary about James Brown – with the director in attendance to answer questions after the showing:

And we always love the closing night festivities where they present the awards at the beautifully restored Camden Opera House – built in 1894:

As the festival closes – we notice that the town is getting ready for the changes in the weather.  It’s always interesting to watch the sailing schooners in Camden harbor put on their protective winter wrap:

The change in the weather also brings our autumn leaves season.

Time for some hikes….along Hosmer Pond:

Then a family hike up Mt Megunticook.

Amazing views:

It’s rewarding getting to the top:

But also tiring…it’s a long hike:

During all this – work continues.

Mishara Music didn’t release a lot of new recordings this year because of the curse of all music companies…..delays in recording.  Artists do their best work on their own timeline….which does and should have nothing whatsoever to do with business plans.

So not many releases in 2014 but that means we’re looking forward to a wonderful roster of releases in 2015.

But that doesn’t mean everyone wasn’t busy.

Lot’s of touring, recording and marketing.

A few weeks ago I checked a bunch of our artist’s social media sites at random – always fun.

Connor Garvey had an amazing summer festival season.

Awards all over the country:

Here’s a free song from Connor – my favorite song from his last studio album “Old House”:

http://misharamusic.com/free/oldhouse/index.html

Barnaby Bright social media is always fun to read.  They have a great relationship with their fans.

Isn’t that the way it should be?

How about a free Barnaby Bright tune – “Made Up Of” – achingly beautiful:

http://misharamusic.com/free/barnabybright2/

The streaming world has been very good to Clarensau:

A favorite Clarensau song of mine is “Endless Melody”.

Here it is – endlessly free:

http://misharamusic.com/free/clarensau/

Chris Ross has the best FB page ever.  His posts are 2nd to none.

He had some wonderful thoughts about election season:

Chris has also started recording at Hearstudios in Camden.

Here he is with studio owner / producer / engineer Jason Hearst during playback:

He started with some acoustic recording.

For his fans – while waiting for the new 2015 album – he recorded a new acoustic version of “Mostly Sober” and we’re giving it away.

No email or registration of any kind is required – just click on the link for the free download:

http://misharamusic.com/free/chrisrossmostlysober/

Chris will have two other acoustic tracks – (one classic and one brand new song) on the next Mishara Music Amazon Free Song Sampler – # 6 – which you’ll see released before Christmas:

Oh by the way – great news about Ken Yates…..he won a major songwriter award in his native Canada:

Here’s the song that won Ken the award – as always with Mishara – no email or registration required to download it for free:

http://misharamusic.com/free/kenyates/

Ken’s award got me to thinking…..we sure have a lot of award winning songwriters on Mishara Music:

It makes us feel good about what we do.

We’re a low key independent music mgmt & recording company and we do what we do for the love of music.

It all starts with songs for us.

Here’s one of our latest favorites – “Rain” by Meggan Waltman.

Another free download:

http://misharamusic.com/free/rain/

Of course the rainy season has pretty much passed us by here in Maine.

We figured that out pretty quickly after Halloween.

We had a terrific Halloween as always.

Did some pumpkin carving.

This year Ethan drew out a plan for the carving and I did my best to match:

The family selfie as we headed out for trick or treating….(Ethan was the only one that got treats though):

We got home in time for our favorite Halloween TV show:

36 hours later the first Nor’easter snow storm hit.

We lost power for 26 hours and finally woke up to this sunrise looking at 16 inches of new snow through the Halloween decorations on the window:

We couldn’t get out the front door:

If you were a tomato plant in a pot on the back deck – you probably weren’t happy:

So starts my winter exercise program:

And Kim got to make the coolest snowman ever:

Luckily we’re big fans of winter – we love sledding, snowshoeing and the change in seasons brings amazing visions….this from last winters ice storm:

But sadly – there’s one thing that goes away until spring.

The local lobster roll shacks all close up for winter.

We hit our favorite – “Red’s” – on their last day of the season about 30 minutes before closing.

Breathtaking as always:

It was a busy autumn.

We made the most out of it – but it was exhausting.

So much so that somedays you don’t even realize that you put on different shoes for work until 3pm in the afternoon:

Luckily no one else noticed either.

Hope you had a great autumn – here’s to a wonderful winter for all!

Marc

PS In keeping with this letter’s anti – buying mania – there are tons more free songs from Chris Ross, Barnaby Bright, Clarensau, Connor Garvey, Ken Yates and many more artists on the first 5 Mishara Music Free Song Amazon samplers.  Way over a million free downloads have already been given away.

Enjoy our gift of music:

http://tinyurl.com/AmazonFreeMisharaSamplers

Website: www.misharamusic.com

WordPress: www.marcrescue.wordpress.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/marc.ratner

Twitter: www.twitter.com/marcrescue

Finally, a photo wrap-up of summer in Maine 2014 / the Marcrescue blog “Life in Maine with an Eight Year Old & an Appreciation of Music”

Greetings All,

A few notes before the attack of Maine summer photos:

1. If you’d like to make sure you receive this blog all the time – either sign up on the right hand side or if you’d prefer to receive via email – email me at marcrescue@gmail.com
2. You’ll notice during my music notes that we’ve made it extremely easy to listen to the music via Soundcloud and Spotify – whichever you prefer. You’ll also notice no sales links. Yes sales are important and if someone wants to purchase any of our songs – they’re always available on iTunes & Amazon. The key to building our audience however is getting the music heard.  Music has to heard to be appreciated.

Summer happens.

In our family and in our community here in Maine everyone makes the most of it.

Not because the season is short and winter is just over the horizon…..we love winter as much as summer.

But because there’s a spirit here about living life and everyone we know has been out and about.

The last time I checked in with everyone – we had just passed this milestone:

Then summer took off like a rocket!

Are you ready……we’ve going to cover a lot of ground here and quickly.

It’s officially summer – how do we know? Because the people down the hill put out their annual summer sign…..which perhaps wasn’t written out exactly the way it was intended…..I sure don’t know any kids that play slowly…..but then again – it grabs your attention:

Gotta check the local swimming hole after a rainstorm:

Before you know it – “Coach Pitch” baseball is all over already and it’s time to get your end of season medal:

Harvest time for wild Maine blueberries – got to pick up our 10 pound box…..we freeze them and have all sorts of blueberry treats all winter:

Whew let’s take a breather & cool off – how about some Lemon Sorbet for Ethan and Coffee Heath Bar Crunch for dad on Father’s Day from Camden Cone:

Can’t beat Maine for summer camping:

Especially when you can take your morning camping coffee to the bench 20 yards away overlooking the ocean:

We take our eating seriously when we camp.

Some leftover beef brisket from the nearby BBQ place from the night before makes some mighty fine beef brisket hash for morning breakfast at the campsite – and yes it was every bit as good as it looks – not everything in Maine has to have lobster in it to be great:

But that said – Searsport Shores – our favorite ocean side campground takes eating seriously. Their Saturday night lobster bake makes it awfully tough to hike back to your campsite:

Fourth Of July…..bummer no fireworks…..rained out…..but how ’bout the nifty homemade popsicles that mom made:

Now let me take a moment here to say….during all of this…..work never stopped.

It never stops.

And some swell stuff happened this summer.

Chris Ross has spent the summer writing songs for his new album which he’ll begin recording shortly. He makes acoustic YouTube videos of each song when he’s finished writing them.

Can’t wait for the full band studio versions of these.

“Blame”:

“Burns”:

“You Can Have Mine”:

“Drunk Women”:

You can hear “Halfway To Wonderland” – Chris’ last album here on Soundcloud:

Or on Spotify:

 

One alternative to writing the new album….is spending the summer playing the new album at festivals.

That’s what Connor Garvey did.

Seemed to be a good plan.

Here’s where a partial list of where he played this summer:

Here’s how it went – one of those summers where you need to get an extra suitcase to take home the awards:

Wanna listen to both of Connor’s new albums…..easy to do…..just posted both new albums on Soundcloud & Spotify.

“Before The Meteors” – the live album that mirrors all the songs that are in the new studio album is here:

Also on Spotify:

The studio album “Meteors And Beating Hearts” is here on Soundcloud:

Spotify:

There’s another way to spend the summer – recording.

Both Ken Yates and Barnaby Bright have been spending time in the studio.

Ken has been recording some new songs and filmed one of the tracking sessions.

Here’s “Once More To The Lake”:

Here’s Ken’s last album “twenty-three” on Soundcloud:

And on Spotify:

Don’t have anything to share from the Barnaby Bright album recording sessions yet – but coming soon.

The whole Barnaby Bright fan universe is anxiously waiting to hear the studio versions of the songs they’ve been playing on tour breaks all summer.

Including this gem – “Just The Same” – recorded last year at WNRN in Charlottesville:

“The Longest Day” their last album can be heard in it’s entirety on Soundcloud:

& Spotify:

I’ve been very busy all summer preparing new releases for this fall. More about that in a moment.

I’ve always been a believer in contributing to society in one way or another. Many might remember that I volunteered on a mountain search and rescue team for over 20 years while living in California.

Now in Maine I’ve found a new way to help….using my knowledge and long association with the music industry….I’m involved with our beautiful local historical opera house.

Built in 1894 and totally restored in the 1990’s…..I find myself during the Camden Opera House’s 120th anniversary….on the town board of directors.

Something I can do to help…..but unfortunately…..even after years and years in the music business…..I still can’t figure out which photographer is taking the photo…..arghhhh:

The Camden Opera House is such a great place for artists to perform…..lo and behold here’s Barnaby Bright playing there this summer:

As a special encore – Becky and Nathan stepped away from the mic’s – because the acoustics are so great….and sang at the front of the stage joined by special guest Liz Longley….what a great night:

This being Maine one can’t go too long without mentioning lobster again. As always we had a great time at our annual local “Lobster Fest”.

Here’s something you probably haven’t seen before unless you live in Maine.

The lobster trap race at the festival.

How many times can you make it back and forth across the harbor running on the lobster traps without falling in?

If you’re a kid most likely your favorite part of Lobster Fest is the bungee jump attraction…..where you get to dream of being some sort of superhero while you’re flying in the harness:

We always end our day at the festival riding the ferris wheel:

You cannot believe how many lobsters they serve during the five days of the Lobster Festival….here’s the count near the end of the last day – that’a a lot of lobsters:

It was also a great summer for gardens……here’s the first of many batches of cherry tomatoes:

At the end of the summer we get a carton of heirloom tomatoes from our favorite vendor at our local farmers market:

Lo and behold – they magically (with a lot of hard work by Kim) turn into the best sauce I’ve ever had in my life. It’s gonna be a wonderful winter:

But we’re not there yet.

First a little mini-golf…..and this time Mom got the hole-in-one:

Next up a day trip to Portland to check out the Jason Spooner Band performing at the Old Port Festival (they were great as always – as is the new album “Chemical”).

Just across from the stage we found this fence along the harbor (there’s always a cool discovery every time we got to Portland) – next time we’re bringing a lock.

If you look closely every lock has a message written on it. And they’re locked there by the people that put them there. So there they stay. Totally cool. What a great idea:

On the way back from Portland we’re legally required to stop at LL Bean’s Flagship store.

It’s open 24 hours a day / 365 days a year.

You meet the nicest people there at 3am:

Summer time for us is not just about eating…..although it might seem that way.

The town library sponsors summer movies in the amphitheater next to the library.

Bring a camp chair and a blanket:

Our local Bay Chamber Orchestra takes over downtown for an afternoon and dispatches classical players to storefronts, street corners and shops to perform for us. I caught this great duo at Zoot Coffee:

Of course there’s the beach.

A good place to catch up on Harry Potter:

And contemplate the beauty of nature (credit report here – many of the artistic photos in this post including this one were taken by my wife Kim. Every time I see one of her photos like this – the first words out of my mouth are “I’m stealing this one for the blog”):

Had to get in some hiking:

One of the sessions at summer day camp is theatre….there’s nothing like hearing your kid singing “Kids” from Bye Bye Birdie….”Kid’s? Whatsa matter with all these kids today?…..Why can’t they be like we were – perfect in every way….” (they even designed their own costumes):

Of course after a hard afternoon of summer theatre – it’s time to cool off with a Sno-Kone at River Ducks:

As we seem to be back at food again……how ’bout some fresh Maine raspberries….so sweet:

Another trip to Portland to see the Sea Dogs (Red Sox Double AA Farm Team) win in the bottom of the 10th:

What a surprise on the way down to Portland…….an annual gathering of VW campers of all ages…..all stopped at a rest stop to say goodbye to each other until next year’s meeting.

I had one identical to the beige one just to the right of center (arrow pointing at it) back in the 1980’s.

I never should have sold it.

The group even has it’s own t-shirts:

Kim’s told me getting another one is now on our bucket list.

That’s a good addition.

Better get crackin’ on some new music if I’m going to get Kim her camper.

I fell in love with a song called “Rain” a number of years ago by an artist named Meggan Waltman.

Almost had the opportunity to release it….but stuff happened and never did get it out.

So I just obsessed about the song for years.

After Mishara Music (www.misharamusic.com) was established as a label……I went looking for Meggan.

She’d vanished.

Phone disconnected, no Facebook, no Twitter, no search results.

Zip, nadda, nothin.

Bummed I was.

One day out of the blue……an email in my inbox.

“Hi Marc, It’s Meggan….I’m back doing music again”.

Oh Happy Day.

Turns out she’d moved to Japan for a number of years.

That’s why I couldn’t find her.

So – this time I didn’t hesitate.

Didn’t pass “Go”.

Didn’t collect “$200”.

Got a Meggan Waltman EP titled “Nomad” out in record time.

A digital release to start.

8 tracks from 3 different recording sessions over a period of years.

“Rain” is the first track.

And I want everyone to hear it.

So it’s free download.

No email required, no registration required.

Nothing like that.

Just click, download and enjoy:

http://misharamusic.com/free/rain/

Wanna hear the entire EP?

Soundcloud:

Spotify:

“Rain” will also be included in the next Mishara Music Free Song Sampler on Amazon.

This will be edition # 6.

You can get all five of the previous samplers anytime on Amazon.

Over 50 totally free songs by Mishara artists and friends of the label.

http://tinyurl.com/AmazonFreeMisharaSamplers

Here’s a number for you.

That’s how many free songs have been downloaded off of the Mishara Free Song Samplers on Amazon.

I’m looking forward to 2 million.

The passion here is sharing great music.

Next up.

A gem.

A songwriter (with a degree in English no less)

With songs the likes of I’ve never heard before.:

You’ll meet her in the next blog post.

In the meantime.

The sky is changing – the seasons are changing – it’s getting darker earlier:

But the cycle of life is always a surprise.

What’s new becomes old….becomes new again.

Ethan found our old antique dial phone (from the 1930’s) and insisted we hook it up for him.

He makes all his calls on it.

(He only has 3 numbers he can call – his dad, his mom and his nana).

No smart phone this…but so totally cool:

And of course we end where we started:

Best,

Marc

Marc Ratner
Mishara Music

E-mail: marcrescue@gmail.com

Website: http://www.misharamusic.com

WordPress: http://www.marcrescue.wordpress.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marc.ratner

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marcrescue

The Parent’s Lament – As Time Goes By / The Marcrescue blog – life in Maine with music & an eight year old

Greetings,

Are you a parent?

If not – let me explain a few things you probably don’t realize.

Before you have kids you might think you understand the concept and the reality.

I can only say this based on my experience…..maybe it is different for other people….

But….basically….before I had a kid….I didn’t have a clue what it was like being a parent….and I thought I did.

Even being a kid doesn’t give you perspective on being a parent.

Assuming you’re a fortunate parent and you have a good kid (/s) and life is basically good…..then you have….

….The Parent’s Lament.

Something I had no concept of.

Let’s start with – you get no sleep.

Less than you can imagine.

I remember my business partner in LA – Hugo – coming to the office looking a bit tired and he’d say….”Violet was up last night”.

She was two at the time.

What I didn’t realize.

He only mentioned it once in a while.

Basically kids are up every night.

Our son is eight.

All these years and he still wakes up at night.

Not as much as he used to – but enough to keep us from getting any sleep.

Not a week goes by when he still doesn’t wake up……because…….

……water, bathroom, nightmare, can’t sleep etc.

Even when he sleeps the night through – we’re not sure.

“Is that him? Is he awake? Did he just call us?”

“I’ll go check.”

So….no sleep for parents….ever.

I figure he’ll start sleeping through the night just about the time when we have to start worrying about where he is at night when he’s not in bed – not home yet.

Is that The Parent’s Lament?

Nah.

Losing sleep becomes no big deal pretty quickly.

You get used to it.

Of course I have an overwhelming urge to ask surgeons, airline pilots and anyone else with my life in their hands…..

“Do you have kids?”

“Is that a SpongeBob Square Pants button you have there?

If they answer in the affirmative – I know they haven’t slept and want to turn and run in the other direction.

But I know they’ve managed to deal with no sleep.

We’ll be okay.

What other problems are there?

Is this the right school?

Is this friend a bad influence?

Too much TV?

How do we get them away from video games?

Doesn’t any commercial food establishment have anything besides junkfood for kids anymore?

Ever look at a “Kid’s Menu”?

Even an elegant restaurant that serves local farm fresh organic grass fed wild caught food……has a kid’s menu that’s basically a hot dog, mac & cheese, french fries and sodas.

Arghhhhh!

(More about that in a minute).

Are any of those things The Parent’s Lament?

Nah.

They’ll survive all that.

So what’s The Parent’s Lament?

It’s simple.

Times goes by.

It kills you.

The babies are so wonderful.

Suddenly they’re in preschool.

Making friends.

You make great friends with the preschool teachers and all the sudden – it’s off to kindergarten.

Here he is waiting for the bus the first day of Kindergarten:

Not a moment has passed……we think…..and all the sudden it’s the last day of second grade:

They have to grow up – but no one understands how hard it is on the parents…..it’s heaven and hell at the same time.

Everyday we want to freeze the moment.

Although the joy of watching them grow up & learn how to out negotiate their parents is stellar as well.

I haven’t won an argument in our household in years.

Ethan started out-smarting me at about 2 1/2….and of course I’m married…..we just celebrated out 10th anniversary…..so figure I haven’t won an argument for at least 12 or so years – except for about a year from when Ethan started talking to when he hit 2 1/2.

I don’t miss losing arguments.

I just marvel at how I’m outsmarted almost every day.

They say elephants have great memories.

They got nothin’ on kids.

They never forget anything you’ve ever said….AND….they have ears that hear as well as elephants ears are large.

Married with a kid.

I got no chance.

But I miss those days of innocence.

Eight going on sixteen – he’s already discussing his first car.

I’m scared – I’m very, very scared.

But daily life is all about the wonderful moments.

Can’t beat walking down the street after our 2nd grade graduation dinner – Ethan’s choice?

Sushi at Suzuki’s.

Sushi?

At 8 years old?

I wouldn’t even eat the fish sandwich at McDonald’s when I was 8 years old.

Another sign that times change.

Something that all those “elegant restaurants” should take note of…..kids don’t eat just hot dogs and fries anymore.

Thanks to my wife for capturing our walk after our sushi dinner in a beautiful photo:

Thankfully the photo gives me that moment in time.

My kid is growing up faster than I can imagine.

How do I entertain myself?

As I always have….with music.

Dad might work in the music business all day long.

But I’ve never lost the joy of music and love going to concerts that have nothing to do with my company.

We bought tickets to see Patty Griffin in Portland a couple weeks ago.

Then we realized it was Father’s Day?

What did we do?

Bought a third ticket for Ethan

He’s 8 years old – we end up buying him a lot of tickets.

We love to take him with us.

He just saw Patty Griffin.

Last summer he saw Paul McCartney.

He’s been to Jazzfest in New Orleans 5 times.

He’s been to the American Folk Festival in Bangor 5 times.

He saw the Beach Boys 50th Anniversary concert.

His favorite song of theirs is “I Get Around” – very appropriate – I took this shot during that song:

Here’s a shot of Patty Griffin’s wonderful show…..I always love the solo songs:

Of course he hears about music all day long in our household.

What’s happening at the moment?

Barnaby Bright have just finished the major tracking on their new album.

Don’t have anything to play from the new recordings yet – but both of these concert favorites will be on the new album:

“Just The Same” (just about my favorite “couples” love song ever) – here’s a live radio performance version:

“Sail” – here’s a live version from a concert in Portland, Oregon:

Becky and Nathan are pretty jazzed about the new album and also that their Pledge Music campaign has done so well…..still plenty of time to donate before the album release and it’s already past their goal:

They’re not shy and not “precious” either – here’s the selfie photo they took in the car while on tour when they found out they passed their Pledge goal:

How can you not love people like this?

Here’s the link to their Pledge Music campaign. Remember it’s much like donating to a public radio station and the great thing is that you always get value returned. For $10 you get a digital copy of the album BEFORE release date…..(cheaper than iTunes)…..and for $25 you get the pre-release digital copy AND a signed cd sent to you when it’s released.

Such a deal.

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/barnabybright

This guy:

Chris Ross…..just started his new Pledge Music campaign.

I showed him the Barnaby Bright intro video and Chris said “I better up my game”.

He did.

Here’s his link – click on his intro video…..I guarantee you’ll be surprised and entertained.

Guaranteed!

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/chrisross

Here’s a couple tunes that’ll be on Chris’ next album:

“Easier Said Than Done”:

“Burns” (Chris seems to write about relationship troubles quite often….this song is the polar opposite of the Barnaby Bright tune “Just The Same” linked above. No matter if your relationship is workin’ or not – we’ve got you covered):

As I mentioned above – I love live music.

So how excited are we that Mishara Music just released our first live album?

Very.

Connor Garvey’s “Before The Meteors” which is a companion album to the studio recorded “Meteors And Beating Hearts”:

Wanna hear something great?

Here’s “Irish Song” from the album….so much fun:

What’s better than an absolutely free song?

Not much.

Here’s the live version of “Tattered Shirt” from “Before The Meteors”- absolutely free and easy to download – no email or registration required – just click and save, enjoy and free feel to share with anyone you’d like:

http://misharamusic.com/free/tatteredshirts/

Aw shucks.

I feel like Monte Hall at the moment – (if you’re old enough to remember him that is – if you do – ask me about my Monte Hall story someday – it’s pretty weird) – so let me give away another free song.

Seems like a whole bunch of people have been getting married lately which reminded me that our trio Clarensau has a song titled “Dance With Me”.

It’s the perfect “first dance” song for a wedding – so here’s a Clarensau / Mishara Music wedding present – a free download of “Dance With Me”. Again – no email or registration required to download the song – just click and enjoy:

http://misharamusic.com/free/dancewithme/

Back to The Parent’s Lament for a moment.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives, the moment, this & that…..we truly have no perspective.

Until it comes sailing right into the harbor.

As two ships did into Camden Harbor this week.

We get all sorts – yachts, schooners, kayaks…..even a visit from a US Navy ship once a year.

But this was a first.

Replicas of two of Columbus’ ships.

Yup – THAT Columbus – the Christopher Columbus guy.

Some enterprising person had the wonderful idea to recreate the Nina and the Pinta (why not the Santa Maria? It never finished that famous first voyage).

The two ships now tour the world – stopping at harbors large and small all over the world.

A history lesson that comes to you and gives great perspective on life.

Here’s the Pinta (the black ship on the right):

Doesn’t seem very big does it?

(This copy is actually 15 feet larger than the original).

Here’s the Nina (which was smaller than the Pinta):

Which is exact size.

Note the rowboat right next to it.

Here’s the roster of the crews that sailed on that first Columbus voyage:

24 people sailed on the Nina – which was about the size of four or five rowboats.

I spent some quiet moments thinking about the lives those men lived.

I think I’ve got it tough?

Hah.

Geez – the water at our favorite lake beach nearby was a bit cold on the first day of summer:

Yup – we’ve got it rough.

But – again perspective.

Lots of people complain that the music business isn’t what it used to be.

Can’t make as much money as we used to.

I never did it for the money.

It was always about the music.

My biggest joy for our business these days?

Getting the new monthly figures and seeing how many free songs we’ve given away on our Mishara Music Free Song Samplers on Amazon.com.

We’ve put out five and number six is coming soon.

What’s in a number:

Here’s one:

That’s how many songs we’ve given away.

Here’s a review I just read on Amazon – posted about sampler # 5 a couple days ago:

 

I have no idea who that person is….but we’ve made their day….with music.

That makes my day.

Doesn’t get better than that.

Here’s the link for our Mishara Music Amazon Free Song Sampler # 5 that “Ozietwin” wrote the review about:

http://tinyurl.com/MisharaMusicAmazonSampler5

Try it.

Enjoy it.

Share it.

In the meantime…..as much as learning about the past helps teach us about ourselves and potentially about the future…..

It’s a new world out there…..the adventure may not be about sailing across an uncharted ocean…..someday hopefully it’ll be about sailing across an uncharted universe…..but in the meantime we’re just looking to the future and hoping to keep our perspective in focus a day a time:

Marc

PS Speaking of discovering new worlds. This letter started out years ago as a business letter to radio programmers. I still send it out as an email to programmers. But the perspective changed over the years. I became more interested in writing about life than business. There’s still business in the post – but it’s muted and it focuses on what I love – the music. A few years ago I decided that I’d post each letter on a wordpress blog site and let anyone, anywhere discover it and read it. Now the letters get read every day – all over the world – by people I don’t know, have never met and probably will never meet. Hopefully they’re finding some joy in the writing and especially the music – and if our free song stats tell us anything – they are.

Here’s the blog link:

http://www.marcrescue.wordpress.com

A week or so ago I checked to see where it’s been read in the past year. I don’t look very often and imagine my surprise when I saw the details.

I guess these letters could be my “Nina” – on a voyage of discovery.

Here’s the list of countries where the letters have been read in the past year:

Marc Ratner

Mishara Music

E-mail: marcrescue@gmail.com

Website: http://www.misharamusic.com

WordPress: http://www.marcrescue.wordpress.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marc.ratner

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marcrescue