New Burlap Music!

Ah...the speed of life. We've retooled, revamped, even relocated. And from the new digs in Athens, Ga. we send out on the digital airwaves the first new Burlap music of 2010, The EP That Made Milwaukee Famous. A Sizzle joint, the four songs on the EP were mostly recorded and produced by Chris Hulsey at his Sizzle Studios, though a little bit was done in Nashville to give it some of that Tennessee flavor everyone loves. Songs about Winter just in time for Winter. All four songs are currently on the ol' MySpace (sure, sure, I know no one's at MySpace anymore, but it's easiest, and now that there's less traffic you can move around a little easier), and they will soon be available for free download on Bandcamp for those of you that are so inclined. Build a fire (but please keep it small), grab some hot chocolate (you know, the kind with that mint rum or whatever in it) and enjoy.

BP

Cynicism

Now I never learned a lesson looking at my own reflection but sometimes it seems useful
So I loosened my heart stings with high hopes of starting to find something truthful
Cynicism isn’t wisdom, it’s a lazy way to say that you’ve been burned
It seems if anything you’d be less certain after everything you’ve ever learned

My good friend Paul sent me this as if just to illustrate what I miss out on when I don't keep up with what music's going on down there in Athens. And the place itself. I keep daydreaming about walking under those big Boulevard trees with just sprouted leaves. Spring's gonna do me good. I can feel it.

Cynicism - Nana Grizol

Hope Dies Last (?)

I get this feeling like I should buy a new chair. Maybe move the lamps around, throw out some different light, different shadows. Perhaps find an entirely new place to put it all. But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. It's just a scary possibility that hope dies last. To hear the people I've been talking to tell it--to hear the words that get thrown around inside my head--you might start to get the impression that everything else is already dead and gone. But it's all just songs, anyway. And there are days now that I can convince myself it's true.

One day I'll elaborate. One day I'll make it make sense. I don't feel like it today. I'm tired. Just tired.

If you're still out there hiding, on the run...

Thanks to everyone who braved the cold and made it out to the Basement last Tuesday night. It was a grand time all around. Just grand. We'll do it again soon. I promise--stay tuned...

Ask the Dusk

I saw men walking through deep, dark alleys. I marveled at their madness.

Don't ask questions, just go find it.

I See a Darkness

I was on the firing line for a long time. The shots came continuously, but they always missed. Until one day last week--and I took it right in the gut. As I doubled over, I could only think of how long it took. And I couldn't understand it, it seems so simple now. Simple like how on a hot August twilight all you really need is lemonade on ice. (Put a little something in that, take it with us). I understand now.



So does he:

I See A Darkness - Johnny Cash

"Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying"

Get Me Away from Here, I’m Dyi...

I Had Been a Polar Explorer

I Had Been a Polar Explorer
by Mark Strand

I had been a polar explorer in my youth
and spent countless days and nights freezing
in one blank place and then another. Eventually,
I quit my travels and stayed at home,
and there grew within me a sudden excess of desire,
as if a brilliant stream of light of the sort one sees
within a diamond were passing through me.
I filled page after page with visions of what I had witnessed—
groaning seas of pack ice, giant glaciers, and the windswept white
of icebergs. Then, with nothing more to say, I stopped
and turned my sights on what was near. Almost at once,
a man wearing a dark coat and broad-brimmed hat
appeared under the trees in front of my house.
The way he stared straight ahead and stood,
not shifting his weight, letting his arms hang down
at his side, made me think that I knew him.
But when I raised my hand to say hello,
he took a step back, turned away, and started to fade
as longing fades until nothing is left of it.

This is how it used to be, but not how it is anymore:
I Am A Polar Explorer