#treadmarks

SUNDAY MATINEE MUSIC VIDEO: “I Like the Street (Acoustic)*”—This song hearkens back to when I had a “day job” as a bicycle messenger, wheeling and pedaling around the urban hills of San Francisco. That presented opportunities to study sweat, strangers, and speed. 

“I like the street / I like the street

The hustle and the bustle and the people that I meet

The grifters and the star-struck, The poets and the drunks

The PhDs and jailbirds, The models and the punks,

The barkers and the preachers and the friends that I hold dear

Some will bring you aggravation, some will bring you cheer (beep beep)…”

Sweat points to a rhythm under your skin and makes it glisten in the light. Sweat does not discriminate between burlap or satin, barkeep or ballerina. Lying makes people sweat. So does love. Jesus sweated drops of blood. Sweat carries the dust of disappointment and the heat of anticipation. This is Sweat Logic, a way of coping and seeing behind the masks that people wear in life.  One day I was reflecting on that and, suddenly, a song sprang forth, with lyrics that are “AUTO-biographical.” This song is "my mind on bike." 

*This was a featured cut on my TREADMARKS album, an acoustic project produced by Mark Doyon on the Wampus Multimedia label.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK—TREADMARKS: First released in 2005 on Wampus Multimedia Records, this album was christened "a finely cut slice of acoustic pop,” according to producer Mark Doyon (Arms of Kismet) “…with touchstones ranging from The Kinks to Roxy Music, Al Green and Little Richard, 'Treadmarks' is accessible, edgy pop music rooted in a sense of justice. Blair's songs run the range of experience from chaos to despair to generosity to faith…imagine Raymond Chandler and Sam Cooke busking as street musicians with David Bowie's old 12-string guitar." It was part of a Wampus series featuring “literate singer-songwriters” captured in the studio over the course of a single day. 

Get your TREADMARKS on today (CD or download):https://wampusbackcatalog.bandcamp.com/album/johnny-j-blair-treadmarks

Notes from JJB: “It was a chill December day when we recorded at Mark’s studio in Virginia. We went non-stop (except for air and coffee) from 8AM to 6PM, like when Bob Dylan or James Brown would let it rip and edit later. Guitar is not my main instrument, but Mark got the guitars to sound large. Most of these songs are autobiographical. ‘I Like the Street’ (my brain on bike) is what rolls through my mind when I navigate city streets, especially San Francisco. The one non-biographical song is “Sam Said,” a tribute to Sam Cooke.”

ALBUM OF THE WEEK—TREADMARKS: First released in 2005 on Wampus Multimedia Records, this album was christened "a finely cut slice of acoustic pop,” according to producer Mark Doyon (Arms of Kismet) “…with touchstones ranging from The Kinks to Roxy Music, Al Green and Little Richard, 'Treadmarks' is accessible, edgy pop music rooted in a sense of justice. Blair's songs run the range of experience from chaos to despair to generosity to faith…imagine Raymond Chandler and Sam Cooke busking as street musicians with David Bowie's old 12-string guitar." It was part of a Wampus series featuring “literate singer-songwriters” captured in the studio over the course of a single day.

Get your TREADMARKS on today (CD or download): https://wampusbackcatalog.bandcamp.com/album/johnny-j-blair-treadmarks

Notes from JJB: “It was a chill December day when we recorded at Mark’s studio in Virginia. We went non-stop (except for air and coffee) from 8AM to 6PM, like when Bob Dylan or James Brown would let it rip and edit later. Guitar is not my main instrument, but Mark got the guitars to sound large. Most of these songs are autobiographical. ‘I Like the Street’ (my brain on bike) is what rolls through my mind when I navigate city streets, especially San Francisco. The one non-biographical song is “Sam Said,” a tribute to Sam Cooke.

https://wampusbackcatalog.bandcamp.com/album/johnny-j-blair-treadmarks