Greetings; it has been a summer of fun, sun, and surf for us here in the land of pain and pleasure. It's 12.5 weeks since my surgery. My titanium upgrade is fine, and all things considered, my progress is excellent. If you haven't caught it on the Svengirly news report, the latest development is that I have joined The Lords Of Altamont. They are a hardy bunch of biker/greaser rocker boys from out here in California, that have a special affection for the spirit and juice of balls out hard stuff mean streets rock that sends the wimps into hiding. Lead singer Jake Cavaliere is a legend in his own right, having played in great bands the likes of The Bomboras, The Fuzztones, The Finks, and currently The Lords Of Altamont. The Lords sports the original lineup, with me, of course as the new kid on the block. If you have not heard the Lords music, there are two fine albums out; "To Hell With The Lords", and "Lords Have Mercy". By all means, get ahold of these records/cd's, available here at Svengirly.com store or from Gearhead Records. This is real drivin' hard core rock and roll as you want it and like it. I couldn't have asked for a better fitting band to play with, and I'm going down the pike with these guys for another charge into the flames. My real pleasure comes from being on a stage with the kick ass jams, so without waiting another minute, I grabbed the chance to be tearin it up again. We'll be touring in the west mostly, but after the next record comes out, maybe we can get around the big ol' country and brings the real deal to everybody. The Lords have a great fan base in Europe from touring recently, and I expect to be busy, busy, busy in the coming times. Check out The Lords Of Altamont on myspace, and the net website for more details.
Well that's it for now. I'm back up, and got my motor running. This week I'm flying out to Spain for the Azkena Rock Festival. I'll try to bring you more regular reports in the future. Sorry about the layoff, but shit happens, right? Ok, love and lust, Mad Dog
After recovering from Hep C, and some other stuff, it's time to push ahead for a better world. Here are some new writings for the present and coming days. Welcome to my Music Is Revolution world.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
THIS REVOLUTION IS ARMED WITH A PIANO
I have an announcement to make. Music Is Revolution has presented a middle school in Glendora California with a piano. Some while ago, a wonderful and incredibly hip family, after realizing their purchase of a fine upright piano was for all practical purposes being largely unused, sought out The Music Is Revolution Foundation and bequethed said piano to be forwarded to a needy public school. After securing the piano in our living room for a month, Music Is Revolution/Svengirly staffer Dan King, and our new friend and intern, Jenifer Ho, located the school to receive the gift. This week the movers arrived to take the instrument to its new home. Live long and prosper. We are so proud to make this gift. It is our eternal hope that the good vibes and enormous possibilities of music do their magical healing for all the children and teachers and parents alike that come into the life of this instrument. Yea for MUSIC IS REVOLUTION, yea for Sandberg Middle School in Glendora California, and yea for all the kids!
On another healing note. After an excruciating week of post surgery recovery, a trip to the emergency room, and a hematoma that set in, making my right leg a throbbing melon about to explode, things have somewhat released their grip of constant torment. In the last two days, I have resorted to using the crutches given to me by the Italians after the surgery I received there, and I have proceeded with something that resembles walking. Thanks are in order to all the people who wished me well on this latest trauma, and a huge shrug of "Excuuuuuse Me" to those who are getting the feeling that Davis may be "accident prone" or seeking attention. In less than a month I will be in France gracing the stage with my brothers, pulverizing the crowd with the music of the MC5. So there.
As I think of the four decades that have passed during this crazy life, I feel good, and I feel annointed to have been a part of a great passing in our culture. Each new generation adopts the music of the MC5 in a spirit I could hardly have predicted or imagined carried such import. Even as a new chapter unfolds, I don't feel an ebbing of energy or respect.
On another healing note. After an excruciating week of post surgery recovery, a trip to the emergency room, and a hematoma that set in, making my right leg a throbbing melon about to explode, things have somewhat released their grip of constant torment. In the last two days, I have resorted to using the crutches given to me by the Italians after the surgery I received there, and I have proceeded with something that resembles walking. Thanks are in order to all the people who wished me well on this latest trauma, and a huge shrug of "Excuuuuuse Me" to those who are getting the feeling that Davis may be "accident prone" or seeking attention. In less than a month I will be in France gracing the stage with my brothers, pulverizing the crowd with the music of the MC5. So there.
As I think of the four decades that have passed during this crazy life, I feel good, and I feel annointed to have been a part of a great passing in our culture. Each new generation adopts the music of the MC5 in a spirit I could hardly have predicted or imagined carried such import. Even as a new chapter unfolds, I don't feel an ebbing of energy or respect.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
MEMORIAL DAY '07
Buon Giorno. A shift of events has placed me in need of repairs again. This week I'm going in for a surgery to replace the neck of my right femur. What does this mean? In Italy it was my misfortune to fall to the ground resulting in a nasty fracture to my femur neck. That is the part of the very top of the leg that attaches to the joint in the pelvis where the leg rotates. The Italians performed a valiant surgery by inserting three titanium screws to stabilize the area. After one week in the hospital, I made the voyage home by the help of some Italian friends who assisted my arrival to the nearest airport in Turin. The entire medical experience in Italy was covered by Italian medical coverage which is a function of the state. When I asked how to pay for my care, I was shocked to hear that I needn't worry about it. And I must say, that care was unconditionally splendid. Since then I have struggled with mobility, and now having had a new x-ray of the injury, it appears that for whatever progress has occurred, the neck must be replaced with a prosthetic element. So that's how it goes. I'm anxious about it, but I also believe it will be ultimately the most efficient way to get my body back to good working order. Believe me, these last three years have been grueling, and I have serious doubts of the satisfaction of my ordeals, but I can't imagine not trying to correct the obvious defects when I had the opportunity to make the corrections. So for this end, I march on and hope once and for all, to be at optimum performance and continue on the road to Valhalla/Nirvana/Paradiso.
Two weeks ago I was in NYC. That was a difficult journey also, but I had the best time ever in that great city, thanks to my super friends, Adam and Mindy Williams, Dave Marsh, and John Sinclair. I mustn't forget my incomparable wife, Angela, who took great care to make certain I was comfortable and happy every single moment. What an awesome weekend! We ferried between the hotel and the Carnegie Deli via wheelchair. The sumptuous pastrami, stacked so thick, it was impossible to bite the whole sandwich at once, I shall never forget. But wait, I'm making myself hungry! We did Dave Marsh's Sirius Radio Show, "Kick Out The Jams" with John Sinclair. We talked for an hour about Music Is Revolution, and managed to recruit Dave to become a "Bored Member". Later, John and I, did an hour long TV interview, where we discussed our history as artists and the experience of the MC5 and it's history and ramifications. What a tremendous uplifting event that was, each of us recalling and detailing our lives together in the past and present. Finally, as a grand finish, I was invited to perform with John and his quartet of excellent musicians, that included two sax players and drummer, Dee Pop of the Gun Club and Bush Tetras, in a recitation of John's poetry, at Jimmy's in the Bowery for a great audience. I cannot tell you how thrilling it was for me to get to do this. I played with such peace in my heart and soul that it has to be one of my all time favorite performances in my entire career as an artist. So, folks let me tell you; it isn't the size of a venue, or the size of an audience, or the size of a paycheck that has value. It's the size of the feeling in the doing of what ever it is your doing. I was scared to even try to play at all. So scared that I was at first unwilling to make my way down the 15 stairs to the sub-sidewalk entrance of the club. I hadn't played the bass in 6 months, and I had never played this particular bass, But in the end, I did it, and it was so damn good.
So, there it is. If I haven't bored everyone to death by now, I should wrap up this segment of my story. Should everything go well in surgery, and a decent mending take place, I may appear somewhere in France in mid-summer doing what I love; playing bass guitar in a rock and roll band.
Ciao, MD
Two weeks ago I was in NYC. That was a difficult journey also, but I had the best time ever in that great city, thanks to my super friends, Adam and Mindy Williams, Dave Marsh, and John Sinclair. I mustn't forget my incomparable wife, Angela, who took great care to make certain I was comfortable and happy every single moment. What an awesome weekend! We ferried between the hotel and the Carnegie Deli via wheelchair. The sumptuous pastrami, stacked so thick, it was impossible to bite the whole sandwich at once, I shall never forget. But wait, I'm making myself hungry! We did Dave Marsh's Sirius Radio Show, "Kick Out The Jams" with John Sinclair. We talked for an hour about Music Is Revolution, and managed to recruit Dave to become a "Bored Member". Later, John and I, did an hour long TV interview, where we discussed our history as artists and the experience of the MC5 and it's history and ramifications. What a tremendous uplifting event that was, each of us recalling and detailing our lives together in the past and present. Finally, as a grand finish, I was invited to perform with John and his quartet of excellent musicians, that included two sax players and drummer, Dee Pop of the Gun Club and Bush Tetras, in a recitation of John's poetry, at Jimmy's in the Bowery for a great audience. I cannot tell you how thrilling it was for me to get to do this. I played with such peace in my heart and soul that it has to be one of my all time favorite performances in my entire career as an artist. So, folks let me tell you; it isn't the size of a venue, or the size of an audience, or the size of a paycheck that has value. It's the size of the feeling in the doing of what ever it is your doing. I was scared to even try to play at all. So scared that I was at first unwilling to make my way down the 15 stairs to the sub-sidewalk entrance of the club. I hadn't played the bass in 6 months, and I had never played this particular bass, But in the end, I did it, and it was so damn good.
So, there it is. If I haven't bored everyone to death by now, I should wrap up this segment of my story. Should everything go well in surgery, and a decent mending take place, I may appear somewhere in France in mid-summer doing what I love; playing bass guitar in a rock and roll band.
Ciao, MD
Thursday, February 22, 2007
A Long Absense Makes The Heartbeat Wander
Since I haven't written in ? I wonder if anyone ever checks this gallery anymore. With no sorry health issues to reveal I can let time slip by and care not in the least. That's how health is I guess. Nothing's wrong so you forget about it altogether. Some call that taking it for granted. I'm guilty,...but only to a point. I don't really ever forget what it feels like to be not hungover, drunk or miserable. And I haven't forgotten the many people who checked this blog routinely to get an update on my story, whether it was me or someone other than me that they cared about and were concerned what they could do to help that person return to a comfortable, peaceful life.
A lot has happened. We(DKT) toured during the month of December '06. Spain, France. Holland. Belgium, England, & Northern Ireland saw the brief, but inflamatory blitz of nations. To tell about each country visit one at a time would take too long. I'll just say, wherever and whenever we play, people are wound into ecstatic states each and every time. Lisa Kekaula, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Mark Arm, Adam Pearson our bandmates on this lap. Funny, it always takes on magical properties, and this time was completely special.... maybe my FAVORITE go round. Due to a cancelation in Ireland, we had several extra days to layabout in Belfast, during which we wrote several new songs as a group. It was holy and cool to work with the talents of all of us in a concentrated session that lasted several days. But don't expect hearing about a new DKT record in the near future, no matter what the "Barman" on I-94 Bar tells you. The truth is only coincidental. Many great things happened, like performing with John Sinclair in Amsterdam, seeing Iggy Pop and the boys open for us once again at ATP in Sommerset, England, and on the same show, seeing my old friend, John Brannon and the fabulous Negative Approach from Detroit. I got back home a week before Christmas.
The holidays were great fun. This year was super special, because I was totally clean and recovered from all the bullshit stuff that has been dragging me down these many years. We made it a point to let the whole holiday thing last as long as possible in our attitude.... well into the new year.
That said, here's what the new year is all about for me/us. I am studying painting at The Armory For The Arts; a Pasadena institution dedicated to arts culture and studies. Most evenings I'm home painting in our living room that's been converted to a makeshift studio. A nice little stereo keeps me company while I kick out the colors and shapes. Man, does it feel good to be once again honing the old craft. On the musical side of things, we have launched our non-profit foundation. It is called Music Is Revolution. www.musicisrevolution.org. Also accessable on www.myspace.com/musicisrevolution. Please check us out; we have a killer roster of "Bored" members. The response has been phenomenal. I think we have a chance; music and art, hope, and funding in the streets! Be a part of the solution!
Well, that's an update of sorts. Before I start boring myself, I'll let it be for now. Life is good brothers and sisters. Ciao, MD
A lot has happened. We(DKT) toured during the month of December '06. Spain, France. Holland. Belgium, England, & Northern Ireland saw the brief, but inflamatory blitz of nations. To tell about each country visit one at a time would take too long. I'll just say, wherever and whenever we play, people are wound into ecstatic states each and every time. Lisa Kekaula, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Mark Arm, Adam Pearson our bandmates on this lap. Funny, it always takes on magical properties, and this time was completely special.... maybe my FAVORITE go round. Due to a cancelation in Ireland, we had several extra days to layabout in Belfast, during which we wrote several new songs as a group. It was holy and cool to work with the talents of all of us in a concentrated session that lasted several days. But don't expect hearing about a new DKT record in the near future, no matter what the "Barman" on I-94 Bar tells you. The truth is only coincidental. Many great things happened, like performing with John Sinclair in Amsterdam, seeing Iggy Pop and the boys open for us once again at ATP in Sommerset, England, and on the same show, seeing my old friend, John Brannon and the fabulous Negative Approach from Detroit. I got back home a week before Christmas.
The holidays were great fun. This year was super special, because I was totally clean and recovered from all the bullshit stuff that has been dragging me down these many years. We made it a point to let the whole holiday thing last as long as possible in our attitude.... well into the new year.
That said, here's what the new year is all about for me/us. I am studying painting at The Armory For The Arts; a Pasadena institution dedicated to arts culture and studies. Most evenings I'm home painting in our living room that's been converted to a makeshift studio. A nice little stereo keeps me company while I kick out the colors and shapes. Man, does it feel good to be once again honing the old craft. On the musical side of things, we have launched our non-profit foundation. It is called Music Is Revolution. www.musicisrevolution.org. Also accessable on www.myspace.com/musicisrevolution. Please check us out; we have a killer roster of "Bored" members. The response has been phenomenal. I think we have a chance; music and art, hope, and funding in the streets! Be a part of the solution!
Well, that's an update of sorts. Before I start boring myself, I'll let it be for now. Life is good brothers and sisters. Ciao, MD
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