12/20/10

Follow the Beam

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A few blogs back, I talked about how my love for horror movies tied into my independent music hustle. After watching some YouTube behind-the-scenes documentaries on two of my favorite B-Movie franchises, I came to an even fuller realization that everyone with a passion starts small, goes through stressful times, and needs to put their nose to the grindstone to the point of bleeding in order to see their dreams truly manifest. With the new year fast approaching, I've found that once again my taste for the spooky and sinister is an ordered design, this time in regards to macabre literature. Namely? The work of Stephen King, and his 'Dark Tower' series.

For those of you who've only heard of Stephen King through the movies based on his books, he is actually a brilliant and prolific author whose genre happens to be suspense thrillers and horror stories. What I love about his writing is that while the plots themselves involve some pretty terrifying (and gross) themes, he still skillfully manages to connect our human experience to the terror. It's King's ability to really delve into our thought processes and emotional state via the printed word that makes so many of his books bestsellers and cult classics. Only someone with a gift is able to write a story about a woman's quest to find salvation through her late husband's ability to travel to an alternate dimensional plane while simultaneously overcoming the male antagonist by feeding him to a meat-eating worm-monster in that dimension and make it all sound like 19th century American prose.

Yes, I'll give you a minute to breathe and marinate on that storyline (the title of that work is "Lisey's Story').

But the story that my blog title speaks on is a longer serial novel known as "The Dark Tower." This collection of works is a 20-year project surrounding the fantastical and terrible story of Roland Deschain, a royal cowboy of sorts. Known as The Gunslinger, Roland spends his life (and some several additional lifetimes) searching for a location known as the Dark Tower, which the books explain is the nexus of his world, as well as the center of all possible worlds, dimensions, and galaxies. Along the way, he meets & befriends several remarkable characters from our world who become gunslingers themselves and join him on his quest. Without giving too much away, I will say that while his journey may or may not end with success, there is definitely a twist ending that will leave readers gasping in shock, simply because it's that perfect as well as that painful.

One of the most important aspects of Roland's journey towards the Tower is revealed a few books into the series; that is, in order to properly travel towards the nexus, he must find & traverse along a divine path known as The Path of the Beam. This Beam, created long before the novels' timeline by the deities of King's mythology, is actually a six-fold set of cosmic roadways that cut through all worlds and lead directly towards the Dark Tower. The travelers will know they're on the right path, simply because all energies in their world bend toward the Tower's raw essence; if they stray, the world will appear as normal and it will take them several times as long to reach their destination, if they reach it at all. To add to the suspense, the evil forces set against Roland and his crew have created scores of indentured servants in the form of elevated minds (e.g. telepaths, telekinetics, clairvoyants, etc.) to try & destroy the Beams, which would ultimately lay waste to the balance of the cosmos and make getting to the Tower impossible.

Freaky stuff, right?! And you're still asking how I can bring this all around, I know. I'm getting there.

As 2011 approaches and I look back on the successes of the past year as well as the failures, I'm finally starting to pay attention to the signs that God & The Universe have laid before me. In recent weeks, I've been witness to what can happen when one really spins out positive energy and good music into the Universe - opportunities and people are being put before me without me even trying. My normal grind & networking hustle has definitely been on a bit of a break within the last month or so, and here, all of a sudden, are some amazing prospects for all types of musical advancement. Blessings abound, these surely are, but I'm also seeing now that such awesome events are happening because I'm where I'm supposed to be, leaving my heart & mind open for the ride of a lifetime. My admitting that I'm truly part of a beautiful larger picture has granted me the ability to work on that picture with an infinite number of tools to reach my personal goals. Like Roland & his friends on the Path of The Beam, I truly believe I'm close to walking down my own path, if I'm not on it already, and should I make music or associate myself with individuals not of the same ilk, the results will only be of a B-grade caliber, even with my attention to detail and commitment to artistic excellence.

Now that I can live in this space, I'm almost on the edge of my seat to see what God has in store. It's not even me sounding uber-religious or prophesying the fantastical, it's really just me being thankful and excited about my future, the future of music, and the future of the world. There's no denying that the coming years will be filled with heartbreak, loss, death, disaster, and the dissolution of much of what we've known. But the transitioning of the Ages always brings with it seemingly-cataclysmic events. Our job (my job) is not to try & prevent them; we can't. What we can do, as a human family, is be there for each other when it all goes down, and use our gifts & talents to help each other. I've been blessed to have a gift that is more tangible than some, but I have no doubt that all of us will be shown our abilities very soon.

While you're enjoying your holiday festivities and taking time off, take a look around, and I mean REALLY look & listen. We are coming together in a way that is unprecedented, simply because we are in a deeper state of uncertainly than ever before. I am pledging to use my music to be part of whatever answer to that uncertainty is made known to me, and I know now that by doing this, I will see the great things my desires have spelled out come to pass. This road - my road, your road - will always be about hard work & focus, but like Roland on the Path of The Beam, so long as we stay on it, and do our best to throw & keep the negative forces off of it, we are due to see some phenomenal changes very, very soon.

I wish you all a very Happy Holiday season, and a New Year filled with Music, Light, and LOVE.


All My Best To You & Yours,
Joseph P. Murray

Lyrics written with love: "Promises" - India Arie

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I was listening to this song (along with the entire album) recently. India Arie's ability to tell beautiful stories alongside her own and have them all touch your heart is uncanny and truly a blessing. Also, the lady just sings DOWN!



VERSE

When I think about the turn my life has taken,
I know it's because of You, that I receive so many blessings;
I had a home but no privacy, I didn't know a thing about my legacy,
When I realized You were there for me, I called on Your name and You came,

And you did, just what You said, for that I'll love You forever.
You kept, Your word to me, for that I'll love You forever...


CHORUS

A promise, is a promise in my eyes;
Can't say you're gonna just to compromise.
The very thing that keeps two hearts intertwined;
A promise is a promise you can't deny, there's no way...


VERSE

I think of when there was a young boy, not even two years old,
Blessed with a mother who loved him so, she abandoned her dreams to nourish his own.
It wasn't easy for the two of them, but she knew she had to give him a chance
At a better life, it was only right, so she worked and she prayed,

And she did, just what she say, for that he'll love her forever.
She kept her word to him, for that he'll love her forever...


CHORUS

A promise, is a promise in my eyes;
Can't say you're gonna just to compromise.
The very thing that keeps two hearts intertwined;
A promise is a promise you can't deny, there's no way...

A man's only as good as his word...


VERSE

Her wedding day, and she's thinking 'bout the way he won her affection.
She was so cynical about love 'cause she didn't want to be heart broken (again...).
He looked her in her eye with sincerity, said he only wanted to protect her, so she
Took a chance on him and she's glad she did because he came for real

And he did, just what he said, for that she'll love him forever .
He kept his word to her, for that she'll love him forever...


CHORUS

A promise, is a promise in my eyes;
Can't say you're gonna just to compromise.
The very thing that keeps two hearts intertwined;
A promise is a promise you can't deny, there's no way...

A man's only as good as his word...

12/4/10

First Draft: Second Edition (FINALLY!)

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Well, here it is, the single and the full set of tracks for the 2nd EP in the "First Draft" movmement. There was so much hustle that went into this whole process and there were so many people involved. It's hard to believe that I've come to the end of this chapter in my career, with two bodies of work to show for it. In the last 24 months I have seen blessings come my way that were totally out of my realm of expectation, and it all had to do with having faith & the old cliches of staying true to myself and working hard. Thank you, everyone, from the first fan to the most recent follower, thank you for rocking with me on this journey; believe you me, it's far from over, but I am happy to say that I am turning a page and putting to rest this portion of my artistic endeavors. God bless yall. I love each and every one of you.