Alan Semerdjian: Blog

Thinking back on the last year goes something like this: "where am i again?  who am i?  why haven't i made a new record in a while?  boy, was that tour with mike something special!  why have i been writing more prose than poetry?  why can't i hang out with all those interesting new facebook friends and fans of my work?  what does 'hang out' mean these days?  i should reinvent the web page.  i should integrate everything better.  i will.  i will.  i won't.  i won't.  the relationship is the supreme teacher.  i haven't made an artpoem in a long while.  why haven't i made an artpoem in a long while.  i love nyc.  i hate nyc.  teaching is learning.  still.  always."
2012?  

Oh blog...who reads you? Who stays up late or wakes up early or finds time in the in between to stop by and say hello?

I'm coming to you now because I want to think out loud about a few things. This summer I have no new CDs, yet I'm planning on playing a bunch - with my old band Surreal (and our friend Carol Thomas), with my personal band on a few occasions, with my dearest old pal and fantastical guitarist Mike Bloom, and with some eccentric space explorers of the universe called free jazz and noise rock. It's an experiment in a way...to see what sticks. The Big Beauty is still available, and while I'm hoping the songs on there mean something to some people I'm also hoping the new material sneaks in and meanders about someones consciousness.

What am I looking forward to? You. That's not really "you," blog. It's the other you. The reader. You see there's three of us in here. Maybe more. Maybe hundreds more. An infinite us, actually. If we imagine it.

See you soon.

Love,

Alan

p.s. [...]

It's right around the corner. I could smell it. It's the year...saying bye bye. It's the weather in New York City. It's the indecisions and the decisions in mid-dance. It's your favorite song on repeat. It's reflection. It's perfect for songwriting...and column writing...and poetry writing...and (sure, why not) comment writing (on student papers)...and blog writing...and _________ (fill in the blank). What are you writing? I'm curious.

New songs in 2011? A Little Beauty? Something called Rogue Beats? Wait and see. For now, turn on your respective seasonal lights...

love

::::alan

So here is the first ever Alan Semerdjian Web Page Blog Entry. I'm thinking tonight about how far we've come. I remember sitting around with Ian, Tom, and Dan and pasting together "ransom-note-style" fliers to (literally/physically) send away to friends and fans. We used stamps.

Tonight I want to say thank you to people like yourself who come here to read a blog entry. I like you. I do the same thing at my friends' pages and the pages of folks whose work I admire. Cheers to doing this. I hope it continues forever.

I also want to thank you for your support of my music and, most recently, my poetry. It has been an amazing trip. The Highline Ballroom Show (on July 20th) in NYC this summer is a highlight for sure...with Neil Nathan and a bunch of other cool NYC musicians...I love this city.

Here's my question: want to host a house concert? It could take place in your living room, some sort of closed in patio space, or wherever you think 20-40 of your music-loving friends would [...]