Recently, a friend of mine asked if I’d be willing to do a surprise painting for her husband (they were celebrating their first anniversary and Christmas). Trying to capture another person’s tastes, visions and opinions in a few brush strokes on canvas challenged me. Usually, I let my whims dictate my art, so my work can be moody and ever-changing in direction. This time, I needed to figure out how to balance my own tastes with all I know about another person. The emphasis, of course, being sans Leora.

Painting for Andy turned into one of my favorite projects. I realized how much more fun it is to paint for others (no, not paint by numbers… paint for others). Mainly because you’re asked to step outside of yourself, to think way less about what you love and much more about how to please another person. I think that’s where creativity can really shine–when you aim to capture the hearts of other people with your work.

Here’s Andy’s painting (sideways):

The little things continue to matter most. A couple days ago, I found out that “Okay” was reviewed by CM Central.

Our good friend Gavin Harrison (a self-made musical prodigy out of the UK) was given kudos for his production/arrangement of the song, “Perspective.” We’re hoping to work more closely with Gavin (aka “Gridlocked”) over this next year. Although we’ve never met in person, technology has made it so easy to collaborate from across the world.

I was also so flattered (read: jumping up and down) by the following:

I enjoyed the punchy percussion and raspy vocals of “Moving Backwards,” a rich rail against life’s occasional futility. Another standout is the poignant “Breakable on the Inside,” a perceptive portrayal of the fragility of our facades. Beautifully arranged, Caylor’s hushed vocals ride a rich bed of sparkling keys and Leora Gardner’s tender violin solo. Its evocative lyrics are also worthy of mention: “My heart is held together by all this skin/ What used to feel like leather is wearing thin/ Cause I know how it feels to be breakable on the inside When the outside looks so right.

We’re all (Jeff, Gavin and I) working on new music, so encouraging reviews like this continue to light our little “creative fires.”

A dream is coming true for my friend Luke Flowers and I get to be a part of its realization this coming Thursday.

But first, a little history. Not many people can say (or should admit) that they stumbled across Bob Dylan’s beautiful/haunting songs through their obsession with The Wallflowers. I saw Jakob Dylan (Wallflowers’ front man and Bob’s son) on the cover of Rolling Stone back in the late ’90’s and still have that dusty magazine tucked away in an old trunk at my parents’ house. I fell in love with his eyes and his songs and can still sing every word to “6th Avenue Heartache” and “One Headlight.” Here’s a screen shot of my prized possession:

I eventually learned that Jakob had a dad and that his dad was Bob Dylan (born Bob Zimmerman). And then my eyes were opened to the music that scored the better part of the 60’s and 70’s. And this music, songs like “All Along the Watch Tower” and “Blowin’ in the Wind”, are the reason for this post.

This Thursday night, Luke Flowers and The Zimmermans (I am, in fact, a “Zimmerman”) will be performing an entire set of Bob Dylan songs at Pikes Perk. Our 7 piece band will start around 7pm. This will just warm you up for the soon-to-be-released biopic movie. As always, Luke has designed a killer poster that further depicts the striking similarities between son (above) and father (below):