From Tony:
2016 is coming to a close - a brutal year with some significant losses for us all. I was lucky, though, to have been part of three wonderful tours. Checking my calendar I see I played 95 shows in 17 countries.
This year and every year I’m extremely grateful to the music fans who go out of their way to come to shows, and allow people like me to keep doing what we love. The coming year will be filled with more challenges - musical and personal - and I’m hoping it’ll be a good year for us all.
There’s a track I’ve been saving for a future solo album, but with the emotion of this year’s end, it feels appropriate to release it now. The download is on
https://tonylevin.bandcamp.com
The song is just my vocal and the Chapman Stick (multiple tracks).
It has a long history, and has been through many changes. The poem, about John, was written in the 90's, when I lived in NYC and hung out at the cafe mentioned. Years later I made it into a song, kind of rock ballad, that didn't match the mood of the lyrics well, so it got shelved. Then in 2015, writing in Berlin for the upcoming Stick Men album, I fashioned an interweaving Stick part that embodied a direction I was hoping that album could go in. Tried the lyrics to it just for fun, and, with some changes in wording, speaking instead of singing, it was a great fit. And at the end I tagged on what I later realized was pretty much a quote from Agustin Barrios 'Una limosna...'. Normally I'd have changed that, but it felt so right, I've left it that way, with big tip of the hat to that great Paraguayan composer.
As we put together the Stick Men 'Prog Noir' album, this seemed too personal for it, so I put it aside for some future album.
And right now just feels like the right time to release it, album or not.
There's no charge to download the song - if you care to pay something, that's appreciated. t.l.
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