Ken Jameson: my thoughts

Everyone has got an agenda. Everyone has got a point to make. Everyone is just as corrupt as the next one and everyone is on the take. No one has to set an example. No one is ever to blame. No one has to take the fall. No one has to be ashamed. Someone is counting the votes now, the same someone who ran the campaign. Someone is paying the someone that makes the machines so someone's party maintains. This one is trying to cover up. That one is trying to expose. This one is formulating a hypothesis and that one is the one who knows. No one is overseeing what that one is doing. No one is keeping that one in check. Everyone can see what that one is doing and no one asks "what the heck?" Everyone has been intimidated and no one will speak their mind. Everyone is silent as our freedoms are revoked and they eminent dominate mankind. Everyone must be able to exercise our democratic rights and no one must be exempt. Everyone's voice has a right to be heard and no one has the right to preempt. This one is running a negative ad and that one is trying to character bash and the one who is elected will not do what is for the best for our country, they will do what they are told by the cash. Everyone is frightened and the threat level is heightened while we try to stop the next attack. The enemy is here and all we have to fear is fear if we want to take our country back. Someone is becoming more desperate by the hour, trying hard to keep everyone from understanding our power. Someone has gone to great lengths to make sure everyone's votes do not matter while their guise of compassion begins to rapidly shatter. The truth is for the wealthy chairmans of the boards. Accepting what they tell us is all the rest of us can afford. Everyone must trust those wielding the power. If you do not than you are unpatriotic, bitter, and sour. They never have to reveal, they just lie and hide and all they need to do to conquer us is divide. Everyone from there is different than someone from here. Someone from here is normal and everyone from there is queer. They keep us pointing fingers and playing blame games to distract us from the inherent truth of our constitution. No one's rights are different. Everyone's rights are the same. "E Pluribus Unum" Out of many… One.

I just got back from New orleans on Sunday. There were media people in droves arriving at the airport. They all had cameras. I was flying out. I was leaving on exactly the day, one year ago, that me and my family drove out of New orleans on Highway 61. I actually played music in New Orleans again, but this time I was not on Bourbon Street and I was not playing Brown Eyed Girl. I got to perform my own original works, many of wich I wrote in New Orleans. For me it provided a sense of accomplishment, but also a sense of closure. I had a purpose to fullfill in New Orleans. I had a child there, but something else was born there as well. That city revived my soul and reminded me what a blessng music is. We all take music for granted because we can turn on a radio or power up our Ipod and have instant access. New Orleans has never forgotten that the real power of music is the soul performing it. In that great city the melding of the African and European musical traditions produced a uniquely American artform known the world over as Jazz. Jazz and the Blues are the modern day predecessor to everything you listen to on the radio now. It was in the context of the historical city that I reconnected with my soul. I found my sound. I sat in the studio and I layed it down. Now people can go to myspace and groove to the sound that came from that sacred ground. I am grateful for the opportunity to live in that city and I look forward to spending a lot more time there in the future. Walking down the same streets that royalty and scoundrels from ages past have walked I get the sense of a connection. Life is fleeting, music is eternal

I have heard a lot of people take a vacation and then come back saying "I need a vacation from my vacation." We took our vacation time, but stayed close to home for finincial reasons. It was the most relaxing vacation I've ever had. We did a few days in Tampa (Busch Gardens & Adventure Island) and then spent the rest of the time at home lounging by the pool and watching movies. I slept more than I have in years. The kids had a ball and we did not have to spend a lot of money. We took the kids to Pirate Adventure Dinner Theater and did a lot of things you can do right in our own back yard. (Mini golf, Sea World,Science Center, Cocoa Beach) I am really starting to love living in Orlando.

Hey all,

I wanted to turn you on to something new I've discovered--It's called Music Freedom.com and it's amazing. As much as I love Myspace, this is a great place to hang if you like indie music, because that's all that's there. It's similar to myspace, but instead of "friends" you have "subscribers". If you like undiscovered music, buying it cheaply and immediately, this is definitely the place to go. Like iTunes, you can buy by the song (.99), or by the album, (9.99) and have it imstantly. Also, you can rate the artist, review them, and talk about or with them in their own forums. It is quite unique and very addictive. I'm at www.musicfreedom.com/kenjameson come by and check out the site, review the album, rate the music, and chat with me. Of course, you can download for free some of the songs, on myspace.com/kenjameson, off the CD , "It's Your Life", but from there you can buy the whole album for $9.99, and have it instantly. I haven't put up a .pdf yet with the cover art, but if you buy the album and e-mail me I will send the cover art to you.

Go by and check it out, have fun, there are over 2,000 talented artists just waiting to be discovered!

Peace,

Ken

To someone in AA it is going a day without a drink. To someone in a relationship it is knowing someone has got your back no matter what. To someone with financial difficulties it is being solvent. To someone with an axe to grind it is vengence. To someone with a dream it is the realization of an idea. To someone at the top it is staying there. To someone at the bottom it is making it there. To me it is being able to play music every day.

This is an entry from my personal journal dated 12/27/05:

I am not a victim of hurricane Katrina. I may have been displaced by the aftermath of the storm, but I am a victim of poor levee construction. The loss that I and my family endured was caused by the storm surge, but the damage was not caused by the storm directly. The destruction of our neighborhood ocurred because of poorly built retaining walls for the drainage canals on one side of our neighborhood. I AM NOT A VICTIM OF HURRICANE KATRINA! Me and my family were saved by hurricane Katrina.

The levees were poorly constructed from the beggining. It was never a question of "ïf"it was only a matter of "when". I think about what would have happened if the levees breached during the middle of the night with everyone in our neighborhood lying asleep in their beds. I have visions of stumbling through thigh high water rising around me as I go to get my children and wife up into the attic. I can feel a faint tingle on the back of my neck when I realize that I had nothing in the attic to chop through the roof to get to the outside. Through my mind flashes the cliche movie image of the last few moments before being submerged completely in water.

I AM NOT A VICTIM OF HURRICANE KATRINA, I AM A SURVIVOR!! I am fortunate. I am blessed. I have not suffered want, or hunger, or civil unrest. You can call me displaced or an evacuee, but please never refer to me as a refugee. I have had an involuntary transfer to a new city, with a new position in the same company. The things I have accumulated as I made my way up the ladder were instantly devalued as I fled with what really mattered. Flesh and bone, Spirit and soul, family photographic history, artwork, documents, 2 children, a Miami Hurricane and a Florida State Seminole. A twist in the track, but not the end of the ride. Less like a horrible tragedy and more like an unexpected surprise, open your eyes, look around. This is not New Orleans demise, she will rise and return to grace and granduer. This city is wise. She has faced destruction many times over hundreds of years, and yet she endures and defies. She may be flooded, looted and pelted with the fury of the skies. She will clean herself off and once again SHE WILL RISE!!

I played at Tiptina's in New Orleans on Feb 17,2006. I really enjoyed playing and the people there really enjoyed my playing. I was so inspired I wrote a little poem to commemorate the occasion. (I do that with major things in my life) It goes a little something like this...

Just some guy playing piano in some little dive on Tchoupitoulas. Just some song with everybody singing along and dancing to the rhythm that rules us. Just some night, on the stage, under the lights, like so many nights before, but this means so much more. This is less about what I am playing and more about what I am playing for. So, I sang loud and I sang strong and I used every ounce of my abilities in every moment of every song and before too long the people started nodding along and moving and shaking at the joy that I felt when I played my own song. It was better than all right, it was magic and the voice of doubt vanished and the flame in my soul became strong.

My song "Down In New Orleans" is being included on Hurricane Katrina musician relief Cd, available now from CD Baby http://cdbaby.com/cd/lonestargulf or Rabadash Records http://www.rabadash.com/lonestar.html. This is a great Cd for anyone's collection, especially if you love New Orleans. And the profits are going to a worthy cause. Everything related to this CD was donated, including the songs. So all the profits will be benefting needy musicians and thier families.

Due to the Hurricane in New Orleans, we've had to relocate. The CD will be on hold for the time being, until we can get relocated and have a homebase again. Please donate and pray for the victims. You can go right to the Red Cross website from my links page, "Cool Cats". Thanks.

Vacation is over and I'm stoked to be performing Saturday night at the Alleycat (check Happenings). It'll be a nice change playing my music for a change.