Listening Room Presents for March of 2020 in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles

I put together another great month of original music in my neighborhood of Eagle Rock at Talon Tap and Wine every Thursday night, for the month of March.

As with last month, I’ll be performing a 30 to 35 minute set with my friend Tom Bremer joining me on guitar.

Listening Room Presents is an evening celebrating talented songwriters from the local community in a listing room environment, sharing their unique stories in song.

Each Thursday night, we feature an evening of music with no cover charge, consisiting of two different singer/songwriters from the community as well as a performance from Mike Vitale and Tom Bremer.

We have an absolutely awesome lineup for the month of March, including Geoff Pearlman from #echointhecanyon band, Adam Levy (extensive credits as both a songwriter and guitar wizard on many popular albums including Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me", "Feels Like Home", and "Not Too Late"), Luke Wade (finalist on Season 7 of "The Voice"), Dan Navarro (co-writer of the Pat Benatar hit "We Belong" with David Lowen), Terra Naomi (who built a world wide fan base from her hit on Youtube "Say It's Possible"), as well rising talents Amber Leigh Farris, Anastasia Lynne, and my partner in crime Daniel Blake.

It's a free show, but we ask everyone who attends to support the venue and purchase a drink or two from their extensive collection of craft beer and wine!

Talon Tap and Wine
1353 Colorado Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041

Music starts promptly at 8pm and ends at 10pm, ever Thursday night.

We are working diligently at creating a listening space for artists to share their unique music with a quiet and attentive audience.

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February Calendar for Listening Room Presents in Eagle Rock

I put together another great month of original music in my neighborhood of Eagle Rock at Talon Tap and Wine every Thursday night, for the month of February.

As with last month, I’ll be performing a 30 to 35 minute set with my friend Tom Bremer joining me on guitar. I’m working on seeing if I can bring out a band to perform with me on February 20th and February 27th as well. I’ll keep you posted.

If you are interested in attending, there is no cover and Talon Tap and Wine has a wonderful selection of craft beer and wine to choose from.

Talon Tap and Wine is located at 1353 Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, 90041.

Music starts promptly at 8pm and ends at 10pm, ever Thursday night.

We are working diligently at creating a listening space for artists to share their unique music with a quiet and attentive audience.

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Winter Tour This Week

Tell a friend or two. Help spread the word.

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"Straw Man" | Mike Vitale (Original)

STRAW MAN | words and music by Mike Vitale

This here scarecrow became your straw man
You dress me up and put me working in the fields
Old crow hangin’ ‘round straw man
Eating them seeds before they ever bare yield

I was just a hollow set of clothes
Laying useless across the floor
Someone else had worked hard in me for years
Now I lay there dirty from a day of chores 

This here scarecrow became your straw man
You dress me up and put me working in the fields
Old crow hangin’ ‘round straw man
Eating them seeds before they ever bare yield

There was a time I felt brand new
Worn proudly on body lay
Now these worn and torn threads seem like old shoe
Good for nothing but to scare the birds away

This here scarecrow became your straw man
You dress me up and put me working in the fields
Old crow hangin’ ‘round straw man
Eating them seeds before they ever bare yield

Ain’t got a word in edgewise to say
Farmer’s got me tied and beat
Onlookers see me hanging right there whispering gossip ‘bout me from the street
They say, don’t got a leg to stand on
Ain’t got no foot in the door
That boys quite the strange phenomenon for all the crows to ignore

This here scarecrow became your straw man
You dress me up and put me working in the fields
Old crow hangin’ ‘round straw man
Eating them seeds before they ever bare yield

This here scarecrow became your straw man
You dress me up and put me working in the fields
Old crow hangin’ ‘round straw man
Eating them seeds before they ever bare yield
Eating them seeds before they ever bare yield
Eating them seeds before they ever bare yield

Thank you to everyone on Patreon for helping me to release art into the world—whether it be humble videos such as this from my living room, more professional efforts of releasing video, full length albums, or any other number of ways this original music is being propagated. A special thanks to Heather Renz, Fernando Gallegos, and Amy Armitage.

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New Weekly Shows in Los Angeles Every Thursday Night Starting January 9th 2020

I would say that one of goals this year is to play as many shows featuring my own music as possible. I have already been doing this—but a key ingredient in the continued success of such is finding a room where people will listen.

So, I created an event called “Listening Room Presents.”

I figure that I and many others, are trying their best to propagate some positive vibes on this planet, so why not try to do it every week! Every Thursday to be exact—right down the street from where I live. For free. No cover.

I’ve been very fortunate to meet a lot of talented folk in this area, and I wish to share all the wonderful music I have been running across, with my neighbors as well as any and all lovely people who are willing to listen.

The event is taking places at Talon Tap and Wine. A very warm thank you to Tom, the owner, for providing a space for us to share our original music.

The event runs from 8pm to 10pm, every Thursday, featuring two special guest singer-songwriters that I admire, as well as myself and my friend Tom Bremer, playing an acoustic duo set of songs I wrote at around 9pmish.

It is open to the public, and we would love to have you there to listen.

Talon Tap and Wine has one of the largest selections of Craft Beer and Wine in Eagle Rock! It is also an affordable location to have a few drink. They have one of the largest selections of high quality craft beer in my neighborhood, hands down, that can be purchased for as little as $2.50, and can be enjoyed right on the premises for an additional $2 taping fee. There’s not many places around town to enjoy such fine quality libations for $4.50. They also have a fine selection of craft beer on tap, and a selection of wines to enjoy on the premises as well.

January 9th is the first of many shows, and we would be honored to have you there to listen, and even more honored if you spread the word and brought a friend along with you.

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"Want" | Mike Vitale (Original)

“Want”
words and music by Mike Vitale

A tall glass of water
A safe bed to sleep
A roof overhead
Warm food to eat

A world full of want
Desires and dues
Everyone needs something
Without exception too

Someone to hug us
When we’re feeling blue
Someone to love us
Through and through

Everyone wants
We’re all living proof
Everyone needs something
And I’m no exception too

Maybe under an overpass and over this life
Feeling all alone and cold and scared and hungry at night
Empty as a Dixie cup, discarded just the same
Crumpled up and wasted under pliable walls, blankets, and rain

Who here marks value on things you can count
Please add up all the tents and tarps standing about
Everyone here needs a home and no one ever wants to feel alone

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"Infinite Jest" | Mike Vitale (Original)

Faith is a curious creature, who even when roaming the confines of a dictionary, grazes on the delights of strange words:

faith
/fāTH/
Learn to pronounce
noun
noun: faith
1.
complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
"this restores one's faith in politicians"
2.
strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

I have had times in my life where I have lacked faith, and yet others where the fruits of faith were in overabundance for harvest. 

There is so much that we feel in this world... versus say, think in this world—and the grey area between those two opposing forces of dichotomy seems to be where this creature dwells, grazing on those strange delights of words I was mentioning earlier—perhaps, waiting to be noticed, so that another may appear, just like it—like the spooky action at a distance that Einstein talked about in 1947. 

Something like quantum entanglement in the realm of particles and quantum mechanics is so incredible to behold, but it doesn't mean we understand how it works. 

We instead just might observe a photon lighting up, and find another just like it, identically lighting up at exactly the same time, in an opposite place in the universe (which we have, and continue to). We build computers using these discoveries, yet we are no closer to understanding how something can be a hazy cloud, until it is observed. I know all of this sounds like nonsense, but it is what quantum mechanics is trying to make sense of, at the moment. We have people postulating that we all live inside a holographic projection, right now, in an effort to find a unifying theory for everything. It's called The Holographic Principle.

I don't know where to begin trying to understand things as wacky, intangible, and deep as this—but then again, maybe that's the reason why its this convoluted in the first place. Who knows for sure? Not me. But, I can write a song about it.

Infinite Jest
words and music by Mike Vitale

Maybe God gave the punchline
And we were too young to interpret the meaning
Or maybe we’re all just a comedy of errors
And so on and on logic wrestles with feeling

Universe, are we all alone
in an endless space full of human abstraction?
The chills running up and down my spine 
A conversation, or just a chemical reaction?
And if God already tipped its hat and gave its last regard
With infinite jest and a question written in the stars

Who here thinks God’s got a sense of humor?
Maybe one day it’ll raise your hand
Despite what you’ve read between wonderment and rumor
Our only sacrament is our ability to understand

Universe, are we all alone
in an endless space full of human abstraction?
The chills running up and down my spine 
A conversation, or just a chemical reaction?
And if God already tipped its hat and gave its last regard
With infinite jest and a question written in the stars

The chicken from the egg?
Or the egg from the chicken?
We take it all so serious with our scientific method
If we could learn to laugh with egg on our face rather than be angry, indifferent, and tepid

and mixed up somewhere between particles and strings and the king of kings...
We might find an answer
Or maybe God just speaks in stones and trees and the bones of things like an exotic dancer

Universe, are we all alone
in an endless space full of human abstraction?
The chills running up and down my spine 
A conversation, or just a chemical reaction?
And if God already tipped its hat and gave its last regard
With infinite jest and a question written in the stars
With infinite jest and a question written in the stars
With infinite jest and a question written in the stars

Thanks to everyone on Patreon for helping me to make music videos, and to record, mix, and master music all the music I've been posting to Spotify, Apple Music, and all the streaming services. I'm very grateful.

If you are interested in being a part of it, you can learn more here: http://www.patreon.com/mikevitalemusic

A very special thanks to patrons Amy Armitage and Fernando Gallegos.

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Kathy's Song | Mike Vitale (Original)

Out of anything I have ever done with my life—this was the greatest responsibility and privilege that's ever been put on my shoulders: I was asked to write this song by my friend Amy who lives in Australia. It was a gift for her mother, who was nearing the end of her current form here on Earth. Her mom's name is Kathy. I asked for Amy to send me as much intimate detail and memories she could muster about her mom's life—especially as it pertained to Kathy and her children. I put as much of my heart and love into this song as I could. The greatest gift in my life was to receive these words from Amy after I sent her the song:

"I played it to her and said nothing. She said, it's beautiful— where did you find this?"

I said "it's a song written for you."

She continued to cry and listened and said "it's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful."

And when it ended I asked her if she recognized the voice, she paused, she didn't know and then she said "is it your friend? Is it Mike Vitale?"

And she asked me to thank you.

Right now it's night time. And she's alone in her hospital bed, listening to the song, over and over and feeling very special.
Thank you x."

Kathy passed away on July 2nd 2019. Thank you so much for the opportunity and privilege of this connection, Amy. All my love to you and your family.
Here are the words. I'm working on the production for it right now—it'll be on one of my two new album coming out in 2020.

Kathy's Song
words and music by me

Baby Steps
Your hands on my waist
Showering kisses on my tiny face
My clumsy dance
Living life's ballet
But your outstretched arms met me there half way

Mum was magic
and her grand illusion
As sorceress of candy and it's sweet diffusion
Lollies would vanish
And cool mints too
Appearing under pillows from across the room

When we were young
Zizi couldn't say
The suitable pronunciation of our names
Amanda was Memo
And Brett was Bert
And mum would say she loved us all the much in the world

We took long drives
With no destination
While mum and dad would hold hands in adoration
The passing scenery and years roll by so quick
With kids in the backseat listening to music

Your wheelchair
I engage the brake
Showering kisses on our mother's face
This mysterious dance
It breaks my heart
But nothing in this Universe will ever keep us apart

Thank you to everyone on Patreon for directly supporting the art I make. If you are interested in having a profound affect on my ability to release more art into the world, whether it be through videos like this, or the two albums I'm releasing in 2020, or the acoustic album I put out in 2018, or the tours I setup across the United States, you can do so here: http://www.patreon.com/mikevitalemusic

A deep and special thank you to the Patreon patrons Fernando Gallegos and to Amy Armitage (this is song is dedicated to her mother, Kathy).

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Ted Greene | "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"

Getting sick is a drag. I'm heading to the doctor today.  I'm a smidge concerned—I seem to have caught something a little more severe than a cold.  At any rate, in regards to yourself, stay safe and healthy.

All that said, I've been trying to better utilize my time away from the realm of singing in other ways—like working on Ted Greene arrangements for solo guitar!  

Let there be no mistake: Ted Greene was one of the most amazing and versatile guitar players you have probably never have heard of (unless you are a musician).  He wrote several books on chord study and single note soloing—and many fine guitar players in southern California used to take private lessons with Ted, before he passed away. I first heard him through my friend Marcus McMillan, who studied with Ted for several years. He would record his guitar lessons with him. They were a blast to listen to. It was immediately apparent the guy was beyond the normal boundaries of guitar ninja gaiden territory. He was somewhere else entirely.

His knowledge of voice leading, inversions, and chord voicings made him the foremost authority on cracking your skull in two as a listener.  You need only buy his books to get a grasp of this.  He was a brilliant mind—a trailblazer in terms of the chords he used—no exaggeration necessary.  The only players I’ve heard use the chord voicing he found, are his students.  That is why I study these songs.  They are equal parts inspiring—and I learn these chord shapes within a utilized context, which is priceless in and of itself.  I have already started writing some songs that use some of these tasty vibes.

There is always a nugget or passage in these tunes that are extremely difficult to play.  If you are a guitar player, I’m sure it might be apparent just watching—however, if you take a crack at playing some of them, I’m sure you’ll see what I mean.

Speaking of which, here is a link to Ted's website should you have any interest in perusing:

tedgreene.com

Enjoy!

- Mike

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In My Dreams... #2

This dream was on the very next night after my last dream.

I was walking in an unfamiliar space. A concrete space. Great acoustics... reflective. I knew, intrinsically, in the context of the dream, that I was there to pick someone up from school.

Just as I was getting ready to walk through the unfamiliar entrance, another individual walks right in front of me—unaware of my presence behind them. It is someone I recognize—another musician—a now famous musician. I greet him.

He turns around, and gives me a warm smile. He says hi and encourages us to both continue towards our destination.

I continue to follow him into what now appears to be an auditorium like amphitheater. There are children sitting on the steps.

As I round the corner, I notice the person who I am there to pickup. She notices me, and promptly collects her things. She is around 11 years old. She is my ex-girlfriends’ youngest daughter. Her name is Grace.

I was there to find Grace.

I wake up.

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In My Dreams…

This is quite literally my latest dream that I can remember.  It was from Monday night/Tuesday Morning. The part that I can remember, took place in my bathroom.  In my dream...

It was night.  My bathroom was not illuminated.

I walked into the bathroom, and attempted to turn on the light.

That is normally what I would see.  A poorly designed idea of a light switch when you want to use a glade air freshener in your bathroom—because it smells like poop in here sometimes—but I digress.

Where was I?

In my dream...

There was no glade air freshener (my subconscious is not concerned with the smell of fecal matter).

There was no light switch for that matter.  I couldn't turn on the light.

I was puzzled in my dream; I knew there was supposed to be a light switch there.  There was supposed to be a power outlet as well.

I look around in the darkness of my bathroom.

I look to the floor—by the door... I find a power outlet.  Right at floor level, on the wall.  A place, where in reality, there is no power outlet.

And my light switch?  It looked like someone had plastered over it.  If I looked closely at the wall, I could see that they had covered it up... trying to hide its existence.

In my dream, I wondered why my landlord would do something like that?

Perhaps to teach me something?

I could still see.  I just needed to let my eyes adjust to the darkness.  I was able to find a place to generate electricity, once my eyes adjusted to the darkness as well.

I was even able to see the handy work of someone, trying to cover up the existence of a tool I use: a light switch and an outlet.

While I could not find a place to turn on the lights—I was given a place to where I could take matters into my own hands, and illuminate that room if I wanted to.

... and that's when I woke up.

**UPDATE**

Perhaps what this dream means in the context of my life is this:  I will find all the energy I need, if I humble myself.  No matter what the circumstance.  No matter if the once simple ability to flip a switch to illuminate a room, is covered up or removed.  If I humble myself, then I shall find the energy I need, always.  I can choose to illuminate it if I like.  I can let my eyes adjust, and see in the dark.  It is up to me.

Puppy Love | Mike Vitale (Original)

Puppy Love
words and music by Michael Patrick Vitale

Puppy love tore up the garden diggin’ up old bones
Puppy love tore up the garden diggin’ up old bones
Now I’m chained up in the backyard whinin’ them painful moans
‘cause puppy love tore up the garden diggin’ up ol’ bones

Pretty little lady I’m a hungry for your love
But I’ve got nothing but an empty bowl
Pushin’ it around the yard with the end of my nose
Wishin’ you would feed me somethin’ but all the lights in the house are dark
So I curl up in the corner waitin’ for the sound of your car to park

‘cause puppy love tore up the garden diggin’ up ol’ bones
Puppy love tore up the garden diggin’ up old bones
Now I’m chained up in the backyard whinin’ them painful moans
‘cause puppy love tore up the garden diggin’ up ol’ bones

I’ve got a one leg perched up and it’s twitchin’ in my sleep
I can still smell you on my coat
I’ve been dreamin’ about you forgettin’ the finer details of this anecdote
It’s like I’ve got an itch that I can’t scratch so please help a poor dog out
I completely lose my command of english every time that you’re around

‘cause puppy love tore up the garden diggin’ up ol’ bones
Puppy love tore up the garden diggin’ up old bones
Now I’m chained up in the backyard whinin’ them painful moans
‘cause puppy love tore up the garden
Puppy love tore up the garden
‘cause puppy love tore up the garden diggin’ up ol’ bones

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Younger Days | Mike Vitale and Daniel Blake

YOUNGER DAYS
words and music by Daniel Blake and Mike Vitale

I’m searching in the attic
For something long abandoned for survival
I used to feel ecstatic
When horizons were the frame of your arrival

But nothing seems to stay the same as how we pictured it
People ever changing like the shifting continents
And there’s no sense in fencing in or building walls to save
The emotions we were swimming in
In our younger days

A shoebox full of moments
The memories that made us who we are
We’re smiling in these pictures
The last light from a dying star

Because nothing seems to stay the same as how we pictured it
People ever changing like the shifting continents
And there’s no sense in fencing in or building walls to save
The emotions we were swimming in
In our younger days

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GOOD MUSIC: BENJAMIN JAFFE | Oh Wild Ocean of Love

I first heard Benjamin Jaffe many years ago in a band called Honey Honey. I was competing against them in a radio station competition. I gave them a listen and thought they sounded great! They ended up winning that competition and getting a record deal with Jude Cole and Keifer Sutherland’s record label, which I think was very well deserved. I didn’t keep contact with their music though. I forgot about them. There’s a lot of really great music going on around us; it wasn’t intentional by any means… it just sort of happened.

Fast forward a decade or so, and I’m at Hotel Cafe for one of the Hootenanny nights they do on the last Monday of every month. It was a fantastic night of music. Everyone was excellent—but for whatever reason, this dude stood out to me in a way that was unforgettable. His songs were mesmerizing… and interesting—unique—I think that’s the right word. He has a beautiful voice. He’s an excellent guitar player—a studied guitar player. I’m watching him play chord inversions and utilizing a lot of the chord vocabulary that I’ve been studying myself for years, so I can see it. I can hear it. On these Hootenanny nights, the artists only play three songs, but that was all it took for me to dig what he was doing. I was hooked. I talked to him afterwards, we exchanged numbers and email. I joined his email list. He told me he was working on a new album. He sent a free download from that album to everyone on his mailing list. It was a song called “Dominator”. This one:

I listened to the hell out of that song. This was all probably in the later portion of 2017. “Dominator” kept me satiated while I waited for that full length. At any rate, he finally released said album. It’s called “Oh Wild Ocean of Love.” It was my favorite album of 2018. Heads and tails above the rest. It’s curious, and fun, and serious, and deep—like a Kurt Vonnegut novel. He’ll make me laugh in the middle of a serious song. I can relate to him. Did I mention he’s an excellent lyricist as well? He is.

I could sit here a wax poetic about his music—but instead I just urge you to pop this album on while you’re driving your car by yourself. I sat in traffic for hours on end listening to this beautiful piece of work. My desire is that you will get nearly as much joy from it as I did. It’s an album. It’s not a single. It’s not two tracks you love—and skip, skip, skip. It’s good art. It’s good music.

You can find WILD OCEAN OF LOVE everywhere where streaming music is available. You can also purchase his album if you fancy.

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Human - Mike Vitale (Original)

This is a song I wrote about us and for us: human beings. I have an extensive track record of being very hard on myself—as well as continuously beating myself up for mistakes that I have made in the past. As much as we all know we are fallible creatures, that doesn’t stop us from judging one another, and worst of all, judging ourselves. My desire is for this song to be a reminder that we are all trying the best we can—to try to keep that in mind—to see yourself in others so that you may understand that we are all in this together. Maybe it’s somewhat like that Bill Hicks quote: “[...] we are all one consciousness experiencing ourselves subjectively [...] Life is a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.” He was a standup comedian, and isn’t it funny that they are the ones spouting some of the most pertinent, astute, and (sometimes) poignant observational truth. A quick thank you to everyone supporting my original music on Patreon: this is my latest offer for $1 backers. A special thanks to Amy Armitage and Fernando Gallegos.

Human
words and music by Mike VItale

People are a walking contradiction
Placing one foot in front of the other
And me I had no idea that i could walk this way
So I learned it from my father and my mother

People here are doing the best they can
Based on whatever their parents already covered
And I’m doing my best to do my best myself these days
So together let’s see what we discover

Because truth be told everyone tells a lie
And honesty can be delicately laid
Language was created to understand one another
So I choose my words carefully to say

We’re Human

Take it easy if you’re feeling down
Everyone trips from time to time
It’s a forgone conclusion to maintain the resolution
That you’re a perfect circle or a perfect line

Because truth be told everyone tells a lie
And honesty can be delicately laid
Language was created to understand one another
So I choose my words carefully to say

We’re Human
We’re Human

So go on and be mean if that’s what you’re feeling
Or maybe decided to turn the other cheek
Have a sense of humor, or maybe spread a rumor
We get back what we put into this world

Because truth be told everyone tells a lie
And honesty can be delicately laid
Language was created to understand one another
So I choose my words carefully to say

We’re Human
We’re Human
We’re Human

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DUSTIN LOVELIS | Dimensions | "Idiot"

After having written that last entry Tao Te Ching and sharing Madison Cunningham with you in previous weeks, I got to thinking: I don't talk enough about all of the local music around me I admire and love. I think I will continue to write these and share, and just coin them GOOD MUSIC.

There is so much excellent art happening on the local level. There is too much—too much that goes unnoticed. It's criminal.

We all know this in our bones. We are avid supporters of local art that resonates with us.

As some of you know, I spent 5 years living in Long Beach, and I found several wonderful acts there that I cherish (and I will be sharing all of them with you): Dustin Lovelis is one of them.

He is such a unique amalgamation of influences. There is this inescapable retro quality to his music that I admire as well—you feel comfortable in it, like your favorite t-shirt, a t-shirt that is new to you, but you just bought it from a curated second hand store for $67 and you're completely comfortable with that decision because it was love at first sight—and remember? It's comfortable as all fuck.

Most of all, I resonate with the deep honesty of his music.

However you want to describe it, there is a gravity that carries the will to bring one to tears given the right opportunity: such as someone just breaking your heart, or you yourself making a mistake you regret. Dustin is providing the soundtrack for you in those times by sharing his own personal experiences—perhaps—at least in my own imagination, that is the way I interpret it.

You can find Dustin and his music on all of the streaming services, but naturally, you can truly support his work by making a purchase, like I did, here:

https://porchpartyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dimensions

If you are interested in finding him online you may do so here:

Facebook

Instagram

I hope you enjoy the song I posted of his, up yonder. It is entitled "Idiot."

You can also learn more about him through the all powerful Google Search Engine. If you are local to southern California, catch a show of his soon. He would be full of gratitude, and you yourself will be floored by his sheer talent.

- Mike

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Tao Te Ching

I remember being around 20 years old, in the town I grew up in: Visalia, CA.  It's not a very big place.  It's not very small either.  It's between those two things: small enough for rumors to bother you and big enough for it to take 25 minutes to get from one end to the other—I'm sure information was faster than the car there, even before the advent of the internet.

I fell in love for the first time in Visalia.  It was love at first sight for me—but ended up not working out.  I think back on it, and I know all the places where I made errors.  This is important to me, because I feel I have room to learn from my mistakes.  Lauren is happily married now and has children, and I am thrilled for her, deeply and truly.  She is a good person.

What's really painful is making mistakes and realizing you have made them shortly after making them.  This was the case between Lauren and I.  However, we are not defined by another person.  

While we may be defined by our decisions, partially—ultimately, I feel that we just are.  We exist I mean.  Nothing beyond that.  To put it a better way, we all come in and out of each others lives, changing one another, so that we may continue on: all the additional perceptions attached to it, are human notions.  

If we look at ourselves as purely animals, we just exist, accumulating life experience in the form of memories.  We own our past.  It is involuntary in so much as it pertains to it being deposited in the banks of chaos that are our minds.  Beyond that, we can chose to own it as a verb, which is more along the lines of accepting it, and not perceiving it as a burden.  Perhaps like cargo floating on a rive in tandem with us: effortless.

I am fascinated by the thought of how much more malleable I was in my younger years.  I could love, fall out of love, and love again rather quickly.  If I were to be honest with myself, I have become far more guarded with my heart over the years.

19 year-old me fell in and out of love with Lauren, was at the forefront of his love of music, had parents who did not encourage the pursuit of music as a career, so he felt as if he needed to find his own footing and encouragement in other places—even if that was just in the daydreams of his own head.

He worked two jobs: one during the day and one during the night.  He practiced guitar in between.  He kept trying to write songs, but found it extremely difficult to like what he wrote—to genuinely love what was being made by his own creativity.

The first song I ever tried to write was about a young girl who tried to commit suicide off of a freeway overpass.  It was a good song—I couldn't see that though, at the time.  So I hid it away, and never shared it.

I remember discovering Dave Matthews Band for the first time, and learning all of his songs.  I remember meeting a young girl named Robin that same summer.  We loved each other in a window of time, before she moved away.  In that window of time, I began reading a book that I very much enjoyed called " The Tao of Pooh".  I was 20 years old.

It was a very beautiful interpretation of Taoism, in so far as Winnie the Pooh being a prime example of an individual who lives the Tao.  I gave it to Robin when she moved to San Jose, along with a few Calvin and Hobbs comic strip books.

In hindsight, I was more malleable in those days—which isn't to say that I am not that way now—I'm just beginning to wonder if I was living more "the way" at that time, than I am now.  

Robin was no possession to me.  She enriched my life.  Hopefully, I enriched hers as well.  We keep contact with one another, and I am friends with her whole family.  I love them all dearly.

I continued to play guitar.  I was also very fascinated with Chess.  I played a gentleman named Jason McKaughan at his house in downtown Visalia.  He was an amazing musician himself.  He was also studying philosophy at California State University Fresno.  We would play chess together.  He would introduce me to movies and new music that I had never heard of such as Michael Hedges or Charlie Hunter or "The Matrix" or "Deconstructing Harry"—to be honest they are too numerous to name.  

I began to learn how to play Michael Hedges and became obsessed with him, much as I did Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan before that.  However, I remember showing up to his house to play chess on one day in particular and he had something fun to share with me.

He popped on a song called "Comfortable".  He asked me to name who it was.  I listened.  "Comfortable" displayed amazing songwriting.  The lyrics were incredible.  His voice had a masculine baritone quality that was very beautiful and entrancing to listen to.  I listened the whole way through without saying a word.  

When the song was completed, I said "Jacob Dylan?"  I knew this wasn't the answer, but it was the closest thing I could think of that matched the timber of his voice.  His answer was, "this is Matt Mangano's roommate at Berklee School of Music.  His name is John Mayer."  I was hooked.

Matt Mangano was also a Visalia native who had just moved to Boston to attend Berklee School of Music.  He was there to study recording and sound engineering.  He recorded John in the dorm room they shared together.  The recordings I was listening to, were those recordings.  Matt brought them back with him on summer break and told Jason, this is my roommate John Mayer.  Remember his name.  He's going to be a big star.  Jason was skeptical that this was the case, but there was no denying his talent.

He shared numerous stories with me regarding Matt and John.  I began to follow John on my parents old AOL dial up computer.  The World Wide Web had just started.  John was present on a website he created at johnmayer.com and posted music he wrote to another website called MP3.com.  He had left Berklee School of Music after one year there, and moved down to Georgia.  I enthusiastically watched and supported his very quick rise to fame.

There were no crowd sourcing platforms at this time.  This was all between the years of 1999-2000.  Jason McKaughan would go and visit Matt and John at their place in Atlanta, Georgia.  John took Jason out to go sight seeing around the South, historical landmarks and so forth.  He brought back stories.  They were fun to listen to.  I shared John's music with people I thought would like it.

When he started to be able to afford to tour, I went out and supported his first tour solo acoustic.  He opened for Glen Phillips from Toad the Wet Sprocket.  He played a wonderful set over a bunch of people screaming over the top of his music, talking loudly, waiting for Glen to take the stage.  He didn't appear bothered by it, but having been there myself, I'm sure it was no fun to have only a quarter of the room listening to you.

Shortly there after, he was signed to Aware Records, which is what that CD up yonder is.  He went on tour with a band.  I caught him three times during that tour.  Once in San Francisco, once in Los Angeles at The Roxy, and lastly at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.  He came out after every show and would chat with all of us that attended.  John is a very funny guy, and was always a pleasure to talk to.  I emailed him once to ask him how to play one of his songs, and he was kind enough to provide the info I was after.

I look back on my life, and I see that around the years of 19 to 21 is when I woke up to art and how much I loved it.  I have tried to avidly support local and independent music as I find it.  I suppose John was the first musician to not be spoon fed to me by a major label?  I had never thought of this before in plain terms, but I suppose that is the truth.

My whole life, I have been living the way.  I am sure you can say the same.  That's what "Tao" translates to: "The Way."  We are all living the mystery is what I mean.  Allow me to explain myself a little better—I don't want this to be a Chinese Finger Trap.

I started reading "Change You Thoughts, Change Your Life" by Wayne Dyer.  In a nut shell, it is the "Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu, but with his interpretation of each concise chapter of "Tao Te Ching" which often reads a bit like poetry.  I'll give you an example:

第一章

道可道

非常道

名可名

非常名

無名天地之始

有名萬物之母

故常無欲

以觀其妙

常有欲

以觀其徼

此兩者

同出而異名

同謂之玄

玄之又玄

眾妙之門

Pretty interesting, right?  I kid.

Chapter 1

The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao

The name that can be named is not the eternal name

The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth

The named is the mother of myriad things

Thus, constantly with

out desire, one observes its essence

Constantly with desire, one observes its manifestations

These two emerge together but differ in name

The unity is said to be the mystery

Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders

OR alternately it could be translated to this, as we are working from Chinese characters that are no longer in use.  This alone is fascinating to me as language allows for so many different interpretations, especially when it has been translated from a translation.  This text is nearly 2,500 years old.  As far as I know, these both have been translated directly from the original Chinese characters listed above.

The Tao that can be told

is not the eternal Tao.

The name that can be named

is not the eternal name.

The Tao is both named and nameless.

As nameless it is the origin of all things;

as named it is the mother of 10,000 things.

Ever desire less, one can see the mystery;

ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations.

And the mystery itself is the doorway

to all understanding.

This is paradoxical thinking—and very thick.  It has the viscosity of maple syrup.  Yet, it is also simple.  We just are.  That is Tao, yet by my reducing things in simplicity of those words of explanation to you, another human being, that is not Tao.  But I digress.  This is what I was getting at in the words of Wayne Dyer:

.".. enjoy the mystery."

"Let the world unfold without always trying to figure it all out.  Let relationships just be, for example, since everything is just going to stretch out in Divine Order.  Don't try so hard to make something work—simply allow.  Don't always toil at trying to understand your mate, your children, your parents, your boss, or anyone else, because the Tao is working at all times.  When expectations are shattered, practicing allowing that to be the way it is.  Relax, let go, allow, and recognize that some of your desires are about how you think your world should be, rather than how it is in the moment.  Become an astute observer... judge less and listen more.  Take time to open your mind to the fascinating mystery and uncertainty that we all experience."

"Practice letting go of always naming and labeling."

There are many things to be interpreted from these very concise lines from the first chapter of "Tao Te Ching."  Similarly, there are many things to be interpreted from a lifetime already lived.  Beyond that, is living.  It's the present moment.  

I've enjoyed sharing a bit of my past with you.  I've also enjoyed thinking back to a version of myself that is 20 years old.  I find it fascinating that I have ran along a twenty year cycle, a continuum, in which it has begun with me reading an interpretation of Tao Te Ching (but with Winnie the Pooh bonus round), and led me back to me reading an interpretation once again, and me arriving at my own paradoxical understanding.  In the process of writing that last sentence, I also just realized that putting exclamation points on things can be construed as shouting.  However, most of the time, it just means enthusiasm, nowadays.

What a mystery!

- Mike

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Water

WATER
written by Michael Patrick Vitale

Am I any softer?
Is that why I cry?
Maybe I'm like water
Flowing freely most the time

You may stay at arms length
maybe build a dam
I divert my current
And circumvent demand

You may freely slap my surface
But forceful makes me hard
Or gently touch my epidermis
to penetrate this liquid guard

You may course inside my current
As it is not mine alone
The way as set before us
To places yet unknown

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The Needle of the Human Race

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Long Beach Show on November 21st 2019 at The Federal Bar

Psst.  I'm playing a show in Long Beach in the year of our Lord, 2019.  This just happened.  You're the first to know (okay, really you were the second—my PATREON backers were first).  I'm excited!

It'll be free.  We ARE going to ask for donations as my friend Leanna is in town on tour from Bali playing with her new music duo Bullet and Cass; we'll just be passing around a jar—you don't have to contribute if you can't.  

My Long Beach friend and national treasure, Taylor Crawford set up this wonderful event for us at a very cool speak easy type room in The Federal Bar in downtown Long Beach called The Parlour Room.  It will be a listening audience and I would love to have all my Long Beach friends there if ye be willing to attend. 

In addition, I will try to get my compatriot in crime and all things good music, Tom Bremer, to join me on acoustic guitfiddle that night.

The Lineup:

Taylor Crawford - 8pm

Bullet and Cass - 9pm

Mike Vitale - 10pm

Like I bu beba say ba—it's a free show.  Invite some friends.  I promise to speak better English, and play some mediocre music.  Never mind.  I'll speak poorly and play some fucking great music.  Sound good?  I guess we'll find out, together, on November 21st.  As you can see by that last sentence, I just RSVP'd you. Does that mean you’re not coming now? Don’t be mad. I was just foolin’ ‘bout.

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