Grand Island, NE House Concert Review

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The Spencer Family were my Hosts in Grand Island, NE

Steven Spencer and the family were so kind as to host me in Grand Island, Nebraska for this tour I just arrived home from a few days ago.

Steven wrote me an email with a review of the show. I was so stoked to finally have the opportunity to read it today.

While I may not make this painfully honest: my world and my dreams of playing music and telling my stories definitely hinges on the kindness of those who are willing to listen to them. My hope is that those who do listen, find humanity in my stories. The humanity is the story. It is the story of all of us.

I have no doubt where my place is in the world. It is doing what I am currently doing. Thank you Steven, for painting my endeavors in such a colorful and favorable light, as you have done here. I am immensely grateful to you and your family.

Here is Steven’s review of the concert:

I maintain that I am a somebody, who is a nobody, trying to be a somebody. I am immensely grateful for all the folks I meet along the way and who show me love and kindness and what it is to be a good person. I learn more on that with each of you that I meet. I hope to follow your course myself, in that trajectory, towards the heavens of good grace.

SOCIAL MEDIA

UPCOMING SHOWS

The Den Den—or Ver.

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I am currently in the Denver, Colorado. Arvada to be precise. It’s a gorgeous bedroom community just outside of Denver. A hop, skip, and a jump—perhaps one verb’s length further away in distance from the city. I wonder inwardly what the people of Denver call their fine city, in some sort of local colloquialism. Do you know what I mean?

People in the Bay Area call San Francisco “The City.” Maybe Denver has something like that too? Something to put inside quotation marks when they write down the name of their home in written English. Maybe in their local circles, they refer to their mother city as The Den Den. Or just Ver. I’ll work up the nerve to ask the locals when I get tired of typing words.

Maybe they just call it home. That wouldn’t surprise me. I’m typing this at a Starbuck’s a few blocks from the home of the house concert host I am playing at this evening.

Faulkner—smoking a pipe. Not Truong. He doesn’t smoke pipes.

Truong is his name. He’s a great guy. He’s an economist. His bookshelves are full of volumes of Economic Theory, Philosophy, History, and a skosh of Literature. You might imagine that they smell of Book, Cedar, Leather, and Scotch. They don’t—well, how do I know? I wasn’t smelling his books this morning, like a weirdo. I swear.

I saw one fiction book. “The Sound and The Fury” by William Faulkner. I’m willing to bet he came from a time when men took pictures with pipes—Faulkner, not my host. I don’t think he smokes a pipe.

We can wager next time. You shouldn’t have took that bet, reader… and I need to exercise better grammar. Truong doesn’t strike me as a gambling man either—then again, he is hosting a musician from Los Angeles tonight at his house concert series. Sounds a bit like a gamble. I could suck, or at the very least, be very low on the entertainment spectrum.

With that being said residents of Den Den: y’all should come hangout tonight. Everyone is gathering at 6pm at Truong’s place of residence. Music starts at 7pm. Shoot me a DM on the social media sites. Tonight. Tonight being Sunday August 13th. Bring your pipe, and maybe some alcohol, incase I’m not entertaining—or incase I am.

This is the last date of my tour outside of California this summer. Stay tuned for my Fall Tour in October and November of 2023 down yonder.

TOUR DATES

SOCIAL MEDIA

In Three Days We Have Raised $1,105

Thank you to everyone who has been donating money towards helping me get a new guitar. I am thankful.

Everyone who has been contributing to this fundraiser is receiving a download of my new album DESERT DOGS. It is being released one song at a time, as singles, to all the streaming services. The next single comes out AUGUST 18TH and is called MARK TWAIN. However, donating below gets you all 13 songs right now.

COME SEE ME PLAY LIVE

SOCIAL MEDIA

Greensboro to Chattanooga to Nashville

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The past week has been a tornado of fun. Made it to Nashville yesterday. I am intent on leaving 1.2 pounds heavier than when I arrived (actively engaged in this activity as we speak).

Playing The Writer’s Kitchen at Jane’s Hideaway tonight at 8pm. Such a solid round of writers! My buddy Alice Wallace is hosting myself, ZG Smith, and Laura Rabell. We’re joining forces like Voltron to make a super robot songwriting machine.

SIDE NOTE: Alice introduced me to East Nash Grass last night. So so good. Had a lot of fun in Chattanooga at JMac’s on Sunday, and the Greensboro shows were a riot! Looking forward to trying to visit as many Nashville friends as I can while I’m in town.

DO YOU SOCIAL MEDIA?

DO YOU LIVE MUSIC?

Mark Twain | A New Single August 18th 2023

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Samuel Langhorne Clemens

My next single is being released on August 18th on this year of our Lord, 2023. It is probably the most convoluted story I have ever told—perhaps beside The Incredible Shrinking Brain—but we will save the later for a different day.

Mark Twain. It’s a brilliant pen name for Samuel Langhorne Clemens. It’s riverboat slang. It was also the pen name of another riverboat pilot who wrote for a Riverboat Almanac. Samuel Clemens stole the idea from him. He admits to this notion in his book entitled “Life on the Mississippi.”

Regardless, it is a brilliant pen name if you examine it for what it is and what it represents. Mark Twain is a measurement of depth. Sounding boats and sounding poles were used by those navigating the murky waters of a muddy river that we are all familiar with as American Citizens: the Mississippi River. It has no rocky foundation to its deepest depths. It is a muddy river. It constantly changes in depths and sizes naturally due to this proclivity endowed to rivers of such quality. However, because of this—it is dangerous. A riverboat can easily run ashore, or find the unwelcome sand of a shoal, if not constantly checking the depth of the river using sounding boats and sounding poles. This is where the notion of marks and numbers come from. These depths would be shouted by those using the sounding poles, to measure depth, to those listening for their instruction as they piloted the vessel.

The Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri

Mark Twain means two fathoms deep. It is the cut-off between dangerous and safe passage. Mark Twain is the shallowest depth in which a riverboat may pass without peril or hazard. Mark Twain is the convergence of safe and dangerous; it is the point in which these two opposing outcomes meet.

Moving forward with this as a title—I found a curious story regarding Samuel Langhorne Clemens and Halley’s Comet:

Halley's Comet appeared in the sky when Mark Twain was born in 1835. The comet moves in a seventy-five or seventy-six-year orbit, and, as it neared Earth once again in the year 1909, Twain said,

I came in with Halley's Comet... It is coming again ... and I expect to go out with it... The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'

Hannibal, Missouri. Samuel Langhorne Clemen’s Childhood Home

Sure enough, he died on April 21, 1910, just as the comet made its next pass within sight of Earth.

I was born on April 21st 1979. That has no relevance to this story, and I’m sure it is quite coincidental.

This song, that I am releasing August 18th, tells the story of Halley’s Comet and our Sun. It also, can stand for something completely different. It can be representative. Metaphor. Hyperbolic. Whatever the case may be: I am proud of its words and music and to be releasing it as I hear it in my head. It is a tip of my hat to someone I admire and a love letter of sorts to a romantic idea. I can’t help but be carried away by the trade winds of whimsy. I prefer it, as I can’t imagine life without my creativity to put wind in my sails in the first place.

For you.

May we all be friends and find the beauty in one another, no matter how difficult or easy that proves to be, ultimately. Perhaps—perhaps there are intrinsic links that bind us all to one another, if not just within the matter which makes everything, the gravitational forces caused by mass and its manipulation of spacetime, and the loosely understood physics of such.

You can pre-save the song at this link:

PRE-SAVE LINK

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

Chattanooga, Tennessee Show August 6th at JMac's

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Chattanooga, Tennessee Friends, I am back at JMac's this Sunday August 6th playing music I wrote at 7pm. It's a private show and tickets just went on sale today at this link for $10:

https://ticketstripe.com/Mike_Vitale_Aug_6

In case you don't remember me...

Short Bio:

Imaginary astronaut and singer/songwriter Mike Vitale has decided to punch holes in his own analogy to create stars as a backdrop for his latest inner-space journey DESERT DOGS—an album he is fullishly releasing, one single at a time, throughout 2023 and early 2024, in order to continually inundate both suspecting and unsuspecting bystanders with troubadourian exploits of waxing and waning pandemic meanderings, mental flatulence, stories—what have yous—carefully laid over predetermined blocks of music. What am I trying to say in third-person? Witness this monkey, playing music he wrote, with his imagination. Can I get a witness?

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

Who Is Mike Vitale?

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Mike Vitale (Photo Courtesy of Monika Lightstone Photography)

I spent hours yesterday updating this website. Good golly, there is so much that needs to be updated. Who would have thoughts its such a busy job updating when you are busy updating simply creating and living life without talking about the fact that one is creating or living life? Here is my latest bio update. One more serious, and a second—less serious:

Mike Vitale is a singer-songwriter based out of Los Angeles, CA. He is currently out touring the United States in support of a full length album called φ: 12 new songs written by Vitale over the course of the past several years, as well as 11 new singles he is releasing over the course of 2023, that will eventually lead to a complete 12 song album called DESERT DOGS.

The third single from DESERT DOGS was released on May 27th 2023 and is entitled "Coyote." It's a tip of the hat to the great cowboy country writers of the 1940's and 1950’s, to Mark Twain (quite possibly one of the funniest people I have ever read), and to the end of a long pandemic—finally being able to appreciate the fact that I can tour again, and to count the many blessings of good health and the freedom to roam that which has never been explored by me. I am so very lucky. We are all so very lucky to live in such a beautiful country full of natural splendor.

The fourth single from this record is being released Friday July 7th. Capturing the feeling of deep attraction when seeing a beauty across the bar from the narrator, "Drunk on Your Mystique" is a summer vibe, frothing with the energy and excitement behind a crush on a total stranger. It's music and lyrics convey the Caribbean local and estuary of a port city where people are free to indulge in the fantasy and reverie of romantic whimsy. I plan to play this song all over the U.S. on my tour that starts this week and to promote on socials and playlists.

DESERT DOGS is immediately available as a BANDCAMP download to anyone who would like to contribute to Mike’s 2023 tours through his GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/e6dcc0b9

LESS SERIOUS?

Mike Vitale is a Singer-Songwriter/producer/forward-slash enthusiast, based out of Los Angeles, CA. Eagle Rock to be precise (come by for a cup of coffee with him). When not preoccupied with speaking in third-person about music related stuff, he enjoys short walks on long beaches with his two border collies, Border and Collie. He is certain that this sentence is useless, but also doesn’t believe in absolutes. The dogs may or may not be fictional. All the other stuff is probably true, especially if it involves putting one word in front of another while simultaneously singing those words over-predetermined blocks of music. Totally his idea (don’t steal it).

TOUR DATES

Verse 26 | Tao Te Ching | Tranquility and Seductions

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You will see many discrepancies with the translation of this verse. THIS is why I have so many copies of the Tao Te Ching, translated by various people. Translation—it's a strange strange beast. It's everything to truly understanding what is being conveyed.

Wow, this verse kicked my ass. I am very much guilty of losing sight of my tranquility. I could say that I let others take it from me—but that is not true.

I take it from myself. It does not matter what a person does or says: the response should be... nothing. Kindness. A smile.

I was just in a situation recently with an individual who pulled my ego out of me. Jung would refer to this, as an integrated shadow most likely. My shadow stood up for me. However, there are arguments to other courses of action. Choose-my-own adventure. That is life.

No matter what a person does or says to me: I need to be in control of my emotions. I need to draw my own boundaries when I feel that I am being pushed around or taken advantage of, or any number of other attributes or situations where my tranquility is being upended. My tranquility is my responsibility.

I have much to learn. I am also proud of myself for drawing boundaries with people. When someone says something to me that I don't agree with. Let them know, politely. Truth, my own truth, can be delicately laid. We do not need to be friends with every single person we meet in life. They deserve our respect, so long as they also respect us. If they do not, then there is no further conversation needed. Move on. There are 7.888 Billion people on this planet. Enjoy the company of another one of those from that lot.

What does Wayne Dyer have to say about this Verse? Let me skim and find out. Hold on. Well fancy that. He says much of what I just said:

LIVING CALMLY

"In this chapter of the Tao Te Ching, you’re being advised to maintain a sense of serenity regardless of what you may see taking place around you. Moreover, you’re being told that the true master knows that the ability to stay calm is always located within. From this perspective, there’s no need to assign responsibility to others for how you feel. Even though you may live in a world where blame and faultfinding are endemic, you will own your feelings and actions. You will know that circumstances don’t determine your state of mind, for that power rests with you. When you maintain a peaceful inner posture, even in the midst of chaos, you change your life.

The wisdom of this verse of the Tao Te Ching prompts you to know that you have a choice. Do you want to be in a state of confusion or to have a tranquil inner landscape? It’s up to you! Armed with this insight, the Tao master doesn’t allow an external event to be a disturbance. Lao-tzu tells you that assigning blame for your lack of calmness will never bring you to the state of being that you’re striving to attain. Self-mastery only blossoms when you practice being aware of, and responsible for, what you’re feeling.

This particular part of the Tao Te Ching is one that you’ll probably want to immerse yourself in repeatedly. After all, what could be better than the freedom of going through life without feeling that people and circumstances control you without your permission? Are you depressed? Irritated? Frustrated? Exhilarated? Ecstatically in love? Whatever your current state, if you believe that a changing economic picture or a tapestry of events taking place around you is responsible—and you then use these external factors to explain your inner state of mind—you’ve lost touch with your root. Why? Because you’re allowing yourself to be “blown to and fro” by the shifting winds of circumstance.

The solution for a life of unrest is choosing stillness. The quiet of the Tao is oblivious to any turmoil in the world of the 10,000 things. Be like the Tao, advises Lao-tzu: “The still is the master of unrest.” You have a choice in every moment, so you can decide to be a host to God and carry around with you the calmness that is the Tao, or you can be a hostage to your ego, which insists that you can’t really help feeling disorderly when you’re in circumstances that resemble pandemonium.

Here’s what Lao-tzu offers to you in this profoundly simple passage, from the profoundly simple life he chose 2,500 years before yours:

Vow to seek a calm inner response to the circumstances of your life.

In the midst of any kind of unrest—be it an argument, a traffic jam, a monetary crisis, or anything at all—make the immediate decision that you will find the calm center of yourself. By not thinking of what is taking place, and instead taking a few deep breaths in which you opt to empty your mind of judgments, it becomes impossible to mentally “flit about like a fool.” You have the innate ability to choose calmness in the face of situations that drive others to madness. Your willingness to do so, especially when chaos and anger have been your previous choices, puts you in touch with “the master of unrest.” There was a time when I thought this was impossible. Now I know that even in the most troublesome of times, my reaction is to choose stillness . . . the way of the Tao.

Don’t lose touch with your root.

With a written declaration or picture placed strategically in your home and workplace, remind yourself that no one can make you 26th Verse lose touch with your root without your consent. Affirm the following often: I have the ability to stay poised and centered, regardless of what goes before me. Then vow to put this new way of being into practice the next time a situation of unrest crops up. Do the mental work in advance and you’ll achieve the self-mastery that Lao-tzu refers to in this verse. More significantly, you’ll be in harmony with the Tao, which is your ultimate calling.

Verse 26

Dale translation

Inner strength is the master

of all frivolities.

Tranquility is the master

of all agitated emotions.

Those who succumb to frivolities

have lost their inner strength

Those who succumb to agitated emotions

have lost their tranquility.

The wise cultivate

inner strength and tranquility.

That is why they are not seduced

by addictive temptations.

Verse 26

Dyer Translation

The heavy is the root of the light.

The still is the master of unrest.

Realizing this,

the successful person is

poised and centered

in the midst of all activities;

although surrounded by opulence,

he is not swayed.

Why should the lord of the country

flit about like a fool?

If you let yourself be blown to and fro,

you lose touch with your root.

Verse 26

Mitchell Translation

The heavy is the root of the light

The unmoved is the source of all movement

Thus the master travels all day

without leaving home

However splendid the view

she stays serenely in herself.

Why should the lord of the country

flit about like a fool?

If you let yourself be blown to and fro,

you lose touch with your root.

If you let restlessness move you,

you lose touch with who you are.

Verse 26

Wilson Translation

The heavy fabricates the root of the light

The tranquil fabricates command of the flurried.

Therefore the sage puts one foot

in front of the other the entire day

But never leaves his heavy pack behind.

Though there may be glorious sights at hand,

His course remains high and detached,

as smooth as the flight of a swallow.

How will a lord of ten thousand chariots fool

with his empire as though

he himself has nothing to lose?

Act lightly and you lose your rootedness.

Act in a flurried way and you lose your command.

Verse 26

Walker Translation

Heaviness is the root of lightness

Tranquility is the master of agitation.

That is why the sage travels all day

without ever losing sight of her baggage

She may live in a glorious palace, but

she isn't attached to its pleasures.

Why should the lord of ten thousand chariots

behave lightly in the world?

One who acts lightly loses her foundation.

One who becomes agitated sacrifices her mastery.

Verse 26

Kwak, Palmer, Ramsay Translation

What holds, what you can trust

Is the same as this quietness—

and it is lighthearted.

This quiet light-hearted silence

Is the key to being free from emotion

The sage never abandons the Tao,

he never lets its weight out of sight.

He may live in a fabulous house

But he never gets caught up wanting to—

And through there are always temptations,

He stays unswayed, and smiles.

So why is it that our rulers

Seem so bright, but are

Glib and unsubstantial?

Losing the weight of the Tao

Means you lose your root;

And when you can't sit still

you lose

The source.

WHO IS MIKE VITALE

I am a storyteller, singer, songwriter, music producer, traveling musician, Jungian dream analyst, all-around curious fellow (Spiritual, Mathematical Historical, Scientific), Taoist, and much much more, based out of Los Angeles, California. I’m constantly releasing new music, in all sorts of different genres. You can listen to me below, on Spotify:

SOCIAL LINKS

UPCOMING SHOWS

COYOTE is Now Available to Stream and Purchase

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This song is a tip of the hat to the great cowboy country writers of the 1950’s, to Mark Twain (quite possibly one of the funniest people I have ever read), and to the end of a long pandemic—finally being able to appreciate the fact that I can tour again, and to count the many blessings of good health and the freedom to roam that which has never been explored by me. I am so very lucky. We are all so very lucky to live in such a beautiful country full of natural splendor.

Link to stream: https://www.songwhip.com/mikevitale/coyote

Link to purchase: https://mikevitalemusic.bandcamp.com/track/coyote-2

Thank you to my friends who worked on this with me:

Coyote

words and music by Michael Patrick Vitale

Vocals, Background Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Upright Bass, Wood Blocks - Mike Vitale

Drums - Evan Stone

Background Vocals - Anastasia Flionis

Produced by Mike Vitale

Engineered by Mike Vitale, Evan Stone and Anastasia Flionis

Mixed by Ryan Lipman

Mastered by Mark Alan Miller

GOOD MUSIC: Benjamin Jaffe

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It has been a hot second since I’ve written about music that I find compelling.

Benjamin is one of those people.

I saw him perform again last night. He is a force of nature—I assure you of this. I have been so busy in recent months and years, that I haven’t had the opportunity to stay current with all of his music releases.

However, I wanted to take a moment to share what I have been listening to in the past few weeks. I made an effort to purchase his newest release this morning on Bandcamp. A created a link to his Bandcamp if you would like to support his work. All of his creative output that he has released is well worth listening to. Enjoy. I do.

Enlightenment with Bill.E

My Upcoming Tour Dates

An Open Letter to Myself (Fifteen Years Later)

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Side-note:

I found this on my hard drive this morning. I probably wrote this fifteen years ago? Sure. 

I know I was living in Anaheim Hills at the time. I wish I could tell you why I'm posting it—again. Perhaps because it's a time capsule, retrieved from its nearly two decade long slumber to remind myself how much of an idiot I am, even if I am making myself giggle uncontrollably as I write things— like this. I was having the time of my life. I assure you.

Side-note, with a side of note:

I was innocently (innocently) looking up briefs underwear—and I found these this morning [pictured above]. What is that? They come in multiple colors. Here is a purchase link. I am just the messenger:

https://www.amazon.com.au/ZONBAILON-Breathable-Spandex-Tagless-Running/dp/B09ZL1TGPD?th=1 

Dear Mike,

I want to be a bit more upfront with you about the way I’ve felt lately—and I know that you feel the same way I do considering how close we are, both figuratively and physically. I need you to know that the decisions you make have a profound effect on my happiness and general comfort level… and I must say, your decisions as of late, have inevitably led to a great deal of discomfort and unhappiness on my part: hence this letter (don’t bother trying to understand the logistics—yes, I’m left-handed).

You see, it all started with your latest purchase: a pair of briefs—underwear, at the local designer clothing store. For years now, you have done right by me, taking great care in purchasing what I prefer: boxer briefs. Generally, and in my humble opinion, I think you look far more attractive in them; they are loose and casual, comfortable and dynamic in their flow and adhesiveness—I feel quite at home in them.

Now, I am all about self-exploration. I mean, come on! We’ve had our fair share of creative shenanigans together. You remember that time with the rubber bands?

I certainly want you to try new things, or in this particular case, re-retry new old things that you used to do 20 to 25 years ago when you didn’t have a choice (Christmas was always socks and Fruit of the Loom briefs from mom and dad—hi mom and dad), but I digress.

Look, I was fine when you came home with the first pair of brand new designer briefs from the store a week or two ago, but then, as if to add insult to injury, just a few days ago, YOU. BOUGHT. TWO. MORE. PAIR! What on Earth were you thinking? I feel dizzy and sweaty just thinking about it. It’s like I’m stuck with this decision in much the same manner as I am your leg and I don’t like it!

It’s like my creativity and general comfort level suffocates, as the borders of your briefs draw closer and closer to me with every wash and dry cycle—those 100% cotton abominations of nature! YOU! You should be ashamed. That wedgie you are feeling right now up your fault line is no fault of mine and you know it. Think of the cocoa brown stains that could happen if you weren’t thorough! What would a lady friend think of that? Answer me!

[deep breath] I’m sorry…

I need to know: is it something I did or said? Look, I love you, and I want you to be happy. Talk to me. We can work this out. I just want everything (specifically, underwear) to be more like how they used to be—when the things between us were young, new, fresh, more boxer-brief like, and consensual.

Sincerely,

Your Testicles