To the 5 Boroughs

For the most part any non-paved trails or trails in the woods are still snow-covered. The roads and shoulders are in terrible shape. Wet, crumbling, full of potholes. So we do ‘road’ bike rides on our mountain bikes this time of year. Doesn’t ruin your road bike, you don’t spend all your time fixing flats in skinny tires and, the most enjoyable benefit, when you find a big long, muddy dirt or gravel road, you can see where it goes.

My compatriot Mr. T. and I had a rough idea of a route to visit 5 neighborhoods local to us. Our ‘homage’ to the Beasties record, if you will, check it out.

1971 Land Rover Series IIA

Not your Daddy’s Oldsmobile.

Stolen from my buddy Steve’s site.

Mine is not your conventional mid-life crisis. I don’t want the fast red sports car. I long for the slow, red truck that’s noisy and has no radio. No bluetooth. No heated seats. This particular one is a nice shade, has the additional cool tie-in of being from the year of my birth and even has a hitch receiver for the bike rack. Link to my gofundme page will be up soon…

John Butler, Ocean, 2012

John Butler has been playing this song his entire career from busking on streets to stadiums. Like his career it has morphed and changed over time, and like one of his shows is unique each time he plays it. Many artists have ‘signature tunes’ that become canon. This is his. So cool to see a) a piece of music that is essentially a part of who the man is that he never seems to tire of playing b) someone in such complete command of their instrument while simultaneously channelling something from somewhere else.

I remember years ago when a friend of mine played me a different version of this and it blew me away. This was/is like discovering it all over again.

From the YouTube description:

“OCEAN is a very interesting aspect of my life. It is part of my DNA. It conveys all things I can’t put into words. Life, loss, love, spirit. As I evolve so too does ‘Ocean’. The song was first recorded as part of my first album/cassette, “Searching For Heritage”, which I sold when I busked, then for my first self-titled studio album 12 years ago — “John Butler (1998)”. The song has been watched online incredibly over 25 million times in various formats, nearly always live, be it from MusicMax Sessions or from one of the many festivals I have had the pleasure to play. I’d like to thank you for your continued support over all these years; it means so much to me. I would like to thank you by offering this first studio recording of ‘Ocean’ in over a decade as a free download. I recorded it in my favourite studio, The Compound here in Fremantle Western Australia, a studio you helped me build. This marks just another fleeting moment in a career that is very much ongoing. I look forward to bringing you many new songs and albums into the future and continuing this amazing journey with you ALL. THANK YOU, J.B”

John Butler