Loser breaks
Some people were born to lose. It’s just the way it is. They never quite get those lucky breaks that other people get their entire lives. They only get loser breaks. At school they were the last to get picked for the football team. They got detention after class for getting caught doing what the […]
Journey of the Pygmy Pony
This week I am happy to release ‘’Return Of Pygmy Pony’’, one of the songs from my upcoming album of instrumentals, aptly titled ‘’Notes From The Boneyard, Vol 1’’ (released Sept 22nd on Deltasonic Records). The journey of this song is a good one, and I am still on the journey to wherever it is […]
midnight caller
“Hello mister mark?” The voice at the end of the line was scratchy, but familiar. “This is your Arizona offices. We’ve been receiving some complaints that there’s been no complaints. Can you ruffle some feathers and start shaking things up a bit? It’s too boring. We need some action.” He was right, of course. He […]
Lenny
I stumbled into the cafe in Montreal to get away from the snow. It was up to my shins. I found a corner seat by the bar and ordered a coffee. Looking around my surroundings, I noticed a photo of leonard Cohen. I quizzed the waitress on its significance. She informed me that Lenny used […]
INTERVIEW WITH CHUCK PROPHET
What was the first record you owned and do you still have it? The Heart Of Stone single by SVT. I lost it. But I found another copy a couple years ago. The original 7’’ is killer. Great band. Brian Marnell was the frontman. He was an impossibly good looking dude. Black hair falling down […]
“How one discovers Scranton ( or Arizona)”
When we were 15 we hung out at a local pizza parlor on Friday nights and used up all our quarters ( coins ) to play illegal pinball in the back room. This was ceremoniously done while playing Sticky Fingers on the juke box and sparking up a Marlboro. It was 1972. Socially, we were […]
Waiting for bodger
It was Glastonbury. I forget the year. Michael Jackson had just died and we had been in a beer tent for two days straight with Bodger from the kids tv show, Bodger and Badger. We had been keeping the train in motion, awake for 48 hours and counting, but Bodger was insisting we stay up […]
A Kind of Interview with Howe Gelb
Dear Interviewer. There’s no way I can answer the questions you put forward. And I mean no disrespect. It’s too late in the day and I’m too long in the tooth to attempt to clarify my existence of song or sell myself to those unaware. I can only tell you that I believe Ireland invented […]
A fragment of thought
Life is a lot like jazz. 90% of the time you have no idea what’s going on. It’s best when you improvise. It can be a manic horse running wild and you just have to hold on to the reigns as long as you can and hope for the best. Dont try and control the […]
PRAYERS FOR THE OPEN ROAD
WORDS: Mark McKowski & Howe Gelb. MARK WRITES: SCRANTON TIMES I have returned home to Scranton. But yet I haven’t returned. A large chunk of me is still out there on the road. Somewhere behind me. Aren’t there certain cultures who wait at the airport for a day after they fly so their […]
Awkward but social