The Process Returns - Who is that Mad Band?

                                                                

                                            


                                                                            

The Process

Is Back

Who Is That Mad Band?

Dave Asher, lead vocals, guitars, bas, drums, percussion

Garrick Owen, guitars, Sitar

Bill Heffelfinger, guitars, bass, keyboards, drums

Gabe Gonzalez, drums, backing vocals

Seth Payton, bass, keys, guitars, percussion, tenor saxophone

The Process never ceases to amaze me. Just when they are down for the count, they get up and do a little musical ropa-dopa that seems to veer offcourse with yet another one of Asher’s proselytizing moments about Jah and his devotion to Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Once Asher embraces that moment in time he’s able to imagine a new form of music that is both beautiful and disturbing. Asher mixes hard rock with sweet reggae music and result is simply astounding. In Asher’s mindscape he imagines a new formula for his musical adventures and his faith. I compare Asher’s search to Beatle George Harrison’s mega opus Awaiting on You All wherein he regales false prophets, “And the pope owns 51% of General Motors; and the Stock Exchange is the only thing he’s qualified to quote us.” OUCH…but yeah, it’s true enough. Asher also has the courage to sing the truth no matter if anyone agrees or even listens. That’s why I love David Asher and the Process. They have a distinct vision that reveals an uncommon truth about human struggle and the needed embrace of agape. Listen to the music in your mind, read along.

The Process opens with a powerful track entitled Mystery Babylon. This is a musical landscape of biblical proportions. Asher embraces faith and praises his name. He sings of the Lion of Judah, blood of the children, vampires, fires and Rasta ascendance. Speaking of the Israel Nation. In 1892 Ethiopia a child was born. He eventually took the name Haile Selassie (Might of the Trinity).

Dick Wagner performed on Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. It was one of his last musical projects and it rocks hard. It even sounds like an Alice Copper outtake from Billion Dollar Babies. Asher adds a cool lyrical theme about genetic mutations and Monsanto’s mind control experiments using kids right out of college…they won’t protest, the money is too good. The truth is it’s just a bribe. We sell our soul almost daily and those college kids will find out sooner or later.

Tribute (to the heroes) is Asher’s tribute to his boyhood icons…

He sings “This goes out to the kings of reggae music. Past, Present and future; Bob Marley will always be around. He will always be like a twinkling star in the sky. Peter Tosh music will never die.” Asher also paid tribute to the rockers because you cannot keep a good song down; music will always be around! The Process are in top form, on there game, using guitar, bass, drum, keyboard, lots of percussion and tenor saxophone. It makes for incredible and dynamic sounds.

Asher’s version of Traffic’s Dear Mr. Fantasy is pure reading of a great song. Asher clearly tips his hat to Stevie Winwood’s craft and in doing so he mirrors the genius of the original. It was a labor of love. The music was perfectly endowed and the lead guitar work was exceptional!

The Psalm of David rocks like Van Halen with wild rocking guitar flourishes, pounding drums, swirling synth and Seth Payton’s tenor sax. The music dances across the floor, the groove is perfect! This is for the voice that is unheard. This is beautiful music without need of words.

Gypsy Wind has a big full bodied wall of sound and it’s danceable. This is tasty brew of, guitar, drum and tenor saxophone and a descending guitar line.  Asher’s lyrics speak of the gypsy in us all, the wanderlust…

“You’ve got the gypsy in your heart; you’ve got the gypsy in your soul; From the North Pole to the South Pole, From Hong Kong to New York City”. A female vocalist sings soulfully, wordlessly. This is one of the best songs on the disc.

The final track is Fire is Burning. It is a showcase of Asher’s best instincts. This is hip hop reggae, funky with wordless background singing that leaves a powerful message!

Asher: Fire is Burning. We kill the vampire. Hold them Rasta Hold them, Catch them Rasta catch them. Catch them when they run! Psychedelic Reggae with equal rights, justice and truth! Bless Asher and the Process for having a brave voice and a clear vision in an uncertain future

Asher will have a Listening Party @ White’s Bar on July 8th, 2016

The Process will perform the entire disc later in the week @ Bemos

PEACE

Bo White

All My Stories. A Great New Disc of Original Songs from Michael Robertson

All of My Stories

Michael Robertson

Michael Robertson is one half of a great brother team that includes his younger sibling Scott Robertson. Michael has a powerful contralto that hits the pocket with nuance and fire; he’s a perfect lead singer. Scott can sing lead or harmony. He’s one of the great tenors in rock & roll. I first got to know them as the Robertson Brothers and within a year or so they caught fire as Maybe August, supplementing the band with Roscoe Selley a harpist extraordinaire and a great singer. Keith Carolyn became the bass player and he laid down the bottom like a wrench putting the torque on a nut. The drummer was cool and laid back. But that was yesterday and yesterday’s gone. Now Michael is older and wiser. He’s eschewed the pomp and circumstance of a travelling band and decided to focus on lyrics, tones and the language of the country born of heart, hearth and struggle. The cover has a perfect black & white hue in sepia tones, Michael’s hair is windblown and impervious to the overgrown grasses and haggard trees.

The disc opens with the title song All My Stories. This is the plugged in version with Don Rich country style pickin’, the musicians let the instruments breathe and stretch out. The unison vocals of Robertson and Honesty Elliot shine softly above the instruments. This is a mature song cycle that speaks to loving as opposed to lust and loss for what is inevitable.

Highway Song is a precious diamond in the rough. The cry of the lap steel sets the tone in sepia color with Dylanesque charm and Al Cooper organ splashes. Robertson builds those stately notes big and beautiful and Selley’s lonely harp sings to the night.

Sirens hijack my attempts to fly

Those days we swore we’d never come back

Truth was fiction and fiction was fact

Big screens and real estate

How’d the hell did we get here

We drank to the future and pretended we didn’t know

We laughed as the bridges burned

And the lessons we learned

Take your maps and pictures and throw them away

Old Man sounds like a Rolling Stones outtake on the Honky Tonk Women sessions. Michael is doing his Keith Richards, lurking in the shadows with and bemoans his lost youth while looking back on his career. He’s still a rebel. This is great singing and great playing. Everyone in this project is a monster musician!

It wasn’t so long ago

We were young men

Frisky and ready to take on the establishment

Lines on our face don’t stop us from digging it.

Old man I don’t give a goddam

We all look into the mirror eventually

Sale on Salvation is a Maybe August song excavated and put in its proper place and time. Michael strums the acoustic and begins to sing as the organ splashes the backdrop. The lyrics are clever and the singer’s voice is road hard.There is a couplet within the song that was quite controversial back in the day, “shoot any more liberals” used to contain a naughty word.

We got a sale on salvation all of this week

So they‘re flying out the door as fast as we speak

If I can just keep my tongue out of my cheek

I might not be condemned to eternal damnation

But the song ends well enough with a rendition of Amen

Its Not What You Think is simply incredible. It opens up with Robertson’s lap steel and mindful strumming. Michael’s voice has aged well like a fine whisky and it parrells his wisdom for the ages. It’s our only time, our only life. It’s a song of sepia tones and ugly truths; a woman with a baby and a boss with a libido.  Robertson plays the lap steel and it whines in tune with the sadness and suffering. He reaches for the heavens. It’s a cry for life.

Michael inserts …

There once was a man from Nantucket

Kept all his dreams in a bucket

One day he woke up and said

Its funny how there is no one to blame

It is what it is and

It’s not what you think

Blame on Youhas a tightened up percussion, punctuated drum beat like Archie Bell & the Drells on steroids. Acoustic/electric guitar flourishes ring out.  Robertson is at his angriest best when he sings about his pain and getting away from words. The holes in your hands lyric appear to be a reference to Jesus or to suffering.

Get from your head to a place I understand

Get down from the mountain where you stand

Maybe I’ll just turn and walk

Like I don’t give a damn away

Little Man opens with a sweet circular riff followed by Michael’s voice – the drummer is in the pocket and the slide guitar soars like an eagle in flight. This is an ode to a father and son, a true agape, in the vein of Cat Stevens’ Over Young.

Little Man, Little Man

Look at you now

Before you know it

You’ll have stories like me

Little Man Little Man

You won’t know how fast it will be

Somedays you’ll wake up and outshine the sun

Little Man I already know

Shut Up and Go to Sleep has a great guitar riffthat repeats and brings it all home. Incessant drums and high hat lead the charge, great energy and a lot of fun. This involves kidding in the square, underneath it all are some very serious issues.

I left the Misses to Mr. Right

Hand cut to the Camaro

Parked out of sight

She was screaming out something

And I was trying to steer

There’s got to be someplace I belong

But I know it ain’t here

All My Stories (acoustic) is a masterpiece similar to Van Morrison’s You Stoned Me (like jelly roll). This alternate acoustic take is the most incredible song I’ve heard in years. Now I know for sure there is a spirit of heavenly love and bliss. It is in those soft voices that reassure us. Michael Robertson is the seeker and he knows true love can last way past the heat.

Tonight I lie Down on my bed

Escape the mantra in my head

The voice outside sounds just like you

Saying some dreams still come true

But you know all my stories

Some day the voices just won’t leave

They come to me and say…just breathe

Take me now for what I am

The shadow of a better man

Waiting here for you to save me

Take me now for what we’ll be

A better you and a better me

Michael Robertson and Honesty Elliot teamed up to create a musical landscape of harmony and peace. This is adult music and adult thoughts. What’s next; How will we wear it?

Peace & Love

Bo