Time flies. It's been four years since I released Beauty Everywhere, a 7-song record I made with some of my favorite people.While I haven't played with a full band in, ahem, several months, I'm still taking in as much beauty as possible these days and was very pleased that Corrina Carter recently covered this tune at one of her recent shows.
Take a listen here:
The songwriting on Beauty Everywhere leans towards the personal, with songs covering the middle of a…
Read moreFor Your Consideration first-round GRAMMY Awards®The Department of the West for BEST AMERICANA ALBUM
"...what Americana music is all about for me; imaginative, cinematic, informative and last but not least ... entertaining." — The Rocking Magpie
With The Department of the West, Crooks continues to explores themes of natural history, while also addressing the nature of land ownership and Native American history, and the #metoo movement and relationship.
Listen:
"The two most important things you can give a person," Swamiji told me, "are food and information.” I was on my first trip to India in 2004, sitting in his cave temple, a few stone steps down from the top of Chamundi hill, after hiking close to 1000 steps to his door amid a jumble of grey stone painted in white and red stripes. Several grey monkeys were milling about outside when I arrived.
The hike up the hill was steep, the air was hot and I was sweating when I finally stepped onto a road where the tour…
Read moreWhen things are this nuts it’s that much more reason to listen to a bunch of music! Conveniently, it’s @Bandcamp Friday! Bandcamp is once again waiving its revenue #today and upcoming first Fridays in order to help artists and labels impacted by the pandemic. Plus you can get all 6 of my releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%. Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Department of the West, Adding Water to the Ashes Remix (10th Anniversary Edition), Be…
Read moreDreaming of rivers amid the fires. Watch the new video for “Let the River do the Running,” a song from The Department of the West, featuring the Salmon (alongside which it was written), Snake, Russian and Yellowstone Rivers. Take a look and listen at the link in bio.
About “Let the River do the Running”
What The Rocking Magpie had to say about the track:
“Let The River Do The Running sits comfortably in both Americana and Alt. Country camps, with its rustic imagery being a metaphor for a struggling…
Read moreIt's been twenty-eight weeks since I left Chalk Hill, stocked up on groceries and headed home. Twenty-eight weeks of canceled trips and revised plans and loaded up pantries and bird feeders and neighborhood walks, daily writing and Zoom yoga. Twenty-eight weeks of porch concerts, SIP the Bay videos, chalk on the sidewalk, new songs, a musical in progress and a neighborhood zine. Petitions, postcards and letters. Colorful masks and new air filters, hand sanitizer and soap and water and safe social…
Read moreMy hyper-local SIP orbit inspired another hyper-local SIP project! The Bay Station Eagle (Bay St. & Eagle Ave. are two intersecting streets in Alameda’s Bay Station neighborhood where I live) is a pocket guide-size print quarterly, equal parts field guide and literary zine, penned by local residents and reflective of our corner of Alameda island. Email if you’re interested in a copy. $5 each plus postage (if out of Alameda. In this issue:
As a lover of land and nature my heart has been especially sore these past weeks as many wildfires rage across the western states. The Department of the West was inspired by so many places that are acutely suffering right now. And while some of the songs from DoW are elegiac in tone, I couldn't imagine seeing what we're all seeing now.
Nonetheless, there's no time like the present to do what can be done. I'm fortunate to have all my tools on hand to keep writing and playing and taking action where I can…