#1 ANNOUNCEMENT: Echomike001 of Hedgerow Hell and Hellkast is Now Focused On Making Music

As many of you know, I was making an attempt at podcasting and blog writing. The Blog you're reading now, 'Hedgerow Hell,' and the podcast, 'HellKast' were about all things politics, however, about 3 months ago, I was unexpectedly re-inspired by Billy Corgan of the extraordinary rock band - The Smashing Pumpkins. He'd been making the rounds on several podcasts and sharing some of his thoughts on matters of politics, culture and the arts. I found myself usually in alignment. Through listening to Corgan speak on such matters, I was brought back into thinking about songwriting. I was extremely passionate about it in my teen years.

Funny how such unexpectedly long lost loves can re-appear. For context, I used to sleep to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness on repeat with my disc-man. I remember always putting the second disc in when I crawled into be and listening to the song 'Beautiful" over and over (should I be embarrassed? Nah..lol). I did this countless nights, even on school nights. These were the formidable years of my earlier musical appreciation, where I was finding out the music that I liked, and not just what the radio spoon-fed me. Even on school nights I'd write poetry and create guitar riffs way into the wee hours. I'd wake-up, and go to school sometimes with only an hour or two of sleep. I credit my current "night-owl-ness" to this earlier part of my life. I will say that I think this was a strength I had as soldiers have many sleepless nights will performing missions; seemed to translate well.

When I was 14 years old, I began learning guitar. I worked full-time and bought myself a Fender Stratocaster. it was white. I eventually sanded down the body and painted it black. Probably sounds cliche, but the song 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana is to blame for sucking me into rock and roll. But it was Alice In Chains, namely, Jerry Cantrell who inspired me to buy a guitar in the first place. Nirvana was really special for me,as Kurt and I are both lefty guitarists, but I loved the pinch harmonics that Cantrell often made in his edgy solos - true "Edge Lord," he is. And of course Pearl Jam. Oddly, I always hated my first name and most Eddies were comical-type personalities and I always regarded myself as a fairly serious person and so struggled to like it, and so I told everyone to just call me Ed (kind of funny). My early teenage years Eddie Vedder's vocals on the PJ Album '10' were down-right inspiring for me. The song 'Black' especially ripped the skin off my hardened foster-kid heart as one would "go for the jugular vein," Vedder's vocals went for my soul. It was mystery to me, then that his vocal style can sound so off-structure and yet still have structure.

Please forgive me for taking you on a bunch of tangents.

I played guitar and wrote lyrics with such an obsession until the age of 18, and after signing the "dotted line" the day after 9-11-2001, I hadn't really played. I just ignored the idea of making music altogether. So, this is what I mean by "long lost loves" re-appearing -music and jamming on a guitar. I actually was quite sad and told a friend of mine, I said: "Man, I wanna make music so damn bad, but so much of my life is behind me now." I told him about my teenage years and how I was obsessively playing/writing. He said, " Yeah, I think that was a message that you were suppose to listen to." Had a similar convo with my brother who also played with me as a teen, over a recent phone-call he said to me after I told him how I'm wondering if I'm too old to make music at this point and he responded with something quite inspiring: He said, "fuck that, look no further than Willy Nelson. Dude's still out there!"

Those are what friends are for. Nelson did just recently turn 90 years old. That's what I needed to kick my gears into over-drive. That was 30 songs ago!

Anyways, over the last 2 months, I wrote more than 30 songs with my twice-broken acoustic guitar. It's a lefty Ovation Celebrity that I bought pre-owned years ago, for $150 buckaroos. I have a G&L on the way (excited). Funny, that the repairs I made on this Ovation, bettered the the guitar's original sound; it wasn't as rich and "honey-like" and the tone was not as fat as it is now.

I recommend to all who play cheap guitars to snap their headstocks off, resin them back to gather and apply 3 layers of resin over the headstock then paint it, and be sure to do this without the tuners on the headstock. Ha... Just kidding, I can't seriously recommend this, but it did work for me in this specific situation (:

Not sure if this fatter tone is complimentary to my already heavy-handed and loose (sloppy) playing style, but maybe its okay since my musical tastes are largely derived from the early 90's "Grunge Scene." I also love a bit of Country music. If I could choose to have any man's voice, it'd be George Strait's voice. That song 'Amarillo By Morning,' has been a gem all my life.

I wanted so badly to say something to all my readers and podcast listeners about the sudden focal change and my personal mission towards making kick-ass music derived from what I call "soul-pain," but I didn't want to jinx myself or something like that. So, I waited to see for myself just how serious I am about making music.

I'm going to admit here, and probably only here that I sympathize with all whom are concerned with the state of things politically. I want to make music that utterly violates the current mainstream. I have the balls to do it. I never had much credibility even before this shift towards making music, but I do have some dear twitter friends who I never want to lose, they're all great people who stand for important things (my favorite people); if making music destroys whatever credibility I ever had, if any, well then, that's just too bad. I'm now making music that I like, and music that doesn't sound like anything else that exists. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Currently, I am just making rough cuts. I may make an album consisting of these rough cuts. Maybe the proceeds will help me earn some money towards studio time so that I can cut a master album. I'm thinking about establishing some ways for those who wish to contribute towards funding my studio time, but I'm not quite ready to deal with that side of things, at the moment. And, of course, I need to get a new logo. Additionally, I am planning on performing live at many smaller venues in Texas, here in roughly the next 6 months. I should have enough of my material ready to perform live by then. I am in the middle of looking for reliable bandmates, which I need first, although, I have no problem playing solo until then, and that may have to happen that way for some time.

Below is a video of a rough cut, I did. The Song is called 'Nothing Sacred.' FYI, occasionally, I'll publish even if there are flaws in songs. I play them nearly every day, so they do tend to keep getting better, as I improve them and learn them more deeply. Will pay off when i enter a studio to record a Master Album. One Disclaimer that I must make: This song (Nothing Sacred) is not for children: The song conveys many thoughts/emotions, even the desire to no-longer want to live, and so it's not for kiddos' ears. Also, by no means do I sympathize with suicide - to be clear. This is written purely to relate with the emotions of numbness towards life and the fatigue of spinning our wheels and seemingly getting "nowhere," which I have felt many times. Sometimes its the "sad song" that can re-awaken and send us power (Opposite Octave Reaction).

Below is a sample of what I mean by "rough cut" songs. Many more will be posted in the coming days.

Music Video: 'Nothing Sacred' (Rough Cut) by Echomike001