The Year Is Dead. Long Live the New Year!

Goodbye, 2017… and hello, 2018!

What happened to 2017? It seemed to go by so fast. It was definitely a year for a lot of personal events in my life, both positive and negative, but throughout the year, I managed to squeeze in some Mystics Anonymous music-making. Check it out:

In January, Mystics released the experimental track “De-Tunia, Pts. 1 & 2” featuring yours truly and fellow Mystic Steve Koziol – you can hear it here:
https://soundcloud.com/mystics-anonymous/de-tunia-pts-1-2

In March, Mystics played as a five-piece (Patrick Garland, Andrew Goulet, Brian Marchese, Matt Silberstein, and myself) at Sierra Grille in Northampton, MA, along with the bands Nanny and Endless Mike. You can watch a few of the songs from that night—“(I Want to Be A) Mathematical Rarity” and “Maudlin, You Liar,” to be exact—right here:
https://youtu.be/0lZZ07YbsEs

In May, Mystics showed up to play the Harry Nilsson tribute at The Rendezvous, this time as a three-piece (Drew Hutchison, Matt Silberstein, and myself), along with several other wonderful local artists. Truly a night of great music, and we contributed two songs: All I Think About Is You and the classic Coconut, which morphed into Tomorrow Never Knows before ending.

Mystics Anonymous playing at the Nilsson tribute show, The Rendezvous, Turners Falls, MA, May 2017.

In July, Mystics played Luthier’s Co-op, along with the bands Tawdry and The Salvation Alley String Band. That night, we played as a four-piece (Andrew Goulet, Brian Marchese, Matt Silberstein, and myself). You can hear “Sinner’s Lament” from that night right here:
https://soundcloud.com/mystics-anonymous/sinners-lament-live-7-1-17

In December, Mystics played above John Doe, Jr. Records in Greenfield, MA, in a lovely, intimate room dubbed Jane Doe, Jr., along with Bob Fay, Lauri McNamara, and Wednesday Knudsen. That night, Mystics was a duo featuring Steve Koziol and myself. You can hear our first three songs, including a cover of “The Spy” by The Doors, right here:
https://soundcloud.com/mystics-anonymous/sinners-lament-the-spy-vivian-line-live-121317

Also in December, Mystics released our annual digital holiday single—this year’s selection was the classic R&B track “Christmas Comes But Once a Year,” recorded in one snowy afternoon over at Rick Murnane’s cozy Makeshift Sound studio. Rick and I had a lot of fun playing ukuleles, guitars, keyboards, and hand percussion to make a homey, lo-fi version of this lovable track (and I may have added a few new lyrics as well). You can listen to that track, as well as download it for free, right here:
https://mysticsanonymous.bandcamp.com/track/christmas-comes-but-once-a-year

Definitely a fun 2017. And Mystics already has plans to poke our heads out in 2018 as well. Until then, make merry and have a Happy New Year!

 

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: