Welcome!

Hi,

We're temporarily directing you here to the blog while Mark cool, Folksinger gets built on a Wordpress platform.

I hope you enjoy the blog posts here.

I've also inserted the music player, where you can download and listen to tunes, and view lyrics. There's a paypal donate button at the bottom of this post for donations for downloaded music. No set price, you name your own price for what you take.

Black Gold- did I screw up? Navajo vs Dineh

At a recent show that I played, a woman approached me after the show about my song, "Black Gold", which is about a Navajo woman in Arizona. The concert guest told me that she herself was of Native American descent, and that her understanding was that the word Navajo meant horse thief, and that the Navajo people called themselves Dineh, and didn't like the Navajo moniker.

This was a bit unsettling for me, as I've been playing the song for about 16 years around the world, and it's gotten a fair amount of radio exposure as well. Link to music player. Black Gold is #13

I went to work researching, to see if I should change my lyric, and make sure I wasn't offending someone where my intention was confer respect and solidarity.

What I have found is that the Navajo do indeed call themselves Dineh, which means "the people." The word Nabajo comes from the Pueblo people, and refers to the landscape of the people, fields meeting ravines, and maybe also refers to their agricultural leanings. The Spanish later adapted their word to the current Navajo.

I also learned that the Navajo don't necessarily want to be called Dineh by non-Dineh people, as mentioned by the Navajo writer in the article below.

I am glad to have done the research and learned more about the origins of the people and their names. I have decided that the lyrics to Black Gold will stand as written.


Article by Rno Yahze of the Dineh Nation, from dinehfellowship.com:
(And a good story.)

Navajo or Dineh (Dine)

When I was a kid, I ask my mom one day ' Mom, what does Navajo mean' and she answered '
it means thieves'. 'Thieves...' I wondered. 'How come?' I continued to ask ' Well, the white
people call us thieves because when the wagon trains use to go by, we use to go in and steal
from the wagons.' 'Oh, I see' I said.

Well, this conversation stuck in my head for a long time and I, sort of, accepted the fact that
this is what the word 'Navajo' meant. It bother me a little, but not to a point of disappointment.
Until the word 'Dineh' became the preference of what the Navajo should be called. I figured
that maybe it is because, our tribe did not want to be known as thieves. So, I went along with it.

Until one day I heard the word 'Dineh' coming from a real German coworker. It sounded
awkward. I told him, call me Navajo. I am fine with that. After that, I became sensitive to the
word 'Dineh' and soon became determined on why we should be called Dineh, instead of Navajo.
So, to find out, I started researching for answers from a reliable source - 'Tony Hillerman'
books (God bless his soul).

Well, after reading most of his books, the only thing I got out of it was that the Navajos were
known to the Paiutes as 'Sharp knives'. I said 'YES' and I was on a high horse. I had found
out the meaning of 'Navajo' and its meaning was that, we were warriors and not thieves. Soon
after that, I was hosting a Native American culture booth at a local city diversity event and I
met a man of Mexican descent. We start talking and he said he knew what the word Navajo
meant. I asked ' What does it mean?'. He said, it is a Spanish word for Sharp Knives -
'Navajas'. Well now, I was on a real High White horse. I was for certain that Navajos were
warriors. I was happy, but to confirm this, I went to a different source: the internet or another
words 'I googled it'.

Before I googled it, I was reading a lot of books. And in one of those books, a journal from a
Franciscan Priest wrote a phrase that struck me. It was 'Apachu de Nabajo', hmmmm..... I
thought. 'Apachu de Nabajo'. I knew Apache was a word for enemy from the Zuni, So, I said to
myself, ' Apache what?!? Turns out, from the books that I've read and googled, Navajo
originated from this term - 'Nabajo'. Nabajo means ' cultivated fields' or ' a place near a canyon
with cultivated fields' in the Pueblo language. So, the Pueblos named us ' Apaches that farm or
Apaches with cultivated fields'. This made more sense to me. Later, the Spanish drop the
'Apachu de' and called us 'Navajo'. So, there you go, another latin word that originated from
Greek ( ahhh...yeah..riiiiight). Personally, I am okay for being called a 'Navajo', but if an elder
of the tribe is speaking to me in Navajo and I asks me if I am 'Dineh', I am honored and
humbled.

Now that I think about it....I wonder if Tony Hillerman knew that Mexican guy...............
hmmmm.............I wonder.

Movember newsletter- Mustaches, giant rabbits, and free music

Hello,

Welcome to the semi- regular, almost monthly, Mark Cool newsletter for November 2010.


I just finished Eric Weiner's book, The Geography of Bliss and I highly recommend it!
The NPR correspondant and self-described grump travels the globe, visiting the happiest and un-happiest places on earth in search of the keys to "subjective well-being.".

Some key ideas:
People who regularly engage in acts of service or are in service professions are happier in general.
Envy is a happiness killer.
Money does not bring happiness. after basic needs are taken care of, the correlation between money and happiness is minimal to nonexistent.

The Thais believe in smiling, and that thinking makes one unhappy.

And on the subject of the tendency to seek happiness by moving from place to place, a quote from and Icelandic film maker was poignant and intriguing to me: "If you want to know where your true home in the world is, ask yourself where it is that you want to die."


Moustache news:
Movember's almost over, I have a week to achieve my modest fundraising goal of $100. Team Cool has raised $55 to date.

I have been sporting a moustache for the month to raise awareness and help to "change the face of men's health." Lord knows it ain't pretty, but I am willing to accept the ridicule and the bread crumb, soup, and beverage retention because I care!

Seriously though, my Grandpa Cool had prostate cancer, and his birthday was 11/1, the first day of Movember. My uncle is living with prostate cancer, and my dad died of cancer when I was 16. That's why I wear the whiskers that my girlfriend calls "creepy."

If you're moved or affected by men's cancers, especially prostate cancer, please consider making a donation to the cause @ http://us.movember.com/mospace/208985/ The site's really fun too, moustache facts and photo galleries, etc.



Cool-Champagne train @ Lilac lounge 11/11, me with creepy moustache.

Thanks to Pete Pawsey, impresario of the Lilac Lounge in Hillsborough for having me and Art out for a cozy show with a great audience on 11/ 11. The Lilac is like a home away from home.

The Cool-Champagne train rides again on 11/27, with me and guitarist extraordinaire Art Champagne playing a house concert in North Durham. The last one at Dave and Joanna's house, also in D-town, was a blast, with a sing-along and audience percussion orchestra on a rendition of Honky Tonk Women that brought the house down, as well as other touching and funny moments. Invitation is here for logistics and to RSVP.

Here is a FREE downloadable raw bootleg of a new song that we've been playing live, I actually debuted it at a house concert in Morpeth, UK, call Crows are Yellin'. It was inspired by a text message my brother sent from New york, standing in a blizzard in a cemetary. It'll make it's way onto my next cd I'm pretty sure.



Thanks to Gerrit Caspers for giving me some radio play on his Good No(i)se radio program in the Netherlands, http://goodnoiseradio.blogspot.com/. If you're looking for new alt-country/ americana artists, his playlists might point you to some.

"GoodNo(i)se is a music-program that's loaded with 'honest, pure' music. The program that pays attention to: Americana, (Alt)Country, Roots, Blues, Folk en Singer-Songwriters.
We play music recorded in cold garage boxes and squeaky attics. Music recorded in professional studios and intimate concerthalls. We pay our respects to the godfathers of these types of music, like Johnny Cash, Steve Earle, Guy Clark..."


I recently wrote an article here on my blog on how to host a house concert, if you've been thinking about hosting one.


Thanksgiving:

Turkey Day is upon us here in the US, and writing this, I was reminded of a moment at a gig in the Scottish Highlands. I'd driven 5 hours from Edinburgh through fog and rain, on the wrong side of the road, scared to death every time a lorry topped a hill in front of me because they seemed to be on a collision course with me, until I remembered that I was on the other side of the road. I arrived at the hotel and set up quickly. I was late due in part to coming across a guy who'd flipped his car upside down on a narrow bridge that we had to cross, but that's another story.
The hotel people had me set up in a side room that was the dining room, but all of the patrons were in the bar area, adjacent. I made some crack about feeling like I was at the kids' table at Thanksgiving, expecting at least a mild snigger or a smile or two. Nothing.
Oops, there's no Thanksgiving in Scotland, egocentric American!

Anyway, I moved the PA and myself out into the bar area, and we had a fun time playing and singing music together, and I was joined by a local guitarist who was a whiz on his instrument.

My other faux pas was asking for a "scotch" when someone offered to buy me a drink. The bartender informed me that I was in Scotland, so it was just "whisky", and what kind did I want?

The drive back to Edinburgh in the wee hours after catching a couple of hours' sleep (I had an a.m. flight and poor tour planning,) was foggy and rainy also, and surreal on account of the hundreds of giant rabbits all over the highway shoulders, as if I'd driven into a scene from the book Watership Down. Seriously, the rabbits were bigger than many dogs I've known! Hundreds of them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

How to host a House Concert easy as 1-2-3!

House concerts are a worldwide sensation that have been rapidly gaining popularity of late as a preferred way for artists and music lovers to connect.

If you've attended a house concert, you know what I mean. It's like being at your own exclusive VH-1 storytellers event!

This article is to help people who want to host a house concert of their own. It's pretty simple, easy as 1-2-3!

1. Pick the artist you'd like to host, contact them, and set a date.

2. Create an invitation and send it out.

3. Set up the space, welcome your guests, and enjoy the show!


I'll elaborate on these points and add a few tips and notes below.

1. Pick the artist- You'd be amazed at the artists who would be willing to play in your living room. Pick your top 3 and contact them, they might say yes. You'll need to agree on date, fee, and whether or not you're providing accommodations. PA is another item. Do they need sound reinforcement, or can they play completely unplugged? If they need PA, do they travel with their own, or do they want you to provide one? I have played the majority of my House Concerts unplugged. If the room has decent acoustics this usually works fine.

2.Create an invitation- I recommend Evite.com. It's free, and includes and RSVP tracker, will send out reminders for you, and has mapping capability for guests. I think Facebook now has a comparable app too.

Create your guest list and send it out. email is good, but some folks still need an old-fashioned phone call. You know your crew. Cast the net wide; friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, the more the merrier. There usually a bit of an attrition close to the date, so it's good to shoot for being booked a bit over capacity. If you think you can hold 30, go for 35. Even if everyone shows, they'll squeeze in, and it makes the event more exciting to have it full.

You can make it private, or you can have the artist publicize the event to their mailing list too. If it's an artist you like, chances are that you'll like other fans of their music who are on their mailing list. You can also put it on your neighborhood list serve, even put out fliers at local coffeehouses, etc. Often artists will have a ready made flier on their site that you can download and print out. Facebook and Twitter are other good ways to spread the word.

Info to include on invite:
Time- These are usually 3 hour events: 1 hour at from "doors open" to music start for
social time, then a 2 hour block for two 40-45 minute sets with a break in the
middle. Indicate doors open time, and music start time.
Address of event
RSVP to info: your email and phone #
Potluck instructions if a potluck
Byob if that's the case (most people do it this way)
Cost/donation amount
A blurb about the artist- usually available on the artist's website. A link to the
artist's site is a good thing here too. Then prospective guests can go and listen
to music and learn about the artist.
Optional- picture of the artist.

3. Set up the space- Considerations:
~Chairs and seating for the expected # of guests. Do you need to borrow folding chairs from neighbors?
~A space for the artist to play. Find out what amount of space they need for their set up. Make sure it's a focal point with a neutral backdrop, and where guests won't be walking through the space to go to the bathroom, etc.
~A place for the food to be set out. Room for chilling beverages.
~A space for a merchandise table for the artist to sell cd's.
~A place for coats if it's chilly. a good job for a teen, if there's one around.
~If there will be younger children who can't sit through two 40 minute sets of music, consider having a child care person on duty, with a room or outdoor space set up for kids' activities.

If you have an extroverted friend who doesn't mind collecting the money, it will take one responsibility off of your shoulders. The artist should not have to worry about collecting money or even making an announcement about it. Handling it as people enter is an efficient way to go, then that part is out of the way and everyone can enjoy the rest of the evening.

Other notes on hosting a house show:

~Don't think your space is too small. I've played to 15 people in a small flat in Edinburgh, and it was great. So great, we did it again the next year when I was back over there. I've played in cozy rooms where I was all but touching knees with the front row. It works. The intimacy is part of the charm.

~Other spaces: You can also do the same type of intimate show in a space like a church, community center, conference room at your work, an outdoor pavilion, back deck, etc, etc.

~Artist fees- most artists have a target amount that they want to make from a house show. You can take this and do the math with your expected # of guests and decide what to charge. These events are usually $10-15, which is a bargain for the concert goer. A great, one of a kind night out, and cheaper than going to a bar or club, when you factor in drink prices, especially if you go out to dinner 1st.

~Some hosts choose to pay the entire artist fee up front and treat their guests to a free concert. You can also make it special by including a free cd for each guest. You can ask the artist if they'll give you a wholesale price for bulk cds.

~Kids- These events are generally kid friendly. You can ask the artist if they have any R or X rated material to be sure. If there are going to be little kids, you might want to consider a child care person, as mentioned above.

~Format- Usually it's a flex hour from doors open til music starts, for arrival and eating and socializing, followed by two 40-45 minute sets of music with a break in the middle. I.e; 7pm- 8pm arrival and social, music from 8-10 with a break in the middle.

~ Accommodation- If your artist is traveling from out of the area and you have a spare room, you might want to offer accommodations. This is not mandatory, but it can be a fun opportunity for artist and host to connect.

~Contract- Many artists will have a standard contract that they will email to you detailing the terms of your agreement. These days a string of emails including terms and acknowledged by both parties serves the same purpose.

~Merch table- Mentioned above, artists have cds to sell, it's nice to have a prominent spot for guests to be able to look them over and buy if they want.

~PR materials- most artists have stuff on their site like photos, bio information and fliers that you can download and use for your invitation and PR. Just ask.

~Starting the music and introduction- When the artist is ready to play, you can flick
the lights, ring a bell, or generally herd people to their seats.
If you're not too shy, it's nice to have a personal introduction of the artist.
Where you first saw them, what you like about them and their music, or anything else
you want to say. It doesn't have to be a key note speech, just brief and heartfelt.
Otherwise, most artists can introduce themselves.

~Protocol and etiquette- House concerts are just that, concerts. Guests are
encouraged to give the artist their full attention during the performance. House
concerts are generally interactive by nature, between performer and audience, but
definitely discourage people from talking during songs, unless it's a sing-along of
course!

~Some helpful short videos:
For hosts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s57pIzhfDA&feature=mfu_in_order&playnext=1&videos=x2rKsFY74Uc

For guests: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=try-z4-4h04&p=8166691116056535

Beer run, apartheid, host monster

Fun song of the month;
Todd Snider's "beer run": http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2022436230
( "B double E, double R -U-N Beerrun.")
A fun song, definitely got some Townes influence. If you don't know this talented songwriter check out this and other of his songs.

"Copenhagen" by Robert Earle Keen is a classic in the same genre. An ode to chewin' tobacco.

My 100 house concert tour continues this month with a show at Dave and Joanna's house here in Durham, NC, the third one they've hosted and a rich tradition of music and connection. The coolest "green room" I've ever experienced is at Dave and Joanna's, where I hung out in the replica of Thoreau's cabin that they built in their backyard prior to the gig.

Art Champagne and I are playing a double header that day, with West Fest in the afternoon, and the House show at night.

Joining us at West Fest is talented South African singer-songwriter Roger Lucey. Roger had a promising musical career squelched by censorship under apartheid, because of his criticism of government policy and practice through his songs. The security officer assigned to monitor him later became a fan and has been writing a book about the experience.

A brief excerpt here: "In June I attended a show at His Majesty's Theatre of a 'new personality 'on the South African music scene, Roger Lucey & his band, the 'Zub Zub Marauders' who were making waves not only among the young white 'university set liberals' but also in Security Branch Head Office! A 'set' of Roger's music (from the banned "The Road Is Much Longer") and him airing his views about the S.A. political scene had been monitored during transmission to the Voice of America and I was accordingly assigned to identify him and "see what could be done about stopping this filth".
I attended all of Rogers shows, secretly recorded his mainly haunting, beautifully plaintiff ballads in which he inter alia referred toSteve Biko's death, State oppression and other 'unacceptable' issues. I dutifully transcribed the words and forwarded the whole lot to S.B. Head Office. They were incensed with the lyrics..."

It's an honor to share the stage with Roger for a few tunes. Art and I will back him up on a couple of his, and he'll sing Sunnyside of Life and Orphan with us.

My new website is under construction, I went with a new host. It was a toss up between 2 companies, so I chose Host Monster, on the merits of their name. I am a little disappointed that they only have a picture of a pretty blonde woman on their log in page. Maybe they're still working on a good monster image. Or maybe SHE is a monster in a pretty blonde woman's body. Like a Stepford wife.

I hope to have dancing bears and a dog and pony show on the new site to keep all of my visitors enthralled.

Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see there: www.markcool.org.

Don't forget to tell your friends and co-workers about the music.
FREE downloads here: http://www.markcool.org/index.php/music/

Top 5 European Tour moments

1. Over carried on Brit rail. Newcastle, UK.
Feeling posh from the 1st class coach trip Edinburgh to Newcastle, we had a rude awakening when we were unable to open the train door to disembark at our destination. In a panic, I rushed down the narrow aisle to the next car, rucksack and guitar in tow, bonking folks as I passed, and I couldn't open that one either. Continuing the mad dash through the train , I met a conductor at the junction of the 3rd car, where he informed me that the doors had already been locked, and we'd have to go to the next stop, and turn around.

Where's the next stop? York. How far is that? About an half hour. An hour round trip?! Yes, sorry.

I called my friend Martin, who we were supposed to meet for lunch in Newcastle, to give him the news, and he laughed and laughed. Thanks Martin.

It turns out that it was a very old train, and instead of the electric doors that most trains have, the doors were manual, where you actually have to pull open a window, reach to the outside and yank open the door handle.
Had a good lunch and Newcastle walking tour when we finally arrived an hour or so later. Great town!

2. Morpeth house concert and Northumberland beach. A great group of peeps shoehorned into the Browns' living room. Playing songs eyeball to eyeball and knee to knee, taking everyone's HC cherry, and they liked it. The hosts' teenage daughter and her friends passing hors doevre's on the break. Plus the best alt-country jukebox aside from Ken's in Glasgow.

The North Sea in the morning was divine, with dunes and surf, farms and nature preserve in harmonious juxtaposition, followed by a great elevensies with our awesome hosts afterwards!

3. Ullapool- I had the pleasure of being Fosh' (The Bull, you have to ask him!) 1st radio show guest on Loch Broom fm, as he stood in the large shoes of the Medicine Show's Rob Ellen, who I'd had the pleasure of hanging with the previous night and gifting him with the black Durham (NC) Bulls hat he hopefully took on tour with Phil Lee and Co from Spain to the Highlands, representing NC!
Best view ever at the Argyll Hotel where Nigel and Franner treated us like royalty!
Ulapool feels like being at the top of the world with mountains meeting sea and a harbor dotted with fishing boats. Our bus driver on the early am return trip has a son with a bar in NYC called Jacques Thompson's Bairns.

After an awesome dinner @ the Argyll, I played nearly 3 hours to the very receptive, lively, and musically literate audience made up of locals and tourists, including a fiddle maker from fife who met JC when he was searching for his Scottish roots, and a Royal mail worker and his retired teacher wife on holiday from the South of England. The fiddle maker brought his dog into the pub, which I enjoyed.


4. Glasgow overall. Great folks, Sunny Govan radio on air with Jim. The Noam Chomsky Experience. Ken and Craig hosting the State show on Craig's birthday, and seeing Craig throw down with his slide of fury onstage. Craig and Ken showing support @ Pivo, and a late night drink @ a groovy place I would not have found on my own. Seeing pal Paul McLaughlin, and the old guys digging my grandfather song. Great architecture.

5. Grassington (link to Fest) and the rock star treatment, sharing the bill with the Proclaimers and Rick Wakeman, and discovering that there's another British accent as difficult as Glasgow to understand, Yorkshire!

Went to the wrong Red Lion, good thing I gave myself plenty of time. Google gave me the Red Lion Pub Skipton, a 20 minute cab or bus ride through winding sheep dotted stonewall criss-crossed dales and roads narrow enough for only one vehicle to pass away from Red Lion Burnsall, where the gig was. It being Sunday, I was lucky to meet a creative bus driver in Skipton and we schemed to catch another bus in Grassington with minutes to spare getting me to the correctvRed Lion on time. A very stately old Inn at the intersection of river and dales. Taxidermy and oil paintings adorn the walls and it's a popular spot for weddings and formal events.

A great audience turned up, mostly pre-paid, and listened attentively and applauded politely. A psychologist in the crowd shouted "get over it!", after I'd played my 3rd divorce song. (She later told me she thought they were some of my best. )

After the show, one of the folks I talked with was a fence builder. nice to meet one of the authors of the astounding network of hand stacked stone walls in the area, some of them 100's of years old I'm sure.

A great night's sleep at the Forrester's Inn in Grassington, a morning hike through town and into the moors, and English breakfast rounded out my visit.

Other tour notes;

Coffee addiction nasty- got myself hooked on coffee in a big way while abroad. Something to do. A treat. The buzz is nice while traveling. It hurts weening back off though!

Driving is the worst stressor, I realized after returning to my "normal" life. I did not drive at all while on tour, just rode trains and buses and walked. Got chauffeured a couple of times too. :)

3 times accosted while playing guitar. What is it about having a guitar in a public place that people feel entitled to ask if they can play it? No. i don't know you, bugger off!

Int'l roaming lessons. Sprint's int'l roaming package sucks. I learned through trial and error that the most cost effective thing was to get a pay as you go SIM card from Orange, a UK cell company. The rates were a fraction of Sprint's, and you can "top up" your card at stores practically anywhere. Plus the Orange stores have murals of cute little orange aliens inside, kind of fun.

Bye bye Facebook!

I'm deactivating my FB account. On at least 3 occasions over the past few months, they've reset my notifications preferences without my permission, to start sending me notifications again. I've had it !

I will still be on Twitter and (cringe) Myspace. Even tho Myspace is dead, at least they respect my privacy. You can reach me via my website, markcool.org or just google me.
I'm on Reverbnation and the European House Concert Hub also. They respect my email space too.

Excellent and catchy satire song by Rhett and Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSnXE2791yg&feature=related




Best,

Mark