‘Honored’ to be an Honorable Mention in this year’s Telluride Troubadour Songwriting Contest (2nd year in a row)!

Telluride2013_honorablemention2

Thank you Telluride Bluegrass peeps!

Hi all-

The Bowery Electric show for this Saturday, 4/13 has been rescheduled. It will be on Wed. May 1st at 7pm. Hello from Austin, TX! On my way to Dallas today – Opening Bell Coffee at 8pm.

-brian

BLOGCRITICS/JOSEPH’S REVIEWS – CD REVIEW

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/only-love-can-break-a-heart/

There are certain albums that we use to mark time. Consider this chronology… In 1969, Neil Young released his first, self titled, solo album which demonstrated that he was a distinct artist apart from the Buffalo Springfield. In 1991, Matthew Sweet released Girlfriend, a mix of ballads and joyful hard rock pop that resulted in its becoming the best-selling album on college campuses that year. And in late 2012, Brian Dolzani released his lower-case entitled 12-song collection, if i don’t speak a word… (read more in PRESS).

Tour is shaping up very well for April + May! Check the dates below some recent press coverage:

BLOGCRITICS – CD REVIEW
http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-brian-dolzani-if-i/
2/26/13 – BY JACK GOODSTEIN

Listening to singer-songwriter Brian Dolzani’s new album If I Don’t Speak a Word, I am reminded of the famous Matthew Arnold description of Lord Bryon’s poetry in his own “Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse.” Byron’s writing, he says, bears “the pageant of his bleeding heart.” Keats, Shelley… Byron could bare his soul with the best of them. Of course when you’re looking for intimate personal struggle, you don’t have to go back to Byron. Modern songwriters haven’t been shy when it comes to laying their emotions on the line. And when it comes to intimate soul searching, Dolzani is following in big footsteps. (read more in PRESS)

THE RECORD JOURNAL (CT) – CD review
By Jim Pasinski, 2/25/13 – Excerpts
http://jpsmusicblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/cd-review-sweet-remains-and-brian.html

The album begins with the lyrical “Older Now” as he explains his words of wisdom. The twelve-song release is more about the words than the music as Dolzani’s vocals on “Whether or Not” remind us of an earlier version of Neil Young & Crazy Horse, before feedback became Neil Young’s power chord. The songs that strike the most interest are the mostly acoustic storytelling of “Before Goodnight” and “Broken.” The album finishes up with the inner search for love in “Autumn In Central Park” and how to deal with love in “I’m Sorry Now.” (read more in PRESS).

TOUR DATES

March 28     Acoustic Cafe                                 Bridgeport, CT
April 1           CT Style taping (WTNH)            New Haven, CT
April 5           17 State Street Cafe                      Newberryport, MA
April 6           HartFolk Festival                          Hartford, CT
April 9           Flipnotics                                       Austin, TX
April 11         Opening Bell                                   Dallas, TX
April 13         Bowery Electric                              New York, NY
April 25         Redding Roadhouse                     Redding, CT
April 28         Mocha Maya’s                                Shelburne Falls, MA
May 11           John Street Jam                             Saugerties, NY
May 14          WGN-TV                                          Chicago, IL
May 14           Uncommon Ground on Clark     Chicago, IL

May 18th       Neutral Ground                              New Orleans, LA
May 19th       Smith’s Olde Bar                            Atlanta, GA

May 21            Cafe Nine                                        New Haven, CT

I posted this on Facebook the week after this tragedy. Spontaneously composed the Sunday after, and sung while sick with a cold.

‘The New Angels’

I wish healing to all those directly affected.

CD SALE 12/13

It’s my Birthday today (yea a big one!) and I’m offering CD’s 2 for 1 through 12/17 (which is my oldest son’s birthday. Yup, us Sagittarius’s). Get one for yourself, give one to a friend. Use the PayPal order form on the right side bar.

The new record!

The new record, ‘If I Don’t Speak A Word…’, is here. Check out this short promo and pick up a copy. As it’s the holidays, yes it could be a gift for someone else. But I’m ok with you just getting it for yourself. Enjoy!

Recent tour pics and video

I took place in the first annual Eddie Owen Present’s Open Mic Shootout at the Red Clay Theater in Duluth, GA this past month:

Myself and Eddie Owen

Myself and Eddie Owen. photo by Laura Russo D’Ademo

photo by Laura Russo D’Ademo

Also had a fun show at the Basement in Nashville, TN where I was joined by Hannah Miller and Neilson Hubbard for some 3-part harmony on Neil Young:

It was 2319 miles in 5 days. Love me some ROAD! I really do.

Dear October

Dear October,

Bring us good things. A harvest, a reward, a new leaf fallen from an old tree. We promise to be mindful of our selves, to maintain a deep tap into our inner beauty so that the world can reflect what we know is Love. Too many are hurting now…too much violence, too much greed, too many broken relationships and people. Let us remember what it means to be human; to be really alive.

What is it you deeply love? What can’t you live without that’s not material? All material, including us, will fade. Cultivate and nourish your energy, as that’s what’s created and re-created daily. That’s what never fades, wilts, or dies.

Even tomorrow we will be older. By a day. You can ask yourselves: Would I like to change? Stay the same? Am I happier now or then? Which leads to, What is happiness? That’s a very personal question for only you to answer, regardless of others’ input, approval, or judgement. Scary, I know.

Life isn’t necessarily something to be figured out. Or have control of. Or be on top of. Or even manage. Be content in this free fall. For are you really even falling? Away from what? Towards what?

Foliage

Right now I’m writing this listening to Iron and Wine, The Shepard’s Dog. I feel at peace while engaged in this writing, which I realize is not what I feel most of the day. Most time, like you perhaps, is spend striving and longing and missing out and trying to catch up and seeking something that as soon as you find it, it’s changed. What you thought it should be, it is not. Again, this is life.

Dear October, let us know life as it is. Because it’s our fight against it that creates our suffering. Sure, we say, Well this IS how it is. But our hearts do know differently, because we know we are afraid to let it be as it really is.

What would you like for this month?