MONTGOMERY DELANEY: MONTBLOGERY

It has amazed me as I have watched this spectacle in Colorado, how far the imagination must be stretched to accept the notion that Senator Obama has the requisite experience necesssary to be President of the United States! He is a first term Senator who has authored, ushered, shepherded, passed NO, ZERO, NONE, NADA, ZILCH legislation.

I listen intently to the rhetoric of invention about change. What is he going to change? How is he going to change it? Are things going to change just because it is "his time?" At what moment does the water become wine?

The fact that we are even debating this nonsense is a clear indication that Big Brother (the media) is in control of almost half of the minds in this country. The other half realize that the choice is basically a "no brainer."

Senator Obama may be ready someday. He is certainly not ready now. To quote his Vice Presidential nominee, Senator Biden, when asked about whether or not he thought Senator Obams had the necessary credentials, "the Presidency does not lend itself to on the job training."

America, turn your damned TV sets off and start reading between the lines of those newspapers you get every morning.

The country needs more than charisma right now. What the media is trying to invent here is a record, a resume, a history where there simply are none. What little there actually is is questionable at best.

PS

What a beautiful little piece about Senator Kennedy that was by Ken Burns. It made absolutely no mention of Chappaquiddick or of Ms. Kopechne. The balls of them to call this man "courageous" are equalled only by the abject stupidity of anyone who would believe such absolute crap.

Wake up America. Pay attention. Stop accepting mediocrity. Demand excellence always, in everyone and everything.

This is a sad song.

M

He hated his name. It never ended so he said. He loved life. He saw things that the rest of simply did not. He pointed them out to us with a wit that can only be described as genius. He was an Irish kid from the Bronx. He took the number 1 bus, the CC train and he trod the slabs of the Grand Concourse. He was as funny as they come. Foul mouthed and irreverent in one breath yet poignant and sagelike in another. He was Mozart. He was Michaelangelo. He was Rembrandt. He was Wright, (not Stephen but Frank LLoyd, Wilbur and Orville) He was Sinatra. He was every man and yet he was uniquely Carlin, George Carlin, Double O Carlin. May he rest in peace and may perpetual light, and humor, shine upon him.

Let the rest of us be reminded that we do not EVER get the last laugh!

www.twango.com/media/asan13.junk/asan13.10786

Check the schedule page for these upcoming MONTY's ROOM Concerts:

STEVE TILSTON
DANNY O'KEEFE
TOM CONLON
REX FOWLER
GREG TROOPER
CHUCK E. COSTA
ANDREW McKNIGHT

old friends stopping by to make some joyful noise....
I cater the thing...you make a donation to the artist...20-25 folks have a great time...GUARANTEED


If you haven't been to one yet, please come. It gives me a chance to welcome my fans and some new friends into my home.

Peace & melody
Montgomery

What an interesting primary season. It has been great fun to watch the two Democratic candidates pretend to like each other. I think that Senator Clinton probably despises Barack Obama. He is certainly making it very difficult for her to achieve her ultimate ambition which is, of course, to wield absolute power over men. All men, not just her husband (she has had him under control for quite some time now).

AS for Senator Obama, rarely have we seen or heard a more charismatic speaker in American politics. He is as riveting as he is eloquent at times but alas, his words are ultimately transparent and hollow. He speaks in platitudes and cliches knowing full well that a large portion of American society does not have any idea as to what either a platitude or a cliche is.
I think that Senator Obama is certainly refreshing but at the end of the day, he has virtually no experience and is entirely unqualified for the office that he so earnestly seeks. That being said, once he gains that experience, he will be back. There can be no doubt about that.

That brings me to Senator McCain. I am certain that he would prefer to run against Senator Clinton if he had a choice. I am equally as certain that he is confident that he can prevail over either of the democratic candidates. It seems to be his time and the country needs a leader, not a radical feminist or a great public speaker. Time will tell. In the end, money and media talks. We will elect a soundbite if it is good enough. YES WE CAN! YES WE WILL! TIPPACANOE AND TYLER TOO! It is the same bullshit over and over again. We choose personalities over principles, reality TV over real life. Sometimes we choose both...like they did in Cincinnati and Washington D.C. (I am referring to the mayoralty's of Jerry Springer and Marion Barry for those of you whose political memory is somewhat stunted).

The country is in a general decline. The war has gone on long enough. The Iranians, Syrians and the Saudis have yet to be dealt with and ultimately, MUST BE DEALT WITH! We have talked about alternative energy for 40 years and done virtually nothing to create it. Our children can't read and our prisons are full. We teach birth control instead of English and Mathematics. We accept mediocrity instead of demanding excellence. The prevailing educational philosophy is one of "feel good/learn bad." Our media and our government are corrupted by special interests. The institutions of marriage and family are under siege. We are a nation that struggles with morality. We have replaced common values with commonality. Our borders are not respected. We are confused as to why foreigners do not respect our country when we don't respect it ourselves. Michelle Obama's comment was not out of context, it was factual, she is NOT proud of her country and she is NOT the only ingrate.

There is very little national pride absent some tragedy or natural disaster which causes us to waive the flag for a month or two until we forget or, simply stop caring. Where are all of the people who waived the flag on September 12th? Well, we had better find them because the radical Islamic homicidal maniacs that were burning it on September 12th still have the fires going!

I am afraid that the REAL shit has yet to hit the fan. God help us all when it does! This blog will be here to tell you, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Barbra Striesand and the child abuser Alec Baldwin, "see, I told you so."

Please God, let me be wrong.

So many songs to write.....

M

44_Precinct_Christmas_Car_Stop


Check out this link...police work doen't get any more real than this!!!

Check out my first "cyber" interview at:

www.meandthee.org

Check out this cameo in a video which features my son Brian's tune "Game Of LIfe"...the song starts about 6minutes and 45 seconds in ...my son Brian is rapping it...his own beat...his own words....proud poppa!

Check out My buddy Keith Kelly on mandolin and I doing "Son Of A Son" live in the studio on Chris Darling's show Us Folk up in Portland, Maine this summer...



http://www.vimeo.com/262847

It has been a very tough year for me in several respects but a very good year in others. As we approach Christmas I find myself longing for the smell of evergreen and woodsmoke. I am really looking forward to letting this year go, decorating a tree and moving on to a better 08.

It was a great year for the music. I have written some of my best songs ever this year and I continue to work at the craft of songwriting by attending several songwriter workshops on a regular basis, making the scene at several conferences each year and by being around other songwriters as much as possible. Meeting Buddy Mondlock recently and sharing a few tunes with him in "Monty's Room" at NERFA was a very distinct highlight as was re-connecting with Chuck Brodsky, running into Erik Balkey at a small radio station in Maine, and welcoming my good old friend Greg Greenway in to christen my new home with music.

Catching Chuck E Costa's amazing set opening for Roseanne Cash (everyone say a prayer for her) at the White Plains Arts Center, attending Aztec Two Step's 35th Anniversary show at The Natiick Center For The Arts and sitting in on jembe, brushes and harps with the curiously young, yet old, Anthony DaCosta (Kerrville Winner) at this little place in Pleasantville, rank as the top of shows I have taken in this year.

On a personal note, my first ever showcase at NERFA was a big thrill (thanks to Keith Kelly and Todd Guidice for sitting in on that short but powerful set). Then of course there was the chance to open for and meet the lovely and talented Jill Sobule at the Towne Crier....but then....there was the honor of being joined on the stage at the Turning Point by my friend and musical mentor, Rex Fowler of Aztec Two Step and accompanying him as he played one of my songs ("Empty Windows") to his audience...it doesn't really get much sweeter than that!


No matter what happens in my life all I ever need to do is look at the music and the musicians that I have been blessed to experience and I feel better!
Fans, thanks so much for coming out again and again over the years to give us a listen.

Louise, we miss you here on the right coast and want you to know that you are one of the most unbelievably gifted women in the world of song! Aloha baby!
Jack, it was so great hanging out for a while at FRFF. You are truly an immense talent and one hell of a man.
Marty, I miss you buddy and I am loving the new CD!
Stuart, I love you like a brother.
Gary Paul, you are one of a kind and it always warms my heart to see you and hear you play.
Rex and Neal, you guys are amazing and are getting better with every passing year..it is really unbelievable to have been an aural witness to the phenomenon that is you two...and only you two!
Ranno,you and I are going to make a GREAT F'IN RECORD THIS YEAR!!!!!
Sloanie, I am so glad that you seem to be getting the kind of recognition you deserve and I am so happy to be your neighbor now. That man of yours is one of my most favorite guys!
Keith, thanks for adding so much to my music this year.
Brooks, it was so great to see you and hear you again. You are truly a master of the instrument!
Edie, WE ARE FINALLY GOING TO DO A SHOW TOGETHER!!!!
Brain, I am so proud of what you are trying to do musically. I wish you all of the sheer joy that music has brought to me and all of the success that has eluded me. That is not to say that I have not been successful. When you touch someone with music, something valuable and priceless happens in the world.

So let's go forward to new music, new people, new places, new relationships, new ideas and new hope for the future.

Blessings to all of you
Please know that each and everyone of you has been a blessing to me...

Peace & music
Montgomery

I have been attending this thing we call the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference for 12 years now. For the past 11 years, my buddy Stuart Kabak and I have hosted something called "Monty's Room," which is not a "showcase" but rather a "nocase" where agents, promoters and particularly songwriters at every level of the folk food chain can come in, sit down, have something to eat and either listen to a few songs or play one of their own. Over the years, just about everyone in the genre has stopped in, including the likes of Sexton, Shindell, Paxton, Greenway, Harris, Rao, Gilbert, MacDonald, Hardy, Wainright (more than one), Yarrow, Carey, Bissex, So, Hsu, Wenz, Taylor, Mitchell, Martin, Sampou, Wheeler, Agranoff, Staines, Williams (Dar and Brooks), Fowler( &)Schulman,Mal, Olsen, Phillips, Franke and of course, The Schwartz...to name just a few.

It has been a great ride and I have been a big believer in the conference inasmuch as it brings together an incredible array of gifted folks who attempt to sell their musical sensibility, tactile ability, vocal prowess and assorted wares to the music consuming folks. These consuming folks decide who they want to present, produce, represent, market, publicize, sell etc.

Over the years, I have seen some very talented people make some very important connections at these conferences which helped to launch their careers and continue to enhance them. So much so that they DO NOT ATTEND NERFA anymore. They have graduated to bigger and better things. They don't NEED to go to NERFA.


I have also seen some very talented people who, for whatever reason, have been overlooked by the musical consumers. In many instances some of these people were better and more skillful musicians or more masterful and provocative songwriters but alas, it was not their fate to be "consumed."

As for me, I don't NEED to go to NERFA, I want to. I want to because I love the people that I meet there (each and every year). I want to because I want to hear the next Martin Sexton or Cheryl Wheeler or Suzanne Vega or Tracy Chapman or Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen or Phil Ochs or Steve Goodman that comes along. I want to be there when that happens. And somewhere, deep down in the back of my mind in the place where my ego meets my soul, I still hope to be, if not consumed...at least nibbled on a little bit....so I am off to NERFA to do my very first showcase in 12 years of attendance...break a leg me!

I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to "emerge" at the age of 50, after singing for literally hundreds of thousands of people these past 20 years. Some cocoons are thicker than others. They say that the more difficult the metamorphosis, the more beautiful the butterfly!

(they don't really say that, I just made it up...that's what songwriters do...sometimes, they make stuff up)

But I am honored...that is true. Thanks NERFA for 12 great years!

Peace and music

Montgomery

Mad Mad World © Montgomery Delaney 2007

Sometimes the world it gets me down
Sometimes it makes me feel like drinking
Sometimes I read the NY Times
So I know what the enemy is thinking
Sometimes I watch the evening news
So I can be indoctrinated
There’s nothing like a talking head or two
To to fire you up and get you jaded

It’s a mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad world!
It’s a mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad world!

Sometimes we have a President
Who tries something difficult and fails
Sometimes we have a very different kind
Who will be sucked but won’t inhale
We pacify the crazy Arab man
Who wants to blow us all to pieces
And persecute the poor Mexican
Who only wants to pick our peaches

It’s a mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad world!
It’s a mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad world!

Somebody write the world a sick note
And pump it full of Prozac and Depacote
Poor old world is in a great big mess
A perpetual state of post traumatic stress...

We teach our children about birth control
When half of them can’t even reed and right
We spend so much time making that money
And so very litlle of it making a life
We’re not supposed to mention God anymore
Or to speculate about His will
Who needs God when we've got jerryspringermontel williamsprahwinfreydoctor
phil?

It’s a mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad world!
It’s a mad mad mad mad mad mad mad mad world!
It's a mad mad mad mad
mad mad mad mad world!
It's amad mad mad mad
sad sad sad sad world!

I just had the privilege of playing the Towne Crier Cafe again. It is one of the most important listening rooms on the east coast and has provided a forum for the very best troubadours of our time for over three decades. Simply put, everyone who is anyone has played that stage and literally hundreds of thousands of people have passed through its doors to enjoy exquisite food and outstanding music.

The constant is Phil Ciganer, the proprieter, the presenter, the passionate fan of the performing songwriter, the unsung hero of our genre. When you speak to Phil you are immediately impressed by the quiet tone of his voice and the lyrical simplicity of his words. He has seen and heard them all over the years. He has encouraged and cajoled and evinced and requested and commanded and caressed performances out of both the giants and the neophytes of the music industry. He has introduced the Adult Contemporary genre to two generations of new fans. He has been there for the travelling musician through thick and thin, in good times and bad for better and for worse, richer and poorer. He has husbanded, shepherded, guided and graced our profession and our passion with a countenance that has been unwavering and constant lo these many years. On a thousand nights, the crowds at the Towne Crier have stood up and given standing ovations to the best and brightest musicians that America and the World have to offer....at some point in time, they should stand up, face the rear of the room and direct their applause to the quiet, handsome bald fellow in the back who has made it happen so well, for so long.

On behalf of the multitudes of my colleagues that you have given the gracious opportunity to play your beautiful room, I applaud you Phil Ciganer!!!!!!!!!

PS
Inasmuch as we have recently established that Ezra from Trout Fishing In America is actually taller than me, I am proud to be your second biggest fan.

Peace & music

Montgomery

Well let me just say thank you to all of the folks who turned out last night and made the evening so special. I apologize for the broken strings...it is the first time in over 20 years of performing that I ever broke 2 at once!

Let me just thank the wonderful JILL SOBULE for the gracious use of her well worn and well played Vagabond guitar. I have met a lot of people as I have played the 'poet game" these many years but none nicer than JILL SOBULE. The set she performed last night was absolutely fantastic, full of energy and intelligence, humor and the lyrical honesty and sarcasm that has made her such a favorite for so many. I will always remember her inviting this adoreable little girl (all of 6 or 7 years old) to sing "Cinnamon Park" with her. She put the mic down to the liitle girl's level and knelt down to play and sing with her. It was pure joy, great musicianship, completely human and as entertaining as could possibly be!

If you are not a Jill Sobule fan yet...get on the wagon...she is one of the most insightful and gifted writers we have travelling around this country singing right now...

Peace & music to all of you

Thanks again

Montgomery

P.S.

Good news...

1) I HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO PERFORM IN ONE OF THE TRICENTRIC SHOWCASES AT THE NORTHEAST REGIONAL FOLK ALLIANCE CONFERENCE IN NOVEMBER

2) PHIL CIGANER, THE OWNER OF THE TOWNE CRIER IS GOING TO GIVE ME A SPLIT BILL IN HIS BEAUTIFUL AND FAMOUS ROOM...KEEP YOUR EYE OUT FOR THE DATE WHEN WE CONFIRM IT.....I PROMISE TO BUY SOME BETTER STRINGS FOR THAT GIG....LOL



PEACE
m

I said that I would comment on Michael Vick if and when he was proven guilty. Now, by his own admission he is. I feel very sorry for the innocent animals that he and his cohorts tortured and killed. It is an extremely disgusting set of facts which cannot be candy coated in any way. The conduct is despicable, unconscionable and absolutely unacceptable whether perpetrated by a celebrity or not. That being said, I also feel sad for Michael Vick. So much talent wasted.

I blame his mother and father. Whoever raised him was obviously willing to overlook some serious character dysfunction. They also instilled in him an extremely flawed value system as well as an indecipherable moral code. Can you imagine how many coaches and sycophants have blown smoke up this miscreant's ass over the years. Telling him how great he is, how special he is, how above-average he is, how above the law he is etc. etc. etc.

I also blame his coaches every damn one of them had to know that this athlete had an arrogance and an ego that precluded him from ever becoming a real champion. All of them kissed his prima donna ass hoping to ride his arm and his legs to the BIG ONE. He has always played for himself, thought of himself, did for himself....No one can tell me that this athlete has ever been a "team" player. If that were true, he would not be in the position he is in right now. His loyalty to his team alone should have been strong enough to have kept him away from this horrible enterprise!...That is why he has never won anything! Now, he never will. There will be no rings for Michael Vick....not now...not ever.

There is no song in this. There are no words that can convey the sadnes of it. There are words that can convey the horror and the stupidity...but not the sadness.

Michael Vick is merely a symptom of the greater disease that has infected this country (at least on the left and right coasts). We worship athletes, models, actors and musicians instead of teachers and cops and doctors and lawyers and architects and scientists and firemen and God.

We have lost our moral compass. They will let this man play football again. They shouldn't, but they will. He will never win the BIG ONE. He is just too special to take real responsibility for his actions. He is too special, he is too rich and he is too arrogant.

He can change but he won't want to.

It's a dog eat dog world. Michael Vick just got devoured.

Peace and kindness

M

Check out the link below:

www.vimeo.com/262847

Kieth Kelly and I doing Son Of A Son during a radio stop on Chris Darling's US FOLK show WMPG in Portland, Maine