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Hezekiah Jones

Song of the Day: “If You Harden On The Inside” by Hezekiah Jones

February 28, 2017 by krisis

This post makes me absolutely giddy with joy: I’m debuting a song by my favorite band in Philly, who I also interviewed for this post, and if you buy it all the proceeds go straight to Women’s Law Project.

The song is “If You Harden On The Inside,” the first new tune from Hezekiah Jones since after their 2016 EP Har Har Har and a track on December’s Vilomahed project curated by Michele Lynn. You can get it for as little as $1, although I encourage you to donate more!

Hezekiah Jones is the folk collective formed by and around Philly-based songwriter Raphael Cutrufello. He pulls a peculiar double-duty while fronting the band, acting the entire time as Hezekiah, with each one of the band’s rotating cast of musicians presenting themselves as another fictional member of the Jones clan.

(My favorite: Dow Jones.)

That little touch of mythology goes a long way to contextualizing Cutrufello’s songwriting. When you hear Hezekiah Jones’ music, you have the profound sense that a weird band of back-country geniuses have briefly descended from their cloistered home on a hill to play for you, like a roving band of thespians in Shakespeare.

(It may be a hill in an alternate timeline.)

The songs are full of piercing observations on the human condition, always tinged with optimism. There’s also a smattering of details that place them in a vaguely post-apocalyptic landscape full of endless roiling wars and the Mississippi river expanded out to a sea.

Hezekiah Jones, photographed by Lisa Schaffer.

Hezekiah Jones, photographed by Lisa Schaffer.

“If You Harden On The Inside” could easily be a handclaps-and-harmony 60s pop song if it was dressed up with a full band arrangement. Instead, a whimsical chorus of Hezekiahs sings “blah blah blah” as backing to the track, later joined by a swell of electric pianos. As the song whirrs to life with its halting rhythm it gives serious vibes of Dirty Projectors.

Cutrufello AKA Jones plays everything on this track save for drums by Daniel Bower (AKA Roy G. Biv Jones) and bass by Philip D’Agostino (AKA Pepe Jones), a Philly music scene legend and touring member of Get The Led Out.

Half your saints
Are playing video games
Or they’re out doing meth
Or too depressed to get out of bed

All these bodies
What a delicate make
If you harden on the inside
You’ll be easy to break

If someone
Gave into love
Their guard would be down
We could steal all their stuff

That is the paradox of our human fragility in three stanzas, each repeated to make sure the message sinks in. [Read more…] about Song of the Day: “If You Harden On The Inside” by Hezekiah Jones

Filed Under: philly music, Song of the Day, Year 17 Tagged With: charity, Hezekiah Jones, songwriting, Women's Law Project

Things To Do In Philly, 11/3 Edition

November 3, 2010 by krisis

Did you do any of last week’s things to do in Philly?

I made it to one – the Cris Valkyria / Victoria Spaeth show at the Tin Angel, and it was awesome (despite both fabulous ladies fighting their own Autumnal head colds).

I also received a report from friends of CK that the Hudson Beach Glass tasting was incredible. I am here in front of all of you making a vow not to miss another one as long as it doesn’t conflict with rehearsal!

Here’s what’s up for this week in Philly – but, first, don’t forget that I have my Philly debut on bass with Filmstar next Friday at The M Room! $8 cover for a 9pm start, splitting the bill with The Tragics & Leiana.

Thursday, 11/4
Who: Laura Mann and The Lifeboys, with David Cope
Details: 8:30 p.m. @ The Tin Angel, $10
Why? I played a show with David Cope last year and was transfixed by his songs. He is a trove of genius folk rock songs, with high, ringing vocals reminiscent of classic Neil Young.

Friday, 11/5
What: First Friday @ Drink Philly
Details: Free from 5 p.m. and on at 239 Chestnut St., 2nd floor.
Why? Drink Philly‘s philosophy is that you should never drink a badly-mixed cocktail. They facilitate good drinking with events that feature free signature cocktails and appetizers from local restaurants, plus the additional social lubricant of local art to view and discuss. This month they feature work by Jeremy Goodfellow, April Kuhn, Millie Landis, and Linnea Vegh, plus Brazilian Jazz by the Ryan McNeely Quartet.

Land of Talk sporting fabulous hair and matching sweater vests, respectively.

Friday, 11/5
Who: Land of Talk with Suuns and Little Scream
Details: 9 p.m. @ Johnny Brenda’s, $12
Why? When I first heard Land of Talk I thought they might fulfill the Garbage-shaped hole in my new music array. That’s not the case, but this indie trio churns out layered, female-lead rock that makes them at home on a playlist with Metric. Take a chance on them in this intimate venue in case they’re playing sheds on their next tour.

Saturday, 11/6
Who: Girls Rock Philly 2nd Annual CD Release Party
Details: Noon at Johnny Brenda’s, $5 and kids under 5 are free
Why? You know how I’m always bitching how there aren’t enough plain old rock bands that happen to be fronted by woman? Well, non-profit Girls Rock Philly shares my complaint, but they do more than just bitch – they host musical summer camps to teach young girls to rock as hard as their testosterone-filled counter-parts. Check out what this year’s camp has wrought with a kid-friendly day-time show featuring the bands that formed this year.

Tuesday, 11/9
What: Philly Sings Philly
Details: 8 p.m. sharp at The Fire, $8
Why? A who’s who of Philly songwriters are convening at The Fire every Tuesday this November to cover each others’ songs. That’s about as much hip as you can fit into a single night of music. Every week of the month features a steller lineup, but it will be hard to top this one, featuring Best of Philly winner Suzie Brown, my personal folk hero Hezekiah Jones, and killer re-interpreter Ryan Williams (of the Ridiculous Fantastic).

##

As always, if you have the inside line on a cool Philly happening please leave a comment or hit me via the contact field.

Filed Under: philly music Tagged With: Hezekiah Jones

whiling away the hours

May 28, 2009 by krisis

(1) A few years ago I saw Malcolm Gladwell deliver a speech at the New Yorker Festival that is largely recapitulated in the second chapter of Outliers, called “The 10,000 Hour Rule.”

In it, Gladwell draws our attention to a data point converged upon by countless studies of experts in a variety of fields. He says, “In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.” He goes on to quote neurologist Daniel Levitin:

In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again. … It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.

Gladwell supports the rule using Mozart, Bill Gates, Bill Joy, and the Beatles as his examples. Not to say that their genius and success is purely a result of 10,000 hours of practice – the book as a whole explains other facets – just that it was an essential component of their expertise.

.

(2a) 10,000 hours is a long time.

If as a child starting at age five you had piano lessons two times a week (an hour each) and also practiced an hour a day, you would clock nine hours a week. 468 hours a year. 4,680 hours a decade.

If you kept that up until age 26 you’d finally have served your time.

(2b) 10,000 hours can go by before you know it.

Maybe you got into video games at age 11. You played them every night after homework and dinner, let’s say from 7:30 to 11:00 p.m. on most nights, plus extra on the weekend. That’s more than 25 hours a week. 1,300 plus a year.

You’d be a master by the time you started college. Most kids are.

(2c) Time is relative.

.

(3) In the car today Gina and I were singing in harmony to the amazing Hezekiah Jones album Hezekiah Says You’re A-OK, on the way to see his band split a bill with the equally fantastic Up the Chain.

“You know, Gina,” I said, breaking from my lead vocal, “I’ve been thinking about this 10,000 hour thing. Not everyone’s an expert at something. I mean, what do most people spend 10,000 hours doing by the time they’re 25? Watching teevee, I suppose.”

“More than likely,” she replied.

“But, think about me. I watched a lot of television, sure. Mostly, though, I read until I was old enough to write, and then I wrote and read. That’s what I spent my 10k on.”

(Perhaps she interjected, “Oh, I remember.”)

“And, you know, is it any surprise that I’m good at communications? I’m not an expert, but no wonder it’s my calling. I spent my whole life practicing for it.”

We sat and sang for a moment, contemplating that.

“What about you?”

Gina paused in her harmony. “Hmm, me?”

“Yeah. What did you spend 10,000 hours doing?”

“This. Listening to music. Singing harmony.”

“Really your whole life, right? Your mother singing, your father playing guitar…”

“Yeah, since I can remember.”

“Right. So, no matter how much I rehearse, you’ll always have the edge. It’ll always come easier to you, until I reach that threshold.”

“I suppose.”

We paused as the song wound down.

“What do you think Hezekiah spent 10,000 hours doing?”

We thought on that for a few moments, and then sang together to “Albert Hash.”

.

(4) We’re not all Mozart. I might not ever be Hezekiah Jones. But, we’ve all spent 10,000 hours doing something other than sleeping, and hopefully other than watching television. Maybe something incidental that we do out of necessity or habit. Driving? Social-networking? Cleaning? Taking care of children?

I’ve put in more than my share on communications – reading cereal boxes and trashy fantasy novels, writing stories at eight on my manual typewriter and almost nine years of blogs.

I got an early start on 10,000 hours of being Gina’s best friend, which I keep padding. I’m really good at that. More recently I’ve attained well-in-excess of 10,000 hours of being in love with Elise.

I hope eventually I’ll reach my 10,000th hour of serious focus on music. It’s a large piggy-bank of time to fill.

What about you? What have you spent your life mastering, intentionally or unintentionally?

Filed Under: betterment, elise, essays, habits, Philly, philly music, stories, teevee, thoughts, Year 09 Tagged With: gina, Hezekiah Jones

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