• Here are upcoming performances for Robert Morgan Fisher. Check back often because it's constantly updated ...

• Tuesday, 6/24 7:30 pm w/ Susan Toney at ... Cafe Bellissimo (map)
  22458 Ventura Blvd. (1 block west of Shoup)
  Woodland Hills, CA 91364
  818-225-0026
  Directions: from Hollywood/Downtown LA... take the 101 north/west. Pass the 405. About 10 miles past the 405, exit at Shoup (which is one exit past Topanga Canyon Blvd). Come down ramp which dumps you out onto westbound Ventura Blvd. Café Bellissimo is on the left one block past the light at Shoup.
  

  
  There's never a cover charge at Cafe Bellissimo, but a $10 minimum on food or drink is requested, to support the establishment and keep the Showcase running. The food at Cafe Bellissimo is truly outstanding and they offer Showcase Nite Specials, which makes an evening at the MSSS one of the best dining/entertainment values around.
  

This was a great show -- thanks to all who were there!

Here's a souvenir:














And here's a page of pix taken by Russ Paris:

http://www.robertmorganfisher.com/folktacular

And four pages of pix taken by the great Annie Glendinning:

http://gallery.mac.com/annieg2/100040

AND ... Folk-tacular on YouTube by Ron Sarfaty:

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=folktacular&search_type=



And here's who played and when and their weblink:

4-6

Robert Morgan Fisher

http://www.robertmorganfisher.com/

6:00

Barbara Hall & The Enablers

http://www.handsome-music.com/ and http://imdb.com/name/nm0355330/

6:45

Dave Morrison

http://www.davemorrisonmusic.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/davemorrisonmusic

7:30

Paul Zollo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Zollo and http://bluerailroad.com/

8:30

Tracy Newman & The Reinforcements

http://www.tracynewman.com/ and http://imdb.com/name/nm0628297/

9:30

Chad Watson

http://www.chadwatson.us/

10:15

Matt Cartsonis

http://www.mattcartsonis.com/ and http://www.bryndle.com/site/matt.html

11:15

Mother Nature's Army

As you can see, we ran a little behind schedule this time but it was worth it. The theme for this Folk-tacular was "Fiction / Screenwriters who sing" -- hence, the subtitle: WORDSTOCK

-rmf

A while back, some anonymous fan created a "video" of my #1 song, "We'll Buy a Flag," and posted it on YouTube. The song showed up on the NEW VIDEOS side of the Neil Young site and debuted at #2. Since then it's bobbed up and down the chart, lately remaining in the Top Ten.

For the week of February 11th"We'll Buy a Flag" was rated #1 out of 400 videos.

Would you please click on the following link and keep this video at #1? Watch what this person put together -- it's not bad. Then minimize the playing screen, go back to the menu and click-away on the video. Every click is a vote and it's possible to hit it, like, 40 times a minute. Unlike electronic voting machines -- these votes all count.

http://neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwvideospage.html

While we're at it, "Jester King" remains active on the song list. I always wanted to bring to #1. If you feel so inclined, you can do the same drill on this page:

http://www.robertmorganfisher.com/mp3/jester_king_9-16.mp3


THANK YOU!

rmf

The Labor Day Folk-tacular went off without a hitch -- despite competition from the gargantuan Summer Strummer Festival mere yards away. In fact, I daresay there was something of a synergy there. Below I've listed the show order and included a great recap from performer Dave Morrison:

Hi All,

I want to thank all of you who braved the heat and holiday traffic and parking difficulties to attend The Folk-tacular yesterday. Though it was not as big a crowd as the first one in February, those who came were well fed and entertained and most stayed right to the end. Which on the time-challenged planet of Folktaculon, could have arrived on time (which it did), or not for weeks.

The performances were uniformly fine and many moments skirted the transcendant. Too many to mention, though none of us will soon forget Lorin Hart's throw-down opening number. I made a lot of new friends, everybody did, and I heard more than one of them marvel at this group of people, and the open all-equals relationship between performers and audience members. In this world, the lines have been blurred to near obliteration. All of us who write and sing and play know perfectly well that a thought or a note is a stray arrow till it finds it mark.

The commitment too is equal. One who came to play was in a traffic accident en route and had his instrument laden car TOWED to the gig. One who came to support and listen had lost a dear friend to another traffic accident just days before. We love this music and this process, and we know it nourishes us and makes our lives ring with meaning. That, and not any adherance to genre, is what makes it FOLK music. I once thought being a folky wasn't hip enough for me, but I've lived long enough to realize that nothing's hipper than speaking your heart. And no rock and roll hairstyle is braver or more subversive. A wise person once asked, "How hip can you be if you have to wear a uniform to prove it?"

But I digress.

What I really want to do is remind us all that this is a DIY thing. WE make this music AND give it a place to live. House concerts, hosted music series' in public venues, mini-festivals like Robert's Folk-tacular (we just love saying that), are worth doing and totally do-able. So let's do them, and stay in touch so we don't counter-book each other too much.

An aside. A young woman who was performing at the rival fest next door yesterday (and I believe, a friend of Larry Wines') took me aside and told me how impressed she was at the contrast between our "peaceful, and friendly", show and the more mainstream commercial scene going on around the corner. Hell she even bought a CD or two.

So thanks to you all and to Robert and all the people who helped him put on a great show. Feel free to pass this on; my email list is less than comprehensive.

See you round the yard, Dave


Here was the order of appearance:

Robert Morgan Fisher

7:45 p.m.

John York

http://www.jamiesams.com/sacredsongs.html

8:30 p.m.

Freebo

http://freebo.com/

9:30 p.m.

Chad Watson

http://www.chadwatson.us/

We are planning to reprise the President's Day Weekend Folk-tacular Event (aka "February Folk-tacular") provided we can once again book the Writers Boot Camp location. Big thanks to Jeffrey Gordon at Writers Boot Camp and to Larry Wines for asking us on the air Saturday morning to promote and to all those who attended and contributed, especially Chad Watson, Freebo and John York who went above and beyond the call of duty. What a finale that was, eh? We all gathered onstage to sing "American Pie." Unforgettable. -rmf

The first ever Robert Morgan Fisher February Folk-tacular at Santa Monica's Bergamot Station was a huge success by all accounts. Tito's tacos and beer were had by all and the music went on for a good 10 hours. Stellar sets were contributed by: Tommy Wallach, Paul Zollo, Piper/Grey, Dale LaDuke, Dave Morrison, Amy Kuney, Chad Watson, Freebo, John Andrew Parks, Wendy Waldman and of course myself, Robert Morgan Fisher. There was also a brief set by visiting troubadour and old friend, Bradley Ditto.

Thanks to all who contributed in every way including the performers, audience members, Dana Charnovsky, Larry Wines and all the good people at Writers Boot Camp.

While it's a little early to predict, I'd say the chances are good that this can be an annual President's Day Weekend/RMF birthday event. Not only that, but plans are being made right now for the next Folk-tacular a few months down the line. Watch this site for details on this and all other RMF gigs.

Robert's "Angel Within" has been selected by Narrative Music Canada as
the Self-Discovery - 1st Place Lyric of International Narrative Song
Competition 2006.

Here's the link: http://www.narrativemusic.ca/insc.html

The INSC is the biggest competition for Narrative or storytelling songs in the entire world. The lyric category in which "Angel Within" took first place is the Self Discovery Category -- i.e. songs about a character's journey of self-discovery. "Angel Within" is a new song and will be on Robert's next CD of original material. For now, the best way to hear the song is in live performance.

Here are the winning lyrics:

ANGEL WITHIN
by Robert Morgan Fisher

(copyright 2005 -- Extended Family Music/BMI)


My boys recognized her, said that girl gets around
Mama watch out -- she's the talk of the town
I shooed them away and invited her in
From the cut of her clothes, she was well-versed in sin
Her body was buxom but her face it was worn
I could tell right away she'd been workin' the porn

Lord knows how she found me, this rough little flower
I teach 'em to sing and I charge by the hour
Many a young girl wants to carry that torch
But they first have to make it past my front porch
Some come through the website, some by word of mouth
But I'm awful particular 'bout who enters my house

(CHORUS)
Cause I'm a good Christian woman, or I'm trying to be
Got two boys that I raised since my husband left me
But I don't think it's fair to judge someone's skin
Cause in each one of us there's an angel within, an angel within

I don't think you should stay here, I started to say
she lowered her head: Please don't send me away
I quit the skin-trade and I'm now 6 weeks clean
I'm through with that life, I just wanna sing
I thought I should act before kindness fails
So I pulled down the shade and started some scales ...

Make a joyful noise unto the ... Lord help those that help themselves

Her voice was unsteady, didn't have that much range
But after several months, I noticed a change
She developed vibrato and a tone all her own
A smoky contralto as tough as a stone
I taught her to coo and I taught her to belt
I taught her to sing every feeling she felt

(CHORUS)


The boys are asleep and it's my quiet time
I'm watching a show about the late Patsy Cline
Patsy did some hard living, embarrassing things
Before she got the chance to teach the world how to sing
It's like we peel back the layers, scrape off the dirt
Until sorrow takes wing like a beautiful bird

I ain't seen her in weeks, guess the road took a fork
Some go to LasVegas and others New York
Where did she go? I wouldn't know where to search
I regret that I never took her down to my church
She just might go far if she stays off the meth
I whisper a prayer with my last waking breath

Cause I'm a good Christian woman, or I'm trying to be
Got two boys sound asleep and I'm lost in a dream
I expect soon enough I will see her again
When the world recognizes the angel within,
angel within,
angel within,
angel with ... In all labor there is profit.

(image artwork by Judy Hubbard JAYE100669@aol.com)

Hi Friends,

Both of my songs went #1 on the Neil Young song chart. The Video to "We'll Buy a Flag" went #1 as well. Out of 4,000+ songs, that's not too bad.

rmf








Here's the link: http://neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwsongspage.html

(HINT: Just bring up the song(s), minimize that screen and clickety-click on the original song link, every click registers as a hit. It's possible to vote, like, 100 times in a minute. You don't have to listen to the entire song if you don't want to.)

There are now over 4000 songs on the website -- something for everybody.

Thanks for your support.

Robert Morgan Fisher


WE'LL BUY A FLAG
by Robert Morgan Fisher (copyright 2006 Extended Family Music - BMI)

The flag wavers, they all came to town
The day the Twin Towers crumbled to the ground
Like a comfort woman in the Second World War
Old Glory was pimped out into a two-bit whore
Offering a discount rate in some alley off the boulevard
We were strongly encouraged to display her in our front yard

(CHORUS)
But we'll buy a flag
We'll buy a flag
We'll buy a flag when we get our country back

Then there came the stickers on the cars
The way those rebels like to wave the stars and bars
They had cute slogans, like: These colors do not run
But what they really wanted was our daughters and our sons
To plant that flag in some foreign glory hole
So they could justify the elections that they stole

(CHORUS)

This is not a snarky snivel or a gripe
Swear to God, I dearly love those stars and stripes
But nowadays you know it isn't very often
You see those flag wavers taking time to cover coffins
Cause they don't like it when you confuse them with the facts
They just hide behind their own little Patriot Act

(CHORUS)

The other day, went grocery shopping with my boys
There was a kiosk, selling flags next to the toys
They waved it high and I felt perplexed and proud
When I explained to them that we just weren't allowed
I said the old red white and blue had been disgraced
But God willing things will change and one of these days ...

(CHORUS)


THE JESTER KING
by Robert Morgan Fisher copyright 2005 Extended Family Music - BMI

There once was a bad king who gave up his crown
For running his kingdom right into the ground
But the will of the people could not be denied
And into the castle a new king did ride
The friends of the old king could not understand
Why peace and prosperity now ruled the land

The old king's horseshit and the old king's friends
Couldn't restore him to power again
Couldn't restore him to power again

Now the son of the old king was a white-knuckle drunk
Whatever he touched, it soon turned to junk
He was drunker and dumber than most common folk
Everything that he said, come out as a joke
The old king said: "Your majesty, I have a request, sir.
Would you employ my son as your Kingdom's Court Jester?"

But the truth was the king and all the king's friends
Were itching to get back in power again
Were itching to get back in power again

The new king considered the old king's request
And to be fair, the new king was quite fond of jest
So with malice towards none, he filled the position
With the son of the old king, to ease the transition
The loudest and dumbest of peasants rejoiced
It seemed that the new king had made a good choice

But the old king's horseshit and the old king's friends
Would soon tip the balance of power again
Would soon tip the balance of power again

The first day the Jester showed up with a grin
But he didn't tell jokes, he merely broke wind
He played to the crowd's ignorant superstitions
And accused disbelievers of downright sedition
He lied and he laughed and much mud he did sling
Till the crowd just went crazy and murdered the king

The old king's horseshit and the old king's friends
Had swindled the peasants and come back again
Had swindled the peasants and come back again

The Jester declared war on several nations
Then took off on one long extended vacation
He looted the treasure for what it was worth
Even destroyed that stone that said "Peace on Earth"
Miles of wilderness were burned and laid bare
And the rhetoric and hate spewed out tons of hot air

The Jester King's horseshit and the Jester King's friends
Were filling the kingdom with foul air again
killing the kingdom with foul air again

But far to the south, the storm clouds did gather
and people detected a change in the weather
"This hot air you're spewing has started to fester --
Oh where is our savior, oh where is the Jester?"
But the Jester King laughed as the people made haste
the soft black underbelly of the Kingdom laid waste

The Jester King's horseshit and the Jester King's friends
Couldn't put things back together again
Couldn't put things back together again

The bodies were floating, the levee was breached
The gates of the kingdom were soon under siege
Let this be a lesson to those that would rule
A kingdom won't last at the hands of a fool
And the people's blind trust in a God that would save them
Only works if they use the brain that God gave them

The Jester King's horseshit and the Jester King's friends
Made sure that they'd never taste freedom again
Made sure that they'd never taste freedom again