We Are All Cookie Monsters Now by Alex Walsh Victory is a cookie. Yes, Sesame Street was saved from the Congressional budget axe. Whew! That was close. Thank you everyone who wrote in, signed the petition, and continued eating your cookies. It worked. But only through September. What? Here’s a letter from AFM President Ray […]
How Did You Pick Your Instrument? by Alex Walsh Every musician has a story on how they picked their instrument. Some people get their’s handed to them in elementary school and never change. Some have to fight for it. For me, I received a harmonica as a present. I was thirteen and living in Ocean […]
Long Tail Blues by Alex Walsh When I first started playing gigs in my 20s I did not want to be one of those “50 year old white guys playing the blues in bars.” Well, I turned 50 last month and there I was, onstage in a bar, playing the blues. I have to say […]
My Life As A Digital Immigrant by Alex Walsh Someone told me recently that I am a digital immigrant. Young people are digital natives. This made total sense to me. I’ve always felt like I’ve been playing catch-up with the latest technology. I eventually do catch up but then things change again and I fall […]
Musicians Indivisible SF by Barbara Bogatin, Local 6 & San Francisco Symphony Symphony Member “…Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” a phrase we have all spoken countless times since we mindlessly memorized the Pledge of Allegiance in elementary school. These words have taken on new meaning since the 2016 election, as many of us […]
My Step-Mom, My Hero by Alex Walsh Yesterday I attended a ceremony at San Francisco City Hall honoring my Step-mother, Conny Ford, for Women’s History Month. She was nominated by District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim for her work spearheading the campaign for Free City College in San Francisco. Now I can go back to college for […]
Who Would I Be Without Sesame Street? By Alex Walsh Who would I be without Sesame Street? Mr. Rogers? The Electric Company? Zoom? I was a kid in the seventies. Those were my shows. Mr. Rogers was my guy. Kermit the Frog, Bert and Ernie, Grover, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, The Count, Oscar The Grouch […]
Fight The Power (With All Your Power) Part II by Alex Walsh here’s part I I wrote this song in early December 2016, the week after Trump was elected. The world was in shock! And so was I. A couple weeks later an EDM (electronic dance music) producer friend of mine said he wanted to […]
Fight The Power (With All Your Power) by Alex Walsh read Part II here I didn’t think Trump would be elected, but then he was. Ughh. So, what does a songwriter do? Write a song? A protest song? I hadn’t tried to write a protest song in many years. My previous attempts had been…unsuccessful (that’s […]
How Do You Unwind After Your Gigs? By Alex Walsh I played a gig last night and it was awesome! Amazing! Inspiring! A dream come true! The kind we all live for! And then it was over and I went home. I didn’t realize how jacked up I was until I was in my living […]