Leaf redux?

Well if you have known me very long you will know one thing.  I change my mind on a daily basis.  And not that I had anything to do with this, other than being a simple pawn in the game of life, but I declared supremacy over Leaf's future, and well, the rest is history.

Tonight LEAF will be jamming once again, for what goal, I know not.  But alas this means less to me as I grow.  I really wanted to take this music seriously, and I think I took it too seriously.  Luckily the only broken pieces left in my wake of decision making were dreams and ideas, all of which can and will be re-assimilated.

Leaf is fun.  Leaf is good.  And LEAF will be coming to your neighborhood!!!

Tommy Mason on solar jamming...

Tommy Mason of LEAF is assembling the energy and drive to begin the rehearsal of the solar jam....!!!!  Jam band!!!

LEAF's Full moon jam at The Shack!

Well we had a great jam last night a the Shack in Largo.  Despite some mysterious technical difficulties with my guitar, and the usual: having to show THE BAND how to run our f-in PA after five years of jamming, DUH!!! it all worked out peachy.  But seriously if you read this, and happen to be IN the band... learn the PA and how to set it up and all, because it's kind of wearing thin, the whole teenage attitude and all.  ;)

On to brighter news, here's our wonderful set.  We had some great dancing going on later in the night around the second set, and it was simply a wonderful evening.  Can't imagine a better evening.

Set 1 : One Love
           Elephant
           Breathe (Pink Floyd)
           Encuentra
           Dance
           Wayoo
           Sand (Phish)

Set 2 : Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads)
           Monkey
           Can u Be Bot
           Fire on The Mountain (Dead)
           One Lion Zion
           Rastaman Vibration
           Good Friend---> Dark Star ---> Soul Shakedown--->Good Friend

Encore : Cross Eyed and Painless (Talking Heads)

Thanks guys and gals... love,  LEAF

Monday blues...

Well Leafjam is in full swing lately.  Last night we had a great rehearsal for our upcoming gigs.  With no beer... lol  It was really great to jam and work on songs and not have to worry about drinking a beer or going outside to pee every half hour.  We got soooo much done!

Leaf is slowly getting closer to something.  We don't really have a particular goal in mind other than putting on a really really great live show.  The sound, the jams, and the lights are pretty much all that matter to us right now.  We've added some new hardware to the mix, volume pedal, HD projector, and a new guitar amp are the latest additions to our family. :)

We are playing The Sports Shack next friday, and it should be fun.  After that it looks like a gig at Hammerheads and then the Shark Party, two festivals, The Burning Mushroom on Sept. 23rd, and The Big Jammalamma on October 14th and 15th.  Both Festivals are really looking like fun.  Very reasonably priced as well!!!

Well one love till next time.  Namaste.  Tommy Leaf

Leaf is playing the Burning Mushroom!

Leaf  has been invited to play the Burning Mushroom Festival this September and we are super stoked.  Thanks to the kindness of friends and the love of music we have been offered this cool opportunity to jam with and meet a whole network of people so far outside of our circle.  Kindred Spirits for sure!  All of our show are listed here on our Reverbnation page.  One of many Leaf pages, this particular page allows us to really connect with our listeners and grow our communal love group... And it has really helped us get a handle on who is listening to what song and how many times they listened.  Thanks Reverb!

Bahamas outlaw Shark Fishing!

Leaf found out some really timely news this morning.  After having it out with some local activists over shark fishing and feeling a bit worn down, I looked at my computer news feed and found that due to the low numbers of sharks, The Bahamas were going to ban shark fishing.  In the BBC article it explains that overfishing has led the Government to place restrictions on commercial shark fishing.

Well i have to celebrate!!!  A beer and some jamming!   One love Sharkies!!!

Leafjam.info

    Want to find out more about The Nissan Leaf?  Or about what leaf grows around the Farmhouse Studio?    Well try our .info website here or go on to our Farmhouse page of the official Leaf website by clicking here.  There is all kinds of useless information to be found here about leaf.  All of this can be accessed by our main website leafjam.com and following links.

    One love!!!

Leaf Peace Promotions...

     Leaf is announcing their official appointment of Sean Kelly as our manager/agent/ass whipper.  Sean is a tenacious and persistent friend who is actually my brother.  :)  He has put himself out there for us many times, and wants as badly for LEAF to "succeed" as we do, so it is truly a perfect fit.  His promotion site Leaf Peace Promotions is a nice central hub to find out Leaf interests from a more managerial perspective... lmao!

    But for real, we just wanted to thank Sean and welcome him into our Leaf family! Welcome Sean!  Sean now has another activity besides being the head honcho at Marinesupplydock.com, he is now our well for lack of a better word, fall guy.  If nothing happens in the band now we can blame someone else... and we all know that is the most valuable quality of a manager, accountability!  ONe love Sean, you know i'm kidding i hope!!!

    http://www.leafjam.com     And remember a leaf is a leaf.  A nissan is a Leaf, and so is a bud.

Big Jammalamma

       Leaf is playing The Big Jammalamma  this October!  It is a music festival with a focus on arts, film and BEER!  To be held on Maddox Ranch in Lakeland Fl. this sounds like a great time for LEAF.  Beginning on Friday October 14th and running until Sunday the 16th, There will be live bands, art show, film show, A lifesize version of the children's game "mousetrap", and a Hops Slam.  I'm not sure what a hops slam is, but i looooooove hops, so it sounds pretty awesome.  Not to mention droves of music and peace loving folks spreading a chill vibe for three whole days!  Leaf is on the rise!!!

     Stay tuned for updates on this awesome show!  PEace LEAF!

Leaf playing Jollimons 4th july weekend

Over the holiday weekend LEAF played a great little gig at Jollimon's grill in Dunedin.  Thanks to Scotty Lee Rexroat double booking, we were honored to try and fill his spot from 3 till about 6.  Great vibes, lots of good friends enjoying the music, and great beers and food.  For an 11th hour gig it went down smoothly  We had Dave Hoover accompanying us on the congo drums which added a nice flavor the the leafjam.    Jollimon's used to be the old Phish head meeting place called the Pharm.  Felt great to finally play here.  Hopefully we will play there again sometime soon.

Set 1. Soul Shakedown Party, Dance, Lay Down Sally, One Love, Breathe, Elephant, Goodfriend

Set 2. Let the dolphins Free, Wipeout, Positive Vibration, Monkey, What i got

Hands across the Sand (show cancelled)

      Well, I’m not sure how to begin this except by saying, “phew.” Friday LEAF left port ,around 7pm  in my trusty little sailing vessel named appropriately “Amphitrite.”  Yes I know it is bad luck to leave port on a Friday, so please don’t even start.  About ten minutes into our overnight voyage to Hands Across the Sand, we noticed our first good omen for the trip, a delightful little waterspout.  A delightful little waterspout you ask?  Yes I’m being sarcastic.  Tommy was excited being that this little gem was his first ever look at a real life funnel cloud, “just like the ones on Storm Chasers!” He exclaims.  J

     Now I have seen funnel clouds at sea and rarely worry too much, not because I’m brave, but because a sailboat is too slow to outrun or out maneuver a funnel so there is no need to think through any possible “what ifs.”  I can simply just be at peace with the notion that I am not in control.  Surrender….  And besides, our concern was not funnel clouds or even rain, but jamming on our boat offshore of an Oil Drilling protest scheduled for 12 noon the next day.  We would have plenty of time to admire mother nature after we rocked out on Saturday, or so we thought.  Mother nature instead had a little pop quiz in marine appreciation 101 planned for us just a few miles offshore.

     After running, which means sailing in the same direction as the wind, offshore for about 8 miles, the squall hit.  This particular squall was one of many that we were trying to weave through in the course of the evening.  When it finally hit us, we felt it.  Swoosh!!! The wind laid it’s palm on the mast and mainsail and the boat heeled over 45 degrees easily.  A quick course change into the wind more and she stood back up straight almost attracted to the wind.  I have learned through experience that my little sailboat loves wind, especially strong wind.  With this course change, the wind swept the boat from right to left, and began to blow the quickly growing seas all over us.  Sending all souls below, who could go below, I turned the boat back into a downwind run and pounded into solid 5-6 foot chop for five hours until we were close enough to shore to be in its lee.  It was wet, and crappy.  

     It wasn’t the biggest storm I’d been in, nor the wettest, but it was somehow harder on me than any other storm.  I never slept that night, not until we had reached a sheltered little spot called “one tree island” in Clearwater Bay.  About an hour of sleep is all I could eek out in the incessant  sticky heat, and my head began to hurt.  JD was in pretty bad shape too, the rough night before combined with a minor seasickness left him in about as sorry shape as I.  You see, in a storm you get all these little bruises from scrambling around the deck raising sails, tightening lines, and grabbing hold all in the pitch darkness.  This isn’t deadliest catch where you can see the waves coming on a floodlight and head for cover. Here it is black.  The waves just look like a darker shade of black, and when they hit you, you scramble to hold on.  When you slip, you get bruised.  And I slipped a lot! 

     With the sea being agitated, we decided that playing a concert on the ocean in a few hours was not going to happen.  Just standing on sailboat in small swell can be a challenge due to the mast and keel acting as counterweights similar to a “weeble wobble.”  Actually playing music and securing speakers and instruments to the deck with all of that motion going on would be pretty much impossible.  So it is with pirate music, sometimes it doesn’t work out.  Next time.

    The trip although musically a failure, was personally a success because I felt that it proved how hard JD and I are willing to go in order to play music.  JD was really there all the way more than I could have asked and that means more than a million concerts.  I imagine us touring around, playing gigs, it would work.  And that’s a wonderful thing to know.   

Building Solar Panels

    Well we are in the construction phase finally!  The solar cells came from Silicon Solar on Monday and we can now begin assembling all the pieces together.  Here's a picture (above) of how the solar cells look when they are shipped.  The goal now is to make panels in leaf shapes.  I started by simply drawing out a leaf shape on a piece of poster board and slowly soldering the cells together to fit into my shape.  This picture shows the layout...

  
    These cells needed tabbing before I could begin assembly, notice the shiny tabbing attached to each broken cell.  A pleasurable yet painstakingly slow process, my leaf began to fill up and take form!!!

                                                      

    We have our first LEAF!!!  As far as how many leaves we will need will depend on how much power we plan on using.  I go into this in depth in our solar blog.  Voltage, amps, and converting AC to DC are all covered in our solar blog.  Go check it out if your heady into this!  And stay tuned for more solar fun.  The next phase will be sealing these cells in epoxy and shaping the leaves to their final form!!!  Wayooo!!!!

      One Love from LEAF.  Http://www.leafjam.com      

Activism... vs. Reactivism

     I have always admired activists.  From my mother, the first activist I knew, to Pete Bethune whom I've never even met, activists have inspired me take my ideals beyond the talking phase.  From Gandhi to Paul Watson activists come in as many different forms as they have differing causes.  From "Save me Jesus" to "Save the Whales," activism takes on a seemingly infinite number of forms.  Some are quite benign in their activism, for example a group of anti-war protesters standing on the side with positive messages of support for peace.  And others meanwhile are much more harmful, like the ones for example whom are in the next story I will tell you.

    I founded a fledgling group in 2010 called Team Blue Florida which was supposed to act as a union for all Florida's marine animal activist groups.  We started a website, scouted for members, and held a couple of protests.  Things seemed to be progressing and with every passing day I found myself more and more confident to speak my mind.  I was seeing the need to protest just about anyone who fished, any place that was connected to shark finning, BP, the list was endless.  And growing longer by the hour.  Truly.  My band Leaf was at the time taking a backseat to all this "activism."  Or was it reactivism?"

    You see I've been into ecology since like 4th grade.  Sticking up for animals was nothing new to me.  The "hip" trends of veganism and so on were just old hat to me.  My Dad was learning to eat vegan while I was learning fractions.  We recycled back when there weren't any recycling programs anywhere.  But when I saw the movie "The Cove", I felt my paternal instinct to protect the weak kick into high gear.  You see this movie exposes the horrors behind captive dolphin programs and shows dolphins being literally slaughtered right before your eyes.

    Well, I reacted.  Swift and strong.  I did all I could to convince others of the truth behind SeaWorld and other similar parks.  I protested, got in arguments with friends, made a Leaf video for dolphins, and burnt some bridges, all in the name of saving the dolphins.  And I made friends.  Some nasty ones.

    My new friends were dedicated, and dependable when it came to animal rights activism.  I got to know a woman in PETA who sent me signs for protests and also some pretty radical people from a group called ARRF.   Now I didn't know this at the time, an general assumption is made about people who protest for animal rights.  "They are all vegetarian"  Well, I'm not.  And at some point the issue came up and bam!  Game on!  I began to get emails from old "friends" saying nasty things.  They sent 6 real postal letters to various members of my family saying even more nasty things.  (All typed up in some CSI fashion to hide the identity of the sender)  The defriended me as a group, 15 or so in all, and to this day I still get comments relating to my personal dietary choices. :)

   Now, unfortunately it didn't work.  I still eat meat.  I wonder, if these tactics ever work?  And I wonder what they are fighting for?

   To act is to be deliberate.  To make choice based on a expectation of an effect.  So if people are wishing "cancer" on my mom because her son eats turkey, what exactly are they acting for?  Or is this an emotional "reaction" to some letdown they may have had about an expectation in their minds about me being vegan.

    I see parallels in my form of reactivism and my "friend's" form.  Both relied very little on wishing to act for an effect, and rather more on reacting to some mental stimuli.

    My reaction was so similar to the vegans' reactions.  Both were full of judgement.  Both were swift and harsh.  And both put zero thought into the actual outcome of our reactions.  I don't think the vegans who react this way to meat eaters really want to "turn off" people like me from eating more vegan as they did.  I know I don't want to burn all the bridges of friends who I know that fish for money or who don't recycle.  These reactions are based on ego, not love.

    These reactions were based on Ego not love.

     I have to repeat that so I don't fall into that trap again.  And also to draw a line in the sand for anyone looking for a place to be a meat eating animal rights activist.  Now that may seem like hypocrisy to you... but only if you obey your "reactive" mind.   If you truly want animals rights, then respect mine, for I am just an animal convinced of my own humanity.  Can you prove your humanity by being civil?  Or will emotions rule your thoughts and control the outcomes of your reactions?

   Action or Reaction?   Activism or Reactivism?    Hate or Love?   Judgement or Compassion?

    One love... Tommy Leaf   http://www.leafjam.com



  

Hands across the Sand

Well LEAF has a new mission. We have decided to play an unsanctioned jam at the Hands Across The Sands protest/action on June 25th on Indian Rocks Beach.www.handsacrossthesand.com We first thought about loading up a truck with sound gear and playing in the parking lot, or on a sidestreet, but the realization that the local cops would shut us down immediately prompted more creative thinking. So we have gotten a little more "creative". We are going to jam out just outside the swim buoy line on a sailboat with speakers facing back onto the shore... LEAF sailboat jam this is the event link...


LEAF has never jammed on boat before so this should prove to be interesting. It's times like these I'm glad we are just a two man band, because doing this with four guys and a full drum set would be impossible at best. So cheers to having no drummer!


LEAF will disembark the day before from Longboat Key on 30 the foot sailing vessel "Amphitrite" and head north to make it to Clearwater by morning on the 25th. Jamming all the way and all night, the vibe will be thick with music and love as Amphitrite slowly glides in front of the protest site... At least this is my vision. We will play as long as it seems necessary and or people get annoyed and over it... Then sunday we'd like to jam out at an island, who knows maybe an Island party or something... We will see.


So off to jam! One love! leafjam.com

2 New songs... :) LEAF

Leaf has uploaded two more songs from our album. It's taken awhile to upload them all since they are in aiff format and hence extremely huge files. 'Motions of Oceans', which has a new video out too, and 'Good Friend' are both up there new. Keep up to date and go to leafjam.com to follow our progress towards bringing you our energy... Tommy Leaf If you are reading this from leafjam.com already then that is f-in awesome! Thanks for visiting, feel free to comment!

new song... new album project

JD and i were climbing up the backside of a Connestee Falls on a hidden old side trail, and I took a break to soak up the surroundings when I heard the sweetest sound. It was a baby bird somewhere above me chirping these tiny baby bird squeaks. The sound was new like a fresh pair of little white baby boots sitting fresh on a shelf, unworn. Transfixed on this birdsong from above, I began to sink into a melody lead by acoustic guitar and a soft voice. The song is "baby bird"

Anyway, you never know when a song will pop into your head. I sang it in my head for three days until I got home last night to get it down on the guitar. I was not losing this one. :)

I'm going to record a demo of it today for either a LEAF album or perhaps an acoustic album of my own songs under the name LEAF. I will have to run it by JD, but I'm thinking of an all acoustic album with my vocals and perhaps some backups and a shaker or two. We could call the album 'naked'.

Spring-o-ween

Last night Spring-o-ween took place. Not a bad showing for a non-halloween costume party. I will say this, I give mad props to those who dressed up. It warms my heart to know your are as open minded and freaky as LEAF! My bruised memory sees Luigi, Sid Vicious, The Sheriff, Kathy the Cheerleader, a hula dancer, even the double dutch jump rope team showed up! Some guy came dressed up as Mike Mcmoney and boy was he scary!!! Leaf jammed in the farmhouse while acoustic songs were played out on the deck. It wasn't the biggest party in Leaf history, but it was indeed a special time jamming for all our good friends. Hawaiian!!! Pics up soon.

aloha!!!

Looking forward to Spring-o-ween at the Farmhouse...

I'm pretty excited about Spring-o-ween tonight at the Farmhouse up here on the ridge. Leaf is pretty stoked too... 3rd person ;) I wonder what costumes I will see tonight!!!! Stay tuned for a blog with pics and stories and such! LEAF!!!

Solar powering the band

We (LEAF)have been asking ourselves for a few years now, "What would it take to make a solar powered band?"

We we have been toiling and twisting our mind and have come up with a pretty solid plan to get Leaf into the realm of solar music.

I think that a solar powered band would be the coolest thing ever really. I mean if not musicians then who? Who else has the vision and angst to commit to fully changing the way they produce their art. Leaf could be 100% solar powered with a little bit of effort and some money. I may have to start a new blog dedicated to this aim alone. The information is so extensive and the wording is long.

But i have to admit seeing Nissan use OUR name LEAF for a total electric car is enough to light the fires under my arse and get this ball rolling. It's time. The future is now. LEAF is going solar.

So far I'm in possession of 6 deep cycle batteries for storage and approximately 100 watts of solar panels. I need to up my panel input to 400 watts and get an inverter capable of putting out 1500 watts at 120amps. LEAF can do this. This is exciting!!! Imagine a solar powered band playing on the road... somewhere out there... LEAF is coming.

How to get to Windy Falls Gorges State Park

Have you ever read about the waterfalls of the Horsepasture River and wondered, "how do I get to Windy Falls?" Well if you have then this should help out some. Now I post these directions with some misgivings, for I don't want people to trash this fairly untouched part of the gorge. In any case here goes.

First thing you need to do is head into the Gorges State Park access road off 281 near Saphire North Carolina. Take the new paved road, used to be gravel, about a mile up to the top on the hill to the brand new trailhead for Rainbow Falls...

Walk to the Rainbow falls trail downhill for about 1/6 mile downhill and you will come to a road that goes left. The main (orange blazed) trail will go right, but YOU will turn left and begin working your way back uphill. After a half mile or so you will come to a gate and a big wide dirt road...

Turn right after the big iron gate and walk down hill for short distance until you come to the first very obvious trail on the right ...

You will know you are on the right path because you will see this rock in the middle of the trail after a hundred yards or so...

Walk down this path for about a mile... all ... the ... way ... down ... Until you come to this little campsite at the top of Windy Falls...

Now stay tuned for pictures and hints on how to work your way down the Gorge for some Jawdropping views of the Falls...

How do you get to Windy Falls? Leaf on the Horsepasture River.

Tom and JD from The Band Leaf successfully found and explored Windy Falls on the Horsepasture River in Western North Carolina.  Not exactly hiking or rockclimbing experts, Tom and JD charged down the gorge as far as they could go following old directions found on the internet.  The layout of the trails in Gorges State Park is completely new this year providing a refreshing look at Rainbow Falls coming from below as opposed to coming from above.  After showing JD around the falls below Rainbow Falls, including Stairstep Falls, we decided to try and get down to windy falls.

If you've ever wondered "How do I get to Windy Falls?" then this is your lucky day.  Since they changed the trail layout around, everything is backwards and the old directions must be refined to fit the new trail scheme.

Before I spoil it all and just give away the new directions, how bout a little teaser for you.  A little slideshow of the falls upper portion to wet your appetite. 

Leaf the band releases video of SeaWorld

Leaf has just released their debut video, "let the dolphins free".  This video shot at Seaworld, Taiji Japan, and Florida, spotlights the truth behind the cetacean captivity trade.  Leaf expresses this serious subject with a lighthearted message of liberty and freedom for dolphins whales and sharks.  This video can be seen on the Leafjam.com website which is the new hub for the band Leaf.  http://www.leafjam.com/   The first link is to the Leaf website, the second is to the you tube video.  The video can also be seen on the website.  Thanks heaps and peace to you


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZPaiYVyw0A

Leafjam.com

Well Leafjam.com is officially up and running. At this stage, due to my lack in computer code expertise, the site for Leaf is pretty sparse.  http://www.leafjam.com/  There is a basic player provided by Reverb Nation, a CD Baby buy button, some text, and a facebook like button.  I'm sure a normal person could have done that in like ten seconds, but alas it took me ALL DAY!  Ugh!

If anyone is interested in teaching me or helping out with the webpage, I'm all for it.  Some kind of compensation will be provided of course.  Free Leafjam.com T-shirt.  Leaf cd perhaps?  Or an invite to on of our parties at the Farmhouse? 

Until then I will keep working on our music website, myspace, and various other sites to increase our exposure to anyone out there who digs spreading peace and love through good music.  http://www.leafjam.com/ 

Peace and love,  Tommy