Hope

 "A hope with no cognitive content is not a hope but a sententious cipher. There is no hope which is not also in part a memory."
               -Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno

A Place Where We Used To Live

The Ragpicker's Dream is Mark Knopfler's third solo album (after Golden Heart and Sailing to Philadelphia), released in 2002

A Place Where We Used To Live

This empty kitchen's where

I'd while away the hours

Just next to my old chair

You'd usually have some flowers

The shelves of books

Even the picture hooks

Everything is gone

But my heart is hanging on

If this old neighbourhood

Survived us both alright

Don't know that it withstood

All the things that took our light

You on the stair

I can see you there

Everything is gone

But my heart is hanging on

Once there was a little girl

Used to wonder what she would be

Went out into the big wide world

Now she's just a memory

There used to be a little school here

Where I learned to write my name

But time has been a little cruel here

Time has no shame

It's just a place where

We used to live

It's just a place where

We used to live

Now in another town

You lead another life

And now upstairs and down

You're someone else's wife

Here in the dust

There's not a trace of us

Everything is gone

But my heart is hanging on

It's just a place where

We used to live

It's just a place where

We used to live

Gypsy Tailwind

A product of the ever-growing music “hotbed” of Portland, Maine.

In December of 2007, Dan Connor sat lonely on the doorstep of a solo album he’d been working on for several years when he was introduced to Anna Lombard. After spending countless winter evenings working together, Connor and Lombard laid the groundwork for the critically acclaimed, "The Halo Sessions," as their harmonious musical connection was born. Under the guidance of producer Jonathan Wyman, the duo embarked on a journey for what would soon become Gypsy Tailwind.

Bees Wing - Richard Thompson

I was nineteen when I came to town, they called it the Summer of Love
They were burning babies, burning flags. The hawks against the doves
I took a job in the steamie down on Cauldrum Street
And I fell in love with a laundry girl who was working next to me

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child, oh she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

Brown hair zig-zag around her face and a look of half-surprise
Like a fox caught in the headlights, there was animal in her eyes
She said "Young man, oh can't you see I'm not the factory kind
If you don't take me out of here I'll surely lose my mind"

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine that I might crush her where she lay
She was a lost child, she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

We busked around the market towns and picked fruit down in Kent
And we could tinker lamps and pots and knives wherever we went
And I said that we might settle down, get a few acres dug
Fire burning in the hearth and babies on the rug
She said "Oh man, you foolish man, it surely sounds like hell.
You might be lord of half the world, you'll not own me as well"

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child, oh she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

We was camping down the Gower one time, the work was pretty good
She thought we shouldn't wait for the frost and I thought maybe we should
We was drinking more in those days and tempers reached a pitch
And like a fool I let her run with the rambling itch

Oh the last I heard she's sleeping rough back on the Derby beat
White Horse in her hip pocket and a wolfhound at her feet
And they say she even married once, a man named Romany Brown
But even a gypsy caravan was too much settling down
And they say her flower is faded now, hard weather and hard booze
But maybe that's just the price you pay for the chains you refuse

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
And I miss her more than ever words could say
If I could just taste all of her wildness now
If I could hold her in my arms today
Well I wouldn't want her any other way

Justin King

I’m holding you so close
As if you might slip away
Between the night and morning light
Our peace decays

And not a word will we speak
For silence knows what to say
I’ll press my hand into yours
For I know I cannot stay

With a single thought
And skin so close
This is a fire in the night
But empty hearts
And burning souls
These are the ashes of the day

The colors change
The leaves fall away
And naked are the arms of the trees

I think of you
Your simple grace
And spring rushes back to me

With a single thought
And skin so close
This is a fire in the night
But empty hearts
And burning souls
These are the ashes of the day
These are the ashes of the day





Born on June 13, 1979 in Palmer, Alaska, Justin King comes from a family well known in the wine business under the King Estate name. King attended O'Hara Catholic School from the first grade through the eighth grade. He later attended Marist High School before attending South Eugene High School. He dropped out of high school as a sophomore and entered the San Francisco Art Institute to study painting. He began playing drums and guitar around age 14 and wrote and performed songs with his current bassist, Drew Dresman. King began to focus on acoustic guitar at age 19, and in 1999 he released his self-titled album, followed by Opening in 2000. In 2001, after traveling through Europe, Ireland and Great Britain, King recorded "Le Bleu"--an instrumental acoustic guitar record which featured long-time friends and James West on percussion, Troy Sicotte on bass and Linh Renken on violins. Le Bleu was recorded at Peter Gabriel's "Real World Studios" just outside of Bath, England.

Inspired by Real World Studios, King returned to the US and began construction on his own studio "Blackberry Hill". The studio took about two years to complete during which time King toured the country as a solo guitarist opening for James Taylor, BB King, Diana Krall, North Mississippi All-Stars, Al Green and others. Just after building Blackberry Hill King recorded another instrumental record, "I-XII", with James West, renown bassist Michael Manring and European guitarist Carlos Vamos. Shortly after that King started a band with James West (later replaced by Nadir Jeevanjee), Troy Sicotte (later replaced by Drew Dresman) and Ehren Ebbage (later replaced by Chris Plank). The band toured the country for about one year before being signed to a major label record deal with Epic Records in 2006.

The band recorded the self titled "Justin King and the Apologies" record at Justin's Blackberry Hill studio as well as studios in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. The recording process took more than a year during which time the band continued to tour extensively throughout the nation as well as some international performances. After a large shakeup at Epic Records in which the president and the band's A&R representative left the company the band stayed on in limbo with Epic for about one more year before requesting to be let go from the label. Epic gave the master recording rights to the band and the album was released independently by the band shortly thereafter. After touring tirelessly throughout the year the band broke up around the end of 2007.

Since the disbanding of The Apologies, King has pursued an interest in photojournalism, having spent August 2008 in Iraq embedded with the Oregon National Guard at Balad Air Base. He accompanied the US military on patrols and raids as well as medevac missions and convoys. His photos appeared on the BBC's website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/08/middle_east_0my_iraq_adventure0/html/1.stm )and his stories were featured in Oregon's mainstream news publications. He is planning another journey to Iraq and Afghanistan later this year.

King is currently finishing a degree in oil painting and photography at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon as well as preparing for the release of a new album. The album was written, produced, engineered and all the instruments were performed by King. Its release date is expected to be sometime this Fall.