Muscle Shoals Music... Inspiration? Highway 43 - Muscle Shoals

I wrote this song - GARBAGE MOUNTAIN - while driving south on highway 43 through Muscle Shoals, Alabama.  As I crossed highway 72 (heading home)  I looked over and saw this huge/enormous mountain of trash through the trees (it was winter so the leaves had fallen).  It was really big. I was shocked.  A mountain of garbage had grown up - along a path I'd travelled regularly - over the years - and I'd never noticed it before. Give this tune a quick listen... GARBAGE MOUNTAIN ...then...  If you like it... support the home team. Buy the album. In fact, buy several. We are not a part of THE MACHINE. There's no big record company with A&R and Payola and Dirty Tricks and all the "big muscle stuff" they have at their disposal to get records on the radio and into stores and into the media. Ever wonder why some music that's out there is so bad?  It's the machine.  They pick and push.  Wanna support good music that's NOT part of the machine?  Well hip-hip-hurray you can!  You see, we're just Kelvin Holly and Steve Trash making the world a better place through music.  So if you feel you are a person that supports good stuff. Bring it. Buy the album. In fact, buy two, buy three.  Buy lots. Share this post. Tell your friends. Thx for the support. Here's the itunes link if you're a digital downloader type.  Steve 

The Magic Words Are... Reduce Reuse Recycle

If you walk up to someone on the street (grown-up or child) and ask them what they think the “real magic words” are,  you get an enormous range of responses.  I know because I do this all the time. Responses I get range from  "Go away... I don't speak to silver bearded strangers in enormous black hats" to "Well... let me see... Abracadabra... maybe?" to "Allah Peanut Butter Sandwiches..." to "... Please?"  

All of these are valid, but the only real magic words are “Reduce Reuse Recycle.”  These magic words actually DO MAGIC.  The secret to the success of "the real" magic words - The Three Rs - Reduce Reuse Recycle - is that they work.  Like a magic wand, we wave these magic words towards the planet (and the way we treat its resources), and it makes our negative impact smaller.  The impact is smaller because we're working WITH the natural world rather than AGAINST it.  

I'm bent towards green.  It's a bias of mine, but my bent is based on a pretty good understanding of ecological science.  Eco-Science, of course, is the study of the connections that exist in the natural world.  Ours is a very complex biological, chemical, and atomic system, but it's really, really amazing, and it's really, really all connected.  It's one system.  We know this through solid scientific study.  

So the next time you're watching a magician on TV or a Disney movie or wishing there were magic words to make that annoying kid in class disappear... remember... the only true magic words (that work) are REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE.

Wait a minute... you're a Magician... Not a Musician?

Only magicians know this.  When we introduce ourselves to new people we say, "I'm a professional magician."  It's so unusual to the new persons ears, they say back to us... "oh neat, you're a musician."  And we start the conversational back-and-forth-dance of explaining both prestidigitator's occupational pronunciation and its responsibilities (make stuff appear, disappear, float, tranform...etc.).  Interestingly, I've recently dipped my toes into the world of musician as well as magician.  Yeah.  I know.  It's a MadCap Life I live.  I know.  Hey, I just realized something... thanks to - THE TRASH TUNES - now I'll be able to just say... "yes" when they repeat back to me what I do.  :)  But, I digress.  I am a big fan of music as well as magic.  And more importantly, I'm a big fan of the professional musicians that call northwest Alabama home.  There's a long tradition of great recorded music coming out of here.  It even has a name... The Muscle Shoals sound.  I grew up in Florence... just across the river from Muscle Shoals.  In reality northwest Alabama is one giant musical community.  Consequently, I'm friends with some of these amazing and very cool "music types".  One of those... Kelvin Holly and I decided to make music that had never ever been made before... Here's the video explanation of how we decided to create an album of green songs for cool kids and grownups.  The album is called THE TRASH TUNES.  Oh yeah... here's the higher quality version HD version of the "behind the scenes" video - on Vimeo.  Enjoy the video.  More important, enjoy Kelvin playing guitar in his pajamas.  Hee Hee.

The Green Houdini - Official Music Video Release

When musician Kelvin Holly (Amazing Rhythm Aces, Pegi Young and The Survivors, and Little Richard Band) and I finished our collection of 8 green songs - THE TRASH TUNES, I almost immediately started to work on music videos for them.  I actually enjoy editing video a lot.  I like the process of merging all the crazy disconnected elements together.  To me, it's really fun... almost as fun as making the music in the first place.  Here's our newest video.  THE GREEN HOUDINI.  Hint Hint... it's about the beauty and magic of the natural world.  Oh yeah.  Thanks to Jeff Whitten for some the the amazing animal photos.  Enjoy!    

The Trash Tunes - Green Songs 4 Cool Kids and Grownups

It's been a very long and very enjoyable trek.  It's been over two years from conception to the CD, and we're now - only a few days away - from the national release of THE TRASH TUNES - Green Songs 4 Cool Kids and Grownups.  All the songs were written by professional musician Kelvin Holly and myself. How did that happen you might ask?  One day, Steve Trash went to visit his friend Kelvin Holly. Kelvin was recording music at the famous Muscle Shoals Sound Studios along the banks of the Tennessee River. As Steve watched the "magic" of live music being recorded, he was struck with an idea. There should be an album of "great green songs" that both kids and grownups can dig. Too many times, kids' music is mind-numbingly silly or just plain-old horrible. After the session was finished, Steve shared this idea with Kelvin, and over the next year or two (they both tour extensively), they put this album together. Going for great music with great green ideas that are fun and inspiring to listen to... THE TRASH TUNES were created.  I'm really proud of this album and hope that everyone loves it as much as I do.  It's fun.  It's inspirational.   It's Green.  It will be available on itunes, Amazon.com, CD Baby, and on my web site www.stevetrash.com/music.html Tuesday October 1, 2013.   Check it out!  And thanks for your support.

Red Cars and Sustainability Opportunities Are The Same

Have you ever noticed that you don't generally think about red cars very much?  But the moment you purchase a "red car" your mind unconsciously begins looking around and "red cars" seem to be absolutely everywhere.  Your mind hadn't really noticed them before.  Sustainability is the same way.  When we ask our minds to look for sustainable opportunities in our business and personal lives... all the sudden... they're EVERYWHERE!  Sustainable Opportunities ARE everywhere, we just need to start seeing them.

When I was a child, I had a passion for "other peoples trash".  I would literally walk around my neighborhood and dig through piles of things they'd put out at the curb for the trash truck.  My first find was a "Velvet Elvis" painting.  It was wonderful!  To a 7 year old mind... it was inconceivable that something so valuable (and I didn't even know who Elvis Presley was) could be thrown away.  That passion for the planets' beauty and natural resources (sometimes known as natural capital) has never left me.  It has, however taken on many professional forms for me.  Recently, I've added a new professional form... Green Biz Speaker.  The new keynote is called SUSTAINABLE IS ATTAINABLE and it's about transforming the relationship that consumers and businesses use the planets resources.  I've really enjoyed creating it.  The presentation is funny, truthful, and packed full of information that businesses can use to profit through sustainability.  I really hope the "talk" takes off.  Humanity could use a little help redirecting the way we use resources and I have discovered some of the answers on my journey with Elvis.  More info?  http://greenbizspeaker.com