With apologies to the potato, there is perhaps no other fruit or vegetable as universal to cuisine as the tomato in all its varietals. Yet prior to the 16th century a person in Rome, for example, had absolutely no idea such a food even existed. Why? Answer: because all the tomatoes in the world at the time were across the Atlantic Ocean. Even when Italians and other Europeans were aware of tomatoes it took 75-100 years for them to really catch on as a staple there. Coming out of the ‘Dark Ages’ indeed! Now imagine present day Italian cooking minus the tomato and all the mildly acidic, juicy, saucy goodness it adds to so many dishes. Might be hard to fathom for a present day human who pays attention to such things. Tomatoes (as do potatoes and maize (corn)) come from the ‘New World’ described in the histories of Western Civilization (but might actually be better described as the ‘Parallel World’ depending on how one looks at it).

We are born into a world of conditions, but these conditions are not uniform at any particular moment at the individual level along many factors, and conditions change in a macro sense at what could be described as chaotically. Sometimes we just don’t know what we don’t know (like tomatoes are awesome) because something just doesn’t exist in our environment. Think of any discovery or human innovation with no connotation to ‘good’ or ‘bad’: (short list in no particular order or inferred importance) harnessing fire, domestication of the dog, understanding seeds beget plants, preserving food and drink through fermentation, the wheel, written word, dependable water quality, the combustion engine, transmitted voice communications, etc., etc. This knowledge is gained and spread in fits and starts. Sometimes embraced, sometimes resisted, sometimes suppressed, sometimes forgotten, sometimes abandoned to varying degrees, sometimes all at the same time. Sometimes the knowledge isn’t even widely known (how do cell phones work?), but the resultant useful tool is used over and over again with little thought. Sometimes we might not even like the shiny, new thing, but in order to keep pace with the herd we use it just like everyone else seemingly does around us. We are aware, therefore we use, and a thing exists in our consciousness. Histories can give us some insight into what we are experiencing in the present, and while there is most likely truth to the old cliché ‘history repeats itself’, the more likely outcome in terms of the future, with history in mind and barring cataclysm, is there will be some discovery or innovation, again with no connotation to ‘good’ or ‘bad’, that none of us anticipates resulting in a sea change to how people perceive and interact with the world.

The themes of this collection of songs touch back to the notion of perception and perspective. All of the characters I imagine in the lyrics of these songs have a blind spot in terms of how they are able to process the information and experiences they access thru whatever means real or imagined. What and when does someone think of something, and when a thought becomes something more concrete, like an idea, a belief, an action, does the same person have the ability to remain curious to what else might be happening in the world influencing and motivating themselves and others?

This is my fourth release as The Beard Police. Gear I used: Telecaster, Strat, Reverend Double Agent OG, Blueridge BR-180, Squire J-Bass, Fender Deluxe Reverb, Mesa Boogie 1 X 12”, Truetone Jekyll and Hyde, Truetone Clean Boost, Boss DD-3, Xotic AC Booster, Shure SM57, Sennheiser MD421, AKG C214, Studio Projects T3, Universal Audio Apollo Twin, Garageband.