Complexion of My Love

Scott (me) & Scott (him) onstage in Anchorage

 So there's this song. My dear friend and one-time partner in Scott&Scott, Anchorage, Alaska, circa 1977-78, wrote it. He wrote, that is all but the last verse, which was penned by moi, never really realizing he'd give me credit for it so much later, in 1984 or so, after my visit to him around '78 in Juneau, where he was living, and having the chance to record it live with Scott and my Alaska Repertory Theatre fellow "Diamond Studs" castmember Gina (whose last name has left me--my apologies to this lovely talented human musician/actor) on the violin. We did this little recording in the office of a radio station after Scott was interviews briefly, and I think we just had maybe two room mics. 

On that recording I played acoustic guitar lead accompaniment and did not sing. Still, I'm all in there because yes, I did write the Aurora Borealis verse, and yes, I composed and performed the instrumental bridge, prominent in the bridge (duh) and in the closing of the recording. If you listen for it, you will hear the last notes of that bridge as I complete it as it slows to a pause before yes, my verse, and yes, Scott starts the first word, "Aurora", with a little chuckle. I clearly recall why but I'll let you draw your own conclusions...

The song is called, "Complexion of my Love." This is a version of the recording we recorded live, and which appeared in the LP "Alaska Hit Singles" a few years after it had been aired on the (I think an NPR) radio station.

My dear son in law, the immensely talented drummer, writer, podcaster, and stickman of all trades and skills, Tim Buell, took my digital-from-vinyl conversion (created with the help of my Numark Pro USB turntable) recording and cleaned it up quite, I think, nicely. 

You be the judge: https://samply.app/p/wGCyHmjlpDZXZjbGxNr2

And Scott, whom I've not been able to locate lately, still has a presence on Amazon Music. Look for Scott H. Miller "Letters to Myself". Oh, here...

I'm not sure where I might go with this, but however else I may share it later, it's at the samply link above in .mp3 format so enjoy. Ah I do recall singing with Scott, with gratefulness, joy, and nostalgia. Hope you like it...

A Bit o' April

Well, just well, Pilgrim. Here we are.

No real reason to post today excepting to do so. Let's see what's in my diminishing brain.

Been painting. It seems a harmless thing to do, which things to do are in rare attendance these days of absurdist dark comedy. Here's my latest, painted from a photo I took several years ago in a neighborhood alley. 

"lonely chair" -- scott gardner merrick

You can always see the collection at scottmerrick.me. If there is a method in my madness it's to create interesting things. I see a great number of paintings posted online. OMG, we've got the Instagerm, the BookOfTheFace, all that other Social and Media stuff, and one doesn't know where to turn sometimes, so one avoids all of them. Back in freakin' 1990-something, I posted (I think on MySpace, hehehe) a short video where I approached our front door over on Cantrell Avenue, opened the door, and labeled it something like "Come On Into the Merricks". My wife went a little berzerk and if I recollect correctly I took it down; but yeah, that's me. 

So I'm not doing that again, though I am proud of our front entrance, even though I got a Metro Codes citation for my long grass, a result of choosing to participate in our local iteration of "No Mow Month." See more here, but let it be known that I called codes, had a cordial chat with the head of the Codes Division overseeing private residence maintenance and learned that our fair City "does not support" that Cumberland River Compact program. Interesting. At any rate I used my weed trimmer to cut everything back, including my red clover. I overseeded front and back two years ago--it was displaying beautiful rolling waves of large and tall petals. Why did I cave so quickly? Well, the $50 a day fine beginning in a few days was certainly a motivator. I still have my yard sign, though, and I promised the authorities I'd be keeping it all presentable. It was, to be honest, looking a little shabby. 

I still have my back yard meadow experiment, though I cut back the grass gone to seed back there. I may mow that just to help define what will be a lush home garden. If half of what I planted a couple weeks ago comes up and blossoms, it will be all that! I will post pics on Instagram and here...

So that's a bit o' news. As always, ever hopefully, more later.