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I’ve long appreciated Oliver Sacks’ work, and was excited when I received his new book, Musicophilia, as a gift shortly after it came out.  I eagerly began to read it, but then, only a third of the way into the book, I had to stop.  The descriptions of people afflicted with music, sometimes in ways that drove them crazy, was too close to the bone for me.  I feared that just by hearing about these afflictions, I would fall prey to them.

This was not an idle fear, music has afflicted me in the past, looped in my brain in a way that caused intense anguish.  I thought that perhaps my symptoms, which I had not seen outlined by Dr. Sacks, might interest him.  I began writing a letter to him, but never sent it.  I figured he was busy, after all.  While on the KCSM radio show Desert Island Jazz last week, I briefly touched on this issue, and when I got home I looked around and found this letter.  I think it’s worth sharing here, in case someone gets comfort hearing about this form of musicophilia.

“Haunted by music that won’t stop”

I’ve always dreaded fevers – they’re uncomfortable, sure, but for me
they bring on short loops of songs that repeat, over and over.
Usually bad songs, songs I hate, just a chorus that goes on forever
and ever.

Since I entered my 50’s, I’m getting music stuck in my head at night,
when attempting to sleep, and sometimes in the day. But this is
longer pieces of music, and sometimes it’s favorite music from long
ago. And, I’m amazed at my ability to remember complex jazz or
classical pieces – entire bass solos, things I never thought I was
paying attention to.

These are pieces that I used to go to sleep to at night in my high
school days. I loved music so much, I would go to sleep to a stack of
albums, or to my reel-to-reel tape deck, on which one tape at 3 1/2
ips would fit 2 entire albums. I didn’t have a large collection, so I
heard much of this music over and over and over.

The tape deck died when I was 20, so I haven’t heard those albums for
many years. Recently, I bought a favorite CD from that time “The Bill
Evans Album”. Listening to it, I was amazed at how I KNEW the music.
I am a professional musician and composer, but I’ve never been one to
be able to transcribe or sight read well. I could sing any of the
piano solos after hearing it again just once (after a 30 year hiatus).
And then, the music wouldn’t leave my head. I was stuck with it, for
a few days, like a fevered nightmare. Finally, listening to other
music, I was able to banish it from my head. Since then, I can now
hear the album with pleasure, and not get it stuck in my head. And, I
can still hear (and sing) the solos in all their complexity.

Another example happened just this past week. I owned the John
Kirkpatrick recording of Ives’ Concord Sonata in high school, and went
to sleep to it many times. Last week, I went searching for a CD of
it, but it’s long out of print. I read up on various extant
recordings, and listened to one of them on Spotify. It was good, had
much of the same intensity and lyricism of the Kirkpatrick version.
And, again, I was amazed at how much of it I knew absolutely by heart.
And now, for the past few days, it is running feverishly in my mind.
Knowing that the Bill Evans album eventually abated, I’m not as
freaked out this time. But I am VERY tired today, as my sleep last
night was constantly interrupted by various snippets of the Concord
Sonata.

If you were affected by the recent winds blowing sheet music out of your shopping cart, take advantage of this 5-Day Sheet Music Blow-Out Sale!

For 5 days starting today (09/25/2018), you can have ANY piece of sheet music at 1/2 off the regular price!

If you weren’t affected by the recent winds blowing sheet music out of your shopping cart, I Don’t Care! – You can STILL have the same, amazing, half-off BLOW-OUT savings!

Load up now! Before these Wacky deals are Gone With the Wind!!

Today the winners of the Parent’s Choice Audio Awards were announced, and am pleased and proud to say that “I Am Your Food” won their highest commendation, the Gold award.  Only 6 others pulled down the gold ring (my friend and guest artist Frances England won for her latest release “Blue Skies and Sunny Days“).  The Parents’ Choice Award is a respected, distinguished yet unstuffy honor.  If I may crow for moment, every single one of my silly albums have won the Gold award, all 4 of them!  Caw, caw, caw!  (That’s me crowing on my soapbox perch).

I am deeply grateful for all the support I’ve received over the years for my work – fans, friends, family.  Life continues to be fulfilling and deep and pleasurable.  Thanks.

  Solid Gold!

I was alerted to a problem with my sheet music store by a lovely customer from Germany.  She claimed that whenever she added sheet music to her cart, a wind came up and blew it away before she could buy it.  And, she was right – some strange digital ether-wind was emptying the shopping carts before anyone could conclude their purchases.  It took a while for my web hosting genius to figure out a fix, but he did.  He describes it as a kind of digital ether-paperweight that keeps all the sheet music in your cart until you are ready to buy it.  Try it, it really works!

Apologies to my dear and loyal customers for any troubles this may have caused.  I will announce a sheet music sale soon as a gesture of good will – stay tuned!

yours,

Gunnar Madsen

I’m shouting it from the rooftops!  I’m coding and messaging and posting in preparation for the worldwide premiere of “I Am Your Food” tomorrow, June 15.  Here it comes, babies.  Enjoy the videos, here, or on facebook, or youtube, or vimeo.  Listen to the album wherever you want to, download it, stream it, spin it in a CD player, sing along and dance yer ass off to it.  Write me and tell me what you think.  Write your grandma, your grandkids, your grand canyon, let your words echo to skies.  Spread the word, spread the joy, spread the peanut butter and jelly!  And thanks – y’all are great.

Today, Zooblobble (the cool site for cool music for families) gave me the honor of premiering the 1st video from my forthcoming album “I Am Your Food.” Stefan, the man behind the zooglobble curtain, says this video will “help reinforce that hijacking of your brain.”  That’s got to be one of my all-time favorite press quotes!  You can watch it on Zooglobble, or right here, or on youtube, or anywhere on this octopus web.

I’ve been quiet lately.  Been working hard on writing songs for the screen adaptation of The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World musical, keeping my family on an even keel, and keeping myself healthy.  Oh, yeah – and the album I’ve been working on for the past 10 years or so is finally finished.  It’s a kind of all-you-can-eat buffet of songs all about one of my favorite subjects – Food.  No, these aren’t songs that are good for you.  They’re tasty.   They make you smile.  Like onions, there are a few songs that might make you cry, and yet they’re still tasty.  And while they don’t strive to be good for you, they are not bad for you.  They are nutritious.

Enough with the silly food metaphors.  Where or when can you hear this?  The release date is June 15, 2018.  But this Wednesday, May 9, Zooglobble will premiere the first video from the album, “10,000 Pancakes.”  The Radio Release for the song will happen Sunday, May 13 on KUTX’s “Spare the Rock.”  As other songs and videos ripen, I’ll be serving them via select radio and media sites, including this very website.  You can pre-order the album via Amazon, iTunes, GooglePlay and etc.  If you pre-order on this website (via BandCamp), Chef Gunnar will be serving you, on the house, 3 amuse-bouche tracks not on the CD – “Sweet and Sour”, a Beatles-esque exploration of the yin and yang of life, “Butter and Cream”, a Soviet-style ode to Full Fat, and “Sweet Parade (Catholic Tastes)”, a wax cylinder of a dream from about 1922.

So keep your eye on this blog – The menu may change daily.  Make your reservations now for this musical feast.

I live 3 doors away from Berkeley Fire Engine Co. 6 and the Berkeley training facility for firefighters.  For years I’ve enjoyed hearing the yelling of commands, the ratcheting clank of extension ladders, the reassuring sound of the trucks as they head off to help in various fire and medical situations.  There’s one firefighter who practices bagpipes in the courtyard – I like that.  The sound of occasional chainsaw practice is not my favorite thing (not conducive to writing elegaic melodies).   But watching this video I have a new and deep appreciation for their chainsaw work.

I don’t recall hearing their sirens before dawn last Monday when they raced off to Santa Rosa.  They themselves had no idea what they were heading for – the journey there is quotidian, chronicling the everyday nature of their work.  But upon arrival, things get hairy.  One of them filmed (and edited) their experience, and it’s heartbreaking, terrifying, amazing, brave, and uplifting.  Check the links at the end for ways to help.