John McGrail profile picture

John McGrail

World Is Coming To An End....

About Me

Well it is, i'm just not sure how soon....
so who am i, what is this music i don't know i just write the stuff. i'm not totally sure i can explain it. my only real criteria is that it sounds good. that is a pretty widely thrown net if ya know what i mean. i like a lot of different stuff. I like rock and roll, and jazz and folk and wierd stuff and classical and world music there is always something good regardless of the genre. i think if everyone were exposed to a wide variety of music then the populations would like a wide variety of music, i think they aren't being fed properly and are starving from cultural malnutrition. style isn't so important which leaves me as a sort of rootless bastard. i like U2 i like the Beatles and the Stones but i also like John McLauglin and Robert Fripp and Michael Hedges and Don Conoscenti and Jim Volk and Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd and Cat Stevens and Stevie Ray Vaughn and Ani DiFranco and Return To Forever and Mozart and Gorecki and Cindy MacKay and The The and The Chieftains ( i do have a fair amount of Irish blood in me... ) even the Ohio Players.... i could go on but why, you get the picture, music is just what it is and nothing more and nothing less. Like i said... i just write the stuff. doesn't even mean it is any good although in my own by opinion it is. i make it and people like you can listen to it. ah yes we musician types tend to think that the audience should be grateful, at least that's what you would perceive if you could read our minds. but in one on one communication we would never say anything like that. it would alienate you. let me be straight.... i think my stuff is awesome and you won't convince me other wise but if you don't like it that's ok.
besides music what do i like? after all what a person writes has a lot to do with who they are or what they do. well i like to write short stories and i like to hike in the woods, especially in the autumn. the midwest is at its best in autumn. i like to ride my bike with regularity. i have a cat as a roomate, she doesn't pay any rent though. i love coffee. i like to eat and i like to cook food, usually in the reverse order. i don't like violence and i don't like war. I am proud to say i was one of the millions around the globe protesting( and still protesting) the American Invasion of Iraq (contrary to popular American belief... we were the majority). WMD's my ass... anyway if you stick around you'll get plenty of that attitude so i won't belabor the process now. I like Guinness beer and single malt scotch and irish whiskey (not to mention the country Ireland) and even a martini occassionally. Italian food with a glass of red wine is fine. i give money to amnesty international and certain environmental and animal rights groups. also i am a lousy oil painter. of course as i tell you all this i am not discussing my darker side... you gotta listen to the music to get that part.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/14/2006
Band Website: mindfryenterprises.com
Band Members: Just John McGrail generally.
On "Songs For Troubled Times" Chris Solt played drums
and Jay Bentoff did some e-bow guitar work.

Influences: My influences range from singer songwriters such as Billy Bragg, Ani DiFranco, Cat Stevens to groups such as Pink Flyod and U2 and then there are the other musical influences such as Frank Zappa, John McLaughlin, Robert Fripp, and then there are other influences such as Hemingway, Chomsky, my friends and family, a walk in the woods during the autumn, a bike ride, a tasy meal, a good bottle of wine or scotch and of course Guinness.....,

HSUS MySpace Page | Stop Puppy Mills Website

Sounds Like: John McGrail

Record Label:
Type of Label: None

My Blog

September 11, 2007

The following is an excerpt from the most recent Mind Fry newsletter:   Today is September 11th.  It has been 6 years since that day.   We all remember what we were doing at the ti...
Posted by John McGrail on Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:25:00 PST

Arkansas John vs Cleveland John

The following is an actual exchange between a man named john McGrail who lives in Arkansas and myself.  It seems Arkansas John didn't appreciate the views that I have and that we had the same nam...
Posted by John McGrail on Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:04:00 PST

Leashes

Ya know I was up on the shores of Lake Superior recently taking in the great out of doors. A very gorgeous area. A very cold lake. The weather was good and life was generally blissful. It was cool (so...
Posted by John McGrail on Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:16:00 PST

birthdays

Today is both Beorge Bush's Birthday (boooooo) and oddly enough, the Dali Lama's  (you go Dali)  How weird is that.  Next we'll find out Satan was born December 25......
Posted by John McGrail on Fri, 06 Jul 2007 08:01:00 PST

A Letter To President Bush

Dear President Bush,     So you commuted Scooters sentence.  Why am I not surprised?  The only surprise is that you didn't give him complete amnesty.  What?  Are yo...
Posted by John McGrail on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 06:32:00 PST

Been Reading

I've been reading a really good book lately.  Its by Howard Zinn.  It's called "A Power Even The Governement Can't Halt".  It's a collection of essays about America.  It takes the ...
Posted by John McGrail on Thu, 08 Feb 2007 10:21:00 PST

Imagination

     So I was talking to a guy. He was a poet. He had just gotten done doing a reading of his poems at a local coffee shop. He was sort of full of himself it seemed. He was really ...
Posted by John McGrail on Sat, 23 Jun 2007 06:27:00 PST

The Spider and Connected Musings....

The Spider is a great place. You never fear playing there. There are times, as a solo 'folk singer/songwriter',where just showing up takes the balls of an NBA sideline rack or a pool triangle waiting ...
Posted by John McGrail on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 06:48:00 PST

Coffee Shop

It was a quiet evening at the coffee shop. There was a guy playing and there were some people who were listening. The conversation and the air conditioning unit seemed to make as much noise as the guy...
Posted by John McGrail on Sat, 16 Jun 2007 08:07:00 PST

Eyes Wide Open

I went to Chicago recently. It was over the Memorial Day weekend and I had a good time. Jazz, martini's music, good company... it's a cool city. Way more functional than Cleveland. They even have a de...
Posted by John McGrail on Sun, 03 Jun 2007 02:00:00 PST