Ayyyyye! We’re officially one week away from the release of Everyone Is a Moon! The new #sadboi 4-song EP hits streaming services March 10, and the third song on it is called “Moonbeams.” While we’re still a week out from the studio version release, here’s a live version of the song:
Everyone Is a Moon hits streaming platforms on March 10, and that night I’ll be performing at Goat Haus Biergarten in downtown Montgomery. Details here.
Special thanks to Towering Above guitarist J. Slickwood for the above meme 🙂
I hope you enjoy! Thanks for listening, reading, supporting, and all that good stuff. For real. Much appreciated. Much love to you.
Hey! Hi! Hello! Hola! Good morning/afternoon/evening/whenever you’re seeing this!
So… late last month, I announced that I’ve got a new EP coming out March 10 called Everyone Is a Moon. Like the rest of my studio albums, I layered things in the studio – guitars, vocals, piano, etc., but my live show is just me and a guitar. So I wanted to do something different this time and release some live versions in advance of the studio versions.
Also, there’s a new shirt available in my online merch store with the EP cover art on it.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading, listening, watching, supporting, loving, and being the most authentic version of you that you can be. (The world needs you to be you.) Much love.
I should have already posted this stuff… Oops… Got sidetracked with other stuff… So anyway…
The short film Coffee with Friends, directed by Jimmie and Autumn Rogers, can be seen on Amazon as part of a horror compilation called Franny Kruugerr presents Scary Stories.
Hi! On Friday, March 10, 2023, I will be releasing a new 4-song EP titled Everyone Is a Moon.
Track listing:
The Fiction of Closure
Nice to Be Needed
Moonbeams
A Darkness Follows
Originally this was going to be the title for my last album, but Carry the Wounds felt more appropriate for that one. These four songs were originally going to be on that album as well, but some newer ones, again, felt more appropriate for that release.
For anyone wondering, the title comes from a Mark Twain quote:
“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
To me, that quote speaks to the essence of authenticity. I have a history of coming across as guarded, even when I wasn’t trying to be. So the past eight-ish years or so, I have made conscious efforts to be more vulnerable and live my authenticity. And one thing I can say – even while coming across as guarded in relationships or social situations, my music has always explored deeply personal emotions. That “dark side,” as Mark Twain called it, has been there, out in public, just in musical form.
Everyone Is a Moon will be on all major streaming platforms March 10.
Friday the 13th is a good day to talk about love, right? Right?! RIGHT??!!!
With my long history of depression and the #sadboi songs I write, I’m always a little caught off guard when asked for life advice. I immediately think of the times I was barely holding it together (or, you know, having a full-on breakdown in a friend’s kitchen or in front of a therapist) and wonder what I could possibly help another person with.
Of course, there’s a twofold answer in there: 1. Sometimes people just need to be heard, and in general, I am a pretty good listener, and 2. Sometimes going through experiences and being vulnerable to discuss them can let others know that they’re not alone in what they’re going through.
So in thinking about the concept of the word “love” – and I’m well aware that trying to sum that up in a blog post is inherently going to leave out so many important aspects, so bear with me – there are a few thoughts and lessons I’ve had, especially on my current journey.
One of the main ones is this: Not everyone who says they love you actually does.
Now look, I’m not out here calling people liars. Lying involves malice, and I’m not trying to judge a person’s intent here. Maybe they thought they loved you. Maybe they genuinely wanted to love you. But the lesson I’ve learned over the years is that love comes from the actions, not just the words. I even included an aspect of this in one of my songs.
“An Empty Phrase” from my Carry the Wounds album has the lyrics:
But now I know… Not to take it at face value I ignored your actions in favor of your words
(Side note: That song starts out with “‘I want you in my life’ is just another empty phrase…” So… uh… please never tell me “I want you in my life.” Literally everyone who has ever said that to me is either not in my life at all or currently at the outskirts of it. I dunno… the phrase just feels a bit cursed at this point [LOL? Shrug emoji?])
OK, back to the main point: love and actions. In the book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, he says:
“If others say one thing, but do another, you are lying to yourself if you don’t listen to their actions.”
Words are great. Words are important. Words can affirm. Words can encourage. Words have power. In fact, the first agreement in that book is “be impeccable with your word” and he writes, “Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” Some people’s love language is Words of Affirmation.
But are the words followed by actions? And if the actions and the words don’t match… well… look at the actions. I firmly believe that truth is seen in the actions.
Another aspect that I will absolutely not do a deep dive into for this post is love vs. attachment. It’s an interesting subject to examine, and one in which I am personally examining and thinking about. I’ve heard Kyle Cease talk about this in some of his YouTube videos, and I remember him bringing up some popular love songs that, if you took away the music and had a date say those words to you at dinner, they’d be kind of creepy. He says that what we think of as “love” much of the time is actually “attachment.” It’s an interesting subject to delve into.
Anyway… I think I’ll stop here. This is one of those posts where I just needed to get my thoughts out, so if you made it this far: thank you. Thank you for reading, caring, supporting, listening, watching, and encouraging me. It’s greatly appreciated. Find the beauty in the world. Much love.
If you missed the Octoberfest 2022 event, the entire performance by The12thhour is now available on YouTube. I put together a playlist featuring the set in the order we played it.
Also last fall, we released some older recordings and demos on streaming platforms (like Spotify) so if you haven’t checked those out, they are available.
Aight… quick post… that’s all for now… more later. Thanks for reading, watching, supporting, loving, etc. Much love! (Also, sign up below to never miss a post!)
I know my last post read “I don’t know if I’ll have another post to share before the new year or not,” but surprise! Here’s another!
Back in 2013, a month before the release of my third solo album Ghost of a Town, I released a little EP to help promote it titled Ghost.Ocean.Sirens. It was available exclusively on a website called NoiseTrade, but at some point it seems they were bought out by Paste Magazine, and I guess they deleted everything by little unknown artists like myself [shrug emoji vibes].
So… I was able to locate the cover art (at the appropriate size, that is) and the live tracks in .wav form and have uploaded them to Bandcamp.
So here they are for your listening enjoyment (or non-enjoyment since my songs are sad and all…) 🙂
With that being said, thank you for reading, listening, supporting, and just being the all-around magical, loving person that you undoubtedly are. I hope you have a wonderful day and a happy new year! Much love.
josh carples 