Rivers End... where it all began.

Good morning lords and ladies.. it's wed nes day.. closing out the year here in the tower. What a year it’s been. Not done yet. I’ve been packing today.. I’ll be chasing the western storm into the sierras for a little while.. thinking about my losses and gains.. hard to believe how far I’ve come with the Hadder dream in just a short while, although the very first face I collected was well over a decade ago. These murmurs of the dream have been knocking at my door for that long. I took my time opening it… but it’s open now. Maybe it took a few things that happened to me earlier this year to reach for the door handle… as it might you someday as well. We all have doors and knockings. (Shhhh.. listen… it’s for you, it’s calling to you.) Carpe Diem.

Let’s talk rivers, reality and fiction and the man in the Mystery Machine.

New Music: Here is the “Working Mix” of Rivers End, (on the front page if your Mobil) this is what I call the “drums, bass, and guitars” mix as they are all kranked up.. for listening during the music recording phase of a song. When I return from the mountains.. I’ll sit and do an actual mix and add it to the Hadder Player. I share it now, because I enjoy sharing the process, it’s important to me. Every song is a journey down stream… with pages of ideas and words... with failures and triumphs that mark the days of it's life.. and this song is the epitome of that idea. There’s nothing to hide and no secret to honest creation, try to remember that. Soon.. I’ll enter the falls myself… and find that mountain. I’ve passed the tree and I’ve seen the witch. Maybe I'll return. All the reason to share it now, in the event I don't.

The Novel: Zabble is pretty occupied with his new findings... perhaps Medlin left him a note somewhere... hmm... we'll see. Lots of new books for the book master and keeper of the Key. With Mattix around... Skylark has a nice friend to keep her company, god knows Zabble will be spending a lot of time there... at least until the winter moon and his promise to Medlin to go to the black forest where he will find something.... wonder what. Of course Diamonds Hadder and Lord Skynn are well and safe still on route to Europa and the Diamonds first meeting with his mother and all that comes with that. Meanwhile in the outskirts of BOK, the king has his own plans which I've yet to elaborate on... other than a little mention of the weapon he is developing to destroy the Warmoths and gain control of Eropean lands. All quite interesting... looking forward to the next notes myself. Without giving away too much, there's a special book... sitting on a special shelf... I think it's the next field note. Coming soon although mountain travels might slow the words.

John Heinz: The Mystery Man, literally. You'll see. A quick mention, meet John Heinz, who arrived to the tower 2 weeks ago in a Scooby Doos mystery machine... yes... you heard me right. He will be playing bass guitar for the Hadder project. We've begun the process of getting him assimilated and recorded on all the current tracks... I will release those mixes as they happen... amazing Bass player and he's very excited to be part of the project. One of the main criteria for being a part of this Hadder endeavor, is actually wanting to be part of it. I'm not really interested in half ins' and fence post dancers. It's a pretty simple request and desire of mine that people involved care to be involved, otherwise... don't waste my time or your own for that matter. The road is long and hard enough, dead weight will have to stay behind. I can make the trip myself although anyone is welcome to come along, if you can make it. It's my pleasure to work with him really, as I'm not much of a bass player.. other than having the talents to craft and create textures good enough to hold top details on the canvas. The few tracks he already has done as part of the audition were fairly amazing and like I said, I'm the one who's fortunate to have him on board so far. Great skills and great attitude and an obvious dedication to his craft, much like I care about my own craft. Important traits needed along the way.. for such a crazy dream to become a reality. What notions do you serve? Ask the man today behind the door to your dreams.

The plan: Although I’m working on songs in the now, with one left to complete the first record, my mind is months ahead.. I’m in a black tour bus.. it’s beautiful.. It’s sleek and it’s menacing in an artful way. A vessel of a dream. Carrying a bright light.. racing across a dark countryside. A safe haven for us lonely cards of a deck ruled by ruthless kings, Queens and Jesters. You'll see it soon. Inside you won’t find bottles of Jack and tipsy narcissistic assholes.. instead you might find some honest folks and a juice bar.. and some old heavy metal records. Ok, maybe a old bottle of whiskey for those wintery travel dates... Maybe an ink pen and a window overlooking the hillsides with a camera bag and espresso machine at the ready. The new dream is what we make it.. the past belongs in the past. It's ok to look at and learn from it, but not a thing that belongs in the present day. I hope someday I can give back.. when called upon. I dream of giving back without any notion of taking. To lift up rather than hold down.. or god forbid, to hold back. Someday.

Ok, here's the first Hadder record.. as I image it 2022

Evermore

City of fire

Master of illusion

The crying game: (edited)

Long is the road

Ballad of the dead rabbit (edited)

Rivers end

The Ramsay/Evermore material is still all in consideration and may become part of the hadder record.. I just don’t know yet. That or it will become it’s own record. Time will tell me when it’s ready to tell me.

The second record I’m guessing will be partially based on the novel I'm writing. But that’s a bit past this first mountain and I have lots of streams to cross before then. I best be focused on today or else I could be eaten by a gorgon.

Happy holidays.

Mattix and Klipso say hey.

-j Evermore (Axe wielder)

Rivers End

Did you find a touch of heaven out beyond the silver line?

Is it really what you dreamed of?

or was it only in your mind?

Did you hide away from glory?

Just because you need a friend.

Do you believe there’s something magic… in the end?

It’s hard to believe we’re forever

It’s sad to think you know it all

what a gift we play the game at all

oh somewhere past the end it all begins again

Go see the man..

At the rivers end

On a slave ship, sailing off the edge

Cast away as if, you’ll soon forget

But it’s a long way, past the tree that marks the final turn

Oh what a mystery this is

without an answer to the call

Another lie without a why

Are we really here at all

Make it worth the fear!

Oh what a tale they tell us all

As we ride blindly into the falls

I know it’s hard to believe we’re forever

It’s sad to think you know it all

it’s a gift we play the game at all

Oh somewhere past the end it all begins again

Go when you can…

DOWN!!!!

Dive Dive Dive

Into the golden waters

Run Run Run

As fast as you can.. away from here

Maybe you’ve seen the end of the stream.. and heard the voices in the falls

And met the witch at the only mountain rising up from it all

Oh somewhere down at the rivers end

I can show you where it all began

Oh down at the rivers end!!!

Down!

Dive Dive Dive

Just leave it behind

Ride Ride Ride

The wind to the falls

Maybe you’ve seen the end of the stream.. and heard the voices in the falls

And met the witch at the only mountain rising up from it all

Oh somewhere down at the rivers end

I can show you where it all began

Oh down at the rivers end!!!

#diamondshadder #riversend

Mattix: The Guardian of the Library

Field Notes from Diamonds Hadder: On the topic of Zabble and the discovery of Mattix.

(Zabble is crossing the threshold of Medlins Door for the first time.)

As Zabble stepped into the room.. the strange wood knocking noise stopped rather suddenly.. skylark followed close behind.. as well as the klipso fog and some annoying magic books which were happily chasing skylarks tail.. the mysterious room was very dark other than a few oddly illuminated books on dark shelves. The books seemed to have a slight glow to them which became brighter as Zabble entered the room.. it was the same red light as the key and they seemed to know that the key was close.. they were casting an eerie red light in the room similar to a full moon you might say. With this light Zabble could see now that the room was quite large, it looked like an old library.. and smelled like one.. with walls filled with shelves of books and trinkets.. candles graced every shelf and a single desk in a dark corner of the room was cluttered with papers and notes near a half burned candle, dry ink pen and bottle. An elaborate and decorative but very comfortable chair graced the desk.. carved with a dragon sitting in a worry tree.. filled with ravens.. it was a striking chair.. it had a black dragon leather seat cushion beautifully hand crafted that seemed to blend with the patterns on the tree base.. and it looked well worn. A large portrait of Medlin hug on the wall just over the desk.. hmmm.. Zabble thought a moment. He suspected Medlin was placing little portrait windows around the castle, portals perhaps to see back into this world, and this portrait was certainly suspect and added to his theory. He grumbled and whispered under his breath.. “I know what your up to master” As he approached the desk, he noticed dust was collected on the untouched corners of the desk.. unlike the center of the desk which looked quite used and dust free.. a few tiny mouse footsteps could be seen in the dust.. and a few strange marks that looked like someone was scrapping or dragging something on the desk followed by what looked like wooden hammer marks in a row near the mouse prints. They were odd marks. Suddenly a loud crash and boom filled the room.. as a booked seemed to have fallen from a high shelf on its own.. and landed with a loud thud sending Zabble into a strange alert wizard stance, his heart racing as the noise practically sent him and skylark running from the room… followed by that same strange sound again.. a menacing knocking and clanging noise like wooden spoons tapping without rhythm.. Skylark jumped behind Zabble.. he looked at her with a frustrated wizards look.. “some fanglor you are”.. he grumbled under his breath .. he then turned and said.. “go see” Skykarks head turned to the side staring at Zabble and she made a slight groan which roughly translated to “I don’t think so” in fanglorean lingo. Zabble huffed, and turned to the direction of the noise. An eerie silence filled the room as the two peered into the soft red darkness where the noise could be heard. It was softer now.. with more time between the knocks. Zabble turned to skylark one last time, a look of obvious disappointment on his wizard chin, huffed again and turned and headed for the noise.

He came upon the book that fell from the shelf.. picking it up he noticed the title of the book… Kyon Magic: Volume 11.. hmmmm, wonder what that is.. he thought as he placed the book on a nearby shelf and stared up at the higher shelves of the library where the sound could still be heard.. a sliding ladder was nearby and a rail system that was obviously well used and well needed to reach the higher shelves, which he guessed was 50 or so levels high. He pulled it close and started climbing.. Zabble was an inquisitive wizard.. always believing in “wonder over wine”, or so the saying goes. Everything was a puzzle for him.. including this odd noise which he found more interest in rather than fear of. And so he climbed.. noticing a few book titles along the way… "Sleeping Potions", “The Fanglor and the troK”, “Spider webs and insect spells”, “A wizards staff: The art of direction”, “Warmoths: the anatomy of.”, “Europa”.... "How to catch a Fanglor", hmmm... Zabbled looked down at Skylark who was huddled behind Medlins desk... she looked up at Zabble as if to say... "What?", Zabble grummbled under his breath... "hmmm..oh nothing"... Zabbles heart was singing, the power of words and knowledge was like gold to him, he was truely feeling rich as he climbed ever closer to the noise… as he reached the very top.. his eyes were peering through the ladder foot holes between him and the highest shelf.. a few large books were arranged in a way as to create a little cave or hole filled with shadow and darkness.. the sound was coming from in there.. (Knock.. knock… click… clack) it continued but was much softer now as Zabbles bugging eyes peeked through the ladder. Suddenly 2 eyes could be seen in the darkness.. a slight red glow to them now.. a bit sinister like… staring at him.. hovering in the black. Zabbles hands trembled a bit clutching the ladder rails for dear life.. (Knock… knock… knock…) the sound grew a little louder.. the eyes were moving closer and the noise seemed to imitated the movement. A dead mouse lay on the floor of the shelf as well.. just outside the hole that the book house made. And then a head appeared from the dark.. how astonishing.. Zabbles eyes widened.. a wooden cat.. animated.. it moved quite elegantly.. like a real cat.. it slowly walked from the hole, it’s wooden limbs clanging together as it brushed itself against the books.. like a cat might do to itch it’s fur. He imagined it might even purr if it had a mouth to do such a thing, but Perhaps that wasn’t part of the design. He guessed, a guardian of the library books perhaps. From smart mice who love books as much as he does. Another of Medlins spells and a good one at that. As the cat approached Zabble, a closer look revealed a collar with a name, “Mattix”. How wonderful. “Nice to make your acquaintance Mr Mattix, I’m Zabble… and down there.. behind the desk… is Skylark… a fearless castle fanglor.” His eyes rolled as he grumbled the last few words. Upon hearing Zabbles talking and friendly tone, Skylark made her way out from behind medlins desk and was now at the base of the ladder looking up… her front paws on the first few rungs of the ladder shaking it slightly... her eyes wide open… Zabble shouted down to her. “We have a new friend, girl”

Skylark groaned a little anxious groan.. as if to say “What are you doing up there?, who, what, where… come down.. let me see.”

Zabble shouted down.. “Ok.. Ok.. I’m coming down already….” Zabble was smiling and wearing a wizards grin as he descended the ladder. “I hope you like cats” He mumbled under his breath.

(PS If you've come this far... down river.. there might be a link to "Rivers End".. somewhere down on the front page... at the mouth of the river.)

#diamondshadder #fieldnotes #mattix #zabble #medlinsdoor #skylark

Zatarra and The Dead Calm

Just a little update on some things.

New music: With the holidays fast approaching, all my focus is on completing "Rivers End". What can I say, it’s so close, but the devil is certainly in the details… and I’m swimming in details these final days of 2021. I’ve been listening to a mix the last few days and I’m gathering info on it for the next batch of small mods and tweeks. I have to remind myself that there is no hurry and that the song will be done when it’s done. It’s like trying to rush a pie in the oven… it just is done when it’s done. “Long is the road” is sitting in the wind, I’ve already recorded drums for it… and I have a working mix of drums and VOX I’m been listening to regularly. What a treat if I could complete them both before the new year… we’ll see. Sometimes big swells come in… and sometimes the water is dead calm…. I’m waiting by the water looking to the horizon, ready to capitalize on any ripples I see but I am leaving soon for the mountains and so I wonder what will happen, wish me luck.

The Novel: Hope you enjoyed the trip to Medlins door, I know I did. Originally that field note took Zabble into room 408, but he decided to stop at Medlins portrait and then tell his candleholder story so… I decided to leave the story hanging with him crossing the threshold of the room… I’m pretty excited to see what’s in there... although I do have an idea.

Hadder Illustrations: Off topic a bit from the words of the story, I plan on releasing some additional artwork for each of the field notes, commissioned pieces, some will be chosen for merch on the road… some for a comic book idea that might also accompany the Diamonds Hadder tale… and some might just grace the novel when it’s completed. I have a few artists that I want to work with on it… but like everything, it’s a process. The illustrations above are from a great artist and friend of mine who actually inspired a character in the Hadder tale… Lord Skynn himself. Me and Zatarra Skynner go back a while, it’s great that he’s interested in helping with some illustrations over time… and it’s really me who’s grateful and thankful for it. I think he's quite gifted and the man behind the pen is as powerful as the pen itself. I know this first hand. I don’t know where this is going just yet, but everything is something… for now I’ll be keeping the illustrations close and looking at them and thinking about how they fit into the grand scheme of things. Everything is a piece for the puzzle and everything gets used for the picture, in some way, at some time. That's true life.

The Stargazer Crew: I received a letter from Lord Weiand last night, perhaps there will be studio time this weekend for the new cover songs, to which I will be attending the event and filming, I think anyway, we’ll see.

That’s all for now, if you need anything… I’ll be paddling down river….. Happy Holidays.

-j

#diamondshadder #johnevermore #evermore #riversend #holiday #update #novel #stargazercrew #longistheroad #illustrations #comicbook