“GUITARMY” MISSION STATEMENT

Plato wrote that in a successful society, every man should know how to do at least three main things: run a household/business, fight a war, and play a musical instrument. In keeping with that philosophy, GuitArmy is my vision of how we can help ALL our veterans and honored American warfighters, many who are not even aware of the benefits availavle to them! Staying as an inpatient at the Dayton, OH VA for six months following my discharge from the armed forces, I organized fellow musically inclined veterans to jam together and write original songs and material. The creative project was a success; it exploded down the halls of the domiciliary until staff and other vets began gathering for live shows in the auditorium. It was like turning on a fire hose of emotional and powerfully cathartic material, and this is how the first incarnation of “Forward Observer” was born. I only had a Boss BR-900 portable recording studio, a mic, and a beat up acoustic guitar, but we made it work, had some recovery, and recorded some great stuff together which is unfortunately mostly lost today (listen to “Soldier Boy” for one of the original recordings). My immense gratitude at having my brothers and sisters in arms play such a significant part in my recovery and subsequent psychological breakthroughs opened my eyes. Why couldn’t all veterans seeking help experience the unburdening feeling of release and healing that I experienced? I’ll lay it out there: I only served two years before getting med-boarded out; I never finished my tour of duty. I used to struggle with feelings of not being enough as compared to those who really have sacrificed everything for our nation. With music in the dom, I saw vietnam era

Like throwing wood on a fire, someone just had to provide more guitars! We never had enough. So, I came up with a cool name: “GuitArmy” and the mission became to purchase acoustic guitars and tuners for VA facilities like domiciliaries, V-TEC (Veterans’ Transition and Empowerment Centers), and musical therapy sectors within the VA. Within a surprisingly short time, the relatively disorganized inkling of an idea that had been GuitArmy had raised enough money to purchase a few guitars (only possible through partnership with Forward Observer, an album release, and the limited CD sales we achieved) that went to the Chillicothe VA; and then later, four more shiny new Epiphones made their way to the Northeast Ohio Guitars4Vets program! It was baby steps, until I got to talking to the great guy (D. Burden) who heads up the chapter out there; I learned abouit his program and decided to relinquish my idea for my own charitable organization in lieuy of ione already in place. Athough Forward Observer as an unexpected and anomolous musical force is daily attracting increasingly more hits and plays, more views and clicks, etc in the data, “GuitArmy” has been retired to the status of a memory because we dissolved that idea. We found something more official, easy, trustworthy and efficacious to supplant it, and are filtering donation streams to Guitars4Vets by directly linking you to them from this webpage. I am a veteran who makes music, and I know the value of this. Music can save lives. Please click on the “Donations” section of the website if you are interested in supporting this cause!

FORWARD OBSERVER MISSION STATEMENT

Speaking as a musician and veteran both, I can relate to the feeling of becoming attached to a piece of equipment; when one is in the military, a rifle is often one’s companion. Off-duty however, my mic stand and acoustic guitar took its place; they were always waiting for me back at my room/makeshift “studio” (a mic and a BOSS machine) in the barracks, and are definitely always a huge part of my living situation post-discharge, where Pro Tools and an energy drink are perpetually ready to be put to good use as my Ibanez refracts the light like a pair of spit-shined boots! My spirit always felt naked when there was no music in my life, so I made it my life’s mission to bring the gift of music to other, hopefully clothe them and turn them into good spirits with good vibes, and if I’m lucky, maybe even impart some wisdom from experience, strength, hope, and observation.

If fans insist, I will gratefully accept personal donations to continue my musical mission. The music is free; I hope the songs come together like rungs on a ladder for you all so that you can climb them and elevate yourselves, I really do. Some are cryptic, but scrunching your brain and wrenching the peel on a juicer is a good way to squeeze the truth. The stairway towards universal betterment is a never ending spiral, but if we can improve and level up a few times within each generation (if we pay attention to history and learn from our mistakes), I believe America could very well now be on the cusp of a potential technological and cultural Golden Age. In my music, I call for this Neo-Techno-Renaissance to be embraced, and for the arts to once again flourish prolifically. I foresee a world where our best artists/actors/writers/musicians/etc will be once again employed, commissioned, or somehow otherwise supported by the donations of generous patrons. However, all their works will be made visible or audible to everyone; from all walks of life, on the Web! What a world we live in!

When I was released from the hospital, I believed that creating the songs you’ll be hearing soon was literally a new mission for me. I was medically retired and had left active service, but providence would guide me through the next two decades in ways I could not imagine. I felt it then, and now, that I had to do whatever I could to look ahead and plan for weather changes in the forecast of our cultural zeitgeist, writing and recording perpetually, finger in the proverbial wind, so that I could gauge and be ready for when my time was called to release these songs to their greatest effect; that these mp3’s might become a viral pile of digital kindling to some kind of stylistic or cultural moment. I had to time it right between the raindrops. Precision. My flint would need to hit a spark just right into the tinder and twigs stacked in our country’s heat-needy political and pop cultural firepit.

If any of you viewers/listeners really like my message or purpose, Forward Observer does welcome contributions, but they are entire ly voluntary and never required. Aside from rogue .mp3’s from the first few underground album F.O. CD rare limited releases that I haven’t been able to remove from streaming sites or YouTube, I’m deliberately not going to utilize Spotify or any other pay-to-play subscription streaming services yet for these releases; I’m not gonna collect payment, and I’m seeing how grassroots goes. I make due with a disability pension in a humble room at a group home for disabled veterans and aged retirees, and I want the hearing of my music to be free; I’m not in this for the money.

I hope my unique experience of not being able to have being shut in for so long and being kept at arms length from general society as an outside observer during my own 15-year stretch of personal and introspective “Walden Pond” philosophical moments with portable recording gear, the experience of examining the state of our society, national identity and values makes for interesting listening. But more than that, I hope it creates a new threshold for style/genre and rock and roll.

“CULTURE BOMB” MISSION STATEMENT

The main goal of this CULTURE BOMB release is to hype up the value of and encourage innovation and investment in art, whether it be specifically and tangibily helping people as it does when music is gifted through programs like Guitarmy or Guitars4Vets, or simply through experimentation into new styles, gliding between genres like a spider dances on his spider webs, and utilizing new and