hey! whaddifug? my name's Rael, at least that's what I call myself. I write songs and poems and stuff, and I play the guitar & some bowed psaltrey. I'm the editor of the zine Alphabitch Afterbirth, & the host of the channel 15 show Postmortem Espresso.I'm Cherokee on my father's side, and Caucasian on my mum's, no doubt some kinda Euromutt, as most whites are. So, me...well, let's see.... I was born apparently, according to my birth certificate, in Long Island NY, altho I don't think since then I've ever set foot there (I doubt I 'set foot' there then, either. being newborn, I was probably carried! XD).
I did, however, spend a good deal of time in NY. Ever watch the old television series "Welcome Back, Kotter"? The school they actually show in the beginning credits (not the soundstage school the show takes place in) is my old high school, New Utrecht, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn! I was never much a fitter-inner in school tho. I graduated with the GED program in 1983, and then took a few years of college.
While I was in college, I formed a little band with my friends Jeff Neilsen, Mark Rosengarten, & Max Christopher. We were called Octopus Ride, and we played a few gigs around the Lower East Side, mostly at now defunct clubs like Neither/Nor and the No-Se-No.
I still miss the Village the way it was back then....
I was also, at this time spending a lot of time with my friend Anni Paisley. We had met at a Rainbow Family picnic, and this began a fast friendship. We read poetry at ABCNoRio, went to shows, and more or less enjoyed a lot of acidated mischief in and about the city.
Anni lived at that time in Kew Garden Hills, Queens. When I left home I would join her there. This put us right near the old World's Fairgrounds, and at that time one could enter the NY State Pavillion (of "Men In Black" fame), so we often went in to jam and enjoy the terrific echo.
It is my wish that someday Queens Theatre in The Park can refurbish this fine old building and make it open to the public again.
Anni & I also at this time frequented the mosque of the Halveti-Jerrahi dervishes of NY. Being poets, we were also very interested in Sufism. We took hand there in 1987.
In the end of 1988, my grandmother died, and I was pretty sad. Needing a change of pace and hoping to figure my life out, I moved (as did Anni; like said, we were pretty inseparable at that time) to Montpelier Vermont, where we lived with some guy I met at a Rainbow. He was a friend of the band Phish, who he'd attended Goddard College with.
As a result, we wound up at a lot of the early Phish shows, mostly at the now defunct club The Front, and occasionally at Hunt's, or Nectars. Who'd have known these guys were gonna get so big?
I worked- probably the only job I've actually managed to hold!- at a drop-in center for homeless people and ex-mental patients. It's called Another Way. It got me interested in and involved in advocacy for awhile, a field I still dabble in now.
I also was a DJ during this time for the Goddard College radio station, WGDR. Not having a car, I would often resort to hitchhiking to make it out to my show each week.
In the 90s, I moved to Olympia Washington.
This was kinda a gloomy period; I was into hard drugs, and a going-nowhere relationship with a hot roaddog poet guy. I DID however, get to see a LOT of cool grunge music; I lived up over the now defunct Alamo club. I also liked to play the open mikes at the Smithfield Cafe.
One good thing that came of this time? Was I learned to play the bowed psaltery. I met a very cool fellow by the name of Gregg; any of you familiar with this instrument probably know the guy, as he's a bit of a psaltery legend.
I moved on & off between WA state and VT for awhile, also taking a few long road trips. I went out with Anni to California; we stopped and stayed for awhile in such places as Eugene OR and Guerneville CA. Later, we went southeast, to Asheville NC and Athens GA, respectively.
2001 saw me living in Athens.
It was kinda stressy leaving Vermont to begin with. The landlord of my building had drowned, and my ex-roommate from WA, a guy named Alex I'd had kind of a crush on, came to town and wound up wreaking havoc in my life...I went there to live with my Wiccan friend,Mary Hay; altho I stayed for about a year and a half? it didn't end up working out for me. Still. Once again, I got to see a LOT of cool bands, and made a few friends amongst the Elephant Six Collective.
I returned to Vermont in April of 2003. Couchsurfed awhile. Finally landed in the little place I have now. While I was still homelessing about, I began DJing on the pirate station Free Radio Burlington, and stayed on until the FCC finally closed it out. From what I know, they're still hoping to pull it back together someplace else. Those guys are troopers.
I also took the courses to begin television production and began shooting Postmortem Espresso at VCAM.
I'd been lurking around VCAM anyway; I was very fond of Greg&Bill's show Video Free Burlington and called up a lot; I was also doing sound on The Davey Horror Show. Doing my own show was the next logical progression. My friend Z'ela, who I'd met in Burlington and left out in Washington (he met some girls!!) had moved back to Vermont, so he assisted me with this. Along with many noteable local musicians, we've had help from an old friend of mine from NY Dan Cvejic, as well as guest host Don Preston and our most recent cameraman Tim Sawtelle.
In 2004 I was diagnosed with diabetes type2. This, of course, has been the latest chapter in the adventure of my little life; learning to control and live with it. I'm still juggling my many art projects, and still have many new projects and hopes and dreams to fulfill- so long as one's still enjoying life, there's still stuff to do! but maintaining myself and my blood sugar have become my primary task and, at times, slow the other stuff down a bit.
In spite of it all, I'm happier than I've been in a long time. My life remains semi-active, spirit-filled, and busy. I'll add more to this as new things occur, meanwhile, keep your eye out for flyers- I may be playing some music or doing some event somewhere near YOu very soon! ;)

page by Rael.started in 1997, updated December,2005.
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