Welcome to my new creative crawl space, where I broadcast my weekly variety show featuring music, film, photography, commentary, and of course, audience participation. So wipe your feet, grab a drink and pull up a chair. The show is about to start …

This week, I’m posting a blog about the wonderful songwriter Jesse Winchester. Check it out by clicking on “Damn Spleen!” or clicking on “Damn Limbs!” and hitting “WordPress.” There are no entrance fees to these rooms, but don't forget to tip the bartender. 

Also, for all you Angelenos, come see me on Saturday, August 7, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Gallery 9, located at 6101 Washington Blvd. in Culver City, CA, 90232. I’ll be playing with musical acts Lani Trock and Rosendo as part of TheWhole9.com’s “Sounds of Summer: An Evening of Song and Art.” Featured artists include Mark Acetelli, Janet Bothne, Mark Brunner, Natalie Gray, Harry Gundersen and Abram Santa Cruz. Admission is free. Info: 310-836-4601.

Enjoy. And if you like what you see and hear, let us know and tell your friends.

Bad Heart was born inside a Sequoia tree somewhere in northern California. When he was 13 years old, a band of Norwegian muses stole his heart; as luck would have it, a Tasmanian devil came along and lent him its ticker. There’s nothing like a used borrowed heart. Bad Heart spent his long summers following the echoes of trains, foghorns, and the Rolling Stones. He planted seeds of offbeat words and sounds in the dry soil of his family’s farmland. From those seeds grew ballads of aloneness and loneliness. He performs these ballads, keeping the ghosts of the no-no boys and Sleepy John Estes in his throat and more than a few card tricks up his sleeve. Currently he is absorbing the city lights of Hollywood, still knowing that one winter day he must return that rented organ back to its lender …