this week, i learned the term emergence. as in, where a whole has properties or capacities distinct from its parts. also, this is a sycamore tree. which way do you think we’re looking at it?

welcome to the first song dot land this year! i’m sitting on dozens and dozens of improvisation session recordings but i wear out before i can post them (or am not convinced of their quality). not today! tune in to two recording sessions, conscious recorded during my lunch hour today lasts the first nine minutes,Continue reading "conscious/falsetto"

grand—song dot land tonight’s episode of song dot land comes from the energy of the outdoors! “you were always something grand”. rock and roll p.s. this podcast celebrates its fourth year of continuation this month. how wonderful and grand. thanks for listening! spider web: engineering marvel by jesse on 2022-10-22

“everything of your day shines your way in night” just as our moon turns to its full moon phase for this new episode of song dot land. for a few days, the moon cuts through the darkness and lets us diurnal creatures explore. this episode explores nature and love, the connections between all the living.Continue reading "spun"

tonight’s song dot land is awesome. i don’t know where this stuff comes from but i love singing and playing and sharing with you. enjoy. plants watching the sunset by jesse watkins

tonight’s song dot land brings you some multi-track vocals with a reflection of my sadness at 15 when i missed the smashing pumkins’ final tour (information from the show that actually happened in 2000). at it’s core, this episode expands on the contentment i have today when i breathe. i’ve got everything i need. theContinue reading "pumpkins"

song dot land—the earth is melting “What is it that you see when you look deep inside?All that painful basement garbage.” Recorded on November 2, 2020. First released on 2022-01-21 for my birthday. https://youtu.be/xEoEt3_hi8M?si=KM0W_EkuGO37vDE5

when harris wittels died in 2015, i improvised this song afterward to commemorate the terrible day. recorded 2015-02-28. first release: 2022-01-08. transcript from the very beginning of this songyour light would shine through the darknesswhen i thought of all the ways we've connectedi know that it was truly astonishing i wouldn't have to wake upContinue reading "siren song of opiates (ode to harris wittels)"

how amazing is right now? enjoy this voyage of song dot land, a journey into understanding ourselves. christmas gets mentioned, and a plug for a theatre production i'm in this week: irving berlin's white christmas! irving berlin’s blue skies shows a cameo. i shoutout crystal vu bailey’s music. she uses the name loyal love! tupeloContinue reading "show week"

i visited the smoky mountains for the first time in three years. i was moved. i was called again. ancient mountains. ancient wisdom. heaven fly. this would be a great song to re-write and multitrack record…and sing on pitch.

recorded in the middle of the night on august 4th, i sang wired with a guitar and a disposable vape in my hands. full notes: https://song.land/vape/

song dot land—nature 1 Song dot land's new episode is powered by nature. Jesse improvises music to a journey through tall grasses as autumn begins in his part of the world. Watch the video for the full experience! The video and cover art were taken during sunset on 2020-09-28, with audio recorded on the morningContinue reading "nature 1"

As the sun rises on the autumnal equinox, the summer drifts off as a chilling cool arrives. I welcome it, but—how did it cool so quickly? 12 hours of daylight. 12 hours of darkness. On today's song dot land, we celebrate a model day for equality and balance. Cover art taken the evening before. EpisodeContinue reading "foxtail equinox"

This is one of my more esoteric episodes. I've been fasted for 22 hours and exercised a bunch today. I did that to have good brain energy for this recording, but I don't know if it worked. I'll listen in the future and find out! Good luck if you enjoy it, and make sure toContinue reading "mystery 2"

This week's Song Dot Land journeys across the dimensions of difference. What ground sits between your understanding of life and your neighbor's? Who do you want your future self to be? It's a vision of where we can find our strength through our difference. And Monty Python gets recounted at one point. And about howContinue reading "across difference"

Welcome! Song Dot Land is a wild, created-on-the-fly-and-it-shows musical program. Today's 'tent delivers themes of imagining what can exist when we accept what is. It ends with the benediction to go and have a great week. So, please do!

Song Dot Land travels to encouraging dimensions in this week's episode of the long, improvised idea sharing podcast. The title comes from a mistake where the guitar cable had a problem. May you find encouragement and compassion for your own self as we all deal with coronavirus and another step in the long road ofContinue reading "cable problems"

This rambling song.land ventures through the topic of making your life your own. You are responsible for how your life goes, as I am mine. It ends with a story where a banker's life is changed by the article a freelance author sacrificed so much to write.

Today's short-and-sweet song.land speaks of growing together, of tender love, of life. The “you” in tonight's music goes out to mother nature. “Ooh-ooh-ooh, we are oneAnd we find it all, find it allFind it in your eyes “I came back down deleterious and so afraidInto arms warm for embraceA thousand miles would not be ohContinue reading "deleterious"

Song.land takes us through the meadow and woods of the song.lands, looking for motivation and purpose in the midst of chords and life's pain and joy. song.land cover

I recorded tonight's episode with no shirt on. I think it's my favorite way to play: no shoes, no shirt. If you enjoy this, email me!

Walk through the woods of song.land, a soundscape on the idea that generations learn and grow after each other. I lived a better childhood than my mother. Full notes at https://song.land/brown-bunnies

Welcome to song.land, a podcast where the goal is to find joy in life through musical reflection. In tonight's weird episode, explore screaming your shame into the woods so the trees can turn the carbon dioxide into oxygen. Welcome to song.land. See full notes at https://song.land/screaming-trees

We zoom into the future in tsunami, facing the questions worth asking before the wave washes us away. Reflect and find gratitude in this walk in song.land.

We cover two aspects of love in tonight's song.land: love as friendship, and love as commitment and attachment. I also mention snow multiple times.

Imagine this song.land episode comes to you from deep in a cave. Inspired by Underland: A Deep Time Journey. See full notes at https://song.land/underland

In this week's episode, Derek joins me as we create music. He brings a Mississippi style and I bring the high voices. Full notes at https://song.land/hold-on-my-love

Practical life. It's natural for me to sing about the power of love over life, but what about the examples where love is not the modus operandi? See the full show notes: https://song.land/loved

This week's song.land meanders through the relationship between loss and gratitude. Full notes at https://song.land/gratitude

Welcome to another episode of the podcast where you hear the expressions that lead to wholeness, seeking an undivided life. See full notes at https://song.land/split-pea

Salamanders compares fear with nature. When I feel afraid, I want to hide myself, that it can somehow protect me. It won't, though, and we can look to evolution to answer why: why do bees exist? Why do so many salamanders live in the Smokies? They survived when it was time to change. See full notes at https://song.land/salamanders

Create—what makes you beautiful in times as these? Express yourself. Show notes at https://song.land/create

I started song.land podcast one year ago on October 8, 2018. I share a special episode tonight to commemorate the anniversary occasion.

song.land reveals more of the raw pain of life: bruised bones, broken friendships, and a deep underlying longing for the day when relationships are restored

I don't have the time to write a description for this episode. That's how you know it's a quality episode of improvised guitar tunes.

We venture into another song.land, a meaningless meandering through my verbose thoughts set to improvisational music.

song.land returns for weekly episodes of this silly podcast project. Auto-tune brings the digital to the acoustic.

song.land returns for an epic episode in this hiatus of finding a good place to record. Please enjoy! I know I did in making it.

Shame—what's the solution to such a universal emotion? This song.land explores the feelings and ideas of shame and its cure, showing up in vulnerability.

Enjoy listening to this short episode about the future, about how evolution moves us forward even as people today, and as always, how love is a way of life that must wash over us.

stay out of the sun is a new episode of the song.land podcast, where we discuss pressing into the uncomfortable, painful parts of our lives, except the sun.

song.land explores the gift that constant improvement offers our lives, whether from internal motivation or external motivation, whether something we do on our own or something done by energy + natural selection.

Enjoy the 15 minutes of encouragement singing about facing fears and taking the risk to start something new in your life!

This episode is dedicated to Mary Oliver, the ferociously beautiful and connecting poet. I improvise songs inspired by a conversation between Krista Tippett and Mary Oliver.

Episode 15 drops a half hour of Song.Land joy. Join me in exploring creative music improvisation.

Song.Land episode 14 continues building on last week's theme of leadership and human philosophy, this time focusing more on the elements of the human experience that make us closer and closer to whole people.

This Song Dot Land has me singing about the deepest parts of my heart and soul: how to lead well. Lead as in leadership studies. What an odd show.

This short, more subdued Song Land explores going on journeys. It starts off with the thought of how well my wife plans outings and adventures, then it transitions to the joy and happiness that can come from experiences.

After a conversation with loved ones in their mid-70s, I explore what it means to take in life now and in the future.

We visit the winter solstice and go through a myriad of genres and messy improvisations to land at something beautiful.

Prepare for an exciting journey this week! This week brings a passionate adventure in song.land celebrating the passion of deep kindness.

Today's song.land explores a theme of terrible circumstances and then the fallout and resolution after an event. Almost all of them are inspired by Nintendo.

Journey with me through the beautiful adventures of Song Land. Song Land is a mountainous landscape of sound and song, of weird phrases next to chords.

Today's Song Long celebrates the role of songs in my life.

Halloween hits this week, and one song in tonight's song.land is a spooky, scary song.

This song.land celebrates the spark of love at the moment it begins.

I returned from a week-long work trip and had danced endlessly all week. This music reflection checks in on where my heart is after this exciting week.

Join Jesse in this Song Land podcast as he explores contentment.