I've been sitting on these mixes from South Africa. I'm really happy with them. The new album is going to be very different than anything else I've ever released. I'm very excited and a little nervous. But I hope you'll like what we're cooking up. Take care of yourselves. 
​- Brian

Tour Memories
Song: Power Of People (acoustic)
Album: Unreleased
Venue: Wild Spirit Backpackers
Location: Natures Valley, South Africa
Date: 19 Feb. 2023

Verse 1
Selma to Montgomery marches
it was 1965
mother Pollard said her feets was tired
but her soul found rest that night
they planned to walk over the Edmund Pettis bridge
for their voting rights
against bull Connor
the police and the Ku Klux Klan
but
this wasn’t a riot
it wasn’t a mob
these were ordinary people
with strategy involved
they said
no matter what happens to you
turn your other cheek
don’t let them move you
it’s called bloody Sunday
cause they made them pay
cause they wanted a representative democratic say
they
marched with their hearts
and not with their fists
they marched with love
compassion
nonviolence acquits
They made their case
by refusing to fight and
All America watched
on Cronkite that night

Chorus
Ain’t no power
Like the power of people
Cause
The power of people don’t stop

Verse 2
The T and R Commission
Was led by Desmond tutu
Apartheid fell
Mandela walked from jail
With the whole world watching what’s he gonna do
he invited his jailers to dinner
in ‘92
Things ain’t Easy to be black and to be free
when there’s white people privilege that we just can’t see
look up the Greensboro lunch counter segregation
at the Woolworths
the downtown location
It’s where for black men
took it upon themselves
to take a beating for the beating Jim Crow in the south
they said
we’ve come to help desegregate and you can no longer assign a seat
by color or race
they went and grabbed their friends who jumped off the fence
because freedom ain’t free when you’re being arrested
against all odds
and voter suppression
they voted George Wallace out
in the next election

Verse 3
There’s another thing called Tiananmen Square
where a man stopped a tank
with a grocery bag and stare.
Vietnam two three infantry
Hugh Thompson Je stopped a massacre of Vietnamese
he was a war time whistleblower without the zeal
even Billy Graham bailed Dr. King out of jail
you can read about this world
past and present tense
but nothing comes close to your experience
so write it down
in bits and pieces
like a modern day Martin Luther 95 thesis
because it don’t matter
if your white or black
if you see something say something it’s time to act
You can litigate laws
and mitigate crime
but you can’t legislate someone’s heart and mind
you gotta lead with your heart expect the resist
they even called Martin Luther King a communist

#SongsInTheKeyOfFreedom
#TransAtlanticRelationsTour //

We were introduced to the Elder of the (600) Elephants in Addo National Park earlier today. Our guide said he’s 56 years old and can get very angry which is why his tusks are broken - he likes to fight. As you can see, he was pissed off (literally). One of the guys on our trip sent me his video and so I edited it into this video because he captured our groups reaction at the end. Just a heads up, there is some language at the end of the video. // ​

We don't want to leave. This land is magical. I wish there was a way to slow down time. We're trying to soak up every second. Thank you so much South Africa. You are beautiful. 

Rayah and I went on safari today in Addo. One moment we’re looking at zebras up on the mountain and the next moment a Lioness is walking right towards our vehicle. We followed her for a mile or so and watched her charge a family of warthogs. The ibis sounded the alarm which warned the warthogs the lion was near and this warning almost certainly helped prevent the warthogs from being dinner. It was a really cool experience that I’m grateful to share with my daughter. // ​

So we got charged by a white rhino earlier today. #TIA

Edit: I am sad to report that two weeks after I took this video, both this Rhino and it’s mate were poached. They had their horns cut off and were left to die. Schotia, which is the private reserve these beautiful creatures lived on asked everyone (via their Facebook page) to share the videos of these magnificent creatures as a way to get the message out about the realness of Rhino poaching. Please sign petitions and ask your nation’s department of state (or international affairs) office to engage in an international coalition to stop these acts of savagery.
I cannot fully explain with words what a tremendous loss this is. For Schotia Private Reserve and the greater region, the Peoples of South Africa and the entire world. There are only 14,000 white rhinos left on this planet. These rhinos are intrinsic to the Peoples of this land. They are part of the Identity of African Peoples. And to Schotia, they’re family.
Schotia is a family run business. They persevered thru Covid and the lockdowns and a bunch of other things that me as a person from the western hemisphere have no idea about. They’re the oldest private game reserve in the Eastern Cape - they’ve been there a long time. There’s no bush games in Africa. It’s survival.
We decided to go back to Schotia again with all our friends because they’re #1 and they did an amazing job just like they did the other two times we had the privilege to be on their land.
If you’re in South Africa and planning a safari experience in the Eastern Cape, I highly recommend Schotia.