A few thoughts on music and manatees...

Just posting to respond to a few comments. First off - this: I am neither Democrat nor Republican. I am not right-wing or left-wing. I am not liberal or conservative. I like and believe in things that represent both parties. Second: I pretty much totally avoid posting anything about politics, unless it relates to animal issues where I post on The Tourniquet Ark - bills passed, new laws, etc. Don't take that to mean I don't have political convictions. I do. I just don't feel a need to broadcast them to the world. I know you all see what it looks like when a musician posts political stuff. I am not one of those musicians.

My "manatee" post was not about Trump, republicans, conservatives, or even politics. It was a post about extreme animal cruelty. If you missed the story, someone scraped the word "Trump" in huge letters into the back of a manatee - one of the most peaceful, docile animals on the planet, and highly protected in Florida where I live. It's a Federal offense to harass them, much less purposely mutilate one. If the mutilation was the word "Biden", my anger and disgust would have been exactly the same. The story was viral around the world, and so was the outrage. In case you missed it: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/534584-guardians-of-the-galaxy-star-offers-20k-reward-for-information-on-person

As for my supposed "ignoring" the violence this summer by "the left", BLM, Antifa - however you choose to frame it, here's a post I made this past August on my animal related Facebook page "The Tourniquet Ark". Similar to the manatee cruelty, my anger and disgust was direct as well. The article title was "BLM Supporters Beat Raccoon To Death With Baseball Bat To Protest Cops ‘Treating Us Like Animals". The article reads: "Black Lives Matter supporters ran over a raccoon twice before beating it to death with a baseball bat in a horrific and senseless act of animal cruelty before posting the video online and saying people should “worry about the police killing Black people” and “treating us like animals.” My comment on my post was: "If this is part of trying to make us care, you can all shove it. Disgusting, evil, clueless violence." So if you think I'm partial to one political side or the other, I'm not. Again, in my view - an animal post, not a political post... Here's the story: https://newspunch.com/blm-supporters-beat-raccoon-to-death-with-baseball-bat-to-protest-cops-treating-us-like-animals/?fbclid=IwAR0ethMY89qFms06W7JuySOgXV12qzoYsGMZzmqq4KxAB9yn9KsV3yz4FYQ

A few days ago, I posted one of my favorite quotes for MLK Day: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." After 30 years of Tourniquet - our message has not changed. From Stop the Bleeding to Gazing at Medusa and everything in between, two things are ongoing: lyrics about the things of God, and lyrics about His creation: the animals. Thrilling for us is that both messages have resulted in positive life-changing attitudes and decisions.

With regards to the music I write, and a comment like "Ted hasn't written a good song in 20 years" - I reflect on one of my favorite books  "The Lives of the Great Composers". Over and over, composers like Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky, and many others often had their music dismissed and criticized by reviewers and the general public as "trite", "waste of ink", "boring", "failed attempt", etc. We now know how utterly ridiculous and misguided these comments were, as their music is now rightly recognized as simply immortal perfection. Not comparing myself to them, but... I know what I wrote. Every measure, every note - and every lyric. And I'm at peace with all of it. Nothing gets released until I am.

A couple side notes: on the supposed "new doom direction"  - lol - it's not a new direction. The "Slow Cosmic Wisdom" release is a compilation of the slow and doomy tracks through the years of Tourniquet and a few of my solo tracks. Simple as that.

The supposed "new logo" that someone hates is like 15 years old, done by a fan. If you "liked" our Official Tourniquet Page on Facebook (and please do, if you haven't already), you would know we sometimes post different fan-made logos to keep things interesting. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044529305855

Finally, I have no interest or intention of alienating Tourniquet fans. But, of course, no matter what someone posts, there will almost always be someone who doesn't like it. I'm continually grateful to all of you - whatever your political views - and will continue to work hard to put out music that speaks to people, including plans for a brand new Tourniquet album in 2021... thanks for reading, Ted

Ted,

Thank you for taking the time to clarify the political comments.
For some of us, this is an extremely difficult time (to put it mildly) with the new administration and the general hostility toward conservatives and free speech.  So hearing more words that - on the surface - can sound like more of the same can evoke a reaction.  That said, I doubt if anyone here thinks animal cruelty is anything but horrible.  I personally believe that we have a much broader situation right now where cruelty and malice are becoming an openly "normal" part of the landscape and I am very disturbed by that.

Thanks again,

C

Thanks, Ted, for your thoughts. I’ve been a Tourniquet fan for years and still am. Can’t wait for more new music!

I can respect this, thanks for the clarification. Can I ask why you never address the issue of abortion? The mass killing of those made in the Imago Dei is a serious issue and I think, with you're audience, it'd have an impact.

I appreciate the clarification. But why the “knuckle dragging” comment that appeared to be directed at patriots? There is sufficient reason to believe many of the capital building raiders were from non-Trump related fringe groups. Including many antifa members in disguise.

I have to say one of my favorite tracks off of the Intense Live album, is the Medley: Ark Of Suffering, Stereotaxic Atrocities track. I love how you merged those two awesome tracks. And Les Carlsen is awesome on there as well.

Black Rider wrote:I can respect this, thanks for the clarification. Can I ask why you never address the issue of abortion? The mass killing of those made in the Imago Dei is a serious issue and I think, with you're audience, it'd have an impact.

It is indeed an important issue. An issue that has been covered in songs many many times already. Here is an extremely long list of songs about abortion, which is encouraging to see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_abortion

Meanwhile, how many songs do you know that deal with neglect of the elderly, like the song Twilight I wrote? Just one example of many Tourniquet songs with an important message that few other, if any - bands have written about...

Who will be on the new album?

MagnusPrime wrote:Who will be on the new album?

A howler monkey. 

TZ75 wrote:

MagnusPrime wrote:Who will be on the new album?

A howler monkey. 

again?

That video - and that sound - got me an Orange amp endorsement. Their amps are insane.

https://orangeamps.com/artist/ted-kirkpatrick-of-tourniquet/

Ted Kirkpatrick wrote:That video - and that sound - got me an Orange amp endorsement. Their amps are insane.

https://orangeamps.com/artist/ted-kirkpatrick-of-tourniquet/

I was talking with a friend (Anderson Lima - I think that you remember him) about this. The tunes and sounds of OTaR cd are superb!

Is there even a remote possibility the original TQ will ever kiss and make up and create at least one more album together...  Those guitars need your drums, and your drums needs those guitars and Guys vocals.