The Saga of Ms. Sparkles (a 25-minute rock opera made with 7th grade summer campers) 

This summer I was privileged to be an instructor at Over the Rainbow summer camp, guiding a small and spirited cadre of 7th graders in the arts of digital audio and video production. 

 

With help from the other talented staff members, we were able to transform a fleeting improv theatre workshop sketch into a song, which inspired a collection of songs with an interwoven tapestry of tales, and finally was born as a beautiful, full-fledged 25 minutes and 5 ounce short film featuring puppets portraying the story a unlikeable unicorn who is brutally murdered, and the quest to find resolution to this mystery.


The much-anticipated web release of the rock opera "The Saga of Ms. Sparkles" is now available. You can find the visually rich and varied puppet-driven short film on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JeApn43Cx3I


The album of music is currently up on Bandcamp: https://bowlofdust.bandcamp.com/album/the-saga-of-ms-sparkles-dowager-010


The songs are also submitted to streaming but will take some time to be uploaded to various services. There will be a subsequent announcement about that when it is available.


All proceeds will go to further efforts to provide hands-on, project-based training in Audio/Visual related creativity with young folks!

Dandelion Lakewood live set at Western Waveforms in Kansas City YouTube video 

Salutations, beautiful being~

Here is a special 20 minute improvisational set of ghostly spaghetti cowboy music for you, direct from Western Waveforms, the monthly showcase put on by the KC Synthesizer Collective. I hope you find the vibe accomodating to your daily flow.

~Dandy

Friend-Core Part 3 

Howdy, I've got a song on this compilation, please check it out!

 

 

Put ur skateshoes on, Friend-Core has been hard at work making memories and music for another yearly album release. We've got new and old faces this year, bringing the Midwest more tunes, poems, and art ^^ I'm also super excited to announce our companion zine, a sister project that will feature visual art and lyrics for each track, as well as info about what we do.

As always, we hope our humble collective will inspire you to make and support friends and to make art. Cheers!
credits
released July 24, 2026

Album cover by Dogyotes, Mary Gladbach, Clay Van Walleghem, and Casey Blair

[podcast] Alice Mantas: multi-disciplinary Portuguese artist [Voice Seeker #15] 

 

The Summer Solstice 2026 episode of Voice Seeker features my friend and former house mate from Portugal, Alice Mantas. Alice is a multi-disciplinary artist focusing on playing modal music with the cello, and conducting materials research with ceramics. She is also a face painter and sometimes clown. ~Dandy

00:00:00 - Introducing Alice Mantas via Portugal
00:01:52 - Our first meeting at a squat in Lisbon
00:11:16 - How freedom zones can ruin freedom
00:15:17 - Rhythms of Resistance, organized anarchy with percussion
00:20:34 - ETHNO, a global cohort of folk artists sharing their craft
00:25:10 - Our second meeting in a squat in Chania, Crete
00:32:04 - The power of the clown
00:38:08 - A dumpster diving band
00:40:57 - Poverty of time vs poverty of money
00:47:11 - Being a multi-disciplinary artist
00:48:41 - Ceramics
00:56:51 - Using Pure Data (Pd) an open source graphical media software toolkit
01:00:23 - A chat about practice
01:03:58 - Modal (makam) music
01:09:13 - Grant writing and cello travel
01:11:55 - Cultural evolution: Asian via North African influence on Portuguese music
01:17:03 - Culture as a mutable identity marker
01:20:49 - Travel
01:26:11 - Soclal media vs IRL
01:33:42 - Final thoughts

 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1kiILhX8SdL84kpPmZwOnk?si=XA6YaoxlTnOVSc06XCveMw

New Single: Clover, Hey Clover 

 

"One day I met a faerie in the forest deep, who lives in a porcini buried in the leaves. I said come and skinny dip with me in Turkey Creek where the little minnows nibble on her bare butt cheeks."

I wrote this song a year ago as a birthday present to my special lady, Clover. This year for her birthday I wanted to surprise her with a rough and tumble folk Punk version up on the streaming services. So now you can also listen tothe magical story of our adventure in the musty mushroom forest world: Clover, Hey Clover. 🍀

Bandcamp: https://bowlofdust.bandcamp.com/track/clover-hey-clover-single

Tidal: https://tidal.com/track/459021776/u

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/clover-hey-clover-single/1838367472?uo=4

Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/track/3544424661

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0c8u5fgVjlhjIQrrsQ7c0o