Category: Life on Mars

Life On Mars: Chapter 1 (Street Walker)

“Dream big,” I remember my mother telling me. “Dream big like the stars.”

It was 4AM and I lay awake thinking of my future. Today was the day I’d begin training for my new job. Of course I felt excited and although I did not feel nervous, I did feel a bit of unexplained pressure. Normally, whenever I start something new I try to do as much preparation as possible so that I know my way around the ship, as they say.

As I lay there watching the morning light make its way onto the backside of my curtains, illuminating the whole drapery like the delicate bio-luminescence of the sea, I felt the heaviness of my eyelids.

When I finally awoke it was 8AM. I was not late, but I would not be as early to training as I had wanted. I got out of bed and prepared myself for the day. As I exited my front door and made my way to my transport vehicle I felt the sunshine warm me as it invigorated my senses.

Along the way, I daydreamed of my future. Would I become a solitary figure in the pursuit of happiness for future generations to come, or would I start living my life with each passing breath?

When I arrived, I was told to report to “Building A” in order to begin my training. It was the first step toward my new future, one that I was in control of and I felt proud.

Summary of themes:

An observer disturbs the balance. A holographic understanding of the world takes shape.

When we feel the warmth of the Sun, we feel the Sun’s life-giving force. We feel life.

Which is it, then? Does the Sun simply give life, or is it alive?

Where is our character headed in this opening Chapter? Stay tuned to find out.

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Life On Mars Listening Party

Visit instagram.com/RileyHodgesMusic at 7:00 PM to tune-in to our Listening Party!

I will be engaging with fans and inviting you to associate words or feelings with the music of Life On Mars!

You will hear the music of Life On Mars on a Vinyl Record Test Pressing!

Pre-order your copy here on Vinyl and here as a Digital Download (release date: 1/22/21)

Support Independent Artists!

Thank you!

Cheers,

Riley

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Introducing: Life On Mars 1/22/21

“Life On Mars” is an Americana Music Album.

Life On Mars is all about dreaming of a better place filled with love and empathy.

When I set out on this journey 4 years ago to the day, or thereabouts…

Entering 2017 was a time of great change during our nation’s inauguration.

Previously, I had been inspired on a journey through Iceland in September and October of 2016.

When I returned home I felt compelled to write, and to speak my mind…

So here we are again, and we have righted the ship, but not without sustained damages.

Today I am making a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:

You can purchase the album now for $5.99 at my Cosmic Store.

You can Pre-Order the Vinyl Record here for $34.99. PREORDER IN ADVANCE & RECEIVE A SPECIAL PRIZE.

Life On Mars on Vinyl – mock-up – manufacturing with Erika Records in Buena Park, CA – Preorder now! https://rileyhodges.com/life-on-mars-vinyl-record

With that said, I’m excited to tell you that I’m finally committed to a release schedule that makes sense and I think you will enjoy!

TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF MY OFFICIAL LAUNCH SEQUENCE WHERE I WILL BE HIGHLIGHTING THE MUSIC OF “LIFE ON MARS“

The Launch sequence begins with a Listening Party on Thursday, 1/21/21 at 7PM where I will ask fans to engage with me on my ‘gram account @RileyHodgesMusic 🙂

I will be asking fans to comment words or feelings that come to mind that I will then use to inform my release schedule and I will create an interactive game for fans to play along with me and help write the “Story of Life On Mars” – check out #OURSTORY_LOM on the ‘gram.

From there I will be highlighting each song on the album in order of appearance, including:

  • A new Blog Post written and informed by your feedback and comments for #OURSTORY_LOM
  • A new Music Video for each song
  • Special Offers

Recently, I’ve been working on a TV show that I created called Cosmic Cocktails where I announced the date of my Life On Mars album release for Friday 1/22/21.

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, there are still some delays for the Vinyl Record that I cannot account for – most importantly, the Vinyl Record I have been working on is taking longer than expected (I do have test pressings completed and you can check them out during my Listening Party on Thursday, 1/21/21).

You can Pre-order the Vinyl Record for “Life On Mars” by visiting my website here.

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Riley’s Cosmic Soiree – Listening Party & Fireside Chat – Bring Your Own Cocktail

Howdy Friends, Fam, and all you Dreamers out there!

It’s a New Year, and I’ve got a proposition for you:

Listen…

Listen to the sound of the trees rustling in the wind, and the sun warming your skin.

Hear the Moon cry in the night, and the animals fight for their right.

It’s a menagerie of thoughts and ideas abound… a cosmic stage, round and round.

This Thursday you can tune-in to my Cosmic Soiree kicking off at 7PM for a listen of:

Life On Mars…

Listen, reflect, and engage… during my fireside chat with Life On Mars spinning on vinyl and yours truly to walk you through each song…

Fireside Listening Party: Life On Mars on Vinyl
  • Follow @RileyHodgesMusic on Instagram
  • Thursday 1/21/21 7PM: Fireside Listening Party
  • Saturday 1/23/21 2PM: Join as we continue the fun, with a Q&A + a Hoedown of sorts…
You can help us launch this thing the right way, with friends and family despite the distance we all share at the moment.
I'll also announce a release schedule where you can follow along, song-by-song and word-by-word, as we write the Story of "Life On Mars."
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Passport To Mars

Have you received your Passport to Mars?

Visit RileyHodges.com to order “Life On Mars”

Upcoming Launch Codes: follow the account below to get started

1/21/21 – Listening Party Livestream @RILEYHODGESMUSIC – comment + interact with the music of LIFE ON MARS on VINYL as we TEST LAUNCH at 7PM.

DATE TBD – Preorder Party Livestream (POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER) – be among the first to help us get off the GROUND with your signed copy of LIFE ON MARS – PREORDER IN ADVANCE & RECEIVE A SPECIAL PRIZE.

CHECK BACK OFTEN FOR MORE UPDATES – FULL LAUNCH SEQUENCE SCHEDULE PENDING…

CREATURES OF LIFE ON MARS.

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“Live One” New_Music_Release + New Website

Howdy Friends, Family, Seekers of Truth, and all you Dreamers out there,

“Live One” is live now, just live in the now, love one another, and stay a “Live One.”

Listen on your favorite streaming app, and check out the music video I made from my trip to Iceland.

“Live One,” is a new single from our coming album, “Life on Mars” that was written on a journey through Iceland.

“Life on Mars” represents our collective ability to create a better world filled with Love and Empathy, asking the question, “If we were to go to Mars, what would we want to do differently?”

Stay tuned for our Kickstarter launch 3.20.20 (update, links to Preorder on my website) and help support artists promoting a vision of love and empathy through inspired Americana Music and High Quality imagery from a journey through Iceland.

“Within this or that are those that seek nought in the shackles breaking.” Lyrics from “Live One.”

Thank you for reading and please stay in touch!

Riley Hodges – Vocals, Lyrics, Guitar, Hammond B3
Tim Bullock – Bass Guitar
Eric Hirschhorn – Saxophone
Antoine Arvizu – Producer, Drums, Engineer

FULL LYRICS for “Live One”

I’ve been waiting for a sign that I should’ve seen 10 days ago. Staring at a blue sky swirling into red again. Like a vibrational high, I contemplate that I’m not fading. Just purify your mind. We’ll tear apart a magnet, baby. The rolling winds bring life when they whisper bursts of nothingness. I wonder if it’s known that we can be the nothingness. Like a thousand year stone and they call upon the night, “A Live One! A Live One!”

Capture moments that are still and wish we were forever now. The mother of this world uttering divine to men. If One is a gift to the many, God is manifest in contemplating. Within this or that are those that seek naught in the shackles breaking. Stillness in your mind, and it feels just like a loving kiss. Pouring rain in this life will bring returns of genesis. What’s it like to be a stone that’s shot into magma bursting out? I’ve been waiting for a sign and they call upon the night, “A Live One! A Live One!”

In purity of mind does choice bring moral prominence? Does our manifest deserve One and serve the greater good, or is it like the stone blessed by divine metamorphosing? When do we satisfy ourselves and have compassion on doors closing? Are we doomed to befall the consequence of our own bliss? I wonder if it’s known that we can be the nothingness. I’ve been waiting for a sign and the horse brings a gift. “A Live One! A Live One!” Echoes through the night and I am alright. “A Live One! A Live One!” I’ve been waiting for a sign and they call upon the night, “A Live One! A Live One!” © 2020 Riley Hodges

Riley Hodges is a musician from Long Beach, CA, and is the lead singer and songwriter for the Cosmic Cowboys. The music has roots in Americana with each song distinctly all its own.

“Street Walker” is the opening track of “Life on Mars” that recites the exclaims of pedestrian life through bouncy beats, clean guitar riffs and a padded saxophone, while “Maybelline,” a dreamer wanting to sleep among the stars, follows a laid-back funk-rhythm that is supported by uplifting vocals and a Hammond B3.

Riley grew up in his families bar business in Long Beach, CA and credits his parents for introducing him to good music. His mom had the hippest collection of music among his friends, and Riley’s uncle Roland, lead singer and keyboardist from the Elm Street Band, would play backyard parties at their house and events in the neighborhood while Riley was growing up. Riley began piano lessons at a young age, eventually switching to drums for a few years, then as a teenager picked up a guitar and learned to sing. Fast forward to adulthood, Riley operates Shannon’s bars, restaurant, and entertainment venue with his family, and as those businesses have grown, Riley intends to focus more on writing, recording, and playing live music. Over the past several years, Riley has written and recorded 20 original songs with growing commercial success. Listeners describe his music as catchy, upbeat, thoughtful and enjoyable. 

Before the Cosmic Cowboys, Riley met and formed Taste of Red with his friends, John Capito and Tim Bullock, and they were fortunate to play their biggest venue to date at The Observatory in Orange County, CA. Fast forward several years later and John is now the lead guitar player for the Cosmic Cowboys, and their next biggest performance is scheduled for March 14, 2020 where the Cosmic Cowboys are ready to play to a large crowd of festival attendees for St. Pat’s Party on Pine hosted by Shannon’s Corner in Long Beach, CA.

Thanks again for reading! We appreciate your support, and we hope you enjoy the release of “Live One.”

P.s. If you haven’t seen our Kickstarter teaser, check it out here and consider making a pledge when we launch our Kickstarter on 3.20.20 for a cause that stands for Love and Empathy! Our goal is to raise $10,0000 so we can release “Life on Mars” on “vinyllll, vinyllll, vinylll!” in the Fall of 2020. With a little courage you too can experience this inspired vision through a beautifully produced Americana music album by hardworking humans just like you! Together, we can change the world through positive vibrations 🙂

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The Road Ahead

The Road Ahead envisions the world as a better place. This better place, like all human constructs, is only as real as you make it.

The song, Long Couple of Days, is about finding your groove. This, and other new songs, will be released as the Cosmic Cowboys.

The Road Ahead is like finding your way home. Coming Home.

See tags

The past is future

Positivity in motion

Cosmic cowboys ?

I can feel it in my teeth. The tingles gives one a feeling of both numbness and pressure. The rolling waves crushed me to the bones, but I was not afraid. From hammer to stone, it is my only feeling.

“Where will we go?” she asked as the canyons echoed.

Just then the phone rang…

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Contemplating

I am a trapper, only by practice, and not of thoughts born still.

There it was all along, a piece of me that was so strong. I pulled it out from thin air and never stopped to think or care.

Until now I plead I am that strong, yet I forgot you were my song.

“God is manifest in contemplating.” Lyrics from an upcoming music release, “Live One.”

Contemplating is thus defined, “Whilst in the life of the intellect, ‘contemplation’, refers to thinking profoundly about something. In the religious life contemplation is a kind of inner vision or seeing, transcendent of the intellect, facilitated by means of practices such as prayer or meditation.” according to Wikipedia.

Sometimes ‘sleeping’ will do the trick, or is it ‘dreaming’ that I’m ‘living’ in?

Stay tuned for more #creativewriting and help me write the story of “ L I F E O N M A R S “ where I will engage fans throughout the writing process.

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Cosmic Home

A story about coming home

A character born in the abyss and raised by the sands of time 

Moving into nothingness 

A cosmic cowboy 

Deep interstellar space is a place where I’d like to be. Apart from all the suffering of our own biology, and where we once came from in another form of matter. I’d like to be with you before I go splatter. The you here is we, and we are debris, from a regenerative force that continues to be… but where does it end and why does it matter? We’ll know sure enough when we go splatter…

A shadowy figure enters the doorway as my eyes lay claim to the rounded silhouette. I wonder if it’s him, the ragged drifter I’ve heard so much about around these parts. He walks with a limp from a shootout that nearly took his leg if it weren’t for the townspeople helping him. They were caring and providing for his well being throughout his recovery. I think we all should strive for the same fastidious presentation of purpose and community, especially when you’ve got an injured cowboy on your hands…

The next thing that happens brings a crowd to gather as he slowly approaches the bar… “a shot of root and bottle of your finest whiskey…” You see, cowboy here had a knack for the high life, what with his conquering riches amongst a competing vision of the land. He took what was in plain sight for the taking, while others sought to organize welfare systematically as a sliding scale of victory over the defeated.

I once saw a vision of the future in which all people were bubbling from a seemingly permeable force of love and understanding. I want to understand this further and I Think this is what should be the most important thing for humans…

Cowboy leaves the bar and heads out the door…

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C’est La Vie En Sevilla

Arriving in España reminded me of the time I spent here while studying abroad in Barcelona. We visited Sevilla at that time yet I could not really appreciate the city then the way that I do now.

For starters, our Airbnb was a great choice, and it’s exciting to be here for our friend Maria and Alex’s wedding!

Sevilla is beautiful, romantic, and cultured with a rich history of traditions like Flamenco and food like Paella and Iberian Ham. There are also stories of conquest, exploration of the Americas and stunning architectural design.

As we venture out into the city I am finding there are many parallels to explore as I am releasing my new single, C’est La Vie!

    Sitting on our balcony with La Giralda in my view reminds me another time and place. Have you been to space?

    Life on Mars is about expressing our best self while practicing empathy, courage and love.

    Family is so important and I feel blessed to be able to spend time with them on this lovely vacation!

    I’m excited to release C’est La Vie next Friday, June 28th! We are playing a release show at the Prospector the night before, Thursday at 10pm. Come say “hola” as I bring the Spanish vibes home with me to share in the LBC.


    Playing on a new friend’s guitar at Luis y Luz (pron. “looth” in the Sevillian accent 🙂
    My sister, Shannon, and new friend at the pre-wedding Paella and Ribs BBQ at Luis’
    Maria’s son and Spanish father, Luis. He hosted the BBQ at his home in Montequinto, and selected a very special wedding venue.
    Alex and Maria

    Upcoming notes:

    it’s amazing you can perceive emotions so subtly on a living face. a face that’s alive, however far away or near you feel to it, can be detected by the viewer and in relation makes them feel alive, however far away or near you feel to it.

    //

    Rose petals are divine

    Ancient 

    Eternal

    Divine

    // 

    Flamenco 

    Rumba 

    //

    When the sangria and gazpacho becomes confused, it’s a good thing… 

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