Visions of Half Sleep

Bill Gillard
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A dreamscape of Bill Gillard's poetry and fiction that rides musical waves from a community of musicians in northeastern Wisconsin.  All poems and stories written and performed by Bill Gillard.  billgillard.com Broadcast on Wednesdays at 10pm on WOCT 101.9 FM Oshkosh. Art by Judith Waller.  Music by: - Nani Agbeli, drums, Lawrence University - Greg Cebulski, piano, Appleton - Joanna Dane, flute, Appleton  - Loren Dempster, cello, Lawrence University - Paul Dietrich, trumpet, Ripon College - Bill Gillard, Appleton - Tony Knuppel, piano, Appleton - Ed Martin, piano, UW Oshkosh - Tad Neuhaus, guitar and percussion, Appleton - Nadje Noordhuis, trumpet, Lawrence University - Offsite, music producer, Appleton - Wilson Poffenberger, saxophone, UW Stevens Point - Tom Washatka, many instruments, UW Oshkosh - Drew Whiting, saxophone, UW Oshkosh

Episodes

  1. May 28

    No New York

    When we really think about it, when we trace the genealogy back back back, then we must come to terms with the fact that old great grandma Persimmon from the old country had a grand who was a fish with legs. That had to be an awkward family reunion with the scaly relations at one end of the table perhaps in a tray of cool mud while the more recent ancestors eyed them warily, certain that they were different but unable to articulate how it might matter. There are many ways to think about this, one of the many subjects that might possibly cross one’s mind on a train trip downtown. Here are some poems and stories to push you toward the middle of that reunion table.  "The Things that Joey Thinks About" -- with "whathathgodwrought" by John Mayrose "Breakup GPS" "Behind Your Paisley Curtain" "Atlas of Regret" -- with "When Galaxies Collide" by Ed Martin "She Believes She Believes She Believes" "She Held Me Like Dawn Behind Manhattan Skyline" -- with "Talking to Myself" by Offsite "No New York" "6 Train Rising" -- with Shadow Dance" by Ed Martin "On My Reptilian Origin"  -- a song by Bill Gillard "Five Strings and a Purpose" "Sparse Talent Squandered" Send Not to Know for Whom"  -- with "Slipstream" by John Mayrose "Dragons in Subway Tunnels"  -- with "Organ Flagpole" by Tad Neuhaus, Joanna Dane, and Loren Dempster "How to Pray to a Spider"  -- with "War on Locks" by Offsite  "Visions of Half Sleep" is a dreamlike soundscape, a collaboration among artists in northeast Wisconsin. It is Bill Gillard's words and voice along with music by many. More from Bill Gillard Website: www.billgillard.com Instagram: billgillard3

    1 hr

  2. Apr 24

    Incident at the Vulcan Mill

    The Great Peshtigo Fire swept through Northeast Wisconsin on October 8, 1871 — the same night as the far more famous Great Chicago Fire. Chicago lost something like 300 souls. Peshtigo lost 2,500. A managed burn for clearing brush and timber was caught by fierce autumn winds and became an inferno no person could outrun, a firestorm with convection currents reaching thousands of feet and ground winds exceeding 110 miles per hour. Not everything that perished in that fire died that day. There are ghosts. There are always ghosts. Track Listing “Father Jack and the Book of Death” — with "Children Singing in Heaven" by Offsite “Incident at the Vulcan Mill” — with "Peshtigo Dance" by Bill Gillard “Labor for What Purpose?” — with "Drift" by Ed Martin “Avalon” — a song by Bill Gillard “Home” — with Oct Sweep" by Bill Gillard “Your Love Suffuses” — with "Suffusion" by Bill Gillard  "Visions of Half Sleep" is a dreamlike soundscape, a collaboration among artists in northeast Wisconsin. It is Bill Gillard's words and voice along with music by many. More from Bill Gillard Website: www.billgillard.com Instagram: billgillard3

    1 hr
  3. The Flotilla

    Apr 17

    The Flotilla

    Once upon a time there was a scientist whose fondest wish was to see the world clearly and to then help others to do the same. His favorite shoes are hip waders, and his friends are worms and tadpoles and the moss that grows above the water line. His daughter is smarter than he is but has determined that none of the muck and flow is of real interest to her, and he is hurt and puzzled. His rumination seeps like osmosis through his thoughts from swamp to bathtub as his house empties and darkens for the evening. The loss of that wayward child, her of the high-achieving honors list flavors, he imagines and is frightened. He remains humble—the mark of any great teacher—and vows to learn better form his daughter the systems of life.  Track Listing Opening with "Cyberfrogs" by Bill Gillard "Reflection Nebula" with "Black Hole" by Bill Gillard "Indifference" with "Me" by Bill Gillard "The Biologist and His Daughter" with "Simple Drums" by Bill Gillard  "The Metaphysical Nutrient Cycle" with "Time Passed" by Ed Martin "East Village 81" early draft "The Flotilla" with "Ocean Disaster" by Bill Gillard "You Ever Music Me" with "Oddball Keys" by Bill Gillard  "Bell Is a Man" with "they are obviously sounds; that's why they are shadows" by Drew Whiting "Running Up That Hill" with "Sitar Jam #1" by Joanna Dane, Loren Dempster, and Tad Neuhaus "Ora et Labora" with "Judgment" by Bill Gillard  "Island Prize" with "Sand Dream" by Bill Gillard   "Visions of Half Sleep" is a dreamlike soundscape, a collaboration among artists in northeast Wisconsin. It is Bill Gillard's words and voice along with music by many. More from Bill Gillard Website: www.billgillard.com Instagram: billgillard3

    1h 1m

  4. Apr 10

    Dig, He Said

    Some memories are best left buried. When a child apprehends the world as they find it, truth and invention filter the same light through different lenses. A missing parent. A mother who holds too much back. A man whose pursuit of his own truth sacrifices things he holds most dear. Missing friends who have left for transformative experiences without you — they will not come back as they were; they have surpassed you, and everyone knows it. The things we do in life that cannot be taken back leave wounds no single lifetime of good deeds can expunge. Yes, you should have bought that charcoal drawing that depicted your doubt, your hope, your paralysis in the face of the galactic consequences of even the most innocent choices. Track Listing “A Martyr Made” — Bill Gillard “Pilgrimage” — Bill Gillard “You Should Have Bought” — Tad's Living Room “Ghosts in You” — Bill Gillard “Minor Revelations” — Ed Martin “Dig, He Said” — Bill Gillard “Crawled She” — Bill Gillard “Buffalo Nicole” — Bill Gillard “Happy Couple” — Bill Gillard “Young and Wounded” — Offsite “Down the Driveway” — Bill Gillard  "Visions of Half Sleep" is a dreamlike soundscape, a collaboration among artists in northeast Wisconsin. It is Bill Gillard's words and voice along with music by many. More from Bill Gillard Website: www.billgillard.com Instagram: billgillard3

    1h 1m

  5. Apr 3

    Turn Back or Die

    The landscape here is flooded — lush wetlands rising with memories of the life that came before and the life still to come. From wooded hillsides where new houses are going up come the calls of languages from across this wet globe. From boardwalk shores with claw machines and hot dog stands come the misty eyes of young lovers bearing gifts beyond themselves. Later, in a dream, a friend long gone walks the Lake Michigan coastline heading north in search of a place where change — with its new lives and new deaths — spares those for whom the passage of time has become unbearable. And then sleep. Track Listing “Pilgrimage” — Bill Gillard “Sing to These Roses (early draft)” — Bill Gillard “You Ever Music Me” — Bill Gillard “Turn Back or Die” — Bill Gillard “Sing to These Roses” — Bill Gillard “Desire, the River” — Tad's Living Room “Germination” — Ed Martin “Anywhen but Then” — Tad's Living Room “Up the Lake with Mike” — Bill Gillard  "Visions of Half Sleep" is a dreamlike soundscape, a collaboration among artists in northeast Wisconsin. It is Bill Gillard's words and voice along with music by many. More from Bill Gillard Website: www.billgillard.com Instagram: billgillard3

    1h 1m

  6. Mar 27

    A Name He Knew But Did Not Remember Learning

    Bell wonders: “Whence a model for worthy life / measure? Where from a manual / for husbandly virtue? How to return / when thoughts negotiate escape / to spring worlds far and new?” This episode wonders how one figures out what kind of life is worth living. How does one keep score while the game is still in progress? How does a person understand the effects of actions and inactions across decades? These stories and poems build a home for the unsettling dreams that will arrive any moment now… Story | Music Track Listing Opening  | “Cyberfrogs” — Bill Gillard Bell is a Man | “They are obviously sounds; that's why they are shadows” — Drew Whiting Soybeans of Paradise | “Drums Are Go!” —  Bill Gillard  That Only Time Provides | “7 in the Pocket” — Offsite A Name He Knew | “He Knew” —  Bill Gillard  “Dear Bretagne” — Bill Gillard  Elegant Blankness | "Double Jeopardy"  — Offsite Home | “October Sweep”  — Bill Gillard Marbles | “Podcast Interlude 5” — Tad's Living Room  Closing | “Cyberfrogs” — Cyberfrogs   "Visions of Half Sleep" is a dreamlike soundscape, a collaboration among artists in northeast Wisconsin. It is Bill Gillard's words and voice along with music by many. More from Bill Gillard Website: www.billgillard.com Instagram: billgillard3

    1h 1m

  7. Mar 20

    A Million Years 'til Morning

    It is hard enough to close one’s eyes at the end of a day thinking about the missed opportunities, the moments when our weakness was demonstrated beyond doubt, without bringing other people into the frame. Once we allow others in, we risk them hurting us or, even worse, us hurting them. “Breakwater Serenade” is about forgiveness unearned, which is the only kind of forgiveness any of us is likely to find. “Decomposition” and “Dream” are about tearing down the structures we build each day so that we can sleep under the night sky. Late at night, when our heads find the pillow, ideas begin to flow, as if they were free of gravity common to the upright world. “Make Every Day Your Last” is a song that gets conceived and crafted in these moments. Make sire you have something to write on next to your bed: you will most certainly lose the idea before morning no matter how memorable it seems at the time.  “A Million Years till Morning” shows a lifetime of guilt accruing to us like dust, as if we are chunks of ice hurtling through the Oort Cloud, one day to be majestically and mercifully disintegrated by the solar wind. More poems follow—we can escape neither into language or far-flung locales. We are still us and the others in our lives stay with us for no good reason. “Morning Dove” is the first dream of the night: incoherent, fragmented, and vivid. Story | Music Track Listing Opening | "Cyberfrogs" by Bill Gillard Breakwater Serenade | "Chill Pill" by Offsite MEDYL Synths | Bill Gillard Decomposition | "Journey 1" by Ed Martin MEDYL Guitar Vox by Bill Gillard Dream | "Something of Mine" by Bill Gillard A Million Years 'til Morning | "Dread" by Bill Gillard  Crawled She New Booming Bed | "Cool Saturday" by Bill Gillard  Make Every Day Your Last by Bill Gillard Baguette et Brie, S'il Vous Plaît | "Ambient Ideas" by Bill Gillard  Her Squid Uncooked | "A Minor Run" by Bill Gillard  Morning Dove | "Unconscious Now" by Bill Gillard Closing | "Cyberfrogs" by Bill Gillard  "Visions of Half Sleep" is a dreamlike soundscape, a collaboration among artists in northeast Wisconsin. It is Bill Gillard's words and voice along with music by many. More from Bill Gillard Website: www.billgillard.com Instagram: billgillard3

    1h 1m
  8. All The Redemption I Can Offer

    Mar 8

    All The Redemption I Can Offer

    Death is the theme, close observers are we all, and the longer one lives, the closer we get to our final dance. In a dream, one man meets an old friend who has made that journey years before. That’s “Candy’s House,” and the bear chases us all through this wilderness and we look for temporary shelter wherever we can find it. Professor David Hastings can see his own finish line, but he longs for more time, time to find the commitment and dedication he always thought might be coming. He did what he had to do while waiting for someone to tell him it was time to do the things he wanted to. He forgot about one person who might have saved him. A child’s encounter with death—not his own death, but close—colors even the sky… Story | Music Track Listing Opening | "Cyberfrogs" by Bill Gillard Candy's House | "Anger" by Joanna Dane, Loren Dempster, and Tad Neuhaus "Sing to These Roses" (early draft) by Bill Gillard All the Redemption I Can Offer | "Redemption Time" by Bill Gillard Sing to These Roses | Bill Gillard The Trick With the Blood | BreatheSlowBreatheDeep" by Ed Martin Closing  | "Cyberfrogs" by Bill Gillard   "Visions of Half Sleep" is a dreamlike soundscape, a collaboration among artists in northeast Wisconsin. It is Bill Gillard's words and voice along with music by many. More from Bill Gillard Website: www.billgillard.com Instagram: billgillard3

    1h 1m
  • 8 Episodes

About

A dreamscape of Bill Gillard's poetry and fiction that rides musical waves from a community of musicians in northeastern Wisconsin.  All poems and stories written and performed by Bill Gillard.  billgillard.com Broadcast on Wednesdays at 10pm on WOCT 101.9 FM Oshkosh. Art by Judith Waller.  Music by: - Nani Agbeli, drums, Lawrence University - Greg Cebulski, piano, Appleton - Joanna Dane, flute, Appleton  - Loren Dempster, cello, Lawrence University - Paul Dietrich, trumpet, Ripon College - Bill Gillard, Appleton - Tony Knuppel, piano, Appleton - Ed Martin, piano, UW Oshkosh - Tad Neuhaus, guitar and percussion, Appleton - Nadje Noordhuis, trumpet, Lawrence University - Offsite, music producer, Appleton - Wilson Poffenberger, saxophone, UW Stevens Point - Tom Washatka, many instruments, UW Oshkosh - Drew Whiting, saxophone, UW Oshkosh

Information

  • Creator
    Bill Gillard
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Visions of Half Sleep
  • Show Website
    Visions of Half Sleep