Colorado This Week!
Photograph: Ivan Clow
Hello, all! Getting ready to travel out to Colorado this weekend for a couple gigs.
Friday, August 19 at Fort Greene - Denver, CO 8PM w/Jacob Russo
Saturday, August 20 at The No Name Bar - Boulder, CO 10PM
Both shows free so just come on over!
I've been listening to Tori Amos a lot lately. Especially my favorite of hers 'Boys For Pele.' This is top of the food chain material. From the 3-headed hydra/Medusa vocal parts splitting off in Father Lucifer, to the devastating weight of Marianne, Hey Jupiter, Beauty Queen/Blood Roses. Then there's the line 'boy, you still look pretty' in Putting The Damage On. Jesus. I know there's a lot of Tori fans who know what Me And A Gun is about and how untouchable and revered it is. I understand. I'm working on a song that comes from a place that takes that much guts and bravery to talk about. I mean if you want art, you want to be hammered by feelings - that stuff is at the top of the mountain and ya gotta go up there and get it if you want to know it's soul. Stuff like that doesn't hang out on the corner on a whim.
So I hope you're not out there getting too riled up in this political season. Man I used to. I used to BURN with anger that people in my circle would believe different than I would. The nerve!! Isn't it funny how things change. I am the last person that needs to tell anyone about anything political, I have oscillated on both sides of the spectrum, taking a long look back. Grew up in a house where one person was this way, the other was the opposite. So I got to try on ideas like suits as I grew up. I would have been pretty pissed at me in 2004 listening to my nonsense. I admit my politics revolved around the one central event of how catastrophic 9/11 was. And it is and it was. There's no changing or diluting that. Terrorism = wrong. And terrorism here? Damn. As I type this I'm remembering an embarrassing tour story. I was playing a nice place in State College, PA where Penn State is in the Summer of 2008. Prime election time. The same dudes whose policies I looked to defend just some years before - there I was on stage doing like one of the few absolute no-no's of being a musician - going on a political rant during your set. The crowd was GREAT, the show was well-attended and I was firing on all cylinders. Then there I go seemingly out of NOWHERE I launch into the unprovoked 'well what did you think was gonna happen?! f-bomb f-bomb f-bomb' anti-Bush/Vader/Wolfowitz/Rove-intellect and on and on for way too long between songs. I had no way of knowing I was yelling at a full room of Republican music fans. WHOOPS. Didn't sell much merch that night. That'll teach me. Anyway all that to say, there is much wisdom in keeping your damn mouth shut. I often play back in my mind a thing Nirvana's bassist Krist Novoselic said in an interview once regarding politics. The guy is left of center but compassion and want-to-understand seep out of the guy, right? He talked about how nice it is to have civil conversations with people he disagrees with politically and then come to find they've got SO MUCH in common - and that's the good stuff. 'Oh, you like fixing up old cars, too? Wait - you like the Ramones?!' It's THAT kind of stuff - the humanity - that absolutely gets erased when we reduce people's identity and value only based on what politics we keep. I guarantee you there are thousands of people who think opposite of you politically who love a LOT of the same stuff you do. That's the kind of stuff I like to keep remembering.
It's a sunny day here in Nashville and I'm enjoying the summer winding down. Coffee's going through me and I've got a mountain of laundry and errands to do. I hope you share this post with a Denver or Boulder friend - send 'em on out! I'll be in Denver/Boulder this Thursday the 18th and I've got some extra time to play with so if anyone reading this lives out there or knows the territory send some ideas my way of where to get a bite. I still don't drink but I'll go to a nice bar and pound a ginger beer and a small plate or two.