Sunday, April 30, 2006
Eagerness to be going
I'm finding that my get-up-and-go tendencies makes sleep hard to come by on the road. Each morning I wake up way too early, eager to jump in my car to the next destination. There's something about this eagerness to be going that I'd like to explore in song...
On Friday, I played Uncommon Ground in Lake View (AKA Wrigleyville) area of Chicago. It was a great show with an enthusiastic audience in a lovely room. One of the most amusing parts of the evening was realizing that there was no more appropriate venue or performance for playing my song "Favorite." "Favorite" was inspired by two things: first, the wedding of my high school boyfriend and, second, an old friend who used to talk nostaligically about his favorite Chicago coffeeshop across the street from his living-roomless apartment that he adopted as his living room. Turns out that that coffeeshop was Uncommon Ground, and that my high school boyfriend's mother, and still a dear friend, was in the audience. For those of you interested in quirky rock (and those of you curious to know more about my high school boyfriend), check out the LA band Captain Automatic. They're about to play at the L.A. readings of the NY Times bestselling author of Indecision, and an old acquaintance of mine, Ben Kunkel.
Between sound check and my 10pm show, I wandered around in the city's legendary wind, past Wrigley Field, and a whole bunch of Cubs fans taking advantage of the many conveniently located bars. I also stopped at an unexpected used book store where I picked up $50 worth of used history books to inspire writing for my Ordinarily Unsung project. The Ordinarily Unsung project is the song cycle I'm writing about members of the fringe in American history. It is, ostensibly, why I'm spending the next six weeks at writing residencies. The books I picked up were about some rather promising fringe characters from history, and I look forward to seeing if any of them pan out into satisfying songs.
Last night I played Iowa City's Yacht Club with my old college buddy, mean blues-guitarist, and otolaryngolist/oncologist/surgical resident at Iowa University, Jonnie Bock. The Yacht Club is a real down-home BBQ joint and bar, and it felt like the kind of place that meant I was really in Iowa City. I've always admired Jon's guitar-playing, and it was quite a milestone for me to play guitar with him on stage. When we were in college, Jon was already a killer guitarist while I could play about three chords. I think Jon taught me chords number four and five. I enjoy those rare moments in life where you come face-to-face with how much you've grown. They are all too uncommon.
I'm still half-disbelieving of the fact that I'm actually in the midwest, and the road signs to Des Moines and Milwaukee catch me unaware, jolting me into the odd reality of physically inhabiting parts of the country that have otherwise been only notional to me. Well, I can now say from experience that Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa are very flat and full of farmland. It's incredible to me as a New Yorker and east coaster to drive a short distance outside of one of the biggest cities in the country to find such unimpeded rural landscape.
Well, today I travel to Minnesota, and tomorrow I drive to New York Mills, another rural landscape where I'll be spending four weeks. It's a new world for this New Yorker. I am interested to see how it changes me.
On Friday, I played Uncommon Ground in Lake View (AKA Wrigleyville) area of Chicago. It was a great show with an enthusiastic audience in a lovely room. One of the most amusing parts of the evening was realizing that there was no more appropriate venue or performance for playing my song "Favorite." "Favorite" was inspired by two things: first, the wedding of my high school boyfriend and, second, an old friend who used to talk nostaligically about his favorite Chicago coffeeshop across the street from his living-roomless apartment that he adopted as his living room. Turns out that that coffeeshop was Uncommon Ground, and that my high school boyfriend's mother, and still a dear friend, was in the audience. For those of you interested in quirky rock (and those of you curious to know more about my high school boyfriend), check out the LA band Captain Automatic. They're about to play at the L.A. readings of the NY Times bestselling author of Indecision, and an old acquaintance of mine, Ben Kunkel.
Between sound check and my 10pm show, I wandered around in the city's legendary wind, past Wrigley Field, and a whole bunch of Cubs fans taking advantage of the many conveniently located bars. I also stopped at an unexpected used book store where I picked up $50 worth of used history books to inspire writing for my Ordinarily Unsung project. The Ordinarily Unsung project is the song cycle I'm writing about members of the fringe in American history. It is, ostensibly, why I'm spending the next six weeks at writing residencies. The books I picked up were about some rather promising fringe characters from history, and I look forward to seeing if any of them pan out into satisfying songs.
Last night I played Iowa City's Yacht Club with my old college buddy, mean blues-guitarist, and otolaryngolist/oncologist/surgical resident at Iowa University, Jonnie Bock. The Yacht Club is a real down-home BBQ joint and bar, and it felt like the kind of place that meant I was really in Iowa City. I've always admired Jon's guitar-playing, and it was quite a milestone for me to play guitar with him on stage. When we were in college, Jon was already a killer guitarist while I could play about three chords. I think Jon taught me chords number four and five. I enjoy those rare moments in life where you come face-to-face with how much you've grown. They are all too uncommon.
I'm still half-disbelieving of the fact that I'm actually in the midwest, and the road signs to Des Moines and Milwaukee catch me unaware, jolting me into the odd reality of physically inhabiting parts of the country that have otherwise been only notional to me. Well, I can now say from experience that Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa are very flat and full of farmland. It's incredible to me as a New Yorker and east coaster to drive a short distance outside of one of the biggest cities in the country to find such unimpeded rural landscape.
Well, today I travel to Minnesota, and tomorrow I drive to New York Mills, another rural landscape where I'll be spending four weeks. It's a new world for this New Yorker. I am interested to see how it changes me.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Hot Dogs are a native food in Chicago
I can't believe it's Thursday already. The last three days have been chock-a-block full. A 6 or 9 hour drive really takes a chunk out of your day. And when I try to squeeze in some local culture and, when fortune provides the opportunity, time with other musicians and friends, there's not much time for sleep or writing.
As I am already late for getting on the road to Iowa City, I'll make this brief.
On Monday, I made it out to Indiana, PA where I played at the lovely Commonplace Cafe with the irrepressibly talented Brad Yoder. Brad's songs are pop gems infused with Brad's warmth, irreverance, and wit--a true feat in a musical landscape where pop has become synomous with "devoid of personality." I learned that I had already fallen in love his song about being a performing songwriter called "Not Setting the World on Fire" about four years ago, before I had even learned his name.
Tuesday was a two-show day. The first show was at Westmoreland Community College, which was hosting a "play day" full of pogo sticks, hopscotch, popcorn, and those frozen ice sticks in cellophane that are sweet and chemically-colored and only refreshing as a kid during a very hot summer. On my way to Westmoreland, I relearned one of the first rules of Mapquest: it can be wrong, and you won't figure it out until you are already late to where you are going. Mapquest decided to route me into the middle of a state park forest and leave me there. Once I managed to extricate myself from the forest, the show was a treat--I had not ever had the pleasure of playing for college students who were simultaneously batting each other with blow-up baseball bats, jumping around on pogo sticks, and throwing popcorn.
Tuesday's second show was at Pittsburgh's foremost Triple A venue, the Club Cafe. I had the pleasure of seeing my posters (which really do make me look like Jennifer Love Hewitt) hanging next to those of some musicians I admire, like Amy Correia. The show was a group showcase hosted by Brad Yoder (who's song about the local band is still stuck in my head) and featured the music of Heather Kropf (who has a voice that's a cross between an oboe and a candle-lit bath and piano playing that hints of smoky jazz clubs and long lonely drives) and Dave Golden (guitar-driven Americana reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen with surprisingly moving lyrics and a full dose of rock and blues). After a late show, a later dinner, and even later late-night conversation, I slept too little for the nine-hour drive awaiting me Wednesday. I think I finally understand how medical residents manage to stay focused under conditions of little-to-no sleep: a lot of coffee, sugar, and the knowledge that they don't have the choice not to. Happily, I made it to Chicago (or Skokie, to be more precise) and the home of old friends where a warm clean bed waited for me. And this morning, I walked on the shores of Lake Michigan, and sampled a food that I didn't even know existed: the Chicago hot-dog. Apparently, the Chicago hot dog is an institution here. As is tradition, it is to be consumed on a poppy seed bun with tomatoes, onions, mustard, pickle, and celery salt. Feeling suitably full, I am now ready to move on to the next town. In a few short minutes, I'll reload the car, and get on the road again. Next time I do this, I need to remember not to pack so much.
Multimedia consumed so far:
Audiobooks:
"Sinister Pig" by Tony Hillerman--Hillerman writes engaging mysteries set on the Navajo reservation. Not his best, but enjoyable.
"Moving Target" by Elizabeth Lowell--Lowell's books are my guilty pleasure. Plot-driven romance thrillers that are great for keeping your attention on a nine-hour drive after too little sleep.
Music:
Brad Yoder, "Used"
Donna the Buffalo, collection of tracks nobly lent me by Dave Golden
Till next time...
As I am already late for getting on the road to Iowa City, I'll make this brief.
On Monday, I made it out to Indiana, PA where I played at the lovely Commonplace Cafe with the irrepressibly talented Brad Yoder. Brad's songs are pop gems infused with Brad's warmth, irreverance, and wit--a true feat in a musical landscape where pop has become synomous with "devoid of personality." I learned that I had already fallen in love his song about being a performing songwriter called "Not Setting the World on Fire" about four years ago, before I had even learned his name.
Tuesday was a two-show day. The first show was at Westmoreland Community College, which was hosting a "play day" full of pogo sticks, hopscotch, popcorn, and those frozen ice sticks in cellophane that are sweet and chemically-colored and only refreshing as a kid during a very hot summer. On my way to Westmoreland, I relearned one of the first rules of Mapquest: it can be wrong, and you won't figure it out until you are already late to where you are going. Mapquest decided to route me into the middle of a state park forest and leave me there. Once I managed to extricate myself from the forest, the show was a treat--I had not ever had the pleasure of playing for college students who were simultaneously batting each other with blow-up baseball bats, jumping around on pogo sticks, and throwing popcorn.
Tuesday's second show was at Pittsburgh's foremost Triple A venue, the Club Cafe. I had the pleasure of seeing my posters (which really do make me look like Jennifer Love Hewitt) hanging next to those of some musicians I admire, like Amy Correia. The show was a group showcase hosted by Brad Yoder (who's song about the local band is still stuck in my head) and featured the music of Heather Kropf (who has a voice that's a cross between an oboe and a candle-lit bath and piano playing that hints of smoky jazz clubs and long lonely drives) and Dave Golden (guitar-driven Americana reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen with surprisingly moving lyrics and a full dose of rock and blues). After a late show, a later dinner, and even later late-night conversation, I slept too little for the nine-hour drive awaiting me Wednesday. I think I finally understand how medical residents manage to stay focused under conditions of little-to-no sleep: a lot of coffee, sugar, and the knowledge that they don't have the choice not to. Happily, I made it to Chicago (or Skokie, to be more precise) and the home of old friends where a warm clean bed waited for me. And this morning, I walked on the shores of Lake Michigan, and sampled a food that I didn't even know existed: the Chicago hot-dog. Apparently, the Chicago hot dog is an institution here. As is tradition, it is to be consumed on a poppy seed bun with tomatoes, onions, mustard, pickle, and celery salt. Feeling suitably full, I am now ready to move on to the next town. In a few short minutes, I'll reload the car, and get on the road again. Next time I do this, I need to remember not to pack so much.
Multimedia consumed so far:
Audiobooks:
"Sinister Pig" by Tony Hillerman--Hillerman writes engaging mysteries set on the Navajo reservation. Not his best, but enjoyable.
"Moving Target" by Elizabeth Lowell--Lowell's books are my guilty pleasure. Plot-driven romance thrillers that are great for keeping your attention on a nine-hour drive after too little sleep.
Music:
Brad Yoder, "Used"
Donna the Buffalo, collection of tracks nobly lent me by Dave Golden
Till next time...
Sunday, April 23, 2006
A Long Journey Starts with Lots of Packing
The main impetus for creating a blog today--as opposed to two months ago when a friend suggested it or sometime later this year when I finally get around to it--is that tomorrow I'm heading out on an eight-week adventure to attend two songwriting residencies. The first is the New York Mills Cultural Center Artist Residency which is in New York Mills, Minnesota (near Fargo, North Dakota) where I will be for four weeks in May. The second is the Ucross Foundation Artist Residency, in the Bighorn mountain area of northern Wyoming, where I will be for the next two weeks into June.
I'll be driving to these residencies--my longest cross-country trip yet--and I'll be performing along the way. More information on my tour dates are located on my music tour page.
Right now, I've got more packing to do. I'll write more when there are adventures to relate.
I'll be driving to these residencies--my longest cross-country trip yet--and I'll be performing along the way. More information on my tour dates are located on my music tour page.
Right now, I've got more packing to do. I'll write more when there are adventures to relate.
First Blog
After reading my monthly music newsletter a couple of months ago, a friend emailed me and asked "Why don't you create a blog?" I decided that was a great idea. So, here's my new venue for posting regular narratives about my adventures. Welcome.
