Odds and Ends

Lost time is not found again

A lot to catch up on. Let's do it in bullets:

• Reviews of shows forthcoming - the Heartless Bastards & Old 97's @ 9:30 Club (5/9); Horsefeathers @ Hamilton (5/15).
• Just bought Sturgill tickets for DAR in October! The album is incredible. And I'm sure seeing him live will be even better... I only wish I'd been on the bandwagon when he was playing smaller venues.
• I picked the lucky tire patch kit this morning on Bike to Work Day (aka a normal day)! Thanks Daily Rider!
• Off to Miami on Sunday - tacking on a quick jaunt to the Keys before meetings on Monday and Tuesday. Snorkeling in Islamorada
• This article on Blonde on Blonde has been rolling through my head lately. Despite it's clickbait title (which the author isn't responsible for). It's thoughtful and right on (at many points) and well-written. But most of all, this paragraph nails what I love about Blonde on Blonde. And why I've been playing it past midnight lately:

  But overall, the album is vast and true, and when Dylan describes the sound of it as “that thin, that wild mercury sound” we nod. Yes. I read or heard it described once as an album that sounds like three o’clock in the morning feels. Yes. How it feels boozy, on fine liquor, with the promise of sublime sex just as the coal of night fades into aching blue wonder of early morning. That’s the sound. And I remain mesmerized by Johanna. I’ll be listening to that song until I die.

• Thinking surfing lessons in the Rockaways over Memorial Day... and still planning those backpacking trips in the Smokies and Big Bend. And headed back to Joshua Tree in June and beyond..

That, for now, is all..

Are You With Me Now? (Cate LeBon - Rock n' Roll Hotel - 5/7/16)

Came in as the opener, Mega Bog, were winding down. Third row. Not crowded, not yet. Good conversation, good people, good times.

Cate Le Bon - 5/7/16

A photo posted by Ben (@lonesomeace) on May 10, 2016 at 7:31am PDT

The lights went down and they walked out. Cate in black pants and platform shoes and black makeup lines under her eyes.

One foot well in front of the other, wielding the guitar like a bayonet. She had a restless, lithe presence. Bouncing slightly from foot to foot. Playing with sound, texture, tempo.

The band was incredibly tight, trading instruments while the songs were in progress. This beautiful fine line between noise and melody. And that voice. Like Nico. Like Neko. Like.. Cate.

There was a moment during this song -- when the descending bass lines were set off against her voice and those chords on the chorus -- and it all came together, and I smiled, deeply. Felt it. Felt lifted by it. Those moments are what make shows worth going to:

No regrets, coyote

We just come from such different sets of circumstances
I'm up all night in the studio
And you're up early on your ranch
You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tale
while the sun is ascending
And I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel.
There's no comprehending
Just how close to the bone and skin and eyes and lips you can get
And still feel so alone
And still feel related.

Singing this, loudly, on the bike ride in this morning. Dodging puddles.