Sunday, March 30th, 2008

SXSW and then some...

Not enough hours in the day. I'm just going to say something really quick and that's THE WHIPSAWS saved the day for me at SXSW and I have to send a public shout out to them for working so hard and learning these newer, louder songs of mine. It appears good things are in store for them in the future- some European action, and some good press- and anyways they are a great, hardworking band who takes well to the road and deserves your love.
Some quick facts about the Whipsaws tour. We visited SUN STUDIOS in Memphis and ate at Gus's Fried Chicken, AND visited the Lorraine Motel where MLK was assassinated. It was a major day and maybe the boys have posted some photos of us hanging out on the Mississippi afterwards. I'm too lazy to get all that stuff done.
What else....oh yeah, the drummer, Junior, managed to scare Jack White and attract Lucinda Williams in the span of a few days. More on this later. We had ourselves a time, to say the least. When we had our set at Alejandro Escovedo's SXSW closing party at the Continental Club in Austin, Lucinda joined us on stage for Dylan's MEET ME IN THE MORNING. Leeroy Stagger also sat in with us on that evening.
The next day, the whole band missed their flights back to Alaska, except Evan Phillips, Leeroy, and I, who drove three days straight to Joshua Tree to resume work on our EASTON, STAGGER, PHILLPS album which will come out as an ALASKAN ONLY release this August.
We'll do something more with it in Canada and Europe, but the lower 48 release will have to wait until early in 2009. Just too damn busy. In the meantime, Leeroy will have a new record for you all, and The Whipsaws will continue bashing it out old school style across the continent in a sweaty bar near you. Maybe we'll even play together some more.

More news on the release of PORCUPINE just as soon as I can give it to you.

Take care of yourselves, and take care of each other.
Tim

November 5th Amsterdam

So many folks have asked me about updating this web site page so I figure I’d better get on it. Plenty has happened since the summertime and really I’m tired of being called “Mr. Swimming Holes” so here you go. There’s also been a lot of talk about me being influenced by Bob Dylan(and show me the person that is writing songs that isn’t) and so anyways even in my journal world one time somebody said “It’s like a Hard Rain for you….what did you see my blue eyed son?” My eyes are hazel but yes there has been plenty and instead of writing it all out I’m just going to write it as lyrics to that Dylan song. This will more or less cover the last few months of stuff- although there is no way to get it all in there. I can’t tell you how I felt about all this stuff- but I can tell you what I saw. So as you are reading please use the phrasing and voice of that song and I’ll get back to you some other day in my own voice.

I came home to rest after five months a tourin’

I didn’t play guitar for nearly three days. I watched as my dog became a celebrity. (see youtube.com)

I rode my bike 15 miles downhill in the full moon.

I swam in the ocean and gambled on horses. I saw Cat Power singing and Cat Power bitching.

I sat on my porch and saw my neighbor’s rebel flag a flying. Later that week, that same neighbor died. I went to Alaska for the 6th year in a row. I saw three of my brothers and my father while up there. We caught tons of salmon and saw lots of rain. (a literal “hard rain” where we had to volunteer to sand bag the river because the town was going to flood) We didn’t watch TV for over ten days. I saw Sean Penn directing the film “Into The Wild.” I saw two black bear cubs where I was supposed to go fishing. I saw the most intense rainbow in the town of Talkeetna. We flew over the bus where Alexander Supertramp died. We saw three grizzly bears right outside our cabin. I played a show in the middle of Denali. We flew a small plane around Mt. Mckinley. One minute I was in the wilderness and the next was in Cleveland. I saw us play a half ass show at the Rock Hall of Fame. We faired so much better in Dayton and New York. I went 6000 miles from one gig to another. (Boston to upstate New York via San Diego). I played to folks rolling in the mud at a little thing called Moedown. I saw Ziggy Marley sing “Love Is My Religion.” I ate three kinds of chicken at Dirty Bird To Go. I saw Bob Dylan singing “Masters of War” at a AAA baseball stadium in Ft. Wayne, Indiana and called Lucinda Williams to play it for her. I saw George Bush lying on September 11th. I ate dinner with Steve Earle and we talked about Pro-Tools. I saw Allison and Steve sing “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” I saw both of my sisters and all four of my brothers and my mother and father within a 30 day period. I saw Taj Majal sing Mississipi John Hurt songs. I saw M. Ward sampling Paul McCartney in Nashville. Later I heard him in a Cadillac commercial. I was on stage my very first time in the Ryman Auditorium. I presented the award for best song to James McMurtry. I watched Elvis Costello sing with Allen Tousaint. I heard Vince Gill tell a story on stage about taking mushrooms with Rodney Crowell. I saw four rental cars and over 12 airplanes. I saw Cali, Alabama, Ohio, PA, New York, Massachusets, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennesee, Georgia, and of course Alaska. I saw the great art museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I saw Jay Farrar singing a song by George Harrison. I saw a bald, black man who sang just like Neil Diamond. His name is the one and only Black Diamond! I saw an old high school friend who now had a family. I saw Dallas, Texas from a jumbo jet airplane. I soaked in the hot springs of the Desert Hot Springs. I bought a round trip ticket for Europe. I had a whole month off in my hometown of Joshua Tree. I wrote and recorded 14 new songs. I parted ways with my manager and thought of the future. I played a show with TOUGH SAILORS opening for Oakley Hall at Pappy and Harriets. I played some of these news songs at the Joshua Tree Roots Music fest. I sang “Next To You” in New York while wearing an Elvis wig. (it was Halloween, after all) I talked about songwriting with Allison Moorer for XM. I played a show in Brooklyn with Allison and Steve Earle. The very next day I was in Hoorn, Holland where I noticed that the scrapbook page on my website could use some updating.

SWIMMING HOLES

That's what summer tour is all about. Singing songs and going swimming in the various swimming holes all across the country. There are tons of them. The annual pursuit really started one summer in North Carolina when a friend took C-Dub and I to a slippery rock and river pool outside of Asheville, North Carolina. That is a place- as well as the eastern side of Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains, where swimming holes are plentiful and clean.
In the last month, I've even jumped in a few of the larger swimming holes around these parts. Namely, lake Michigan- just south of Sheboygan, Wisconsin and also the Atlantic Ocean, just south of Jacksonville, Florida. The difference in water temperature was palpable.

About two weeks ago, I had the heartbreak of my summer when my favorite swimming hole in the world, JOHNSON'S SHUT-INNS- an hour west of the Mississippi River in the state of Missouri, was closed for the season. I found this out after driving a few hours out of my way to go swimming that day. I guess a dam was breached last December that caused a lot of damage and debris to clog up the river around the Shut-Inns. A sad day until I jumped in the Black River a few miles down the way. Nothing wakes up the groggy traveler like laying in a cold, clean river.

I've visited well hidden hot springs in Washington State, jumped off rocks into the Blackfoot River outside Missoula, Montana, jumped into the quarries outside of Knoxville, Austin, Columbus, and Akron. I watched bon fires and fireworks while floating on a pond in southern Illinois and felt like the country was going to be all right after all. I remember a great rope swing and pulley system in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania that shot you out over a lake. Plus night swimming in ponds around Atlanta. Floating down the Chattahoochee and jumping off Naked Rock. I surfed like a true amateur in north San Diego, swam with the sharks in the La Jolla Nature Preserve, froze easy at York Beach, Maine, and took the hottest and most scenic soak of my life in the Jerry Johnson Hot Springs in Idaho.

I know there are plenty more swimming holes and I look forward to visiting them some day. The important thing is to know how good it can be. If you live in a place where you can't jump in the river than you might want to think about what that means. I guess I'm adding myself to the long list of people who strongly suggest that we are ruining the planet. It's true we are doing bad things, but it's a bit presumptuous to say that we will ruin the planet. The planet is going to be just fine. We can only ruin it for us. That is, we may not be able to be here for many more generations , but the planet will go on just fine without us. Earth was around long before we came along and started messing it up. It will cast us off and spit us out like a something that's temporarily caught in it‚s throat, and it will carry on. In the meantime, if we could just slow down on the trashing of the place, then maybe our children's children will be able to swim in the ponds, rivers, lakes, and oceans of our home.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

one week on the road

I need to start writing about my last week on the road before the next one starts. If I don't, my head may explode.
Last Monday evening I was in Lexington, KY. Lucinda played The Kentucky Theatre and then I caught the Mendoza Line at The Dame before getting some sleep and having breakfast at Alfalfa and picking up a new hat at this amazing haberdashery in town. (the first of many run-on sentences in this bit- but I'm too tired to do anything about it) The next day was off and I took a long but easy drive to St. Louis, MO- listening to Kris Kristofferson finish his reading of A Man Called Cash.
Next day was Wednesday and I played the Pageant with Lucinda. Kevin Buckley was around to play some fiddle on a few songs. After the show I stayed up listening to the few Gram Parsons songs I was to sing the next day in Austin for the first gig at SXSW. A few hours of sleep happened and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to return the rental car and catch a 6:00 a.m. flight for Austin via Dallas. On the ground in Austin I shared a taxi with a Dutch SXSW attendee and made it to the convention center in time to listen to Neil Young give the keynote address. (It was my 10th SXSW and the first time I had ever been up early enough to catch this part of the fest). After Neil--who was introduced on stage after a man read the lyrics to "OHIO" and then asked for more songs like it--it was off to an Ameoba Records Gram Jam with Goldrush, Susan Marshall, Soda and His Million Piece Band, and Tres Chicas, to name a few. I played a few songs and was starting to wake up a bit in time to play the New West tacos and beer gig with Kris Kristofferson and others. I went on after Kris and although the crowd was talking pretty loud--not to mention the band next door blasting--I had a good time with my friends Megan and Beth on violin and then it was off to rehearsals for that night's showcase at La Zona Rosa. Played that gig and wandered the streets a bit. Ended up back at the club to catch some more Kristofferson and then slept a few hours before catching a plane to Jackson, Mississippi via Houston. In Jackson, I rented a car and drove two hours north to Oxford where Lucinda and Doug and I played the Ford Theatre. It was my best show of the tour because I was too tired to give a shit and therefore played a very relaxed show. This being St. Patrick's day--and because I had never been there before, I joined some literary locals for a trip to Faulkner's grave and also to a local party which was a very fine time. Went for a bit more sleep and woke up, walked around the town square, picked up some books, and drove five hours south to New Orleans to play the House Of Blues with Lucinda. This was the first night I played three songs with her--and even sang one (People Talking) before getting a pretty decent night's sleep. Lucinda was very inspired in her old hometown and played a nice long set for the crescent city folk. (I should probably not mention it but during this show a woman was thrown out for masturbating in public). It was a great night.
Sunday brought the end of the Veterans For Peace march from Mobile to New Orleans and a demonstration in Congo Square where I played a few songs after Nanci Griffith and Susan Cowsill among many other speakers. A very inspiring time with many old and young veterans on hand to tell it like it is. By this point I was able to witness the devastation all over the city and on this day two bodies were found. How long ago did the Hurricane strike? And what country is this?
Sunday night--also known as Super Sunday to the locals--brought a tradition, going back over one hundred years, where the Mardi Gras Indians meet at the corner of LaSalle and Washington Streets and chant at each other before giving each other big hugs. Dozens of police were on hand due to the gunshots that had erupted earlier in the day. Nothing but a celebration and a vigil here with folks like Big Chief FiYiYi of the Mandingo Warriors in your face with his proud green colors and feathers and also plenty of SECOND LINE drums and singing/chanting about the Spy Boy and Katrina. I have never seen anything like it and people were saying it was kind of a small one due to the fact that not everybody was back in town since the devastation.
On Monday morning I actually slept in a little bit before touring more of the city and also visiting some of the relief and rescue camps such as the one that Common Ground set up.
Tuesday, or today, we made a trip over to Biloxi to drive along the coast highway and witness that massive destruction left behind by Katrina. I saw dozens of miles of destruction and it's not going away anytime soon. On the way back, we stopped by the huge relief camp in St. Bernard Parish known as the Made With Love Café to play some songs for the many volunteers, contractors and citizens who eat there every day. On this day, they served up around 1400 meals. The place was incredible with a very Grapes Of Wrath soup kitchen/camp feel to it with a whole city of tents. These folks need relief and there are people from all over the world helping to make it happen.

I'm just not able to comment on it all right now--I needed to just write it all out and so here it is. New Orleans is the birthplace of so much important culture and music and that city and the gulf coast are in pretty bad shape still--in case you didn't know already. Piles of garbage and complete destruction everywhere you look. Maybe the revolution should start now.

After so much heaviness it was great to go to the Maple Leaf and hear the Rebirth Brass Band give it up for the people. Their music was powerful today.

Some sleep is needed. I'll give a try right now.
Come back Woody Guthrie.