April 20, 2001
Jacksonville, FL
3:40 pm - 83°
Tuesday morning I woke up early to pack for my trip
south. I had plans to meet a friend for lunch in Greenville,
SC, an hour and a half away, so I had to be on the road by 11:30.
Packing isn't such an ordeal for me these days. I keep two entire
sets of toiletries, so I never have to pack those, just throw
in enough clothes for the month (in this case), and put the gear
and guitars in Dan the Tan Van and off I go.
I love traveling, and certainly love playing songs
for people who are interested, so there's always a certain excitement
to pulling out of the driveway, but I must say the snow helped.
I spent last month mostly in Utah, Wyoming, Wisconsin and environs,
so I saw plenty of the white stuff, and I was happy to see last
week's sunny Spring days with temps in the 70s and 80s. Tuesday
morning, though, it snowed. No kidding, for a couple of hours,
and I packed in the midst of it. My first stop was near Charleston,
SC, which was lovely, but even there the temperature was well
below normal. Luckily, my next stop was here in Jacksonville,
where I'm currently baking on my parents' balcony, attired in
cut-offs and sporting a laptop and a cool drink, like a portable
electronics commercial. Life could be much harder.
writing to you and listening to the water
Not that Wyoming was all hardship. The residency went
well, and a beautiful article
came out in the Gillette News-Record while I was there. I
am a native Floridian, and the blowing snow on the nominal first
day of Spring felt a bit like a cosmic raspberry. I got to connect
with some very cool students, though, spent time with some old
friends and even got to see the Northern Lights for the first
time.
I was climbing into bed late on a a Friday night a
couple of weeks ago when my cell phone rang and my teacher/filmmaker
friend Joe's voice said "Are you seeing this?" I threw
my clothes back on and drove out of town in the darkest direction.
When I began to see the light show I called Joe back, only to
find that he was two cars ahead of me. We found a sufficiently
dark pull-off and stared in awed wonder. The Bruce Cockburn song
"Lord of the Starfield" rang in my head for days. "You
make my heart leap like a flame in the wind." Sure enough,
Bruce.
After my couple of weeks as Artist in Residence came
to a close I headed for Wisconsin, driving all the way across
South Dakota and Minnesota in the process. I found a pretty amazing
spot, though, before I even left Wyoming. There's a sign on a
back highway there that says "Alladin, Wyoming Pop. 15"
That's right, fifteen. I drove past the general store, but just
had to turn around and go back. It turns out to have been open
as a general store for 111 years. I had been driving for a couple
of hours, and asked where the men's room was. "It's around
that side," was the answer. "There're two little buildings
out there - you want the one that says 'Bucks.'" Sure enough,
the Alladin General Store has never had running water, and they
don't see any call to break the streak now.
Upstairs I found a little room with an old switchboard
in it, and some copies of WWII era "True Confessions"
magazines, and a pretty good pile of used cowboy boots. I never
thought I'd do it, but I couldn't pass up the pair that fit just
right. I plunked down my $17.50 and pulled out again. The next
day held twelve hours of driving, but I stopped in the middle
of it to hike a bit in the Badlands National Park. As far as
I could tell I was the only biped in the place for the hour and
a half I spent there.
the badlands
The last month has introduced me to a couple of my
new favorite gigs in the country, too. Galesville, Wisconsin
is home to the Beaver Creek Inn, featuring gourmet food, bare
wood walls, a balcony overlooking the river and a dynamite acoustic
line up, including (in their first nine weeks of operation) Willy
Porter, John Smith and even me. I had a magical night there in
this new listening room, and can't wait to go back in the Fall.
Closer to home, I was invited to play for the Grand
Opening night at the new Six String Cafe in Cary, NC (near Raleigh).
My long time friend David Sardinha let go of a successful corporate
career to feed his heart by opening a listening room. It's been
years since the triangle has had anything like this, and it's
worth a road trip it you want to catch a good show some time
in a room that is all about music (David hand-mixed the wood
stains for the bar so that they would correspond to woods commonly
used in building guitars!). Opening night was sold out, and everyone
seemed to have a great time. For more info, check out www.sixstringcafe.com.
Next up, we start recording for the new live record
this summer. Check the calendar for
details on which shows will be recorded. If you shout loud you
may even get on the record!
I hope that Spring is bringing a sense of renewal
to you. Winters are tough for me, as I suppose I've revealed
in songs like End
to Winter and Northbound,
and I generally find myself coming alive again around now. Much
to be grateful for. Not the least of which is that there are
folks like yourself who are interested enough in what I'm doing
to take the time to read this. Thanks for that.
Peace,
David
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