The Internet

I told myself I would contribute to this blog weekly. I failed to do so last week, which means I’m already off the hook on that commitment. I can blog whenever I want! Is blog a noun and a verb? What a powerful word. #blog

It’s striking how much has happened in my little world in the last two weeks, even though I’m either in my apartment or on a bike ride. Most of it is internal I guess. Thinking about how to put out the album now that it’s (almost) finished. Thinking about how to do the Freedom Tour now that there is a once-in-a-century global pandemic. Thinking about Joe Biden. Trying not to think about the other guy, but thinking about him anyway. Thinking about how it’s down to these two guys, really? Thinking about groceries. Thinking about coffee. Thinking about chocolate granola. Thinking about money. Thinking thinking thinking…

Thinking about the INTERNET. That’s mostly what I’ve been thinking about. The wireless reception has been increasingly intermittent around here, which is causing problems with the live online streaming shows. Those have become a consistent source of joy and income for me so they must go on. On Sunday evening (4.12) I was a guest on Robert Sarazin Blake’s weekly show and my internet signal was not cooperating. That’s the first time I’ve had that experience, which was unique and irritating. I played three songs and played my heart out (including a version of “Pirates Are Taking Over” that felt really nice) only to discover that I sounded trapped in a submarine, digitized and bad. Welcome to another new aspect of this online reality. At a live show, I have a pretty good idea of what I sound like to the audience.

That experience was disappointing and an ominous harbinger of the following day’s online residency livestream. Monday show #4 started where it has for all previous streams, on the “stage” I set up in my apartment. I wore my kimono to keep things interesting. I played “My Cousin’s Canoe” (a request from my old friend, the great Anthony da Costa) and then “Moonlight Motel” (a Bruce Springsteen cover), but the comments told me that my feed was “social distancing.” It feels bad to give musically and have no idea if or how it is being received so I decided to shut it down and perhaps push pause on the Monday shows until I could resolve the internet issue.

Then I started hearing from a number of people that they would be really disappointed if I stopped doing the shows, that they are meaningful experiences, that they have given this strange, unstructured time some semblance of routine and consistency — every Monday at 11am (Pacific), there I am on my little stool doing my thing. It seems good to be of service in my own small way. Isn’t that what all of us our seeking after our basic needs are met? Meaningful work? Connection? In a bizarre twist, we seem to be more connected during this time of quarantine than we were before.

So I changed out of my kimono, ran up the hill and onto the golf course — which is shut down during shelter in place (to prevent golfers from gathering?) — and got back on via a serviceable LTE connection:

Monday Online Residency // 4.13.20 Better Now / Praying for Time (George Michael cover) / All These Good Goodbyes / Americans / The American West / O Holy Night (Traditional) / The Heads of the State / That Golden Shore / Feet to the Fire / Radio Lite / Still I’m Not Still / The Meanest Man Alive

Go to 36:39 in the video for a fun interaction between me and the groundskeeper about how some golfers are still golfing and I am in the direct line of fire.

Following this experience, I continued thinking about the internet for several days. I rode all over San Francisco with my guitar, seeking a quiet place outside with consistent LTE reception. What I learned: cars are very loud and reception is best by roads so…yeah. Also, leaf blowers. Leaf blowers occur often and ruin everything. So I decided to keep it inside for now and roll the wireless dice. I did capture a video of Clay Pigeons — a beautiful Blaze Foley song John Prine used to cover that I learned from Danny Malone — near a tunnel in the park that provided lovely natural reverb, but immediately after I ended the video a leaf blower started up and ruined everything.

Before I started thinking about the internet all the time, I did an evening show hosted by The Rambling House, a venue in Columbus, Ohio. I played through my 2009 album “American in Love” and it was so wonderful to play through those songs. I love the story they tell in that order. It was also special to see in the comments how much that album means to people. Go to the last song to watch me weep as I sing “I’ve been dreaming of the apocalypse, I’ve been imagining that I am the only one who survives.” I didn’t remember that line or see it coming and it cut a little too close.

American in Love Online // 4.9.20 Concerning the Lincoln and Douglas Debates or Love Found Lost / The Score / End of Summer Cigarettes / Shimmering Shining / The Last of the Mohicans / An American in Love / Anybody Everybody / Screaming in Love / Yesterday Some Roses / Nowhere Fast / (Like Bon Jovi) I’m Running Away / The Meanest Man Alive

Inspired by that experience, I put a poll on Instagram asking which album I should play next, “The Hereafter” (2006) or “Backyards” (2011). Late Stage Bush Administration vibes defeated Mid-Great Recession vibes.

The Hereafter Online // 4.20.20 Everyone Looks Different / The Heads of the State / Give Me What I Want / Back Where I Was / My Cousin’s Canoe / The National Anthem / A Teenager in Love / Space Junk / Musical Chairs / Better Now / The 40th Century / The End / Take It Easy (Yeah Yeah Yeah) / Eulogy

What a joy to play through those songs in their original sequence and read the comments! It’s so nice to hear how that album has kept people company.

For a really fun moment in the video, go to 31:31 and listen to the surprise interaction with my downstairs neighbor. After weeks of getting a heavy dose of my brand of indie folk singer (and occasional shouter) songwriter, the bridge of “My Cousin’s Canoe” was apparently the last straw. I understand. I went down and mended fences after the show. He’s a nice guy. And our landlord generously offered a perfect solution: for the foreseeable future, I can stream my shows from his unit since he and his family are riding this out elsewhere. That means: a) stronger, more consistent internet signal and b) A REAL PIANO. Win win. So tune in next Monday 4.27 (and subsequent Mondays for a least a little bit longer) and check out the new digs. Next week is going to be an all Bruce Springsteen cover show! Please send any requests (or any thoughts/feelings at all) via social media messages or e-mail freedom tour at g mail dot com.