JOURNAL[Pages : 6 5 4 3 2 1]

Mini BLOG
moncton, new Brunswick May 30, 2005

hoooooooooo eeee. we just went go-karting after soundcheck. as soon as we passed into the maritimes i made a comment to dave k that we were in go karting country. i remember being a kid growing up in Nova Scotia & visiting my cousins in Antigonish & Amherst. There seemed to be a lot back then. At the track there was a handbill on the counter that read: Teen dance & go-karting every Friday. GOLDEN!!! You don?t see that kind of thing anywhere else. certainly not in Toronto, Vancouver, Miami, LA? I guess my life is so urban that if these quaint, small town pastimes are still prevalent in peoples? lives, they don?t happen near me. A teen dance & some good ol? fashioned racing. Where?s Michael J. Fox when he?s needed most? Damn, I could tour for the rest of my life if this was normal (wait a second--i will anyway). then if melissa was with me it would be like the indy 500. hot babes & all. what a life.

You shoulda seen me--Vroom vroom.
L



The anatomy of some days

We’ve all agreed, six weeks is about the limit. Yet here we are at the 7 week mark, gnawing on each others’ patience, like gerbils on flaccid carrots. We just played at Madison Square Gardens in New York. I make the rare point of capitalizing here to illustrate. John Lennon played there. The Stones. Bowie. Whatever…everybody. It does matter. Ok. Enough with the capitals. they are tiresome.

This morning we woke at 8, after getting off the bus at 6 & trying to sleep for a couple hours before meeting in the lobby of the Trump International hotel to go to some upper west side studio to play the view (sorry…THE VIEW) which, for those of you who are as ignorant as I am, is a breakfast TV show for bored, bickering, horny housewives. We sat there for 4 hours in the dressing room, had our make-up done, & then played one song for an audience of really excited women of the previous description.

Then back to the hotel. I tried to sleep but the building across the street was being demolished & the machines kept me awake, producing one fucking cranky ass, bitchy-faced guitar player…whoooooey.

Ok, so up I get, & stumble off to catch a cab to take me to the Holiday Inn to collect Thomas’ gear for our soundcheck at the living room (oops..LIVING ROOM). Thomas is the incorrigibly cute drummer from the Perishers, who are a Swedish band opening for Sarah… soundcheck is relatively uneventful. We play some songs. Then we have burritos at the Cuban across from the club, on Stanton & Ludlow…soho. The gig is good. People come & listen, which is always miraculous. At some point I may come to take it for granted but not yet. Sarah always says how surprised & happy she is that so many people come out to her concerts. In my mind I think “bullshit…you knew there’d be 8000 people at the gig tonight” but maybe she too, is still in awe of the fact that people actually come out to witness her work. I understand that. It’s really a gift when people are interested in your work.

I was too tired to put on a show or even try to be engaging or funny but we played music well, which is the ultimate goal. After the gig it was out for cocktails at barracuda with peggy, hugo, steve, melissa & my dear old friend greg, who, the following night would make a huge scene at Madison Square garden... depending on the various reports, he was seated amidst all the nettwerk management types, other guests of the band & entourage, as well as tony visconti (producer of Bowie, Lou reed, T.rex etc) & fluctuated wildly between singing at the top of his lungs, screaming requests for archaic songs that she no longer plays, crying uncontrollably & possibly even swatting at tony (accidentally? Not?)…& announcing that NO, he WOULD NOT be quiet because didn’t they know that he grew up with LUKE DOUCET!!!!

Suffice it to say that walnut st. represented fully at MSG that night. I was proud of greg for fully engaging in the experience. If you knew him you’d understand. They don’t make them any more passionate or flamboyant.

Sorry for skipping a day but I had to tell you about greg.

We’re in providence for a day off. I have cousins here but am too tired & cranky to want to visit. They’d understand. All I can imagine doing is going to get my nails done (acrylics for the guitar…very funny.) & sitting in my hotel room & watching bad tv. Of course I’m writing to you folks & I have to listen to my new record to decide if I have a sequence I can stomach. It’s getting to the point where I don’t want to hear it anymore. It’s not for me. I made the damn thing for you. Why do I have to listen to it a thousand times?

G’bye
L



MIAMI BLOG

Hi all.

I’m on the bus from Miami Beach to Tampa. I have not misjudged Florida. Unless getting hit on by married women from Ohio at the poolside bar of the Ritz Carlton is somehow uncanny for this place…it has not disappointed...(no, I did NOT!)

I’m thinking about music a lot these days. i really like music & there are some amazing people making it. Fuck, I look so forward to getting involved in creating it again. Working for Sarah requires a certain kind of skill, discipline, patience, & work ethic that I have infinite respect for (my working class, tendencies require that I glorify that… ). There is a part of me that thrives on that, & there is no better person or company to fulfill that need than Sarah & her world. It’s now been 18 months & I’m hanging tight but I can’t wait to see what’s been happening outside these walls in my absence… one of the things that happens when one immerses one’s self in something so all consuming & specific is that they lose perspective on the rest of the world…can I write songs? Can I stand in front of a room full of people & play them??? This terrifies me. (By the way, I’ve hired Thomas—pronounced Tomaaaass, the drummer from the charming Perishers to play with me at the Living Room in NYC on the 23rd. of may. He’s really great & his drum kit is all flat like Ringo’s. rrrrowl).

Ok…what else? I don’t know. I get all these brilliant thoughts & things I want to tell you all in the harsh, sober light of day but now, on this bus, with Carlito’s Way blasting on the flat screen behind me, I’m at a loss for ideas. I’m tired. Homesick. Cranky. Uninspired… I can’t play my guitar. I’m all thumbs. Plink plink lpink scronk twang. That’s what it sounds like. like a banjo on steroids. God, I hate my guitar sometimes. What a stupid appendage. How unbelievable that it never occurred to me how much like a penis it really looks… you wear it at your hips & stroke it tenderly with your eyes closed (that is not contrived, it’s like setting off a firecracker 3 inches from your face—we don’t do that deliberately). But still; how embarrassing.

Gotta go. My Mac is about to die.



This weeks BLOG: THE WAGON

Hi folks.

I?m on the wagon. Yup. No booze for two weeks. That may sound like a humble enough accomplishment for the average clean livin? health conscious, pseudo- vegetarian, sensitive singer songwriter, father type, but when you?re on the road & there are endless bottles of beer, wine, gin, vodka, scotch looking at you every night before & after performing in front of 10 000 people (or 200), & while careening down the endless US interstate freeways in a 45 foot long, built for reality TV tour bus with 5 other drunk people?IT?S NOT SO FUCKING EASY, NOW IS IT? You have to understand that I don?t have a single stimulating substance in my body?no caffeine (don?t do it?bad for insomniacs), no nicotine (don?t do it?it?s retarded), no THC (don?t do it??drugs are bad because hippies do drugs & hippies suck?, [Cartman, South Park]), no cocaine (even if I did, would I tell you???)? we?re talking sober like a 3 year old? DAMN.

Well. It?s now been 13 days since I?ve had a pre or post gig bevy. I feel quite good. The 5 hours of sleep I get after the bus arrives in Fresno (Reno, Spokane, Oklahoma city, wherever) seem to suffice when one goes to sleep with a perfectly clear head. See, I don?t sleep on tour buses. The minute the driver even thinks of touching the brake, I stiffen up like Ron Jeremy & brace myself for the sound of twisting metal that might foreshadow the twisting crackle of my brittle wee Irish/French Canadian bones. Not a restful environment for old anxious-pants here. Now don?t go thinking that the next time you see me botch a lyric or forget an arrangement at one of my shows that I?ve fallen haphazardly off the wagon & you ought to be concerned for me & my loved one?s. I plan to resume a moderate regiment of sophisticated liquid revelry very soon. Perhaps tomorrow after the second LA show, even. Who can say?

Right now, I can hear the throngs of Saturday night cruisers out on sunset blvd. shrieking & honking at one another, drunkenly flirting from the windows of their pimped out Cadillacs & Hummers. No doubt about it; the booze is a stellar social lubricant & I plan to partake once again. but for now I curl up & sleep the sleep of children. Tomorrow morning I wake up early & drive mine to LAX & send her back to her mom in Vancouver.

PS. I?m playing at the Living Room in New York on the 23rd of April. You should all come & see the show. 8pm. 154 Ludlow, between Stanton & Rivington.

Peace
L



Hello loyal snoops

I’m sitting in my room on the 18th floor of the pacific palisades hotel in Vancouver listening to the rain & martha wainwright. As much as I want to dislike her for her poncy bloodline ( a pet peeve of mine) this is a beautiful record. She obviously inherited some good stuff.

The mars volta. Wholy shit. What a band. I saw them at SXSE a few years ago but I was so distracted by a crazed foot affliction that I couldn’t focus & I must have missed the sheer manic majesty of this band. Math rock sorta.

What else is good? Kings of leon. How beautiful & strange.

Sime nugent. Amazing singer & songwriter from Melbourne who played a show with me last month. Really unique delivery. A bit of hank in there. Lovely. & a sharp dressed man to boot.

Nathan. From Winnipeg. Beautiful girly country ballads. A bit of that classic kate & anna macgarrigle sound. Haunting.

I’ve been buying records from itunes lately. Much easier to be impulsive when you don’t have to be bombarded with options at your friendly soundscapes/zulu records/basement tracks/sam the record man. I’ve purchased 20 or 30 records in the last month. That’s generally what I buy in a year at 1/2 the price of retail. I’m learning tons. Soon I’ll be able to drop all the hip names & make you feel like you really know nothing (You must be so excited).

A few beefs though. First of all there are many titles unavailable. Type in mark lannegan…nope. How can that be? I guess it’s a matter of time before everyone does the deal. Another thing, & this is pandemic in the cyber music world; companies that offer music online NEED to be offering the album credits. Most musicians are paid less than they should be because they believe in the work they create. One of the few benefits of playing on an artists’ record is the recognition & respect that goes along with being associated with the project. Other artists, producers, managers, & musicians look to the credits to stay informed as to who is doing what work. With studios getting cheaper & easier to run, & the music often being easier to “fake” many producers don’t need to employ humans as much as they once did, so the real gigs are becoming more scarce. We need to honor the working muso by insisting that a priority be placed on credit being issued where it is due. How hard would it be for itunes, puretracks etc. to make that info available? Spread the word. It’s important.

Thirdly, I lament the inevitable loss of music retail. What I fear is that the really great music retailers, who are by & large independent, will get squeezed out by those who can afford (barely) to operate in a world of extreme downloading. Virgin megastore can carry hundreds of thousands of titles & do a roaring volume trade, while soundscapes is getting by by providing a concentrated collection of quality music for the discerning music fan. The problem is, once the web based retailers get their shit together, I will be able to buy the entire thrill jockey catalogue online. Soundscapes may not be able to survive. That sucks. Not sure the solution. I’m on the road all the time, for example, so the option of just diligently supporting the indy retailers may not be practical. I hope I’m wrong about this. Anyway…support the indies as long as possible. I fear the globalization of the indy world. “ nolite tes bastardes carborundum" ... don't let the bastards grind you down! ...

We are supposed to be playing in Victoria tonight but sarah got sick so we wait & rot. This is the first time in the10 years that I’ve sporadically worked for her, that a show has been cancelled due to her health. She’s a feisty one & can usually pull off miracles under pretty trying circumstances. Fingers crossed…

Boogie on raggae woman

L



brisbane AU

hi
the sarah m. band have all left. i'm alone 10,000 miles from home. honestly this is not where i want to be (not that brisbane is anything but gorgeous).
road burn-out has settled in & even though i may have great shows on my own here, it's a tough sell personally. maybe if you all show up with flowers & winnipeg jets jerzees. it feels strangely lonely instantly; ironic considering i elect to spend very little of my spare time with my band mates when i have the option of being alone while on tour. i guess they are umbilical somehow.

what's happening across the pacific? i bought a copy of the Economist today to see. what do we have...

another earthquake in south-eastern asia.

something about stephen harper (canadian conservative party leader) kicking a chair across the convention floor in montreal last week. chill, dude...just because they want the right to get married doesn't mean you have to date one. jeez.

the sad manipulation of the terri schialvo case in (of course) florida. is that place the asshole of america, or what? for a place the size of nova scotia it sure seems to place itself in the spotlight often. it always seems to involve some kind of fundamental dispute with radical jesus freeks, abortion hypocrites, white supremacists, spring break gang bangs, rigged elections & the lot. the testing ground for the religious right.

i've been listening to tons of music lately.

my own new record--choosing a sequence & deciding which songs don't belong means overdosing. no wonder i get deathly sick of my own work. i still like it though. you should hear it. love boat strings. david bowie saxophones.
george harrison guitars. my patented kermit-toned crooning. songs about all the things prevalent in any good break up (booze, self pity, spite, revenge, forgiveness, regret, infidelity, blame etc). juicy. plus the requisite political rant & a couple of scandalous tales involving my colourful family.
you can't wait!!!

here are my working titles:

the slow motion romantics
a dozen wartime classics
broken (& other rogue states)

what do you think?

records that inspire (i don't remember all the titles. sorry):

the deloreans (?)
kathleen edwards (the new one)
greg keelor (songs for jim {his dad, not cuddy}) emmilou harris (elite motel c1975)
16 horsepower (?)
peter fenton (aussie songwriter i met over here) gillian welsh (?) melissa mcclellands new demos.(awww)

watch for new records by:

-the floor (on nrmls wlcm/six shooter records) -josh rouse--anyone heard it yet? i'm curious.(Bloodshot? RYKO?) -the posies are getting back together & releasing a new record this summer.
wow. cool. (straight from the horses mouth-- we played a festival with REM last night & ken stringfellow from the posies has been playing keys & guitars with them. he told me. see? i know famous people.
-elliot brood-very cool new six shooter records signing.
-luke doucet (he roolz)

bye.
L



blog NZ

I’ve just arrived in Wellington from Auckland, on one of the more picturesque flights I’ve taken. I listened to the latest Peter Elkas record, Party of One. It’s good. Laid back kind of mid 70’s sounding California sunshine record with no irony & no noise. Just the smooth sounds of easy livin’ & Wings pickin’.

One observation about New Zealand: the aboriginals—more specifically, the Maori, have a large presence. They also appear to play an active, integrated role in NZ society. I point this out because much is made of the disenfranchisement of the colonized worlds’ native populations. Movies such as Once Where Warriors depict them as a brave & powerful, yet tethered & oppressed people who are only a shadow of their collective former selves. I don’t purport to know whether this is true or not, being from Canada, some 15 000 kms away but what I can say is that the Maori have fared much better than most of Canada’s First Nations peoples. In Auckland, the largest city, I saw one homeless Maori living/sleeping in a bus shelter. in most Canadian cities, or at least those in the western 1/2 of the country (ok…Winnipeg for sure), it is a very common sight. I wonder why. I wonder what kinds of communities the local native people come from or inhabit still.

Are they comparable to reserves in Canada, replete with cars on cinder blocks, boarded up windows, 90% unemployment (no accessible natural resources), runaway incest & suicide, & groups of 8 year olds huffing gas from paper bags?

Somehow, from the clean, lucid faces of those Maori I saw (including, at the Wellington airport this morning, the star actor from the aforementioned film), I seriously doubt it. Maybe it’s just in the Canadian prairies, where I happen to be most familiar with the natives, that “the situation” (god, it sounds like I’m referring to Palestine) seems so bleak & hopeless…

Music that inspires:

Peter Elkas, Party of One
Los Lobos, This Time
Liz Phair, Whitechocolatespaceegg
Shudder to Think, First Love Last Rites
Squeeze, Greatest Hits
Stones, Some Girls
Willie Nelson, Stardust

It’s 2:20 pm on Friday the 11th of March in Wellington. That makes it 5:20 pm on Thursday the 10th of March in Vancouver. Weird, huh?

See ya.

L



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