out here playing a roots music feels like we are a long ways away

people relate to this music differently because we are 2000 miles away from the south

audiences are coming from a different place

some places you see the past, other places you see where things are going

this is definitely a place where you are leaning forward

for better and for worse… you know what I am saying

not all development is brining us forward

a lot of the innovation and progress are pretty cool

the other portion, I think, are more ego driven

you got to innovate, you got to push people forward, but..

when that comes at the highness of a capitalist dream, you start to lose people

time moves forward in a circle… there is something to the past, but to make it come forward and matter again… you add your spin on it

there are things in the past that I love and sounds that I love

but to make it worth listening to, it’s got to be about something today

because otherwise, why do it? otherwise, you are just in a museum.

No one performs in a museum, that’s not the kind of symbiotic energy that a performance is.

anyone…on an artist quest, you keep finding creative things that you feel passionate about expressing, and as long as you are doing that, I think, you are going in the right direction.

Sometimes I change up the kind of music I am performing significantly, then take 3 steps forward… and then realize I was missing something, and then have to take 4 steps back.

there is a difference between I am going to make something and I am going to spew it into the world AND I am going to make something and I am going to find the people it will resonate with

you can’t worry too much about the people who are looking for you to replicate it…

no, I am interested in going there. you may or may not be with me on that journey, but I know it’s where I need to be if I am going to express what I want to express. And I know I will find the people, or the people will find me!

you got to take the risk. the risk of I don’t know how this is going to turn out but I need to do it. Otherwise, you are just playing into a safety net, and nobody is interested in art that is that safe.

In a hyper specific way, with blues… there is just one thing. One chord progression. One … thing that people expect, and if you do that..

there is a level of that when you go out and out and out and out, and then you get to the point where the performer thinks he is making a joke on the audience he is innovating… but they are actually just doing the dumbest thing you could imagine.

when your only response to a situation is just an ironic response… it’s like okay, got it, funny, next…

if I am going to try to construct something interesting that has any lasting value … it can’t just be a comment on something I want to make fun of

all of my early lyrics were in that form, but I was always using that blues phrasing, A A B A

I am more of a guitar player than a vocalist by all means

maybe I will have a riff or something that sounds real sweet, and then the lyrics will be something that matches up with that sound

the more tools I add to my chest of things I can play on a guitar, or sounds I can get…

everyone talks about death at first, because it is a STRONG thing

my first band, there was a guy named Andrew Hamlet who used to play bass in it, and it was like a wild time. Our goal was just to get it all out. It was very simple music, and the lyrics were kind of fun.

and then we get to a certain point, and it is like, well I need to do something new… I need to experiment.

the first thing that is going to give me a response is the character of the vocals, so I have been really focused on having harmonies that can be played lived

you can’t have any hesitation

any audience that smells a hesitation, that’s instant check out

when I am on stage, I feel super comfortable… I can see what I need to deliver

it’s the responsibility of the performer..

this guy walks in with a suit case, and says, “what’s up bitches”

and three songs into the opener, this guy goes “the music sucks”

and then the singer responded and said, this one is for you, it’s called “clean slate”

you got to respond, because when people in the bar see you not respond, it’s over!

I didn’t even know I was a gemini!

I haven’t been practicing my astrology, or numerology…

ogy

what about the horoscopes? even the horoscopes?

that’s why they call it ass strology.

until 100 years ago, everyone saw the stars at night.

It’s definitely real. getting to work some of those internalized emotions out… you got to put it somewhere.

Getting to express myself through the guitar subliminally…

That’s expression!

There is so much of that… that thanks so much for letting us play here… this place is awful.

Thanks so much for letting us play to no one on Tuesday afternoon for zero dollars… wow, I am really grateful for this.

because that’s the game you play, at least for a while… and then one day it is like, no, I will never have to see this again.

That’s a corner I really look forward to!