Well That Was Awesome

I flew in last night after taking a plane from San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley. Today I drove to Luckenbach for Susan's gig, which is about as far away from Silicon Valley as you can get. While I was drooling over the fact that Google and Apple were headquartered mere miles away, it was nice to kick back in Texas under a giant oak tree and watch The Boss and her hawt band. Hawt in the heat. My mini-vacation to see Mary Chapin Carpenter was excellent. I left my laptop at home (gasp!) and was instructed not to do any work for 2 days for gawdsakes. (I mostly succeeded but maybe I did a little booking, maybe I did). I flew in and was picked up by my buddy Heidi, a fellow Mary Chapin fan, who has always been my tour guide extraordinaire in the Bay Area. The first show was at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, a gorgeous hilly, sprawling, EXPENSIVE little town. Grapes and technology will do that to a community, I can tell. The venue was stunning, and the music was stunninger (ha). Shawn Colvin was on the bill as well (weird, I didn't see her on my Southwest flight from Austin) and started the night off with a solo set. Then MCC came and rocked our faces off. It got kind of chilly, so much so that we could see the bands' breath onstage when they sang. I did not mind because I knew back in Austin it was 102 or something stupid like that. The second night was at the Wells Fargo Center in Santa Rosa, a bit north of San Francisco. We drove through the city in some fog, making for a gorgeous if obstructed bridge view. Heidi had scored me awesome seats both nights, and photography was allowed thank goodness. Video was not, and I felt the oppressive stare of the ushers both nights so all I managed was about 5 different 3-second clips huddled in fear behind the chair. Which is fine, although I'm pretty sure appearing in one of my homemade videos would launch MCC to fame and fortune. Oh, wait. Nevermind. The music...ah, the music. You know, Mary Chapin was the first artist I latched onto as a young kid looking for musical greatness, and she has held steady in my book of the best ever since. I truly believe she is one of America's greatest songwriters, period. Fight me in the alley if you disgaree. So anyway, the last time I saw her was 5 years ago when I was in college, still unsure about the musician life but thinking it would be horrifically awesome to be a touring musician. So when I saw her 5 years ago everything was magic and mystical and electric. This time it was not that, but not on a bad way. Judging by Mary Chapin's tweets, the tour life for those guys - which consists of riding on a Prevost bus - is not much different than what we get to do in a Sprinter van (or an Element, as the case currently may be). It's not mystical in that I know the band has worked their butts off musically to be consumate pros at what they do. Nor is it magic to imagine how they got the venue or set everything up...that stuff's all pretty much how you do it on any level of touring. You drive, you play, you sleep, you drive. (Although I think on a big tour bus someone else drives all night and you wake up at the next city...awesome). So what this means is that instead of being ridiculously shocked that this was all happening in front of me, this time I got to focus on the music. Helped considerably by the 3rd row seats (again, thank you, Heidi!), I was able to see nuances and facial expressions and chord fingerings and all that good stuff. Very very very cool. Mary Chapin is, for one, a phenomenal fingerstyle guitar player. You know how some people start chording a song and then talk over their playing to introduce it? That's kind of hard. It's like tapping your foot in time for 3 minutes while telling a story. I have done it to some success and also messed it up entirely. Both nights MCC finger-picked the gorgeous pattern to "I Have a Need For Solitude" (Youtube is here) while telling a fairly long introduction to the tune, without missing a beat. My eyes crossed because it looks simple BUT IT IS SO NOT SIMPLE! My new goal is to get that good at finger-picking something. Anything. Check in with me in 7 years. Other stuff like watching one of my main guitar influences (I refuse to use the term "guitar hero" anymore, oops I just did), John Jennings, tear it up -- but then also seeing what scales he was using for some songs or what chord forms...that was awesome. There's a musical language being spoken by these great players that I am not fluent in, but starting to understand common phrases and techniques. That made me happy, too. Ultimately, I enjoyed the stage presence and songwriting of someone who, while I've only met her briefly once, is one of the main people responsible for getting me going along my path. While there are much more active mentors in my life now like a Dan or a Susan or a Terri, when you're 15 and sitting in your room with an electric guitar wondering what you're playing it for, you need motivation, and I was fortunate enough to latch on to Mary Chapin at an early part of my musical growth. I had a good example set early. And THAT, dear readers, is why I flew 2000 miles for a concert. Amen.

Heavy Lifting

This photo has nothing to do with this post. Wheeew! When you're a workaholic, getting out of town for a mini-vacation is a test of conscience and will. I survived summer camp at Red Leaf, where all the campers kicked butt at their show and all of us staffers breathed a sigh of relief. Being in one locale for 3 weeks, 8 hours a day was weird. Some days I liked it. Some days I wondered why the scenery didn't change like it usually does out the window. This weekend I saw Terri Hendrix play at the Cactus Cafe, always a fantastic show. I took about 8 photos and 1 turned out, which is on par for my ratio. Tomorrow I fly to California for aforementioned vacation and tomorrow night I will be watching Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter tear it up in Saratoga. Pretty excited. But first? We drive to Houston and play tonight! I love me some Main Street Crossing in Tomball...

Impulse

Sometimes you have to throw caution to the wind and do something spontaneous. My biggest hurdle in deciding to take my friend Heidi's offer of 2 spare tickets to 2 Mary Chapin Carpenter shows in California in 2 weeks was whether I wanted to coordinate the travel for myself. I coordinate travel for a living, so doing it for fun made me go "eck." But I have a flight and I am excited! I haven't seen my No. 1 musical influence live since 2005. I am well overdue.

New MCC!

Every time a new Mary Chapin Carpenter record has come out, from the time "A Place In the World" debuted when I was 14 and in 8th grade...I have bought it on the release day (good grief, 13 years ago). A physical copy! With liner notes and artwork! It's refreshing since I do so much downloading these days. The Age of Miracles has arrived and it is lovely.

Bells Are Ringing

Merry Christmas, everyone! (I didn't make this video but I love the song - from Mary Chapin Carpenter's Christmas album which is AWESOME).

Loveliness from Mary Chapin

I love this tune!

Hurricane Party

Well, something's blowing in from the south: In the spirit of Mary Chapin Carpenter's line from "Down at the Twist and Shout" -- "they have a hurricane party every time it blows" -- my buddy Katie and I are going to hunker down with some hummus, Diet Coke, and blank t-shirts and Sharpies. See, I decided that being on tour as a Merch Girl for 2.5 weeks...well, no one wants me to wear the same Susan t-shirt every night. No one wants that...probably especially Susan because she sits in the van with me. So Katie and I have been coming up with clever things worthy of a t-shirt. I'll share what we come up with later, but one of Katie's suggestions was "Merch Girls Do It On the Bar." Oh my.

I love this song.

Stones in the Road - Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Wowsers for Mary Chapin Carpenter

You've all heard me gush poetic about Mary Chapin Carpenter, one of the main reasons I picked up a guitar in the first place. Some argue that her rise of fame in the country music market was a weird abberation. All I know is that if I had looked to other popular people as mentors in the mid-90's when I was just starting to be curious about music, I might have picked up a karaoke mic and be hitting the American Idol auditions now. (Not that there's anything wrong with that). But anyway...over on Country Universe, one of the blogs I read to keep up on all things Nashville, there's a series being posted about the 100 Greatest Women in Country Music. While entirely subjective (the joys of blogging), the list is great so far and it's been a joy to read. I knew MCC would probably rank pretty high...and she came in at No. 29 today. While reading the article, none of the information was very new to me...except to see it all spelled out at once made me realize what a formindable career MCC has had. Check it out: - 10 albums over 20 years - The tune Down at the Twist and Shout in 1991..."earned her the first of five Grammys...beginning a historically unprecedented domination of the Best Female Country Vocal Performance category, which she would win four years in a row." - In 1992 the album Come On Come On "would bring Carpenter to the peak of her popularity. It spawned a stunning seven hit singles, practically unheard of at that time." - He Thinks He'll Keep Her (my gateway drug song to MCC's music) brought about Chapin being the "first country artist nominated for Grammy’s Record of the Year for a non-crossover hit." - In 1995 , "the Best Country Album category was reestablished after a thirty-year absence, and Stones in the Road was the winner." It was double platinum by then and Chapin's first that was entirely self-penned...no co-writers. Wow. Wow! Now, we all know a career is not summed up in Grammy awards (although I have cleared a place on my cherry-colored particle-board bookcase should the moment ever arise), but Mary Chapin was breaking down barriers left and right as a woman and a songwriter in this genre. And she made a huge difference for a lot of people...when I was but a wee wannabe chordist...I heard intelligent, smart tunes and you had better believe I was paying attention to the fact that Chapin was writing them herself and playing them herself. Makes a big difference. There's my Sunday warm fuzzy. Thanks, Mary Chapin. If you squint, you will note MCC in the middle and me to the immediate left backstage at a concert in Atlanta in 2005. Surrounded by a bunch of fun people decked out in flamingo garb. This is probably a long story for another time, but it was dang amazing.

Congrats, Mary Chapin!

I had a weird inkling today, when I remembered that the Grammy nominations were out. So after a good hour of trying to get to Grammy.com (I guess everyone wanted the nomination haps)...I finally cruise over to the "Folk " category and what do I see under "Best Contemporary Folk Album" but... "The Calling." Pretty much...yes. I remember back in the day (like 1995) when Mary Chapin Carpenter rocked the Grammy's with "Stones in the Road" in the country category and even got nominated for Album of the Year (I think it was that...or Record of the Year, one of the two...she was up against Bob Dylan is all I recall and that impressed me). It's awesome and amazing that 13 years later, she's making great art and still getting recognized for it. I feel like she's more at home in the Folk category than she ever was in the Country vein, but that's just evolution. Stiff competition, too -- Steve Earle and Patty Griffin among them. It was a good music year. I sense a "best of" blog post coming on.

MCC On Writing: "Wait."

There is an excellent interview with Mary Chapin Carpenter in the November issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine (we haven't even lived October yet!). Happy Birthday to me. :) Anyway, it's brilliant. (Have I mentioned MCC is brilliant?) Some key thoughts from the interview. When asked if songs are hard to write, Chapin replies, "I don’t think of songs as being hard to write. It’s a process, and every song requires dedication, emotion, and inspiration. Some songs really do drop out of the sky, as Bill Monroe used to say, and others are a little harder to get to. But if you’re lucky enough, you get a keeper, and it ends up sticking around." The follow-up question is: if you only have the first half of a song, what do you do? "Wait. ...to paraphrase the artist Helen Frankenthaler, the harder you try to get at something, the more elusive it becomes. So if you have half a song and it means something to you, and you believe in it, then you’re going to wait until the other half comes along." Oh. It is true. Some songs are hard-won, and that's ok. Rose Tremain said in her Writer's Room profile that, "All writers spend great drifts of time staring into space - a habit not tolerated easily by those who aren't writers." That's the waiting. I am still trying to be at peace with the waiting. I think it's a habit to cultivate in a lot of areas of our lives. We wait, things come. We just have to wait with intention and direction.