Blog & News:

Journals from the Northeast

Oct 21st, 08

Hello folks,

I spent the last week and a half in the Northeast and kept a journal of my travels. They are posted below...pictures to follow soon!

October 12

Flying into Boston always scares me.

The plane comes in low enough over the water that you actually feel as though you might be on a ship - with wings. But the ship docked safely yesterday in this beautiful city, and I spent a full day with some of the greatest folks in Cambridge drinking wine, talking politics and walking the cobblestone streets near Harvard.

I begin my journals from a bench in North Station as I wait for the Amtrak Downeaster to Saco, ME. After arrival in Saco, I'll be heading to Sam Kassirer's Great North Sound Society in Pondersfield, which sounds like a very appropriate name for a songwriter's destination.

I guess I'm leaving in the midst of an American crisis. The headline in the Chicago Tribune on Friday read "All Signs Point to Panic" with an accompanying article about the realization that there is far less money in the country than anyone that works for the government ever imagined. However, I think most of us commonfolk probably came to this realization a long time ago.

October 16

Four days later and I haven't watched the news, read the paper or talked on the phone, so I have no idea of the latest updates in the aforementioned "panic." But I haven't felt this relaxed in years. In the wooded hills of Maine, there isn't much to worry about besides the possibility of black bears nearby. Even then, I think watching bears is probably more calming than watching TV.

We did make our way back to civilization last night and found ourselves at a local drinking well called Jonathan Michael's. It's the kind of place that serves good beer for cheap and features a variety of NASCAR posters on every wall, which is just the kind of charm that anyone from Indiana can appreciate.

Great North is a quiet New England home, tucked among autumn colors and winding roads. Its construction date is 1798, and the structure maintains plenty of that original history in its wooded floors and unfinished attic - the site of much of our recording. Crowded with pianos, organs, guitars and percussion instruments, the entire house makes writing and creating simple. Pressure doesn't exist here.

We've worked on plenty of tunes through the week in this mecca of music. Today is our final day, and I'm hoping to come away with eight of them recorded. It took about a year to finish the last record, so a head start on the next one is a good thing.

October 18

After a long night in Boston, I woke up this morning with the kind of hangover that makes you reconsider everything - especially the decision of whether or not to ride a Greyhound bus for four and a half hours to New York. Nevertheless, I arrived at South Station with every intention to honor my bus ticket to Penn Station. I figured it could be a lesson not to overindulge in Irish whiskey.

However, I learned something new today: Greyhound passengers must print out their tickets before they get to the station. They won't print out your ticket for you. I can't quite understand this, but the attendant informed me that I needed to find a printer and return for my departure. I figured it was a sign. The Amtrak sign loomed in the distance, a beacon of comfort and hope. I splurged.

90 dollars later, I write from the luxury of my train seat. It reclines. I have a row to myself. I'm going to buy coffee. This is the best 90-dollar decision I've ever made.

Listening to the tunes from this week, and I'm very pleased. I'm beginning to wrap my thoughts around the way I'd like the next record to come together. Great North is an ideal place for writing, singing, creating and enjoying the simplicities of being away from the noise of the city. By the way, I was wrong about the name of the town. It's not Pondersfield - it's Parsonsfield. So I actually didn't know where I was for five days.

October 20

There's no question where I am now. It's hard to mistake a place as charming as Newark, New Jersey.

I enjoyed a great visit to New York this weekend. It's always a relief to be in New York without playing a show. It means no rushed subway rides with two guitars, no getting stuck in turnstiles with those two guitars, and I can actually spend some time seeing the city. On Saturday, I went to an incredible hip hop musical. Yes, it really was a hip hop musical. It's called "Clay", and one person performed the whole show. I'm not much for theater, but it's a remarkable production about a young guy with some serious family issues who finds a hip hop mentor and learns the art of rhymes. "Clay" plays all eight characters flawlessly. If you happen to live in New York and are reading this, check it out. It runs through November 8 at the Duke Theater on 42nd Street.

Now, 40,000 miles above the Earth, I'm listening to the airport radio, which includes a collection of pop songs that make trips go faster. Wyclef, Justin Timberlake, Jordin Sparks - the ultimate traveling jams.

It's been a great trip, and I'm already looking forward to getting back soon to work on more tunes. Thanks for reading - hope you're all well!

Cheers,
David

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