I’ll Bring You a Song

“To hold your breath forever is to lose it in the end -
you have to let it out and let it in,”
you screamed to me as we were tumbling, cartwheeling the corn
in tribute to the seed we’d thrown to spring.
The summer in its fast fires and its dry skies
an altogether wilder burning thing…

However perfect, flawed, or far, may we remember as we part:
the road does not have to be hard, but it will be long.
I’ll count in rings around the trees, kick up seasons laid in leaves,
until the next time that we meet, and I’ll bring you a song.

The weather wasn’t always with us.
Still, we worked long, and the harvest was good.
Another life awaits me to the west now -
a forest on the isle of the linden wood.
I’ll walk a while through that land,
until I know I always understood…

However perfect, flawed, or far, we may remember as we part:
the road does not have to be hard, but it will be long.
I’ll count in rings around the trees, kick up seasons laid in leaves,
until the next time that we meet, and I’ll bring you a song.

Time and time again, I take my troubles to the wind.
I wind them up, and they begin to helicopter off and laugh

It got me thinking… what IS the music festival all about experience about?  Why do we, as a culture, worship Jimi Hendrix’s set at Woodstock, Miles and Dylan at their respective Newport shows?  Sure, great performances are key.  But for truly transcendent performances, there’s something else in the air—and festivals provide their own special version of that. There’s something essential and near mystical in the rare atmosphere of a good musical festival.  Maybe it’s the idea of tribe.

Lately, I’ve been reading “The Story of B” by Daniel Quinn.  A major theme in his works is the idea of the tribe, a group of people who come together for the purpose of working together.  A tribe isn’t a commune.  A commune is exclusionary: it’s an attempt to get away from the rest of the world, and only open to people who hold a certain value or point-of-view.  But a tribe is inclusionary: it assembles around an activity or way to make a living. If you can extend the group’s living to include yourself, says Quinn, and can do so without being a hindrance to others, you’re welcome to join.

A great music festival is just this; the only difference is that the activity—instead of making a living—is enjoying music and art together.  There’s no need to sort through who’s “in” or “out” of the group: the fact that everyone’s made the choice to go makes them part of the tribe.

The festival: Relax, it says.  This music means something to all of us.  We’re all here together.  These people are my people. We share this thing and love this music enough to come here, so… yeah.  We’re good to go.

I think festivals relax us on a subconscious level, fire up our old psychological instincts, and open us up to unique experiences. As long as you’re not disrupting someone else’s experience… you can do what you want.  You can sit front row, or at the back of the scene.  You can dance like a nutcase, or chuckle at the people who do.  You can hang out at the edges and share the moment with a friend or lover.  You can do anything you want. Yes, the music is central to the experience, but the music is also the framework for something bigger… for the atmosphere and energy that feed right back into the music itself. That’s the point.

Our good friend Tim Easton gets it.  Here’s a song of his about all that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD686y3lE_c

I’ve had a string of amazing, beautiful, crazy experiences since joining TUS six months and about 100 performances ago. Playing a couple of beautiful autumn festivals has been a really great way to cap off my first season of touring with these folks.

Take care!  We hope to see some of you in Rosedale, MS this weekend, or wherever, whenever we next roll through your town.  I am already looking forward to it!

-Aaron

In honor of the Harvest Moon (also know as the Wine Moon, the Singing Moon, the “Blue Corn Moon,” and the Elk Call Moon – thanks internet), we’ll be playing the Harvest Moon Festival in Yorkville, IL along the fox river with some wonderful friends this Saturday, Sept 29th! What could be a better way to celebrate than with a fresh crop of great music and good brews? Come join us?

When asking others about their fond memories of the many a Harvest Moon, this song came up with a twinkle in the eye:

“Shine On Harvest Moon” – Laurel & Hardy (1939)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72qZZapTHFo

And in case you want to sing along (and see just what a harvest and a Harvest Moon Festival really looks like . . .) just follow the moon, he’ll guide you: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXKzbTXuNKg

-Anna

That’s how many strings a pedal steel has, right?  We never did fully comprehend the complexities of that thing — any of us but Tom, that is.  And the rumors are true: Tom is moving on this autumn to big and bright futures outside of These United States.  It’s nothing terribly tabloid-worthy or dramatic (we still haven’t mastered the Early Career Headline Grab).  Just a good time for him to do so, with some pretty amazing opportunities on the horizon.  He’ll be touring with our dear pals The Mynabirds this fall, working with producer extraordinaire Duane Lundy at Shangri-La in Lexington, and getting out from behind the pedal steel again for some good old-fashioned picking and sinning on Vandaveer’s upcoming murder ballads release.

 

–jesse

 

p.s.  Oh, yeah, and if anyone tries to tell you it was anything but awesome sound & fury right up til Tom’s departure, just show them this picture from Columbia, MO, last Saturday night, and ask them to keep an eye out for my upcoming piece in the Onion, “Wild Llama Rages Across These United States, Leaving Trail of Destruction and Hot, Hot Licks.”

Of course, much like Dylan, Shakespeare is far too rich to pin down to one meaning. But Prospero’s final speech in the play seems to echo Shakespeare’s own feelings. The play, and his life itself, are nearly over… all that remains are the hoped for applause – which will “set him free.” It is one of the most memorable of Shakespeare’s speeches, and one of the finest “goodbyes” ever written.

“Now my charms are all o’erthrown,

And what strength I have’s mine own,

Which is most faint: now, ’tis true,

I must be here confined by you,

Or sent to Naples. Let me not,

Since I have my dukedom got

And pardon’d the deceiver, dwell

In this bare island by your spell;

But release me from my bands

With the help of your good hands:

Gentle breath of yours my sails

Must fill, or else my project fails,

Which was to please. Now I want

Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,

And my ending is despair,

Unless I be relieved by prayer,

Which pierces so that it assaults

Mercy itself and frees all faults.

As you from crimes would pardon’d be,

Let your indulgence set me free.”

John Gielgud as Prospero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtuoNCfbnYM

-J. Tom Hnatow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2LwEwihF5s

I wanted the CD package to unfold like the unruly road map your father had stuck in the glove box on family vacations, that never folded up quite the same way twice.”  (Todd Roeth)  

Read Todd’s story behind These United States’ album artwork

-Photos and photo blog by Anna, Aaron, & Tom

The great news is, our other dear (and even older) pal David Strackany will be ripping the hot licks from stage right (as we say in the business).  You may (ought!) know him better as Paleo, the freewheeling creative force who produced the very first TUS album, A Picture of the Blahblahblahetceterablah… [sic].

Paleo will also be opening some of the very greatest shows of the tour – in Austin (tomorrow night!), El Paso, Seattle, Hood River, Boise, and Denver — with his own mind-bending solo set.  We figured it was our moral, economic, and political responsibility to get you hepped to this potentially life-altering collaborative moment ASAP.  To that end, a MOVING MUSICAL PICTURE!…      -Jesse

 Link to Schmideo Article – Paste

Link to Schmideo – YouTube

I’d done a bunch of touring with Justin in Scourge of the Sea before Justin joined TUS. But – the dynamic was that Robby and I would sit in the back and talk about Dylan or Neil Young, and Justin and Andrew would ride in the front and listen to “sad bastard music” (and ignore Robby and my requests to TURN IT UP!). Understandably, our interactions were pretty limited.

When These United States recorded our second record, Crimes, Robby suggested bringing Justin on board. I thought it was a great idea – it’d be nice to have a rhythm guitar player (the cockiness of youth). We set up at our stations in the studio and started rehearsing.

Immediately, I realized that I was in trouble.  As we all wrote and rehearsed our parts, one of two things happened. Either 1) He’d take a part that I’d labored on and embellish it so beautifully that I’d be far more into his idea than mine, or 2) Write a part so quickly and efficiently that I would have to adapt and write around him.

It was the first time I’d ever worked with a true “second” guitarist in a band – Jesse would hold the fort down with his nylon-string, and Justin and I had space to roam…within reason. It immediately became apparent that not only would we have to listen to each other, we’d have to actually (gasp) work our parts out together.

And that was the story of the next five years and four albums (not to mention countless demos and recording/arranging a record). Being in the studio with Justin is an exhilarating and intimidating process – you either keep up, or fall by the wayside. He’s incredibly skilled on so many instruments (drums, piano, bass). Working with him is one of the most inspirational experiences I’ve ever been lucky enough to have. Listen to “Maps” off the new TUS record… Just plays everything except the organ part on it, and it’s great.

I’ll miss touring with him just as much – Justin’s calm temperament and professional demeanor go a long way. He’s the first to help load in, and the first to help load out. As a driver…he’s damn good. (He does inexplicably miss the last turn of a trip, though…consistently.) Justin is also the only person I’ve ever met that can set up his sleeping mat in the middle of a raging party and immediately fall asleep. Although, for some reason, animals like to urinate on his sleeping bag. Its a trade-off.

Although we won’t get to play together for this next tour – I have no doubt that we’ll be working together in the future. Its just too much fun.

So – this is a virtual Cheers to my partner in Crime(s), cold brown treats, Budweiser, Pho, Chess (even if I’m still up a few games on him), the man who actually made me LISTEN to ELO (and learn to like it), the former guitarist of Flank, future guitarist of Clunch, the Crustman: Justin Craig. Here’s to it, buddy.  -Tom