Music From Plum Alley (& Highway 61)

"Aerial" view of the Boss workstation

A happy Wednesday & a happy February to you.  Not being a fan of snow & cold weather, I can’t say I’m sad to see January in the rearview mirror, tho it’s true that at least around these parts we easily have another four weeks plus of sketchy weather on the horizon.

On the other hand, one thing I can say for this winter: it’s gotten me recording like I’ve never recorded before as a soloist.  Since recording is a major activity right now, I thought you folks might like a look at the little home recording studio we have set up—Plum Alley Music.  We use a Boss BR 1200 workstation which, without getting into esoterica such as “virtual tracks,” gives us the capacity to record 12 tracks on any given song.   Truth is, tho, I like live sound, & I never do any over-dubbing.  I play a full guitar style as it is & I like recording songs as I perform them. 

Recording set up, with the 3 instruments I'm using: L-R: Regal Resonator, Gold Tone Resonator, Windsor Banjo

So my set-up involves two mikes, a Shure 57 Beta for the guitar or banjo & an AKG D880 for the voice.  We also have a nice Shure KSM27 condensor, & I’ve experimented with a one-mike set-up, but I like using two since it gives some flexibility in adjusting the sound after the recording is done—the voice & guitar are on separate tracks & can be adjusted (mostly) independently of each other—there’s some spill over from one track to the other simply because the mikes are close together.  After the volume is adjusted or “EQ’d,” reverb added, etc., the tracks are “bounced” to a mixed stereo track.  Why is this called “bouncing?”—no idea, tho I know it dates back to the days of analog tape recording, because you could “bounce” with a four-track machine.  At any rate, all this is done on the Boss.

I could do the rest of the work on the Boss, but I’m used to a program called Cool Edit 2000.  As the software name suggests, this is not a state of the art program, but it is a very good one, & it can do far more than I’d ever need.  So I complete the editing process on the computer.  Besides my familiarity with the program, I like the visual interface, which is much more clear than on the small Boss screen. 

"Highway 61" in graphic form

The photo of the Cool Edit interface shows the song “Highway 61” by Mississippi Fred McDowell.  It’s a great slide tune, & one of the 15 songs I currently have in the can.  You can hear my take at the end of the post.

Enjoy!

Buckets & Wishes & Crossroads #2

When I left you yesterday, Eberle & I were thinking about trips to visit the Mississippi Delta & Nevada & other points east & west.  As I explored the concept of “bucket list,” travel was a big theme.  In today’s conclusion, travel only is mentioned in the final entry, but that’s an important one.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’d love to hear comments about your own fulfillment lists or “bucket” lists as you will.  I’m also curious as to how your lists may have evolved.  I for one know there are items on the list the past two days that wouldn’t have been there a few years back—as well as items that I would have included then that don’t seem so important now.

There’s also a song by the great Townes Van Zandt at the end—the title for item 10 comes from his composition “The Catfish Song.”

6)    IT’S GREEK TO ME: In my youth, I had quite a bit of potential as a philologist, as the British term it.  I was accomplished in French, had a solid background in Latin & became absorbed in classical Greek.  I also studied Old English (Anglo-Saxon) & loved translating the poetry of both that robust language & Greek.  Sadly, I’ve let all these go completely except for French, where I can still hold my own as a poetry translator (tho I’d no longer have much capacity as a speaker).  But I’d like to get back into these languages, especially Greek—& I sometimes hear the call of the great Anglo-Saxon poets, too!

7)    'LET ME IN - LET ME IN!': I think of myself as a well-read fellow—a pretty good swath of “the great books,” as well as fairly extensive forays into some of literature’s more obscure corners.  But I suppose most of us have a weak spot, & mine is the 19th century.  I have a good grasp of the Romantic poets, & a pretty solid footing in Dickens (whose writing I love); I also have read most of Wilkie-Collins (to go a bit toward the obscure, not to say, bizarre, side), but there are a number of “big” 19th century novels that I’ve neglected—none bigger than the novel from which the quote is taken, Wuthering Heights.  Considering that Eberle read this novel annually for years, I think I must take it up, & soon!

8)    THE PIANO HAS BEEN DRINKING, NOT ME: I don’t think as much about performers as people I have to see before I shuffle off this mortal coil, but there have been performers I regret missing—Townes Van Zandt is definitely one of those, as is Dave Van Ronk.  I’ve never seen Tom Waits perform, & considering what a huge influence his music has had on my life, that’s an omission I’d like to set to rights before either Tom or I fade away.

9)    SMOKESTACK LIGHTNIN’: The railroad features prominently on this list, & not least of my wishes is to get back to the N-scale model railroad Eberle & I started in the winter of 09-10.  Right now, the project is in limbo for any number of reasons, not least of which is our current constrained economic circumstances.  But I have to have faith that this will improve, & both Eberle & I have been excited about this project.  Saty tuned!

10)    YOU’LL NEED ALL YOUR MEMORIES: I’m ending on a serious note—a item that combines the possible with the unlikely.  A Facebook friend has been suggesting off & on that a few of us make a pilgrimage back to Charlottesville, the scene of our 1980s MFA adventures—“pilgrimage” is my word, not hers.  I came to the decision very recently that I do want to do this, tho again, for economic reasons, it’s not a possibility in the near future.  My time in Charlottesville was formative, & like any formative experience, it had its share of turmoil & wounds, as well as moments of creative joy.  I was part of a creative community the likes of which I won't experience again, at least in terms of people gathered together in one place. 

I returned to Charlottesville once, in 1996, but I think at the time I was still keeping the experiences I’d had in the 80s at arm’s length (at least).  For a variety of reasons, I believe I’m more prepared to be in that environment & maybe find some healing & resolution.

Related to this, there are friends from my past—some from Charlottesville & some from even further back—that I would really like to see in this world (the only world I know of).  I’ve been so fortunate over the past few years to re-connect with a number of old friends, some of whom I got the chance to see on my cross-country trip last year.  I think there’s a good chance that I’ll see more of these old friends along my road—in at least one case, I’m hopeful that will happen before too many months go by.  But there are a handful of people who have been very important to me who are no longer a part of my life.  In one case, the separation goes back to the late 1970s.  I would love to see these people, but I realize in some cases, the possibility of this is slight. 

In yesterday’s post I mentioned that one of the points of the so called “bucket list” is a sense of being “completed.”  A part of me says: "how can I be completed if I don’t somehow have a chance to see these people who were so important to me, but who left my life under problematic circumstances."  Perhaps the answer is that there is no completeness without some heartache.  At least that’s what I tell myself today—my opinion may be different tomorrow.  But the truth is, however any list does or doesn't work out, overall my life has been & continues to be a gift.



PHOTO: The Blue Moon Diner in Charlottesville—repository of many memories, both for good & ill.

Buckets & Wishes & Crossroads #1

Am I correct in assuming that the term “bucket list” entered the lexicon with the 2007 film of the same name?  I can’t say I’m a big fan of the term itself, but the concept behind it seems both interesting & valuable. 

Of course, the “bucket list” concept embraces two seemingly contradictory notions of self— one, the idea of a continual striving that maintains vitality of spirit & gives us ongoing purpose, & two, the notion that some collection of achievements will be necessary for us to believe we have completed our selfhood. 

We all think about these things, & those of us who are traveling north of age 50 may think about them in a different way than those who are a ways to the south of us, age-wise.  After all, depending on our health & other cirucmstances, we are entering a period of time when these things should be attended to—“time & tide” wait for no one. 
 
Last year, I got a chance to cross one thing off the list—a cross-country road trip that took me thru all four time zones in the continental US as well as thru 22 states (all told, I visisted exactly half the states in 2010 by the time all was said & done.)  I also got a chance to see some old friends with whom I’d been out of touch for years—such reunions will always be high on any such list for me.

But there are more—over the next two days, I’ll explore a list of 10 I came up with the other evening—with brief commentary.  I’d love to hear about your own wishes!

1)    TOUR SPIEL: This is probably wish #1 for me.  Because I entered the life of a performing musician in middle age, I missed the experience of crossing the country playing music at various stops on the way that so many of my friends had.  Now, I’ve undergone enough cross-country trips to know this is not an easy thing (tho last year's journey was my most extensive in some ways, I’d already been coast-to-coast a few times in the past).  I do long to do this at least once, & this is probably something that also needs to be high on the list because of practical/logistical considerations. 

2)    WHERE THE SOUTHERN CROSS THE DOG: This next wish combines two: a long passenger train trip & a visit to the Mississippi delta region where so much of the music that I love originated.  Amtrak does swing thru this region on its City of New Orleans train out of Chicago.  This is essentially an Illinois Central route, an important line that figured in lots of old blues songs, & also, as far as the actual stretch in Mississippi goes, it’s close to the old Yazoo & Mississippi line—the “Yellow Dog” from the line about “where the Southern cross the Dog.”  If this trip could be extended to New Orleans, then two items could be crossed off—I’m chagrined to admit that I’ve never been to the Crecent City.

3)    THE LOWER 48: When I was born in 1956, there were 48 states—Alaska & Hawaii both became states in 59.  & at this point, I traveled in 46 of the “lower 48” states.  The two I’ve missed? Michigan & North Dakota.  I feel compelled to visit them both at some point.  Michigan has the added attraction of the best music store I know, Elderly Instruments in Lansing, which I’d love to see—& also some blog/Twitter friends that I’d be happy to meet.  

4)    I'LL LET YOU BE IN MY DREAMS IF I CAN BE IN YOURS: As regular readers here know, I’ve long toyed with the idea of Eberle & I collaborating on music for some of my poetry, & that’s still an item high on my list (Eberle is interested too).  This may or may not involve my book The Spring Ghazals & may or may not involve some vaguely planned & much belated “release party” for the book some time this year.  I hear harmonium myself—actually, my musical role is more unclear to me in this regard, tho I will say it’s one thing that’s kept me from selling both of my electric guitars.   I’m also thinking pretty often of writing songs, but that seems a separate project to me, one that would definitely involve new lyric material.  I think the project with Eberle would involve background settings.  Will keep you all posted when more develops!

5)    I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING, & I KNOW WHO’S GOING WITH ME: I’m cheating a bit on this one, because it actually involves three separate trips, all of which Eberle & I have discussed as excursions we’d like to take together.  Actually, we also want to take the train trip to Mississippi together, but I put that in its own category because that’s a real odyssey.  These three trips are all in the west, so I’m putting them together.  1. Tour the Idaho desert with Eberle.  Eberle has regaled me for years with stories of Bruneau Dunes, Murphy & Craters of the Moon.  Some spring time we have to make it down there for a good long weekend of exploration.  2. The Badlands: I got to visit the Badlands & the Black Hills last year toward the end of my road trip & I was blown away.  I also thought the whole time how much Eberle would get caught up in those places.  We must go! 3. The Marietta Wild Burro range southeast of Hawthorne, Nevada.  We often travel thru the ex-military desert town of Hawthorne on our way to the LA area, & we always mean to check out this wild burro range.  Next time for sure.  If the trip also included a stop in Death Valley, California, neither of us would complain!

Check back tomorrow for 5 more, & please do comment on your own if the spirit moves you.  Hope you enjoy the video too—it explains my first heading with a great song from one of my all-time favorite bands.







PHOTO: Where the Southern Cross the Dog—intersection of the Southern & Yazoo rail lines in Moorhead, Mississippi.

Writers Talk with Jack Hayes

Hello folks—it’s me!  No, I mean it’s really me.  Due to a change in scheduling, I’m the Writers Talk interviewee this week.

Y’all know me, right?  OK, here’s a brief bio, just in case:

• Jack Hayes-born Bellows Falls, VT 1956
• Educated University of Vermont (BA); MFA in creative writing/poetry from the University of Virginia, 1986.
• Some publications in magazines, three self-published books: The Spring Ghazals (poems 2008-2010); The Days of Wine & Roses (San Francisco poems 1989-1996); Nightingales in a Stateside Zoo (Charlottesville poems 1984-1989).  All are available here on Lulu. 
• Maintains this blog & a few others.
• Plays guitar & banjo & ukulele & performs on same.
• Has lived in Westminster, VT; Burlington, VT; Charlottesville, VA; San Francisco, CA; & Indian Valley, ID, where he currently resides with wife & fellow writer/musician Eberle Umbach.
• Apologizes in advance for interview’s length.

When did you first realize your identity as a writer?
 
After an initial go at this question, it now strikes me as a bit of a moving target—I mean my identity as a writer has been quite fluid over a long period of time.  If I’m looking at the question as asking “when did you decide that you wanted to be a writer,” then I’d say it was probably when I read J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit at 9 or 10 years old.  Upon completing the book, I immediately began a novel of my own, which my mother has preserved to this day.  I do not plan to publish it or my other juvenalia, however!  From this point—1965 or 1966—I thought of myself as a writer—& wrote on a mostly regular basis—until I stopped writing 30 years later in 1996.

But there were other points of “identity” along the way.  For instance, until I was in my mid 20’s, I thought of myself as a fiction writer who occasionally dabbled in poetry.  At a certain point in the early 80s, I saw that my strengths were actually in poetry, & I put fiction writing on the shelf—permanently, it would appear.  It’s odd to think of this now, but it was only a couple of years before applying to MFA programs in 1984 that I’d actually started writing poetry “seriously.”  But the years were so much longer then.

& then, there was the period from autumn 1996 until spring 2008 when I didn’t write at all.  What was my identity then?  Ex-poet?  I actually went out of my way to bury that identity—I turned down offers to come to San Francisco to read, for instance, & in terms of creative life I thought of myself as a musician.  & how do I see myself now?  My identity locally is still that of musician.  Yet I continue to write poetry, even tho from a certain perspective I’m struck by the absurdity of that. 

Describe the creative process involved in any one piece you’ve written—this could be book, a story, a poem, an essay, etc.
 
This is really the hardest question for me, as I don’t particularly like to discuss process—maybe it’s my superstitious side—always on the look-out for a possible jinx.  A couple of general points: first, I’m not very big on revision—since I look at my poetic process as being in large part improvisational, I generally stick with what I come up with in the first couple of drafts (not counting “false starts”).  Thomas Hardy said something to the effect that a poem “loses its freshness” after a few drafts, & I find that to be true for my writing.  I do know others rely on many drafts—hey, whatever works.

Because my poems are improvisational, they tend to be creatures of the moment—in my mind, at least.  I’m intent on the process while actually composing—then it slips away once the poem is completed.  I rarely look back over past poems unless I’m compiling a manuscript or looking for something to post, etc.

But I’ll try to write about the “Grace” poem sequence—four prose poems that punctuate the various sections of The Spring Ghazals.  At a certain point in February of this year I realized I needed to be finished with composing the book—since the fall of 09 I’d been aware of The Spring Ghazals as a “book,” not just some poems I’d happened to write recently.  There was a lot of turmoil involved in writing these poems, & I reached a point where I said, “this has to be done.”  But I realized I wanted some connecting thread—some sequence that would comment upon & also tie together the books’ thematic elements. 

Why did I decide to use the prose poem form?—I can’t recall specifically, but I love the form for its flexibility, & that was no doubt a consideration.  Why did I call the poems “Grace?”  I’ve tried for 2-1/2 years now to look on the poems in The Spring Ghazals as offering some sort of psychic redemption from some severe turmoil.  I believe it was important to me to try to reach a poetic space where there was some “grace” amidst the welter of images & emotions.  Did “I” succeed?  As far as the “I” that’s a fictional narrator goes, yes, I believe so.  Beyond that?  Next question.  You can read the “Grace” poems sequence on the Writers Talk blog—or you could purchase The Spring Ghazals!  See next question.

Could you describe your relationship to the publishing process? (this can be publishing in any form, from traditional book publishing to blogging, etc)
 
I’ve written about this quite a bit both on this blog & on The Spring Ghazals blog.  When I was younger, in my 20s & 30s, I published in literary journals.  At the time, I fully expected to follow the conventional route to a career as an academic poet, with a tenured professorship either as a writer or a scholar.  Somewhere along the way, I rebelled against this.  However, I think in retrospect that there was a problem with my rebellion in that I didn’t carry it all the way thru; while I remained prolific in terms of poems written thru the 90s, I didn’t really figure out how to “effectively” develop a poetic presence outside the mainstream.

When I started the Robert Frost’s Banjo blog, I didn’t intend to post my own poetry—actually, tho I’d written several poems a few months before starting the blog, I wasn’t writing poetry in August 2008 when the blog launched.  At a certain point I did start posting poems, & I was struck by the fact that the poems probably had a larger audience than they would have if published in book form.

But as regular readers know, I decided to self-publish both my poems from San Francisco & my poems from the last couple of years back in February of this year.  Why did I opt for putting the poems in books?  They were being read & appreciated on Robert Frost's Banjo, & the blog has a good readership in more than one sense.  But a blog is not a book.  As far as creative writing goes—poetry in particular—a blog may mimic an anthology in some ways; at its best, it may mimic a serialization.  But at least using current technology, it can't replicate the experience of a book of poetry.  

Given that I wanted my poetry to be experienced in this way—because assembling the manuscripts had been itself an act of making—self-publishing seemed like a “no-brainer.”  I knew the grind (& expense) of sending poems out to lit mags & contests in order to build up enough publications to shop a manuscript, & given the fact that I’m not pursuing a potential academic career, this conventional route made no sense to me.  These days, with print-on-demand, self-publishing ranges from free to cheap, & I found the actual task of uploading manuscripts, etc. to be pretty painless.  In the case of the recent poems, I even shelled out a modest amount money for a better distribution package, confident that I’d more than break even on this.

But the aftermath of publishing has been mostly filled with disappointment, which is always a bad force to allow into one’s creative life.  Sales for both The Days of Wine & Roses & The Spring Ghazals have been very slow—as of this writing, we’re talking single-digit sales for each book.  Now, I know there’s no real money in poetry, because there’s scarecely any market for it, especially in the States, but I did expect more than this.  It’s also frustrating, because I have a tendancy to brood on what I may have done wrong—not publicized enough, publicized too much, publicized ineffectively—or: is the poetry just plain no good?  At a certain point, one’s ego gets caught up in this & if you’re not careful it can be quite detrimental.

So I don’t know where I stand vis-à-vis publishing “going forward.”  It’s quite possible that if/when I publish more poetry, I’ll do it privately, just for distribution among close friends.  This is more than a bit of a ponder these days.

How has being a writer affected your relationships?

Who thought up these questions!  As the old song goes, “If they asked me, I could write a book.”   But I don’t know if I can answer this question in any succinct form.  Here’s my attempt at doing so: “some of my best friends are writers”—no seriously, it’s true!  I’ve always gained inspiration from writer friends, & I generally find their way of viewing the world congenial to mine—furthermore, we all love words, so it's fun to talk with with them or correspond with them.  On the other hand: my tendancy to entangle relationships in the poetic writing process has wrecked havoc both on some important relationships & also, I think, on my own psyche.

How would you describe the community of writers you belong to—if any?  This may be a “real” or “virtual” (in more than one sense) community.

With the very significant exception of my wife, Eberle Umbach, my writing community is all in some sense virtual, since Eberle is the only writer I know locally.  Obviously I do see some of my “3-D” writing friends from time to time, but at this point we’re far dispersed geographically, so most of the communication is online.  I do have writer friends in California who I get to see a bit more regularly. 

But I must say, I’ve developed some very satisfying relationships with writers that I know only virtually.  Although only a handful of people have purchased The Spring Ghazals, a few virtual writer comrades have really gone out of their way to publicize it, & I appreciate that so much.  I also think the Writers Talk series has helped me to expand my virtual writing community & get to know some folks better.  Twitter has been a really good tool in this regard—just saying, in case you're still among the doubters.

What are your future goals in terms of writing?
 
To keep writing—I don’t mean this in a flip way.  Stopping is always an option—I did it once before.  But ultimately, I don’t think stopping is good for me.  Continuing despite the fact that it seems an absurd exercise is necessary for whatever part of me might be called a soul.

Bonus Question: If your writing were a musical instrument, what would it be?
 
Ruling out some favorite instruments as not being quite appropriate, I’d have to say the upright bass.  Rhythm is a strong element in my writing, but I think I succeed in creating some music as well—at least outlining the chords!

Banjos, Ghazals, Buses & More

Happy Wednesday afternoon, all. It’s yours truly checking in with news & highlights & coming distractions!

Speaking of which, & as illustration of the titular “more,” check this out: tomorrow on Robert Frost’s Banjo: a Writers Talk interview with our own regular contributor & fan favorite, L.E. Leone! In addition to her interview, L.E. will also have a new poem for us tomorrow on the Writers Talk blog.

But there’s more: regular contributor, B.N.—who is now officially in the market for a different nom de plume—will have a 5-part story running in this space Sunday thru Thursday of next week. The story is titled All Knees Shall Bend And Every Tongue Shall Vow, & it’s a powerhouse. To accommodate the story, the Photo of the Week feature will move to Saturday.

Not to mention: 2 more installments of Homegrown Radio with Joel Murach, both this Friday & again on October 29th!

Ghazals? Yes, folks, The Spring Ghazals is on Lulu.com & is awaiting all you kind potential buyers! Is it ill-advised to self-publish a book of poetry during an “economic crisis?” Perhaps, but there you have it—the book is published. I can honestly say that The Spring Ghazals is a good book, one that I’m proud to have written, & one that stands up to comparison to other books of contemporary poetry, whether self-published or not. I also can honestly say that I’m not a natural marketer or self-promoter. If I were those things, it’s safe to say my life experiences would have been quite different. But having said that, I do hope you’ll consider purchasing the book, & that in addition, you’d consider writing a review on your blogs &/or giving yours truly a “writerly” interview. These things would be much appreciated & would I believe win you much good karma in the long run.

Speaking of poetry (& more): how about The Poetry Bus? I have my copy, I’m happy to say, & it’s wonderful. Lots of good writing in this issue, & yours truly has a poem in there (page 32!)

You can get The Poetry Bus for approximately the cost of a movie ticket, & you can get The Spring Ghazals for less than the cost of your average cd (per CDBaby, the average cd is $12.85)! Just saying.

Banjos: Well, Eberle & I had a music show on Friday. First, let me say that Eberle played great. In retrospect, I wish she’d played on more songs. Yours truly? Well, my guitar playing was fine—I felt a bit off, I think largely due to a small turn-out, but I do have a margin on the guitar. But the feedback I’ve gotten so far is that there was just too much intense blues stuff & that my singing style (at least my delta blues singing style) is too “talky” for a full-length stage show. This feedback has been the source of much soul-searching over the past few days. Right now, I’m leaning toward spending the winter working on some instrumental material, both on the guitar & on the banjo—so for a bit at least, future Monday Morning Blues segments may be instrumentals. I’m also considering expanding my repertoire to involve what’s typically referred to as “old-timey” music these days. Can I mix “I Wish I was a Mole in the Ground” with “Banty Rooster Blues” or “Gonna Wear That Starry Crown” with “Levee Camp Moan?” We shall see!

Have a great rest of Wednesday, folks, & hope to see you early & often around Robert Frost’s Banjo for the great upcoming features.

Happy Birthday, Eberle!

OK, it’s actually Eberle’s birthday eve, but I couldn’t wait to post my birthday wishes to my dearest!  Many, many happy returns, sweet pea!

Eberle & I have been together as a couple since 1997—we’ve known each other since 1984, which also makes her one of my oldest friends—& a very good friend at that!  There’s very little question in my mind that some of the most important aspects of my life—in particular, my relationship with music—have been completely enhanced & brought to fruition as a result of my relationship with this wonderful woman. 

& in some ways, music is also a metaphor here, because it’s difficult if not impossible to create good music without trust & communication.  It’s not always easy being in a “creative” couple, but it certainly has been extraordinarily rewarding for me.

Eberle & I will be playing a show at the Alpine Playhouse in McCall, Idaho on October 15th at 7:30 p.m.—it’s a benefit for the Playhouse, which is a rich community resource—& of course you’re all invited!  On Sunday we had our first rehearsal (Eberle will be joining in on exactly half the songs), & it was amazing.  I usually perform the blues as a solo act, but Eberle is able to find her place in that music with such skill & feeling!

As a bit of a celebration, I thought I’d share a song Eberle & I co-wrote several years ago—it’s called “Rubato Kangaroo.”  She plays flute; I play electric guitar.  I know this is one of her favorite songs, & I hope you enjoy it too.

& once again, happy birthday to my darling!



Photo of Eberle by Tim Hohs

"Sporting Goods"

Happy Saturday!  Hope you enjoy today’s offering, which is my translation of a poem by French Surrealist poet Phillipe Soupault.  I made the translation long ago in a country far away—namely, the 1990s in San Francisco.  

In other news: I’m off for a long performance day at the Council Farmer’s Market—last one of the year.  I’ll be playing the equivalent of about three sets of old blues, & will also be backing up good friend & music partner Heather Uebelhoer while she fronts her own set of singer-songwriter covers; the Recording King tricone will have its performance debut during Heather’s set.  Also: stop press!  There’s a new post on Eberle’s blog, Platypuss in Boots!  You can check it out right here.

Have a lovely Saturday!

Sporting Goods

Courageous as a postage stamp
he went his way
fingers gently tapping his palms
to count his steps
his heart red as a wild boar
was beating beating
like a pink and green butterfly
From time to time he'd plant a little satin flag
When he'd walked a long way
he sat down to take his rest and fell asleep
But since that day there've been lots of clouds in the sky
lots of birds in the trees
lots of salt in the sea
There are also lots of other things

Philippe Soupault
translation © 1990-2010 Jack Hayes

A Few Snapshots From Summer

Here are a few photos from our summer - enjoy!

Yours Truly on the Porch with guitars, Manxine, Weenie & Pablo - June

 

 

 

 

Depot in Eureka, MT - my trip to see Rory Block - June

Eberle & I at an island wedding gig - July

Daylilies in the Garden - July

Canned Goods & More at the Adams County Fair - July

Mt Hood Seen from the Balcony of the Balch Hotel, Dufur, OR- August

Eberle During Our Canoe Trip on the Payette River - September

Don't forget: tomorrow on Writers Talk - Aaron Wilson of Soulless Machine!

Random Saturday

Happy weekend, everybody!  Just a few random notes here:

This spring, Eberle & I were interviewed for the Art & Soul program on Boise Public Radio, & that interview just aired this week.  You can listen to it here—& there’s music involved as well as talking!  Many thanks to Sadie Babits who did such a fine job with the interview & assembling the finished show!

In other news: fire season came late to Idaho, but it has come.  We’re safe & sound, but there have been a couple of fires within 20 miles of us, one of which threatened to burn down the defunct Tamarack resort on West Mountain.  This time of the year, the presence of fire is an unsettling reality throughout the west….

I’ll be playing the Council Farmer’s Market this morning & afternoon—looking forward to that, as always.

& don’t forget: we’ll be serializing B.N.’s story “The Lost Train” starting on Monday & with installments on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday.  “The Lost Train,” which appeared previously in The Gettysburg Review, is a very good story—B.N.’s writing talents aren’t limited to poetry by any means.  Please take a few minutes next week & read this story right here on Robert Frost’s Banjo!

Also: if you missed them earlier, I definitely recommend Carrie Bardley's latest Homegrown Radio offering & Jessica Fox-Wilson's Writers Talk interview.

Finally: I’m completely besotted with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a great old-time (& more!) band.  I’ll be writing about them more in September but for now, please check out this video of “Memphis Shakedown.”  Anyone who thinks the kazoo is not a real musical instrument, please take note of Rhiannon Giddens’ performance!  & her bandmates Dom Flemons (on guitar) & Justin Robinson (jug) are also top-notch.  They’re all multi-instrumentalists & play up a storm with various combinations of guitar, banjo, fiddle, beatboxing, snare drum etc.

Enjoy!



Pic shows Eberle & Sadie Babits during the interview

& then….

Howdy, all!  Just checking in with a bit of personal news & general observations.  No Sepia Saturday this week, & with a weekend performing schedule that’s filling up, I think it’s likely I’ll be bowing out of that group for awhile.

I’m off to the Cambridge, Idaho Farmer’s Market shortly, where I’ll be performing with friend & student Heather U., who sings & plays some wonderful contemporary “folk”—Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Natalie Merchant, Neil Young, Nanci Griffith.  Yours truly is just filling in the gaps on my resonator guitars.  Afterwards, I’ll play a set of the old-time blues.  Next weekend, Eberle & I will be playing a wedding, & at least one aspect of the event is a first—we’ll be transported to the island where the wedding is being held on a pontoon boat.  This will be the first time I’ve caught a pontoon boat to a gig!  In addition, I’m exploring some regular performing options in McCall—a resort town, hence a good place to play—& it looks like I’ll be forming a trio up there (or quartet, when Eberle’s free) playing the old blues.  One of the trio members will be familiar to regular Robert Frost’s Banjo readers: Lois Fry, the violin player from the Alice in Wonder Band.  Those who are curious to know more about Lois can read her delightful Musical Questions interview right here.

On the more problematic side, I learned yesterday that the job I’ve held since September 1989 (with a few gaps here & there) with a “major manufacturer of household consumer goods” is no more.  I’d been laid off all year—first, it was a 3-month lay-off, as company policy had been amended to dictate that all contract workers must take a 3-month lay-off every two years.  That freed me up for the great cross-country odyssey, & I returned from this fully expecting to go back to my telecommuting self.  At that point I was informed that they couldn’t take me back until the new fiscal year.  The new fiscal year came, & finally, so did the answer. 

As Eberle has pointed out, this is not altogether bad news.  For one thing, this job isn’t my main income source, & it’s likely the income can be replaced to a large degree by music—I’d cut way back on teaching of late, & it looks like it’s time to expand again.  Who knows: there may even be more Music Teacher’s Notebook posts!  She also points out that it will free me up to travel more, & it’s true I seem to have a major case of wanderlust following the big road trip.

Still, it is a transition point to say the least.  I moved to San Francisco in July 1989 & first started working as a temp with this Oakland-based company in September; I left in 1993, but came back in 1994; my job (along with most of the consumer service jobs) was eliminated in 1996, but I was back as a contract worker in 1997.  When I moved to Idaho in 1998, I began telecommuting.  & as riots went down in Oakland on Thursday evening in the wake of the Johannes Mehserle verdict, it took me back to the time we were all hustled out of City Center Oakland after the Rodney King verdict in Simi Valley.  Let’s all hope for both justice & peace in the Bay Area.

& a happy weekend to you all!

The News From Here

Happy Friday! I’m back from my one-day unannounced off day. As regular readers know, I’ve been somewhat the worse for the wear over the past several days. What the condition actually was turned out to be a bit of a poser for me & even for some medical folks. Glad to say it was nothing truly dire, & also glad that I ran into a doctor who had the smarts & persistance to figure out the actual condition: costochondritis. For those who don’t know (which would have included me until Wednesday afternoon), this is an inflammation of the cartilege around the sternum, which then often spreads throughout the left side of the body, inflicting various spasms & tinglings & other delights. The good news? It goes away & responds to relatively simple treatments. The bad news? To quote Samuel Beckett: It hurts like hell.

Other interesting facts: as in my case, most cases of costochondritis arise from no clear cause, tho repetitive motion is often a factor; I read that it can arise from a spate of “hearty laughter,” a condition I’m happy to say I do try to indulge in regularly & shall not allow this particular setback to curtail. The treatment regimen involve a lot of anti-flammatory over-the-counter drugs (the “non-steroidal anti-flammatories” or NSAID for those in the know), physical therapy &, in my case because of some chronic neck/shoulder/back issues, accupuncture, tho the latter won’t start till the end of the month. I’ve had one treatment, & it did help—tho what really got me back on my feet was a shot of some souped up “NSAID” on Wednesday—I forget the name of the drug, but wasn’t at my best at the time; anyway, since then the really acute pain is gone.

So here we are in spring, which is springing rather fitfully here in Indian Valley—because I was in just about every state besides Idaho last month, I don’t know much about firsthand March 2010 in these parts, but I must say April so far has been doing a pretty good imitation of March, if not February—cold, some snow (not “sticking”) & generally a bit on the gloomy & blustery side. Ah well. We do get to enjoy the intriguing towhees, which only come around in the "in between times," especially in the late winter & early spring. & high spring in Indian Valley, when it finally comes for real, is truly glorious—we have that to look forward to. I’m also looking forward to playing some music at the local farmer’s markets & elsewhere—performing “season” will be beginning later this month.

& meantime, I’m pondering Robert Frost’s Banjo as it moves into the latter half of its second year. I feel the need for some new direction(s), but I haven’t figured out the specifics yet. Still, now that I seem to be on the road to becoming human again, I’m sure things will be a bit less hazy. I’ll also be moving back into a more regular blog visiting schedule!

Hope you all have a great day!

Pic: Redwinged Blackbird, Rufous-Sided Towhee & House Sparrow at one of our feeders

Train World #1

Regular readers probably remember me writing about our model train back in December—it hasn’t gone to the isle of misfit toys, but is steadily “gathering steam” as it were (rimshot!) in what was our sitting room—an interesting den that has served as everything from a TV room to a Tai Chi room to a music-listening & jigsaw puzzle-building room—& also has an incredibly comfortable recliner for mid afternoon siestas. Unfortunately, I can’t do “before” & “after” pix, because there really aren’t any "before" photos—but I can assure you that it looked quite a bit different before we moved out three bookshelves & a loveseat, & otherwise re-arranged everything! As is so often the case with shifting furniture around—or so I find—we liked the end result better in all cases.

The next step in train evolution was getting a table to use as a base for train world. I’ve done a fair amount of woodworking in the past, & knew I’d be quite capable of building such a table. On the other hand, because of my respiratory condition, it’s hard for me to work out in my unheated shop this time of year, & frankly, it’s not that easy to do woodworking at this point due to sawdust, etc. So we asked our contractor Chris, who’s in the midst of a couple of renovation projects here if he’d build one—he did a good job in much less time than it would have taken me even under good circumstances! The table is now covered with a single layer of 2 inch styrofoam (Eberle's cutting this in the pic; the next pic shows my fancy clamping job after gluing it down.)

Eberle—who’s also quite excited about train world (a very happy turn of events from my perspective) & I have decided we’re going to model a sort of late 1940s scene in a landscape like California’s Owens Valley. For those of you who haven’t traveled U.S. Highway 395 south of Bishop, California, or who haven’t seen the film Chinatown, the Owens Valley has a fascinating history—for one thing, its water has been diverted to the Los Angeles area, so you see successions of dry lakes & rivers, often with salt & mineral deposits covering the surface.

We aren’t aiming for any specific location, so the modeling will involve plenty of imaginative touches. The train (not the one shown in the photos) will be a Union Pacific freight train, tho later on I’d like to add a Southern Pacific “Daylight” passenger train as well. We do know that there will be one town & another smaller settlement, pretty much kitty korner to each other, & there will also be a borax mine! It’s been interesting to do a bit of fun research on borax mining, which as fans of the old “Death Valley Days” know, took place in the more desert sections of the Owens Valley.

We’ll be getting some more track in the very near future, as well as the components of our UP freight train—the latter thanks to eBay; it was difficult to put together a UP freight train in N scale for our time period, but eBay came to the rescue—including a winning bid on the all important locomotive in the last 20 seconds! I’ll have pix of the updated setting with the updated train in a couple of weeks. For now, we’re having fun with the old UP American 4-4-0 locomotive—a extremely old model of locomotive used as far back as the 1830s! Eberle’s idea is that we may run it as an excursion train in our mid 20th century model! Oh yes—the set up won't include stone bookends & wires draped everywhere; I'm waiting to get all the track in place to drill holes for running the wires under the table.

Hope you enjoy this brief look at train world as it exists today.

Road Trip!

I’m happy to let everyone know that I’ll be doing some traveling next month, & doing it the old-fashioned way: with four wheels in contact with the road! Actually, I’d have loved to do it by train, but sadly, the nearest Amtrak station is 8 hours from here (don’t get me started), & Amtrak also misses one of my destinations by at least 100 miles.

So, if all goes as planned, sometime early on the morning of March 6th I’ll be maneuvering the Subaru Outback toward the south & the east on a trip that will eventually take me around mid March to Dedham, Massachusetts where my mother now lives. Depending on the actual routes, which are still a bit up in the air—where to pick up I-70 for a swing away from the Great Lakes in early March, & whether my return trip swings north on I-90—I may be visiting over 20 states. This will be my fourth road trip across the country & back—twice from Charlottesville, Virginia to California (once to Davis, once to San Francisco) & once from Boise to Crystal River, FL. In this case, I’ll also be visiting a few old friends along the way, which has me quite jazzed.

What does this mean for Robert Frost’s Banjo & The Days of Wine & Roses during March? Have no fear, thanks to the wonders of Blogger scheduling, The Days of Wine & Roses is set, & regular Robert Frost's Banjo features shouldn't miss a beat—this includes B.N.’s poems & L.E. Leone’s poems on Tuesdays, the new Adams County Makes the News on Thursdays, & the Saturday Weekly Poem. Otherwise, things will be pretty much up for grabs after the first week of March. I’m hoping to post from the road whenever I can, but that will depend on wi-fi; I know at least one place I’ll be staying will have very limited internet access. But I’m looking forward to posting road news as much as I can!

In other news: thanks to all the support you folks have shown for The Days of Wine & Roses book, still barely 24-hours old, & already with some coopies sold! Thanks, also, to Kat Mortensen for the link on Poetikat’s Invisible Keepsakes page—Kat, you’re fantastic!

Photo shows yrs truly during an 1988 road trip in Barstow, California.

Stop Press Edition – The Days of Wine & Roses Exists!

I didn’t expect to make this announcement this morning—which is being posted both on Robert Frost’s Banjo & The Days of Wine & Roses—but it’s a fact: The Days of Wine & Roses is not simply a blog anymore; it’s also a paperback book that you can own for a mere $10 US: it’s available at this link.

For those who are short on cash, it is available as a free pdf download, & of course the availability of the poems in book form doesn’t mean the end of The Days of Wine & Roses blog: the poems will continue to appear in published order. For those who’ve also followed my more recent poetry on Robert Frost’s Banjo, I should point out that The Days of Wine & Roses only covers poems written in San Francisco between 1990 & 1996, with one “postscript” poem from my Idaho days in 2003. Don’t worry—poems from the last few years will find their way into book form, especially now that I know how easy it is on lulu.com. It’s also free to the author, tho if you want copies of your own work, you do have to pay full price (I’ll be forking over some dollars myself here in the near future!)

Anyway, so happy to share this with you folks. Without your support, I don’t know that this would have happened!

Happiness 101

It’s never a bad thing to be reminded of the people & things in our lives that give us happiness, so I’m indeed glad to have been honored recently by the Happy 101 award from Lizzy Frizzfrock (nom de blog of Cheryl Cato). The Lizzy Frizzfrock blog is a delight, with its mix of photos & essays—everything from wild turkeys on the roof to meditations on politics & spirituality. Do check it out!

In keeping with the spirit of the award, 10 points of happiness:

1. My relationship with Eberle
2. My many dear friends, both those known in “real life” & those known in blogdom.
3. Playing guitar, banjo, etc., especially for other folks
4. Playing guitar, banjo, etc. with other folks
5. The support readers here & on Days of Wine & Roses have shown my poetry & music
6. The ocean—especially the Pacific—& especially walking in the environs of same
7. Speaking of the ocean, lunch at Cranky Sue’s Crab Cakes
8. The model train project Eberle & I are working on jointly
9. Watching birds at our four feeders
10. Road trips (see Monday’s post for more on this!)

As far as passing the award on: I know some folks don’t do awards, & I understand the reasons they don’t. So I’m going to name some blogs I think you should check out, & if those bloggers would like to display the award, list 10 things that make them happy, &/or pass it on, I say great! If they only wish to do one or two out of three, also great, & ditto if they choose to do none of the above. They’re all fine blogs that may be flying a bit under the radar as yet:

• Platypuss-in Boots: Of course! It’s Eberle’s really fun & witty blog about everything from stuffed animal consciousness to tattoos.
• 12 Tuna: Earl Butter, AKA Ray Halliday’s paean to out-of-date tuna cans & what to do with them. I don’t know how long this one will be on the shelf—there are only 12 cans in the title—so check it out soon!
• Usually Confined: The blog proprietor, Bill, bears a marked resemblance to another UK blogger we all like. He also bears quite a marked resemblance to Big Bird. Everything from global politics to The Wind & the Willows, with sharp, clear writing.
• Thoughtful Eating ~ A Food Blog: Speaking of bloggers we know from elsewhere, this is the work of Raquelle of Out of the Past ~ A Classic Film Blog. Raquelle’s writing is always well conceived & informative &—most importantly—fun! She’s coming up with some great recipes, & she explains them thoroughly & clearly.

Finally, a note on coming distractions here on Robert Frost’s Banjo. As regular readers know, two big series ended within the last month (give or take): Dad’s Photos & the Weiser River Pillow Book. Also, as I announced on Tuesday, Translation Tuesday is ended for the time being—nothing heavy here, just wanted a bit of change in direction. So I’m happy to announce three new series:

Adams County Makes the News: A collection of historical letters from the Adams County Leader, the Council Record, & The Adams County Record, compiled by Eberle, complete with her introduction to the collection. Both Eberle & I worked as reporters for the Adams County Record in the past, so we had a stake in the local newspaper game. Eberle compiled these letters as part of an Idaho Commission on the Arts-funded grant for a dramatic presentation titled Dear Editor. Adams County Makes the News will post every Thursday.

Mystery Posts: The first of these went up yesterday. These are “randomly timed but on-going series of Mystery Posts by Eberle," exploring her Catholicism & ancient goddess poetry—including her rendition of some ancient Sumerian poems! I’m looking forward to these.

L.E. Leone’s Poetry: Speaking of poetry, I’m so pleased to announce that my dear friend L.E. Leone, also known to blog readers as Dani, will be contributing to Robert Frost’s Banjo. L.E.’s poems will alternate on Tuesdays with B.N.’s (interesting how so many of my friends are big on initials!), just as my translations had alternated with B.N.’s poems in the past. L.E.’s poetry is much different from mine or B.N.’s, so her writing will bring a very new voice to the ol’ Banjo. L.E.’s first poetic appearance will be on Tuesday, February 9th, so stay tuned—& don’t miss the next B.N. poem this coming Tuesday either!

Hope you enjoy these new features!


Second pic: The old Adams County Leader office
Third Pic: L.E., gowned & gloved & bouqueted

The Story of “Johnny Jack Poetry”

A couple of folks remarked on my use of the name Jack Hayes on Friday’s poem post, so I thought I’d use today’s post to talk a little bit about the long-running “John-Jack” debate!

I was born John Edward Hayes, Jr—my father obviously was John, as was my paternal grandfather. In all honesty, I must say up front that I’m not a fan of the “junior” naming pattern—no offense meant to those who’ve taken that route, but I found it confusing as a child &, perhaps because my father was at that time somewhat of a distant &, frankly, rather angry person, I didn’t tread happily in his footsteps.

As a child, I was called Jack or Jackie—I liked the latter when we’d watch the Jackie Gleason Show, because I thought he was hilarious; on the other hand, it became a bit confusing when the President was married to a woman named Jackie. Mostly I thought of myself as Jack Hayes.

Then high school came around, & the onset of all the teenage angst, struggle for identity, & hyperbole such as only can be found in the adolescent of the species—I think I’d particularly say the adolescent male. Because I was a good student, my hometown gave me a scholarship to be a day student at a nearby New England prep school (speaking of hyperbole & ostentation), so the millwright’s son was suddenly in the midst of all sorts of boys who’d come from much different backgrounds. No doubt in an attempt to be very serious, I corrected all my teachers the first day of school, telling them my name was “John, not Jack.”

There are probably a half dozen actions in my life—sins of omission & commission—that if, given the chance, I’d change were it possible. This is one of them! I think the name Jack is so much more light-hearted, & I certainly needed a lot more light-heartedness in my life for years to come. But I stuck with the name John.

We travel ahead in time now to 1986 in Charlottesville, VA. A grad school friend of mine, a talented fiction writer named Molly Turner, began a literary magazine called Timbuktu. Because Molly had the resources to do so, she was able to produce a high-quality publication, also noteworthy because it captured some really remarkable writing that was happening in Charlottesville over the course of the next few years. Molly published a generous selection of my poetry in the first few issues—in fact, Eberle also was among the many talented writers whose work appeared in that publication; at that time she was not a novelist but was writing some breathtakingly good short fiction! B.N., whose poems are familiar to regular readers, also appeared in Timbuktu.

I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but around this time I let some of my friends know that I’d once been known as “Jack Hayes,” & that in some ways I preferred the name. Molly & I talked about me using the name Jack Hayes for publishing my poems, & she said she’d be happy to publish the Timbuktu poems using this name if I’d agree to always use this name for publication—I did agree to this, & in fact, other poems published while I lived in Charlottesville & San Francisco were published under the name Jack Hayes.

But things happened, as they have a wont to do. One drawback to the name Jack came when I became involved with a woman named Jill—probably enough said, without going into more detail (for a number of reasons). So when I moved to San Francisco, I was once more John Hayes in life, if not in poetry, until one day—post Jill—I was talking with my friend Dani Leone & let her know about the “John/Jack” poetic dichotomy. Dani, who wrote & still writes the Cheap Eats column for the Bay Guardian, immediately dubbed me “Johnny Jack Poetry”—she had names for all her friends in her columns—Satchel Paige the Pitcher, Haywire & Crawdad de la Cooter are a few other examples. As I became once more publicly a poet, as I emphatically had been in Charlottesville, the “Jack Hayes” name became a bit more common amongst San Francisco friends, tho most knew me primarily as John.

Then a wonderful thing happened: Eberle came back into my life. Interestingly, she’d left Charlottesville around the beginning of the John to Jack transformation, & so knew me primarily as John. Also, even before Eberle came into my life, & as discussed elsewhere on this blog, I gave up writing & took up the guitar. My poems sat in notebooks, pretty much entirely neglected from late ’96 thru early ’08.

Then in ’08 I became re-connected with an old friend from Charlottesville, Eddie Gehman Kohan, someone who has been a major force behind my writing for many years—not coincidentally, she herself was & is a very talented writer in a number of different forms, poetry included. Because we knew each other in the mid to later ’80, she had known me as both John & Jack. In ‘08 she, along with her sisters Meghan & Pleasant, was running a really marvelous blog called Haphazard Gourmet Girls—this blog is now entirely defunct, so I can’t post a link to it, but Eddie currently heads up a very informative & entertaining food policy blog called Obama Foodarama. One of the earlier blog’s features was a poem each Friday evening, & one afternoon in late May, Eddie emailed me to ask if it would be ok to post one of my poems as that week’s selection. I was really quite thrilled; she then asked if she should post it under the name “John Hayes” or “Jack Hayes.”

OK—I made a mistake—I said, “John Hayes,” which in essence broke my word to my old friend Molly. Mea culpa. & a couple of my other poems appeared on that blog, again (with my say-so) as written by John Hayes. To compound a felony, when I first began posting my own poems on Robert Frost’s Banjo sometime late in ’08, I also stuck with the John Hayes name for poetry—when I began putting The Days of Wine & Roses manuscript & blog together—ditto. Then one morning recently I was looking thru the facts & figures for the blog thru Google Analytics & saw the search “Jack Hayes + poetry.” & that got me to thinking about my old promise.

So henceforth, the poems—both in their virtual & their material existence—will be published as by Jack Hayes—I’m glad I came to this decision with the “real world” publication of The Days of Wine & Roses slated for the near future. For day-to-day things—well, I’ve gone as John for so long now it would be difficult to change!

& that’s the rest of the story.

Pix from Top (all, obviously, of yrs truly)
Reading at Williams Corner Bookstore, Charlottesville, VA 1987
Showing off a brown trout, Westminster, VT, 1964
High school student - I believe this is '71. to quote Bob Dylan, "Ah but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now" (thanks goodness!)
At the Timbuktu release party, also in 87 (but post shave)
San Francisco, 96
The shot of me that appeared on Haphazard Gourmet Girls in 08
Me now