ANNOUNCEMENT: i'm making a new record, right now, in new england!
Well, I'm actually on the East Coast, which I guess means I'm making another record.
This has been in the works for some time now. "Some time," for me, usually constitutes about 2 months. When I left the New England tour in June, I said, "oh man, I SO want to make a record with all of my amazing friends who live on this, my favorite, side of the world." And so I am. Now. Presently.
It's been an awesome summer. Joe, EHP, & I had a great lil' tour in June, I promptly went from tour to Guatemala on an educational trip centered around human rights, & upon my international return was plopped down in Orange County, California for some culture shock & good old-fashioned family vacation. Families are awesome, especially when you put them near/on a beach, even when they aren't your own family. Culture shock is another thing that I have a whole other opinion about (as is consumerism), but that's a different blog. Which brings us to the short end of July, and August, and the short beginning of September. Mostly, I've been trying to enjoy HOME, this giant concept that I've been particularly unfamiliar with this year. I've been working my "day job", writing & planning this record, playing little shows here & there, and generally enjoying the life that Madison, Wisconsin has to offer. It's not a bad spot.
So this past Sunday night, after a celebratory birthday weekend (ASIDE: YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER HERE), I hit the road from Madison to Illinois to begin my epic pilgrimage out East. I love the East. I'll get to that.
The next morning (that would be Monday, yesterday), I woke up at 830 (to the loud knocking on the door making sure I hadn't slept through my alarm, which I had indeed turned off) and drove diligently from Illinois to Pittsburgh. This is not the best drive, as you are on 2 turnpikes (Indiana & Ohio), one of which (Indiana) has the worst toll plazas in the universe & the second of which (Ohio) has - when traveling Southbound, of course - the first two worst plazas ever followed by the BEST plazas ever, but you are always too starving to wait for Plaza No. 3 and so you end up buying a disgusting burrito because you're just too hungry. This may or may not have happened to me.
Upon my arrival to Pittsburgh I YIPPED for joy, by myself, in my car, because firstly, I was so freaking exhausted and secondly, the bridges of the city are so EPIC that I can never contain myself upon arrival. Ever. Maybe it's just the nostalgia but there are few cities that make me so giddy upon entrance, even New York (gasp). Pittsburgh's just IT, man. Rivers, bridges, goodness. I also love a lot of people who live in Pittsburgh, most of whom have moved away at this point but still remain "Pittsburgers" in my head (include mental image of burgers superimposed on bridges). However, my good friend/amazing poet Sophie is probably the Best Person Who Lives In Pittsburgh (who could only be beat out by my old guitar teacher Joe Negri, of Mr. Rogers fame, & he might have to win via longevity). We have had lives of Overlap, Sophie & I, and it's always nice to have manic evenings together when I'm in-betweeen other cities. We had a lovely evening involving matzo ball soup, baritone ukulele, gelato, video chatting, and Bridget the Cat. In fact, here is a photo of us abusing Bridget the Curmudgeon of a Cat (she moans like an old person) in front of my computer, for fun:
She really is a silly cat. And she really sounds like an old person.
The next morning (that would be Tuesday, today), I awoke at stupid o'clock to have my guitar setup by the best luthier ever, Michael Pellow, but I had not had any coffee because there was too much traffic to both stop for coffee and be on time for my appointment, so I decided to be on time (go me!), but was probably less charming for the choice. Still, my guitar is now ringing like a church bell (in a good way) & I continued onwards, driving diligently from Pittsburgh to Boston. The drive, although 2 hours longer and sometimes so unenjoyable that you want to gouge your eyes out with coffee stirrers, is quite gorgeous. You drive through mountains & mountains & rolling hillsides & mountains. Some little towns, too. And then more mountains. As magical as airplanes are, sometimes I think car travel is even more crazy. Maybe because you're putting in the effort, & usually the things you put effort into are more satisfactory. But it seems magical to me, at this moment (a bottle of wine in), that I woke up in Pittsburgh, PA & am falling asleep in my hometown of Lexington, MA. So much ground has been covered! It's like I'm on the other side of the world! There really is something Magical about travel (oh, hello, have you ever listened to my songs?) but even moreso about doing it yourself. I wish I had the stamina to bike across the country. Mike Pellow, luthier extraordinaire of earlier mention, biked from Pittsburgh to DC this summer. There was a twinge of jealousy in my heart as he twanged my guitar strings & spoke of his exploits. Cross country bike trip! Maybe sometime.
So that brings us to now, at which point I have happily arrived in Suburbia. I am sleeping in the guest room (my 12-year-old sister has been living in my old room since she turned 9) & the parental controls on the "home office" computer have blocked all images on all internet sites, proving navigation of any kind as ridiculous as figuring out a puzzle without a box top. Tomorrow morning I take my little sisters to their doctors appointments, which I am endlessly excited about (being the aloof yet awesome older, visiting sister who pulls you out of school) and then I will ramble on to New Hampshire, and the Epic September will begin.
It has been 7 years since I spent a fall in New England. Fall in New England is Magic, did you know that? It's the best, and really there's not much else that can beat it. I am so excited to watch trees turn color, and to feel like I am where I'm supposed to be during one of my favorite months. So that is Epic No. 1.
The plan (and I'm hoping to blog most of this, the rest of the Epicness) is a writer's retreat on Star Island with my good friend Guy & a bunch of other folks who I don't know as of yet, all of us writing our brains out in a beautiful setting with no outside communication. I am very excited about this, but also a bit nervous, as I have a proven history of Problems with Authority, especially when they tell me how to write. We'll see. I think it will be grand, and not bad. GRAND. Effing grand.
Following the island-solitutde, I'll be spending three weeks MAKING THIS RECORD. My lovely & talented friend Djim Reynolds, who I hold in the highest esteem & who's made some of my top-records-ever, is engineering it and is really the reason I'm over here. The ever-important Joe Arnold will be coming out to fiddle it all up, steadfastly-awesome Emily Hope Price will also be bowing herself into flames, platonic life-partner Emilyn Brodsky may or may not make an appearance (maybe if I blog about it she won't flake? Let's start a petition for her not to flake!), Airplanes-string-goddess Kate Pukinskis is working on another killer arrangement, and many, many more of my crazily-talented New England friends will be making guest appearances. Almost all of the songs are silly, sing-alongy, and pretty sugary. When this was pointed out to me recently, I decided that while true, I am excited about this group of songs; the Nesting EP needed to be as intense as it was, and this as-of-yet-unnamed album needs to be as fun as it will be. Fun & ridiculous & awesome. & so, as long as I'm not jinxing anything, it will be.
If I don't go to bed right this minute it will be literally impossible to tend to my familial duties in the morning, and that shit is the most important, as we all know.
But basically, I'm making a new record this whole month. Aren't you excited too?
This has been in the works for some time now. "Some time," for me, usually constitutes about 2 months. When I left the New England tour in June, I said, "oh man, I SO want to make a record with all of my amazing friends who live on this, my favorite, side of the world." And so I am. Now. Presently.
It's been an awesome summer. Joe, EHP, & I had a great lil' tour in June, I promptly went from tour to Guatemala on an educational trip centered around human rights, & upon my international return was plopped down in Orange County, California for some culture shock & good old-fashioned family vacation. Families are awesome, especially when you put them near/on a beach, even when they aren't your own family. Culture shock is another thing that I have a whole other opinion about (as is consumerism), but that's a different blog. Which brings us to the short end of July, and August, and the short beginning of September. Mostly, I've been trying to enjoy HOME, this giant concept that I've been particularly unfamiliar with this year. I've been working my "day job", writing & planning this record, playing little shows here & there, and generally enjoying the life that Madison, Wisconsin has to offer. It's not a bad spot.
So this past Sunday night, after a celebratory birthday weekend (ASIDE: YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER HERE), I hit the road from Madison to Illinois to begin my epic pilgrimage out East. I love the East. I'll get to that.
The next morning (that would be Monday, yesterday), I woke up at 830 (to the loud knocking on the door making sure I hadn't slept through my alarm, which I had indeed turned off) and drove diligently from Illinois to Pittsburgh. This is not the best drive, as you are on 2 turnpikes (Indiana & Ohio), one of which (Indiana) has the worst toll plazas in the universe & the second of which (Ohio) has - when traveling Southbound, of course - the first two worst plazas ever followed by the BEST plazas ever, but you are always too starving to wait for Plaza No. 3 and so you end up buying a disgusting burrito because you're just too hungry. This may or may not have happened to me.
Upon my arrival to Pittsburgh I YIPPED for joy, by myself, in my car, because firstly, I was so freaking exhausted and secondly, the bridges of the city are so EPIC that I can never contain myself upon arrival. Ever. Maybe it's just the nostalgia but there are few cities that make me so giddy upon entrance, even New York (gasp). Pittsburgh's just IT, man. Rivers, bridges, goodness. I also love a lot of people who live in Pittsburgh, most of whom have moved away at this point but still remain "Pittsburgers" in my head (include mental image of burgers superimposed on bridges). However, my good friend/amazing poet Sophie is probably the Best Person Who Lives In Pittsburgh (who could only be beat out by my old guitar teacher Joe Negri, of Mr. Rogers fame, & he might have to win via longevity). We have had lives of Overlap, Sophie & I, and it's always nice to have manic evenings together when I'm in-betweeen other cities. We had a lovely evening involving matzo ball soup, baritone ukulele, gelato, video chatting, and Bridget the Cat. In fact, here is a photo of us abusing Bridget the Curmudgeon of a Cat (she moans like an old person) in front of my computer, for fun:
She really is a silly cat. And she really sounds like an old person.
The next morning (that would be Tuesday, today), I awoke at stupid o'clock to have my guitar setup by the best luthier ever, Michael Pellow, but I had not had any coffee because there was too much traffic to both stop for coffee and be on time for my appointment, so I decided to be on time (go me!), but was probably less charming for the choice. Still, my guitar is now ringing like a church bell (in a good way) & I continued onwards, driving diligently from Pittsburgh to Boston. The drive, although 2 hours longer and sometimes so unenjoyable that you want to gouge your eyes out with coffee stirrers, is quite gorgeous. You drive through mountains & mountains & rolling hillsides & mountains. Some little towns, too. And then more mountains. As magical as airplanes are, sometimes I think car travel is even more crazy. Maybe because you're putting in the effort, & usually the things you put effort into are more satisfactory. But it seems magical to me, at this moment (a bottle of wine in), that I woke up in Pittsburgh, PA & am falling asleep in my hometown of Lexington, MA. So much ground has been covered! It's like I'm on the other side of the world! There really is something Magical about travel (oh, hello, have you ever listened to my songs?) but even moreso about doing it yourself. I wish I had the stamina to bike across the country. Mike Pellow, luthier extraordinaire of earlier mention, biked from Pittsburgh to DC this summer. There was a twinge of jealousy in my heart as he twanged my guitar strings & spoke of his exploits. Cross country bike trip! Maybe sometime.
So that brings us to now, at which point I have happily arrived in Suburbia. I am sleeping in the guest room (my 12-year-old sister has been living in my old room since she turned 9) & the parental controls on the "home office" computer have blocked all images on all internet sites, proving navigation of any kind as ridiculous as figuring out a puzzle without a box top. Tomorrow morning I take my little sisters to their doctors appointments, which I am endlessly excited about (being the aloof yet awesome older, visiting sister who pulls you out of school) and then I will ramble on to New Hampshire, and the Epic September will begin.
It has been 7 years since I spent a fall in New England. Fall in New England is Magic, did you know that? It's the best, and really there's not much else that can beat it. I am so excited to watch trees turn color, and to feel like I am where I'm supposed to be during one of my favorite months. So that is Epic No. 1.
The plan (and I'm hoping to blog most of this, the rest of the Epicness) is a writer's retreat on Star Island with my good friend Guy & a bunch of other folks who I don't know as of yet, all of us writing our brains out in a beautiful setting with no outside communication. I am very excited about this, but also a bit nervous, as I have a proven history of Problems with Authority, especially when they tell me how to write. We'll see. I think it will be grand, and not bad. GRAND. Effing grand.
Following the island-solitutde, I'll be spending three weeks MAKING THIS RECORD. My lovely & talented friend Djim Reynolds, who I hold in the highest esteem & who's made some of my top-records-ever, is engineering it and is really the reason I'm over here. The ever-important Joe Arnold will be coming out to fiddle it all up, steadfastly-awesome Emily Hope Price will also be bowing herself into flames, platonic life-partner Emilyn Brodsky may or may not make an appearance (maybe if I blog about it she won't flake? Let's start a petition for her not to flake!), Airplanes-string-goddess Kate Pukinskis is working on another killer arrangement, and many, many more of my crazily-talented New England friends will be making guest appearances. Almost all of the songs are silly, sing-alongy, and pretty sugary. When this was pointed out to me recently, I decided that while true, I am excited about this group of songs; the Nesting EP needed to be as intense as it was, and this as-of-yet-unnamed album needs to be as fun as it will be. Fun & ridiculous & awesome. & so, as long as I'm not jinxing anything, it will be.
If I don't go to bed right this minute it will be literally impossible to tend to my familial duties in the morning, and that shit is the most important, as we all know.
But basically, I'm making a new record this whole month. Aren't you excited too?
posted by anna vogelzang at 12:51 AM
1 Comments:
how did i not see this?! i love you.
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