I should know by now that I should never put a number one by anything unless number two is already done. Yes, there were many more German Forest Giggles: the ATV ride to take Sanni’s son to the first day of school,
the spontaneous children’s show with Lotan one morning on only a cup of coffee,
then amazing jams with Singa who learned guitar and drums to my songs,which we then performed on a rowboat and in the bottom of a cave with a gang of German school kids. I guess the giggles weren’t all in the forest and they were definitely more giggles of joy rather than silliness, though I must say singing along with the bells in a the belfry in a castles complete with torture chambers was definitely silly.
Then I went to Copenhagen and got to play on a stage I think almost every day of the four I was there. Like Germany, I found a sweet community of musicians. We didn’t have all the bonding time like we did in the Monkees Headquarter like environment, with most of us in one cabin and extraordinary day trips, but with 200 songwriters, you’re bound to find some really great connections. Every time I got on stage in Copenhagen, I collaborated with someone I’d never played with before and in most cases had met within minutes of heading onstage, or in one case, the host just told me this guy’s gonna come up and play mid-set. That experience in particular turned out to be the funkiest sax driven version of “I See Everything” I’d ever done! And then SONiA asked me to join here onstage, which was a blast!
Tonight I’m just getting in from a really sweet show here in Stockholm where a gang of people I met in Copenhagen showed up, along with people I met in India, Los Angeles and, of course, here. The world is so incredibly small! I have no shows in Finland, my next stop, or Germany next week, yet. But I’ll be playing with my friend Jont, just outside of London a couple times next Saturday and Sunday before heading back to the states. Feeling great!
“Here I sit broken hearted…” Well, a cloud burst and it began to pour while visiting the bathroom about 50 yards from my cabin. Not really broken hearted, however, because the facilities here are immaculate, and my flashlight/iPhone has good wifi connection! So I’ll take advantage of it.
It’s so great to be here in Germany with my hosts, Sanni and Manni! I feel like I’ve already made loads of new friends in just a few hours. Hopefully the rain will stop soon, so I can combat the jet-lag. The shows start at 6pm today!
I’m grown. Most of my fans are. The new album is called “The Second Half of the Bet” because I felt like the songs were exploring what happens after the deal has been set. We may be in a place that’s very different than what we imagined when we were uncommitted and completely amorphous, but we have powerful choices to make. It may seem dark, one may be disillusioned, but I found myself becoming more and more hopeful as this album developed. I’d guess that most of us would find hope as we actively pursued a project and asked for our community’s involvement like I did with Kickstarter and other places. (Even if you think you don’t have a community, I bet if you started asking, you’d find out you weren’t so alone.)
So as I’m putting together the first celebration for my new album, I thought I’d ask a few of my friends to participate in the event by sharing art or thoughts on the subject of second steps towards a positive life. I thought it would be nice to also hear what those who can’t attend might have to say on the subject. Post your thoughts, links to songs, images, videos or poems. I’m excited to hear from you.
I am operating on four hours sleep, but I’m feeling such love that I wanted to capture it before I drift off. And I want to do it publicly, because the feeling is so externally driven. Good word, actually, driven, because it was as I was driving home that I was almost in tears. I’d just left this beautiful, spirit centered gathering celebrating the love of one friend and her love, whom she’ll join on his walk from Los Angeles to Brazil (http://iamwalking.org/). And it was just around the corner from the spiritual center of my boozy early 20s, Al’s Bar. I’d try to tame that place with just my acoustic guitar, or play nasty blues in this band called “Victor’s Sister” that once got to pay with Big Jay McNeely.
I’d just received a glowing e-mail review of my new album from one of my favorite supporters, as I left Traction Ave to head by Olvera Street as I got on the 101 heading back home. I was thinking how great LA would be if we had some infrastructure investment somewhere before that horrible Melrose exit off the freeway. (Why is the gas at the “Petrol” station always so cheap?) I passed the old Anti-Club, Paramount Studios…. And that’s when I started to well up. I guess it’s just the diversity of experience from my organic spiritual type scene, to my DIY punk-ish life, to the silly Hollywood stuff I’ve done. Maybe it’s because I’ve been able to make music in all these places and I’ve just put my new album up for sale on my site?
But then it got even better, reaching the heart of Melrose where I worked at the Gap and the fancy Gelati per Tutti across the street. I used to play my demos and watch how the hipsters would react as they came in, bopping their heads to the guy scooping their cappuccino cones. As much as I loved living in the Los Feliz/Silverlake area, I kind of think I love WeHo even more. It’s definitely not as groovy, but I’m so beat today because I went up to a friend’s last night, ten minutes away up Laurel Canyon to share new music, finished and unfinished, over wine and pasta, then I got woken up early this morning to meet a friend of 20 years a block away from my house at Urth for breakfast. And this is the neighborhood where during college I lived down the hall from the bass player from Cheap Trick in a rent controlled apartment. And the next thing I knew Warren Zevon moved in across the hall.
But, really, it’s all of LA. So many good people and landmarks that are the healthy roots that allow me to grow. And I’ve been away for periods of time now, so I appreciate it even more. And now I’m blessed to be living in the most wonderful home, a home which still carries the creative vibe of the couple who lived here for 70 years just before I moved in. I’m not sure if I’ve said anything you don’t already know tonight. But I just wanted to share my love letter to the city.
“One Step” for Jason Luckett’s 6th Album
I’m over the moon with all the support I’ve received for this new record — from those who’ve pledged (http://kck.st/aaezQv) and the team helping me to get it done. You’ve made me feel very loved and emboldened! We’ve passed the initial goal by $600, so at this point we’re about $400 short of my being able to do a full pressing and get the physical CD out to more people beyond those who’ve asked for the special edition. I was talking to my mother this afternoon, and you know how mother’s have that way of asking the simply perfect questions. She asked, “Why didn’t you just ask for all you needed in the first place?” All I could say was that I wanted to absolutely make sure I could get the music done and wasn’t really sure that I would be able to raise $3000 in an all or nothing proposition. But you’ve all made me believe and now we’re so close! If just two people decide to have a private concert in their home for $250, or if one person wants me to write a song and another wants to be on the list to all my shows for a year, I’ll be able to do the full run and have the commercially available CDs ready in January. That’d be the best start to a year for me ever! Think about it and know that every pledge helps and entitles you to beyond the value of a regular CD purchase or download. But those special offers end at 4pm PST on Thursday. So if you’re thinking about it, please contribute today.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! It’s been such a boost of energy to feel this support!
Love and Peace,
J
the spontaneous children’s show with Lotan one morning on only a cup of coffee,
then amazing jams with Singa who learned guitar and drums to my songs,which we then performed on a rowboat and in the bottom of a cave with a gang of German school kids. I guess the giggles weren’t all in the forest and they were definitely more giggles of joy rather than silliness, though I must say singing along with the bells in a the belfry in a castles complete with torture chambers was definitely silly.
LISTEN TO Second Half of the Bet (pop-up)