JENS WILL SEE YOU NOW # 50
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Hi Jens,
Now that your North American tour is over, I wonder if the experience helped you learn anything new about ‘Songs for Other People’s Weddings’ (the album), ‘Songs for Other People’s Weddings’ (the book), old songs, the cities you visited, your bandmates, yourself. I imagine touring can be both exhilarating and exhausting, but maybe also hopefully enlightening.
It was really nice seeing you play in Toronto. Thanks for driving through a snowstorm and playing ‘Maple Leaves’ for us.
All the best,
Ryan
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Hi Ryan
I learned that it’s easier than I thought to find a pair of cowboy boots in Minneapolis.
That Chicago is beautiful in snow.
That The Great Hall in Toronto has the nicest staff
I learned to love the Bawstin accent.
And that Clara who I played a benefit show for in 2008 after she had been in an accident, still lives in Northhampton and is doing great.
I learned from Yeemz, by way of David, about the beta paradox as we discussed the story's trajectory backstage in Philly.
And at a wedding in Hudson I learned that I may be a pretty good wedding entertainer but I’m nowhere near the band I shared the stage with that night, Shorty Long and The Jersey Horns.
In Brooklyn I just had a blast. You don't have to learn something every night.
In DC I learned that when Trump is president, the opposition comes together. People are kind in times of unkindness.
And in Durham I learned about the ICE raids that had taken place in the city the same day. Fuck ICE.
I learned that if you dedicate a song ”to all the lovers” in Asheville, half of the crowd will start making out.
In Atlanta I learned through my drummer that if you get a haircut there, the barber will show you his gun collection. And that The Earl is still one of the best venues in the world.
I learned that Nashville has it’s own Parthenon. And while sitting there, falling asleep against one of it’s gigantic columns, I learned that a tour like this really needs at least a day or two off for rest.
But we had to get to Texas on time. In Dallas the exhaustion caught up with me and took out my voice. I learned that my audience will carry me when I’m out of breath.
On the way to Austin, I asked Marem Ladson to play us some of her favourite spanish songs and I learned about the boy with the sad eyes.
I learned that when the trains pass by the Motel 6 in Van Horn, TX, the rooms literally shake.
I didn’t learn this time either what Thanksgiving really is but I did enjoy the pumpkin pie in Tucson.
And I learned that if you just spontaneously take a left on the highway on your way to Phoenix you’ll end up in the Sonoran Desert which is where Arizona looks like Arizona.
I learned in LA that the most probable cause for my future tinnitus is not playing with a band night after night but rather a packed Lodge Room with 600 people screaming with joy simultaneously.
On the way to San Francisco I learned that I got a grant that I had applied for, which made me happy. Later I learned that despite the grant and despite playing weddings on the off days and despite selling out almost half of the shows and staying at the cheapest hotels and working round the clock for months to make it happen, the tour still lost money.
But in Portland I learned from something I heard someone tell their child on the street: You can choose to have a good time or a bad time. And I chose to have a good time.
In Seattle I learned that my band were really sad to go back home.
In NY I learned that I was too.
