wild hearts can't be broken
'amen!' album release, little mazarn tour, & recent highlights, among other things to look back at or forward to, with fondness
it is a painfully perfect golden hour in new orleans
i smell jasmine, and it conjures my late grandmother - how she’d take my sister and me out by the fragrant vines to eat butter pecan ice cream in louisiana summer, how she’d chew mint gum “to keep the mosquitos away”
i taste lavender lemonade - a treat, an effervescent bandaid on some pretty recent heartache
i hear the particularly lilting mew of Pearl, the cafe cat that the wifi password here is named after
knee high clover flowers and slate blue skyline at the levee today
this is the second of two off nights between tours - today we try to rest, tomorrow we begin again
this time setting out for the road with Little Mazarn, after sharing song as hemlock for the past three weeks with tourmates Taft and Laith
it is the “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken” tour, us and lovely Lou Turner. here’s where we will go, are going:
by the end of april, i’ll have been across the entirety of the south again, from sea to shimmering sea
all the while, from the river to the sea, i continue to believe in and hope for a free palestine
clara texts me, “you have a beautiful sanctuary that you carry inside to wherever you go”
i remember the feeling of my head on their stomach in the hill country, under clouds, under the surreality of the solar eclipse, the pupil of the moon, the iris of the sun,
under staggered birdsong, beginning again, after 4 minutes of deep, dark, texas grey
“good morning!” “good morning!” they sing, at nearly two in the afternoon
i remember weeping the day before to this annie dillard essay (required reading, i mean it) that lindsey sent along, in the passenger seat of the suburu, on one hell of a sprint of a drive with terri, to the path of totality, from bisbee to alpine to blanco like its nothin
but it was surely somethin
‘amen!’ has been out for a week, now
a sixteen-minute miracle, straight out of silsbee, tx, made with a room full of heroes. an ode to honest transformation, a return to the south.
i am full of gratitude, i am relieved
if it has found your ears, thank you. if it hasn’t, how about now?
this past stretch of celebratory release shows was exhausting & fulfilling. i feel particularly thankful for a chance to have sang with my sister and played with my old music teacher and forever mentor, chad viator, in my hometown of lafayette, and for the saturn bar new orleans show that meant more than i can express - we winged it as a quartet of lap steel, upright piano, bass, guitar + vox. an act of trust that was affirming in every way. thank you aaron, alan, avery. i love music
if you missed the most recent POTHOLE HOTLINE (my monthly internet radio show), here’s the link to this month’s episode, which features the debut of a new segment called PORTAL REPORT that i’m thrilled about, featuring friends’ anonymous observations from their respective window perspectives.
it leaves me feeling connected and in awe - closing the gap, if only momentarily, between myself and my beloveds across the country and beyond. lots o good tunes on there, too.
a recent favorite has been “red cloud” by marina allen - a stunning work of lyricism, of melody, of harmonic content. checks all the boxes, with a cherry on top of lots of alliteration. the music video is equally captivating
overdue: i haven’t mentioned here yet that i was gifted with the opportunity last fall to help draw the friko album cover. grateful to have played a small part in realizing that monster of a release. they are friends, collaborators, indie rock visionaries currently taking over the world (in a good way)
notable things on the horizon at hemlock HQ:
5/11 chicago, IL: playing the exhibit opening of yard model at Roman Susan, 4pm
5/25 fayetteville, AK: Old Friends Music Festival
6/28 chicago, IL: the full band rides again at Logan Square Arts Fest !!!
and many more things tba, in between and beyond, almost always
signing off with another (this time vintage, circa 2020) anonymous & resonant hope, from the hope chest:
and i do, too.
with love and solidarity,
c
The annie dillard piece 😭
❤️❤️