Ellery Stimulus

If any of you have made it to one of our shows recently, you might have heard Tasha tell the story behind the song “Lay Your Head Down“, that came from her exploiting my [not so] mild OCD tendencies…

If you have, this picture is for you (emailed to me yesterday from her phone):

(This is a repost from March 15th, 2009 - I didn’t want it to be lost in blog nothingness…)

I came down to the lobby of our Romulus MI hotel this morning to do some work and let Justin rest.
An older man, a hotel employee, was moving around the room, gently wiping down tables and countertops from the continental breakfast which had ended about an hour before.

I’m an introvert and particularly so in the mornings; I like being alone with my thoughts and I had already considered shutting off the enormous TV that was shouting ESPN at me.
The cleaning man seemed harmless enough until he came around by my table.  He clasped his hands behind his back and leaned over a bit, reading my computer screen over my shoulder.
This did not feel okay.

“What is this?” He asked, and I felt a bit annoyed. But I smiled. “Oh, just doing some work this morning.”
I noticed that this didn’t quite register.  “You- student?”
Then I noticed his accent.  Russian, lovely.
“No, just work.”
“What you do?”
My computer screen was on a Yoga site, so I answered, “Well, mainly I’m a musician, but I also teach Yoga.”
This is when I learned that he speaks very little English.

So we spent some time trying to talk about what I do.
I realized I’m not so good at charades.
After some work, I think we established that I perform music, but I don’t teach it… And what I do teach is “Yoga.”

He’s not sure what Yoga is:
“You teach — small children?”
“No, it’s more– people who want to lose weight (I hold my belly) or get strong (flex biceps).”  (I didn’t think I should launch into stress relief.)
“Ooooh.  So you teach– kind of therapy?”
“Kind of.  Kind of.”
It was a good start.

We talked about children.  “No, not yet” I say when he asks if we have any. “That’s okay, you young…”
“I have two children,” he says after a pause.
He described his daughter and son, 28 and 26, both in University.  “It’s hard.  Very expensive.  Very hard on wife and me.  We work– every day.  Every day.  But my wife, she’s um… optimistic?  They’re good, no smoking, no drinking, good brain.”

I noticed that he looked tired.
I thought about his son, in the very expensive dental school, and wondered if he was thinking about his dad, wiping down tables at the Quality Inn.  Mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms.  I noticed that if I were his son, I’d feel guilty.  And then I noticed that this man wouldn’t want that.
Appreciation doesn’t have to be followed by guilt.  This is new and interesting to me. 

“What about your parents?” He asked.
“My parents?  Like what do they do?”
“No, what is their– ethnicity?”
“Ooh.  Mostly British, German, Native American.”
“Ah,” he says. “I love the Europeans.  And I do like the people American.  But here, just so many.”

This was funny to me at the time, but funnier in retrospect.  He’s surrounded.  I feel for him.

We chatted for a while, a lovely, very real few minutes which he concluded by saying, “You a good girl. Maybe in 3 years, you birth baby.”

A little prophecy thrown out with love. 

He went back to his work, but after a while he came back over again.
“You eat breakfast?”
“No, just having coffee.”
“You want doughnut?  Cheerios?”
“No, it’s okay, I have food in the room.”  (The continental breakfast was long gone by now.)
“What you like? Cheerios? Apple?”
“Oh, thank you, but I’m alright.” [Just to clarify, I was planning on eating. There's some hott Kashi Oatmeal Action in the hotel room. But I digress.]
“No, I serious. I get you something.  You like my daughter: she skinny, but I like a bit more. (He gestures around his middle.) For strong brain, need strong body.”
“So - you are my daughter,” he continues. “Maybe you like that, maybe not? (shrugs) But I am your father. I take care of you. What you like?”

I think I conceded to dry Cheerios and an apple.  Off he went.

So. There’s now a plate of bananas, apples, an orange, and a large bowl of cheerios on my table, all covered with a carefully folded napkin.

I came down here bristling against social interaction.  In ten minutes this man went from nobody to one of the most deeply meaningful random connections I’ve experienced while touring.

Feels holy.

We said hello to the month of May in Knoxville TN…  A fine city we hadn’t played in years.  We drove in on April 30th and woke early on May 1st to make our way to The Square Room downtown.  Our load-in was at 10am that morning, for WDVX’s “Blue Plate Special” - a noon show performed live on-air with a live audience.  Very fun.  And on Fridays, it’s held at The Square Room.
So we couldn’t have asked for a better (re) introduction to Knoxville:
* Matt Morelock was a great host
* We saw the wonder that is J’s MegaMart on Gay Street (Thanks Matt — Who knew??!)
* We got to share the hour with the wildly-the-real-deal Malcolm Holcombe
* We were at The Square Room, which in addition to being one of the coolest rooms we’ve played in a while, has an amazing, amazing staff
* We had a great audience, and a lot of folks joined us from the adjacent cafe
* We were treated (oh so kindly) to an amazing lunch from Cafe 4.  That place serves FOOD.  And we partook.  Oh my.

We took off and made our way to my family’s house just south of Knoxville, which is gloriously in the middle of nowhere, atop a high hill in the woods, right up against the Smokies.
My family was vacationing, so we spent some quality time with their animals: a dog that’s half wolf (appropriately named Wolf), an enormous cat named Blue, some horses, a peacock, a couple goats, several chickens, and some mysterious barn cats that didn’t show their faces.

It mostly rained during our Knoxville stay, but we heard the area needed it, and it was a lovely sound - Splashing on the roof of that quiet house, singing to us over dinner, lulling us to sleep.

The next day (Saturday May 2) we headed back to The Square Room for our show that evening with Derek Webb.  It was great to connect with Derek (great songwriter, defier of stereotypes, great conversationalist), and it was great to land at such a lovely venue again.

Also, check it out: The Square Room offers an apartment for its performers, which we got to take advantage of that evening.  Wow.
The apartment doubled as the Green Room for the afternoon, so it was a lovely place to prepare, to chat with Derek, to have some dinner and feel utterly at peace.
And after all that, we had an amazing audience that night; such attentive listeners, such kind folks.  We can’t wait to come back.

And the story wouldn’t be complete without this:

Apparently while at my family’s house south of Nashville, we picked up a stowaway.
During our stay there, Justin had to rid us of two scorpions.
Yes, scorpions!  Real ones!
Fortunately, we didn’t see them until Saturday, otherwise we wouldn’t have slept the two nights before…

Anyway, we had left that house on Saturday and stayed in the apt. in downtown Knoxville, then headed home on Sunday May 3rd.  So:

Unpacking later that night.  Pull something out of the inside lid pocket of my suitcase.  See something small and dark.  Look closer.
Yes, it’s a scorpion.
“It’s dead,” I assume, incorrectly.  “I’ll have Justin get it out later.”
For whatever reason, I zip the pocket closed.
“It’s not dead,” he said a few minutes later.  “Look.”  He tapped the lid.
It wasn’t dead.

Okay, so even dead, a scorpion in one’s suitcase is — SO worthy of the jibblies.
But alive??!  In my suitcase??!

There was a lot of shaking-of-clothes and searching-through-bags.
Fortunately, this was our only stowaway, and I think he met his end in our driveway.

I’m just feeling lucky that Mr. Scorpion was in that one spot and not hiding out in the pocket of my jeans or something.  Because seriously.

Alright, I don’t want to think about it anymore.  I’ve told the story.

There you have it Knoxville: We loved our visit, thank you, such a cool venue, such fine people, such a peaceful stay, and you gave us a scorpion.  What more could we ask?
Can’t wait to see you again–

Technical difficulty action-and-adventure, in the middle of the song “Pieces.” Dig it.

So.  We took off this morning from Hurley NY, where we had a beautiful stay at The Hurley Stone House.  It had been a dark and rainy day, a return to February by all appearances, so when we finally arrived it was a gift to be greeted by Mila, a tabby cat who was as friendly as his masters and quickly stole our hearts.  (Not that such a thing is difficult.)

We’ve been anxious for our visit ever since I stumbled upon the Stone House website a month or so ago and immediately fell in love with the architecture, decor, and general vibe of the place.  We quickly decided we needed to stay there for a few nights this Summer while we’re recording in next-door Kingston NY… And we’ve included a stay at The Stone House as one of the “prizes” in the Ellery Stimulus campaign.  (You can come to the studio for the afternoon, meet our producer, listen in, etc… And then head back for a restful night and an amazing breakfast.  See ellerystimulus.com for details!)

We were disappointed that the weather wasn’t better; The house sits on a hill overlooking the Esopus Creek, and it’s right around the corner from an amazing walking/bike path.  But the inside was fabulous to explore, and we were treated to a fantastic tour by Sam, one of our hosts.  The place is vibrating with its history…  Until a few decades ago, it was kept within the same family that built it in the early 1700’s.  The folks who owned the home before Sam & Nadia (our hosts) were gardeners for the last descendant of the original builders, and they inherited it from her.  (Isn’t that awesome?)
Sam & Nadia, who opened The Stone House Bed & Breakfast in Fall 08, purchased it from them and have been restoring and finishing portions of the house, with a deep respect for its history (which you can sense when you talk with them; it’s lovely) and with fabulous style.  The Goldens (that’s us) love simple decor, clean lines, deep rich woods, natural light…  And this home had all of that and more than we could take in.

We were fed an amazing breakfast this morning, and a couple danish pastries are wrapped up in our van awaiting a moment when we finally feel like we can eat again.

The drive today was dreary again, although we were accompanied by (big surprise) Peter Sagal & Carl Kasell… And Ira Glass.  We have an evening to visit with family in NJ before heading to Philadelphia tomorrow.

We drove in a steady rain this morning from Nyack to Kingston NY, where we were meeting with Malcolm Burn, who will be producing the album we’re recording this summer.
It’s curious to drive into a town for the first time, knowing it will be home for a month or so later on.  So we were wide-eyed, trying to catch what all the town might hold for us.

We drove up to the studio, just up the hill from the river, where we greeted Malcolm and got the quick tour.  His studio is a warm and inviting space… And since by now you all know we’re suckers for vibe, it’s worth pointing out that there was plenty of it.  The gear & instrument selection was as great as we expected, but I was justly reeled in by the old Steinway upright in the control room.  I love uprights: that wash of sound and all its warmth and lack-of-polish.
(But I should clarify; I’m not one to play any piano, even a beautiful Steinway upright, just because it’s there.  I’m happy to look and imagine that it would be nice on the occasions when I felt like playing it.  It’s only fair for me to tell you, since this characteristic of mine makes Justin crazy.  He plays them in my place.  Which can be… interesting.  But sometimes it’s absolutely lovely.  One never knows with that guy.)

I did play a couple verses of a new tune on the piano, and it sang under the voice in that way you always hope, gentle and warm.

But blah blah blah, gear & instruments, the nicest part about the visit was the chance to talk about music-making and songs.  Malcolm has a love for songs and songwriting, which is what drew us to him in the first place.  He loves (and listens for) the arc of a song’s story, the nuances of how the voice is telling it, how to use a song and its recording to effectively communicate that original live, stripped down idea.  It was affirming and delicious to talk these sorts of things out, get an idea for how the recording process will go for us, etc.  Left us both so glad to have made this decision.

Malcolm sent us off with a lunch recommendation for Lucy’s Taco, downtown, an eccentric little place with amazing food.  (Our only complaint was that it disappeared too soon.)

We wandered around Kingston for a bit afterwards, cataloguing sites for future reference– So good to visit before we land back here in June.

Given our questionable vehicle-luck on the tour so far, we were a little intimidated by the downpour that accompanied us from Newburgh NY to Natick MA yesterday.  It was a steady, driving rain - The kind that occasionally engulfs the road ahead so that you have to drive under 40mph on the interstate if you want to see clearly.
But our quickly-diminishing collection of podcasts was good company, offering a bit of peace & distraction (the positive kind)… And even through that Corridor of Immense Traffic in Connecticut, all was refreshingly Well.

Miraculously, the rain stopped as soon as we pulled into The Center for Arts Natick, and we loaded our gear into the building sans soaking and said hello to some of the kindest folks around.

The Center for Arts Natick (”tCAN”) is a beautiful converted firehouse… It’s full of historic vibe, and the sound is amazing in the performance room.  Lucy sound-checked with Billy Joel’s “Goodnight My Angel” (which I hadn’t heard in years and is as beautiful as I remembered,) and we took the time to settle in after the drive.  We let our jaws drop at the amazing paintings newly-installed on the walls of the performance space, which were done by local high school students from Walnut Hill Art School.  These are these stunning, deeply-emotional portraits that left us in disbelief about the young talent… And grateful for the art, which seemed ideal for the night’s music.

And we couldn’t have asked for a lovelier experience: A nearly sold-out show, the opportunity to play a beautiful (and beautifully-tuned) grand piano, a fabulous audience, and a fine artist to open for.  So many thanks to tCAN and the crowd tonight– We loved loved loved connecting with you.

The winding roads of Massachusetts have always enthralled us.  The scenery is charming and mysterious in this altogether New England way, and we can’t help ourselves.  It often feels magical.  One of these dark and tree-lined, spotted-with-lovely-cape-cods routes led us to our hotel last night.
And we may be easily-pleased these days, but we’ve found ourselves tonight in a lovely, clean, and safe place nestled against a couple rolling hills, and wow, that front desk guy was such a human being - absolutely kind.  We’re laying our heads down tonight with some deep breaths.

It’s our first tour since the Stimulus began, and we’re racking up our share of adventures –

The Early-April Tour So Far:

• Day Minus-One: Tasha loses her voice.  (Come on!)  New bag of cough drops saves the day.  (Leaves me smelling like medicine @ our shows, but — singing.)
• Off to Akron.
• Day One: Stranded north of Columbus because ignition won’t turn.  AAA guy saves the day, which gets us to Akron, where Justin’s cousin-the-awesome-mechanic REALLY saves the day.
  

  Singing for our van repair. No, really.

• Off to the University.
• Day Two: Flat tire for no identifiable reason.  Fix-a-Flat and nearby tire&lube place (and new tire) saves the day.
• Off to Pittsburgh.
• Day Three: Leave early from Pittsburgh for Penn Tech in Williamsport.  Spend 80 minutes getting out of the city; now running VERY late.  Construction on every state hwy and interstate, ALL the way to Williamsport.  (No really: every highway & interstate.  And we hear this is typical of Pennsylvania; anyone want to verify this rumor?)  So: Oh the angst!  Arrival time: 15 minutes after showtime.  In this case, the incredible patience of the college staff (and our kind listeners) saves the day.
• Off to Newburgh NY for the night.
• Day Three (later): Check into name-brand hotel that is inexplicably skanky.  We are disturbed upon entry… Then the toxic cleaner-fumes give us crazy headaches & sore throats.  Disturbing—>Scary!  Check out (with grace from a kind front-desk clerk), and drive down the road.
• Day Three (evening): Explore Algonquin Park in Newburgh.


Algonquin Park

• Breathe fresh air, take pictures, watch the sunset.  Are totally wrong about what we think all those old stone buildings are.


Algonquin Park

• Go to the PetsMart across the street & de-stress by staring at adoptable cats.  Go back to cower in our room for a while.  In short: Slowly perk up.  (Chocolate and those “veggie chips” from Whole Foods certainly help.)  (And Colbert.)
• Currently: Justin’s playing guitar along to some music on his laptop, but he’s wearing headphones & I can’t hear anything but the (not-plugged-in) electric.  Sounds cool.  And hilarious.
• I’m turning my phone off with a delight reserved for the most hermit-ish of hotel dwellers.  “Ha,” I say.  “If you call, I can’t hear it.”  (I mean this with love.)

Speaking of love, oh, has it been good to connect with kind audiences.  With these eventful days we’ve been arriving at shows in a rather ragged and desperate state…  Only to find the loveliest of people waiting for us.  So, our many thanks to U of A, Howler’s, and PennTech for welcoming us–

• Tomorrow: The drive to Massachusetts: always beautiful.  And we’ll collide with Lucy Kaplansky’s tour again at the lovely Center for Arts Natick–

We want to know!

Is there a song you’ve been waiting for us to record?
What would you like to know about the process of making a record?
What do you want to see along the way? (On the website or in emails)
What do you want us to blog about, photograph, video, etc?

Any questions about the record, the Stimulus, the songwriting?
Other random curiosities or comments?
Comments about other comments?
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