Some eight years ago or so, I was playing more house shows around Columbus. Gathering together on weeknights in the basement of duplexes mostly north of campus, not entire sure what I wanted to get from it. Saying yes to mostly everything in the spirit of coming together to make something beautiful next to old dented paint cans sitting on rusting metal shelves on top of cracked concrete floors, praying that the extension cord draped across the wood beams above could power a couple amplifiers and a PA.
At one of those shows, I met the band Friendship. I have a vivid memory of them loading into a basement, navigating the tight turns of the stairs to the basement with an entire Fender Rhodes keyboard (of course it was necessary!), just to go back upstairs to get the pedal steel (again, necessary!), all to play for two dozen people in our most blindingly positive aspirations.
There's an easy story to tell there about marshaling all of your resources to make something as beautiful as it can be, just for a handful of people on a weeknight in your twenties. And I think those are especially vivid images because most of us have seen those.
But I think there is something more difficult to crystallize about what it looks like to dedicate oneself to making songs for nearly a decade. Both Friendship and Hello Emerson are pretty close to that.
This doesn't necessarily mean that it's decade of being on the road and lugging heavy equipment into basements and venues ad nauseam; for me in particular, it's a decade of quiet moments spent at home feeling certain that I don't know how to write a song, or mix demos, or produce an album, or spend time doing all of that while balancing the rest of life. It means making decisions about what to do for money that protects the time and energy to make songs - and keeping an eye on whether my desire for balancing musical ambitions with a steady paycheck comes from something rooted in something closer to honest self-knowledge or fear of failure. Not to mention whether any or all of this counts as something that could be identified as "fun."
But, I say all of that to say this: Friendship's song, "All Over the World" is one of my favorites to come out this year. And I think it captures the thought spiral in the preceding paragraph - and so compassionately!
So, I sat down in my home studio yesterday, surrounded by instruments and reminders of what I've prioritized over the past decade. And I thought I might just record a verse to promote Monday's show. And then, everything melted away. And I enjoyed making things for six hours. And playing. And adding synths and guitars and harmonies and textures. And not once in that time thinking about anything much at all.
And after I was done, I had the thought:
"well, that was fun."
And on top of everything, I made something beautiful to share.
So, we open for Friendship on Monday, July 7th at Rumba Cafe in Columbus - and you should attend the show. Yes, it's a Monday, but it will be a prompt show that starts at 8.
But, if you can't come to the show, please enjoy this cover of their song, "All Over the World." Turns out I love songs and music. I hope that comes across.
