the river delta

this past week i got to drive through the mississippi delta, the birth place of the blues. i got to go to the delta blues museum in clarksdale mississippi and see the cabin muddy waters lived in while he worked on the stouval plantation. it blows my mind to think of how much truly brilliant music came from this part of the country and how it influenced the music we hear today. it is really hard not to hear the influence when you turn on the radio, it is everywhere! if we didn't have the blues we wouldn't have rock'n roll. i think the common misperception is that the blues is only about bad things happening to you or bad things that have happened to you in the past. sure you can find several songs about a woman cheating or about drinking your sorrows away but the blues are about everything. the brilliant "muddy waters" said that there was a point where he wasn't sad about anything and he could pay his bills but he still had he blues, he said it just must be in his blood. i think he is definitely right about that, the blues are in his blood. when you drive through the muddy and tragically beautiful mississippi delta you feel something different from any other place. it is amazing that such a humble place birthed so many kings. all i am trying to say is this, give the blues a chance! listen closer and you will hear things you have never heard before. i will leave you with this quote from "muddy waters",

" a lot of people think the blues are something we need to forget...something from the past. i think the blues should live forever."

finally i am am home...but i can't sleep.

i just got home today from touring with mat kearney this past couple months and i am so glad to be home...but i can't sleep. i have been so excited to sleep in my own bed and then when i do i am restless. that is is the weird thing about touring, when you are on the bus you wish you were in your own bed and when you are home you wish you in your bunk on the bus, it is so weird. the last couple months playing with mat were really fun and a girl named meiko opened up for us on the tour and she was great, good music+good friends = great tour. now i am going to go back to bed and contimplate the meaning of life...or atleast worry about it, insomnia is fun. goodnight.

the training wheels are off, what's next...college?

today was a great day...i got home last night after being gone for three and a half weeks and i was so happy to sleep in my own bed. this morning i was doing my favorite thing, just sitting on my front porch with my wife drinking a cup of strong black coffee watching our sons ride their scooters on our driveway and enjoying the cool minnesota air. my oldest son soren informs me that he is so ready to learn how to ride a bike with out training wheels, so i get a wrench and proceed to take the training wheels off his bike. i tell him to put on his helmet, knee and elbow pads and give him a fatherly speech about not giving up and try trying again, basically getting him ready for reality that he might not learn to ride a bike the first time. he is four years old and i tell him that some kids don't learn to ride a bike until they are five or six. my son tells me that he will have no trouble riding his "steel horse". i lower his seat and tell him to get on the bike and start to pedal. he proceeds to ride down the street like he has done it a million times, like he was just waiting for me to come home so that i could be the one to teach him. shortly after this he rides around the block and by the time we get back to our house he is trying to pop a wheely!!! who is this kid? the morning sun was shining and a cold breeze was blowing and it felt so good to be home and it felt even better to be the one to teach my son to ride a bike! this is one of those huge moments for a father, to teach your son to ride a bike is one of those things that is so simple to you but so big and exciting for your child, it is like a sixteen year old with a license tasting indepedance for the first time. then i started thinking about all of it...and i realized that it wasn't too long ago that i was holding my oldest son, the child that made me a father in the first place mind you... it wasn't too long ago that i was starring into the eyes of this fragile little child that i had never met before but was now instantly grafted into every memory i had ever had. now i am running next to him trying to keep up with him on his bike...it came so fast. it is just so beautiful to see these events in my children's lives unfold before my eyes! i am so honored! i am usually kind of a private person but this morning was too beautiful even for me to keep secret.


t.

i am still alive!

no i am not dead i have just been really busy! the past few weeks i have been on the road playing guitar for my good friend mat kearney. i was honored to be able to play on the tonight show yet again with mr. kearney...how cool! right now i am in dallas texas house of blues getting ready to soundcheck. i am really looking forward to going home for a little while and wrestling with my boys, i think i need it even more than they do! this fall is going to be a pretty busy one but it should be a lot of fun, i know i have said it before but i am planning on recording a record before the end of the year...i'm serious this time...really. i was just in L.A. for about nine days and it was so hot it made me long for fall to come, i am not ready for winter but i am definately ready for fall. i am sorry for dropping of the face of the planet, i know i am really good at the diappearing act! i am alive and doing well and excited for what the rest of the year will bring. stay tuned...

t
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the fruits of summer

this summer has been so good, and so sweet! i have been able to enjoy the fruits of summer like fresh tomatoes my backyard the smell of freshly mowed grass and of course a nice cup of coffee in the morning as i listen to the symphony of surburban sprinklers watering the yards on my street. i know this sounds like cheesy writing which i am probably guilty of but that is okay because i don't consider myself to be a writer at all so i don't have to worry about that. ha. not to be a downer but for us busy "adults" winter will be here in a blink of an eye so if you haven't tasted fresh sweetcorn purchased from an old guy in a ford f-100 on the side of the road or fresh tomatoes from your neighboors garden you should go out and enjoy the tastes of summer while they are still here unless you live in a place where it is "summer" all the time...in that case i am jealous...sort of...i still like shoveling snow. that is all.


t.

just a leaf in the wind

right now i am am in a weird spot in my life, i am just going to lay this out there. this summer has been great in so many ways and in other ways it has been the twilight zone. i have had so much fun spending quality time with my family but i am also in such a weird place because i have no idea what i am doing right now and that is a little scary. i never thought it would be so freeing to not not what is going on, you know what i mean? all i am trying to say is that it is a good thing to realize and remember that you are not in control and worrying will not help you any. the quicker we realize this the better of we will be in the long run! i guess this is an upbeat thought dressed in drab colors, backhanded optimism has always been one of my specialties. ha.
for all you people out there just blowing in the wind like a leaf, all i have to say is enjoy it while it lasts. we might be blowing out of control in the wind and that can be a little scary but you have to admit that the view is incredible from way up here.

t.

thank you!

last night i played a show at my neighborhood brew pub barley johns and i had a great time! i couldn't have asked for better weather, it was the kind of weather that makes living in minnesota so sweet! i just want to thank everyone that came out, it was a beautiful evening! see you next time!

t.