WHERE HUMANS END AND BIRDS BEGIN (From the Channel Princess)

I'm eaten up with the idea of how our creative lives are the hub of our resistance to what's happening in our country. The soul stealing energy of the daily unfolding of unfathomable events nearly sapped my strength this Summer.

But then the RiverSignal came riverboating through town....a little something to distract me from my Trump-funk.

Brian Benson and his friends traveled over 800 miles on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers this past Summer captaining a  thirty-foot paddlewheel riverboat called the Channel Princess. These guys recorded a variety show along the way featuring storytellers and musicians.

Check out more of The River Signal’s summer performances aboard the Channel Princess here!

BACK OF THE BUS

Raise your hand if you understand! Away games on the team bus, careening through the backroads just outside the reach of your Methodist momma’s supervision was a world unto itself.

We ball players were culture vultures back before we knew the term. Fresh off every overtime victory, Coach let us crank the music up. Windows rolled down, here comes James Brown's, I Feel Good, blasting in the bus. This wildly alive dancing for miles was freedom in the dark of the night.

Seems we’re all watching women’s sports these days. Is the gym serving as some sort of unconscious crucible inside which the wicked world is straining towards something redeeming? It’s dizzying how much I am AGAINST what is unfolding these days. It seems that women’s sports, basketball—the WNBA in particular—is one thing I am 100% FOR.    

Shout out to Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, Sophie Cunningham, Natasha Howard, Caitlin Clark and the rest of the Indiana Fever.

EXPLODING BEAR

I had the grand, good fortune to collaborate on this new project with Abigail Washburn, an artist I can only describe as a righteous expression of a glorious Universe.

Abigail roped in the extraordinary talents of Rayna Gellert and Kristin Andreassen for the project. I can’t hear her voice or their harmonies without weeping. It was hard for me to get through our short rehearsal at ACME.

The experience punched a hole in the sky with regard to what I dreamed was possible.

I hope the subject matter speaks for itself.

FIGHT CLUB
Where Humans End and Birds Begin

GRANNY’S PANTIES
Where Humans End and Birds Begin

GOLD DIGGER
Gold Digger

TIME FLIES
Gold Digger

CARNIVAL RIDE
Where Humans End and Birds Begin

KEEP THE MUSIC PLAYING
Live at the Bluebird Cafe