Yesterday looked all time...as I walked the low tide beach with Stella, looking at the surf was painful...but so is my knee.
A few days a go I fired off an email to Michelle Shocked, just to say hi and let her know I was looking at doing a couple of covers of her older stuff.
I didn't expect a reply, we have met twice, once way back in my Hollywood days when she would play at MW West and at SMCC, I interviewed her for KCRW and again in 2003 when she played a free show in Billings.
At that show, I interviewed her for a story in the Billings Outpost but we ended up just shooting the shit while she sat in a big cardboard box and my current wife struggled to understand the truly creative humans that populate this planet.
Her email said didn't recall meeting me, not that I thought she would but she did remember hearing a story about a couple who were busking at Desert View, Arizona...singing her songs.
I just sent off the reply...
In 1985, my ex and I were in Northern Arizona for the summer, being tourists and soaking in all that the high desert and Hopi/Navajo land had to offer.
We had left LA with a qp, two fresh sheets of peace signs and no map to speak of.
Just looking for warmth and the high desert.
We hit the south rim of the Grand Canyon, found a good camp sight and preceded to hold the fort there for two weeks or maybe longer (hard to say...lolz).
If you have ever been to Desert View, you know that camp spots get tight from noon on and the nearest stand by is in Williams or a bootleg in the NF. If you get caught in the NF/Yavasupai, its a healthy ticket.
Anyway, we had a little bitty sign up at the self pay kiosk, something like "friendly hippies, don't mind sharing, site 23".
We would get people with piss poor planning skills to share our site, most times, they would cover the entire cost. Met some cool kids up there and more than a few uptight and white 'Muricans.
Well, one morning the ex and I were a bit bored so we dosed and took off for the Tower and visitor center. I brought a guitar along just in case we froze up somewhere, got stuck and just ended up sitting and staring down into the canyon.
We sat watching all of the tourists, trying to guess nationalities and languages, people watching at its finest.
The we decided to make a buck or two so we tossed out the hat and I started playing while the ex danced around in the dirt.
Yes.
I was playing some silly progression and the ex asked me to play it again, I did and it turns out it was close enough to one of Michelle's songs we were able to fake it.
The ex sang while I played those same four chords for an hour.
Heck, with all of the tourists walking by, I doubt any one of them stayed long enough to listen, to notice it was the same song over and over again.
Fogtown.
Well, the hat collected some change, the ex and I learned we made a pretty good duo...
Where was I?
Oh yeah, so Michelle remembers to the story I told her about busking her tunes.
Neat.
Anyway, that day with the ex led to her and I forming a band when we moved up to Montana the first time. We did pretty well up there, in the land of recycled classic rot and cowboy music. The ex was/is multi-talented, fiddle, harp, guitar, vocals, piano, flute, clarinet, anything really.
She is up in New Hampshire now, doing photography or something so I hear.
And I am wishing I was sitting next to the Tower...life was much simpler then.
Oh, on that same trip, we were up at NNM and we met a crazy french bastard who was touring Indian Country. We made quick friends with him after watching prepare a chicken dinner one evening.
He took a whole chicken, picked some sage, added salt and pepper, wrapped in foil and then beat it flat with a big rock. He threw the whole thing in the campfire, pulled it out an hour later and ate it.
Hammer chicken he called it.
Yeah.
We tripped around Northern Arizona, Southern Colorado and Northwestern New Mexico with him and two German backpackers we picked up.
We spent the night at Keet Seel (might have been Betetakin), sneaking in after sunset, dosing and speaking in tongues.
Spooky.
The Ancient Ones laughed at our Spiritual Stupidity I am sure.
But we had fun, it left a mark on me for sure.
One of the Germans gave me a wooden spoon which I have to this day.
We all split up after Mesa Verde, the ex and I were due in San Diego and the Frenchman was heading home.
The Germans? I don't remember, last time I saw them, they were sleeping with the elk at Mesa Verde. I did give them 25 hits of the peace signs...
Well, where was I?
Um...
Yeah, who cares.
See ya.
Make a wish.
Like, are the meds wearing off yet?
lotsa lolz.
