Winter tour has come and gone. To California and back strumming my “meal ticket” as Guthrie used to call it. Adventure, ups and downs, new friends and old. Thanks to all for food, shelter, conversation, a place to share my songs, everything! Truck stops, mountains, the Gulf of Mexico, little towns, big cities, the desert, the Pacific Ocean. Sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Starts over again.
Suddenly I found myself winding down my old road again, Irish Hills Michigan outside the city gates of Jackson. The sap is flowing. The Red Winged Black Birds are calling from the cattails. Spring is irrevocable now though still the freeze and thaw go back and forth.
Experiment # 4, Part B has been distributed around the country one old fashioned disk at at time. But if you didn’t get your copy yet, no fear, there is plenty more at headquarters. And although you can hear it on bandcamp, if you donate for the hard copy you get a fine looking lyric booklet with original artwork and interesting liner notes. And a sweet picture of a red cedar in flames, on the disc, which i took while doing one of our prescribed burns. So email me at theillalogicalspoon@gmail.com and I’ll send it to you. (You can also request a copy of the new zine I’ve been working on with folks in our community: Leaf Litter: Notes on Restoring and Reinhabiting the Great Lakes Bioregion)
Experiment # 5 is currently being written here and there in the midst of all sorts of other work. Actually i’ve been writing it for several years now, and have previewed some of the songs on these last tours. But there is still more to write. And then i have to bring the songs to the band and let them work their wonderful magic. So don’t expect a new album anytime soon, but know that the songs are steadily growing. Developing their underground roots, seeking nutrients from the soil and rain from above. The working title is “Us and All Our Lovers”. It is rooted in a study of the Biblical Song of Songs and the plants and animals of Michigan. It meditates upon love and loss, presence and absence, romance, friendship, the mystery of God, reawakening our senses to wildness, the destruction and restoration of the earth, the failure of technology, the beauty and melancholy of spring.
When it is complete it will form a sort of trilogy with Experiments #3 and #4. I’ll be doing some writing about how they all fit together in the coming months.
Stay tuned for more shows this summer. One we are particularly excited about: The full band will be playing the Divine Pine Gathering in the Irish Hills in June. See you there if not before!
Sincerely,
Jeremy
P.S. I have recently joined in with some friends in my community to start a nature education/traditional skills learning project called Open Grown School. Check out the website for a list of spring classes and more info as to what it’s all about.