Hello Friends,
It is Sunday morning, Father's Day. As usual I am the first one up, and since we were at a fuel stop I took the opportunity to walk Bubba, which I am sure he appreciated, even though truck stop parking lots are probably about as appealing to him as the sidewalks of New York City. As soon as he got back aboard he made it clear that he wanted to go back to where he had been sleeping, in the back bedroom where Jeanne was still asleep. Little traitor...
So now as I look out the window at the vast Nebraska landscape, I am feeling the transition to this part of the tour--from Amphitheaters with REO Speedwagon and Eddie Money, to the summer festivals in these far out locals where they tend to be located.
It always amazes me to come to a place like last night's Route 66 concert in Springfield, MO and find an audience of over 10,000 fans who have braved the summer storms to spend an evening with us. The mud was thick and deep and in order for us to get from the bus to the dressing rooms and then from the dressing rooms to the stage we needed the help of 4-wheel-drive vehicles. Once on the stage, it was business as usual for us. This is the easy part. And of course the payoff for getting through crazy, weather challenged travel like the sojourn from all parts of the country the day before Springfield. That was one we won't soon forget.
When we began our set last night I noticed there was something a little different in the sound of my monitor mix. I soon realized that JY was having some technical problems. I watched his expression and I could not see it in his eyes. That is the kind of performer he is--he will never let it effect his performance, no matter what! I also noticed that the display at my switcher was still reading the title of our opening song. When I got a chance to speak to Jimmy in the wings, he told me that the moisture level had been wreaking havoc with some of the gear, and that although my readout was frozen, the programs were still coming up and so sonically I was OK. JY's rig, however was still a work in progress! It was one of those times when I had the opportunity to cover for JY's solo in Lorelei and it made me appreciate what a great player he is. My heart was pumping as my head was calculating JY's parts and my parts and seeking a way to play a mixture of both. All the while I was watching the audience to see if it showed, and I can say with some relief that it did not. Whew!
Within the body of "Edge of the Century" Jimmy had switched JY to an alternate system and was getting his levels adjusted. We were now back to our regularly scheduled program.
Before we knew it, we were ending our last song, and taking our bows. Back into the 4-wheel-drive shuttle to the dressing rooms, and then to the bus.
One of my favorite times of the day is the first hour or so on the bus after the show. We are still feeling the warmth of the spotlight and the energy of the crowds and there is no way we are going to sleep for a while.
Last night after we had a bite to eat, Todd put in a Daniel Lanois video giving us a little more insight into the life and mind of one of our favorite producers. We had seen "The Making of Joshua Tree" before we took our break last week and that was the beginning of our current fascination with Lanois.
Anyone who has ever attempted to write and record their own music would find these programs very interesting. Since there are as many ways to make an album as there are to skin a cat (don't ask me the origin of THAT cliche') it is a compliment to Lanois that his approach is so attractive to us.
Having made a few records and having had a fair amount of success at radio I have some definite likes and dislikes as far as the process goes. To strive for a hit single is an empty artistic vessel to me personally. It is the tail wagging the dog. Still it is an irresistible temptation for many producers. I guess I am at a point in my own personal life where I don't feel like I need to keep making that mistake any more to recognize it as that. It qualifies as my definition of insanity--doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.
And so I predict this will be a bone of contention at some point for STYX when we begin our next album project. Because to a business person (a person in the business of selling music) it must sound sacrilegious to claim disinterest in hit singles. But that is not what I am claiming. I am claiming that great music comes from the writer and performer being unshackled from expectation and encouraged to free up their voice. The greatest, most lasting and important music is not that of a producer producing the heart and soul out of a song, removing every flaw and defining feature and making it fit perfectly into a format. That is in fact a slow death to an artist.
Daniel Lanois represents love of music, love of an artist, love of the magic of making records. He is the artist's champion, defending the work, and protecting it from the excessive scrutiny that often causes artists and producers to continue past the project. Knowing when you have reached the peak is an invaluable gift. Music suffers when it succumbs to the paralysis of analysis.
Okay, enough rambling for one morning. Jeanne is now awake and we are only 30 miles from the hotel and the breakfast we are all going to be ready for.
But when STYX finally gets into the studio and releases a new record, you will know that it began back here on the bus, somewhere on the way to another show. That is just the way it works...
