As long as I can remember, I’ve had trouble falling asleep. For years upon years whenever my head hit the pillow all I heard in my head were my songs. Any number of the hundred or so songs I’ve recorded were just on loop, making it nearly impossible for me to fall into the arms of dormancy. And for a very long time this was frustrating to me because I could only be reminded of how I didn’t have a band together to play these songs for an audience. Although they were already recorded, it still seemed to me that it was ‘music without wheels’.
Then since the fourth of June, when I started practicing with a group, the frustration began to dissolve a little bit. The songs were still as strong as ever in my head, but at least now there was some motion to them. I began to think about playing them live.
Last night the band and I had a dry run of our set at a little club with a nice stage and great sound. Although there were only a few people there, the performance was electric. The feeling of being onstage again- finally under my own name and playing exclusively my original material- was exhilarating. I had found my center. Afterward, we packed up and went home. I coasted into bed peacefully. And for the first time since I can remember, when my head hit the pillow, I heard nothing but silence. I slipped into dream…
…Susannah and I were making love in a clear shallow pond with koi… orange koi swimming all around us…
