Notes From The Road (as requested by Soren)

The night before I left for Ireland I could not sleep. I know a flower and could not stop thinking. I have not felt this empty in a very long time... this feeling would, would only expand with every failure:

1) minor cab accident

2) late for flight

3) late for connection

4) weather conditions holding planes for future flights

5) elderly woman gets mugged 

6) lost luggage

and to boot, two nights spent at JFK International Terminal #5

This whole time the big empty inside me kept expanding... I realized I had not eaten since I was in Los Angeles two days ago. I grabbed a cold sandwich from the magazine store and ate quickly. Not a good idea. I threw up on my boots whilst attempting to sort out things with the ticket agent... then the tears- I was shamed by a ten or eleven year old girl wearing pink in her hair and traveling by herself when she gave me a tissue and told me to wipe my face. I met an old man who was retired and he too spent the night at the airport. He told me that I had sad eyes and I should not waste any more time traveling alone, "find a flower to share this with." 

I began to think about all the time spent in my room listening to Mississippi John Hurt and how I wanted to know what he knew, all the sounds, words, and stories, the time spent woodshedding, then all the failures I've encountered, all the minor lifts and misunderstanding, the almost... 

The miles start to add up and I feel like I'm chasing a ghost, and how did I become one-

the desserts, the glaciers, the flats, the prairies, the mountains, the oceans.

I got to Dublin but my bags did not. Lucky for me I always travel with my National so I could at least perform a set at the Westport Festival. I’ve been up for three days now and can't find my driver, after an hour and a half of waiting outside he finds me. The driver puts me on the phone with one of the organizers and she and everyone else is a bit livid with me. It’s a three-hour drive from Dublin to Westport and I'm smiling because the driver is genuine and there is lush green all around me and I didn't give up. I get to the hotel, shower, and get picked up once more to the festival grounds. The driver says he thinks he might recognize me and continues to guess. I tell the driver, I’m a busker, a blues man, a traveler who's a slave to melody who might perform sonic experiments on the spot, it’s very complicated, I had things, I lost things, I gave things up, now I have something else, or it’s what I've always had... he says I should try to get more sleep, and lets me out. Absolute truth, the sun broke through clouds and I was able to play, I felt like myself again for an instant- everyone was lovely and later I loomed around the manner hall where Keats, amongst other profound thinkers, were known to visit- got back to hotel to find that the airline had destroyed my bags, they were soaking wet and in pieces...

I arrived in London and played at the Bedford. I found a bit of ritual and I felt like myself again for an instant playing music catching up with friends- all my love goes out to Jay and Lillie, Nialle, Julian and Laura, Sharon, Lucy and ... 

I broke a golden rule, which I regret: Do Not Bring More Than You Can Carry! I brought a suitcase full of records! Can buskers do that? Big Hearts, little Luggage! All the pages in my passport are stamped and I guess I'll figure that out as well- I usually don't write about my travels for good reason but I was invited to write a little something and maybe someone might find that their lot is not so bad after all. 

Next I’m off to meet the Magnetic Zeros for a tramp around Europe- these are the dates: 

Date: July 06, 2012

Venue: Melkweg
Address: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Comments: supporting Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Date: July 07, 2012
Venue: Katine
Address: Cologne, Germany
Comments: supporting Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zero

Date: July 09, 2012Venue: Le TranbendoAddress: Paris, FranceComments: supporting Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Date: July 16, 2012
Venue: Leeds Irish Centre
Comments: supporting Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Date: July 17, 2012
Venue: Olympia Theatre
Address: Dublin, Ireland
Comments: supporting Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Date: July 19, 2012
Venue: Manchester Cathedral
Address: Manchester, UK
Comments: supporting Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

Date: July 20, 2012
Venue: Secret Garden Party
Address: East Anglia, United Kingdom
Comments: solo set & playing with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

I've noticed that the geography has maintained but the neighborhoods have changed. A particular person can effect the the way we see a new place. I believe in the power of a busker, limited, mobile, listening for the mystery each place posses, falling in love over and over again, every medium matters, every contradiction, elevating dark corners, keeping both sides alive, revealing one another.

I expressed the lives of these places in 'Drugs 'n Hymns' which is due out march sixth. I will also share thirty five millimeter photos of hands that have been documented in a book appropriately titled 'The Drugs 'n Hymns Hand Book.'

Charlie, Keisha, Julie and I are also making homemade slides and shirts for next year- they search for quality in all they do- very shortly there will be a page to find all this business-
Bless-

the gods have spoken and they desire light-
they are looking for bringers of light to aid
the hairpin cosmic shift, the next, the turn-
they require the love of a gardner-
this is the great work-
i watch the delicate work
as they carry food over the shoulders,
as they
smile into the darkest night,
into the many rooms-
i have been with many planes, trains,
boats, undergrounds, busses, cabs, bikes, shoes,
bare feet, and wheel barrel in order to get a glimpse
of the flowers who are in blossom, the brave
who live on the fringes of time-
a new hour is here and im once again
with the streets and souls of the pacific-

in memory of Klaus- a man of letters

Last stand in London

Last stand in London will be at the Regal Room in Hamersmith on April 28th- all are welcome-

London is something to see when the sun comes out from her cave and shines on her city- from shorditch to regents park and in every corner a humble celebration takes place- not just the royal wedding or long easter weekend, but the ability to sit on sunlit curbs with a red stripe,
A rolled smoke and witness the effortless cool- to walk through whistlers staircases or purchase bagels as the morning advances on brick lane- curry on the streets or installations of White gowns that hang over cold black water -evenings with dub step records and folk icons barley remembered, listening in studios to old and new friends who are about release new material- drives in the country, sleeping in stone houses with thatch roofs- Playing with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the Old Vic Tunnels- documenting sounds and songs in eleventh century castles- my faith in humanity restored with Niall, liz, Julian, Laura,Sharon,Marns, Nienka, Rien- tubes, busses, feet, and astral projection for transport-

I will do some Snake Oil Salesman Nights 'SOS' at the R-Bar on Fridays from Korea Town in Los Angeles for May, then Off to support Daniel Lanois and the Black Dub for another tour-

Rocco's Blog 8/10

In Austin we:
saved a baby
witnessed the dark sermon of Bob Dylan
played everyday and night
Fell in love with music again
watched the sun come up every morning
sweated
the Austin sun
swam in the eerily cold water of Barton Springs
broke into swimming holes
encountered the incredible forward thinking, radical, vinyl spinning souls at Justine's
(thank you Pierre, Justine, Jardine, and everyone else, this trip is impossible without you)
thanks to the Pub
lived in a 1950's Spartan trailer for a week
documented with tape recorder and A1
camera

Now tripping back to Los Angeles on a twenty-three hour non-stop burn-
The pacific awaits- We look forward to playing a couple of residencies from the south to the north (times and locations to be revealed soon)

Field recording experiments and folk shows in Europe are hopeful if all comes together- reaching out to friendly's now!

Bless,
rocco

Rocco's Blog 7/7/10

Bryan and myself drove three days before the full moon from Los Angeles to Portland- we stopped in Oakland and we began to document- I've been collecting stories concerning the supernatural on an A1 camera and four-track cassette deck- our version of field recordings (praise Alan Lomax for documenting the priceless treasure of the human spirit)- I'm never quite sure what to do with these materials but I have a good feeling about them-
Blind Willie Johnson has been on my mind- his voice came over the airwaves by some sudden stroke of luck and I melted in my seat- Angels running from heaven to the physical world and full moons, volcanoes in Iceland, New Orleans, all this information, I’m sorting it out, normal bias cassettes from radio shack-
I would like to thank my friends in Germany, France, Norway, Scotland and other great neighborhoods on the other side of the pond for your kind words and actions-
I will be tripping down to Austin to play a few dates in late July- I will continue to participate in a residency on Monday nights at the Saxon Pub for the month of August-