cabin boys and girls
Folks,
A couple years back I reviewed a Loudon Wainwright III record for a cool website called TalkHouse where musicians review other musicians’ records and actually get paid a little scratch. And my rap on Loudon’s record was that even though there’s been a tsunami of memoirs from aging musicians who can’t seem to resist grabbing the mic and settling some scores, not to mention a boatload of others looking to cash in while there are still books, thankfully we haven’t had one from Loudon. Someone who’s been content to write and sing his memoirs on LP since the ’70s. And nobody else mines details of daily life quite like Loudon.
Well . . . not so fast. I guess Loudon was determined to prove me wrong. He just put out a book of memoirs and essays or whatever called “Liner Notes: On Parents & Children, Exes & Excess, Death & Decay, & a Few of My Other Favorite Things.”
So, when Litquake here in SF booked him for an event they reached out to me to interview him onstage. And it was a hoot. Among other things, I ask Loudon if “Motel Blues” ever got him any action and he accuses me of being a “new Dylan.” You can now listen to our chat in this Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/ydxpdocg
Meanwhile, we’re not folding up the tent any day soon. There are a couple SOLO shows coming up in Martinez, CA, and Tucson, AZ, followed by a mess of tour dates in the Southeast with the great Bottle Rockets. Plus, dig this cabin boys and girls: Me and the Mission Express are doing our first cruise. See Gigsville below for all the up-to-the-minute deets.
What else? I got a Day-Glo backpack! Yessir. James was once asked to describe me in one word. And he said, “Oh that’s easy. He’s a loser.” In other words, I’m a person who loses things. It kind of hurt my feelings when he said that. I don’t know why. Mostly because it’s true, I guess. I am a loser. I am a person who loses things. But that’s all going to change now that I have this impossible-to-leave-behind yellow Day-Glo backpack. Chuck Y2K! No more panicking before I go onstage. Because I’ll always know where my toothbrush is. And like James, I never go onstage until I “whack the grill.”
Onwards,
–CP
PS: It’s true. We’re playing a cruise. I’m kind of trying to get my head around it. All seriousness aside, I think it could be pretty cool. But it does make me wonder how ridiculous this would’ve seemed at one time. Does this mean that soon we’ll be playing nursing homes? I hope not. Sounds like good fun. Hope to see some of you there.
