

It’s time for NERFA. Wednesday morning I drove into Catonsville and landed all up in my rob hole at around 5.30 in the morning. I climbed into bed, woke briefly as Kristen left for the store, woke briefly as mOsno came home and then slept till 11. I got up and ran some errands, picking up fingerpicks and 9 volts and Sharpies… you know, the stuff that keeps me going. I came home, ate some of Amy’s chili and practiced a bit with Kristen before one last Love affair with my bed….

8am: Peter Gabriel’s “Mercy Street” comes drifting through my dreams – something about very public restrooms (I dream about bathrooms a lot – I don’t WANT to know what this means) and consciousness, unwelcome, intrudes. It’s time to get up, do the last-minute pack which apparently involves forgetting my EZPass, kick the weasel loose and get a move on.
It’s time for NERFA. 29 hours after rolling in, I’m rolling out again. Minus the Mackies, plus a cellist. We pick up Heather from Owings Mills, pick up coffee and arrow up I-83 and on up to Kerhonkson, NY. I was worried about the weather and even this morning’s forecast for our travels was reporting grey skies and the possibility of freezing rain, but the drive has proven to be surprisingly beautiful. The only snow is already on the ground, hidden in shadows where icicles cling to cliff faces. The skies have been crystal blue and the clouds have that fine, sharply-defined look of cold-weather beasts far up in the atmosphere.
I’m listening to Noel the Coward, Tool and Jethro Tull and Rage Against the Machine – an awkward mix that begs for compression but it’s good to hear these things caress my ears before a weekend of folk-stuff. We’re going to hear a LOT of incredible music, but it’s going to be a whole lot of acoustic guitar and pristine recording – and sometimes I just want the fuzz of shitty 4-track recording and rough bootlegs – and by Sunday afternoon I’m going to be craving a nasty rectifier-distorted guitar creaking it’s sawtooth gain into the world.
I would never trade what I do – but I know sometimes I just need something to FEED BACK! (though hopefully not during MY performance).
The colours of the clouds as the sun sets behind us are heartachingly beautiful even as my skull is dully thudding from a headache I’ve had all day. It’s right behind my eyes and probably has something to do with maladjusted glasses. Sigh. There’s going to be a dentist at NERFA, but no optometrist. That’s got to wait until I’m home again. 10 days and counting. I’m just fine waiting. We’ve got about three new towns that we’ve never been to on the list – and Niagara Falls! Twrr.