If you haven’t downloaded the free rb Christmas mini-album, then you may be wondering how giraffes, zombies, and hot chocolate are all related. You might still be wondering that after downloading and listening, but at least you’ll be able to say you tried.
Happy Holidays and all that!
The Bröötal Sun Fest 2012 line-up was recently revealed, including, I am super excited to say, rushmore beekeepers! I’ll be performing alongside many, many wonderful bands from all around, some of which I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage with in Tucson, AZ, Cedar City, UT, and here in Las Vegas, NV. This great adventure is taking place from March 9th to 11th in Tucson, AZ. You can find out more about the fest on Facebook, and you should probably go ahead and like the page so you can keep updated; although, I assure you, you’ll be hearing plenty about it from me.
And what’s this? Why, it’s the free rushmore beekeepers christmas mini-album you haven’t downloaded yet!
Performing in a comic book store was never on my list of must-do life goals (I don’t really have one of those), but it’s not like I haven’t fantasized about it, and when my friend Michelle asked me to perform at the first Alternate Reality Comics Artist Spotlight opening reception, there was no hiding the excitement. So I played, and we all had a great time.
Local poet Harry Fagel performed as well, spoken word full of sometimes serious and sometimes hilarious observations, with much of the material coming from his experience as a police officer. His delivery (and his work) is strong and honest, and he is also a great guy.
The art display itself was fantastic, featuring the works of locals Keri Schroeder and Gilbert Hernandez. The awesome dedication of Alternate Reality Comics to devote a section of their store to an art display is inspiring and encouraging in a city where art fights hard to be seen. If you live here or visit, you should go there and be amazed. The store has anything you could ever want (if not, they always have great recommendations in any genre), and you will always be treated like a friend. Oh, and did I mention Ralph proposed to his wife Kate in the comic book Preacher? How cool is that!
Oh, I almost forgot; you can watch my performance and pretend you were there, thanks to Punks in Vegas:
If you are making a digital scrapbook of everything RB, their blog entry is right here.
Shortly after I finished my set, I went to thank Ralph and he grabbed Daytripper off the shelf and said “I want to give this to you, I think you’ll really like it,” in his super nice voice and demeanor that is guaranteed to make you want to give him a big hug and bawl like a little baby at the genuine unconditional kindness that somehow exists in the world. He was right about Daytripper; it is thoughtful and beautiful, and you should read it.
Amanda Hawkins shot this video at the CD release show for throwing mud at your streetlight in October 2009. (She also happened to design this website, as well as the album artwork.)
If you’d like to compare, which I always find interesting, here’s the band-sounding album version:
Ever since Carrie and I first talked about moving to Las Vegas, I’ve been excited about being so close to the Joshua Tree National Monument. I know it’s a unique area full of natural wonder, but the real reason I always wanted to go is that is was the site of Gram Parsons’s cremation.
At some point, Carrie discovered the Joshua Tree Inn; Gram Parsons not only had a dedicated room, but it was also the room in which he died. For my birthday, she reserved us that room and planned a weekend trip out there. It’s an amazing place; still the desert, but different than the desert we’re used to: Joshua Trees with crazy arms growing in wild directions, rocks that look like skulls, and the most threatening cacti I’ve seen.
After telling a visitors center employee our reason for the trip, he drew us a map to Gram’s cremation site. I hadn’t planned on being able to visit it, so this was incredibly exciting to me. We stopped throughout the park for short walks and pictures; after passing it a couple times we found Cap Rock, the site of Gram’s cremation. It was quite an experience being there; the messages in the rock had been recently sand-blasted into oblivion and the altar was moved to the Joshua Tree Inn, but just being there was amazing. As the nice visitors center guy said, it was the perfect spot to set a body on fire and keep it out of the wind.
(Let’s take a moment, recognize this may be considered slightly morbid, and move on.)
The innkeeper, Marsu, was incredibly nice and had all kinds of information about the area and the things we should see; we went to Pioneertown, which looked exactly like you’d imagine, and met some nice people who did amazing woodwork and small crafts. We saw a fantastic San Diego-based alt-country band called Sara Petite and the Sugar Daddies at Pappy and Harriet’s, the last of the great pioneertown bars, with great food and iced tea in mason jars.
Gram’s room was kept as I’d picture it in the 1970s, while decorated with Gram Parsons posters, relevant newspaper articles, a string of white Christmas lights, and an amazingly enormous guestbook. The door to the back patio was “gold-plated,” just like the door in The Flying Burrito Brothers’ “Sin City.” The altar from Cap Rock had been relocated a few steps outside our room, and it was nice to see it every time we opened the door.
I wish I had a cool ghost story to go along with this.
Gram’s Altar at the Joshua Tree Inn
“A gold-plated door won’t keep out the lord’s burning rain.”
Indie folk/electro folk duo rushmore beekeepers cover all the pivotal themes in life: love, adventure, impermanence, and occasionally the apocalypse.
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