Ladies and Gentlemen, I've been
listening to the first mixes of my record. I’m glad that there are no big
things to change, and I’m really hoping to have everything knocked out and
ready to go by next month. We shall see if the universe cooperates with me.
That aside, I’ve been collaborating
with a lovely and very skilled dancer for months now. I’ve been using my Vacant
Outlet Tour setup to provide music while she moves. The whole thing is
improvised, which has been a great challenge and tremendous fun.
We’re going to OFFICIALLY be
debuting this thing on June 7th at Wide Open Floor. Usually, our
intergalactic jams are pretty epic in scope and length, but it’s been
interesting to work within a timeframe of eight minutes. We’ve linked up a few
times to try it out, and we’ve actually been able to translate everything
without a problem. If you bring yourselves to next month’s Wide Open Floor, I
promise that we’ll give you something to see and hear. You’ve got Your Friendly
Neighborhood Christian’s guarantee!
Switching gears, this past Friday
night, I had an unbelievable experience. I met with someone to talk about the
layout for my EP, then made my way to The Hunter to hear Mr. Whitfield Lovell
speak. He has a new installation at the museum that is PHENOMENAL, and
he touched on it, the history of his work, etc. It gave me a good number of
things to roll over.
From there, I left for Nightfall,
where Cody ChesnuTT was going to be playing. Cody’s The Headphone
Masterpiece absolutely helped me get through college (yeah, I said it). When
I was in my first year of school in Tampa,
I was the only person of color in the writing program (I think I was for all
four years, actually). In my second semester, I ended up getting accused of
plagiarism by a professor, and Finding Forrester kind of became my life
for a little bit.
As fate would have it, Cody made
this beautifully human record where he talked about being the only Black guy in
a rock band, overcoming adversity, having confidence, flair, etc. and it really
resonated with me. That album helped me develop tougher skin and not feel so
alone.
So, as the rain was falling
downtown, I stood at the front of the stage as Cody and his band came out and
kicked out the jams. I sang along to each joint from the new record, and immediately
after the show, Cody’s manager came up to me and thanked me for singing along. She
said that she was going to hook me up with a copy of the record, have him sign
it for me, and that she wanted the two of us to talk for a little bit. Huzzah!
I was in another galaxy, brothers and sisters. Could. Not. Believe it.
Well, that’s all I’ve got for you
lovely peeps today. I shall be in touch soon. In the meantime, stay cool, and
if you’re in or around Chattanooga,
make sure to pop by The Hunter to check out the Whitfield exhibit. You can
thank me later.
Blessings