Talk to Me, Baby, Hear Me When I Say Everything That I Ever Done

Hello? Hello! Thank you, dear ones, for your support as I celebrate a big milestone this week: the publication of my debut novel, “The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers.” Today, I’m in North Carolina, and I’m a little tired and emotional but so grateful for all of you and everyone who has helped me along the way. In particular, this week I want to shine a light on Joshua Grange, an artist and friend I admire, who gifted me a gorgeous original song for the audiobook of my new novel. This is the story of how we got here.  

Today’s pick: “What Would California Do?” by Joshua Grange, from the audiobook of “The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers”

When I met Joshua Grange at the iconic (at least for me) New West Records holiday party in 2009, he was a session guitar and pedal steel player. That winter, he was touring and recording with Dwight Yoakam and k.d. lang. I was still doing a bit of music journalism, and so our worlds overlapped, and we had friends and venues in common.

He came to see me read at my friend Steffie’s literary salon, Little Birds. And I caught the barn burner of a rockabilly set he and other members of Dwight’s band threw down at Joe’s in Burbank, Calif., where I danced at the front of the stage with legendary writer Pamela Des Barres. Josh and I hung out at his home studio in Eagle Rock, me writing poetry on the couch while he practiced pedal steel or piano. Pedal steel is a magical instrument that, when played with as much finesse as he brings to it, proves how much of music is nonverbal, intuitive. It’s an artistic communion of sorts: pure feeling transmuted from the hands and heart of an artist with a special affinity for emoting, to the ears of a listener who has emotions to burn.

We emailed each other — he from the road and me from a writing retreat in Marfa, Texas, where I worked on my first (unpublished) novel, “Because the Night,” for the last time before tucking it away in a drawer. At some point he sent me one of his originals — a perfect, gorgeous song. Years later, when my audiobook team suggested we commission a track that, in the story of my novel, would have been written by Midnight Ramblers guitarist Dante for his great love Anke, I thought of Josh’s song. He told me, if he were moved by my book, he would do something for it. When he was, he gave me the song as a gift after reworking it to feel more like’s Dante’s high-desert vibe.

The song is cinematic and cool, with a slouchy grace that is very much the energy of its creator, who plays all of the instruments on the recording, which Josh made at his new home studio in Nashville. It exudes the dreamy, sun-dappled romance of Laurel Canyon and Joshua Tree, and the sage-scented, cosmic landscapes of our collective Southern California consciousness. It is tender but assured, with a classic rhythm that evokes Buddy Holly and J.J. Cale. It’s overlaid by a counterpoint of shuffling and twangy guitar that finally stretches out into a languid, bluesy slide solo that is very “You’ve Got the Silver,” a ’70s Rolling Stones song co-written and sung by Keith Richards, which was a major inspiration when I was writing Dante and Anke’s love story. As music can be, it is nostalgic yet timeless, full of a grace that lives on beyond the season in which it first resonated, echoing out with renewed layers of feeling. For me, it symbolizes the artistic gifts of the dear friends who inspired and lifted me up over the decades it took me to finally get here: my debut novel.  

Please sing along to a song that fills your heart up with an old friend. Love, the Duchess

P.S. Keith Richards photo credit: Michael Cooper.

In book news:

My debut novel, “The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers,” was released Feb. 13, from Flatiron Books. Come say hello in Boston, Brooklyn, Phoenix, or Tucson. (Book tour details)  

Read my essay about the inspiration for my character Anke on Salon.com.

Listen to my interview for Lori & Julia’s Book Club on myTalk107.1.