NO SUMMER FOR OLD WAZ

photo credit: Matt Bradford

Hello again!

Somehow another month has passed, and I’m a changed woman. Three consecutive weeks of band practice will do that to you. I am now a part of the brand-new live band configuration of Sylvan Esso; my bandmates and I have now played 2 out of 5 shows of their ongoing residency at Sid the Cat Auditorium here in LA. You’d better believe the band, crew + team are feeling a bit raw. It takes such an enormous amount of effort on so many fronts to bring a band into being from nothing, and to pull off an event at this scale. But we’re in the home stretch, and some well-earned rest is right around the corner. Before that, three more wild and weird shows—wish us luck. (We are also going on tour in the fall—come see and say hi!)

Being in a band is such a uniquely beautiful, complex and sacred relationship between humans. For me it has served an important function in my life, a sort of chosen family that has helped me make sense of my strange life at its lowest points. Building something as a team, suffering through the difficult and thankless initial stages, sharing close quarters constantly, and eventually getting to share the thing you’ve worked so hard on with the world—it’s a constant stream of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It’s exhausting, addictive and one of the great joys of my life, every single time.

Which reminds me! As soon as this gig is over, I’m doing it all over again, essentially immediately—playing bass in Jacob Ungerleider’s band at Healing Force of the Universe on June 28th. It’s the ALBUM RELEASE show for Congratulations, which is the very first record on my new label, 2 Heads, and we’re playing the record in full. One of my favorite LA-based songwriters (and, frankly, favorite songwriters, period) Rose Droll is opening the night. It’s a total dream show for me. If you live in LA, please please come! Tell your LA-based friends! Buy advance tickets here! I know it’s hard to leave the house sometimes—trust me, I’m a homebody at heart—but I can promise you that this show will be worth the effort. Seriously. Don’t miss it.

Oh! And meanwhile, over at Patreon: I’ll be releasing songs from our recent duo performance at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, VA. A new song every few weeks, until I run out of songs! Follow along here if you’d like. Thanks, as always to everyone helping me keep the lights on and keep my head (and heart) above water.

(photo credit: JP Parker)

Gratefully, as always,

JW