Summer in the city… (July 17, 2008)

… is really hot.

There was a fire today across the street. After sticking some strawberry bread in the oven I was lying on the floor in front of the fan, trying to visualize ice – or turn myself into it – and the street filled with sirens… and then more sirens… really close… I jerked up, thinking that maybe my strawberry bread was under attack (the oven in the new apartment and I are still getting to know each other), but she was not the cause of the emergency. I popped my head out the window and no less than EIGHT fire engines were lining my street, along with four or five cruisers and an ambulance! I was shocked that eight trucks could even fit on my street.

I imagine I looked something like this:

(and when the action started to dwindle…)

Though I didn’t have anyone to take self-portraits with, I did get to meet my neighbor and her beautiful plants out on the fire escape. I took a bunch of pictures for my sister, who feels for fireman as I do for musicians. And, yes, there is an undeniable allure:

Fortunately no one needed to be rescued – I don’t think anyone was home. Apparently the people in that building have jobs or something… hmm. A couple windows suffered dearly and I’m sure someone is going to need new wallpaper – what an awful thing to come home to. I was very impressed with the NYFD response. And dear god they must have been hot.

The past couple weeks have flown – catching up with a lot of old friends and meeting new ones. I’ve written a few new songs I’m excited about… and I am still in love with my apartment, the oven that it is. I leave water in the tub all day and dunk my head periodically. On the subject of heat, the men in Manhattan have gotten significantly cuter since I last lived here – right now I’m in a cafe and my laptop is strategically positioned so that I can discretely admire one of the most beautiful creatures ever to eat vegan pancakes. It’s almost painful. Who knew a mohawk could be so angelic?

I went to see The Bacchae at Lincoln Center last week to chill out and get uptown for a few hours. Visually, it was fantastic and very inventive – Alan Cumming was masterful – but I struggled with the synthesized music and I agree with The Times that the tragic ending was abrupt (and yet seemed to drag on and on – we know you killed your son! Stop whining and get back to the wine!) Anyway, above is a picture I snapped of the Allen Room beforehand.

Lastly, here are a couple pictures of me playing on the Telluride main stage. They were taken by one of the incredible festival organizers of Planet Bluegrass. I just found out that I am one of ten finalists (out of nearly 700 entries!) in the Folks Festival next month, which means I’ll be heading back to Colorado to play with Jakob Dylan (and possibly marry him so that I may finally reunite with my daddy), Josh Ritter, Patty Griffin, KT Tunstall, Amos Lee, and lots of other wonderful musicians.

A lot of you have sent me links to pictures that you’ve taken at shows – thank you! I am going to devote a section of the site to photos by you, so if you have any feel free to send me a link (no attachments, please)! Stay cool and see you soon.

Summer in the city… (July 17, 2008)

… is really hot.

There was a fire today across the street. After sticking some strawberry bread in the oven I was lying on the floor in front of the fan, trying to visualize ice – or turn myself into it – and the street filled with sirens… and then more sirens… really close… I jerked up, thinking that maybe my strawberry bread was under attack (the oven in the new apartment and I are still getting to know each other), but she was not the cause of the emergency. I popped my head out the window and no less than EIGHT fire engines were lining my street, along with four or five cruisers and an ambulance! I was shocked that eight trucks could even fit on my street.

I imagine I looked something like this:

(and when the action started to dwindle…)

Though I didn’t have anyone to take self-portraits with, I did get to meet my neighbor and her beautiful plants out on the fire escape. I took a bunch of pictures for my sister, who feels for fireman as I do for musicians. And, yes, there is an undeniable allure:

Fortunately no one needed to be rescued – I don’t think anyone was home. Apparently the people in that building have jobs or something… hmm. A couple windows suffered dearly and I’m sure someone is going to need new wallpaper – what an awful thing to come home to. I was very impressed with the NYFD response. And dear god they must have been hot.

The past couple weeks have flown – catching up with a lot of old friends and meeting new ones. I’ve written a few new songs I’m excited about… and I am still in love with my apartment, the oven that it is. I leave water in the tub all day and dunk my head periodically. On the subject of heat, the men in Manhattan have gotten significantly cuter since I last lived here – right now I’m in a cafe and my laptop is strategically positioned so that I can discretely admire one of the most beautiful creatures ever to eat vegan pancakes. It’s almost painful. Who knew a mohawk could be so angelic?

I went to see The Bacchae at Lincoln Center last week to chill out and get uptown for a few hours. Visually, it was fantastic and very inventive – Alan Cumming was masterful – but I struggled with the synthesized music and I agree with The Times that the tragic ending was abrupt (and yet seemed to drag on and on – we know you killed your son! Stop whining and get back to the wine!) Anyway, above is a picture I snapped of the Allen Room beforehand.

Lastly, here are a couple pictures of me playing on the Telluride main stage. They were taken by one of the incredible festival organizers of Planet Bluegrass. I just found out that I am one of ten finalists (out of nearly 700 entries!) in the Folks Festival next month, which means I’ll be heading back to Colorado to play with Jakob Dylan (and possibly marry him so that I may finally reunite with my daddy), Josh Ritter, Patty Griffin, KT Tunstall, Amos Lee, and lots of other wonderful musicians.

A lot of you have sent me links to pictures that you’ve taken at shows – thank you! I am going to devote a section of the site to photos by you, so if you have any feel free to send me a link (no attachments, please)! Stay cool and see you soon.

Summer in the city… (July 17, 2008)

… is really hot.

There was a fire today across the street. After sticking some strawberry bread in the oven I was lying on the floor in front of the fan, trying to visualize ice – or turn myself into it – and the street filled with sirens… and then more sirens… really close… I jerked up, thinking that maybe my strawberry bread was under attack (the oven in the new apartment and I are still getting to know each other), but she was not the cause of the emergency. I popped my head out the window and no less than EIGHT fire engines were lining my street, along with four or five cruisers and an ambulance! I was shocked that eight trucks could even fit on my street.

I imagine I looked something like this:

(and when the action started to dwindle…)

Though I didn’t have anyone to take self-portraits with, I did get to meet my neighbor and her beautiful plants out on the fire escape. I took a bunch of pictures for my sister, who feels for fireman as I do for musicians. And, yes, there is an undeniable allure:

Fortunately no one needed to be rescued – I don’t think anyone was home. Apparently the people in that building have jobs or something… hmm. A couple windows suffered dearly and I’m sure someone is going to need new wallpaper – what an awful thing to come home to. I was very impressed with the NYFD response. And dear god they must have been hot.

The past couple weeks have flown – catching up with a lot of old friends and meeting new ones. I’ve written a few new songs I’m excited about… and I am still in love with my apartment, the oven that it is. I leave water in the tub all day and dunk my head periodically. On the subject of heat, the men in Manhattan have gotten significantly cuter since I last lived here – right now I’m in a cafe and my laptop is strategically positioned so that I can discretely admire one of the most beautiful creatures ever to eat vegan pancakes. It’s almost painful. Who knew a mohawk could be so angelic?

I went to see The Bacchae at Lincoln Center last week to chill out and get uptown for a few hours. Visually, it was fantastic and very inventive – Alan Cumming was masterful – but I struggled with the synthesized music and I agree with The Times that the tragic ending was abrupt (and yet seemed to drag on and on – we know you killed your son! Stop whining and get back to the wine!) Anyway, above is a picture I snapped of the Allen Room beforehand.

Lastly, here are a couple pictures of me playing on the Telluride main stage. They were taken by one of the incredible festival organizers of Planet Bluegrass. I just found out that I am one of ten finalists (out of nearly 700 entries!) in the Folks Festival next month, which means I’ll be heading back to Colorado to play with Jakob Dylan (and possibly marry him so that I may finally reunite with my daddy), Josh Ritter, Patty Griffin, KT Tunstall, Amos Lee, and lots of other wonderful musicians.

A lot of you have sent me links to pictures that you’ve taken at shows – thank you! I am going to devote a section of the site to photos by you, so if you have any feel free to send me a link (no attachments, please)! Stay cool and see you soon.

Summer in the city… (July 17, 2008)

… is really hot.

There was a fire today across the street. After sticking some strawberry bread in the oven I was lying on the floor in front of the fan, trying to visualize ice – or turn myself into it – and the street filled with sirens… and then more sirens… really close… I jerked up, thinking that maybe my strawberry bread was under attack (the oven in the new apartment and I are still getting to know each other), but she was not the cause of the emergency. I popped my head out the window and no less than EIGHT fire engines were lining my street, along with four or five cruisers and an ambulance! I was shocked that eight trucks could even fit on my street.

I imagine I looked something like this:

(and when the action started to dwindle…)

Though I didn’t have anyone to take self-portraits with, I did get to meet my neighbor and her beautiful plants out on the fire escape. I took a bunch of pictures for my sister, who feels for fireman as I do for musicians. And, yes, there is an undeniable allure:

Fortunately no one needed to be rescued – I don’t think anyone was home. Apparently the people in that building have jobs or something… hmm. A couple windows suffered dearly and I’m sure someone is going to need new wallpaper – what an awful thing to come home to. I was very impressed with the NYFD response. And dear god they must have been hot.

The past couple weeks have flown – catching up with a lot of old friends and meeting new ones. I’ve written a few new songs I’m excited about… and I am still in love with my apartment, the oven that it is. I leave water in the tub all day and dunk my head periodically. On the subject of heat, the men in Manhattan have gotten significantly cuter since I last lived here – right now I’m in a cafe and my laptop is strategically positioned so that I can discretely admire one of the most beautiful creatures ever to eat vegan pancakes. It’s almost painful. Who knew a mohawk could be so angelic?

I went to see The Bacchae at Lincoln Center last week to chill out and get uptown for a few hours. Visually, it was fantastic and very inventive – Alan Cumming was masterful – but I struggled with the synthesized music and I agree with The Times that the tragic ending was abrupt (and yet seemed to drag on and on – we know you killed your son! Stop whining and get back to the wine!) Anyway, above is a picture I snapped of the Allen Room beforehand.

Lastly, here are a couple pictures of me playing on the Telluride main stage. They were taken by one of the incredible festival organizers of Planet Bluegrass. I just found out that I am one of ten finalists (out of nearly 700 entries!) in the Folks Festival next month, which means I’ll be heading back to Colorado to play with Jakob Dylan (and possibly marry him so that I may finally reunite with my daddy), Josh Ritter, Patty Griffin, KT Tunstall, Amos Lee, and lots of other wonderful musicians.

A lot of you have sent me links to pictures that you’ve taken at shows – thank you! I am going to devote a section of the site to photos by you, so if you have any feel free to send me a link (no attachments, please)! Stay cool and see you soon.

Atlantis (July 4, 2008)

It turns out that the hardest part of touring is parking the car. I’ve been in CT for a full week and I’m still spinning. The brakes are engaged and below the deafening screeches I feel the anticipation of stillness, but not before a loud, jerky drawn-out stop.

So I’ve spent the past few days weeding out – you can see above I’ve been tackling the front of my mom’s house. I also spent a day purging my belongings. Now all of my clothes fit nicely in one suitcase. The Goodwill pile makes the wheelbarrow above look like a handful of dandelions by comparison. After getting rid of so much stuff I still had… so much stuff. It’s eye-opening to realize how little I really “need” – my perspective has changed having lived out of the car for the past six months. Of course the book collection is still embarrassing, but these things take time. (On the subject of weeds, I recommend this article from last Sunday’s Times).

Independence Day has been swirling around my head a lot this week, too. I have always loved the Fourth of July because it’s really the only summer holiday, and the only holiday involving fresh berries and a picnic at the beach. It has felt different in recent years, though. This year especially. I’ve never been a big fan of fireworks – something about cheering at explosions in the sky while people are being bombed to oblivion in other parts of the world doesn’t feel right. I don’t mean to ruin your barbeque. I understand the importance of acknowledging our nation’s independence and the people who made/make that independence possible. But we have a lot of work ahead of us and I don’t know about you, but it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by all of it.

With this in mind, I just posted a live version of “Atlantis” along with a few other downloads at the Virb site. They were recorded at KRFC in Ft. Collins two weeks ago. Here are also a few pictures taken between Colorado and home. Home, by the way, is going to be back in NYC starting tomorrow! I found my dream apartment within hours of being back, and I’m both thrilled and terrified by the prospect of being in one place for a year. Of course I know better than to think that I won’t be traveling sooner than that… I found out last night that “Atlantis” is one of five finalists in the Great Waters Song Contest, so I’ll be playing Great Waters Music Festival in New Hampshire in a few weeks. I’m going to try to stay local for the rest of 2008 so that I can recharge and tend to the waves crashing in my head.

Atlantis (July 4, 2008)

It turns out that the hardest part of touring is parking the car. I’ve been in CT for a full week and I’m still spinning. The brakes are engaged and below the deafening screeches I feel the anticipation of stillness, but not before a loud, jerky drawn-out stop.

So I’ve spent the past few days weeding out – you can see above I’ve been tackling the front of my mom’s house. I also spent a day purging my belongings. Now all of my clothes fit nicely in one suitcase. The Goodwill pile makes the wheelbarrow above look like a handful of dandelions by comparison. After getting rid of so much stuff I still had… so much stuff. It’s eye-opening to realize how little I really “need” – my perspective has changed having lived out of the car for the past six months. Of course the book collection is still embarrassing, but these things take time. (On the subject of weeds, I recommend this article from last Sunday’s Times).

Independence Day has been swirling around my head a lot this week, too. I have always loved the Fourth of July because it’s really the only summer holiday, and the only holiday involving fresh berries and a picnic at the beach. It has felt different in recent years, though. This year especially. I’ve never been a big fan of fireworks – something about cheering at explosions in the sky while people are being bombed to oblivion in other parts of the world doesn’t feel right. I don’t mean to ruin your barbeque. I understand the importance of acknowledging our nation’s independence and the people who made/make that independence possible. But we have a lot of work ahead of us and I don’t know about you, but it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by all of it.

With this in mind, I just posted a live version of “Atlantis” along with a few other downloads at the Virb site. They were recorded at KRFC in Ft. Collins two weeks ago. Here are also a few pictures taken between Colorado and home. Home, by the way, is going to be back in NYC starting tomorrow! I found my dream apartment within hours of being back, and I’m both thrilled and terrified by the prospect of being in one place for a year. Of course I know better than to think that I won’t be traveling sooner than that… I found out last night that “Atlantis” is one of five finalists in the Great Waters Song Contest, so I’ll be playing Great Waters Music Festival in New Hampshire in a few weeks. I’m going to try to stay local for the rest of 2008 so that I can recharge and tend to the waves crashing in my head.

Atlantis (July 4, 2008)

It turns out that the hardest part of touring is parking the car. I’ve been in CT for a full week and I’m still spinning. The brakes are engaged and below the deafening screeches I feel the anticipation of stillness, but not before a loud, jerky drawn-out stop.

So I’ve spent the past few days weeding out – you can see above I’ve been tackling the front of my mom’s house. I also spent a day purging my belongings. Now all of my clothes fit nicely in one suitcase. The Goodwill pile makes the wheelbarrow above look like a handful of dandelions by comparison. After getting rid of so much stuff I still had… so much stuff. It’s eye-opening to realize how little I really “need” – my perspective has changed having lived out of the car for the past six months. Of course the book collection is still embarrassing, but these things take time.  (On the subject of weeds, I recommend this article from last Sunday’s Times).

Independence Day has been swirling around my head a lot this week, too. I have always loved the Fourth of July because it’s really the only summer holiday, and the only holiday involving fresh berries and a picnic at the beach. It has felt different in recent years, though. This year especially. I’ve never been a big fan of fireworks – something about cheering at explosions in the sky while people are being bombed to oblivion in other parts of the world doesn’t feel right. I don’t mean to ruin your barbeque. I understand the importance of acknowledging our nation’s independence and the people who made/make that independence possible. But we have a lot of work ahead of us and I don’t know about you, but it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by all of it.

With this in mind, I just posted a live version of “Atlantis” along with a few other downloads at the Virb site. They were recorded at KRFC in Ft. Collins two weeks ago. Here are also a few pictures taken between Colorado and home. Home, by the way, is going to be back in NYC starting tomorrow! I found my dream apartment within hours of being back, and I’m both thrilled and terrified by the prospect of being in one place for a year. Of course I know better than to think that I won’t be traveling sooner than that… I found out last night that “Atlantis” is one of five finalists in the Great Waters Song Contest, so I’ll be playing Great Waters Music Festival in New Hampshire in a few weeks. I’m going to try to stay local for the rest of 2008 so that I can recharge and tend to the waves crashing in my head.