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Columns Friday On My Mind Friday On My Mind: A Song is More Than Just a Song
Columns Friday On My Mind Friday On My Mind: A Song is More Than Just a Song | Friday On My Mind: A Song is More Than Just a Song |
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| Written by Jim Walsh | |
| Friday, October 5, 2007 at 12:30 AM | |
 Photo by Stacy Schwartz Pete, a dad/thinker/rocker/keyboardist, and I have been neighbors for years, but we only got to know each other this year at the Mad Ripple Friday Night Hootenanny, which started around this time last year when I walked into Java Jack’s coffee shop and asked owner Jerry Nelson if he minded if I started putting together regular Friday night hootenannies at his joint. He agreed and led me down to the shop’s boho basement, which I instantly fell in love with, and what happened next adds up to as magical a live music experience as I’ve ever had on this God-forsaken planet. Over the course of eight months, down in that parents-away-kegger-vibe bomb shelter, I have been lucky enough to be part of an anti-scene open to all, and all ages. I have heard songs that go straight to and from my seventh shakra—the part of the self that operates on instinct and the primordial over all else. I have been witness to tears of joy and sorrow; celebrated births and wedding proposals; mourned dead family members and neighbors; had my heart ripped open by and put back together in the same lost-love couplet, and laughed until my head ballooned.  Photo Steve Cohen I have toasted soldiers dead and alive. I have felt the power of redemption, renewal, regression, and the Replacements’ “Hootenanny.” I have played music with my brothers, sisters, kids, wife, parents, friends, acquaintances, pick-up basketball teammates, strangers, musical novices and musical visionaries. I have been embarrassed, enlightened, enamored. I have partied with the Hamm’s Bear. I have been bored, blissed-out, bewitched. I have hooted for four and a half hours straight and collapsed for two days afterwards. I have seen a neighborhood kid and his songwriting hero stop time with a singalong chorus of “put a little love in it before it brings you down.” I have seen toddlers’ ears listening to pained songs by a transgender goth-rocker, profanity-spiced political rants from unhinged local rock icons, and vocal harmonies that border on the angelic. I have had conversations and crushes and moments of feeling so alive—at the forever young age of 48—that rival anything I experienced when I was 16, 17, 18, 19 and growing up not far from the coffee shop, Lake Harriet, the Minnehaha Creek and all the lush, frozen wide open spaces in between. I have sat in an Uptown Minneapolis blues bar an hour after the Hoot and said, to a tough blues mama who wanted to know the origin of the white boy beside her’s self-contained giddiness, “I just got done making love to an entire room of people. Got a cigarette?” I have seen my children looking at me like I have lost my mind. I have had my son slap me five after I sang a song about two lost lovers who miss each other desperately, so much so that they both sing, “now I just talk to myself.” I have taken my entire family and some Hooting friends to New York and found myself standing on a stool, playing the guitar, and hearing myself say, “Thank you, New York!” to the cheers of a packed Greenwich Village pub.  Allison - Photo by Steve Cohen There’s much talk of revolution and change these days; a ‘60s- Dylan-hungover yearning for a “voice of a generation” that will lead the youth and the world out of this stupor we find ourselves in. But that’s a tired archetype. For me, the revolution is happening in the here and now, with a collective soul as its guide; not just one leader or one voice, but many, and they are getting their ideas out on the Internet and email lists and in bars and basements and bedrooms and back seats and living rooms and in the streets. But don’t believe me. Two of the people I got to know this year through the Hoot are my witchy-wise friend Susan Gerstner and her soul-man husband, Dan Carlsen, who bought many of the artists’ CDs and made a mix compilation for his sisters. He slipped a copy into my mailbox the other day, and wrote the following liner notes. Enjoy: HOOKS & BARBS – A Hoot Selection For my sisters on the occasion of their birthdays… Every Friday that we were free last winter and spring, Susan and I found ourselves in the basement of the local coffee shop, cold, sitting in uncomfortable cast-off chairs, and were astonished. People we didn’t know sang songs we had never heard before and something inside of us was reawakened to the magic of live music. I’ve always thought that a great song feels like it reminds you of something you already knew, but had just slipped your mind a moment before. These are just a few of the tunes from artists we were introduced to in that dark, cold basement. There are many more I could have included but I hope at least one of these songs will touch you in the same way they did me.  Jeaneen Gauthier and Jim Walsh - Photo by Steve Cohen Jim is the creator, ringmaster and heart of the Hoot. I’ve heard this song many, many times and to me, it really distils the experience of being married, growing older and thinking about what you want to pass on to your children. Every time he sings this one I tear up. Sung with help from Jeaneen Gauthier (more on her below). 2. Downpour – Brianna Lane – Radiator Brianna is the real deal. She sings a song called “Porch Light” that isn’t available yet that I would have loved to include on this compilation. The night of our 22nd anniversary Jim and Jeaneen sang “Homebodies,” Brianna sang “Porch Light” and Stook sang “A Song is More Than Just A Song,” and I felt blessed. I just really like this song. 3. Oscar Wilde – Romantica – It’s Your Weakness That I Want On a cold February night I went to the Hoot with low expectations. Some Irish family was playing: a Father and his sons. It was truly a magical evening as they traded tunes and stories. The youngest son has a band named Romantica and his songs blow me away. This song contains some of my favorite lines: And she said “Maybe someday we’ll get to know each other, Maybe then I’ll find out who you are” And he said “I can tell you right now babe, I’m the son of my mother, And I’m sitting here beside you in this car.” Boy, is that ever a Zen statement, what else can we really ever know about each other? Every thing else is just illusion. But then again, maybe I’m just a cynical bastard. 4. Transistor Radio – Randy Weeks – Sugar Finger Ok, I said too much about the last song. I just like this one. 5. Harriet - Terry Walsh - Harriet I think it’s a safe bet that this is the best song ever about Lake Harriet (ok, ok – so it’s the only song about Lake Harriet I’ve ever come across.) In any case, this gem reminds us that for every thing that changes in our lives, there’s an equal number that stay the same. 6. Stay Away Blues – Get Up Johns – Trouble in Mind Just some traditional old time music by two ex-fundamentalists that met at Bible Camp. Some sweet, sweet harmonies. 7. Tugboat – Molly Maher and Her Disbelievers – Balms of Gilead Molly has a voice that may be an acquired taste but it sure works for me. A slow groove for a late night. 8. Anybody’s Only – Tim O’Reagan – Tim O’Reagan Tim is the drummer for The Jayhawks and his record was probably the most surprising and delightful find for me last year. Everyone on stage with him that night raved about it – and they were right.  Ike Reilly - Photo by Tony Nelson Finally we get to Jane’s favorite from her visit to the Hoot. It’s safe to say that Ike has a dark side in his lyrics but his music is so damn hook filled and appealing… 10. Can’t Let Go – Randy Weeks – Madeline This is Randy’s big hit as done by Lucinda Williams. Watching Randy sing is a real trip – he sits there hardly moving with a baseball cap pulled down low over his eyes. I wonder if he’s ever had a happy relationship – from sad times come great art I guess. 11. Still Alive – Brianna Lane – Radiator She’s the real deal (or did I say that already?) This one could be on my shortlist to play at my funeral. 12. Cure for This – Golden Smog – Another Fine Day Golden Smog is a local super group that made a special guest appearance at the last Hoot of the year. People went nuts when they walked in. This song was written by Marc Perlman (member of The Jayhawks and Golden Smog) and I fell in love with it when I first heard it that night. 13. On My Mind – Romantica – It’s Your Weakness That I Want 14. Dumb Guy – Jan – the early year Jeaneen Gauthier is a Hoot regular and I don’t know if she’s a lost soul or a fallen angel. Maybe it’s stupid but I love the way she makes the word “See” into a two syllable word the second time she sings “See how he keeps hanging around…” This song is for all of us who have felt like an outcast at some point in our lives. 15. Black and Blue – Tim O’Reagan – Tim O’Reagan His songs just really fit my ears. A fantastic record – I could have included all of them as my favorites. 16. Put A Little Love In It – Ike Reilly - Salesmen and Racists Don’t worry Jane – I wouldn’t skip your song. This song is catchy as all get out, but what the hell is it about? Who cares – just enjoy the ride – but don’t forget to Put A Little Love In It!  Stook - Photo by Steve Cohen I couldn’t end this mix with anything but this song. If Jim is the heart of the Hoot, then Stook is the soul. A larger than life character who one minute can have you rolling on the floor in tears laughing with a story about an unfortunate bout of public intestinal distress, and then a moment later is singing a song which also brings tears to your eyes, but for completely different reasons. Stook is a regular audience member of the Hoot and Jim will often call him up on stage towards the end of the night to sing something. When he asks, “So Jimmy, what do you want me to play?” the answer is always, “You know the one, play the song Stook.” No matter how tired he is of it, he always obliges. So come on Stook, play it, play the song for those of us who know the secret. NOTE: I noticed that after I made this mix that if you immediately replay this CD Stook’s laugh that ends this song perfectly melds into Jim’s laugh the starts it. Coincidence or something more? I prefer to think that it’s a sign from the universe that life is truly one big circle. |
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| Last Updated: Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 08:01 AM |
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