Blog

Burn the ships
Posted by David on Sep 18, 2008 @ 6:49pm

I just started writing a new blog, and apparently I accidently closed the window, losing what I wrote.  Awesome.

We had some great shows this past weekend - Nashville on Friday with Starlume and Jonathan Balas - it would definitely be worth your time to check them out!  Saturday we were in Tullahoma at K Street, and it was awesome!  The crowd there really got into it, and it gave us a lot of energy on stage.  We made some new friends, and we hope to be back there soon!

History lesson for the day:  when Spanish Explorer/Conquistador Hernando Cortez first landed in Mexico in 1519, he ordered his men to burn the ships that they came on.  Why?  He wanted no plan B.  He came over with the intention of thriving in this new land, and if there was always an option of going back to the comfort of their homes, his men would grumble about retreat once things started getting difficult.

Those of us in the band (and most in America) have been incredibly fortunate.  We've grown up into great families, had great educations, have solid "job options", and live in a successful country (even if the stock market is down).  But sometimes that's bad.  This music thing is difficult, and it's easy for us retreat back to consistent paychecks and comfortable beds.  But that's not what we're here for.  We must burn the ships.  We must lose plan B.  Retreat is not an option.

I love these lyrics to John Reuben's "Make Money Money":
Put our art in the place
Where it's forced to succeed
The place where your hobbies and the real world meet
Forty minute walks to work to bus tables full time
With a pair of headphones on to block out traffic going by
Forty minute walks back to make music all night
With a pair of headphones on to block out my life

We have to do this.

-David