My Pappy always said "Better to do a terrible dreadful uninspired job at something than perpetually postpone it in pursuit of excellence." Pappy also said "If you're feeling lethargic squeeze a grapefruit on your tits and run round in circles with your hands in the air shouting your own name in a French accent for 25 minutes!" So... hard to know when to take Pappy's advice. Today I'm busting through in the name of ONWARD and reaching back to my people.
Read More
I meet all types on the road and many types at my shows. Over ten years of performing and traveling I've cultivated the skill of liking certain parts of people and accepting their not-great parts. I hope people accept my not-great parts and find the good bits. This developed as a necessity in talking to audiences for hours after performances. There is no escape playing in homes, and I like it that way.
Read More
Had a hard time pushing through to write this cause I don't know what the thoughts are, don't know what life is, or the future or next week, like all of you, I suppose, to varying degrees. Trying to allow myself to be sad, bummed, scared, bewildered and frustrated while also deeply grateful for my safety, security and family. It's a necessary mind gymnastic that I am, in my best moments, mediocre at. So, I daily boomtooty from one moment to the next grasping to whatever nuggets of hope and optimism I can. One of my favorite quotes is from Becket, "Fail, fail again, fail better." Been practicing all kinds of failures with my days and getting real good at it. I miss the boys. They are in good wonderful loving hands with many animal new friends, but I feel I've abandoned them for the moment and it daily feels wretched, bad bad, and not good. Trying to find the way back to them, the new conceived remainder of Horse Tour, but have yet to realize a clear path that's following the guidelines.
Read More
Many folks have asked about what I'm going to do. With a heavy heart and much deliberation I am hitting the pause button on The Horse Tour. I'm calling this part of The Horse Tour "intermission" and hoping it will be a shortish intermission. I know that is optimistic. Best case scenario we can be back on the trail in a month or two or three bringing songs and foolery to the people by horse. This has come at a shitty time for me, but from what I see that's the case for ...... everyone! Turns out the best time for a pandemic is never. A thick soup of extraordinary privileges puts me in an infinitely better position than most during this time and I'm deep in thought about how I can leverage some of that privilege to help others. At this very moment I'm driving across the country to upstate NY where my parents are living. I'll quarantine for two weeks before any contact with them. After much deliberation I wanted to be with my folks during this time, at least till we know more. I'm afraid for all the people I love who are older and who have compromised health. I'm scared for my parents. I'm worried about my friends who are loosing their jobs, my friends who are doctors and nurses, my friends who were already depressed before this all began and everyone else.
Read More
I wrote down the moment to moment of a day on trail. I wanted to be able to compare it to a day later on. This is a deep dive into the minutia of a day traveling with Augustus and Troubadour with lots of pics.
Read More
That's right this NYC Jewish Bhuddist Atheist Democrat has made friends with some on the other side! I've soaked my blue bones in red tubs and dried off with purple towels. That doesn't mean anything I'm just having fun with these stupid colors we made up. I've been grateful for these new connections. Some of the kindest, most hospitable, generous people I've met have also, somehow, owned MAGA hats. These friends are complex people with long stories that brought them to their feelings of this moment. Spending time with them, eating with them, playing with their children and learning about horses from them has confronted all the stereotypes I carry from the limitations of exposure I previously had.
Read More
Traveling through the Aravaipa Canyon was one of our most beautiful rides yet and definitely the most technically challenging. On our approach I talked to several locals, hikers and even horse outfitters about the conditions in the canyon. The consensus was it would be no problem. The funny thing is while horses are way stronger and faster than people they can't get through everything people can.
Read More
I try to let this sage advice guide me on the days our progress feels glacial at best. Sometimes the learning curve is so slow it feels more like a subtly bent line than a curve.
Read More
We are doing well! We are alive! We are well fed and enthused to continue. My left butt cheek is rather sore and in need of adjustment but I'll get through it. The horses are muscled up and approach the trail and the road with determination and eagerness to arrive at dinner, which they've finally discovered lays ahead of them and not behind.
Read More
I'll be departing from Creede, Colorado in a week’s time to begin my Horse Tour. It’s a bit later in the season than I'd hoped, but still within reason and my horses keep asking me "When already? When already?". My Gus and Troubadour are in a pasture with new friend neighbors Raven and Ginger while I assemble the last bits and pieces. I appreciate the patience of all my supporters in this process. Sorting out the pinpoint particulars of the route kept taking second seat to working with the horses. I needed to feel confident enough riding and packing before I could dive into the other details. They are coming together now.
Read More
I’m very happy to share with you my new album Glitterbones Bargain. You can find it on Bandcamp, Apple Music, Spotify and all the other places. My Kickstarter for The Horse Tour has just 6 days left to reach its funding goal. I’m massively grateful to the 222 backers thus far and so appreciate any contributions, no matter how small, to get me the rest of the way.
Read More
I’m very excited to officially announce The Horse Tour Kickstarter Campaign! Preparations and training are going well. I’ll be traveling a new show entirely on horseback with a pack horse for a year across 3,000 miles of the West. I’ve raised, saved and been granted about half my budget and I need your help to get the rest of the way. I’ve been training for months in Southern Utah and it’s going well.
Read More
This week I have begun a new course of study with my friend Dave. My horse teachers kinda said "Alright you've got a basic fundamental understanding of some horse things. Now you need to go learn how to take care of yourself in nature so it can be natural to you and you can focus your energies on taking care of your horses." So they sent me to Dave.
Read More
I'm writing to you from Boulder, Utah, a small town of 200 ranchers, cowboys, Mormons, atheists, artists, primitive skills experts, weirdos and wanderers. There is actually a guy named Wandering Will who I believe lives in the mountains and occasionally wanders into town? Haven't met him yet, nice nickname though. I moved out here to train with horses and learn to live outdoors leading up to my horse tour in 2019 that I've been rambling on about for years.
Read More
I'm doing stuff things again. It's been a mighty year of kids show making, theater show designing/promoting and horse tour planning learning. Now I'm bringing a new home-show through Australia and Tokyo! Cause..... well, I gotta do shows somewhere. I'll be driving around all of Australia, 8,000 miles! It is a very large place.
Read More