Absent Those Conditions

Music Update, The Election, &tc.

Dear Friends,

I am going to geek out for a moment or two about the above photograph. The Bailey Band spent the whole day on Monday—nine hours!—capturing the musical mastery created by that young lady and that glorious instrument. Why would it take nine hours to play ten songs, you might ask?

Because nothing is ever phoned in. Olivia does not play mere accompaniment chords. For each song she composes incredibly sophisticated and technically challenging orchestrations, and we are very, very picky about getting everything to sound just as it should—occasionally (very) over the objections of our recording engineer (and bassist). “Sounds fine” doesn’t cut it. She goes above and beyond, and it shows. I’m very proud of her compositions, and very proud of her sheer stamina. That many hours behind that keyboard is truly an exhausting undertaking.

Next, I simply have to observe that while modern technology is often a marvel, nobody will ever figure out how to make an electronic keyboard really sound like an acoustic grand piano. They’ve been at it for long enough for me to conclude that it cannot be done. They approximate amazingly well and there are many applications for which a keyboard is desirable and even essential, but it is simply no substitute. I mean, you could listen to our tracks with the keyboard and think, “Yeah, that sounds great!.” And then listen to it with the piano and think, “What was I thinking!?” And the instrument you see above is actually quite special. It plays way above its nominal value (I mean: it’s not a Steinway, but it outplays many a Steinway). It isn’t easy, even with high-end pianos, to get a single instrument to “have it all”—deep, resonant bass, crisp mid-range, and sweet trebles. Very much like high-end guitars, actually. We’re blessed to use this one on our album!

As the project continues, I am more and more amazed at what human beings can create in collaboration. Was it Michaelangelo who described sculpting as just slowly and painstakingly liberating a figure from a block of stone? As though David wasn’t really his creation? Witnessing a song that I have written become what it is becoming, with the addition of bass and drums and piano and Bailey’s guitar and vocals is a little like that. Yeah, that’s my song, and it might say that on the liner notes, but we are a long way from how it sounded with just me and my guitar! At some point it just isn’t my song—it is our song. I’m pretty grateful for the unbelievable talents of my bandmates.

Stay tuned. We’re on the home stretch. Final guitar work from Bailey and then final vocals, and we’ll get this project sent off for mixing and mastering. We can’t wait to share it.

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A new poll of the Montana Senate race should provide some optimism—if making the best of a bad situation can be considered optimistic. As I’ve been saying all year, the likelihood is that the Democrats are going to win the White House in November and the crucial backstop is the Republicans taking control of the Senate. And with a mere eighty days until election day, all eyes are on Montana, where Tim Sheehy is defying my expectations and leading Jon Tester by seven points. I am delighted to hear it.

Why am I tentatively bullish on Kamala Harris winning the Presidential election? Well, I’ll share with you one reason that I don’t think enough people appreciate. I have a theory that has been tested, and will be tested again in November.