—BUT THESE STORIES DON’T MEAN ANYTHING, IF YOU’VE GOT NO ONE TO TELL THEM TO

 

…Hey, Monday, you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder.

 

…It’s been snowing here, off and on, for two days now, with more to come, and the internet has been out all day until just now. But that’s what happens when you chose to live in the hinterlands.

 

…I’ve been known to become obsessed with singers, bands, and currently it’s a tossup between Brittany Howard and Brandi Carlile.

I’ve known the latter for a long time. She is revelatory. I’m so, so happy she’s being esteemed finally

She can teach us a lot.

Here’s a reason you should love her, and if you don’t after hearing that (below), read on….

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpNqR-ff_TQ

 

…My little brother and I, we had the same jobs together our whole lives. We were roofing laborers. We worked at Fred Meyer together. And we’ve always both had just a really tireless work ethic. He is a snow plow driver. And every job that he’s ever taken, or every town he’s ever moved to, it’s like by the time he leaves, he’s the mayor and the top of the job. Because it’s just the family that we come from — we love people. and we love to work. And I am always really moved when I see somebody with a really powerful work ethic. So I’ve kind of chosen my heroes that way: Dolly is like that and Elton is like that. I guess I get a lot of emotional satisfaction out of knowing that I’m working — that the journey is the destination.” 

 

…“I love “Sesame Street.” I would say “Sesame Street” takes more risks than modern, contemporary country music does.” 

 

…“You and Me on the Rock” is important, if you recognize it as an anthem of queer domesticity. It’s about building your house on a foundation that you can be happy in. It’s about the right to not be alone for all of your life. And to those that would kind of dismantle that dream and that inalienable human right, I think that song is a protest song, just in its sweetness.

 

…“I look at music in a really workman sense, you know what I mean? I got to be employee of the month one time at Fred Meyer when I was 16, and I got a jacket and everything, and I got my picture put up on the wall. It’s like every job has accolades or peer approval, and it gives you a reason to sort of like walk into work as your best self every day, whether you’re an artist or whether you’re doing any other job. So I’ve let go of some of the awards shame [laughs] that I’ve felt over the years. Because when I think back to Fred Meyer… I mean, I have to say, it definitely means more to win a Grammy, but I really did quite like that jacket and having my picture put up on the wall!

 

…“When I had this thing where I got put in the pop category for the Grammys last year, I don’t know if I would’ve had the same reaction this year. I’ve grown to sort of broaden my perspective about it, But all I could think of at the time was, ‘Well, I don’t belong in pop. That’s not where my people are. That’s not where I’ve done my work. They won’t know me there.’

 

…“ And so I see that as taking some heat for me. And then specifically just coming out in support of me, and she read my book and said a bunch of nice things about me online and took a whole bunch of heat for it. And of course, I’m a nosy bitch, so I read the comments, so I know that she is challenging people’s boundaries and the parameters of their belief. She’s inviting people to love more freely and to love people that they don’t understand. And we really need more people like Amy Grant as a representation of the Christian faith, whether we want to use that word or not. I don’t love that word. I do love the faith, but I don’t love to use that word, you know? And I think that the fact that she does use that word though, is important, and it helps me, and frankly, it helps evangelicals, and brings us all a little bit closer together where I think we really need to go.

 

…“I would make that argument — just generally in life — that people should get to be what they say they are.”

 

…“I remember making “The Story” with T Bone Burnett and being so young. He speaks in sound bites, that guy. He makes you never fucking forget the things that he says, because they just come out with quotes on ‘em. He told me, “If anybody ever asks you what kind of music you play, immediately say rock ‘n’ roll.” And he said, “It’s all-encompassing of the American music experience. Because rock ‘n’ roll is not a genre, it’s a risk that you take.” And I have never forgotten that.”

 

…“But I guess I want to be tried by a jury of my peers. I want the people in my community to let me know from their perspective whether or not I’m trying hard enough.”

 

…“The thing I like about being driven, versus being competitive, is that you want to win, and you want the people that you love to win, but you don’t want anybody else to lose.”