The Electric Brew show last Saturday was one of the most fun concerts I've done in a while. Amber and Nate Butler showed up and lent energy and quality to the sound, and Kaleem wandered in with his flute and took the night to another arena.
I love improvisation and the unplanned magic of live shows. For me it's often those things that you didn't plan that make the evening memorable. That and people singing along, clearly becoming part of the experience, and somehow being better off because of it.
These things happened. What a gift. Also for some reason I was more relaxed and comfortable than usual. I tried to outplay Kaleem, which was of course, ludicrous but funny. Wish you all could have been there.
Come on the 20th of March.
Jonathan Reuel's Earthquake Trees: Things I Make
Monday, February 23, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Christa blogs about art, death and the end of JRL
Abstract artist Christa Reuel is creating artwork for the final JRL event. Check out her blog at http://christareuel.wordpress.com/
She has one post about the JRL event, the rest of her posts relate to theme.
She has one post about the JRL event, the rest of her posts relate to theme.
Hard facts on the last JRL gigs
Here's some hard DATA regarding the last JRL gigs:
At the Electric Brew, 8pm. Saturday, February 21, 2009. This will be a simple, acoustic show as befits this great venue. The cover is usually $5. www.theelectricbrew.com
The FINAL show (with guest bands, musicians and artists) will happen at the Goshen Theater, FRIDAY, March 20, 2009. Tickets will cost $10. www.goshentheater.com
Come on out, hear these shows, and celebrate the end of an era!
At the Electric Brew, 8pm. Saturday, February 21, 2009. This will be a simple, acoustic show as befits this great venue. The cover is usually $5. www.theelectricbrew.com
The FINAL show (with guest bands, musicians and artists) will happen at the Goshen Theater, FRIDAY, March 20, 2009. Tickets will cost $10. www.goshentheater.com
Come on out, hear these shows, and celebrate the end of an era!
What kind of "Funeral" is needed?
What would it be like to lose your job? What about your home? Would it feel like a place that had been safe had suddenly become a danger? What would it be like to wonder whether the next day you'll still be there or not? What do you do with all your stuff?
Would you feel weighed down with your possessions or sad about what you'll have to get rid of? Would you be exhausted by the idea of deciding what goes? Would you be afraid because you don't know where to go or when you'll have to decide? Where do you move if you're evicted? What landlord will take you? How can you get a job with no address?
Would you blame yourself or others? Would you feel abandoned by God and try to find a way back into divine approval, or run the other way? Could you face your own heart or would you hide yourself in work, worry, fear, complaining, entertainment?
What do you do when you feel so trapped? Do you ask for help, and if so from who? What does it mean that God will take care of you?
Most of us have never faced these questions or felt these things. More and more people in the US are, though, and especially in Elkhart County where this final JRL gig is going to happen.
I don't think there's a quick or easy way through things like losing a house, a job, a marriage or a dream. JRL is a dream and a job that's ending for me. Other people are losing other dreams, jobs, and homes. My struggle has been to find courage, hope and God in the middle of all the losing. I'm hoping we strugglers will be transformed in the midst of loss.
A friend wrote this to me today: "What kind of a funeral is needed? The sisters at the convent of Grandchamp in Switzerland speak of the day of one’s death as the day of resurrection."
Losing dreams, jobs, homes, relationships are a kind of death. Can they be a resurrection as well? If so, how? Ever hear of jazz funerals? Maybe what we're doing on March 20 at the theater is a bit like a jazz funeral...
Would you feel weighed down with your possessions or sad about what you'll have to get rid of? Would you be exhausted by the idea of deciding what goes? Would you be afraid because you don't know where to go or when you'll have to decide? Where do you move if you're evicted? What landlord will take you? How can you get a job with no address?
Would you blame yourself or others? Would you feel abandoned by God and try to find a way back into divine approval, or run the other way? Could you face your own heart or would you hide yourself in work, worry, fear, complaining, entertainment?
What do you do when you feel so trapped? Do you ask for help, and if so from who? What does it mean that God will take care of you?
Most of us have never faced these questions or felt these things. More and more people in the US are, though, and especially in Elkhart County where this final JRL gig is going to happen.
I don't think there's a quick or easy way through things like losing a house, a job, a marriage or a dream. JRL is a dream and a job that's ending for me. Other people are losing other dreams, jobs, and homes. My struggle has been to find courage, hope and God in the middle of all the losing. I'm hoping we strugglers will be transformed in the midst of loss.
A friend wrote this to me today: "What kind of a funeral is needed? The sisters at the convent of Grandchamp in Switzerland speak of the day of one’s death as the day of resurrection."
Losing dreams, jobs, homes, relationships are a kind of death. Can they be a resurrection as well? If so, how? Ever hear of jazz funerals? Maybe what we're doing on March 20 at the theater is a bit like a jazz funeral...
Thursday, February 12, 2009
At the Brew next week and the Best Of Cd
Thanks everyone who sent ideas for the best of cd. I made many, many different options for it, and took into account your ideas. I actually made a chart that said how many votes each song got. I'll include the almost-for-sure list at the end of this post.
In the meantime, I'm playing the Electric Brew as JRL for the last time next week. Goshen, IN. Undoubtably the most consistently great gig venue for JRL over the years. Come if you're near. Saturday, February 22. (http://theelectricbrew.com) It's the first official time in Goshen to pick up the last JRL studio record, Balloon.
The list:
Waterloo
Second Floor
Inside
Better
Sunfire Faces
Just To Be Loved
We've all got this
Better This Way
29 Years
Sunslide
I Don't Mind Waiting
Past Yourself
Anywhere My Love
Camellia Drive Lullaby
You Could Break My Heart
Better Days
I'd really like to put Enough for Now on it too but I'm not sure what to drop.
In the meantime, I'm playing the Electric Brew as JRL for the last time next week. Goshen, IN. Undoubtably the most consistently great gig venue for JRL over the years. Come if you're near. Saturday, February 22. (http://theelectricbrew.com) It's the first official time in Goshen to pick up the last JRL studio record, Balloon.
The list:
Waterloo
Second Floor
Inside
Better
Sunfire Faces
Just To Be Loved
We've all got this
Better This Way
29 Years
Sunslide
I Don't Mind Waiting
Past Yourself
Anywhere My Love
Camellia Drive Lullaby
You Could Break My Heart
Better Days
I'd really like to put Enough for Now on it too but I'm not sure what to drop.
JRLs final gasp
The dream of a big final concert is actually happening! Can't believe it. There's people from all over the country showing up. The band is going to be killer. The venue is amazing (www.goshentheater.com). I sort of didn't think this would actually happen, but it is. Amazing.
March 20. The Goshen Theater, Goshen, IN. Please come. Bring all your friends. Invite some strangers. Come celebrate 6 great years of music, mourn the ending of this era. Bring your own "deaths" and let's together throw a funeral for things that have died or are dying, and move into the next part of our lives, whatever that is.
If you'd like to help, we could probably use it. Send an email to miheret@gmail.com who is one of the team leaders for this project. Her name is Kimberly. She's oboe genius of paydirt fame.
We're recording this live show. Christa is doing original art for it.
Sometimes in life in the middle of sadness comes a huge gift.
March 20. The Goshen Theater, Goshen, IN. Please come. Bring all your friends. Invite some strangers. Come celebrate 6 great years of music, mourn the ending of this era. Bring your own "deaths" and let's together throw a funeral for things that have died or are dying, and move into the next part of our lives, whatever that is.
If you'd like to help, we could probably use it. Send an email to miheret@gmail.com who is one of the team leaders for this project. Her name is Kimberly. She's oboe genius of paydirt fame.
We're recording this live show. Christa is doing original art for it.
Sometimes in life in the middle of sadness comes a huge gift.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Creativity
Three things that are currently stretching, feeding and challenging me creatively:
But does it float? A blog. Images, quotes & micro-bios: art at the edge of science -- sort of a carry-in/make-you/think approach). One of the most creative people I know, Bryn Hovde, sent me the link.
"Hackers & Painters" by Paul Graham. A book. "What hackers and painters have in common is that they're both makers. Along with composers, architects, and writers, what hackers and painters are trying to do is make good things." Two friends, both true makers and explorers, Ben Metz and Shawn Nussbaum, have been telling me to read this book for some time.
TED talks: audio or video podasts. Diverse, interesting, thought-provoking ideas from various arenas (arts, technology, design, etc)
But does it float? A blog. Images, quotes & micro-bios: art at the edge of science -- sort of a carry-in/make-you/think approach). One of the most creative people I know, Bryn Hovde, sent me the link.
"Hackers & Painters" by Paul Graham. A book. "What hackers and painters have in common is that they're both makers. Along with composers, architects, and writers, what hackers and painters are trying to do is make good things." Two friends, both true makers and explorers, Ben Metz and Shawn Nussbaum, have been telling me to read this book for some time.
TED talks: audio or video podasts. Diverse, interesting, thought-provoking ideas from various arenas (arts, technology, design, etc)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)