It’s time to write something new but I’m a little bit of an amorphous blob right now —I’ll try anyway. Moving is bracing, moving is freefall; it’s looking at even making a piece of toast differently (where’s a knife…is this butter? Where are there some plates again?) It’s tossing all your molecules into the air and hoping they’ll come back down into something resembling…yourself. Whoever that is. Maybe wiser, certainly thinner and in better shape, with the wardrobe you’ve always hoped for and a newly-discovered talent for—what? Gardening, or portrait painting.
It’s cool and rainy in England this summer. Everyone is bummed about that. I commiserate with them “Enjoying the sunshine?” I say to the friendly discount store clerk leaning against the wall in the alleyway smoking a cigarette near the entrance to the flat we’ll hopefully be moving out of in a few weeks’ time. The flat is cute and convenient and only a couple hundred feet from the seafront, but it’s too small for us to live and work in. We’re trying to buy a house in the town a few miles over, not on the sea so we can get more space.
I commiserate with people about the weather but I’m really thrilled to not be drenched in sweat most of the day and fighting the roar of the window unit air conditioner while I try to sleep at night. When the sun does come out, I race to meet it, bask in it. I have yet to go swimming in the nearby North Sea this summer. The few days where it hasn’t been rainy and cold I’ve been too wrapped up in trying to do the million things that need doing to make this move happen and keep things rolling with my album release and keep on booking tour dates in the fall.
There have also been crews out there on the shore placing huge rocks in strategic piles at intervals all along the coast. It’s disconcerting and kind of the opposite of peaceful. Coastal erosion is a real threat here and the temporary solution is to ship a load of stone down from Scotland and heap it up to break the intensity of the tides— I think. It’s enough of a leap for me to go swimming when the water temperature is the same as the not so warm air temperature like I managed to do a few times last summer. The regulars and people determined to enjoy their holidays no matter what manage it with all the rock dumping going on so I’m sure I’ll get there. Overall I feel really happy though, like things will come together. When I’m not worrying about the general state of the world.
Two weeks ago Eric and I flew to Norway to play at a festival in a town called Egersund. We’d been too busy moving to even figure out what or where the festival was— at the last minute I emailed the promoter Frode asking if we needed outdoor wear. I pictured us in a muddy field miles from civilization. The whole thing was very civilized in fact, centred around a nice hotel in the middle of a small town, staffed by kind volunteers.
As we were checking in for our flight I got a reminder from Tapete the label I’m working with for my album release that they needed my video for the next single Bricks (the release date for that is Friday July 19). Aside from a little footage I’d captured in Lowe’s the month before when I was running there every few hours for more mulch or paint or cleaning products, I’d hardly thought about it, except for grandiose plans involving swimming pools, cute outfits and choreography. All of that fell by the wayside as I had to make do with what was at hand in the hotel, on my computer already and some acting help from Eric. Like the other videos for my new album, I actually really enjoyed the process of making something, but had to keep putting it aside for more pressing matters at hand like playing the festival.
I held it together for my set but had to fight off feelings of panic, insecurity and existential anguish “who am I, why am I here, what can I bring you?” ie nothing unusual only sometimes we’re better equipped to roll with those questions in public. Maybe it was the guitar, a beautiful Eko I have enjoyed playing the last few years when we’ve been in England but it’s not an extension of myself the way my Gibson is. The frets are never quite where I expect them to be. Especially when playing solo you need a trusted friend up there. Not that I don’t trust the Eko but we haven’t had a chance to merge yet. Still I hope I did bring something to the audience, there’s a feeling at festivals that it’s all whizzing by so fast and we may never pass this way again I don’t get at regular gigs. Wanting too badly for it all to count for something - to savor every glimpse out the car window - can make you forget you have to drive the vehicle too, just sit behind the wheel and tell it where to go.
But it was fun being in Norway, folks were nice and we saw some great other sets (22 Pistepirkko, I long to go to Finland!; Robyn Hitchcock with Annalise and Frode from I Was A King, Andrew Rumsey.) I loved meeting Kelley Stoltz and his band and seeing Eric play. We got to join in for the Pistepirkkos final cover set, Eric and Robyn were adorable doing the Velvet Underground together and I sang California Sun, finding at last that moment of losing myself in music (“that was very sporting of you” a kindly Norwegian man said after, ha ha I’ll take it!)
Traveling back to England was oddly fun as the Stavanger airport was nice and easy and Robyn, Andrew and his guitar player David were all on the same flight, together with Eric they generated that crazy boy energy I half-adore and half-tolerate, I grew up with four brothers after all.
It took me another week off and on to finish the video, it turned out I had a little more time after all but the choreography will have to wait for another time. I hope you’ll enjoy it and listen or download the single and order the album that comes out August 30.
I screwed up last night ordering fish and chips for us and our friends from a good local place, when we arrived to pick up after placing the order online, the staff were waiting to see the clueless stranger who’d asked for five medium cod and chips AND another five orders of chips. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” I kept saying. “I’m not from around here!” BUT my ability to apologize endlessly, to the point of being an annoyance “Once again, really sorry about that!” I said as we headed for the door — at least that stands me in good stead.
Next week we head back to New York to finish up the move as best we can. Before we leave I’m going to really savor and lean in to the gale force winds and slashing rain out there along the seafront. I’ll happily clutch my jacket around me and even kick the radiators up a notch or two. I know next week it’ll be all sweat, and tears.
Amy Rigby Hang In There With Me Tour Dates (so far!)
Thu Oct 10 New Haven CT Small Batch Cellars tickets
Fri Oct 11 Boston MA Haymarket Lounge at City Winery tickets
Sat Oct 12 Catskill NY Avalon Lounge
Sun Oct 13 Reading Pa Karen Palcho’s house concert tickets
Mon Oct 14 Live on WFMU Three Card Monte w/Joe Belock
Thu Oct 17 Vienna VA Jammin Java tickets
Fri Oct 18 tbd
Sat Oct 19 Rochester NY Bop Shop tickets
Sun Oct 20 New York NY The Loft at City Winery tickets
Wed Oct 23 Columbus OH Natalies Grandview tix
Fri Oct 24 Madison WI Kiki’s email righteousmusicmgmt@gmail.com for info
Sat Oct 25 Chicagoland house concert email jeff@gandtenterprises.com for info
Wed 6 Nov BBC 6 Music live session Marc Riley & Gideon Coe show
Thu 7 Nov Glasgow UK The Doublet
Fri 8 Nov Edinburgh UK The Banshee Labyrinth
Sun 10 Nov Holy Island of Lindisfarne Pilgrimage to the Islands tix
Tue 12 Nov Brighton UK Prince Albert
Thu 21 Nov Bristol UK Hen & Chicken tickets
Fri 22 Nov Hastings UK The Pig
Thu 28 Nov Nottingham Running Horse (tbc)
(I’m still confirming shows, get in touch if you have a venue/want to do a house concert)
“It’s tossing all your molecules into the air and hoping they’ll come back down into something resembling…yourself.” Great stuff, Amy, and I love “Bricks”.
enjoy that cool!!!