Early December '10 Update

Another ten months has gone by. Can you believe it? It’s been a bit of a crazy year. I wrote earlier about wanting to “be productive” but in retrospect it seems like I was just trying to get my life in order: job hunting, moving (again), barely getting by financially. I wondered if I was going to stay here in Harrisonburg, Virginia (where I’d been planning to move since 2000) or move to North Carolina. In August I lost my 16-year-old cat-daughter, Chia, and on November 3 I lost my father to cancer.

But everything happens for a reason, I guess. The news in September that Dad’s cancer had taken an irreversible turn prompted me to find a cheaper place to live, which has reduced my stress level considerably. Chia passing away meant that I could actually get that cheaper apartment. And I was telling a friend today that I’ve felt stronger and more focused since my dad has passed. Perhaps he’s up there giving me guidance and strength.

Stay tuned for updates on new recordings and live dates, God willing.

Best Of Both Worlds + Work

I keep having this recurring dream that I’m back in my hometown of Ferndale, California, and wanting to move back into my old house. I think this was partially triggered by hearing that it was up for sale several months back. I’m always at my current age and actually there at the house looking in. In some dreams I actually get to move in. In others I don’t because I can’t afford it or someone else is moving in.

Another recurring dream I have is that I’m back in the Navy and back on my old ship, a huge aircraft carrier, and am getting ready to go out to sea for a long cruise. Most of the guys I was in with are there again and I’m terribly excited.

Both of these dreams feel happy. I often wake up feeling stressed out that I’m back here in the present day, with all of my present day worries. In those days my wonderful Ferndale Grandma was still alive and vital. My dad was young and his battle with cancer was still years and years away. I had no debt. In the Navy I had free meals, health care, and plenty of spending money. In both cases I was young and had everything ahead of me.

But here’s something interesting about those dreams. They both take place in the present day, when I’m at my present age, and I have my present possessions and accomplishments. I hadn’t really thought about the significance of this when I started writing four paragraphs ago, but I do think it’s significant.

Ferndale is a beautiful place and I have many fond memories of living there, but I also have to remember that when I was growing up and living with my father I felt terribly isolated, insecure, out of place, and out of touch. My dad could be terribly overbearing. I didn’t have a car, which is a must in all but the biggest cities of America. In retrospect, I see I didn’t know much about the world out there. I didn’t know about art. I didn’t know I wanted to play music; I feel if I had those years would have been much easier and more fun.

The closest major city to Ferndale is San Francisco, 300 miles away, which now is a fairly easy trip (especially with friends in the Bay Area to crash with – thanks Brian & Erica!). Hell, it’s a fairly easy trip for me from Harrisonburg, VA – drive to DC, hop a plane, and you’re there – compared to my teenage days when it might as well have been across the ocean.

And the Navy… I hated the Navy when I was in. When we went out to sea we slept in cramped quarters. We worked from 7 am until 8 pm (though I have to acknowledge that I was very lucky to land in a division that didn’t have to work nearly as hard as most). There were no women on board. Sometimes we didn’t get mail, our only form of contact with people in the outside world, for days. Finally, I didn’t have much use or appreciation for military structure and discipline.

So I dream of going back to a Ferndale where I have my car, my instruments, my music collection, my books, my internet. I’m friends with my father. He’s not someone who restricts me in any way. I dream of a Navy cruise with women on board, my MacBook, my iPod, email, and internet. In both dreams, the Navy and Ferndale, the people who were there at the time are still there. I’ve grown, they’re pretty much as they are in my memory.

In doing this bit of self-analysis, I think what I’m dreaming of is to have the best of both worlds. Then I had no debt and did have health insurance, friends, evenings and weekends off, and security. Now I have a car, different friends, a fabulous music & book collection, all of the musical gear I need, and the freedom of being an adult. I’m in an area of the country where I want to be, I’ve got my degree, my debt’s coming down, and, WITH WORK, a good job will come. I guess that’s what I want… a good job. After all, that’s why I went back to school in 2003 and got my degree. That “good job” will over time take care of the debt, let me have insurance, and will give me security.

***

Ah… “with work”. With work I’ll get and keep a good job. With work I’ll be playing shows again. With work I’ll finally record another album. With work I’ll get myself into good shape again. Work doesn’t have to be grueling or exhausting. In fact, if you want to get anything done over a long haul, it’s better if it’s not exhausting. You need to pace yourself. Haruki Murakami, the writer, says you need to work to the point of feeling like you can do just a little more, but stop there, so you have energy to go on tomorrow. Woody Allen says 90% of success is just showing up. Writer and Podcaster Mur Lafferty calls it “butt in the chair time.”

Time to go to work.

Productivity

I’m not sure what I want to write about. I just know I want to put up a blog post. That’s sort of a resolution this year; to be more productive. I’ve always had lots of ideas, but I haven’t necessarily felt like executing them. Things seem to get in the way, including, very often, my own “I don’t feel like it right now” brand of laziness. Not that I haven’t been busy. But, yeah, a goal is to be more productive: To record more songs, to blog more, to play more shows, to be more active online in promoting my music / art.

“Promoting my music / art.” Ugh. That’s something I have a love / hate relationship with. It feels weird to say, “listen to me”, and even worse to say, “buy my stuff.” But that is, of course, one of the goals. On the other hand as Jim Shelley (www.bookofkills.com) said to me years ago, "If you don’t care about your music or art, why should you expect anyone else to?" Very wise. I think of that when I'm feeling self-conscious.

So for the last week I’ve been busy. If you’ve stopped by my music website (and please do!), www.robchristensen.com, you’ll notice a lot more content. Most of my songs are now up and available for streaming and, for a limited time, free download. I plan to have them all up soon. Most songs also have lyrics attached. There are also some new photographs posted. And RobsBlog has a new baby brother, a “Rob Christensen Setlists” blog. http://robchristensensetlists.blogspot.com/. I’ve only got two shows up at this point, but more will be up soon.

So that’s what’s been happening. As I said above, I’ve got lots of ideas and lots of plans. However, I read recently on Derek Sivers’ blog, http://sivers.org/, that you shouldn’t announce things before you complete them, because merely announcing something satisfies some sort of internal driver to the point that you sort of feel like you completed your goal simply by announcing the goal. So I won’t. I’ve got ideas, I’ve got plans, and I’ve got dreams. I’ve also managed to get some things done, which you can see via the links in the previous paragraph.

More soon? Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

Rob C.

A Year Goes By So Quickly!

Hi Folks,

I apologize, once again, for being a little quiet. It’s actually been a very busy time for me in several ways, albeit not musically. Things change. Change is good.

The biggest change is that I’ve moved, finally, to Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. I’ve been planning this move, off and on, since 2000, but one thing or another has kept me from making the move until now.

I just about wrote “one thing or another has held me back,” but the things I experienced during that time – living in Portland, OR, returning to college & getting my teaching credential, working in a busy bookstore while living in Washington, DC – were all extremely worthwhile. Everything has its time and place.

But now I’m in Harrisonburg (formerly known as “Rocktown”, which I think is great), ready to settle down after this tumultuous decade that was the naughts. “Settle Down?” you ask. Yep. I went back to school to be an elementary school teacher; it’s time to teach. As I rapidly approach middle age, things like a decent salary, health insurance, retirement savings, and a steady schedule are very appealing to me.

Ironically, perhaps, I think that settling down will help my music, my art. I think back to the nineties, when I was most productive, and I realize that it was a time when I had a decent job and stability. I lived in the same flat for ten years and worked the same job for thirteen. I was in a position where the basics were taken care of. When I wasn’t at my day job, I was free to be creative. Apparently, life-stress invigorates some artists. It freezes me. Stops me cold. I don’t invite my muse over for an evening ‘cos I’m too busy worrying about paying the bills.

Interestingly, to me at least, these thoughts echo advice in the recently released book, “Ignore Everyone.” It’s by the man behind the blog gapingvoid.com, Hugh MacLeod. I was turned on to his book after writing the majority of this entry. Hugh argues that it sucks to be poor, that when you have to start depending on your art to put food on the table your art is compromised, and that more than likely not very many people will care about your art anyway, so do it for yourself and don’t worry about pleasing people. It’s an argument I wish I would’ve heard years ago, but I’m not sure I would’ve listened.

It’s still going to be awhile before I’m settled and ready to get down to making and playing music. I need that teaching job. I need to get my finances under control. I need to feel a bit more secure. (Wanna help? Head over to iTunes or CDBaby & pay me the ultimate compliment by buying some of my music! ‘Course I’ll still love you if you don’t. Times are tight and it’s not like I’ve given you anything new for a while.)

That said, I do have at least six songs written and ready to record. One, “All That Shines,” was played in rough take 1 form on The Homemade Hit Show podcast last year. It goes to show that even though I haven’t invited my muse over, she still finds it in her heart to stop by now and then. I have started recording, too, a little bit. I don’t know when the album will be done – late 2010, I’d imagine – but I suspect, and hope, that the upcoming decade will find me more productive and prolific than this one.

Goodbye for now,

Rob

Since August

Dear Sharon -

My how time flies, doesn't it? I didn't realize I hadn't written since I was in North Carolina. Had a great time while there, though I spent too much money. Sometimes you have to do that, though.

The Pylon / Gravel Truck show was great fun. I'd never seen Pylon before, but now that I have I'm cooler than almost everyone. They were great. Turns out I knew everyone in Gravel Truck (Mitch Easter's Let's Active cover band) so it was nice to be able to say hello to various acquaintences. Had some pals in the audience, too. It's cool when you travel around enough that you can know people in many places you go, even if you've never been there before, as was the case in Winston-Salem, where the show was.

Spent several hours with mastering engineer & good friend Jeff Carroll. He listened to some tracks and thought they were recorded pretty well. I'll probably be using his services soon.

Had a show in Alexandria a couple of weeks back. I got to play though my new PA system again. It was a fairly loose show, but I think I played pretty well. Still have a lot of practicing to do to get to the 1999-2001 level.

Next week I'm heading out to California to see the family & friends. I'm also going to be interviewing Matt Boudreau for Tape Op magazine, and will be at the AES show at the Tape Op booth on Saturday and Sunday. That'll be fun & I'll see more music friends.

Sharon, I guess the big news is that for the foreseeable future I'm going to be recording and performing under the name "The Saturday Sound." The reasoning is, to put it succinctly, I never could imagine putting "Rob Christensen" on t-shirts. It always made me uneasy even thinking about it. But "The Saturday Sound" on a t-shirt, button, or bumper sticker... That's another story. That means a new "Saturday Sound" blog is on the way.

Well, better go now.

See you soon!

Rob

North Carolina roadtrip

Dear Sharon -
Just a quickie to tell you that I'm heading down to North Carolina tomorrow morning. I'll be staying in Chapel Hill a few days with studio designer extraordinaire Wes LaChot while I check things out in the area. Right now it's number one on my list of places I want to move to. I'm going to see a few friends, mastering engineer Jeff Carroll and Sound of Singles main man Gerald John. Friday I'm heading to Winston-Salem to see a Pylon reunion show, with Gravel Truck, Mitch Easter's Let's Active cover band opening up. Should be great fun. I should be home late Sunday.
Cheers!
Rob

New York summary

July 15, 2008

Dear Sharon,

I had a great time in New York. Willy’s reading on Friday was a treat. It was in this cute little bookstore in Brooklyn, “The Word.” Willy was shocked when he saw me – he certainly wasn’t expecting me there. He read from his book, played a couple of songs including an extended version of the middle portion of “Walter’s On The Lamb,” from Post To Wire. Afterward I was tired after having worked the previous night and bussed up to New York, but he and his editor invited me out to a post-reading get together. Drinks were paid for by the book company, which was very nice, and the evening was filled with stimulating conversation with music and book people. I finally made it home at 3 am.

On Saturday I spent the day walking around Manhattan. I started off just north of Times Square, where I spent some $ at the Virgin Megastore (The Idiot, Never A Dull Moment ($5!), and an R.E.M. single) before heading down to Greenwich Village. I wanted to walk all the way – 50+ blocks – so I could get some exercise and see the sights. I’d done this back in ’92. On the way I saw the (in)famous Chelsea Hotel and got a delicious slice of New York pizza. There was plenty of activity in the Village. Lots of people about, an Obama rally, and a couple of street fairs. Found a cool Dylan DVD for $10 at one booth. I ended up in Washington Square Park. Last time I was there was in ’92 and it wasn’t a pleasant place. This time it was filled with people, including several groups of musicians singing and playing together. One group was doing Traveling Wilburys songs, another was a group of young lads doing Beatle covers.

Around that time my pal Sash met up with me. We had a great experience doing some record shopping. In one store we met up with a woman who was educating herself on the history of (mostly) New York punk. She was in her early thirties & had never really been into music before. She was choosing to be very clinical in her approach and was intent on buying records by the year and working her way to the present chronologically. At this point she was at 1976 and was looking for Patti Smith’s “Horses.”

Saturday night was more fun, sort of, as Sash gave me some lessons on record production, timing, and other things I won’t get into. It was a little brutal but very educational. After that we blew off steam by drinking until 4 in the morning at the local watering hole.

Sunday was spent sleeping in & having breakfast at the Bel Aire diner in Astoria, which the New York Post named as the best diner in New York City in 2005. After future plans were discussed, goodbyes were said, and I made my way to Manhattan to catch my bus home to Washington DC.

Hope all is well with the family. Give everyone my love.

Rob

Pre- New York & Interwiew

July 9, 2008

Dear Sharon,

When I started this blog I’d fully intended to keep it up to date by writing an entry at least once a week. As, obviously, I haven’t been very successful, I think I’ll try a new format and make the blog entries letters to you. Hope you don’t mind. My hopes are that it, as a whole, will read somewhat like a book of collected letters.

This weekend I’m going up to New York City again. My pal Sasha has graciously offered to put me up once again and for that I’m grateful. Friday night my old acquaintance Willy Vlautin will be reading from his new book Northline. I haven’t seen him for a couple of years so I’m looking forward to it.

On Tuesday I was interviewed by Dave Kriddle for the Home Made Hits Show podcast. The interview went for a good 30 minutes and it sounds like they’re devoting a whole show to me and my music. I’m truly thrilled and honored. I’ve never done a non-print interview before.

Hope all is well with you. I’ll write when I get back from NYC.

God Bless,