Fond memories and local music
air date: Saturday, September 14 at 8pm EDT
You can catch Acoustic Blend with Barrett Myers on the second Saturday of each month at 8pm, right after Cultural Manifesto on WBAA. Listen online at wbaa.org or over the airwaves (105.9 FM and AM 920). My hope is that you’d find in the music a space for reflection and the peace that comes from a word spoken (or sung) at just the right moment. From time to time I’ll also share some of my original compositions and the work of other local artists. Take a load off and settle in, and thanks for your support of this creative effort by sharing and subscribing.
This weekend I’ve been driving familiar roads, visiting old friends and dusting off fond memories like Polaroids in a faded photo album. In these days of “the world in your pocket” (thanks to smart phones and the internet) it’s easy to discount the value of memory — but I find that an evening with someone who knows me well is good for my soul, and refreshes my perspective on who I am and how far I’ve come.
Tonight on Acoustic Blend we’ll be exploring the gift of memory, and its way of connecting our past with the expectations we hold for the future. As we navigate the hour we’ll encounter a number of friends and fellow songwriters, including one in particular who always puts a smile on my face. Mike Byers’ songwriting chops are on full display in “Schrodinger’s Cat” (performed by Michael Longcor), and it does my heart good to remember his wit and charm.
Local artists June IND, Lauren Grace, Malachi Jaggers, and Michael Kelsey will ride along, and you’ll also hear a pair of tunes from my friend Adam Paulson. His song “Worry” concludes with this line, worth pondering: “I don’t know why this is my story, but I’m sure I can’t change it with worry.”
Remembering for me is often connected to stillness and letting go, which leads more often than I expect to a place of wonder. Wendell Berry beautifully captures this dance in his poem “The Heron,” which you’ll hear paired with a Zach Winters instrumental around the 40 minute mark.
“The Heron” by Wendell Berry
While the summer’s growth kept me
anxious in planted rows, I forgot the river
where it flowed, faithful to its way,
beneath the slope where my household
has taken its laborious stand.
I could not reach it even in dreams.
But one morning at the summer’s end
I remember it again, as though its being
lifts into mind in undeniable flood,
and I carry my boat down through the fog,
over the rocks, and set out.
I go easy and silent, and the warblers
appear among the leaves of the willows,
their flight like gold thread
quick in the live tapestry of the leaves.
And I go on until I see crouched
on a dead branch sticking out of the water
a heron—so still that I believe
he is a bit of drift hung dead above the water.
And then I see the articulation of a feather
and living eye, a brilliance I receive
beyond my power to make, as he
receives in his great patience
the river’s providence. And then I see
that I am seen. Still, as I keep,
I might be a tree for all the fear he shows.
Suddenly I know I have passed across
to a shore where I do not live.
”The Heron” by Wendell Berry
Thanks for tuning in, and I do hope the journey this hour brightens your view of the past and/or future just a little.
Acoustic Blend airs Saturday, September 14 at 8pm EDT on WBAA AM 920 in Lafayette / West Lafayette, and streaming live on wbaa.org. You can view the full playlist below. ‘Til next month!
01. Malachi Jaggers - "Town After Town"
02. Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors - "Postcard Memories"
03. Eva Cassidy - "Yesterday"
04. Malachi Jaggers - "Good Ol' Days"
05. June IND - "Your Neighbor's Wallet"
06. Cheryl Wheeler - "Potato"
07. Michael Longcor - "Schrodinger's Cat"
08. Adam Paulson - "Worry"
09. Lauren Grace - "Lingering"
10. Lauren Grace - "Your House"
11. Year of the Buffalo - "Sweet Virginia"
12. Barrett Myers - "Grow"
13. Zach Winters - "Aguas y Canales"
14. Adam Paulson - "Future Looks Bright"
15. Michael Kelsey - "A Bus In Motion"
16. Norman Blake, Tony Rice - "D-18 Song (Thank You, Mr. Martin)"