Thanks to those in these photos, those I love so much, those I’m grateful to have shared these adventures with.

February was much of the same. Busy, and happily monopolized by two big projects. One of those I can’t mention JUST yet [but will have word on soon] + the other being Lightness Management. Today Abbey & I celebrate as Drew Grow + the Pastors Wives head out to start a tour supporting the Head and the Heart, and also shout from the rooftops that Damien Jurado has made his Billboard top 200 debut with Maraqopa at #132. We are over the moon.

There will be more photos, and more good news, but until then, the iphone shots of Damien’s press tour. London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin. It was beautiful.

Because they tell the stories better than I do, playlists via spotify: January + February.

PICKWICK

At Richard Swift’s National Freedom studios through the weekend. Documentation to follow, pending approval from the dudes here. It is good to be back.

The old press room hasn’t been touched much in the past twenty years, and gives a vibe that is half space station half haunted house. Damien, for one, is in love with it. There’s a moment in his performance of ‘Reel to Reel’ [video to follow] where he actually forgets a line. I asked him afterwards what happened there, and he replied that he was so caught up in the history and the vibe of the room that he got lost in it.

Get lost in it.

Full multi cam concert video content coming tomorrow via Seattle Times online.

It reminded me that when I first got my kindle for touring, I sent out a twitter inquiry to find out people’s favorite books. Not just recommendations; favorites. I was happy to discover people LOVE talking about their favorite books. I even promised a few of them I’d sent out a compiled list, which I thought was a lovely idea. One [book-filled] year later, here it is. Sharing the wealth, and coercing folks to be as cozy and lethargic as I am - book in hand.

In the no order, the books submitted - a beautiful, dynamic, wide-swinging list:
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Adverbs by Daniel Handler
Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman
What is the What by Dave Eggers
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Clumsy by Jeffrey Brown
The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Light in August by William Faulkner
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon
Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan
Heart Songs and Other Stories by Annie Proulx
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The Plague by Albert Camus
Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach
The Social Animal by Elliot Aronson
Raise High the Roof Beam by J.D. Salinger
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Gilead by Marilynn Robinson
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
No Man Is an Island by Thomas Merton
The Brothers K by David James Duncan
The Death of a President by William Manchester
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

And my favorite books, the ones I implore you to read, excluding any that might be referenced above?
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Lord of the Barnyard by Tristan Egolf
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck

Last but not least: in honor of the post, I’ve made a playlist with either OVERT literary references, and/or just some songs so laden with emphasis on lyrical content that to listen to them feels like you’re reading.

“So, you like to read books?”

Didn’t see your favorite above? Please leave it in the comments below. I’ll build list 2.0

Honored to be a part of the team sharing the news of Damien’s next release, Maraqopa. Due out February 21, 2012, it is my favorite work of his to date, and it has been an adventure from studio to announcement. We also managed to work the term “spirit animal” into the one sheet, so I feel I’ve done my job right somewhere along the line. Full info on the release + the first glimpse of the record via Secretly Canadian.

The stories and travels of this record will define a lot of the content here for 2012. Can’t wait to share it.

[Press image and outtake, above.]

Was a real honor to have our own Drew Grow + the Pastors Wives out on the road with Wild Flag on their West Coast dates. After seeing the two band bill in Portland for two nights [and one in Seattle] I wish I’d thrown all responsibilities aside to have seen the whole tour. The intensity + integrity of the performances was jaw dropping. Drew has candid snaps from the whole run up on the band’s site, and a few of my own images from Portland will be there shortly.