Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
I’m enthusiastically working hard this week. My take on the music biz, or “the grind,” is that all of this is work, so every now and then I’ll take a break to count stars and dream of magical destinations. This week’s hour-long playlist is the soundtrack to one of those destinations. In my mind, it’s tropical.
Speaking of stars, my sister-in-law won an Oscar last Sunday. Even though I see Patricia only now and again, I am actually very proud of her and honored by her grace.
The other day at work someone asked me to sit in on a meeting with a singer named Seasick Steve, a “train hobo” as his bio refers to him. Meeting this old character made my week—the notion of freight hopping is fairly romantic. My greatest literary influence has always been the legendary hobo, Jack Black—the original from 1900. If you’ve never read his book, You Can’t Win… Well, that’s the best tip I’ll give you this week.
So, back to ol’ Seasick Steve. What a charming dude. With a touch of luck and some love from Jools Holland, Old Steve seems to be happy, joyous, and free—my Idelic star of the week.
As for the music, this hour of records plays like the soundtrack I’d wanna surf to off some remote magic island in the South Pacific. I haven’t surfed in many years, but if Seasick Steve can still do it—why not break out the old long board?
The Idelic Hit of the Week:
Lord Huron – Fool for Love
When I grow up I wanna be like Seasick Steve.
