so i’m in the post-pharmapalooza fog. weird going back to work and just being “work” me when people know about “music” me…i can’t run and i can’t hide anymore, not a bad thing…and felt really good to get out there and sing again. and the LLNS crowd, massive, loud and full of love. was a great night!
so tonight’s blog post is one i’ve been meaning to do for ages, but never had the energy. but it’s time…
on one of those days when i was at home alone, sore, tired, 30 pills to take on various alarms all day…i did what as a paranoid person of the new millennium does…i googled myself. i do it from time to time to be sure there isn’t some crack pot review of something i did 15 years ago hanging out there, but also to check in on my digital distribution to make sure my tunes are where i agreed to put them…i’m sure there’s some narcissistic curiosity involved as well. i won’t lie…anyway, i stumbled upon something i hadn’t seen before. the blog of a guy whose handle was “undercover black man”. couldn’t dig up anything else about him on the page, but it was wild. someone had hipped him to me, and he was spreading the love. always nice to see on the net. and he had some mighty kind words for the old CT. check it out here:
so, wanting to find out more about the kindness of this stranger, i dug around his blog site, and found myself on the most recent post, dated in April 2010. it was titled “Blowing UBM’s Cover”. And as I read, I was stricken by the sadness of what I was reading but also wonder and amazement. The post I speak of is here:
It turns out not only had I heard of the man behind UBM, I was a fan of his work. His name was David Mills, and he had tragically passed away a month or two before I saw this blog from an aneurysm. He was a well known screenwriter and journalist in Hollywood. He had written for ER, Homicide and NYPD Blue before being one of the creators on The Wire and Treme. He was the man behind several controversial interviews of people on my radar in the 90s…Professor Griff from Public Enemy, and Sister Soulja.
But aside from knowing his work, I was compelled by his story. He was from my home town, DC. Grew up about 10 minutes away from where I did. Had many of the same cultural touchpoints (Rare Essence and the DC go-go scene, but also a love of a wide variety of styles of music). He and my eldest sister were born days apart. The post his nephew made was compelling and beautiful, and made me wish I had known about this blog before, because this was a guy I would have loved to have a conversation with. But was not meant to be.
The internet is a truly wild place. It allows totally unconnected people to connect. And can facilitate the mending of broken connections (thru sites like Facebook and LinkedIn). But it can make an anonymous person known to you in a few clicks. And unbeknowst to you, you’ve influenced someone. Changed their thinking. Altered their view. It’s incredibly powerful. I love that he was listening to “Keeping Quiet” while driving to visit his family over the holidays. When I think of it, it makes me smile, and it makes that creative circle feel real. Suddenly that song is not alone or anonymous. And again is a reminder that our art, when it’s out there, can have an effect.
In a somewhat unrelated item…I’ll close with this addition. Last week, when rehearsing for Pharmapalooza, I walked out of the rehearsal room to get a drink. Upon turning the corner back to our room, I physically bumped into a guy who seemed oddly familiar. Frankly, after playing in NYC for 15 years, everyone looks a little familiar. But, when I got to our door, I realized…that’s Sean Lennon. In typical New Yorker fashion, I kept walking with no acknowledgment of my recognition. The biggest thing that went through my head is…my…life is strange. Because here I am, at a random rehearsal space in Manhattan, playing with my workmates (not my own band)…practicing a Beatles tune…and of all people to bump into…but hey…why not!?