The sun sets. Appreciate every gig. This is Tom Wilkinson‘s last gig with us until after his baby arrives. Every time The Staxx Brothers hit the stage, it’s all kind of a minor miracle that my friends and I built this tradition that is so many albums and unbelievable stories deep, that I have been able to sing songs I wrote and have co-written 5, 10, 15, almost 20 years ago. And they still cook.
Someday I will write the book.
20 years ago is classic rock. I just got my first hit. I still want to steer this ship.
I don’t know when Tom will play with us again. But he will. People like Tom, Ryan Nutter, Justin Smith, The 12th St Horns AKA Tracy Ferrara, Amelia Albert, Mike Barber they are a part of this story. They have put there stamp on these songs.
I want the WORLD. I want to share it. I don’t break it, or buy it. I just want this band to blow the doors off clubs in Berlin. I want Toronto. I want to melt faces in Manhattan.
It’s so hard to keep, or even get a band on the road right now with labels being a smoke screen for trust funds and rising rent prices forcing even great musicians into hobbyists.
Rock & Roll might be DEAD. But there’s something special about being the last Samurai fighting with a sword against the Maxim gun, so close to top of the hill.
Because it still feels good. ‘Sugarwalls’ and ‘Black & Mild’ always work if you just play them right. There are two dozen songs left to record and the current band, except for Tom doesn’t know two dozen our fans love, like ‘Golden Ghetto’ and ‘Game Recognize Game’ and ‘Easy Rider’.
But Tom does. No drummer in our 16 year history knows know half as many of them as Tom does.
When he joined the band, he hadn’t even played a dozen shows. He left a cool job programming Bruce Springsteen’s radio show on Sirius XM. Bruce thanked him in the box set. Then Tom bounced to Seattle to be in a band. Wasn’t sure which band. But one of em’.
He found The Staxx Brothers. He has to work a lot of hours. We all do now. But we still gotta play. We still know the songs.
* * *
On the way home from the gig in Bellingham, I listened to demos. I polished this hook, on a song idea that came out of a jam called ‘Friendly Fire’ that illustrates my frustration with the Left. My Left. A majority that keeps shooting itself in the foot and we lose the nuance of important topics like cultural appropriation and free speech. You know, just in favor of being the most woke crab in the least woke bucket.
friendly, friendly fire
they all think they so damn woke,
but they can’t get much higherFriendly, friendly fire
they speak of health through cigarettes
There’s no one left to admireBecause Liberal ideas matter, until you abandon those ideals and become the mirror of what we set out to oppose, rather than a real argument against it. And that’s the trap that we will continue to leap on as we lose the Supreme Court and Roe V Wade, as we were literally grasping at the straws of meaningless victories. What good is yelling out “trap” when the sound of self righteousness and racism is equally deafening.
Maybe that is the plan. I have seen the face of social justice warriors as they turn on each other for self righteous bread crumbs and its sad to see idealism die. But that is what happens when you pretend the world is black & white.
Has it ever been?
Maybe…that’s what happens when you accept a fraudulent and manufactured universe where you can understand Free Speech with five spare minutes on wikipedia.
Maybe…explaining your point with memes is the equivalent of surrendering your own point of view to forces that could afford to place them there.
As a member of The Left, I think we’re f☆cked. I think our best weapons are being used against us.
That weapon is each other. One another. Nobody even ponders who put the proverbial gun on the table. And for god sake, maybe ask why. They don’t even question it. They just all reach for it like arms shooting up in class.
“Friendly…friendly fire!”
* * *
Just got a call from Reggae Powerhouse Band about how they think we have a hit with my lead vocal on their Dennis Brown cover, ‘How Could I Leave’.
….and they want me to shoot the video in Jamaica. What do you do after that call? YOU RUN LIKE ROCKY AGAIN.
Jamaica. I love you. I am heading back 75 lbs lighter. Lee, the band leader burst out laughing when I told him I was coming back to Kingston looking like Harrison Ford in Star Wars.
Black Nashville man. Seattle is a long way from all that action. I love our legacy. I love our reputation. But Kingston knows what do with hits. Me? I have no idea. And I have a lot of ideas. Sometimes it’s better to start off playing Left field.
But I am ready to play Centerfield coach.
☆Today, as I asked my Dad what it feels like seeing his Family name all over the papers and TV in the English speaking half of The Caribbean. I want to tap into the Spanish half…
It’s a wonderful wild world we LIVE in. KINGSTON is a place Han Solo & Chewy would have absolutely loved. Awkaward ass Harrison Ford? Maybe not so much.
Davin’s new song has been released and has become a global earworm and Caribbean dancehall hit. Listen here on Reggaeville: DAVIN MICHAEL STEDMAN & ANTHONY RED ROSE – FREE YOUR MIND FEAT. SLY & ROBBIE WITH LENKY MARSDEN. The video is now available on Youtube.
– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many ventures, such as the AMAZING blog, 100milesofmusic.com, and is one of the driving forces behind the Staxx Brothers. This past spring he spent weeks networking in and reporting from Kingston, Jamaica. His single with British band Sherlock Soul is now available as well.
