"The Best Intentions" Part Three - Great News And Great Views: Hawksley Workman And The New GBS CD & The Kissable Rock Star At Loch Ness

ETA: Again, no apologies whatsoever about this edit-in. What a excellent way of finding out that the news of Hawksley Workman and Great Big Sea working together on the new GBS CD is most definitely true - nothing less than video evidence for proof of the claim:

Video of Great Big Sea and Hawksley Workman at the Great Big Studio

They look great in this video; that's a very appealing couch, as well as a pair of adorably trusting - and apparently quite cuddly - pups they have in their studio, not to mention an absolutely lovely floor, momentarily breathtaking even, when seen up close. Best of all, what can be heard sounds very good too, especially that beautifully intricate guitar line Alan is playing, several times over at Hawksley's behest. That really was spectacular, exactly as he wants it to be. I do believe this is going to be a wonderful ride.

Last but not least, inexcusably belated but completely sincere kudos to GBS and their website management team for making this video accessible to all, no signups for or logging on to the site required.

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News that if true - and I do so hope it is true - bodes very well for the happiness of this man. It bodes just as well for the hopes of some excellent new music from Great Big Sea.

From the October 14-20 edition of The Newfoundland Herald:

He's rocked George Street and the Delta ballroom, but alternative rocker HAWKSLEY WORKMAN is in Newfoundland these days with his producer's hat on.

Spotted last week at St. John's airport with Séan McCann of GREAT BIG SEA, Workman, known for such albums as Lover/Fighter and Treeful of Starling, is in town to help produce new albums from that band and HEY ROSETTA!, a representative from Sonic Records has confirmed.

It's expected Great Big Sea, one of this province's most successful bands ever, will go back to a more rocking sound on their upcoming album, the followup to the traditional album, The Hard and The Easy. Their last rock record, Something Beautiful, was released in 2003.

Meanwhile, alternative band Hey Rosetta!, keeping busy with another national tour, is expected to start work on the followup to their debut CD, Plan Your Escape, shortly with Workman at the helm. - Kevin Kelly

Hello, Isadora. Hail and well met.

If this is true - yes, I know, good to remember to remain somewhat wary about what gets reported in the TV Guide - I think it's fantastic news. Hawksley Workman (and check out his MySpace site too, especially for a few most-intriguing prose-writing samples, some of which remind me distinctly of the style of a fellow by the name of  Russell Crowe) is a brilliant artist - unique, impassioned, mutable...relentlessly honest, prodigiously talented, and umcompromisingly himself.  Hawksley Workman is the kind of artist who marches to the different beat he's playing on his own drum, along with a dozen or so other self-played instruments making up that one-man marching band. He is the embodiment of "alternative," in every sense of that too-often-carelessly-used word .

Hawksley Workman is also a spectacular performer. The first time I ever saw him live - on stage immediately before GBS at the George Street Festival in 2004 - he was mesmerising, a wild and bewitching cross between rock star and vaudeville performer, porn stud and poet, playing mulitiple instruments, dancing with broom handles, and doing things with a feather boa that made me come close to going and finding Alan to make sure  he was seeing all of this too. All I could think of at the time was how much I wanted to see Hawksley Workman and Alan Doyle on stage together, that and for the two them to write songs together too. If I'd been coherent enough then to think about CD production, I'd have probably thought it the other way around - Alan producing one of Hawksley's CDs. But this option is equally excellent, though I'd still give very much to see two such consummate performers working hard to out-do each other on any stage in any place at any time.

Actually, Sean and Hawksley could probably come up with some interesting co-writes as well, even if they might tend a bit more toward poetic flights of fancy than is my own preference. There's a good chance that Hawksley and Bob could wind up throttling each other if they tried to write together. I think I'll just stick with my hopes for a Doyle/Workman collaboration one day. Along with the newfound hope for a Workmanlike GBS CD. 

I'd heard about Hawksley's plans to produce the new Hey Rosetta! CD - and I hope he can help that band find the focus and control they need to realise the wealth of potential that I keep hearing buried way down deep in their current music - but hadn't heard a word about him working with GBS.  All I'd heard about the new GBS CD was that it was going to be a "departure" from what's been done before. That word certainly piqued my interest, but I didn't push for more information, mostly because I was afraid the giver of the information would feel guilty if more wound up being said. All I said in response was that GBS's past choices for their CDs have given me good reason to trust their future choices. But I must confess that the word "departure" got my heart to beating a bit faster. I was thinking about my favourite Rock Star, the Man With The Rock-And-Roll Soul. I was thinking about the eager 14-year-old boy playing air guitar in front of the mirror on Friday nights. I was hoping that man, that boy, was going to get his chance to rock hard.

I've spent enough time in journalism and more than enough time around spin to understand that when the phrase "It's expected" is used, more often than not whatever's being so "expected" is not much more than the writer's own sourceless speculation. Hawksley's own most-recent CD was certainly not what many had expected it to be. And, again, this is the TV Guide I'm quoting here. So I will (reluctantly) take the "will go back to a more rocking sound" with the requisite grain of salt. But I am for sure going to keep right on hoping this is true. I love it when that man, that boy, gets what he wants.

Whether Hawksley Workman winds up as the Producer of, the Co-producer of, or simply the Supplier Of Artistic Input to the new GBS CD, it's good news regardless.  Even if it turns out that all they do is fight like cats and dogs for the next few weeks - while Hawksley seems like a match made in Heaven to be Sean's best buddy and a fitting artistic/performance peer of Alan's, I am thoroughly bemused by thoughts of how he and Bob might get on -  still, GBS  is going to be getting a dynamic, opinionated, restlessly creative and utterly fresh perspective on their new music. An alternative perspective. As Alan has been known to say in the past, sometimes it takes someone from the Outside to help you appreciate the full worth of what you have.

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On to the great views, up close and beautiful for starters. What I was noticing again and again during GBS's set at the Loch Ness Beat The Drum show were Alan's lips. It kept looking like he was thinking about wanting to be kissed. Or perhaps it was just me, thinking that he looked like he needed to be kissed.

This one is probably a bit blurry for a closeup, but I could not, can never, resist that sweet face. Talk about The Kissable Rock Star.

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Again, not a great shot. But it is one of the few of Sean and Bob that turned out halfway decent in the rain. These are from Paddy Murphy.

Not sure what was going on over to the far left of that big crowd during Paddy Murphy, but both Alan and Kris seem to be interested in whatever it was.

And there is that sweet face again. Rain? What rain?

Then it was finally time for the Rock Star to strut his stuff up on the big stage in front of the massive crowd. It was time to be King.

I think that given this excellent news about the new GBS CD (I know, I know...TV Guide, grain of salt...but I am still going to hope), it's the perfect time and the perfect place to end this entry. Next time for the GBS song that has gone from hope to dread and back to hope again, and how that song played along the shores of Loch Ness. That, and the moment that was one of the most moving, and most enlightening, of all such moments at the European GBS shows. Next time. For now, it's time to Rock On.

Comments

[Laura]

Those are some might fine lips! The rest looks good too. You did good taking pictures in the rain.

I poked around on the 'net because I've never heard of Hawksley Workman. He sounds exciting. He sound like he'll scare the holy beejesus out of some of the GBS fans. I can't wait. :D I'd kinda like to see what this guy and Sean would write. I'd like to see Sean with a boa too come to think of it. Kinda sad that nobody on GBS's site thinks such big news is worth talking about, ain't it?

I wanted you to know I really liked your horse story in the one before. I'll save you some hassle and say it here.

L.

[Christina]

Dear Lord, please, please let the TV guide be right about this. It would be such a wonderful thing to be true.

Hawksley Workman was mesmerizing on George Street, passionate and demanding and skilled. He must be a fascinating person to collaborate with. Talk about a breath of fresh air in the Great Big Studio. More like a whirlwind.

And it looks like he has produced before- according to wikipedia, he has produced Serena Ryder. Rather an odd coincidence, but one of the things she released on his label was the live recording of her Australian tour, which you saw. The world is really very small, isn't it?

[Lisa]

Hey Lynda... Hawksley also produced Jeremy Fisher's latest album... Goodbye Blue Monday... Hawksley rocks... I do hope it is true... =D Sean and Hawk would make good music together... LOL!!!

[lynda]

Hi Lisa - Thanks for the info about Jeremy. I didn't know Hawksley had produced his latest CD. I like what I've heard so far from that CD at a few live shows, and I need to get ahold of it.

I've seen Jeremy open for GBS about a half dozen times now, and he's done a great job each time. He and his band were excellent at that Edfest show, weren't they? And he handled the Seattle ZooTunes crowd flawlessly when he played on his own.

Hawksley's got some good connections with his prior producing gigs in Jeremy and Serena Ryder. The Serena connection is really interesting to me. Connections are sometimes fascinating for being so unexpected. A woman from Seattle winds up going to Sydney, Australia, because a man from St. John's is collaborating with another man from Australia/New Zealand.

At a show one hot January night in a Sydney club, a performer from Ontario she's never seen before does an opening gig for the band of the man from St. John's and the man from Australia/New Zealand, totally impressing the woman from Seattle in so doing, especially with one song that blindsided her with the impact from the sledgehammer of truth. Still does too, even after waiting close to two years to hear that song again when it finally came out on Serena Ryder's latest CD, enough so to get me to put the song up on this blog for download. Enough so still to make me feel a bit weak in the knees when I listen to it.

Now the fellow who produced one of that Ontario performer's CDs - a fellow the woman from Seattle was even more impressed with when she saw him for the first time, opening for GBS on George Street in St. John's - is apparently going to play a role in the production of the newest CD from the man from St. John's "real" band, GBS.

It may not be all that small of a world, but it's certainly a connected world.

So both Lisa and Laura want to hear what Hawksley and Sean would write together? Fair enough. I still think the two of them are a bit too similar in writing styles to be able to crash heads together and bring out the best in each other. And I think Hawksley and Bob are so dissimilar that they'd just crash heads. Still going with Hawksley and Alan for my first songwriting collaboration pick - just enough difference in style, just the right measure of pride and stubbornness, to poke and prod each other into getting it as good as it can possibly be. They'd make great co-producers too. And I'd still give so much to see them together on stage.

Though I will agree that Sean could probably do some amazing things with that feather boa, even if I'd still rather see Alan doing those things with it instead. Maybe Hawskley would share his broom handles with Sean.

It really is exciting news - again, if it's true...TV Guide, hedge, qualify, etc. - and it does merit way more discussion/reaction than it is getting so far, which is next to none. It was mentioned on the OKP, in the thread there about the new CD, but hardly anyone responded.

I'm not sure what the main causes of the reticence are. It could be negative reaction to that "more rocking sound" expectation, or a general fear of Hawksley himself, or a simple lack of knowledge and curiousity. Or maybe it's just the "Don't talk about anything that might piss somebody off and get me in trouble" atmosphere that seems to be permeating the GBS message board of late. Perhaps the answer is "E) All of the above".

On the one hand, I think a lot of the deafening silence is more of the same old "If you don't like reality, just pretend it does not exist - let's talk about Happy Things instead!" attitude coming from those who want GBS to keep doing exactly the same kind of music as before until the end of time because it's the music that those people like, the music that makes them feel good, and they don't want any of that to change.

Those people get around the obvious question, "But what about what the men of GBS themselves might prefer to do?" by convincing themselves that what GBS really wants is exactly the same as what they want (I know people who do this same thing with what God supposedly wants), and any deviation from that appointed path is done only because of GBS's "selling out" or their caving to outside pressure from evil record labels or undesirable fans. It could never be because of what those men might want for themselves.

This whole fantasy that all that the men of Great Big Sea really want to do is trad/folk music really is silly when you look that fantasy square in the face. In the first place, there have been pop/rock-type songs on every single CD GBS has done, all the way back to their Self-Titled Debut CD. Second, it's quite clear that all of them have a wide and varied taste in music. Sean's been known for his love of reggae, among other genres; Alan has never backed away from being up front about his rock-star passions; and Bob's continuing writings in his own Soundtrack Journal have made it clear that he's a man of various and discerning musical tastes.

None of this leaves much logical reason for believing that GBS wants to be an all trad/nothing-but-trad band. Or an all-folk band, either. The real pressure GBS winds up facing comes from those who think this all GBS should be doing. That, and only happy, cheerful, inspiring, uplifting songs. preferably ones that include mentions of drinking. Oh, and no real sex...you have to keep it on the level of snickering suggestion. Happy and Fun and Not Real. That's the ticket for the Newfie Party Band.

Which is bullshit, albeit bullshit that sells CDs and show tickets. And it's bullshit that some people have come to expect and need to the point of being adamantly opposed to any changes. You don't expect an addict to cheer if they hear news that their supplier might possibly be changing the formula of their designer drug of choice.

I've found plenty of people who like GBS's music who also enjoy many other kinds of music, including rock and much more. They tend to be the same people who are supportive when GBS steps beyond the narrow range of expectations and limitations some others hope to contain them within. Many of them don't tend to speak up a whole lot, because that can trigger the shrill disapproval of the ones who don't want their formula altered.

When The Hard & The Easy came out, there was a lot of talk about GBS "finally" going back to the music they "should" be doing, and not a small amount of hope on the part of some that this was going to be how things remained for GBS from here on out. A few were quite exultant about it.

As for myself, I remember feeling an initial twinge of disappointment when I first heard that GBS's next CD after Something Beautiful would be all-trad. But that twinge passed quickly enough when I remembered that GBS had earned my trust based on their creative choices in the past. If someone such as myself who has always and will always prefer rock music to folk/trad could be able to find so much to appreciate and enjoy in what GBS has created in the past, there was no reason at all not to trust that they could be just as excellent in the future, including on an all-trad CD.

And they were. The trust was not a bit misplaced.

There's not much you can do to reason with the Happiness Addicts, given how they themselves choose to reject reason out of hand. If they don't get their fix, they aren't going to be satisifed even with the best music ever created, even if it were on a CD produced by Jesus Christ, or Barney. But for the people to whom it's merely a matter of genre preference, I wish some of them would place a bit more trust in artists who have shown time and again that such trust is merited.

As for Hawksley himself, oh yes, I can see the potential for utter terror being struck among that group of mostly psuedo-adult female GBS fans who seem intent on pretending that the World Of GBS is not and will never be anatomically correct, let alone ambisexually seductive. The possibilities are downright beguiling. I am definitely looking forward to that too. And Hawksley Workman is a wild and upredictable force, which I believe is exactly what GBS needs to counteract (and, I hope, to blow to smithereens) the constant pressure that's put on them to remain unchanging and predictable.

I don't know who wrote the bio info on Hawksley's official site (my guess would be that he wrote it himself), but there is one splendid word used there to describe him: "Velocity". Exquisite...a perfect one-word summation. Velocity is exactly what I believe Hawksley Workman might be able to give GBS's new CD.

Hold on for your life. I do love a bumpy ride.

Laura, I'm glad you like my story of the wary little horse. It's still a story-in-progress, but it's very near and dear to my heart as it is. I've got stubbornly high hopes for a happy ending.

As for those mighty fine lips...lovely, aren't they? The first word that comes to mind continues to be "kissable". No comment on the second and third words that invariably follow immediately after.

Now I am thinking about the feather boa again. I'm blaming it all on Hawksley.

[Angel]

I am so freaking hacked off at GBS. Why would they wait so late to announce being on Ships & Dip? Do they go out of their way to screw their fans?? What other explaination can there be? /:-(

[Christina]

Oh, excellent. Now there's a lovely way to find out a rumour is true- video evidence.

Lovely also to be able to watch Alan as he tunes- I'm not sure which is sexier, his nimble fingers or the look of concentration on his face. Maybe I won't bother choosing and just enjoy both. Oh, and that great sideways grin from the floor. :-) The whole thing would be worth it for that smile alone.

They look like they are having a good time with Hawksley. I hope he is asserting himself and giving them a good push; every successful person needs one every now and again. I was thinking that recently in relation to Danny Williams, but it applies to the band members just as well. Success is too comfortable sometimes.

[lynda]

Interesting juxtaposition, these two comments.

Actually, there have been a few more comments along the lines of Angel's way of thinking, though phrased a bit more harshly, phrased downright ugly in a few instances, which is why those comments aren't going to wind up posted here.

I don't understand why anyone would think that a comment full of personally nasty slurs about any of the members of Great Big Sea is going to wind up seeing the light of day here on this blog. Disagreements with GBS's decisions or policy or employees, that's one thing. Personally hateful comments, those are something else altogether.

But then, there are those dimly lit bulbs who send comments full of personally hateful comments about me, to me, and then who get pissed off when I do not post those comments too, here on my own blog. That's akin to having neither oar in the water.

**I'm going to self-edit out a few paragraphs, because it's been brought to my attention that there are some people who thought what was said in those paragraphs was about them, rather than being about those who send personally hateful comments here. I'm not sure why they thought it was about them, but with any such misunderstanding, the lion's share of the blame is on the writer, not the reader. And I've got no reason whatsoever to want to cause any unnecessary hurt. So consider it edited, with apologies. **

As for legitimate questions, albeit somewhat pissed-off ones: Angel, I don't know for sure why GBS's Ships & Dip cruise announcement came so late, but I can think of at least one possible explanation. It might not be the correct explanation, but it at least shows there are other possibilities beyond GBS working their tour-schedule annoucements around the goal of screwing their fans.

They're working on their new CD right now, and it could be that they could not commit to this cruise until they had gotten far enough along on that CD to be confident that it would be ready to go - including all of the recording, mixes, and re-mixes - before time for them to take on any new gigs, especially a gig that is going to keep them away from home for nearly a week.

There's also the matter of plans that had been in the works for Alan and Murray to join Russell Crowe's TOFOG band in Florida immediately before this cruise. Not having that matter settled could very well have impacted confirmation of GBS's presence on the Ships & Dip cruise.

It sure looks like this was announced just as soon as it was confirmed - notice came out in the GBS newsletter right ahead of the BNL Ships & Dip site - so there's no fault to be found with anyone for dropping the ball that got bobbled with the upcoming Vancouver shows. You can't announce it before it's confirmed, especially not a gig that costs as much and requires as great a commitment of time as a cruise does.

They're men with complicated, sometimes fluctuating, schedules - men who have to coordinate both their personal and their professional lives with one another and with others - so whenever a tour date winds up being confirmed late (as opposed to being announced late), my first assumption is always that the cause for that late announcement was scheduling issues.

Just to play devil's advocate, though (Oh, hell, why not?), if there were any fan-related reason why GBS might have waited till the last minute to announce, rather than it being any attempt to "screw over" GBS fans, couldn't it be just as likely, or even more likely, that GBS might hold back from announcing to ensure that on what is first and foremost a BNL cruise, it is BNL fans who wind up getting the primary opportunity to make it onto that cruise? So that the cruise remains one that is about BNL and their fans, not something that winds up being about GBS and not something that winds up being about GBS fans?

If GBS had known earlier that they'd be on the Ships & Dip cruise (speaking purely hypothetically) and had announced that, how many people who "don't give a shit" about BNL would have signed up for that cruise, just because GBS was going to be there? And how could such an occurrence have potentially impacted the overall dynamic of the cruise?

All just speculation, of course. At the end of the day, the point is that there might be a dozen different explanations for a late confirmation and announcement, none of those explanations being about anybody focusing on GBS fans, who are really are not, contrary to the apparent opinions of some, the centre of the universe.

One last comment in response to a continuing theme in the comments I am not putting up here: Yes, I'm surprised GBS is doing a fan cruise too. But from what I'm being told by some BNL friends who have also gone on the Rock Boat cruises, it's a different atmosphere on the Ships & Dip cruise, much more relaxed and with fewer of the most ruthless predators. I hope that's true.

I did stop being surprised they were going to do this when I took a long look at the list of performers on this cruise: BNL, Carbon Leaf, Guster...these are their friends. They get to spend some time with their friends, and that means they get to have some fun. That all by itself sounds pretty darn cool to me.

From ships and shoes and sealing wax on to videos and Kings...

Christina, yes, that sideways grin is itself quite spectacular, isn't it? Same for the tuning scenes, the playing too. Then there is the pup cuddle. I'm rather partial to the couch lounging too. All absolutely gorgeous. It's all good. My vote goes to enjoying it all. Why limit yourself?

I like the song Sean's singing. It would be cool to find out it's one of his originals, though it sounds like some obscure Newfoundland trad tune. Really nice, and such a lovely guitar part from Alan. It looks like Hawksley's going to be adding some vocal tracks, and that's a smart move because he's got a wonderful voice. Maybe he'll play some of his many instruments on the new CD too.

One scene of Sean I like best is when he's talking about Leo's. Sean is always charming, usually quite consciously so, flashing the dimples and fluttering the eyelashes to great effect. For just a few monents in this scene, Sean is quite unconsciously charming...he really reminds me of Glenn for those few moments, the cadence of his speech, body language and facial expression. You know how much I like Glenn, largely because he is so genuinely sweet and unself-consciously charming; he's real, and I like real. In this scene, Sean looks and sounds just as genuine and real as does his little brother, and that is the most charming of all.

Speaking of charming, from this one video - and more will tell a clearer story - it looks as if Alan and Hawskley are presently competing for the ascendancy with weapons of charm. Hawksley might be a formidable contender, but my money is on Alan.

It's probably quite a challenge for Hawksley to take on producing a very successful band, and to have to come to their town and into their studio to do it. No home turf advantages. Maybe he should take them all out to his schoolhouse. In the dead of winter. Might make them long for the comparative kindness of Newfoundland's winter weather.

I hope Hawksley kicks them in the arse when that's what they need. It's what a producer sometimes has to do for the successes to continue, something I am sure Alan knows already, Bob too. It's what I'm counting on Lorraine to keep doing to Danny when he needs the same.

[That Chip Guy]

Well, I'll certainly own up to envy. The whole family, right down to the five-year-old, would LOVE to take the cruise. It was tempting enough when it was just BNL and Carbon Leaf that drew our interest. Alas, we can't spend that kind of money for two or three of us to go, and the only way ONE of us could go would be by depriving the other of the chance. No need to compound the envy.

Hopefully we'll be able to afford such a cruise if it ever happens again. I suspect that for GBS to participate again they'd have to have a fantastic (pun intended) experience. Here's hoping that they play to the people who don't know them and who THINK they know them, not just the people up front.

[lynda]

Hey there, Chip -

I've got a good "Envy Story". At a show last fall, I ran into a young lady I haven't seen for awhile. We chatted a bit, and after I'd mentioned my current travel plans, she sighed deeply with all of the drama that comes with being 17 and said how much she envies me.

I glanced up at her, all 5'8" of the gorgeous beauty that she already is, and smiled. I told her that she is beautiful, brilliant, compassionate, perceptive, artistically talented and on her way this coming fall to a prestigious university. She is 17 with her whole life ahead of her, a life that's full of potential and possibilities.

I told her I envied her.

And I do. Right along with that envy, I wish her every wonderful experience and all the happiness she can handle. If I were jealous instead of envious, I'd find some excuse for hating her and wishing ill upon her, but the real reason for that hatred and ill-wishing would be because she had something I don't.

Envy is normal. I wish you three could all make it onto this cruise, and I hope that GBS winds up finding enough reason to do it again so that you can make it in the future, hopefully with BNL and CL too. Have you ever even had the chance to see BNL? They always put on such a good show.

You make an excellent point about who to hope GBS winds up playing to on this cruise. I have a hard time sometimes thinking it's possible to get the people who think they know GBS to see or hear GBS as they are today, but there may be some. And there for sure will be those who do not know them, at least not live.

Maybe it really could be fantastic. Pun continued. Most of all, I'm hoping that they have themselves a great time; that all by itself would be good enough for me.

[No name given]

Lynda:

Every now and then I think you go too far with how bad you say Great Big Sea fans act. Occasionally I think the same about the low opinion the boys show toward their fans at times. Then something happens and uncovers what must be there all the time and it can be seen for a little while before they cover it back up again with a false smile.

I'm getting my share of abuse because of the cruise too. It was bad. What was said to me was awful, my hands are still shaking when I type now. What possesses anyone to be horrible over something as inconsequential as a folk band? How am I supposed to react to this?

[Lynda]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Not particularly surprised, but still very sorry. I'm not much of an adherent of the "misery loves company" philosophy; all that one seems to add up to is even more misery.

You didn't say exactly what was said to you, but I do recognise your response. I really do know how you feel. I have had the same shaking hands and have asked the same questions. I know how badly it sucks to feel that way.

So do others. I don't know if that helps you at all, but I hope so. Maybe that's all "misery loves company" really means: You aren't alone in this. If that is what it means, then I'll have to go along with that part of it. The same thing has happened to other people too.

This cruise seems to be bringing out the same level of Crazy that usually only manifests itself midway through a big tour, right about the time the Happy Highs gotten from some indivduals' shows have begun to wear off, leaving those individuals to start bitterly resenting the fact that the tour (and the Happy Highs) are still going on without them. That's when it customarily gets ugly for those still going to shows.

I'm not sure what hot button this cruise is hitting; maybe it's just because it's a long time till the next tour and this is something a lot of people want to go to, but can't. Maybe this happening right after the European shows, also very hard to get to, makes that frustration even worse. Or maybe it's because it's been such a long time since some people in some places have been able to go to any of the recent shows that have gone on in the States and Canada. Whatever the reason, the cruise announcement has certainly been immediately followed by quite the eruption of nastiness, and it sounds like you got caught in that flow.

Or maybe the way you put it is better...maybe this just popped the cover off of what's always there so it could be seen as it really is for a few moments. Either way, I'm sorry you got hurt in the process.

I don't know if this next part helps or not, either, but I'll give it a shot anyway: It's not really about you, not very much of it anyway. And, for the most part, it's not really about the cruise and it's not even really about Great Big Sea. It took me forever to figure this part of it out. What this type of nastiness is mostly about is the person who's so hostile/unbalanced/unhappy/bitter/miserable - whatever the best adjective might be - instead; it's a problem between them...and them.

You got caught in the fallout of someone else's internal battle. Collateral damage, if you will. As unhinged as it may sound - mostly because it is rather unhinged - you probablly aren't even all that "real" to whoever it was who was nasty to you; you likely don't matter to them much as a person. For that matter, GBS isn't all that "real" to them either, I don't think, and they too do not matter all that much in any way that exists outside of this kind of person's own wishes and expectations and needs. With most people who do things like what happened to you, my own belief is that what matters to them doesn't go much beyond themselves.

I know that sounds bad, but it does kind of explain why people would behave so horribly over a folk band - because it's not really about the folk band. People are horrible about inconsequential external matters because they have something genuinely horrible going on internally. At least that's the only answer that's ever made any sense to me. I might be a fool for even trying to get it to make sense, though.

I'm not the best person to answer your question of how to react to something like this. At the end of the day, that's a question only you can answer.

What I can say is that I believe the kind of people who do something like what was just done to you are not in the majority among GBS fans. I won't lie and say I think they comprise no more than a tiny handful of that group; there are more of them than that, sad to say. But they are not the majority, and there are some genuinely good and decent and kind people to be found in that same group, in the midst of the ones who just pretend to be that way.

There is no sense in trying to deny the ugliness that's in a particular place. The ugly is real and if you don't acknowledge it, you're living a delusion; that delusion will eventually turn on you and hurt you. But if you let the acknowledged ugliness prevent you from seeing what is genuinely beautiful and good in that same place, that seems like such a shame and loss, to my way of thinking.

That's the only answer I have for how to respond to such people doing this kind of thing. Accept the inevitability of the unfortunate and the unpleasant, and then try not to let those negative inevitabilities keep you from appreciating all of the positive inevitabilities that are sweet and pleasurable, or keep you from enjoying and being glad for the people and the things that really do matter.

Granted, I don't always do such a great job at keeping that balance myself. I make way more than my fair share of mistakes. I guess it's something that takes a long time to learn, for some of us at least. But it can be learned and it is worth learning.

I know, that sounds a bit overly theoretical, if not downright pie-in-the-sky. How about this for being a bit more pragmatic in the here and now: In regard to this particular incident, my advice is that you see what happened to you as an unhappy person lashing out in that unhappiness at the first convenient target, because they are the kind of person whose own unhappiness is temporarily lessened a bit when they believe they have made someone else unhappy.

Then ask yourself if this is the kind of person who should be permitted to impact how you feel or what you do. That one has to be up to you.

I hope something here helps you a little. If you want to comment here again, please feel free. If you'd rather talk by email, that's good too. Even if there's nothing I can say that helps you, I'm willing to listen as much as you want.

Take care,

Lynda

[Laura]

How about that new GBS CD huh? Cool, isn't it? Funny, how that keeps getting pushed aside.

I like Sean's song. I like Sean playing beagle on the floor. I like Alan's guitar. I like Bob's accordion. I like GBS. I maybe like Hawkley Workman too.

Fans are nuts. Film at 11. Any questions?

If they can't take a fuck... ;P

L.

[lynda]

...Joke 'em? Is that the right answer?

Yes, you are right. It is cool about the CD and I like all those things too (note: it's Hawksley). I did mention the song, but I'm sorry to have missed mentioning the beagle pose on the floor. That really was cute, but my attention was captured by that sideways smile.

Oh yeah, I always like the accordion too. I keep waiting for the GBS song that combines a sizzling Les and a sizzling accordion. Kind of like I keep waiting for Les to pair up with the electric fiddle. Wouldn't that sound great on Straight To Hell?

I think maybe we're all just a little bit nuts, at least some of the time. I guess it all depends on how much of the time, doesn't it?

I will hereby consider myself slapped upside the head (or kicked in the arse, take your pick) for wandering too far away from the things that do matter the most, especially when it comes to that CD. (and the sideways smile)

Thank you for the slap/kick. It was needed; it will probably be needed again distressingly soon. You're quite good at this sort of thing. Assuming I ever get this book written, want to be my editor?

[Laura]

Umm, thanks but no thanks. I'm not a masochist. I like to hold on to the whip handle.

I sure do like what I hear about the new GBS CD. I like that topic a lot more too.

L.

[Lynda]

Most all the editors I've ever known have had a firm hand on the whip handle.

Yeah, I agree about the CD being a better topic of discussion. While the cruise is clearly going to be a great time, it's an appeal that's by nature limited to those who can take part in it. The CD will be there for everyone to enjoy, for a long time, I hope.

And speaking of the few and the many, I just might get a chance to see how well I can practice what I preach about envy/jealousy. My ability to go on that cruise was dependent on someone else's plans from the get-go, and now those plans are getting contrary. Might be an excellent test of character, which is a kinder, gentler way of saying it might kinda, sorta suck.

At the end of the day, and so on.

Your masochist reference has reminded me of one of my favourite jokes:

The Masochist eagerly begged, "Beat me, beat me, beat me!"

The Sadist quietly answered, "No."

[Katie]

So I'm wondering if I'm extremely crazy. I have no desire whatsoever to go on said cruise. I can think of far better ways to spend my hard earned vacation time and my hard earned money than wasting my time doing this. I'd much rather take a cruise where I'm not distracted by concert upon concert, and keep to my own travel schedule. But that's just me, maybe I'm just sane ;-)

[Lynda]

Hi Katie - No, I don't think you're a bit crazy. You might be very, very sane instead. I don't know for sure, because I've never been on a cruise before. I've had a few chances - there was one really cool geology cruise up into Alaska I very nearly went on a few years ago - but I've always been worried about claustrophobia in the cabins. I don't get seasick, or at least I haven't yet, but I do have a pretty persistent case of the "don't shut me in's".

Lots of concerts going on over the space of a few days can be a lot of fun, albeit exhausting. I've done that one a few times at the ECMAs. But that was on dry ground, and in the wide open spaces. Not sure at all how it would go on a ship.

And I do know what you mean about how nice it is to be able to keep to your own schedule while on vacation. Some of the most wonderful vacation moments always seem to be the unplanned, spontaneous ones, don't they?

I know some people who love cruising in and of itself, and a few others who have tried it and hated it. Same goes for the people I know who've gone on "Rock Boat" type cruises, including earlier versions of this particular cruise. Some go year after year,while others swear that wild horses could not drag them back on again.

I guess it comes down to personal tastes and preferences more than anything else. Some people know themselves well enough to know whether they would or would not enjoy something without needing to try it out first. That sure sounds sane to me.

Thanks for the comment, Katie.

[andi]

But I like my "happy fix". :(

Honestly, Bob's fiddling routinely keeps me going with fiddle practice. Inspiration through a difficult piece of music ain't a bad thing. (And Beethoven's 9th is a bitch, lemme tell ya. God I'd love to hear Bob Play THAT! )

I am *still* trying to figure out how he does that "slide" thing in "French Perfume" without tossing the fiddle. Sigh.

New Cd = good. Slim hope for more fiddles = bad - at least for me.

Andi of the one track mind.

[Lynda]

Hi Andi - Your timing is impeccable. I had just logged on here to edit out some of my own comments from up above here, because it's been brought to my attention that I've clearly been sucking when it comes to the matter of clarity. Not like editing out a few paragraphs takes care of such a big fault, but you have to begin somewhere.

I've apparently given some people the impression that I meant there's something wrong about feeling happy when it comes to the music in general, which is never what I intended, and the fault for the misunderstanding is clearly mine. Writer culpa, as it were.

Maybe when I regroup and think about how better to put it, I'll be able to get across the opinion that to think that every single GBS song has to be about making people happy and that this happy feeling is something GBS owes their fans is what I find problematic. There really are some people who do feel that way - some have come straight out and said as much - but it's not an accurate or a fair description of every person who feels happy when they hear music.

Again, my fault for not being more clear. Sometimes, when you try to not make anyone specifically identifiable with what you write, you make it sound so general that it winds up sounding like you are writing about someone you hadn't even thought about for ages, someone you really weren't writing about at all. And then someone completely innocent and removed from it all winds up getting hurt. That sucks the most of all. Times like that are times to question the whole writing thing altogether.

Anyway, I'll take your word about how hard Beethoven's 9th is. It sure sounds like it would be hard. Sounds like anyone trying to play it could use all the smiles they can get too.

Bob always looked like he found the French Perfume fiddle part to be pretty darn challenging. He did play it well though. I miss that song.

I don't know about fiddles on the new CD. They do that fiddle/guitar duo lead part in Straight To Hell, at least it's been that way live. And Walk On The Moon has a fiddle solo too; again, it has live. Those should be on there. I bet there will be plenty of fiddle still in the new CD. I am wondering how much accordion, myself. I may like rock, but I like accordion too.

Thanks for the comment, Andi. Happy fiddling about.