Lios em chania friends! (that's ‘God preserves you’ in Yaqui)
What an adventure this past month!
After making Gorky's performance debut at the end of March at Rose City Book Pub with a solo gig followed by a reading of my book KEEP MUSIC EVIL: THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE STORY (get your copy NOW!) I made it out to Las Vegas for this year's CinemaCon with WME Theatres. (Be sure to follow our podcast MovieBites!), then spent a week in Arizona with my dad before driving Ben's rickety old van 1,000 miles across the west back to Portland, stuffed with most of the Gorky gear…my guitars, my amp, my pedals. My goodness, I've missed these things.
Made a stop in Salt Lake City where I met up with my pal, director-actor Jeremy Warner, and we got to see Bernie Sanders and AOC at their rally there! We were about 20 yards away from where they were speaking at the University of Utah. It was awesome. Also, as an ex-Mormon, it was cool to check out some of the places I'd learned about in high school Seminary class, particularly the Salt Lake Temple. I no longer adhere or subscribe to the Mormon religion, but that is a truly beautiful building, and I have nothing but reverence and thankfulness for what the LDS church taught me, even if their foundations are a little screwy.
Goofball hedonistic songs like “#Datass” and “Super Drunk” aside, I have always identified as some sort of Christian. My father was raised Presbyterian, my mother Lutheran, and I made my own path when I became a teenager. I read the Bible constantly, and still do. When I first met Ben, he and his family introduced me to Mormonism. I was drawn to it because of their focus on this concept of a Heavenly Mother. At that time, I felt a deep connection to what I could only describe as ‘goddess’ energy and symbolism, and there wasn't any such thing as a ‘Heavenly Mother’ in Protestantism. If only I had known the Yaqui Catholic faith of my ancestors, I would have known Mary earlier…but Protestantism is hostile towards Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
Anyways, Ben baptized me into the Mormon faith, and we had a spiritual bonding experience at that moment that was unbreakable after that. We were brothers united in Christ as much as we were united in music, and its something that has carried over, even past his death. So all of these things were on my mind as I drove across Utah, which for all intents and purposes is the "holy land" of Mormonism. Then…the salt fields of Western Utah! Incredible! I had no idea that such a thing existed. Nevada…strange, as always, then Eastern Oregon, which looks exactly like Arizona's White Mountains. I would even say that the White Mountains could easily become Arizona's ‘Bend’ if it gave itself the chance.
After getting back into Portland, I had a week of rest and then journeyed north with my Music Policy Council team to this year's Music Policy Forum and Cascadia Music Collective, which I helped plan. Another mind-blowing experience!
There's a lot more to say about both MPF and CMC, but here are a few takeaways:
- Portland has the #1 Independent Music Economy in the PacNW.
- Live Nation must not build a venue in Portland for it to remain that way.
- Seattle has the #2 slot because corporate big-hitters and hierarchy (such as Live Nation) have stifled upward mobility.
- Washington and Oregon must work closely at the level of government and NPO's to facilitate tour support for Alaskans and Idahoans.
- Bands, artists, labels, and managers must become educated on the music industry.
- The language and policies of the cities must take into account the needs of rural areas and be proactive about outreach to those regions.
My biggest takeaway?
I NEED TO GET BACK ON STAGE AGAIN!
My music industry experience over the past 25 years being based in rural Arizona has been too similar to the stories I heard from Alaska. There are definitely systemic issues here that need addressed, but my experience has hit the ceiling.
The main reason I want to get back on stage is that I simply just miss it. I miss the Gork. I miss the music Ben and I wrote together with our friends.
But there's another reason to play now, and it's to draft policy.
Until next time!
Jesse