High Plains Drifter

Folks,

We’ve been in the studio, so I’ve been focused on things besides my missives to you here—you know, songs and tempos and keys and the rest of it. We got down to brass tacks with our fearless leader Brad Jones at Tiny Telephone in Oakland, in an effort to sort the wheat from the chaff. Figure out which songs are standing up for themselves. Triage the situation. In short, it was a bloodbath.

Anyhoo: here’s a newsletter classic I thought I’d share with you. A missive between James and me when we were in a serious holding pattern and had no real idea if we’d ever gas up the Econoline and get out there again. Spoiler alert: We did. And we continue to.

Onwards,

-CP

I was talking to James today. And James asked me if there was any songs he needed to brush up on for when we get back out there. And what I think it’ll look like when we do get back out there. And I thought about it for a second and I said...

[I have this new software that turns conversations into a legal transcript, so check it out…].

CP: Have you ever seen the movie High Plains Drifter?

James: Ah, no...

CP: Well, I’ve been watching a lot of movies these days. So, you’ve never seen the movie High Plains Drifter?

James: “Go on…”

[And I went on.]

CP: Well in the film, Clint Eastwood rides into this mining town. And Clint’s character doesn’t have a name. He’s only known as The Stranger. Now within minutes of riding into town, The Stranger takes on an entire gang of tough guys and gives them a serious beat down. The cowering townspeople watch this from behind curtains and under buildings. The Stranger is clearly a bad ass. About this time, the town learns that a psychotic outlaw has been been sprung from jail and is headed their way to seek revenge for exactly what we’re not sure. They talk The Stranger into staying and acting as protection. The Stranger agrees, but he has his price. He demands complete authority over the town. The Stranger has his own governing style or whatever you want to call it. He first appoints a dwarf, Mordecai, as Sheriff. (Mordecai is a big name from the Bible, by the way. In a movie, you can never go wrong using a name from the Bible.) Then The Stranger takes the entire hotel for himself. And he manages to climb into bed with both the town bad girl, Callie, and the hotel manager’s wife, Sarah. You still there?

James: Kind of. Half listening. But my breakfast is getting cold. Does he take a bath?

CP: Who?

James: The Stranger. Don’t they always take a bath and smoke a cigar in the bath, grinning.

CP: Yeah, now that you mention it. But this is important. The next scene is the money shot. The Stranger has a big bucket of red paint, and he’s meandering down Main Street calmly repainting the town while Mordecai, in his Sheriff’s badge, looks on approvingly. Yep, this crazy son of a bitch is PAINTING THE ENTIRE TOWN RED. And with the last bit of paint in the bucket he fashions a sign that reads: HELL.

James: This sounds a lot like the news these days.

CP: I’m getting there, I’m getting there. There’s a bunch of flashbacks and snippets of dialogue. Then the gang of black hat wearing menaces roll into town and the first thing they see is that sign that reads “HELL.” And anyone who’s ever seen the film is thinking, “Huh, this is going to be good.” I think we’ll approach every gig we play like that. Just like that. Roll into town. Turn it upside down. Take over the nicest hotel and then paint the town red. So, bring a change of clothes. It could get messy.

James: Ready when you are. And unlike you, I’ve actually painted houses. I guess I’ll just put this oatmeal in the microwave. What do you think, about 2 minutes?

CP: Yeah, that should do it.

***END OF TRANSCRIPT***