The River

The sarabande of the willows at the edge
Like bird wit calls us to the riverbed.
Long ago, between these reeds,
A cornet played itself so sweet.
Why does this same river now flow like lead

Sometimes I feel very scared.
Sometimes I feel very scared.
O, winds tempt the stillness to reverse its course,
But forward lies the secret chord
Calling your name. Listen if you dare

What language did the serpent speak:
Questions, answers, or the noise of beasts?
Did he ever worry that everything’s been said?

The river might be itself alive.
The river might be itself alive.
O, the song of the prophets, so heavy,
A drag beyond the levy.
Ferrying us past still waters if we dare.
Calling your name. Listen if you dare

We didn’t know what we were doing. Most of the Art Factory shows were a chaotic, noisey mess, and the all-ages venues that came immediately after weren’t much better. The Sods were terrible. Nigh unlistenable. Most of our friends’ bands were too.

But still, we came to every show. We came because it was our chaotic, noisey mess.

Read more of “What Punk Did For Me.”

We’d like to thank Angela Tucker and her crew for using the song. If you have Netflix, you can stream the movie here.

The American Masters episode on Cab Calloway is about as fantastic and inspiring as the man’s music and dance moves. Watch it here.

You can read stories from the past ten years at the CC site, which they’ll be updating all week.

Writing music that is informed by 100 years of tradition, an open license just seems obvious to me. Jazz would have gone nowhere without the decades of inventive composers, arrangers, and soloists who ripped apart standards and sewed the pieces together into new works of art. When an artist releases a creative work to the public, they are saying “I want this work to affect people” or “I want this work to become a part of other peoples’ lives.” When I use a CC license, I view it a promise that I won’t try to claim a right over peoples’ experiences and interpretations.

The album, which this year won a local music award for best non-rock release, has opened doors to opportunities around the country, and Helms recently counted that they’ve now played in 18 states so far. The break provided Helms, the primary songwriter, time to work on new songs, and the band recently returned to the studio to begin recording again. Patterson looks forward to a less frantic recording pace and where they can take the music now that they’re all fully committed.
“I think there’ll be little nuances that were not there on our last album. That process was really forced and tight, and it’s hard to be really present in a song in that situation. But when you sing a song constantly, you can feel sad if the song is sad or feel what the emotion of the song really is. You can hear it if a musician is only half there.”

Read more of “Time on their side.”

It’s fantastic stuff, as we’ve all come to expect from One Lucky Guitar.

Our song “High Wire Lover” was included in the video on local arts.

Video here.