Hello Friends,
Well last night I dreamt that I accidentaly drove to Chicago when I was supposed to drive to Newark, because I typed “Chicago” into Google Maps instead of “Newark.”
I have taken this dream as an omen. I will be taking a combination of trains, busses, airplanes, and the occasional drive to a series of cities across the US & Canada. I hope you live in one of them! Like Thelonious Monk says, “I can shoot pool, and I can play ping-pong. I’m pretty good at those games.” In my case I would say “Well I can shoot hoops, and I can juggle up to 5 objects at a time although with 5 it only lasts about 15 seconds.”
best,
Sam
September 3, 8:30pm
Il Motore, 179 Jean-Talon West , Montréal, Canada
Tickets: $12.00 adv / $14.00 dos.
September 4, 10:00pm (Doors @ 8)
The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West, Toronto, Canada
Tickets: $13.50 adv / $15.00 dos
September 5, 7:30pm
The Daughters and Sons Review: Sam Amidon, Red Heart The Ticker, The Devil Makes Three
The Stone Church, 210 Main St, Brattleboro, Vermont
September 6, 7:00pm
IOTA Club and Cafe, 2832 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA
Tickets: $12.00 general
September 7, 8:00pm
Gerrard Hall at UNC, UNC Campus, Chapel Hill, NC
Tickets: $1.00 Students / $5.00 Public.
September 8, 9:00pm
Clementine, 153 S. Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA
Tickets: $7.00 day of show.
September 9, 8:00pm
Cat in the Cream - Oberlin, 180 W. Lorain St, Oberlin, OH
Doors Open: 7:30pm. Tickets: Free.
September 10, 8:50pm
Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL
Doors Open: 7:30pm. Tickets: $16.00 general.
September 11, 8:00pm
Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN
Doors Open: 7:00pm. Tickets: $18.00 advance $20.00 day of show.
September 13, 10:00pm
Café Du Nord, 2170 Market St., San Francisco, CA
Tickets: $12.00 general.
September 14, 8:00pm
Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA
Tickets: $10.00 general.
September 15, 8:30pm
The Woods, 6637 Milwaukie Avenue, Portland, United States
Doors Open: 7:00pm. Tickets: $8.00 advance / $10.00 day of show.
Sam Amidon “Home Alone Inside My Head”
7 PM Wed July 7, at Tony Shafrazi Gallery, 544 W. 26th St., NYC. FREE
I will do fiddle tunes, liturgical dance, banjo, and story videos at the Tony Shafrazi gallery, amidst the past and recent works of Bill Beckley. Bill is a legendary conceptual artist from the 1970s who made ‘story-art’ and also does photographic work. He once saw me playing my banjo on the subway and then he became my banjo student. Here is one of his pieces. See You There!
1. Well, it’s funny because Nietzche did say, “even the bravest of us only rarely have the bravery for what we actually know…” and I totally agree with that, I think that’s some very new, very introspective shit. I definitely don’t have the bravery for what I know. For example, I know what Jude Law is doing right now, and that’s not something you want to know. Trust me, just generally speaking, you don’t want to know the kinds of deeply introspective shit that Jude Law gets up to, which then get clairvoyantly transmitted to me.
All of which is by way of introducing the following, a brief excerpt of an interview I conducted recently with somebody I admire named Ryan Seek Rest. This is from an interview we did for a Canadian music magazine, it’s a part of the interview that I guess they decided not to include in the final issue, so you’re seeing it here for the first time.
Sam Amidon: So one thing I wanted to say was that I find it really inspiring how you are able to live your whole life within this one conceptual framework, one structuring principle; which is that your actions all seem geared towards a common goal, namely, the search for the FLUFFIEST PILLOW EVER. Could you tell us a little bit about that?
Ryan Seek Rest: You’re absolutely right that I’m on to some very new, very deeply introspective shit. I mean all the pillows I’ve found so far, they are just not even remotely fluffy enough, so I’ve gots to keep moving in search of the fluffiest pillow, I’ve gots to keep on moving, feathers falling down like hail.
2. Upcoming concerts!
June 21 Monday, 7 PM: Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St, Northampton MA
Tickets: $10 adv / $13 Doors
more info here http://www.iheg.com/iron_horse_main.asp
June 22 Tuesday, I play at 11 PM woo hoo!: TT The Bears Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge, MA
June 23 Wednesday: Mercury Lounge, NYC - early show! doors at 6:30 and we’ll be done by 9
with my favorite band PARTYFACE
as you know, don cherry is able to play his trumpet in such a way
that you understand that every moment is in fact a new moment. It’s
possible that he conveys that better than any other musician. Listen
to the album “evidence” with steve lacy. It includes some monk tunes.
When don cherry solos over the monk tunes, he is playing notes that are
in the (preexisting) chord changes. However, it appears to be complete
accident/coincident that this is the case. I’m not sure exactly how
he makes it sound that way; but I believe that it comes from a very
deep conviction inside him that whatever has already happened is
totally irrelevant.
I will be playing music this Thursday the 27th of May at Bush Hall in London. Also playing will be my touring buddy Leif Vollebekk, who’s really good! http://www.myspace.com/leifvollebekk, and also playing will be The Bitter Tears. Also special guest. Also when the sun is out, you can think to yourself, “the winter is over, the summer is here, the spring is showing me about the whole thing, just showing me about how it’s going to be summer, and how it used to be winter.”
there was a time when really great musicians were existing. and don cherry, he was one of them! because he played so many melodies. today, if you do one thing, think about don cherry and his melodies. if you need HELP thinking about don cherry and his melodies, you can listen to the album “blue lake” with johnny dyani and okay tamiz.
