it’s no surprise to me that shortly after my last gig of the year (a rousing visit to gettysburg college on november 19) i was felled by a deep and lengthy illness. we in new england never tire of describing the nuances of our colds, flus, agues, cricks, cracks, aches, maladies, and conditions. to spare you, i will keep it at a minimum by saying only that my affliction was peripatetic, visiting the Chest, Throat, and Head before departing almost a month later. just in time for christmas. hooray?
2019 was the year that… was. i did plenty of stuff, which i will list shortly out of obligation and a wee bit of humble brag, but none of it added up to a feeling of success or triumph. i think this is partly because of a deep personal mistrust of happiness from my childhood, but also in a more general sense because of the State of Things. i have stopped posting my responses to the news on social media, but just in case you were wondering, i am routinely outraged, appalled, surprised, and often in despair. every once in awhile something wonderful breaks through, and i try to put that on the socials.
right, so here are the wonderful things i did in 2019: a 3 week residency at jumpslide, in new orleans, where i wrote and re-wrote my new musical terrarium behaviour; a super helpful reading of said musical in los angeles, brought to you by director danny mefford and the incredible folks at bespoke theatricals; there were productions of miss you like hell in boston, indianapolis, baltimore, denver, and by some high schoolers in garden city KS. this week they are taking their production TO STATE!!! break legs, you crazy awesome brave young people! i got to go on tour with my heroes, the mountain goats; i was on the basic folk pod, community radio in north carolina, colorado public radio, and live streamed a band set from philly; i produced records for jen zimberg, steve slagg, and driftwood soldier; and i spent time with students at brandeis, emerson, princeton, and the afore-mentioned gettysburg, which was my waterloo.
whew! putting it that way, i think i am in my own way, like all of us, keeping on keeping on, perhaps even striving too hard to compensate for the State of Things. that’s probably what my body was telling me. i should listen. i should also like to take this moment and say that none of these adventures happen if folks like yourselves don’t show up, show out, and send back the boomerang i toss out every day that says, “i am here, can you hear me?”. one of my greatest joys is in fact, also sending back your boomerangs. “you are here, i can hear you!” ugh australia is burning.
let me wrap up this month’s letter by looking forward to what i hope is a brighter future. this spring i will be on the road a little less because i am the new Professor of the Practice of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at my alma mater, brown university. it is 24 years since i first stepped foot on the campus, and it’s an honor and a trip to get to come back and warp some young minds. the rest of 2020 i plan to spend deciding what album i need to make. i have several almost baked ideas, and i don’t yet know which of them is going to come out of the oven first.
i do have a few fun shows this spring, i’ll announce more as the year goes on, and do check out the “me gustas” below. i think they are quite good this month.
my new year wishes for you are that you live wild, that you live kind, and that you vote. i love you all!
x erin
¡ME GUSTA! : SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS
i am truly obsessed with the TV show "babylon berlin" and its extraordinary soundtrack. set in weimar era germany in 1929, it's got mystery, style, history and period details galore.
in those genes is a pod that uses the lens of black culture to look at stories told in the genetic histories of black americans. watch this teaser vid and then subscribe here.
ATTENTION WHITE WOMEN! here are your operating instructions on how to be better courtesy of the glorious human that is megan rapinoe.
the crazy history of "the price is right" theme song.
the other glorious human that is kate mckinnon gave a truly lovely awards show tribute to ellen. i am generally ambivalent about ellen, but kate spoke so perfectly to the ripple effects of representation. FYI, i'm still convinced i have alien DNA, but i dont mind. thanks ellen!