Thanks to everyone for all the lovely birthday wishes and contributions to the In Deep dream through the GoFundMe campaign. It was quite a busy day yesterday (as birthdays can be) of writing, listening, and even seshing. We had lunch at Denny’s the great American 24-hour diner with Olivia, Sarah, Salim, Miette, and Gavin. Miette and Gavin are Salim’s kids and Sarah and Salim are mainly responsible for making these trips to Dallas happen. A place where I can work with an amazing crew on Salim’s or my projects and multiple sessioneer projects at a great studio with talented musicians and engineers. When I tell people I’m going to Texas, images appear in their brains of macho men, cattle, pick-up trucks, cowboy hats and spurs, and conservative philosophies that range from women’s rights to guns, well, not the people I know. Having said that this Texan trip started with an uncomfortable reality.

We arrived on the day of another mass shooting, nine people were killed, and another fellow with an AR-15. It’s so common that I even know what an AR-15 is, I shouldn’t know that. As I looked out of the window in the morning, across the alleyway, in the backyard of the house opposite, a man with a rifle. He was staring up at the tree obviously trying to silence a possum or a scratchy squirrel. He stood there silently for quite a while looking up. He was back again an hour later wearing fewer clothes (haha) but still sporting the rifle. I didn’t see him use it, or hear it but just to see it was disconcerting, not a typical scene where I live.

Although today is another day, and yesterday takes up a lot of today’s blog, today has been a continuation of yesterday evening’s listening and working on the mystery project, which I will be concentrating on for three days this week. Having said that with the remains of a cough and a razor-blade throat, the day may have to be steered appropriately. But I have been in the studio all day, as I was last night with Kevin and John, and Sarah. Salim will hopefully be there today, yesterday post-Denny’s he disappeared to rest after having pulled a painful muscle in his back.

So as today was a longer version of yesterday evening of which more details will appear as we make progress and my throat heals, I do have to mention another of yesterday’s events which was going to the mega and badly named Half Price Books. A huge and extremely well-organised warehouse with a cafe and a zillion books and records, not a dump but everything is properly labelled and organised, although I did find The Ramones under ‘Easy Listening’. I bought a reissue of Mickey Jupp’s Legend, the first album before the legendary Bill Fifield aka Bill Legend joined on drums. So named by Marc Bolan before he joined T. Rex. I picked up an American copy of Deep Purple’s The Book of Taliesyn (1968), an American copy of The Bonzo’s Let’s Make Up and Be Friendly (1972), three Doris Day albums (I’m a secret Doris Day fan – not anymore), Day Dreams (1955), Cuttin’ Capers (1959) and Wonderful Day (1961). I also got a hard-to-find album by The Tear Garden, Tired Eyes Slowly Burning (1987), Edward Ka-Spel’s other project outside The Legendary Pink Dots. Last but not least the Monique van Vooren album Mink In Hi-Fi (1958), irresistible. Paul, our resident multi-instrumentalist and “long-hair”, gave me an album by a band called Daniel Amos, a self-titled album released in 1976…a religious history and apparently an amazing record.

Music today has been Hawkwind’s new album The Future Never Waits (2023). They never stop.

Music Of The Daze