SOUNDTRACK: STRAND OF OAKS-NonCOMM (May 15, 2019).
I’ve seen Strand of Oaks three times, although only once as a full band. Usually I see Tim Showalter’s Winter Spectacles–intimate shows with just him and a partner. I forget how big the can sound with a full band.
As Showalter introduced the band’s biggest hit, “Goshen ’97,” he recalled one of his favorite moments from the last decade. “I guess this is the first song of mine I ever heard on the radio, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I’ll never forget it. So if you know it, help us sing it.” The song describes Showalter’s memories of beginning to make music as a teenager in his hometown of Goshen, Indiana. “I was lonely but I was having fun!” he cried out during every pre-chorus.
Strand of Oaks stretched out many of their selections to make room for jamming and imagining, even though they were only scheduled to play a thirty-minute set. As usual, they made sure to enjoy every moment on stage to the fullest — they never rush. “If you know anything about this band, a half an hour is pretty tough for us to do,” Showalter admitted after fading out the end of “Ruby.” “That’s usually about one song,” he chuckled.
My favorite moment came after midnight, after Strand of Oaks were already supposed have finished their set. “So, the good folks at NonCOMM said that we can play a little bit longer,” Showalter announced with a grin. “We did this one a few days ago and dedicated this to a very dear friend of mine. Someone who’s changed my life for the better and I’m so happy and I’m so proud of him, and it’s just so good to see him …” He trailed off but then continued, almost broken up, “We’re gonna do this one for my dear friend Bruce Warren — let’s give Bruce Warren a big round of applause. The world’s a better place ’cause you’re here, Bruce, and we love you, so we’re gonna do this one for you. And we’ll burn it a little extra long for NonCOMM.”
Louise Erdrich writes unusual stories that I find very gripping.
This one is about a couple of families who live on Revival Road in rural new Hampshire.
The narrator is a middle aged woman who lives at home with her mother. There is this wonderful passage:
It is difficult for a woman to admit that she gets along wit her own mother. Somehow, it seem a form of betrayal.
The narrator is the lover of Kurt Heissman, a local artist. His wife had died in a car accident many years earlier and he only had his daughter left. She went to Sarah Lawrence. She did not like the narrator.
Heissman’s work involved massive pieces of native slate or granite. Pieces he couldn’t possibly move by himself so he always had a young man living in the guest house as his employee. He had him stay nearby to be ready the moment that inspiration struck.
One day in the winter, someone was frantically banging on her door. It was Davan Eyke. He had wedged his father’s car between two trees. There was no scratch on it but he asked if she could pull it out safely with a chain attached to her car. The chain broke and then so did another. They tried all day, but finally called upon a tow truck which scratched the hell out of it.
Davan had been kicked out of his house so he moved in with Heissman and became his helper.
The narrator says that she and Heissman never even considered that his daughter could have any interest in Davan–she was a collegee student and he was dumb as a post. But it’s that kind of opposite that attracts, especially with parental disapproval.
The ravens that lived in Heissman’s tree did not seem to like Davan much, because they dropped things on his tin roof, crapped on him and stole anything he left outside.
Davan was not a great worker and he did not like the ravens–two things that upset Heissman. Ravens are smart and they recognize a threat–they know what a gun is. But they had never seen a crossbow before. Davan shot one. Heissman came over, pulled the arrow out of the bird and asked for the crossbow. Davan handed it to him, proud of this weapon.
Before he could say anything, an arrow landed in a tree right next to him. Then Heissman took and ax and chopped the bow in half followed by the arrows.
Davan had bought a red car with the money he made, but after the arrow incident, he was done. He and Heissman got into a fight which the narrator broke up.
The story seems to take a diversion about a poor dog chained up in the Eyke’s back yard. But that dog allows for the climatic scene to unfold in a really surprising way.
There’s a lot of sadness in this story but the way it is told is magnificent.
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