Great post. MFT fest was fantastic, not only for all the great music but also for all the familiar faces from those heady 1990s days. Wasn’t aware of your new adventure in Bloomington — congratulations! Even if it’s changed a lot from the bucolic leafy college town I loved thirty years ago, it’s still a wonderful place. Best of luck to you in this new chapter!
I've never been to Bloomington, but I've spent most of my life in the similar college town grip of Ann Arbor, which is still full of old hippies with Ph.Ds who have been tending bar or cutting hair for decades. Ann Arbor never really had a scene, though (since the late 60s/early 70s Stooges/MC5/Sonics Rendezvous days, which was more a Detroit thing anyway)--there's something about this college town that has always been weirdly hostile to bands.
So I've always been interested in/envious of Bloomington because it managed to germinate a scene. I discovered the Blake Babies, then followed you back to Bloomington and Antenna, Mysteries of Life, and then Sardina, Kenny, and many more. There was some kind of inherent... modesty to those bands--genuinely great music but seemingly without the world domination hype that Seattle and Minneapolis had to contend with. I get that that might have been a disappointment to some people in the scene, but from the outside it means there's still a kind of purity to it when I listen now. And the pleasure, to an outsider, of exploring the links and people of a still-underground scene was so great, with new discoveries around every corner. My heartfelt thanks to MFT for providing a platform for all of that.
(I'm part of a much smaller-time "scene" here now of mostly singer-songwriter types. Everybody doesn't always get along, and there are jealousies and irritations and disappointments all over the place. But there's also a low-key sort of global love for the group that makes everything OK a lot of the time.)
For what it's worth, I feel you and your projects were often the object of others' frustrations back in the day through no fault of your own. What we would call 'haters' today couldn't tear down Mellencamp or whoever because they couldn't reach him, but you were visible and therefore accessible as a target for abuse as the perceived 'king of the mountain', as ridiculous as it seems. I don't think there's anything you could have done other than simply not be there to be a target for such people, unfortunately--as a wise philosopher once wrote, "the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate".
Speaking only for myself, my experience of the fest was all love and an opportunity to let go of whatever senseless lingering issues might still be floating around my head from thirty years ago, and I feel sad that some people find themselves still stuck back in that needlessly combative mindset. "Smothered in Hugs" was a particular high point of the weekend for me; extra thanks for that one.
Thanks so much. Yeah, I get it. Also when Heather read the piece she reminded me I was kind of a dick back then, lol. I suppose I was, I had my armor on every day because I was pretty insecure. Big ego, low self esteem - the musician's diagnosis. I chose Smothered because I wanted to do something from the Velo era but I didn't want to do any of my own songs from that time. Those songs are triggering for me. But I wanted to sing with Kenny because Kenny is the best and I'm proud and grateful to have made so much good music with him and others.
One lesson I came away from the fest with from being back in Bloomington again for the first time in 24 years and seeing the college kids lined up for the Bluebird is that we should all be a lot easier on ourselves and each other for the choices we made and the people we were then. Because we really were all just a bunch of weird anxiety-ridden kids trying to entertain ourselves and each other, all of us--we were bound to make some dumb moves along the way.
(The college kids today look, like 12. It's terrifying.)
This made me cry. Thanks for being vulnerable. You have made me proud many times, and yes, you have sometimes pissed me off too. Who hasn't? God knows I have been most pissed off at myself over the year for stupid shit I've said/thought/done. High school reunions have also had this stuff where someone is still holding a grudge, or is dismissive. It stings. Humans are complicated and way more fragile than most will let on. I just wish we all knew that we'd pull one another out of a ditch - because I think we would.
Love you, Christy. So nice to spend some time with you, hope that happens again before long. I'm looking at this more as a curiosity - I don't really take it personally. Just pointing out...aren't people weird. And you are right: we would absolutely go to the mats for each other as members of the same tribe. At least I like to believe that.
For all the weird vibes of people holding 30-year-old grudges, there are also those like me who have long counted you as a favorite artist but are only acquaintances who would have felt awkward coming up to you and fawning. Thanks for much for participating. It was a really good time.
I didn't start playing in Bloomington until about 1995. My bandmate, Kent Bell, mentioned you a lot, so when you came back to play Second Story several years later, I dragged my roommate there to watch. After the show, on the way back to my car in the parking garage, you yelled our way and thanked us for coming out. That made a really big impression on me. That, and your Jazzmaster :-)
Thanks for sharing the links to that show. I already made a trek back to Bloomington this year for the eclipse, so couldn't justify another one for the show.
This is great. I hadn’t been in Bloomington for 20 years until last weekend, but I realized that in some ways it will always feel like more of a “home” than Boston where I’ve lived for the past 25.
A really thoughtful and introspective essay. I appreciate your honesty and generosity of spirit. The path we often walk is not clear to anyone but most especially ourselves. If it is not asking too much, can you recommend some bands and music that I can explore? I do not know much about the scene you were a part of and would like the learn more.
I get it but I wish you’d said hello!
Great post. MFT fest was fantastic, not only for all the great music but also for all the familiar faces from those heady 1990s days. Wasn’t aware of your new adventure in Bloomington — congratulations! Even if it’s changed a lot from the bucolic leafy college town I loved thirty years ago, it’s still a wonderful place. Best of luck to you in this new chapter!
Thanks Bill. You guys rocked the house.
I've never been to Bloomington, but I've spent most of my life in the similar college town grip of Ann Arbor, which is still full of old hippies with Ph.Ds who have been tending bar or cutting hair for decades. Ann Arbor never really had a scene, though (since the late 60s/early 70s Stooges/MC5/Sonics Rendezvous days, which was more a Detroit thing anyway)--there's something about this college town that has always been weirdly hostile to bands.
So I've always been interested in/envious of Bloomington because it managed to germinate a scene. I discovered the Blake Babies, then followed you back to Bloomington and Antenna, Mysteries of Life, and then Sardina, Kenny, and many more. There was some kind of inherent... modesty to those bands--genuinely great music but seemingly without the world domination hype that Seattle and Minneapolis had to contend with. I get that that might have been a disappointment to some people in the scene, but from the outside it means there's still a kind of purity to it when I listen now. And the pleasure, to an outsider, of exploring the links and people of a still-underground scene was so great, with new discoveries around every corner. My heartfelt thanks to MFT for providing a platform for all of that.
(I'm part of a much smaller-time "scene" here now of mostly singer-songwriter types. Everybody doesn't always get along, and there are jealousies and irritations and disappointments all over the place. But there's also a low-key sort of global love for the group that makes everything OK a lot of the time.)
(Why is that stupid "Your New Best Friend" up there!? Have to figure out how to change that.)
I was ready to go with it. This is a nice perspective, thank you.
Fixed it!
For what it's worth, I feel you and your projects were often the object of others' frustrations back in the day through no fault of your own. What we would call 'haters' today couldn't tear down Mellencamp or whoever because they couldn't reach him, but you were visible and therefore accessible as a target for abuse as the perceived 'king of the mountain', as ridiculous as it seems. I don't think there's anything you could have done other than simply not be there to be a target for such people, unfortunately--as a wise philosopher once wrote, "the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate".
Speaking only for myself, my experience of the fest was all love and an opportunity to let go of whatever senseless lingering issues might still be floating around my head from thirty years ago, and I feel sad that some people find themselves still stuck back in that needlessly combative mindset. "Smothered in Hugs" was a particular high point of the weekend for me; extra thanks for that one.
Thanks so much. Yeah, I get it. Also when Heather read the piece she reminded me I was kind of a dick back then, lol. I suppose I was, I had my armor on every day because I was pretty insecure. Big ego, low self esteem - the musician's diagnosis. I chose Smothered because I wanted to do something from the Velo era but I didn't want to do any of my own songs from that time. Those songs are triggering for me. But I wanted to sing with Kenny because Kenny is the best and I'm proud and grateful to have made so much good music with him and others.
One lesson I came away from the fest with from being back in Bloomington again for the first time in 24 years and seeing the college kids lined up for the Bluebird is that we should all be a lot easier on ourselves and each other for the choices we made and the people we were then. Because we really were all just a bunch of weird anxiety-ridden kids trying to entertain ourselves and each other, all of us--we were bound to make some dumb moves along the way.
(The college kids today look, like 12. It's terrifying.)
This made me cry. Thanks for being vulnerable. You have made me proud many times, and yes, you have sometimes pissed me off too. Who hasn't? God knows I have been most pissed off at myself over the year for stupid shit I've said/thought/done. High school reunions have also had this stuff where someone is still holding a grudge, or is dismissive. It stings. Humans are complicated and way more fragile than most will let on. I just wish we all knew that we'd pull one another out of a ditch - because I think we would.
Love you, Christy. So nice to spend some time with you, hope that happens again before long. I'm looking at this more as a curiosity - I don't really take it personally. Just pointing out...aren't people weird. And you are right: we would absolutely go to the mats for each other as members of the same tribe. At least I like to believe that.
I should also note: You've made me proud many times as well.
For all the weird vibes of people holding 30-year-old grudges, there are also those like me who have long counted you as a favorite artist but are only acquaintances who would have felt awkward coming up to you and fawning. Thanks for much for participating. It was a really good time.
I didn't start playing in Bloomington until about 1995. My bandmate, Kent Bell, mentioned you a lot, so when you came back to play Second Story several years later, I dragged my roommate there to watch. After the show, on the way back to my car in the parking garage, you yelled our way and thanked us for coming out. That made a really big impression on me. That, and your Jazzmaster :-)
Thanks for sharing the links to that show. I already made a trek back to Bloomington this year for the eclipse, so couldn't justify another one for the show.
This is great. I hadn’t been in Bloomington for 20 years until last weekend, but I realized that in some ways it will always feel like more of a “home” than Boston where I’ve lived for the past 25.
"Massive vortex of limestone" indeed. 😎
You know!
A really thoughtful and introspective essay. I appreciate your honesty and generosity of spirit. The path we often walk is not clear to anyone but most especially ourselves. If it is not asking too much, can you recommend some bands and music that I can explore? I do not know much about the scene you were a part of and would like the learn more.