Hello, People!
FYI! Carnegie Hall is really almost sold out. So… Nashville 11/19, Chicago 12/3, lets get those moving. Make a trip out of it!
I’m writing this before I watch the debate but I’m sure it will be fucking ridiculous and embarrassing.
I’ve been nostalgic lately. I’m not sure that is the word I want. Waves of very specific memories are coming at me out of nowhere and I follow them back. I don’t think that’s nostalgic because I’m not really thinking about it on purpose. It seems like being nostalgic is an action. Is all nostalgia inherently sad because it is the past? I don’t know.
I am realizing that working on a show that is set in the mid-eighties must be having an effect. I am surrounded by women who are outfitted for that period. I was alive and awake during that time. I was in my early twenties. It’s a very specific look. I was not really happy then. Things were not easy for me emotionally. I think the set is a trigger and I'm being roped into reliving memories that were not easy for me or anyone I was involved with. They aren’t tragic, just uncomfortable, awkward and embarrassing. Some are painful. I was not a bad guy, but I did not have a handle on my heart really and I think it might have done some damage to itself and others. It’s so long ago. I’m sure there is nothing pressing that needs to be resolved but when you really immerse yourself in your past pain it feels like it still needs to be relieved. I mean, I’m over it and I’m sure others that were involved are too, but still. Is there closure that needs to happen? Probably. I have to get on Facebook and do some apology research.
I was pretty thrilled to talk to Larry Clark on today’s show. I wanted to be a photographer at one point. I did some pretty important art photography at Highland High School. It was largely unappreciated and not taken seriously but I did win a Best of Show ribbon at the art show when I was a senior. It was a powerful image that involved mannequins, a ladder, a television that was on and a work light. It’s hanging in my house.
I minored in film criticism in college, which was an art history minor. I took a yearlong survey class on the history of photography with Carl Chiarenza at Boston University. It was one of the most important educational experiences of my life. A lot came together for me. The biggest thing was that I was not really cut out to be a photographer because I just couldn’t manage the technical end in the darkroom. That was the real craft that separated the pros from the amateurs. Now, that doesn’t even matter anymore.
Larry Clark was a groundbreaking, somewhat gonzo, photojournalist that used people in his life as his subjects and his two books, Tulsa and Teenage Lust, are some raw, beautiful art. I’m also a big fan of some of his films. He talked, a lot, and fast. Hold on to you seats.
I was also really fucking excited to talk to Margo Price, which you will hear on Thursday. I think she is one of the best country artists working today. We talked about Bobbie Gentry, who I love, and I’m glad we had that in common.
Enjoy!
Boomer lives!
Love,
Maron