Monday 3 August 2015

Currency

i've been doing a lot of interviews
getting ready for the new season
new towns and cities await
they're all interested in CAL
and the story attached to it

it's been 13 years
i've honed the story
and i've made it understandable
what we do takes a lot of explaining
it doesn't fit into a sentence or a bullet point

the secret weapon of CAL
is found within the audience that comes to see us
they explain it for us
they turn their friends and family on
it's like sharing a good recipe
or an emotional story
because of this i realize
that sharing is the currency of life

the connections i've made through my life
all transmit a steady flow of something real
sprung out of music
these connections reach out and touch others
and we solidify our love and resolve
we reach out during hard times
we let go when things have changed
and there's a song for that moment
chances are
we've performed it
note for note

i have a very large group of musicians that i work with
there's no other organization like ours
my favourite thing is the unusual pairings
CAL puts people together that normally wouldn't fit together
and that coupling creates harmony and beauty
a lot of times it's oscar and felix
i like that

what happens next is these strange pairings spark
and they start to play together outside of CAL
in other shows
i love that
i'm proud of that
i was a catalyst for that
that's currency

i recently did an interview for a financial paper
they wanted to talk about money
i went into it knowing this
i just talked about how important it was
to keep musicians working and on the road
they tried to wrestle me back to commerce
but i insisted that the currency was in the relationships you form
and the interest is rewarded by maintaining them
they didn't bite
and the article was never published
i'm okay with that

i'm about to launch a new project
it's been a very long time coming
it's going to make a big splash and turn a lot of heads
i can't wait
what has been thrilling about putting it all together
is the ease of getting the right people involved
i'm 54 in a month
my entire adult life has been on stages
so when i started assembling a new team
i realized that the relationships of my life
have connected me in deep and profoundly professional ways
and that these connections are the best kind of currency
if you live true
people connect to you

it hasn't been easy
CAL demands a lot
i have paid my dues
and i continue to pay my dues
hard times come
and hard times go
but i endure
i've survived
- lawsuits
- imitators
- detractors who deal in smirky cruelty
- a beating
- 3 years with zero profit
- disease
- death threats
- a marriage
- 2 relationships
- van breakdowns
- border arrests
- border refusals
- psychotic women
- a car crash
- white knuckle landings
- sketchy businessmen
- james gray's death
- the 2nd set of the Boston album show
we've all got our strengths built upon adversity

we all deal
we survive
that is our collective currency
there's a song for that too
you can hear it at any one of our shows
there will be a moment that you connect to the other you
the one that harbours a secret heart
full of emotions that sizzle and snap
and as this current connects to you
you realize
i'm alive

craig
august 4, 2015
michelob ultra and beans on toast

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