Breathing Easier and Jackson Browne

"no matter what fate chooses to play"
Jackson Browne "For A Dancer"

 Jackson Browne at Vina Robles 8/26/16

photo by Trisha Butler KSBY TV

Chimney Fire at Lake Nacimiento

     There is an emotional and intimate quality to Jackson Browne performances and coming on the night Cal Fire offered good news in the face of a tough battle it was even more so.

      The good news is this-the Chimney fire is 51% contained and grew very little beyond the 45 thousand acres it has claimed.

      The Hearst Castle is still threatened however and 49 homes and 21 other structures have been destroyed. 

       Trisha Butler of KSBY TV in San Luis Obispo captured extraordinary images of the Chimney Fire.

photo by Trisha Butler

Trisha Butler

Trisha Butler

Trisha Butler

     3,985 firefighters remain on the job. 325 engines, 116 hand crews, 4 air tankers and 16 helicopters continue to fight the erratic and stubborn fire including in rugged terrain. 

      Citizens gathered in Paso Robles for a kind of thank you parade along the route that fire crews travel as they switched shifts.

photo courtesy of Cal Fire

photo by Cal Fire

   With thousands of firefighters and support personnel in the area they've made camp where they can. The image below is  at the public use area of San Simeon Campground just north of Cambria.

photo by SLOSTRINGER

      SLOSTRINGER has gathered incredible images of the Chimney Fire battle as you have seen in the last several posts. SLOSTRINGER has also gone the extra length to feed cats and dogs that were left by people who were forced to evacuate.

    Another great photographic presence has been EPN564.

     An LA Fire Captain observes as his team hand fights a part of the Chimney Fire.

     Air is slightly better and for that reason too people along the central California Coast are breathing a bit easier.  

     Even though Hearst Castle remains threatened, it appears defensive efforts in place will hold. We are hopeful cooler and overcast conditions today and tomorrow will give the firefighters a chance to further contain the blaze, including those lobes that threaten Hearst and communities miles away on the north side of the fire.

poignant observance

  Browne performs For A Dancer and dedicates it a friend who passed two days ago.

        "Keep a fire burning in your eye

         pay attention to the open sky. 

       You never know what will be coming down....  

       I don't know what happens when people die

      Cant seem to grasp it as hard as I try  

      It's like a song I can hear playing right in my ear 

      That I can't sing..."

  Browne got a rousing response when he paid tribute to the Firefighters. 

   The audience cheered when he said "...some people build walls and others open doors."  
    Browne has long been aligned with social justice and environmental causes, including in San Luis Obispo County. 

   Lana and I have been fortunate to see Browne perform 6 times over the years and as Lana observed last night, "His music speaks to you.  It goes directly to your heart." 

  And he can rock it too! Last nite's crowd at Vina Robles were chilled by a stiff breeze, carrying evidence of the Chimney fire, but they were ready for some release and the troubadour delivered.   

map by Joe Tarica San Luis Obispo Tribune

    "These days I seem to think a lot

     About the thing that I forgot to do 

    And all the I had a chance to"

            Jackson Browne These Days

    Something I don't want to forget to do is to again thank the heroic firefighters. Also to express admiration for journalists who have done admirable work. The San Luis Obispo Tribune and The Cambrian staff, including my friend Kathe Tanner have produced excellent reporting and coverage. 

KSBY and KCOY television are appreciated. SLOSTRINGER has provided extraordinary photo coverage. 

     See you down the trail.

CATCHING JACKSON BROWNE

PASSION AND CONSCIENCE

   There is something inherently perfect in seeing Jackson Browne under the stars on a California summer night.

   A warm breeze stirs a life of memories choreographed and scored by Browne. Past edges and pieces gather in the music. Browne is a poet singer who continues to mine human complexity.

 His sense of social and planetary justice in the 21st Century rises from the roots of the music that fed and called us when we were younger.

   It's a rich fabric he weaves. Balladeer, conscience, rocker, activist, artist and star who gladly shares the spotlight with his extraordinarily talented players.

  And seeing this California minstrel who shaped the music of the West coast performing just up the coast from his roots is a special joy.

   Browne's California sound filled our Indiana home, car and places of good times and sad, moments of anger, frustration, love, loss, celebration, work, striving and spiritual quest. And his music was an allure, bidding us west.
   We've seen him many times, but this time on a California August night, it was better. As we and our concerns age, the minstrel rises again to soothe and stir us again in a way that makes the continuum of our lives one masterful song after another.

His range is still full tilt and his band are long time friends. Bob Glaub-bass, Mauricio Lewak-drums, Jeff Young-organ/piano-Greg Leisz-lap steel, pedal steel guitar, Aletha Mills vocal.

   STANDING IN THE BREECH, is the product of a mature artist who reanimates the power of our passions and conscience. In the breech is where we should be.

   See you down the line.

HITTING WHERE IT HURTS-A MUSICAL CHRISTENING-MAKING MEMORIES-A WAY BACK THROWBACK

HITTING THE NFL HARD

     Something good may come of the domestic brutality cases haunting the NFL. People are talking about the pathology of abuse and abusive relationships. Sponsors are flexing their muscle and putting pressure on the league and individual team endorsements. That too will help raise consciousness and provoke more talk. 
    Perhaps the major sack out there is the effort to revoke the tax exempt status of the NFL. If you were unaware, the league has estimated revenues of 9 Billion dollars but is tax exempt, as a not for profit entity. Incredible you say?  This link takes you a Mother Jones article that explores the matter.
       There is also the matter of the 44 Million dollar salary of the non profit's Commissioner.The story of Roger Goodell's salary and the NFL Not for Profit status reported here by Esquire Magazine.   
   These are fluid times for the NFL, teams and those who help fuel the giant entertainment dynasty.

WHERE TIME IS NOT IDLE

    As the old TV soap opera announcer intoned, "Like sands through the hourglass, these are the Days of our Lives."
    That was a favorite of my grandmother and great aunts so I heard it often. I think of it often as I watch the surf erase foot prints in the sand."
   Jackson Browne wrote in These Days "These days I seem to think a lot about the things I forgot to do for you…"

 Visiting with friends we are reminded of the swift flow and the wisdom of not leaving things unsaid or kindnesses undone,

  or of the joy in keeping the child in us alive. 

     When we arrived in Cambria, recent retirees and just beginning the throttle back process, our wise plumber Phil told us to go out to Moonstone beach, settle into the sand and search for moonstones. "That'll help you relax."  Indeed it does, still.

   A concert served as the inaugural event at the old Woodland Garage where, as promoter Steve Crimmel said, "nothing had gone on" in decades.

 Austin based Eliza Gilkyson and guitarist extraordinare Nina Gerber initiated the new venue in a Painted Sky presented concert that blessed the old place with sweet sound, vibrant energy and remarkable artistry. 

   The old garage has been refurbished to provide relaxed seating and lounge space.

   Who would have thunk the old garage would grow up to be a nice funky concert venue?  We hope Steve will book more shows into the Main Street gem.

 THROWBACK TO THE THIRD GRADE

    This blogger is in the class photo from Garfield Elementary School. Want to guess where?

     See you down the trail.

JACKSON BROWNE STILL NUKE FREE

BROWNE TELLS SAN LUIS OBISPO

"THE REST OF THE STORY"

       "It was just a stupid mistake" Jackson Browne said about not being quoted in a recent piece in the San Luis Obispo Tribune detailing his 1981 involvement and arrest at an anti nuclear protest at Diablo Canyon.
       "The article made it sound like I've lost interest. That is absolutely not the case" he told an enthusiastic and adoring full house at the Cohan Center on the Cal Poly campus.

Photo by Ken Chen San Luis Obispo Tribune 1981-printed again 3 February 2013

     Browne said he would have welcomed the opportunity to tell about his continuing involvement with MUSE and Nukefree.org.

      The Tribune piece included an old quote that implied Jackson was no longer an activist on the issue.

    Many in the Cohan Center audience applauded as he said   

 musiciansunited4safeenergy.org

 it was a victory of sorts that no new nuclear plants had been built in more than 30 years.  
    He acknowledged that some 17 hundred people in the San Luis Obispo area worked at Diablo Canyon, still he said nuclear energy is unsafe and creates continuing problems. 

   "No more nukes, y'all" he said after his few minutes of commentary.

7 FEBRUARY UPDATE

Seems like Jackson's PR firm missed a chance

San Luis Obispo Tribune responds

    THE CONCERT

    I've seen Browne several times over the years and am always impressed by his lyrical power. He is a marvelous troubadour. As Lana said on the way out of the hall "...his poetry truly captures our age and hearts."

    He is also a great performer both as musician and singer.

His work on piano and on several of the almost 20 guitars he had on stage is still that of a virtuoso.

     Five large oriental rugs lined the playing area and he alternated between sitting while playing the guitar and the piano. It provided an intimate, house concert feel.

     But he also rocked the hall and had a couple of friends who helped blow the place away. Val McCallum  was killer on guitar.  He also performed his hauntingly rich and textured Tokyo Girl. Taylor Goldsmith of DAWES contributed mightily on keyboard, guitar and vocals.  
    Browne told the audience that Dawes is his favorite band now and that having Goldsmith play has been a bonus since he was on "a bus man's holiday" waiting for the release of their new album.  Goldsmith premiered his new FIRE AWAY and with Browne and McCallum they created a musical charge that electrified the hall.  Fire Away will do very well.
    The house was full of Browne fans and there was a continuing chorus of call outs for tunes.  Finally Browne abandoned the set list and moved through a pastiche of his decades of music and the time flew by.  There was no opening act and the group took a short break and still ran out of time.  Browne thanked the promoter and hall management for permitting them to play overtime.  Showtime was 7:30 and we left the hall around 11:00.
     During the evening he told of being a youngster who'd hitchhike up to the Central Coast. 
     "This is the most beautiful part of California.  My dad called it Steinbeck country.  Mom would drop us off outside Ventura and we'd start up Highway 1. That's when the fun started."
     He told about attending a concert a couple of years ago
at the Cohan where he was told about a flamenco guitar maker from Nipomo, just south of here.
     "I've got a couple of his guitars now," he chuckled.
Browne has spent a lot of time here and he sprinkled a few of those memories and anecdotes through out the evening. It was apparent to him that he was not only among fans, but with friends and California neighbors as well.
     Jackson Browne on the Central Coast where spring comes early and memories are continually being made.  

The first blooms-oxalis in our green winter.

        During the short break I was looking out the angled windows of the modern designed Cohan over looking part of the Cal Poly campus.  People around me were in rapture of the music, others were discussing the local wine being sold while I was lost in a reverie of my own early Highway 1 memories.  I saw something a little wobbly out of the corner of my eye.  I turned to see a young man zipping his way along the bike lane on a unicycle, with a head lamp around his head like a headband.

    As Browne had said a few minutes earlier  "California, it's all good!"

    See you down the trail.