Music

Dwight and I saw Charlotte Martin in concert last night at Mississippi Studios, where Kevin and I saw her in December. Wow. What a cool venue. Beautiful red walls, dragonfly curtains, vinyls all over the bathroom walls (with candles and potpourri burning), and a kick-ass back porch/patio for smokers with strung white lights, comfy chairs, and a black-and-white silent western being projected onto the brick wall of the studio. Charlotte, as always, was amazing. Dwight and I got to chat with her after the show, and she remembered me from last time. I reminded her that I listened to "On Your Shore" and "Limits of Our Love" while writing a pivotal scene in my novel, and she said she just knows it's "going to do great" out there with all those literary agents....In return for her music, I gave Charlotte one of my rings. I've never done this with an artist before. I've given artists--like Tori--copies of my poetry or whatnot, but I've never given something "solid" like a ring before. I told her that she let me have a piece of her energy while I wrote; now she could have a piece of my energy while she made music....Wow....Music. It's so hard to put a finger on music. I mean, if you really think about it, singing is so strange. Communicating through some tribal-like means where you just open your mouth and twist words around at different octaves. So haunting and primal, yes? Then mix in non-vocal instruments--pianos, guitars, cellos, drums--and you feel like you should be sitting around some giant fire or pyre. Music speaks to all of us in such different ways. Funny how our tastes reflect who we are. People always joke with me (rightfully so) that, hey, if it's an alternative female singer/songwriter, then Nathan will love her! And they're right! But these women--sirens, muses--just connect with my soul and tap me into the Eternal Feminine. Let's face it, it's no surprise, I'm kinda more a girl than a guy lots of the time. Right? The music brings me to some ether-realm where I'm pounding away at my keyboard, "singing" in vowels and consonants and sculpting the English language into some story that makes me laugh and cry and feel scared and feel safe and everything in-between. We all know that if I open my mouth to "sing" traditionally, you'd all run screaming (though some of you appreciate my death metal karaoke rendition of "Don't Fear the Reaper," this I know). So I've found an individual channel to express myself inside of, as we all should. Back to Charlotte: I highly recommend going to www.charlottemartin.com and checking her out. Her debut album, On Your Shore, should be On Your Shelf--or else you suffer the wrath of Nathan! Musicians always say, "Thanks for listening," and I can do the same when someone takes in one of my stories or one of my blog postings. So thank you. And I know Charlotte will wear my ring with grace--as a ring, or maybe even as a necklace--and I hope it brings her a piece of some lovely purple glitter.