May 11, 2005

kirksmith.net -- Issue #9

It's here.

Issue #9: All mean, all the time.

*********************
IN THIS ISSUE:
*********************
1. Welcome
2. Upcoming Show
3. Website Improvements
4. Spring Tour Notes
5. Mailing Party
6. Some Other Stuff

***************************
1. Welcome
***************************
Right here at the outset we're gonna keep our manners in mind and extend a special greeting our new friends. But before you diehards go to feeling left out remember -- we love you all equally, you're just like beautiful little children to us, like delicate yet hearty little wildflowers, springing up along the road, each of you lovely and out of place, frail but still independent, and and no matter how many friends we have, you will always be our first and there will always be a special place in our hearts that belongs only to you.

That being the case, we're damn glad to get some new blood aboard! Now go buy something y'all. Teasin. Here's to you from New York, New Jersey, Conneticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and of course, all y'all in the great state of Michigan! New folks from Texas? Hell ya. You're in. Baltimore too, you the man. Welcome to kirksmith.net. Da da DEE da da DUM da da DEE da da da. We're glad to have you. Honeymoon's over though. Let's roll.

*****************************
2. UPCOMING SHOW
*****************************
Where are all the May shows, man?

Well. . . apparently, there's a new record get in writ in, and "songs don't write themselves, do they?" Kirk queries rather combatitively, not to mention rhetorically. We're not sure about that now, seeing as how we're not Songwriters. But we think, even half suspect, that maybe songs do actually write themselves. And Kirk just listens in right before he lays down for a nap. Then when he wakes up he has a new song and he thinks he did it all by himself. Even though he didn't. So basically we're saying there aren't very many shows this month because Kirk wants to take a lot of naps.

There is one very special show happening though.

The Parkside Community School Benefit.

"You have very truly remarked that if we are to reach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children and if they will grow up in their natural innocence, we won't have to struggle, we won't have to pass fruitless idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which consciously or unconsciously, the whole world is hungering." Mahatma Gandhi to Maria Montessori.

This is what they teach at Parkside. And this gig benefits their scholarship fund, so that kids whose parents, or grandparents, don't have a lot of dough can still maybe get this kind of an education. And not to get too heavy on you all of a sudden, but think about something for a second -- it's a kid who's a little down, starting near the bottom, that could really use this to help them understand that everything isn't always about competition, and struggle, and desperation. Cause it can seem like that when you're a kid and no one you know has much of anything else.

So Kirk will sing and play a few, you'll hear an intimate show from Shawn Colvin, music from David Murray, also Michael Minnis, and headlining the event is Parkside co-founder Joe Bruno and the Parkside Community children, who are celebrating the release of their new CD, "Beautiful Songs". Yes friends, they are that rad. If you like fun; you will like this. If you like to feel good; you will feel good here. If you a hater, we catch you later.

WHEN:
Sunday, May 22nd, 2005
5pm-7pm

WHERE:
Parkside Community School
1701 Toomey Road
(Next to Casa de Luz, just behind Shady Grove)
Austin, TX

TICKETS:
At the door.
We're pretty sure it's free to get in, but bring a little something to spend.

INFO:
512-472-2559

************************************
3. WEBSITE IMPROVEMENTS
************************************

We been hustlin' here the last few weeks, making changes, making things a little easier for you, finding new ways to give you useful and entertaining info quickly and easily. How's that? I'll tell you. We upgraded kirksmith.net. Don't worry, it's the same straightforward presentation, the same streamlined, intuitive navigation, the very same content that you dig, but we've added a couple a new features. Click it:www.kirksmith.net

Notice that gray column beneath Kirk's picture? That's where it's at. All for the low, low price of . . . free! Everything, always, free. Not everything. But most things.

Here's what's on:
Audio Journal -- this is the place for new live recordings, acoustic demos, stories, spoken words, and postcards over the phone. This is NOT where you'll find stuff that's already released, or that you can find anywhere else. This is it, only here, only you. Kirk will make it. Kirk will post it. Period. This'll update monthly. Or someone's ass is grass.

Web Log (that's long for Blog) -- This one you know. These are the stories that greet you with winks, smirks and crooked smiles when you land on the home page of kirksmith.net. A smirk IS sorta a crooked smile, isn't it? Didn't mean to get all redundant there on you. This module is the same as before, but we've archived everything beautifully, and made it even simpler to use. Feel free to copy a story and send it to your best friend. Or better yet send it to someone who hates you and then they will be glad and maybe like you more. And you will have helped them out because hate is the gateway to hell. Hit that white button just below the weblog that says, "send site to a friend" and we'll do the rest.

News -- Our personal favorite, obviously. This new section will keep you up to date with all the latest, as well as it archives past news, and best of all, the newsletters! (Taken together, these newsletters form a kind of manual on how best to . . . not write a newsletter, probably.) And now for the moment we've all been waiting for -- click the following link if you'd like to view an archived copy of this very newsletter: http://www.kirksmith.net/archives/000063.shtml

Why? Because it makes no sense. You're already reading the newsletter. It's the same newsletter. It's the same font. It's the very -- wait. Is there really another one "in an archive" somewhere? No, there isn't. The other one isn't anywhere. It isn't really even other. It isn't really anything. It's just light organized in familiar patterns to represent language used, in this case, to deliver absurd information. That's why it's our favorite, it's completely ridiculous.

Have you heard that matter is energy contained? We read that in a book we found on an airplane.

Oh yeah, there's also the Next Live Date section of the website, which is self-evident.

**********************
4. SPRING TOUR
**********************

We'd like to offer hugs and huge thanks to David Sangalli, Kevin Kwan, Kathrine Blume, Mark Nash and Molly Rice, for opening their homes to you know who. This is as fine a collection of folks as can be found anywhere. Lucky for Kirk they all happen to live in the Northeastern part of these United States, in the very cities where he performed on his recent tour.

If you looked at the screen of his laptop you would see a pale green post-it note on which he's written in block letters: GRATITUDE.

Kirk:
I was in Burlington, VT the other night. I met several wonderful people, but one in particular stood out. She made such an impression because she was so inconsiderate. She totally ignored the rules. She talked during my set. She hurled insults at people and laughed about it. She caught us all off guard. She was a young poet! Though she didn't seem threatening or pathetic, like most young poets, she was obviously out of her mind. On some level, for sure, she was completely out of her head and totally unreasonable. I really didn't know what to do about her. I didn't know what to do at all. It was awkward. Though I sort of enjoyed it in a kind of horrible and absurd way.

I dedicated a song to her but it bounced off.

The bartender was able to soothe her for a couple of minutes, but the bartender had other things to do. It's not like there was a bouncer or anything. This was a really small place. I play in really small places. And honestly it seemed like things might work themselves out. Maybe. Like she just had too much to drink and the wrong medication or something, or she was going to run out of gas soon and just go home, or lay down, or shut up at least. We were all just trying to work it out. And I'm, you know, still singing. Still doing my show.

I decided to play the quietest, most haunting and gentle version of a the best song that I could think of. I played "Aloud". Why not?

Halfway into the second verse this beautiful little insane person starts singing Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" at the top of her lungs. It's amazing. And unreal. And suddenly I know how to reach her. Because I know this song. I love this song. She is beginning to sing the best verse when I look her directly in her massively dilated eyes, and join in, blending the chords of my song "Aloud", the lyrics of "Suzanne", and a new melody that we agree on naturally. For 30 odd seconds or so we sail along:

Jesus was a sailor when he walked across the water
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them
But he himself was broken long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone.

That's for you, I told her. That one is yours. Now I'm going to finish mine, OK? And I did. I finished "Aloud" in absolute silence. And for several minutes we all knew something special had happened, and we understood how complex things can get, and we were grateful. And gratitude is good, isn't it?. So we agreed that we were all together then. We were sailors. And some of us left, like this brilliant girl, she up and left just like it was the most natural thing in the world for her to do, and some other people arrived. I played the rest of my set, thanked everyone, had a glass of wine and talked some. Then I packed up my stuff, called Rose, and after a while I went to sleep. This is just something that happened.

************************
5. MAILING PARTY
************************
It's done. The date is set. The time is right. On Saturday May 21st at 3 o'clock sharp we will gather together as friends and fellows to mail out loads of press kits, reams of bios, stacks of CDs and numerous one-sheets. And one in our ranks, preferably one with mad database skills, will keep track of it all. Then at 6 o'clock in the evening, we'll feed you, thank you, and love you long time, in a platonic sort of way. You should come, you really should.

Drop us a line for directions: info@kirksmith.net

Remember: It takes a village. A village to do what? Just do it. Oh, it takes a village to . . . think different.

*****************************
6. SOME OTHER STUFF
*****************************
"The Clumsy Dragon" - a musical for children of all ages, that Kirk wrote with children's book author Lauren Collier Swindler, is going to be produced by a student group from Highland High School in Salt Lake City. The production will tour to area elementary schools throughout the spring.

www.laurencollierswindler.com
http://www.kirksmith.net/theater_works_clumsydragon.shtml

New stickers on the way.

New t-shirts in the design phase.

Waterloo Records in Austin still has copies of SUDDENLY BRIGHT OUT and you’ll find it here as well: http://cdbaby.com/cd/kirksmith

And while you're in the CDBaby shop won't you please take a moment to review the record? It really is a great tool that people use to help them choose what to buy. It doesn't have to be fancy or anything. Just tell people what you hear on the record, and why you like it. That's all!

Give it a try: http://cdbaby.com/review/kirksmith

Thank you. Have a splendid evening tonight.

Love,
Your Friends at KirkSmith.net