“The country was beautiful,
And I felt a great elation at the wheel as we crossed the western desert at dawn.The deep blue, purple shadow canyons, pale yellow morning sky. All of its color drawn out, leaving just the black silhouetted mountains in your rear view mirror.
And then with the eastern sun rising at our backs, the deep reds and the browns of the plains and the hills came to life slowly in front of us. Our palms turned salty white on the wheel from the aridity. Morning woke the earth into this muted colour.
And then came the flat light of the midday sun and everything stood revealed as pure horizon. Just sky, sky, sky, and more sky.
Lowering on the two lanes of black top, and disappearing into nothing.
My favorite thing.
Then the evening, with the sun burning red into your eyes and dropping gold into the western hills in front of ya, all felt like home to me.
And I fell into a lasting love affair with the desert”
Bruce Springsteen
I got off the plane in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was late. I was on my way back from a trip in the desert and I was catching the last flight out to the Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee to make it in time for my shift on the farm. It was early Spring and I had spent my days off exploring the Grand Canyon, hiking and road tripping in the deserts of Utah, Nevada and Arizona. I camped and stayed in cheap motels and guest houses all along the remote desert highways. I had just turned twenty one and though I felt a bit of the blues creeping in after a magnificent trip my heart was full. The itch to keep moving temporarily scratched, my notebook scribbled full of thoughts, musings and ideas. I looked around me at the deserted concourse and waiting area, made sure I was at the right gate and that I still had some time, then walked a bit further down to grab a late night beer at the airport bar. I remember the smell of the coffee brewing and the murals of Native American artwork, the gift shop and the quiet chatter of loggers in camouflaged baseball caps and cowboys, businessmen and other travellers making their way to who knows where. Familiar scenes to the late night traveller.
I had bought Devils and Dust by Bruce Springsteen a few weeks prior and basically had it on repeat the entire time. I left Wisconsin with a CD-Walkman , a pack of fresh AAA batteries and only Devils and Dust, Ghost of Tom Joad and Darkness on the Edge of Town. Devils is an album of stark, acoustic, story songs with sparse arrangements that invoke images of lonely desert towns teeming with cowboys, migrant workers, prostitutes and several other down on their luck characters. In my opinion the pinnacle of Bruce’s narrative songwriting. In every song Bruce takes on the voice, accent and life of the subjects in his songs with empathy and respect. He had created a Cormac McCarthy-esque world the listener could inhabit regardless of their background or heritage. It is a masterpiece but the listener is required to open their minds and hearts, to participate, to ponder the bigger themes woven into the songs and stories. To me the album was perfect, being out in the desert. Lonely, remote, mysterious. It became the soundtrack of my travels. Over the years I’ve added several, selected albums to that “solo travel list “ of mine including Highway Companion by Tom Petty, Horse Latitudes by Jeffrey Foucault, The River and Western Stars by Bruce and also Time out of Mind by Bob Dylan. I also always have some Townes van Zandt, John Prine, Guy Clark and Kristofferson on the list. My trusty traveling companions.
I have always loved the desert. From the very first time I made way across the Karoo, explored parts of the Kalahari and walked the dusty streets and played shows in towns like Nieu Bethesda, Ladismith and Calitzdorp my infatuation with the place and the desolate nature of it all have only deepened. Even though I grew up in the more lush savanna of the Northwest Province I find myself always longing to return, my roads inevitably circling back to the vast open spaces, quiet towns and endless horizons of the deserts of this world. Places where a person can still see the stars and disappear in the emptiness. I know that I will one day live in a desert somewhere. Self sufficient, close to nature and in harmony with all the stories, dreams and mysteries of the spirits that inhabit the place. I know that every time I leave on an adventure I’d eventually come back to where my soul can rest underneath a billion stars.
For now I’ll make use of the opportunities I’ve been given and soon I’ll be traveling to more of the world’s empty corners. The Namib, Kalahari, The Sahara, Saudi Arabia, The Atacama, The Gobi and wherever else my heart and The Muse leads me. I will collect stories of the people and the places that I’ll be visiting and they’ll inevitably find their way into my songs, musings and music. I’ll be sharing all of it with you along the way.
“ On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert
I pick up my money and head back into town
Driving 'cross the Waynesboro county line
I got the radio on and I'm just killing time“
Promised Land - Bruce Springsteen
JB
