“ Old friends, they shine like diamonds
Old friends, you can always call.
Old friends , you can’t buy them.
You know it’s old
friends after all.”
- Guy Clark -
Low clouds lay stretched out across an autumn sky tonight and after a long days work I can finally sit down and pull my thoughts together. In the distance jackal call out into the Tygerfontein night and the glow of the city two hours north appears closer than usual under the rainy blanket covering the Northwest province.
The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of adventure and emotion. I opened for my friend and fellow Vagabond Gerhard at his Leonard Cohen tribute show under ominous skies and was once again blown away by the empathy and skill he demonstrated interpreting the songs, intertwined with art and footage of Cohen interviews recorded throughout the years. If you do get a chance please come out to a show and experience a brand new angle on the artistic legacy of Leonard Cohen performed by one of my heroes.
We also welcomed my American friends Jon and Lauren Cody along with their son Finnegan to our shores. All the way from Stanley Wisconsin, they left behind the ice and snow of the Midwest and joined me on a road trip through our beautiful country. We took in the wine lands of the Western Cape, swam and partied with mutual friends from years ago and finally spent some time with family and friends in the Vredefort Dome. I had last seen them four years ago and it was great to accompany them on their first trip to South Africa and show them the beauty, diversity and people of this piece of the world I call home. Unforgettable moments were shared and memories were made. I hope to see them again soon.
I’ve been spending the last few days on the farm taking inventory and organising sheds, unable to do much outside due to magnificent late summer rains. The farm is lush and green and the cows and calves fat and content. It does not go unnoticed and I savour these days because I know the hard, dry years will be back. Together with my dad we are busy streamlining operations to ensure a sustainable future for the farm. The days are long and hard but they are mostly happy and inspiring. In the evenings I sit in the entertainment room or on the porch and crack open a beer or bourbon, the guitar and a notebook never too far away.
I know I am extremely fortunate and I’m trying to live my life that way. My mind wanders to my friends and family across the country and the world. I think of the innocent people caught in wars across the globe and the absolute insanity of it all. I think of all the hunger, poverty and people struggling to to make ends meet. It is my mission to help reduce the collective suffering of the world one deed and one person at a time. As with most worthwhile endeavours there is no destination, only the path. I hope I can walk it right.
Tomorrow will surely bring its own challenges and I still have to go through my setlist for Midwestern Dreams. I will be performing it in a few days at a venue called the Gecko Inn close to the farm. Some friends and family will be attending and I’m excited to put the show through its paces. Next week I will call up The Groove Crew and we’ll start rehearsals for our show at Sowaar Bar in Pretoria on the 31st of March.
I can hear my jet black greyhound sighing in the corner and the sounds of the night in bloom. Another trip around the sun is almost done and in the east a new day is waiting.
JB