Evangelists
Jonatha Brooke’s Busted Guitar
In this week’s show (#75) I tell the story about Jonatha Brooke’s busted guitar. I’m posting some photos and a blurb from her Facebook page about the incident. All content posted without permission so hopefully I won’t get sued. It will be removed upon request. Also, at the end is a video of Jonatha playing. If you know nothing about her, it would be a good idea to dive into her catalogue. She’s an excellent songwriter. One of the best.
From Jonatha Brooke’s Facebook Page:
TSA, SHAME on YOU!!!!
People ask me all the time how I can stomach the anxiety of checking my guitar, a custom-made Olson, when I travel.
I tell them that at a certain point, I just gave up fighting gate agents, flight attendants, baggage handlers. The stress was just too much day to day, not knowing whether I’d have a full-blown meltdown or a happy dance when I boarded.
And so, the letting go began. And slowly, I became…. Ok…. With the uncertainty. Sure, my stomach lurches a bit each time I hand my guitar off to the TSA. But, each time it shows up intact in the next city, I celebrate.
I schlepp to sound check. Set up my little rig, revel in its sound. I play my heart out. And then I pack it up tenderly, tape the latches and bring it, with another day’s prayer, to the next city’s airport screeners.
And then. Wednesday happened. And ….I’m not….ok.
I understand that in the larger shitshow that is the world right now, my guitar is tiny beans.
In my tiny world, that guitar is all the beans.
It is the current that carries me.
It is the means to my every musical end.
The sound of that guitar is MY sound.
When James Olson made my guitar, (2003) he made the neck precisely for MY hands. He braced it and shaped it with MY favorite tuning in its DNA (C, G, D, G, B, D) with MY favorite strings in mind. He even threw in a few extra little fretboard doves as a kindness.
And so, Wednesday. The unthinkable. I opened my guitar case at sound check and my 20-year-old beloved was trashed. Someone at TSA had taken it out of the case and then, dropped it on its most vulnerable edge. They then put it back in the case, threw one of their standard little “TSA was here” notes in, and sent it on its way.
What hurts the most is – what has been churning in my belly for two nights now – is, how does someone do that and make no effort to take accountability. How does someone shatter a one-of-a kind instrument, and then leave it (SURPRISE!) for the poor owner to fight for her right to recourse. (And also fight to figure out how the show will go on!)
I begin the long slog today with TSA. Forms, proofs. All the things that suck about government agencies. I am bracing for months of fighting with them. I am bracing for never getting the money it will cost to fix or replace my guitar.
It is so very broken. I am so very heartbroken.
But, stubborn is in MY “bracing.” Perseverence is in MY DNA. I will get to the bottom of this. And I am hoping James Olson can nurse this masterpiece back to life. No matter how much it costs, or how long it takes.
Xo
Jb
Ps. Mill Valley shout out! I cannot thank Eric, Michael and Maria at the Sweetwater Music Hall enough. Michael (sound engineer) jumped right into action. Called Eric. Eric drove 200 miles like a crazy person to bring me a lovely Collings, (Maria, the manager, also married to Eric, threatened him with divorce if he didn’t get there in time)
And in the meantime, Eric and Michael located a Martin nearby so the show could go on.
Pps. Despite my nerves about the whole unfamiliar guitar thing, I had a GREAT time. Mill Valley, you sure brought the LOVE… I can’t thank you enough. And I can’t wait to see you again when my baby is “back in the circus!”
xo
jb
75: I’m Not the Turkey, You’re the Turkey!
Welcome, friends, to the new, old, Outta Toon Podcast! Hope you enjoy your stay! Today, I’m planning a holiday dinner menu, planning a substantial haircut and planning on never watching Hallmark Christmas movies again. Yeah. Good luck with that. Let’s discuss air travel and the destruction of expensive guitars and how to de-escalate conflicts at your family Thanksgiving gathering. I’m not an expert at any of those things but I’m an old white guy and I’m allowed to pontificate about things I know absolutely nothing about, right? Do me a favor and share the podcast this week. It really helps. See you next week!
74: Making Light
It’s a new week! A new day! A new podcast name! Huh? Yeah, so “Apocaleptic” is now the “Outta Toon Podcast.” Don’t be scared. It won’t hurt you. Listen to the show and let me explain. I’m dealing with dog poop issues. Also, I’m wearing women’s clothes. This is how my week is starting, how about yours? We’re in the middle of the Diwali celebration. Did you know? If you don’t know much about Diwali, here, let someone who also doesn’t know much about Diwali explain it to you. It’ll be like political talk at my house on Thanksgiving. Thanks for listening my friends. Reach out and say “hello” this week. I’ll see you Thursday.
Apocahuh?
Hello Friends and Listeners! Have you had a chance to listen to this week’s show? It marks the one year anniversary of the podcast and I discuss a little bit about some of my intended upcoming changes, additions and tweaks. Necessary listening for sure. I have an additional change I’m going to make that I didn’t discuss on the show. It’s a big one too. It could affect everything so I want to make you aware of it.
“Apocaleptic” will soon be no more.
Hold on now, I’m referring to the name, not the podcast. That’s right, after battling name issues for a year now, I’ve decided to give in and make a change to the podcast name. Originally, I knew “Apocaleptic” would be a challenging moniker. It’s a play on the word “apocalyptic” of course, but that isn’t a word people use frequently and it isn’t the easiest word to spell without looking it up. “Apocaleptic” doesn’t actually have a meaning, which initially I saw as an advantage. I could make it be what I wanted it to be. It was pretty easy to get the URL and other social media handles for it and that’s difficult to do for a lot of other names. However, because it’s kind of a nonsense word and it is also a blatant misspelling, it was constantly getting corrected to “apocalyptic” making it very difficult for listeners and potential listeners to find the show. Recently I was trying to connect the podcast’s Facebook Page to my personal account and the Facebook search feature refused to consider searching for anything but a page with the proper spelling. Honestly, that was the last straw for me.
Even though I’ve been a big fan of the show name, I must admit I never really made a hard connection to it. So I’m okay with making a change at this point. I might notice a strike in listeners at first but, hey, this show can’t really go anywhere but up, right? Best to go ahead and get it done and recover. Keep in mind, now, the only thing that will be changing is the name. It’ll be (mostly) the same podcast, with the planned changes I mention in this week’s episode. Not a gigantic deal. I hope.
I suppose your next question will be, “Okay, what’s the new name?” That question was a difficult one at first. I started making a list. Nothing was jumping out at me. Then, out of the blue it smacked me in the face. Early in my life as a young artist, I did a cartoon strip for 20+ years called “Outta Toon.” It was fun but it’s been over now for longer than it ran in print. But, for some reason, that name made perfect sense as the title for the podcast. The podcast is often about being out of tune with life. Trying to get back in tune. And, hey, I’m still a cartoonist. I’m still living my own life way outta toon. Well, it just seems to me the “Outta Toon Podcast” makes too much perfect sense! It already feels more “homey” for me than “Apocaleptic.” I think it’s a great fit. It’s going to be weird for me making Outta Toon a podcast rather than a cartoon strip but few people know of its earlier incarnation so it’s a new and I’m up for the task.
Once again, allow me to say to you, thanks for coming along on the journey and listening to the podcast. I think you’re really going to love what happens next.
