THING RECAP & MORE

All things Thing! Triple Door tickets! A film fest! Nearing a Substack milestone! Plus Tune Tag!

First, I want to send a big, heartfelt thank you to those who have signed up as paid subscribers to this newsletter. I’m within inches of earning that cherished orange check mark that denotes best-seller status here on Substack. While that certainly would be a nice feather in my cap, what’s most meaningful to me is knowing that you value what I’m doing here enough to plunk down your hard-earned dollars. I don’t take that lightly. It really means the world to me.

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Second, tickets are on sale now for my show at The Triple Door in Seattle on November 7, 2024. Info and tickets HERE. Check out this groovy poster by Matthew Carlson, aka Matty C, at TSA Labs. Matty has his own Substack, which he recently blogged on during an extensive house concert tour.

Poster design by Matthew Carlson at TSA Labs.

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Third, the music video for “Lonely Mama,” directed by the exceedingly talented filmmaker John Jeffcoat, was included in the Vashon Island Film Festival’s ShortCUTZ competition. What a treat to witness our little island-made film on the big screen at Vashon Theater. ShortCUTZ was presented by my pal and friend of Love Songs Etc, Tara Morgan from C’mon Barber. Here I am with John and Tara after the screening.

With Tara Morgan and John Jeffcoat at VIFF. Photo by Gretchen Aro.

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Fourth, Brad Kyle from the Substack newsletter Front Row & Backstage included me in his 53rd Tune Tag post today! I’m in good company alongside Zeppelin, Steeleye Span, Stillwater and Frampton. Thanks, Brad!

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And last but not least… Thing Festival! What can I say? Wow! What a festival!

Near the end of the day on Sunday I met photographer Astrida Valigorsky. Check her out on Instagram. She travels to all the big music festivals and said Thing was her second favorite, behind the esteemed Newport Folk Festival. Then she heaped praise on Thing’s mastermind, Adam Zacks of Seattle Theater Group for his tasteful curation year in and year out. I was honored to be included in this year's lineup. The headliners on my day (Friday) were Spoon and St. Vincent.

One of the things I love most about festivals is cross-pollinating with other musicians. It’s fun to bump into old friends and make new ones. Thing delivered on this front. The great Johnny Sangster introduced me to Spoon’s Alex Fischel and I got to tell Alex that we had mastering engineer Dave Cooley in common. (Side note: As soon as I commit to a sequence, I’ll send my new album to Dave to work his magic.)

Later, I bumped into the remarkably gifted Jason Falkner. Neither of us could pinpoint precisely the last time we’d seen each other, but I estimate it to have been at least a hundred years ago. Well, maybe not quite. It was in the previous century, though. Jason’s been keeping busy. Since his early days in Jellyfish and The Greys, he has gone on to make some excellent solo albums, and these days, he can be found splitting his time as a sideman between St. Vincent and Beck. Good work if you can get it!

Fun fact: Drummer for The Greys, Dan McCarroll, played on my album Find a Door and toured in my band in the mid-nineties. Sing it with me… “It’s a small world, after all.”

As I entered the catering area, Abraham Boyd of Infinity Song approached to compliment me on my set. He shared some kind words about my harmonies with my trusty sidekick Elaine Summers. I was especially flattered to hear this from him since my pal Chris Ballew had just been raving about Infinity Song’s harmonies. He said their family blend of vocals magically made four voices sound like eight.

Sadly, I missed their show since I was busy with my second set over in the VIP tent when they played. I have since checked out their music and Chris was right. They’re great. Don’t just take my word for it. Listen to Jay-Z. When he heard what they were up to he signed them to Roc Nation! Abraham, Elaine and I talked shop for a while. Then, before he took off to catch his Uber, I instigated this photo op.

With Infinity Song’s Abraham Boyd at Thing. Photo by Elaine Summers.

So, you may be wondering how the sets went. Our first set was on the main stage. They dubbed it “Over Here.” The second stage was on the opposite side of a vast field and aptly titled “Over There.” As you can see, the stage was rather big. Here I am during soundcheck.

Soundcheck. Look carefully, and you will see me setting up. Photo by John Jeffcoat.

The show began with Wyatt Silva just after doors opened at 12:05. Then Elaine and I took the stage at 12:55. Being so early on a Friday, you might expect the crowd to be relatively thin. Not at all. We drew way more than Kamala Harris and Tim Walz ever have. And more than Martin Luther King Jr. for his I Have a Dream speech. (If you’ve not been following the U.S. political news you might not get this joke.) In reality, a small but mighty audience braved the heat to listen to us sing our songs. I was touched to see folks singing along. I posted the setlist on my socials. IG. FB.

With Elaine on the “Over Here” stage. Photo by John Jeffcoat.

Our good friend Martin Feveyear ran the front-of-house sound, so we were in good hands on that front. I heard reports over and over that the sound out front was excellent. One rave reviewer even claimed it was the best-sounding acoustic guitar he’d ever heard. He proceeded to ask me about my rig. I told him about my secret weapon, my Pendulum SPS-1.

After unwinding for a few minutes, we strolled over to the VIP lounge for our second set. A small stage was positioned in the corner. Going to this modest setup from the massive “Over Here” stage brought back memories from being on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Dogs With Wings tour. One night, we played in Detroit at The Palace, a basketball arena that held over 20,000. The next night, we played a little club show of our own at a joint called The Blind Pig, which was just down the road in Ann Arbor. On the dressing room wall, I scrawled “From The Palace to The Pig in 24 hours.” I told the Palace to the Pig story from the stage of the VIP lounge and got a laugh.

After a short, five-song set we spent the rest of the day chatting with friends, new and old.

On Saturday, we opted to chill at home but returned to the festivities on Sunday. It was nice to attend the festival with no responsibilities or pre-show jitters to contend with.

We checked out artist Steve Keene’s booth. Keene is the most prolific American painter of all time, producing more than 300,000 hand-painted works via his studio/chainlink fence cage where he paints more than 50 paintings at a time. He is known for his recreations of album covers. He attended Thing and painted renditions of records by acts on the bill. Unfortunately, all of my album cover pieces were sold by the time I got there. But he had added my name and “THING 24” to an existing work, John Coltrane’s classic, Blue Train. I was stoked to take the piece home. It will be a welcome addition to our art collection that features other notable artists Howard Finster, Tubby Brown and R.A. Miller.

Me and my new Steve Keene art. Photo by Daniel Efran.

Musical highlights on Sunday included a firey set by Loosegroove Records’ Brittany Davis and the feel-good, folk-rock vibes of Blind Pilot. In addition to the music, we enjoyed trekking around Remlinger Farms, visiting the petting zoo, and taking a train ride around the grounds.

Big thanks to Adam Zacks and the whole STG family for creating such a fantastic event. See you next year!

Peace & Love Songs,

Pete