TWO OF THE LUCKY ONES (Live at VCA Video)

Volume One turns 15! I'm a Substack bestseller! Plus, Vashon HouseHold & links galore!

Tickets for our show at The Triple Door in Seattle on 11/7/24 are on sale now.

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At our VCA show last March, Elaine Summers and I began the encore with “Two of the Lucky Ones.” The song has evolved over the years. It started life as a piece of instrumental underscore. First, it was created for the short film Touching Tiny Lives sometime in the mid-aughts. Then, a few years later I adapted the cue for A Lot Like You, a feature film directed by friend of this newsletter, Eliaichi Kimaro.

Eli is not just an award-winning filmmaker. Her public speaking skills are on full display here in this TEDx Talk. And her website showcases the breadth of her creative gifts. Visit ELIKIMARO.COM to take in her vast body of work, including her current passion, painting. Before the painting bug bit her, Eli was heavy into photography. Working with her on promo and album art photos for the A Lot Like You soundtrack album was one of the most enjoyable shoots of my life. She utilized natural light to great effect. Here is my favorite shot from that session.

Pete Droge at Puzzle Tree Studio in 2011. Photo by Eliaichi Kimaro.

The original instrumental piece, titled “One of the Lucky Ones,” consisted of a spare arrangement of fingerpicked acoustic and electric slide guitars. You can listen to that version in this post from November 13, 2023, and read about how the song evolved and eventually found its way into the blockbuster film Zombieland.

To hear the stripped-down basic track and read about the making of the full-band studio version from The Droge and Summers Blend Volume One, check out this post from August 23, 2023.

For yet another take on the song, check out this post from November 24, 2023, which includes the John Jeffcoat-directed music video for the alternate version that opens The Droge and Summers Blend Volume Three, which we released last November.

For the live performance at VCA in the video above, I abandoned the fingerpicking guitar in favor of a strumming approach. I feel the song holds up and survives all these permutations well. That’s a sign of a sturdy, well-written song, if I say so myself. And I do! I must give credit where credit is due, though. While I wrote the music alone, the lyrics and melody for “Two of the Lucky Ones” were co-written with my partner, Elaine Summers.

Standing on a hill
Staring at a mountain
Swallows dive and turn
Trying to catch what we can’t see

Sure ain’t the first time
Hope it ain’t the last time

When all the work is done
By the light of a setting Sun
We see what we’ve become
Two of the lucky ones

The germ of the lyrics came during a walk near our home on Vashon Island. The opening stanza tells it like it was. We stood atop a hill, staring at Mt. Ranier in all its glory while swallows darted around in the sky above us. The title line arrived as we began to make our way back down the long hill towards home. Indeed, we genuinely felt like two very lucky souls in that moment.

Cover design by Lance Alton Troxel at T-Rox Studio.

I can’t believe it has been fifteen years since the release of Volume One. And it’s been just over ten years since the release of Volume Two. This coming November, Volume Three will turn one. All three CDs are available on Bandcamp. We’ve combined all three volumes into one digital release called The Droge and Summers Blend Sessions (Volumes 1-3), which can be found on a streaming service near you. It feels great to have this music out in the world and tie up this wonderful chapter in my musical life.

Now, as regular readers of Love Songs Etc know, I’m back to making ‘Pete Droge’ music. As I type this post, my new record is in the hands of mastering engineer Dave Cooley. I will receive the final, mastered version of this batch material any minute now. The plan for its release is yet to be determined. Readers of Love Songs Etc will most certainly be the first to receive the news. And paid subscribers will be the very first to hear it.

Speaking of paid subscribers, thanks to those supporting my work here, I have reached a significant milestone this week. I’ve reached Substack’s bestseller status and earned that little check mark next to my name.

I love all my subscribers, free and paid. Thank you for joining me on this ride.

If you know someone who might appreciate what I’m sharing here on Love Songs Etc, please consider mashing that share button.

And finally, I attended Vashon HouseHold’s annual ‘Raise the Roof’ fundraiser and concert on Saturday. My pals Chris Ballew and Kate Endle volunteered for the event and did a bang-up job as greeters. I had to cut out early but what I did catch of St. Ophelia sounded fantastic.

Vashon HouseHold provides access to quality, affordable housing opportunities for low income and moderate income Islanders in order to preserve and foster the economic and cultural diversity of the community. To learn more about this vital organization and to donate to this worthy cause, visit their website here.

Peace & Love Songs,

Pete