Folks, if we don't talk before christmas I just wanted to send you a happy holidays. Here's a little christmas tune from the recent concert in Annedalskyrkan. This arrangment was made by my friend Bill Wells for his National Jazz Trio Of Scotland. Hope you enjoy. Be well and talk more soon. J x

Normally the subjects of my songs are reserved for those who come into my life through that strange path that fate is. But right now, for a short while, you can pay money to have me write a song about you. The money will go to Musikhjälpen, an annual swedish radio benefit that this year is raising money to prevent maternal death. The money will go to better obstetric care in developing countries, more educated midwifes, contraceptive advice and the right to safe abortions. Please read more here

Here’s the auction.

And here's where you outside Sweden sign up to be a member of Tradera, the auction site.

This is included in the package: Dinner with me at the restaurant Yaki-Da here in Gothenburg where you tell me about yourself so I can get some inspiration (if you’re unable to get to Gothenburg then we could have a nice dinner over Skype or something). Then I’ll write the song, produce and record it and you get it in a nice box to keep.The auction ends this sunday, 3 pm Sweden time. So hurry up!

How do you get anywhere in the music biz? I get that question sometimes and I just don't have a clue. I mean I spent a long time building things up for myself, playing really, really shitty tours and working my ass off. But the only demo I ever sent out was the one that got me signed to a label and got the snowball rolling.

But while giving advice to a young artist the other week I was reminded of how that was a process too. It took me a year of going back and forth with Secretly Canadian until things actually started happening. The one problem new artists seem to have is that without a record you don't get shows and without shows you don't get to put out a record. At one point I found myself in this situation, SC asked me if I had played shows and pointed out that this was important to them if we were to work together. I had never played a show in my whole life, I didn't know how to get shows. So what did I do? I totally lied and said I had played loads of shows.

Which backfired at me right away as they asked for live recordings. I thought about it for a few days, then I decided the only reasonable thing to do was to fake it. I recorded myself singing the songs in my bedroom to backingtracks, a little sloppier than on the recordings. Then I looked for live albums of small artists to sample a crowd from. I couldn't find any albums of smaller shows like that so I went with a really big show with a very excited crowd. I thought to myself that if I'm going to make this up I might as well go all the way, make them think I'm already a superstar. I ran the songs through a bunch of tape recorders to give it that shitty bootleg feeling and then I sent it over. Listening to it now I can't believe I pulled it off, but I did. And it got me out of that circle of no shows = no record = no shows.

So that's my advice if you're in the same situation - you're an artist right? You're not applying for an office job is what I'm saying. A little lie is ok, as long as you do it for the art.

Here's an excerpt of what it sounded like:
Tram # 7 To Heaven ("Live" at Citykrogen)

(Citykrogen was a bar in Kortedala where I'd been once to ask for a cup of coffee and got some strange looks. Later they got closed down because they apparently didn't run a bar at all but were selling guns and drugs. I didn't know that back then, I just picked a place that did exist but didn't have a phonenumber in case the label would google it).

The picture discs are now sold out but I still have plenty of Night Falls and When I Said CD's. Write me if you want one!

I will be doing a show in Annedalskyrkan, Gothenburg on December 17th, together with Alice B, José Gonzalez, Xenia Kriisin etc. This is for the Crossroads Project, a project aimed at helping the increasing number of EU migrants in Gothenburg. You can read more about it here.

See you there Gothenburgians!

The Arctic 30 and how you can support them

This just in! My distributor just got a return of 30 I Know What Love Isn't vinyl picture discs! These have the artwork printed on the actual vinyl record, the titles are on the back, it comes in a plastic sleeve. Kinda rare, edition of 500. These one's are 15 EUR. Write me if you want one! As for the other CD's - I still have loads of Night Falls and When I Said. A few I Know What Love Isn't. Silent is sold out. Still a "pay what you feel like" deal on the CD's.

On their way...

I’ve been on holiday from the monthly topics for a long time but now it's time to get back in the biz. Dr Lekman will see you in his office now. The topic of the month is ‘subgenres’. What’s your favourite subgenre?

I think the last years for me it’s been between CLOUD RAP and DOLE WAVE. Cloud rap is what it sounds like, dreamy beats and hazy rap drowned in reverb. Dole wave is the microscopic mostly Melbourne based lo-fi scene, where bands sing about being on the dole, their ambition to continue being on the dole and to make music in their garage and maybe once in a while take a trip to Geelong.

I had that dream again the other night, that I suddenly remember I have pet gerbils and I’ve forgotten to feed them for two months. The meaning of the dream is obvious. In this dream you are the gerbils. I’m sorry I haven't fed you for a while. Want some of those little pellets? And maybe a slice of cucumber? I’m going to write more here the coming weeks, even though there’s not much news. I forget sometimes what a wonderful incubator smalltalk is, that this is where unfinished thoughts and stories are allowed to exist on their own terms and grow into something more finished.

I went to my distributor today. They were going to throw out all my records. Apparently I had only sold 16 records the last year. So I brought a suitcase over and packed as many as I could. And now I'm sitting here with a big pile of CD's that are worth nothing. So I thought I'd ask you, would any of you want a signed record maybe? Just write me and tell me what you want. I have all the albums on CD. When I Said, Silent, Night Falls, I Know What Love Isn't. Mostly Night Falls Over Kortedala though. We can make a "pay what you feel like" deal as long as you pay for shipping.

More soon my little gerbils.

Hampus, Jonas, Julia, me and Josefin say goodbye and thank you for a wonderful year of shows. We started on September 7th 2012 and ended September 7th 2013. Such a perfect circle. The last shows were so good I wish we could've done another year. But I'm going to spend time now writing and recording for a while. And doing a few other things:

On September 21st I will be playing at Gustav Adolfs Torg here in Gothenburg, it's a manifestation against the increasingly profit driven welfare, swedes can read more about it here and see a video that a teacher from my old school did here.

On September 28th I will also play at the opening of a new park in my old hometown suburb Hammarkullen. There will be music, barbecue, pingpong and good feelings. I'm playing between 11-14 sometime.

Also, on September 19th I'm DJ:ing at the release party of Xenia Kriisin.

Here's something I'm excited about, I've been invited to Decat o Revista's third annual storytelling conference in Bucharest, Romania. My participation will be in the form of a conversation with one of the editors, a few musical illustrations but not a show. I did something similar in Melbourne earlier this year and I enjoyed it a lot. Here's how the event is presented:

Humans are narrative creatures. We explain our lives, businesses, countries, values, and choices through stories. In this age of information overload, well-told, well-written, and well-produced stories are essential to keep our communities alive, and reflect our common humanity.

This conference, now in its third year, will teach us how to build better stories so we can better communicate, create emotion, and transform our audiences. The conference is aimed at those who want to tell better stories, whether they come from a journalism, communication, business, or NGO background.

The focus of the 2013 conference will be on how we can use storytelling to create a better society.

If stories bring people closer, if they connect, if they create emotional bonds, does that mean they can help create some kind of personal and, who knows, maybe even societal change? If stories can be a force for good as a society examines itself and sets course for the future, what are the best practices and tools needed to create impact?

Wood carving by Sarah Leitten

And then suddenly this happens:

Flow Festival
Helsinki, Finland
18:45 EET
THIS SATURDAY

This week during Way Out West here in Gothenburg, there will be a small intimate show at a secret location on friday afternoon. It's not part of the festival so your wristbands are no good. What you need is to be signed up to my email list and be ready to reply when I send out the email tomorrow afternoon. If you're one of the first to reply you will get an invitation.

Here's the line-up:

Jenny Hval
Jens Lekman
Taken By Trees (DJ)

DJ Set tomorrow the 27th at Jazzhuset, for Djurrättsalliansen!

Commercial radio wasn't allowed in Sweden until 1993. Up until then it was just public service radio, taxfunded, playing quality music, quality news and quality documentaries about the life cycles of bumblebees or what have you. It was great, we just didn't know it because we didn't have commercial radio to compare with.

But when commercial radio broke through here, and I'm speaking specifically about the french station Radio NRJ, it had a headstart. Because at the time they didn't play what young people should listen to, they played what young people wanted to listen to. EUROTECHNO. I was becoming a teenager and this became the soundtrack to those strange years of my life.

Let's pause here for a quick reflection on how we wish our lives to be reflected and accompanied by our sophisticated taste but in the end we lose our virginities to Blink 182 or find out a loved one has passed away just after we've finished a Big Mac. And I guess that is a good definition of the difference between so called 'fine culture' and pop culture. Fine culture reflects who we want to be. Pop culture reflects who we actually are.

Anyway, I found a tape some years ago from this time, from the time when I used to come home from school and turn on Radio NRJ and sit there with my finger on the recording button to get all the best tunes. I played the tape and it opened a door to my youth. I glanced in and wrote a song about what I saw.

The song 'Radio NRJ' was the B-side to Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo which is sold out since long ago. And with that in mind I thought it'd be nice to give this to you as a free download.

Jens Lekman - Radio NRJ

PS. Yes I know I can't pronounce th-sounds, you don't have to point that out.

Here's a video I took part in for Jämställd Festival, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to illuminate the male dominance and gender inequality at swedish music festivals. From experience I know it's more or less the same all over the world. A lot of dudes on stage.

Ever since I started playing live this has intrigued me. Because the structures run so deep. I've met so many people in the music biz who have had open minds and nothing against women but still when they book bands to festivals, sign artists to their labels, pick musicians for their bands, they pick men. It's like they do it unconsciously.

I had a band consisting of only women a few years ago and when we went on tour I encountered sexism so raw it shocked me. Because a lot of people could simply not grasp that you could have an all female band without it being A) a sexy gimmick or B) a feminist statement. For me it was just the best musicians I could find. Because there are loads of female musicians who play their instruments really well and would love to be in a band. We know that right?

And just like that there's also loads of female artists who want to play at festivals but because the structures run so deep are kept out. It's of course a complicated question because a lot of the festivals here are in a financial crisis and it's easy to understand that going against the grain is a risk and taking risks is not on the agenda. Still, one can't help but wonder if maybe some risk taking is exactly what is needed in times like these when every festival line up looks the same.

What we need is more festivals to consciously book more female acts so that the idea of having as many female as male acts on stage eventually doesn't come across as a gimmick or a statement but just... normal. There's already a few ones working on it. Popaganda that I'm playing at in Stockholm in August for example.

Sverige!

Göteborg, Sweden
Sept 4, 2013
Stora Teatern

Bergen, Norway
Sept 6, 2013
Perfect Sounds Forever

Oslo, Norway
Sept 7, 2013
Betong

It's struck me recently how elegantly the language of the customer review has lent itself to political satire. I was reading up on Googoosha's self titled album on Amazon, Googoosha's real name is Gulnara Karimova, daughter of Uzbekistan's dictator Islam Karimov, known for boiling his enemies alive among other things. Gulnara is known herself for a lot of nefarious business practices (lately she's been in the news here for doing shady business with swedish phone company Telia Sonera). In order to smooth out these less desirable aspects of her public image she's released an album of anonymous popsongs under a cute name. Obviously, Gulnara must have a team of people polishing her online image, and on Amazon they are fighting it out with people who are less fond of her and a lot funnier.

"I never knew the sounds of children laboring in the hot sun for 12 hours a day could be so relaxing and Enya-esque"

Meanwhile, more currently, pro-lifers and pro-choicers are fighting it out over Texas senator Wendy Davis' shoes, a pair of Mizuno Women's Wave Riders, also on Amazon. For those of you who have been on summer vacation and haven't read the news, Wendy Davis became famous when she held an eleven hour long filibuster speech earlier this week to prevent a bill being passed in Texas that would close down most of the states abortion clinics. She did this wearing a pair of Mizuno's. Reviews such as "That's right ladies, this shoe is completely washable, so just shove it up their ass" meet a few counter reviews such as "Outrun responsibility for your actions with this gem". The highlight of the debate is however when some random running enthusiasts join in without a clue what's going on "I don't know what the heck people are talking about here but I liked the shoes".

Another favourite is if you look up Guantanamo Bay on Google Maps.
"When I complained about the lack of a swimming pool, one of them spent the entire afternoon pouring water on me. The water was colder than I would have wanted and he kept pouring it on my face. But he was kind enough to use a towel to keep it out of my mouth and nose. How thoughtful!"

Or the Yodok Concentration Camp in North Korea.
"Another hotel in the Hotel California chain. You can check in anytime you want, but you can never leave."

This would've made Jonathan Swift proud I think to myself and skip over to read how people reviewed his classic satirical essay 'A Modest Proposal'. Initials K.H: "Too bad folks consider this satire".

We move slowly through the midsummer night, like the snails that move across the wet countryroad. The cars stop for nothing, we stop for everything. The cows need to be talked to. A rock needs to be sung to. Strange flowers burn in the ditch. We make a beeline through a cemetary and we look for our own names and our own birthdates. It's the longest day of the year and we will never die. Our phones have no reception.

The farmers have just woken up, they drink their morning coffee and wave to us. Behind some trees there's a house that's lost all its paint. The vegetation has grown around it, over it, into it. We break into it. No one's there. Inside everything's covered in decades of dust. Someone says "it's like they just got up one day and left" and a chill runs octave after octave up my spine. On the top floor the bed is made properly with an open suitcase on top. Clothes are folded neatly halfway to the top. In the kitchen a coat and a hat hangs on the wall, still waiting. The pantry is full of old groceries, the labels and brands have peeled off and faded away. On the kitchen table there's an unopened newspaper. The date reads August 29th, 1977.

Then the floor caves in and one of us gets her leg stuck. The floor boards are like wet cardboard. We pull her out and start cheering, singing, brushing the dust off each others jackets. We race through the woods. Inside of me an old animal has come out of it's winter sleep, squinting at the morning sun. It longs for apples, the sweetest reddest apples.

Look what I made!

It's a remix for my friends in the Shout Out Louds!

Stockholm, Sweden
Aug 31st, 2013
Popaganda

Lisbon, Portugal
June 28th, 2013
Lux Club

Here are the setlists from the alphabetical shows from Knarrholmen this weekend. The reason I did the shows like this was because it was ten years ago since I released my first single and I thought it was a good time to lose my head a little. I have to say that going up alone on stage at a festival and knowing that you can only rely on half your songs and stories is scary.

A-J

1. And I remember every kiss
2. Erica America
3. The End of the World is Bigger Than Love
4. I Saw Her In The Anti-War Demonstration
5. Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo
6. Black Cab
7. Bli Någon Annans
8. Julie
9. Jag Vet Vad Kärlek Inte Är
10. A Higher power
11. An Argument With Myself
12. A Sweet Summersnight On Hammer Hill
13. Eureka
14. Jens Lekmans Farewellsong To Rocky Dennis


K-Ö

1. Sipping On The Sweet Nectar
2. A Postcard To Nina
3. Waiting for Kirsten
4. Silvia
5. Shirin (w/ El Perro Del Mar)
6. Too Young To Burn (Sonny & The Sunsets)
7. Motsatsen Till Hallelujah
8. Lönnlöv
9. You Are The Light
10. Pocketful Of Money
11. The World Moves On
12. Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig
13. Sipping On The Sweet Nectar

I realized afterwards that 'A Sweet Summersnight...' should've been in the 2nd show since I had decided to count out 'A', 'An' and 'The' from the alphabetization. It fit in spiritually in the first set anyway.

'Bli Någon Annans' is Become Someone Else's translated into swedish. 'Julie' was also played in swedish as was 'Jag Vet Vad Kärlek Inte Är' (I Know What Love Isn't), 'Motsatsen Till Halleluja' (The Opposite of Hallelujah) and 'Lönnlöv' (Mapleleaves).

'The World Moves On' had to be cut since I ran out of time. But I left it in the list anyway. It was supposed to be there.

Sometimes I get e-mails about Jennifer, the character I sing about in Become Someone Elses. People are wondering if they can please talk to this girl and have her advice on their relationship issues, sort of like Liz Lemon's Dealbreaker Lady. So I asked the real life Jennifer (not her real name) and she agreed to do a few. So for the month of may, if you have any questions for her, send them to me and I will forward them. She will answer as many as she can (but probably can't do all of them). Just put "For Jennifer" in the subject line.

Some of you are asking about the topic of the month thing we had here on smalltalk before and I thought I should let you know that I decided to take a break from that for a while because I simply haven't had the time to juggle a hundred conversations simultaneously. Well, I've had the time, but I've wanted to spend that on other things. Like getting started on new songs. Which is going well! I still enjoy getting e-mails though so keep them coming.

When Yakult Swallows score, the tiny umbrellas come out and it's a party. One of the best things I did in Tokyo. Thanks for all the great suggestions you guys sent me. And thanks for the wonderful shows!

When I was living in Melbourne I used to get some really weird (but occasionally really fun) packages from some fans who had been able to track down my new address. There were packages with food, dust, wooden sculptures, fluids, bottled air from Ohio and on at least one occassion - a dead bird. Sealed in a plastic bag apparently but still a dead bird.

I say apparently because Australia has some of the strictest quarantine rules in the world and I only heard about it from the customs. Most of this stuff never reached me, sometimes the package would show up with a note notifying me what was missing and why it had been removed. Most times I had to call the customs and talk to them, this started taking up a lot of time.

That's not really a story worth a song I thought to myself. Until Esopus magazine asked me to write something on the theme 'customer service'. Listen to 'Regarding A Package' here.

Linköping, Sverige
May 10th, 2013
Klubb Din Mamma

Är det nån som vill ha ett piano? Jag tänkte skaffa ett nytt så jag behöver bli av med mitt nuvarande. Det är gratis men ni får betala flytten, det finns ett antal flyttfirmor som gör det gör en tusing eller två inom Göteborg (obs, det är inget ni kan flytta på egen hand, det står fyra våningar upp och väger som ett piano gör). Pianot är av märket Rippen, ett holländskt märke. Det är inget fantastiskt piano i ärlighetens namn men gör sitt jobb om man gillar det där knarriga skolpiano ljudet (det är pianot jag använde på senaste skivan, ni kan ju lyssna på den). Givetvis behövs det stämmas också, jag har några bra kontakter för det om ni vill ha. Maila mig. PS. Katten på bilden ingår ej.

smalltalk (at) jenslekman.com

(This probably only makes sense if you live in Sweden but...) Does anyone want a piano? I'm planning on getting a new one so I need to get rid of my current. It's free but you pay for the transport, there's a number of movers who can do it for between 1000-2000 SEK within Gothenburg (please note, this isn't something you can move yourself, it's four floors up and weighs like a piano does). The piano is a Rippen, a dutch brand. It's honestly not a great piano but does it's job if you like that creaky school piano sound (it's the piano I used on the last record, you can listen to that). It needs tuning too obviously, I've got a few contacts if you need them. PS. The cat in the drawing is not included. 

The photo on the front page had to be changed. To something that is not from the last record but something just after. A photo that can represent the time between the record that just was and the one that is to be. I chose a black and white photo taken by the very talented Julien Bourgeois, from a backstreet in Paris last summer. I hadn't shaved. I still haven't shaved. The palette brooch on my jacket sleeve was lost soon after this at a Ryanair airport in Italy. I used to point to that brooch in interviews and say "for this record I chose the more sombre colours from my palette".

This year at Knarrholmen I will bring a more open songbook. I will play two early sets, one each day, solo acoustic. Where usually in my sets, some songs get pushed out by the hits, the crowdpleazerz, this time there will be room for the other songs to come out and hang. I will divide the sets alphabetically too, that felt like a natural way to let the setlists write themselves.

So just to clarify:
Knarrholmen 2013
Friday the 24th - Songs A-J
Saturday the 25th - Songs K-Ö

Jason Molina passed away two days ago. I didn't know him well but we met a few times. The first time we met was during thanksgiving 2004 in Bloomington, Indiana where our recordlabel Secretly Canadian have their office. In a backyard behind a house Jason showed me his broken guitar that he had placed in a tree there years earlier. The guitar and the tree had grown together, the tree slowly swallowing the guitar as it's stem grew around it. Jason was sweet, friendly. I didn't get a chance to tell him how much I loved his records.

The second time I met him was backstage at a show. I came back to say hi. He didn't say anything, just looked at me, smiled and started a playing a song. Then he gave me the guitar and said "your turn". So I played a song and then said "your turn again". And we just stood like that for a while, taking turns playing songs for each other. I didn't get a chance to tell him how much I loved his records that time either.

I never got a chance to tell him how that first album of his opened my mind. I was sixteen, I put some american dollars in an envelope and sent it over the sea. Two weeks later it arrived, I didn't know music could sound that close. I followed his every move for years, bought every little strange seven inch and "tour only" CD. I'm sitting here now with those records spread out across the floor. I never grew tired of Jason's songs because they don't belong to a time but rather a place. I don't think I've ever heard music be so geographical. It's not a place I've ever seen on a map, it's a hut in a dark rainforest, a savannah in the sunset, a freeway with no traffic signs. A place no satellites has ever laid their eyes on but your GPS tells you "you have reached your destination".

Have you ever really listened to "What a Wonderful World"? Yes of course you have but I mean have you ever really listened to it? Have you ever sat down and read the lyrics and studied each dim7 chord? Let each one ring out through it's perfect position in the chord structure? Have you ever had a beloved uncle pass away and been asked to sing at his funeral, and you thought of this song and how it evokes a sense of optimism in a time of grief. That the world moves on, babies are born, seasons come and go. "I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do, they're really saying I love you". And have you ever tried to sing through the whole song but found that by the time the last verse comes along your voice always starts shaking? And you have to tell your family that you probably can't sing because the whole thing is a bit too emotional for you. And you go outside and take a deep breath, you go for a run up to the lake in the hills and you see that the snowdrops have started growing and a deer looks at you curiously from up the hill. A fine rain falls upon you. And you think to yourself…

Hi Jens,

Your fans have been excitedly (VERY excitedly) coming into KUWAII to pick up their CDs. Today we got an hilariously adorable gift from a chap named Joel, I thought I'd show you a picture as you will surely find it funny. What a lovely idea Jens. I hope your trip home is wonderful and look forward to seeing you again,

Your friend,
Kristy B

As I'm packing up my stuff to leave Melbourne again I come across a small box of my CD's. Leftover merch from one of my tours, probably the asian tour I did in 2010. On closer inspection they turn out to be in good condition but not in mint condition, some of the shells have cracks in them, some have what looks like slight water damage to the paper. They're totally fine, but they're unsellable. I can't even give them away to a recordstore and I have to get rid of them right now.

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to sign each one and leave them at my friend Kristy's store KUWAII in Brunswick (37-39 Glenlyon Road). Drop by and ask for one, they're free. Your money is no good but you can leave a tip in the form of fine chocolate or a small flower if you want.
Love
J

Just to clarify, what I'm sad about is where things are going with music in general and the fact that I'm personally uncomfortable with my songs ending up in that context. Not that you would be judging me.

It happened two weeks ago. An offer came in to license one of my songs for a commercial. This time I had to take it. My last album and my last tours lost so much money, money that would take years to recoup. The reality of things meant there was no way around it.

I don't think you guys care about that. I don't think most people care about these things anymore. But it makes me a little sad. However, I've decided to not be grossed out by it and just move on.

I just wanted to write a few lines and say thank you Melbourne. It was such an amazing show. And when I say amazing I say it like you say it down here, with an emphasis on the second A, drawn out forever. Amaaaaaaayzzzzing.

It was so wonderful to finally hear the new songs come home, take their shoes off, make themselves comfortable. It was quite emotional for me, hearing so many people sing along, actually knowing the lyrics and melodies. And when that eerie screech from when tram # 1 towards Sth Melbourne Beach drove by around the corner of the last song, creating a sound that somehow actually was in tune with the melody... I don't know, from where I stood it was just one of the best moments ever.

Sydney, Brisbane and Perth were also really amazing. I really wish the circumstances under which we played in Perth could be for every show, with the breeze gently breezing by just when you needed it and Jupiter positioned just underneath the moon. I wish the stars and planets were always aligned like that.

Dorset, UK
Sep. 1st, 2013
End Of The Road Festival

I have five spots for the Wheeler Centre (see below, feb 2nd). I want to give these to minors only as the other shows are strictly 18+ and I haven't been able to do anything about that. So the first five to write me about this gets one ticket each. There is of course no way for me to check that you are minors so I'm just going to have to trust you. If you're over 18, don't ask for the tickets or you're a jerk.

Dear Quantas Airlines

I have an idea, just wanted to throw it out there. Maybe it's crazy I don't know. But regarding this war against musicians that you and most other airlines are engaging in, I think I've solved it, I don't think we need to fight anymore. Seriously, just hear me out. What I'm thinking of is a new kind of guitar case. It starts off pretty much like a normal case, wooden base covered with the stuff they used in the astronaut suits back in the 60's. Then covered in solid metal, layers and layers of it. Yes, this DOES mean it gets heavy, glad you're listening. Outside the metal we wrap it in 900 layers of bubblewrap, so many layers that it would require a chainsaw to simply get through that. This means that it would be a gigantic ball of plastic, about three-four metres in diameter. You could just roll it out to the airplane. Oh but the ball would also be covered in very sharp nails, so use gloves. I'm not sure why the nails need to be there, but they seemed to go with my idea. Of course, the actual guitar still goes in a soft case that I would love to take as carry on, this is just the case that I'm talking about. Ok, let me know what you think. Love ya. Thanks for the extra scoop of icecream I got last time. J x

As part of my Australian visit I will be dropping by the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne on the 12th to talk about storytelling and writing, excited about this. The info is here.

February 12, 2013
The Wheeler Centre, Melbourne
6:15 - 7:15 PM

I'm sorry I wasn't able to inform you in time about this, I see that the event is already booked out. I know there's a lot of you who have written to me about the age restrictions for the Melbourne show and I was hoping this could be at least something you could go to. But I wasn't informed that it had been released. I hope you were able to get tickets.

POLAND
Aug 3 - Katowice, OFF Festival

JAPAN
April 22 - Tokyo, Billboard Live (1st show - 5:30)
April 22 - Tokyo, Billboard Live (2nd show - 8:45)

AUSTRALIA
Feb 18 - Perth International Arts Festival
Feb 16 - Brisbane -The Zoo w/ Courtney Barnett
Feb 15 - Melbourne -The Garden Party, Southbank w/ Courtney Barnett
Feb 14 - Sydney - Oxford Art Factory w/ Courtney Barnett

There's a place underneath Grand Central Station in New York called The Oyster Bar which is quite famous but a place you might miss since it's a bit hidden away underneath the constant flow of people on their way somewhere else. It's a beautiful place with it's Gustavino tiled ceilings and soft lights. If you know someone who lives in New York there's a chance they might've taken you there. There's a chance they might've said "I know you're vegetarian but you gotta try the clam chowder". And there's a chance you might've said "Well, I'll try a bit of yours if that's ok". And it's likely this takes place in the coldest of the winter months and that the warmth of the food and wine overwhelmed you and got your spirits up after a long day of walking in the cold. And maybe one of you might've ordered potatoes and when the potatoes show up at the end of the meal you realize that it is simply a bowl of boiled potatoes. And you're already full. And that might've been the moment when your friend Gary suggested that you put the potatoes in your pockets, using them as heating devices as you walk home through the cold. They last a long time, the skin of the potato keeps the heat in. And when you're finally on the subway and you have fourteen stops ahead of you, you realize you have a snack in your pocket, still warm.

If you meet me on the street on a day like that, on a day like today, when it's fifteen below and your legs go numb. Then the answer to your question is "Yes, that is a potato in my pocket. But I am also happy to see you".

I just woke up from one of those dreams that my friend Bill Wells would probably call "nighttime composing". A productive dream it was, where an idea took shape. I saw on the news last night about how electric cars are too silent, potentially posing a threat to pedestrians and bicyclists. So they're thinking of equipping the cars with a sound. A man from the department of something said something about what a pity it was that when we've finally started getting rid of the traffic noise, we face a new potential cacophony. And in my dream I solved the problem, I thought why not have each vehicle produce a certain note within a harmonic scale. Look out your window, there's a blue Renault slowly crossing the bridge producing a mellow G. The Renault meets a Mazda humming an E. On the other side of the river, a Toyota gives out a low C and all of this turns into a dreamy Cmajor7 as a Volvo passes by on the street below you, singing a high B. Now imagine a highway, the equivalent of someone pressing down all the white keys on a keyboard producing the most beautiful ambient dreamscape. What about emergency vehicles you'd say, well they could have pulsing dissonant tones, breaking through the dreamscape, catching your attention. This is as far as my dream got before I came to think of the Doppler effect.

Trying to finish some lyrics here. something really honest and from the heart.
But I have a pie waiting on the windowsill and it smells delicious.
Hard to write lyrics when there's pie.