When magic is at play

As another adventure comes full circle, I ask myself if it’s the end of a chapter or actually the beginning.

Almost exactly one year ago, a cluster of songs were born out here in the Arizona sun, and the seeds were planted deep in the sands of the desert.

Those songs then travelled to Portland and Ireland, where the rains poured and brought them to blossom.

Then they moved to the big cities of London, New York, and Bristol, where they matured into fully grown realisations.

And now, one year later, we brought the songs back home to Arizona, fully-formed, where they were presented and played in front of audiences for the very first time, in Tubac, Tucson and Phoenix.

The band of outlaws who came together to bring these songs to life are true warriors of the open road.

All of them legends in their own rights, but put them together, they become a force unheard of.

Truly something for the history books.

The fact that any of this happened at all is nothing short of a miracle… Yet it did happen.

And all by a long sequence of accident and coincidence.

This could never have been planned or mapped out.

Besides, planning only insults the future.

It’s better to leave room for a certain kind of voodoo to come into play and become the real decision maker. That’s what happened here.

An alignment in the universe fell into place and somehow we all found ourselves in the same spot at the same time, with nothing but a book of songs as our compass to guide the path.

Jam-packed into a single day was backyard rehearsals in the sun, followed by a Los Lobos gig in the fox theatre, then a quick escape from the maddening crowds into the old movie theatre to watch ‘The Shining’, where slumber almost took me whilst in the grips of jet lag, but a pizza slice and glass of mezcal brought me back to where I needed to be.

And then ringing in the New Year with friends and allies as the sun went down way out in the dust and stone of the senhora desert. Majestic moments to be cherished.

And this was only the first day. Again, none of this was planned, nor could it have been.

The following morning, New Year’s Day, a knock came to the door and it was Los Lobos, stopping by for a hello and a coffee before flying to their next show.

The whole week was more of the same kind of magic.

Too much to mention really.

There is lots to unpack from this one. It’ll take a while before it all fully digests.

And somehow in the middle of all this, we took delivery of 100 copies of not one, but two records, containing some of the songs we had been chipping at since giving birth to them a year earlier.

It tickled us to learn that the records were pressed onto actual bulletproof vinyl.

The final night began in our favourite dive bar, before inspiration struck in a sea of margaritas. It was our only night off, so naturally we decided to get to work, as we spontaneously had the idea to record some atmospheric sound designs for the horror movie we’ve been working on.

Good job one of the gang owns a recording studio right round the corner, which is where we spent the remainder of the night, creating noises to make the skin crawl.

This is what happens when you go for a beer with kindred spirits.

Instant manifestation.

When magic is at play like this, you best not hesitate or question it.

Your only option is to surrender and be the passenger.

Go along for the ride.

Don’t try to steer it.

Just ride the wave and see where you end up.

It’s the only way to fly.