The Protest Singer

I am not a protest singer but sometimes I wish that I was. The songs that I write don’t usually delve into the depths of national politics. On the rare occasion that I do comment on the world at large my lyrics tend to be too obtuse to really get much of a reaction. Because of this my leftist leanings don’t always get the publicity that they probably should. They certainly don’t take up as much space in my “public persona” (gross that I even said that) as they do in my head. Maybe that should change.

We drove to Tulsa over the weekend to play a rally for Bernie Sanders. We were booked to play his rally in Omaha back in February but our tour bus broke down on the side of I80 and we couldn’t make it. We had to cancel the gig that night as well so it was a double bummer. Needless to say, it was important to all of us that when we got a second chance we wanted to take it.

We finished our European tour a week before and the whole group scattered. I came home but the rest of the gang stayed on the continent for vacation. Between flights home getting cancelled, sleep deprivation and jet lag it’s kind of a miracle that we were able to play the rally. Jim in particular moved heaven and earth to be there. It was that important to us. The rally was great and we got to shake hands and take pictures with the man. Bernie gave a great speech but it was kind of overshadowed by the news coming out mid-event that we had just bombed Iran. That became a bit of a viral moment. In the videos if you squint really close you might be able to see me on the side of stage right when Bernie gets the document about the bombing.

I don’t know how much we added to the event though. There were some people who knew us, some folks singing along. Several people said that they had no idea we would be there and it was a welcome surprise. But, a good part of the crowd was participating in a volume endurance challenge during our set. I saw fingers in ears and some of the older patrons went outside for a bit. We are a really loud rock band playing in an enormous concrete room performing through a PA designed for a single person speaking. So, I get it. We had a good time though and I think we played alright. I’ve never played next to a podium or in front of a giant American flag before. First time for everything I guess

Earlier in the day we trekked to a radio station to do a quick interview and performance to promote the rally. The station was across the street from Oral Robert’s University which gave the whole afternoon a Righteous Gemstones feel. We were asked why we were playing the rally because we’re “not a political band” and I wasn’t sure how to answer. What I ended up saying was that our shows are more of an escape from the real world. They hopefully can be an hour that you can let loose and not have to think about anything but having a good time. In that sense, I guess what we brought to the rally was a break in-between the seriousness of the speakers. A chance to unwind and reset to be more present for the more serious topics of the speeches. Again, I don’t know how relaxing we were for people but that’s the idea.

At the time I thought maybe that was some bullshit that just came out of my mouth in the moment but I’ve thought about it a lot over the last couple of days. I think it’s actually a true statement. The band was started as something that we did for fun, something different from our real lives. That feeling carried on into our shows and into our songwriting. Escapism wasn’t a stated intention but it might as well have been. Maybe escapism isn't the right word, it’s more a release, a way to blow off steam, at the very least a distraction. That’s important for the cause as well I think. You can’t be all work all the time or you’ll burn yourself out. Maybe that’s the roll we play?

Or, maybe we’re just a punk band and don’t need to worry about this at all. IDK, overthinking is kinda my thing. Back to politics…

You don’t have to be the world’s greatest detective to know that I am not a fan of the current administration. That’s a very polite and civilized way to put it that doesn’t express the amount of disgust I feel. But, there I go again, censoring myself. I guess that’s an old habit and in the spirit of breaking my old habits that I’ve been doing the last 847 days maybe I can start working on this one. I don’t have to be a protest singer to an active participant in the fight, there are other ways to contribute.

Having said all that, I’m proud that we played the Bernie rally and would do it again. I’m even fine with anyone criticizing us for playing it. To quote The Dude “That’s like … you’re opinion, man.” I will say that anyone who says “keep politics out of music” might want to dig a hole and put their head in it, at least for the next couple of years. Or, you can read the lyrics I write since nobody seems to know what the fuck I’m saying half the time anyway. You might just find yourself radicalized into an empathetic, emotional leftist through osmosis. You’re welcome. So it goes

The first two photos are from the Examiner-Enterprise and the Bernie photo was taken by Josh Hanson who is his staff photographer.