bootstrap jubilee

july 2024

nothing whistles like a nerf vortex aero howler football. even the guy playing stand-up bass for opener LOGAN LEDGER stopped to watch the ball’s perfect arc in flight, cocked his head to hear it whizz. you may not have known the ball’s christian name, but you know the sound.

it’s one moment tossed onto a heap of precious moments at Soft Junk in the past year. like a really cool dragon, I curl up and sleep on my bounty and feel rich. 

what else? NIC SCHURMAN upstairs with his hair in a bun, adding gels to the spotlight, taking them out again, looking for that perfect halo. the parking lot moonlighting as a Nicoletto’s for MEG ELSIER’s raucous album release party. ANNIE WILLIAMS stomping her jump through a ring of (not) fire at her may 29 album release party, but also Brett proposing we offer cash to Hunan Express across the street to see if they’d let Annie actually light the dang thing on fire. the possum that reliably shows his face and scrambles up the rocks up to the HOWDYWOOD sign. 

but something about the nerf football did it for me this time. for many of us that whistle carries the echo of nostalgia—fitting that it should come on the heels of LOGAN LEDGER’s opening set, a masterclass in evoking bygone musical eras (60s crooning a la ROY ORBISON and the california country-inflected folk rock of the 60s and 70s from groups like THE YOUNGBLOODS) without sounding kitschy or affected.

LEDGER had just finished when, from my spot underneath the loft, I spied a familiar silhouette in the parking lot just beyond NIC’s beloved red carpet and velvet ropes. the silhouette was doing agile things: reaching, tossing, running routes like they were up on the jumbotron at the super bowl. as if they had no clue JENNY LEWIS was about to play her last show as a resident of east nashville.

our parking lot QB—and his wide-receiver wife, who happens to fucking love JENNY LEWIS—did know about the show, they just failed to get one of the 69 available tickets for sale the day before. so they brought their nerf vortex aero howler football. they made it sing. they threw it to some of the lucky few who did secure tickets, at one point dropping it into the arms of an unsuspecting friend with pinpoint accuracy, the ball’s song the only warning of an incoming projectile. even i stepped out of Soft Junk’s jurisdiction to run a few slants. somehow it made perfect sense—the familiarity, the fun of the place. our most exciting acts go there to play, yet it never feels self-serious. and despite its proven success as a straight-up venue, the place continues to change, experiment, mess around. understatement of the century: NIC has ideas.

Tyler King

when my friends tired from the howler, they sat on a bench on the periphery and took in the scene—two people in love, happy just to be around it all. the best part is: they were on the guest list the entire time

i am by no means a Soft Junk veteran, but i hope to go there as long as NIC feels like running it. you can read a more thorough account of the show from my friend Eli. he’s a real journalist who pays close attention to things. i was alternately preoccupied with ensuring i didn’t stare directly into one of the cameras recording the show to vhs and seeing if KACEY MUSGRAVES would organically talk to me. only one of the two prophesies came true.

what i do remember: LEWIS and her band nailing a cover of KEITH WHITLEY’s “MIAMI, MY AMY”; LEWIS playfully dancing with a superfan in the audience and Justen Cheney yelling down from the loft, instructing him to “give her a spin, dude”; LEWIS asking if anyone in the crowd was poly before rolling into “SLIPPERY SLOPES”. as Eli notes, the set-list was diverse but “JOY’ALL” forward, the band (THE DAFFODILS) was elite.

it made my head spin to think that, less than a week before, i was eating garlic bread and spaghetti ahead of MEG ELSIER’s album release party. ELSIER’s album “SPITTAKE” isn’t particularly long, but its range gives it an odyssean feeling as it winds between loud and soft, shimmering and unvarnished, triumphant and defeated. as far as debuts go, this one succeeds in being singular—it takes courage and tact to block out the zeitgeist and put out songs bear one’s fingerprints. i found myself holding on to the odd moment of unexpected intonation, the word i might never have landed on.

other shows delivered on the hype i’d internally manufactured in my head. COLA’s Tim Darcy broke a guitar string on the first song at The Blue Room, had to borrow one from openers THE SEWING CLUB and proceeded to refer to the guitar as if he were borrowing a friend’s horse. at Basement East Jenn Wasner of FLOCK OF DIMES played a stripped down set and joyfully talked to everyone who bought her merch before PEDRO THE LION fired up a “SANTA CRUZ”-heavy set. after opening with “IT’LL ALL WORK OUT”, David Bazan promised the crowd three (3) songs from “ACHILLES HEEL”, which turned twenty this year and, i think, made him feel old.

feels like a lot of music came out recently, too; some albums were refreshing for how the artist evolved or changed; others were simply long-awaited, by me and maybe you too. as per usual, plenty of albums felt brand new to me despite having been out in the world.

JAKE XERXES FUSSELL’s “WHEN I’M CALLED” is a delightful study of folk songs through the ages, each given a thorough spit shine to sound glistening and new. CLAIRO’s “CHARM” helped me dance through domestic life. “MY LIGHT, MY DESTROYER” ended my wait for a follow up to CASSANDRA JENKINS’ magical album “AN OVERVIEW ON PHENOMENAL NATURE”.¹ i shamelessly mined songs from HORSEJUMPER OF LOVE’S 110-song playlist, “HORSE JUMPER’S FAVORITE SONGS”, where i discovered 22° HALO, a project from philadelphia-based Will Kennedy.² i listened to a shit ton of reggaeton and house music with my friends Robert and Javier in los angeles. i can confirm that SOUR WIDOWS’ album “REVIVAL OF A FRIEND” is still hitting.

i said last month that i would spend some more time on “REVIVAL OF A FRIEND”, but i’m kicking that can down the road until 1) they play their DRKMTTR show in september and 2) do an interview thing with me on this here substack.³ but you should give it a listen if you haven’t yet. you’ll hear generous songs from a generous band—an abundance of lock-pick riffs and five-minute-plus songs thanks to the way the band settles into a bridge or an outro with seemingly no intention of leaving. and why would they?

but until then, i’m going to italy to either successfully bike in the alps or perish somewhere magnificent. i’ll see my beautiful, betrothed friends Alex and Sara before i set off and after (if) i return. definitely burying the lede here BUT! i’m soliciting contributions to a ~general admission subscriber playlist~ to source some tunes to carry me up and over those steep alpine passes. i hope some of you actually make it this deep in the post and contribute, but if not i can handle it—what’s another playlist? :)

talk later. i’ll send you off like JENNY LEWIS did us. joy y’all.

SHOWS IN JULY: PEDRO THE LION + FLOCK OF DIMES / COLA / MEG ELSIER / JENNY LEWIS / ROSALI

SHOWS IN AUGUST: JESSICA PRATT + @ / 22° HALO / DEHD / TWEN + ENUMCLAW + PRESSURE HEAVEN / BRENNAN WEDL / whatever you invite me to / ciaoooooo

HAVE YOU BOUGHT A TICKET TO SOUR WIDOWS + YOUBET, 9/10???

thanks Eli Motycka for helping me edit this

1. a strange thing has been happening where, upon the release of an album, i end up really liking songs that i didn’t particularly care for when they were initially put out as singles. this is especially true of CASSANDRA JENKINS’ “DELPHINIUM BLUE” and SOUR WIDOWS’ “I-90”, which they put out way back in 2022. weird, right? context is everything!

2. playing friday 8/2

3. which they agreed to do! graciously.