Tom Waits Says "Hold On"

Over the years I've thought a lot about the power of music to lift our spirits and to comfort us. 

I've been on a Tom Waits kick lately and planned to share this tune as my "Song of the Day" on Facebook. But when I read the comments people left in response to this song it seemed needful to share more than the song.

I remember reading an interview with Jim Morrison of The Doors in which he acknowledged that people don't read poetry any more. This is why he became a rock star, to share his poetry with a wider audience.

How many of us would know Bob Dylan if he had only published his lyrics (poetry) in literary journals like the Antioch Review, Tin House or the New England Review? 

"Hold On" is a song by Tom Waits, featured on his 1999 album Mule Variations. I have been intending to share a couple Tom Waits songs here, but this one jumped to the head of the line when I read all the comments.

The song seems to be an ode to resilience or endurance, with Waits emphasizing the importance of holding onto something meaningful in life. It's both optimistic and reflective, capturing the essence of human struggle and hope. The song is like a hand reaching out to down-and-outers, though it also speaks to stressed out overachievers. Hold on. You'll get through.

Here are a few comments that show the power of this Tom Waits jewel:

>>>Tom. You saved my life 7 and a half years ago. My oldest daughter died and for 6 months I listened to you. It helped more than I can ever say. Thank you!

>>>Tom Waits is the reason I am still here. I only had 2 albums in 1998, one Richie Sambora, one Tom Waits. Both cost half my monthly income. I had no equipment to listen to these as I was homeless. Went to joint in old town, put the CD on and asked permission to wash my hair in that huge metal sink at the back. Then did the dishes for beer and some food. Survived the harsh winters.

>>>My husband Jim was in the hospital almost 2 months fighting Covid. Tom Waits accompanied me on my hour long car drives to see him every day. Praying to God I would not lose him, Tom helped me to hold on and gave me hope. I am forever grateful to this talented artist that helped give me the strength to keep going.

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I give credit to Amy Grillo for nudgng me to explore more of  Tom Waits' music. (She didn't really nudge me. Rather, she spoke with such enthusiasm for his work that I felt impelled to become more acquainted with his catalog. Amy herself is an accomplished singer/songwriter/performer. She self-describes as a dreamer who lives in a little house in the woods. 

Here's Amy's description of Tom.

Tom Waits is a perfect example of Life as Art. It oozes out of him. He transports. Transcends. So many lessons gleaned from his work. Saw him live a while back--dust rising from the floorboards, glitter tossed from his pockets. Songs that connect with a place inside that you maybe didn’t even know existed. “I’d buy me a used car lot and I wouldn’t sell any of them. I'd just drive a different car every day depending on how I feel”. Tom’s advice: “pay attention to what is happening outside of the frame.” This expansive awareness has been a trusted beacon in my own life and creative endeavors. 

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The lyrics paint a picture of a journey, both literal and metaphorical, involving characters who leave small towns for bigger dreams, the complexities of love, and the passage of time.

Life is not easy. Between our external challenges and internal battles, however,--anxiety, fear, loneliness, misunderstandings--music can carry us through.          

Here's Tom Waits:

HOLD ON

They hung a sign up in our town

"If you live it up, you won't live it down"

So she left Monte Rio, son

Just like a bullet leaves a gun

With her charcoal eyes and Monroe hips

She went and took that California trip

Oh, the moon was gold, her hair like wind

Said, "don't look back, just come on, Jim"

Oh, you got to hold on, hold on

You gotta hold on

Take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on

Well, he gave her a dimestore watch

And a ring made from a spoon

Everyone's looking for someone to blame

When you share my bed, you share my name

Well, go ahead and call the cops

You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops

She said, "baby, I still love you"

Sometimes there's nothin' left to do

Oh, but you got to hold on, hold on

Babe, you gotta hold on and take my hand

I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on

Down by the Riverside motel

It's ten below and falling

By a ninety-nine cent store

She closed her eyes and started swaying

But it's so hard to dance that way

When it's cold and there's no music

Oh, your old hometown's so far away

But inside your head there's a record that's playing

A song called "Hold On", hold on

Babe, you gotta hold on

Take my hand, I'm standing right there, you gotta hold on

You gotta hold on, hold on

Babe, you gotta hold on

Take my hand, I'm standing right there, you gotta hold on.

* * * 

Does the road wind uphill all the way?

Yes, to the very end. 

Will the day's journey take the whole long day?

From morn till night, my friend.

--Chrisina Rosetti

Duluth Dylan Fest Goes Virtual -- No Waiting in Lines!

When the start of Major League Baseball was pushed back, little did we know how many other dominoes would fall. The Summer Olympics, NCAA March Madness, Duluth's Homegrown Music Festival, Grandma's Marathon and -- sadly for many of us, Bob Dylan's Japan tour and U.S. tours all fell by the wayside. Some of our sorrows over that last item were alleviated, in part, with the release of several new songs and now a new double album of original material, Rough and Rowdy Ways. That's medicine I don't mind taking.

In a similar vein, as a result of this year’s global pandemic the Duluth Dylan Fest Committee has re-configured its plans for 2020, offering several virtual events in place of the usual in-person celebrations here in the Northland.

Here's what's on the docket now in lieu of the events that had been scheduled to run from May 16 through May 24, Bob’s 79th birthday. Local musicians slated for live stream performances include Marc Gartman, Cowboy Angel Blue, Gene LaFond and Amy Grillo. We will also air on YouTube the Bob Dylan Revue Concert from 2019 which took place last year at Sacred Heart Music Center. The Bob Dylan Revue Band, led by Mark Bennett, performed Bob Dylan Birthday Concerts throughout the 1990s to early 2000s.

To stay up to date, visit the Duluth Dylan Fest on Facebook.

DULUTH DYLAN FEST 2021 
Next year the Northland will be celebrating Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday. In anticipation, we’re desirous of making it The Year of Bob here in St. Louis County, where Bobby Zimmerman spent his youth. The dates for Duluth Dylan Fest 2021 have been finalized for May 22-30.

Virtual Duluth Dylan Fest Events

May 17--Cowboy Angel Blue Facebook Live

May 20--Virtual Dylan Fest Performance by Marc Gartman

May 23--Virtual Bob Dylan Revue Reunion Concert Revisited (YouTube)

May 24--Al Diesan, Streaming Live from Rome Italy
Noon-2:00 P.M. CST  Diesan, a Bob Dylan sounds-alike and performer will be streaming live from Rome.

Danny Fox Livestream Virtual Duluth Dylan Fest Event
5:00 p.m. CST--Two-time winner of the Dylan Days Singer/Songwriter contest will be streaming live from Chicago

Gene LaFond and Amy Grillo

7:30 p.m. CST--Bob Dylan Birthday Bash Livestream with Gene LaFond & Amy Grillo
According to Geno, the event "will be a lot of lesser heard Bob tracks, a smattering of stories from my experiences on the road with Bob & his gigs buddy Larry Kegan & a couple of our new originals. It will be big fun honoring the maestro on his 79th!"


IN A SEMI-RELATED EVENT:
May 22 there will be a Cookin' At the O Covid 19 Live Stream Benefit
Benefiting COVID-19 healthcare workers across our region, specifically the Min No Aya Win Clinic on the Fond Du Lac Reservation, Riverwood Hospital in Aitkin, St. Luke’s in Duluth, Mercy Hospital in Moose Lake, Cloquet Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet.
How does this related to Dylan Fest? Bass player Billy Peterson, who recorded with Bob in Minneapolis (Blood on the Tracks), is in the mix. The jazz trio also includes Andrew Walesch, piano & vocals, & Glenn "Swanny" Swanson on drums.

Related Links
Rolling Like Thunder with Gene LaFond
Gene LaFond Shares Memories of Dylan
Jazz Fans Give a Standing O to Carlton Room Performers
Lives Touched and Energized: Dylan, Blood, Tracks, Metsa--Part 3

Geno and Amy to Open for Louie Kemp @ Karpeles Thursday Eve Here in Duluth

When I heard that Gene LaFond and Amy Grillo would be performing this Thursday to "open" for Louie Kemp's lecture and book signing, the news struck a chord for me. It was an "oh-so-right" decision.

Louie Kemp will be in Minneapolis this week to promote his just released book Dylan & Me, a story which begins at the Herzl Jewish summer camp when Louie was 11 and Bobby Zimmerman 12. After four book signings in the Twin Cities Kemp will return to his original home town to relive a few moments, and then share his story at Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum  on the corner of First Street and Ninth Avenue East.

Kemp's book is a collection of memories and anecdotes beginning at camp and weaving through 50 years. In addition to the Kemp-Bobby Zimmerman connection there emerges a third character who was part of this early saga, Larry Kegan, a friend whom "Bobby" (as Louie calls him throughout the book) also remained loyal to over the decades. 

All this to say that Gene LaFond is a musician and songwriter himself who regularly performed with Larry Kegan in the Twin Cities music scene. 

LaFond first saw Dylan as a teen when Bobby was not yet Dylan. "I used to see him at The Scholar in Dinkytown when I was in high school. I didn’t know him then. He was still Bob Zimmerman at that time. Then I met him in 1975 on the Rolling Thunder tour with Larry."

The Rolling Thunder Revue brought the trio of Herzl Camp trouble-makers--Kegan, Kemp and Zimmerman--together once more. Kemp was producer of the ground-breaking tour (now a documentary by Martin Scorsese) and Kegan was along for the first part of the ride, with Gene LaFond his sidekick. 

For LaFond meeting Bob and being on the start of the RTR was a zeitgeist. "It was amazing to meet somebody that I’d idolized all that time and then to realize he’s just a human being. It was a real eye opener. And it gave me a lot of confidence that I could write songs, too. It was the start of my inspiration to write songs. I’d been playing for years but not really doing a lot of original stuff."

This past week I was listening to Gene and Amy's 2016 CD The Northland Sessions featuring a cover shot reminiscent of a good cop/bad cop pair in Hollywood films. The black and white, grey with a touch of red color scheme is identical to Dylan's Love & Theft. (Not intentional, Gene says. They liked the photo, taken by Geri Johnson Pudrug--an old friend of Amy's-- at the Chisholm Discovery Center.)

Amy Grillo grew up in Hibbing. Gene said, "We met at Dylan days in Hibbing when I brought Ramblin’ Jack Elliott up there to perform. Mutual love of music led us to start writing together. We moved to the north shore about 5 years ago."

Their modest home is walking distance from the Nelson French property just up the road. Music is central in both homes, with French assembling periodic concerts at what he calls Rocky Wall Productions. Courtney Yasmineh was the most recent featured artist there.

Grillo likewise said that music has been the centerpiece of their relationship, "a love of music, songwriting and Bob Dylan."

At least eight of the songs on The Northland Sessions are collaborations between the two. Since I just happened to be reading about how Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote songs together* I had to ask what the process was for she and Gene. Grillo stated that for her "collaboration is a practice in trying to stay out of the way of each other’s ideas and welcome together the creative spirit when it decides to grace us with a visit." She added, "Gene is a really talented melody maker."

Two of the songs are her own compositions, and many give the impression that they're glad to have found one another later in life.

It's noteworthy how many others contributed to this CD, including the late Lonnie Knight and our dear Northland friend Scarlet Rivera. (No she's not from here but everyone here is always happy to have her be part of our extended family.)

* * * *

Cropped book cover shot.

Louie Kemp's talk and book signing is part of the John Bushey Memorial Lecture Series. It's being billed as a Memorial Encore for the lectures usually held in conjunction with Duluth Dylan Fest each May. The event will run from 5:30-8:30 pm. Here is the FB Event Page for more details.

Related Links
Gene LaFond Talks About Larry Kegan
Louie Kemp's Memoir: Dylan & Me (Grateful Web)
More to come.

Aaron Kloss at the Red Mug and Other Twin Ports Happenings

Paintings by Aaron Kloss at Red Mug this month

Last night I was watching The Diving Bell and the Butterfly for the fourth, fifth or sixth time, and as in every previous viewing am completely in awe at Julian Schnabel's incredible film. This time around I was struck by the complete disconnect between people living out fast-paced lives in the business realm and the tediously slow pace people locked in hospitals experience, especially those in hospice or paralysis.

We who have our health forget how fortunate we are. We who possess mobility and youth must remember that neither of these are permanent. The time to explore is now... otherwise that inquisitive spirit of our childhood will atrophy.

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Here are a few Twin Ports events to take in if you are able.

TONIGHT

Changing Seasons Art Show 
If you live or work in Superior, be sure to take a few minutes to visit the Red Mug Coffeehouse this evening for an opening reception between 5 and 7 p.m.  On display will be a collection of new original paintings and prints celebrating the arrival of spring, by local landscape painter Aaron Kloss. The Red Mug is located on the corner of Hammond and Broadway.

Twin Ports Stage
Tonight at the Belknap Lounge the Twin Ports Stage live radio theater troop will be presenting Episodes 10 and 11 with live musical guest Joe Lindzius. The show starts at 6:00 p.m. "We want the show to start!"

THURSDAY

Gallery Celebration: Youth Art Month
March is Youth Art Month and the Duluth Art Institute has pulled together a show from 10 of the region's schools.  The exhibition is designed to showcase the creativity and imagination that is being taught and practiced by our young artists. Work in a wide variety of media will be on display, from clay to photography, pen and paper to watercolor and oil. The opening reception will be from 5 - 7 p.m., the art itself on display throughout the month of March.

Gene Lafond and Amy Grillo at Little Angie's Cantina
Gene Lafond has left the Twin Cities and now lives here in the North Country with his partner in song Amy Grillo. Hence, Lafond friends and followers on Facebook will have noticed all the gigs they are doing up near Two Harbors and Silver Bay. Thursday evening Gene and Amy will be performing at Little Angie's in Canal Park. I'm not sure when Little Angie's became a music venue, but it's all right by me. I've always liked the food there, and the Margaritas. If you are a night life type, this will be a fun place to unwind.

Head of the Lakes Jazz Festival
For fans of jazz, this event is 18-karat. Every dude has his axe and man, these cats can really blow. Or so it goes. It's a two-day feast so don't get in a lather if you can't make the first night. For details visit their Facebook page by clicking the headline of this paragraph. Weber Hall at UMD is gonna be hot.

Revolution Jones at the Rex
The Twin Ports music scene is off the charts for a community this size. You can follow it best by paying attention to the Transistor or the Reader, not this blogspace which attempts to highlight the oft overlooked visual arts. Nevertheless, it seemed a good time to mention a few new and noteworthy additions to our local music action. Revolution Jones is a resurrected Uprising featuring an import from the Centerville All Stars, John Heino, on keyboards. It's reggae with attitude. Expect your feet to be moving as they groove. Let's give a big welcome to Revolution Jones.

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Have a great week ahead as you listen to the music.