Devon Sproule

i listened to my first full neko case record today, driving home from dallas. i don’t know if i’ll listen to the record again, but i know i like her. i like that she doesn’t spread anything additional on her already-gorgeous voice (the main reason i didn’t make it through the new vampire weekend, alas). and because you can hear a sensitive person behind it. and because my cousin catherine loves her, so it makes me feel connected to her, through her. if i could have my way with a couple of her songs, I would try to find some weirder chords here and there, hoping they would pull the melodies further out of the box. but that’s my musical boat, and i trust — because i think i can hear — that what she’s doing is doing it for her. oh, and i heard her on a radio show one day and she was funny!

A film by Matt Paley for Devon Sproule.

Written, Arranged, & Orchestrated
by Isaac Wardell & Mason Neely of Bifrost Arts
Featuring Devon Sproule & Paul Curreri

at first this shoot was pretty uncomfortable — “what am i doing here?!” “my feet hurt!” — but then miguel said, “hey, i saw you dancing around earlier…wanna dance some?” and everything got better. well, except the blisters; those got worse. 🙂

Last night I dreamed I was hanging out with a couple friends (a friend of mine from New York and her roommate that my subconscious invented) and I started singing the bassline to “Colours” and they all started singing the other parts and then I went into an improvised screamo section at the end. – taylor

on the way out here to fort davis, tx for the crooked crow writing retreat, i kept forgetting to look out the windows.  i’m new to the desert.  it felt safer looking up birds i might see in the area, instead of actually looking for them!  but i’m getting more comfortable.  the quiet is crazy, and wonderful.  and unlike some beautiful places, there’s nothing overstimulating about the landscape.  big but subtle.  my friend johann wagner (who is, by the way, currently kickstarting with a great batch of songs and a great video that paul made) is doing a great job organizing.  his co-host brian hembree takes the reins tomorrow, with a little dev workshop sandwiched in the middle.  we’ve been doing a lot of writing-oriented work, so i’m gonna guitar it up, i think.  wish me luck!

seen:  chihuahuan raven, american kestral (aka sparrow hawk), a “yuletide yucca” strung up with lights

learned about:  pancho villa, delores mountain, buffalo soldiers, comanches

in honor of the day and my lapsed ‘grateful five’ tradition:

1. paul’s hilariousness. i didn’t think he was awake yet this morning, then looked over at the bed and above the blankets was an iphone with this vid looping.

2. the super warm superhero trouser combo i’ve been wearing for the past week, since the weather’s been so weird.

3. our austin friends. i’ve never made (or really eaten) stuffing but today all that is changing. very glad to have been invited to jason and vanessa’s for thanksgiving, and very glad that it’s all i’d like to do for thanksgiving.

4. birds. love me some travis audubon! reading this essay on sobriety and corncrakes was a nice way to start the day.

5. our studio. it’s still a rough little room but we’ve all been using it: i’ve been playing paul’s tele almost every day. danny & carrie are demo-ing songs for their new duo recordings. paul is comping vanessa’s new project and tinkering with reason.

colours got quoted in a piece of writing about birds!  also on the feathered front, i’m happy that a little robin told me about the birds and words blog…

nov 1 – good morning!  i can’t believe how much it’s raining here in texas.  i miss being on tour, being with the band, playing hackey sack, eating nasty sandwiches … but it sure is nice to be back in austin too.  i can hear our albertish friend john wort hannam playing a song through the wall from danny & carrie’s place.  paul is getting ready to produce a record for jason & vanessa.  i’ve been re-living the tour glory by jammin some thom gill chords.  emmett turned two!

speaking of thom, and of small cute people, here he is (above) with me, our friend ruby, and ruby’s dad simon.  ruby and her family have been coming to our shows for quite a while.  below is an amazing picture of her on her dad’s shoulders, watching us at summer sundae in 2009.  about a year after that picture was taken, ruby suffered a massive heart failure in school, resulting in a life-changing brain injury. in the three years since, her and her family have been working, with the support of thousands of people all over the world, to relearn life skills and to heal.  i feel very fortunate to have connected with this courageous family and urge you to do the same.  ruby’s story is here and there are recent updates and photos here.

do you guys do this too? i’m not a consistent reader but when i’m in a changing environment, like on tour, i try to make sure i’m  in the middle of a solid book. on this trip, i finished peter carey’s oscar & lucinda and luckily had some mark helprin stories — the pacific — to dash right into.

at the end of the tour, walking around the brighton lanes before soundcheck, i bought two books for a 95 pence each: the cloudspotter’s guide (exciting and funny) and colour by victoria finlay. i don’t think the writing of the second will quite hold up to those other two giants (don’t get me wrong: i couldn’t do better!), but i’m still looking forward to it.

here’s some good words from the pacific that i wrote down in my little green book:

abeyance – temporary inactivity, cessation, or suspension

jonquil – any of various other small daffodil-like plants

daven – to pray

and two excerpts (though removing the first from it’s story feels — forgive the cheese — a bit like taking a wet rock from a river):

ROGER HAD long since tired of the suite in which he lived in deadening luxury on the Upper East Side. It was now empty, as it was empty before his arrival, a rosewood and alabaster tomb without even a body, a columbarium without ashes. In that neighborhood it was fairly easy to get a Fabergé egg but almost impossible to get a kosher chicken. True, the dwellings were well kept and well appointed, they often were as high as birds’ nests, and you could look out and see a half-million windows and not a foot of fire-escape iron, but the difference between this place and where he lived in Brooklyn was like the difference between a wool suit on a hanger, and a lamb. There were those who would instinctively choose the suit, and those who would instinctively choose the lamb. It was not for Roger to criticize anyone who would take the suit, but he himself would gather the lamb into his arms.

THE ATOMS in a ripe tomato are busy shivering in such a way that when white light falls on them they absorb most of the blue and yellow light and they reject the red.

in ireland, the band was amazing on all fronts: such fantastic playing and so patient with every long drive and short night’s sleep.  our best game of hackey sack was in the parking lot of a petrol station south of belfast, with the mix cd from nottingham phil blaring from the van speakers.  today, hanging at nic’s, our last day off, then closing up the tour with shows in brighton and leamington.  details are here. photos are by paul.

waiting for the ferry on the way to ireland

early o’clock, waiting for the ferry on the way home

backstage in belfast

chris reading a very suspicious book, waiting for the van to be fixed at the rivington north services