Saturday at 6 p.m. was supposed to be The Rapture. I didn’t go; it doesn’t appear that anyone else I know went, either, but I haven’t checked with everybody. I’ll pass on a comment, though: “People disappear every day. And 144,000 people” (that’s the number in the Book of Revelation) “isn’t very many, compared to the earth’s population. How do you know it didn’t happen?” The qualifications for being one of the 144,000 are a little vague, after all.

There was a bright side. One of my songs, “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?”, hit #6 in Traditional Country on the Soundclick charts—apparently it got played a lot. Over 100 new people watched the music video. The Fintons’ cover of the song (they’re in Colorado) got attention, too. And Scott Garriott at KSKQ-FM in Ashland played the song as part of a 3-hour set of Rapture songs. So I’m topical—seven years later. I may not have been Taken, but I got Played.

Draft setlist for the Thirsty Lion performance June 14:

Pole Dancing with Jesus—slow two-step

Selling Off My Body Parts—fast bluegrass

Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues—slow & sleazy quasi-blues

When I Jump Off the Cliff I’ll Think of You—fast bluegrass

Crosses by the Roadside—slow two-step

Naked Space Hamsters in Love—fast bluegrass

Three slow, three fast; we start with something slow, sleazy (because it’s a tavern) and attention-getting (with luck, they’re all attention-getting, however). All work well without lead breaks (though three of them are kinda short). No dead animals—I’ll have to apologize for that—but there are some live (and oversexed) ones, and some dead people. One serious song, but it gives me the excuse to promote the CD, and maybe sell a few copies. And we finish with something raucous, memorable, and also sleazy.

The Songwriters’ Showcase still offers prizes, but I’m not expecting any—I’ve never won anything there yet. I just enjoy performing at the Thirsty Lion—it’s a nice performance space, Eric John Kaiser is a good host, and there’s a generally appreciative (and sometimes large) crowd. It’d be nice to sell enough CDs to pay for the gas—in fact, it’d be nice if some of the people I know in Portland came—but I’m not expecting miracles there, either.

The Coventry Songwriters, the British writers’ group I’ve been working with, have a CD out—and it includes “In the Shadows, I’ll Be Watching You.” The album is selling for 5 British pounds (which I think is around $10 US), and you can get it from http://www.coventrysongwriters.org. No money in it for me (there might be some for the group); it’s just nice to be able to say there are records selling overseas with my material on them. And breaking into a market overseas is potentially easier than doing it in the U.S., because the music industry overseas isn’t as tightly controlled. Both Jimi Hendrix and Billie Holliday (no, I am not in their league) were hits in Europe long before their existence was even recognized in the United States.

One more Retail Outlet has the CD in stock—the Rainbow Lotus in downtown Nehalem. (I need to get them a poster.) Recording with 45 Degrees North (the name is official) Thursday afternoon, music Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and maybe even Thursday night—on top of everything else. It’s going to be a busy week.

Joe