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Message from Gary Lucas 8/3/97
Sorry about the long absence from the list but I've been busy writing a
whole batch of great new songs, touring, composing for ABC News "Turning
Point" and promoting the release of my new acoustic album "Evangeline." If
you haven't heard it yet, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, amused,
titilated and so forth. I'm singing more on it, for one, and I did it
mainly with no overdubs straight to tape, so it shows my guitar playing off
to best advantage without any visible strings attached of studio
gimcrackery. I feel it's my best work to date, and in fact, it was the lead
'Pop' review in "Billboard" 3 weeks ago (with a star!) and is being played
on over 300 radio stations in the U.S. as I write. I hope to get out there
in the great American heartland this fall to bring it directly to ya. Kudos
to my new label Paradigm Records for having the good taste to release
"Evangeline" over here—just the beginning of a great new relationship.
Meanwhile, I'm off next week to Sicily for my 3rd tour, this time centering around 2 nights with Gods and Monsters (the great Jonathan Kane on drums
and Fabio Lannino on bass) at a 10,000 seat open ampitheatre in beautiful
Palermo. Can't wait to eat that pasta melanzone again, also arancini,
gelato, granita and other Italian delicacies. Then it's off to Paris to
work with the fabulous Fench singer Elli Medeiros (ex-Stinky Toys, the
original French punk band) and then back to the States at the end of
August.
What a strange busy year it's been for me. Extensive European
touring, particularly in the East. I love playing in the Czech Republic,
and this year spent almost a month there, doing shows in crystal
chandeliered concert halls and in country and western roadhouses in Bohemia
(my grandfather's ancestral home). Playing on national Czech tv 6 times
before millions of sleepy morning viewers on the Czech equivalent of of the
Today show. Prague is one of my favorite places to play, truly one of the
most elegant cities in the world. I love East Germany as well, Berlin on
into the smaller rural cities like Dresden, Leipzig, Halle and so forth. A
wonderful change from the jaded attitudes of the West. Audiences there who
came to see my solo show without any preconceptions or even notions of what
they would hear (classical? jazz? folk rock? blues? all of the above) but
intrigued by my posters to venture out—then staying for 2 hours and
loving it (I'd do 3 hour shows without a break in Prague—the Roxy, a
refurbished old Yiddish theater, one of the best venues I've worked—giving and giving all night to some of the warmest people who would spur me
on to keep playing—I could have gone all night there). Big crowds too.
My faithful driver/friend/minder Eric Don at the wheel of his Mercedes Benz
van as we barrelled off into the night for yet another gig, yet another
city, in Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Czech
Republic—I even made it to Krakow Poland this year, what a truly
transcendental journey back to my roots (German-Jewish, Czech and Polish).
Now it's time to zap the American synapses. And I'm feeling heavy sadness
with the news of he tragic drowning of my friend and collaborator Jeff
Buckley. Truly a titan among musicians and one of the nicest people to walk
this planet. I sat in with him after a long hiatus at the Knitting Factory
here in NYC last February and we did "Grace" again—it brought shivers to
me and I looked forward to working with him again in the future. What a
tragic loss for everyone! His death has firmed my resolve to keep going
forward to spread a positive message and spirit to open hearts everywhere.
Rise Up To Be!
Your friend,
Gary