Cold AM night drive down 81 with no heat and fading radio stations, Fog the whole way, and the only thing to do was just lock into auto pilot, watch the short white lines pulsate and allow the mind to wander. Rolled into Roanoke around 3:30 and followed the directions to the "studio" where my friends are now living. Roanoke, Virginia aka "Star City", the old railway town of photographer Winston O Link, it's recently revived downtown now closed up and left sulking under florescent lamps. "Look for the smoke stack" they said... The same that I soon find out will lead to the small wood burning stove that heats up our coffee and tea and cooks us breakfast in the mornings.
I pull into the old building and meet up with New Orleans newest deserters and their two pet wolves. The "studio" is just one huge open space that they repainted a dark purple and sectioned off with fabrics and lit with hurricain candles and christmas lights. This place felt just like their places in Nola, only without the inner walls, and windows. Hung out for a while then went to sleep. Usually there has always been a door separating me from the wolves but in this space I felt a little nervous sleeping in this starless wilderness knowing they were free to roam. While sleeping I awoke to growling in the darkness and rolled over hoping I wouldn’t hear any sniffing around the back of my neck later in the night. Don’t get me wrong they are nice animals, but they can be a bit intimidating when your sleeping on the floor in a completely dark place knowing there are some very inquisitive and potentialy dangerous wolf dogs lurking around.
Awoke around sunset and headed into town for a coffee and a drive up Mill Mountain to take in the sprawling city lights under the huge red neon star sign. Have to say we really didn’t have a lot to do in the town itself so we just went back to the space and spent most of the time just talking, playing show and tell, and recording some new musical ideas.... Anyway it was nice to see good friends and get out of Alexandria for a change.
New Orleans in a couple days for some Mardis Gras...
I pull into the old building and meet up with New Orleans newest deserters and their two pet wolves. The "studio" is just one huge open space that they repainted a dark purple and sectioned off with fabrics and lit with hurricain candles and christmas lights. This place felt just like their places in Nola, only without the inner walls, and windows. Hung out for a while then went to sleep. Usually there has always been a door separating me from the wolves but in this space I felt a little nervous sleeping in this starless wilderness knowing they were free to roam. While sleeping I awoke to growling in the darkness and rolled over hoping I wouldn’t hear any sniffing around the back of my neck later in the night. Don’t get me wrong they are nice animals, but they can be a bit intimidating when your sleeping on the floor in a completely dark place knowing there are some very inquisitive and potentialy dangerous wolf dogs lurking around.
Awoke around sunset and headed into town for a coffee and a drive up Mill Mountain to take in the sprawling city lights under the huge red neon star sign. Have to say we really didn’t have a lot to do in the town itself so we just went back to the space and spent most of the time just talking, playing show and tell, and recording some new musical ideas.... Anyway it was nice to see good friends and get out of Alexandria for a change.
New Orleans in a couple days for some Mardis Gras...
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i said, yeah maybe but it's a dream worth living.