In April of 2020 COVID-19 claimed the lives of two of my favorite songwriters: John Prine and Adam Schlesinger. In the chaotic months that followed, a sense of doom and futility descended like a fog. The murder of George Floyd, the fear and anger and distrust and stupidity dividing the country...occasionally it felt overwhelming - even to a person of privilege like me.  

On Christmas Day I was walking my ferocious dog Jimmy while Exene Cervenka and John Doe were caterwauling in my earbuds “the world’s a mess, it’s in my kiss!“ By the second chorus of that apocalyptic punk masterpiece I had an epiphany: If this life is a race, it’s less a solo marathon than a team relay. Everyone we love, everyone we want to emulate or remember has passed us a baton. We owe it to them - and to the runners in line behind us - to keep that baton moving as best we can.   

We all have our own soundtrack for that relay. Mine is the loud guitar-bass-drum assault that Kevin Salem and I created (well . . . Kevin did everything; I just told him to make it rock), and the lyrics are basically a love letter to John, to Adam, and to every other departed hero who has inspired me to keep doing what I love in the face of doubt and ambivalence. 

The video took a while to make because I'm both a novice and a perfectionist - that's a time-sucking combination!  But it was very cathartic. Mourning loudly is the best way. 

With Gratitude -  

Eric