Currently: David Berman, eternal

Silver Jews, Friendship, and Cassandra Jenkins

I saw a Cassandra Jenkins show this weekend that really felt educational—sometimes I go to shows and have a nice time, and sometimes I really learn something. I felt like I was hanging on to every word, and it was cool to feel inspired so much by music, which has been feeling rather tough for me of late. In turn, Cassandra Jenkins is unabashedly inspired by David Berman. She actually mentions him a lot in her work, and I like the idea that he could show up not just in influence but also in a physical sense in the songs. I started listening to a lot of David Berman after that show.

I saw Dan Wriggins open for Wednesday a while back. I liked Friendship but hadn’t given the music that much of an ear until I saw him live, without a band, just him and a guitar and the really beautiful words he rights. Like David, Dan is a poet—I think this duality really comes across in the tone of the writing. He has a line in this song about the moon looking silvery, which reminds me a lot of the David Berman line about the rain turning the ditches to mirrors in “Pet Politics.” You can buy Dan’s poetry anthology here.

Cassandra played this song during her show and said that she hadn’t been doing it much live. “New Bikini” was perhaps my introduction to her, and I have always really loved it, loved the recurring theme around the ocean curing everything, because I have long held the belief that the ocean is good for the mind and spirit. An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (2021) is one of the best albums of the decade so far, in my opinion.

Friend-of-the-newsletter Josh Terry posted about this band last week and I cried listening to the album the first time.

My sweet friend Olivia Kaplan opened for Cassandra Jenkins and I could not have made a better bill myself. I’m emotionally attached to her last record, but this new one is special in its own way, with a more country feel.

They could never make me hate you Greg Mendez! I’m so stoked about these west coast tour dates.

I just saw Charlotte Cornfield for the first time, despite being a big fan of hers since 2021. I think her writing is simultaneously unserious and so deeply profound in a similar way to David Berman’s. During her show, she sang a few lines that made the crowd giggle, but they were always followed up by something devastating. I like that, I guess.

Currently trending in my brain: using chatgpt (it’s very good at writing code), dogsitting, going for walks in the park, when the light starts to look like fall, cardigans, pourover coffee, making friends (I’m trying to be more outgoing), keeping a project notebook, knitting, making plans to meet up and knit, geospatial data, having too many jobs, what’s-in-my-bag spreads, belts, repurposed Altoid tins.