silver & gold

slowly and steadily we see the year wind down as the clocks roll back and the holidays approach. does anyone else feel like this was the year that wasn’t? it feels to me like we just finished 2020 and now we’re coming into 2022. how did we suddenly get here? that’s how it feels to me. even the weather seems confused- warm in the northeast and foggy in la. we’re having a second harvest at the farm, and the folks in la can’t remember ever seeing fog hang around for so long. i can’t even seem to write the year “2021” on anything without having to think about it- it seems like i’m making a mistake. i’m trying to get my bearings but they escape me- i’ve resigned myself to a sense of suspended animation until the new year, with the van gogh brothers’ latest album , “21 grams,” wrapping up as my only anchor.

the van gogh brothers’ latest album is wrapping up… this is a big statement for me to make. we started this album in april of this year, so in seven months we will have completed the recording, which might be record time for us. only a couple of tracks were written before we started recording, and the theme and sound and feel of the album is incredibly cohesive and organic, without a single electric guitar. followers might wonder how this might sound, where paul’s electric has been so central for so long. incredibly, it sounds heavier than anything we’ve done— i think it’s the lack of “rock” that gives the album its gravitas. in any case, it absolutely feels like our finest hour to me, with our best writing to date.

november came in with its silver and donna and i spent the first part of the month in the gold of california, pictured above, shot from the malibu guest house where i’ve spent so much time for so many years now. i was finally able to share my home away from home and we both had a chance to catch our breath while taking in the byways of topanga, los feliz, and malibu’s coastline and canyons, before returning to the silence of late autumn in new england, the wrapping of projects and presents and the coming of the new year.

the final songs are in for the new record, with the last being “silver & gold,” a track i’d written in march that became the impetus for the album, and a song i kept forgetting about as we recorded the rest. it seems fitting that the first shall be the last, and the “silver” month of november be contrasted with the “gold” of our time in california. silver and gold. time and timelessness. beginnings and endings. the circle of the song and the song cycle of the album as a cohesive work— these are all gifts i cherish in this good and lucky life.

we look forward to seeing our east coast friends at vincent’s for our final show of 2021 on saturday, december 11th, as we celebrate paul’s birthday, with the theme this year being america’s highways. happy autumn to all. i wish you all a safe and warm holiday season.

love,

jc