http://annacoogan.com/blog.html Anna Coogan: Blog Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:55:17 -0700 http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/uk_tour_bucket_list
1) Closest I've come to the "other side": pulling out of Edinburgh Airport after 18 hours of flying and having to Navigate to Edinburgh City Center while shifting with my left hand and trying to read a map, all the while trying to stay on the left side of the road.

2)Happiest I've ever been to see anybody: Ian Parks at the Belladrum Festival in Inverness, Scotland. We were both a long way from home!

3)Coolest self-made venue: The Wombwell Wheelhouse in Wombwell, England. The guy has got a bar built in!

4)Most Roundabouts per square mile: between Wombwell and Sheffield. I counted 11 roundabouts on what was otherwise a perfectly straight road. Look kids: it's Big Ben! And Parliment!

5) Most well funded radio system in the world: The BBC. All I can say is "wow".

6) Most helpful device ever invented: The "SatNav" that my wonderful host Hedley forced me to buy. She laughs, she cries, and she can get you where you need to go. Except for in a big city, when she sort of lost her way. "Turn left, then turn right. Turn left. turn right...." until I gave up and used a map.

7 ) Worst Choice I've Ever Made: The Cheese, Mayo and Red Onion sandwich at the Shell Station between Perth and Glasgow. Really, Anna. Think before you buy. I had the taste of extra-creamy mayo and red onion in my mouth for weeks.

8) Coolest thing ever: The Falkirk Wheel. I can't even explain how this thing works , so look it up. Basically a big Ferris wheel that carries boats up 50 feet to a higher canal. Like a lock, only cooler.

9) Food I wanted most that I got to eat: An incredibly curry fest on the Isle of Bute.

10) Food I wanted most that I did not get to eat: A High Tea. Next time.

11) I have a lot of thank you notes to write to all the incredible people who were involved in helping me survive and make this tour a success. I am sure there will be many lists to come...]]> http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/uk_tour_bucket_list Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:55:17 -0700 Roots and Urban Americana - Anna Coogan - Blog http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/about_the_nocturnalthe_long_and_short_of_it About “The Nocturnal Among Us”

Making “The Nocturnal”

“The Nocturnal” is a collection of songs that I wrote over the last 3 years. It is my first record as a solo artist (I have put out two records with my former band, north19). It is also the first time I have worked with a producer (JD Foster, who has worked with Calexico, Richard Buckner, Patty Griffin and many others) and recorded in a studio outside of Seattle.

To date, making “The Nocturnal” is the most fun I have ever had playing music—it was hotter than hell, humid, sticky, and we were up in Maine in a big old farmhouse with no internet or cell phone reception. We drank too much and had a lot of coffee and went into town everyday to get huge ice cream cones. Maine has some incredible ice cream. It is the first time I have felt such a synergy: 5 people in a house with nothing to do but make music. We tracked 14 songs in 6 days. Later, we had the honor of being joined on 3 songs by Austin Nevins, the guitar player for Josh Ritter and many other artists.

We finished the tracking in mid-August, and the next week I got married to my long time love, so it was a pretty magical time all around. In October of 2009 we met up with JD again in Portland, OR, and spent a very intense week mixing. During that week, the trees turned gold and fall rushed in. We got the final product in our hands at Christmas, and released it in the US in March 2010.

About the themes of the record

“The Nocturnal Among Us”, while a complete joy to make, is a somewhat somber album. A lot of it is written about a complex and tragic event that I was involved with in my childhood, which I have spent years trying to understand. I’ve never been able to properly articulate what happened, but I think it is time.

I was heavily involved in a sports team (whitewater kayaking) growing up. The coach was somewhat of tyrant and ruled our lives with an iron fist, but I still loved him and respected him and felt very much shaped by his influence. I first learned to swear on the kayak team, an unfortunate trait that I have yet to shake. I also developed a love for long drives in hot vans and an incurable thing for the ever-present Outdoorsy Bad Boy. (Whom luckily, I did not marry.)

To make an extremely long story short, it came out years later that this coach had been systematically grooming and then molesting the young boys and men on the team. These were my friends, my teammates. I had been through everything with them. They came out with it one by one. One of them lost his life. The pain of what he had gone through was too much. I dedicated the album to his memory and to the rest of the now-grown kids who are still struggling to understand what happened.

The song “So Long, Summertime” is my tribute to these boys, and to my own sullied memories of the experience. It is my attempt to move on and forgive, although probably I will never forget. When I sing “when I call you, I swear I’ll be home, when I call you I’ll pick up the phone this time.” I mean it. I wish to god I had known what was happening and could have helped before it was too late for my friend.

So that is the overarching theme that makes this record feel sad. Not all the songs are about this incident, in fact a lot of them are about love, broken cars, happy ghosts, birds, and things that have nothing to do with sad things like molestation.

About the title

“The Nocturnal Among Us” is the title of a poem that was written by my cousin, Caitlin Walsh. Caitlin was an incredible poet and scholar and died in her early twenties. Her passing shook my world to the core and has tinged my music ever since. Her sister, Alison Walsh, is a visual artist living in Brooklyn. She painted the cover art for the record, and the title of the painting was “The Nocturnal Among Us” after Caitlin’s poem. I loved the sound of these words, and feel they fit in well with the records themes. I am very honored to use them as the album title. In a small way, we can keep Caitlin’s artistic visions alive.


About the subjects in the songs (part II)

I try not the censor my writing—although it is hard because I have a VERY loud inner critic who has a lot to say on the subject. I generally just write about whatever comes out. Sometimes, it is love, and more often it is lost love. (I predict I will write the “wedding album” with lots of happy love songs next”¦)

I had a few songs on this record, in particular “Dreaming My Life Away”, about the day to day frustration of being a musician: cars that never seem to work, never having enough money, eating rejection for breakfast, and the general feeling that I am, well, dreaming my life away.

I also write a fair amount about insomnia- something that I have struggled with for the last few years. Songs like “The Nocturnal Among Us” and “Crooked Sea” were at least partially born in that hazy dream state I get into in the dark of night when sleep just won’t come.

On the songs chosen for the record

When we went to Great North Sound Society, we recorded 14 songs, which was pretty much every song I had waiting in the wings of my head. That would have made for a very long record, so Eric (my longtime drummer) and JD (Foster, our producer) helped us narrow it down to 11 songs for the main record. We put 3 more out on “The Nocturnal EP”, which is a little EP I sell at shows. 1 of the songs didn’t quite make the cut, and went back to the drawing board. It may appear on the next record, or it may just go away. Forever.

On the response so far

Releasing one’s own CD is a roller coaster ride. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not so good, and it’s always an adventure. I pretty much dedicated the last two years of my life to making this CD and releasing it properly in the US and now in Europe. It is often hard to know where to turn to, and what the next step is, and I felt like giving up on many, many rainy mornings. I spent a lot of money that I didn’t have. CD’s are hard things to sell in this day and age.

But building a fan base on a grassroots level is an incredibly intimate and powerful experience. I’ve had people drive hundreds of miles to a show just because they liked a song they heard on my website. I played in a women’s detention center in Rochester, Minnesota, and the women cried their eyes out and asked my to play “Crooked Sea” twice. I sold out a show in Chicago even though I’d never stepped foot in that town. And now, I’m working on building a base in Europe, which is incredibly exciting.


Any information that might be worth knowing

For one, I am not nearly as serious as my promo pictures would suggest. Nor am I as sad, although this record did scour through some of the more unfortunate incidents in my past. It’s hard to get a good record picture unless you are staring out into the distance. I’ve heard the same is true about hat modeling.

I also work as a fisheries biologist, and spent many hours on motor boats in all kinds of weather. I have worked in Bristol Bay, Alaska, cutting open dead salmon and avoiding bears. I am now (slowly) leaving that world to dedicate myself full time to music, but part of me will probably always be cruising across some lake somewhere at full throttle.

I started off as an opera singer, and even went so far as to live in Salzburg, Austria and attend the Mozarteum. I had to take a crash course in German and often had no idea what class I was attending. After I left the Mozarteum, I swore off music forever. And then I heard Alison Krauss.

Yes, I blame her for taking me down this lonely road of country-folk, for de-railing my career as a biologist, and for leaving me eternally in need of cash. I don’t remember any particular song, just her voice and the way it talked to me. It was pretty much downhill from there.]]> http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/about_the_nocturnalthe_long_and_short_of_it Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:56:08 -0700 Roots and Urban Americana - Anna Coogan - Blog http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/thoughts_from_the_new_york_thruway 2) New York and PA: they look big, but they are bigger than they look.
3) Toll roads: not always very well maintained.
4) The Northeast: does it ever stop raining here? Or perhaps I carry the rain with me?
5) New York City: SO cool. Really. It lives up to the Hype.
6) Touring solo= not as fun as being in a big van filled with Italians, husbands, drummer, and one small dog. Still generally more appealing than most other jobs.
7) The 2008 Subaru is more reliable than the 1984 VW van.
8) I am going to become an auto mechanic before my next tour.
9) I better get back on the road, gotta get to Rochester.

XOXO

Anna]]> http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/thoughts_from_the_new_york_thruway Sun, 25 Apr 2010 11:35:06 -0700 Roots and Urban Americana - Anna Coogan - Blog http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/tour_blog_part_deux
1) Most biblical event: the rain that fell in Providence and literally swallowed Rhode Island whole. That was us, driving through it, in the van! That was me, sitting pretty in Providence, waiting for an ark!
2) Second most biblical event: the big, big cross outside of Amarillo, TX.
3) Closest call: getting off the road in MA, looking for a McDonalds bathroom (which I never found, go figure), and getting involved with a seriously swollen river. Thank god I made it to the Dunkin Donuts.
4) Best coffee, leg 2 of the trip: Dunkin' Donuts, of course! America run's on it! Anna loves it! It's just really, freakin' good.
5) Most times coffee spilled in the van: 5 (I basically lost count).
6) By who? Me.
7) Favorite new song: everything Katie Todd. Love, love, love her.
8) Favorite new city: Chicago.
9) Coolest new club: Radio Radio (Indianapolis. Thanks, Nightjar! Go Butler! Or, is that over??)
10) Best guitar player ever/fastest learner/most charming person ever: Daniele Fiaschi. You seriously want this guy in your band.
11) Best Husband: Brooks Miner. We are still married. Yes.
12) Biggest herd of family ever: Milwaukee. Nice work, Martin-Miners.
13) Best food, possibly ever: Cheese curd and gravy covered fries in Madison.
14) Most isolated town in the whole wide world: Ithaca, NY. Don't go there if you are in a hurry to be somewhere else.
15) Biggest adventure dog: Juno Bear-Sterns.
16) Still best drummer ever: Eric Hastings.
17) Not very good at blogging yet: me. Blogs are most interesting when shit hit's the fan, but when shit hit's the fan I am too freaked out to blog. Example: Interesting photos from ice storm in TX: there are none, because we were too busy trying to survive.

Don't worry Bob-- I'm still gonna blog about Roseburg! I love Roseburg!! I just have to do it justice...]]> http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/tour_blog_part_deux Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:43:02 -0700 Roots and Urban Americana - Anna Coogan - Blog http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/tour_day_15_the_list__part_1
We limped into Iowa at 3 AM, having finally escaped the treacherous and icy Great Plains, and it's been easier going since then. Milwaukee, our current home city, is cold and windy-- I miss LA. (Even though in LA I couldn't stop complaining about how damn hot it was!)

There is so much to say about this tour I don't even know where to start-- so many great towns and people- so I'll start with the list. I learned this trick from Laura Veirs, who always has great tour blogs. It will probably take me a while to get the hang of this. I guess I will start with the basics.

1)Longest drive between gigs: 1900 miles. (Never, ever again.)
2)Best Breakfast: The Breakfast Club, Lake City, Washington. (Second place is the waffle shaped like Texas)
3)Scariest moment: When the power supply in the van died and the Italian lost his shit in the backseat: "This is a big F***ing problem for us..."
4)Van breakdowns: Throttle cable, Speedometer, Power Steering, battery (only once, in New Mexico). Engine: still truckin'!
5) Most hilarious not-funny moment: When the border patrol stopped us in New Mexico (I just have a tough time with this state!)and said, in response to our band name, "Can't say I've ever heard of you...." (He must have believed us though-we were not searched!)
6)Best Coffee: Cafe Paradiso, Fairfield, Iowa. Creamy, creamy cappuccino!
7) Most meditation per square mile: Fairfield, Iowa.
8) Most drivers that speed up in response to a pedestrian in the roadway: Madison, WI ( I am very surprised at you, Madison drivers! Maybe living in Seattle for 10 years has made me soft. And weak)
9) Most PBR drunk in an evening: Madison, WI. (The end result was buying gravy and cheese curd covered fries.)
10) Scariest hotel: The Economy Lodge in Brownfield, TX. No lightbulbs in the lamps. Smelled of doom. No dogs allowed. Juno smuggled in in pillow case.
11) Best times: All the amazing hosts. Nick,Bob, Ian, Steve, Bonnie, Heather, Lauryn and DJ, Gretchen and Craig, Shelby, I LOVE you guys. You make this all possible.
12) Favorite place to wake up: it's a big toss up, but I'm gonna have to go with the state campground at Pismo Beach. Amazing oceanfront camping, and California style vegi juice.

Be back soon!]]> http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/tour_day_15_the_list__part_1 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:40:44 -0700 Roots and Urban Americana - Anna Coogan - Blog http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/tour_day_1
This is the first real tour I've gone on in over 5 years-- the last one (with my former band, north19) ended in a life-changing bout of insomnia that I still have yet to fully shake. (Hence the titles of the last 2 records of mine: Sleepwalker and The Nocturnal Among Us. Being an insomniac has shaped me more than I would have liked...)Here's hoping that this tour is more restful and less life-altering than my tour-de-southwest 2005.

We had a nice show in Portland- in an old Funeral home (seriously, our gear got stored in the coffin elevator. I shit you not.)The staff told us that while the main part of the venue was not haunted, the upstairs most definitely was, and woah to whoever was the last to close up. This was one of the first shows I can honestly say we had some ghosts in attendance, although they did not pay the cover charge, sadly.

This was the last show with the full five piece band, and now it's a trio for a few weeks before we meet up again with Eric (drummer) in Madison, WI. I still have yet to fathom how far we are driving-- so far, the van is holding up well, and Brooks almost got a speeding ticket!!! That's right, a 1984 vanagon with trailer, speeding. The hee-larity was almost, although not quite, worth the ticket. Luckily, Brooks is charming and I guess the cop thought it was pretty funny.

Off now, once these lazy bones wake up, to Roseburg OR. Let the good times (and good sleep??Please, god??) roll!!]]> http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/tour_day_1 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:33:53 -0800 Roots and Urban Americana - Anna Coogan - Blog http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/i_am_a_bad_blogger_but_take_a_look_at_my_sisters_blog
So, I will take this minute to direct you to a REALLY GOOD BLOG: my sister's "The Wilder Coast." SHE put's her whole life out there for all to see. And it is heeee-larious. And sometimes sad. And always interesting.

http://www.thewildercoast.com]]> http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/i_am_a_bad_blogger_but_take_a_look_at_my_sisters_blog Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:06:08 -0800 Roots and Urban Americana - Anna Coogan - Blog http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/lake_city
We headed out to check out the new hood, and here is what we found: 2 strip clubs, both within walking distance, and a topless coffee bar. ( Are these everywhere, or only in Seattle? ) I feel like everywhere I look there is a little stand with some semi-raunchy name, like "knaughy koffee" and "kowgirls kold drinks", with signs outside that say-- I kid you not--"no video." So if we want boobs, we got that settled. No more lonely nights in front of the TV for these big-city dwellers. We can also get a variety of used cars, car loans, and happy meals.

Some places, you got to look a little closer. When we looked harder, we found: A drug store, a hardware store, 2 breakfast joints, a post office (much needed for musicians), a model train store (I LOVE model trains), a sushi place, "Thai One On", a couple of large and well-stocked grocery stores, at least indie coffee shop, and (forgive me, Seattle, I do like this place) a Starbucks. In the other direction is a community pool (YES!!!) and one of the very best bars in all of the world, The Fiddlers Inn.

So the next year will find me swimming, drinking, eating breakfast, enjoying in the many topless events within walking distance, perhaps taking out a car loan or two, and mailing many CD's out to you wonderful people. Right??

Happy 2010!!! XOXO]]> http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/lake_city Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:36:29 -0800 Roots and Urban Americana - Anna Coogan - Blog http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/anchorage_at_christmas
Anchorage at Christmas time is dark, dark, dark. The sky begins to lighten at 9:30, but the sun doesn't make much of an appearance until 10 AM, and even then it never travels very far from the horizon. I spent this morning (it is the day after Christmas) walking the ski trails that run through the city center with two spirited corgis, taking in the city. The dogs and I had the run of downtown, since no one else was around. (Later, I found that everyone was in the mid-town mini mall, returning things to REI. They have an epic return policy. It's almost worth finding something to return to them, just to see how epic it really is.)

Anchorage downtown is a strange mix of tee-shirt shops (I have never seen so many tee-shirt shops in a 5 block radius), bars, shiny Oil-company "sky scrapers" (none more than 15 stories high) and squat municipal buildings. Still, it has it's own beauty-- a partially frozen harbor, 2 feet of still-white snow everywhere, and the Chugach mountains rising high over everything. This is my new-husbands hometown, and I am learning how to love it.

We had a lovely Christmas-- the first few days I've gone in most of a year without working on something music related-- no playing, no booking, no hours of email. Now that Christmas is over, 2010 seems impossibly close-- only a few more days-- and I have a enormous amount of work to do before the start of the March tour. Luckily, we are headed up to the mountains, so that I can ignore reality for a few more days. Then, it's back to work. I swear.

This is a new feature of this website-- the blog-- and I am testing it out here. It might be fun to blog in 2010-- not that the world needs any more travel/tour blogs-- but I'll give it a shot. It's getting dark here, at 2:44, and I'm going to get one more walk in before I start drinking.]]> http://annacoogan.com/blog.html/anchorage_at_christmas Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:44:50 -0800 Roots and Urban Americana - Anna Coogan - Blog