First off is a show on Wednesday night (2/1) at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Hollins is the alma mater of the inimitable Annie Dillard, perhaps best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning book Pilgrim At Tinker Creek. I also love Holy the Firm, The Living, or Teaching a Stone to Talk, but really you can’t go wrong with anything Dillard.

Then on Thursday night (2/2) I’ll be gracing the stage at Montreat College in Black Mountain, North Carolina. “Gracing the stage” is not a phrase I’ve ever used before, and I don’t think I’ll use it again. It’s just a liiiittle too much.

Black Mountain is just a stone’s throw from Asheville (assuming that you can, like me, throw a stone a couple miles), which is the hometown of the under-appreciated Thomas Wolfe.

Wolfe was still a young man when he died in 1938, but in his 37 years of life he learned to write with more clarity and depth than any other novelist I have ever read. As an act of kindness toward yourself, read You Can’t Go Home Again.

So there you have it—two shows in the cities of two of my favorite authors.

And you heard me right. I’m only taking one pair or pants on this expedition.

I walk on the wild side.

The empire of Zach Vinson (*sarcasm noted) will live to see another day. Talk to you in twenty-twelve!

Take a look, take a listen.

We Own This Town

There was a moth on our ceiling, and our friend Mallory killed it with her long arms.

As its last act, the moth turned to dust, as all moths seem magically to do, and some of that dust is still there—three spots of it gazing down at us while we recline on our couch.

We wish so badly to be noticed. We comb our hair, we tidy our house, we wear our footy pajamas to lunch, we get a new tattoo, we tweet and re-tweet, we set objects on fire, we camp out in vague protest of government policy, we do good, we rebel, and with our final and only breath we brush the dust of our wings on someone’s ceiling, anyone’s ceiling, in one last doomed effort to be noticed.

How’s that working out?

We hear that it is more blessed to give than to receive. (I’ve somehow always assumed that this applied only to Christmas presents—probably because that’s when I was reminded of it each year)

What if it is more blessed to notice than to be noticed?

I want to be a notice-er.

Or would it be noticer?

Someone who notices. That works.

Today I noticed the legacy of that moth. I noticed the strangely elongated shadow of our blinds on the ceiling as the morning light stretched its way across the room. And I noticed pain—the gut-punching pain of someone watching their son die slowly right in front of them.

It can be a dangerous thing to notice. We might see things we would rather not be aware of.

And I’m mostly too self-absorbed to notice much beyond myself.

But every once in a while, some good is worked within me and I notice something.

I’m grateful.

I’ve always believed (or at least told people) that it will take a long time and an incredible amount of work for me to amount to anything as a musician. I’ve heard myself say dozens of times “I didn’t move to Nashville to catch a big break; I moved to Nashville to work hard for a long time and see where I end up.”

And for the most part, I’m a hard worker. I find satisfaction in a job well done.

See how satisfied I am with these scrambled eggs?

But I’ve recently realized that no one cares how hard I work.

And I really don’t mean to say that in a self-pitying way, but just as a bit of reality that has begun to sink in lately.

Strangely enough, I’ve found solace in the words of a baker and a mountain biker.

They talked about the need to love what you do, because there are just not enough tangible results to make these pursuits worth the time that we put into them.

They talked about mental toughness and how we can either get distracted by comparing our circumstances to those who have things easier or we can just put our head down and keep moving.

So I have to come to a complete stop and ask myself, why do I do this?

In 2010, I lost $3513 playing music. I must not be in it for the money, or if I am, I’m an idiot.

But every once in a while you hear a song, and it breaks your heart in half.

Just like that.

I love that.

And I think that’s enough for me.

So I put my head down, and I keep moving. Whether anyone cares or not, whether anyone notices or not.

I put my head down.

And keep moving.

We here in the Vinson Household decided to make November a month of not spending any money other than the bare necessities (rent/utilities/student loans/gas/food).

There are a few thoughts behind this. The hope is that we can save up a few extra dollars and discover just how much money we “need” to get by. And maybe somewhere along the way we’ll get a few friendly reminders that our gladness does not depend on spending money to get things.

We sure do love our things.

The world of music just keeps on humming along. Always more to do than can be done as well as I’d like, it seems. The release show at The 5 Spot a couple weeks back was wonderful. One of the most fun evenings I’ve had in some time.

If you were there, I’m thankful for you spending your free time with us. If you weren’t there, well, I’m thankful for you too—in a different sort of way.

I did put up a video from our set that evening. Just click on the media page at the top of the screen and you’ll see it. I parted my hair real special-like for the show.

Well, it’s time to open a book for a few minutes before I pass out for the night. I will speak with you soon.

East Nashville’s The Silly Goose (SillyGooseNashville.com) will be providing free desserts for everyone who comes to The 5 Spot for the album release show on October 20th!

I love The Silly Goose. Although, in the interest of full disclosure, I do work there. But I was thinking the other day that even if I didn’t work there I think The Silly Goose would still be my favorite restaurant in Nashville.

So if you’re anything like me (you have an insatiable appetite for dessert, you enjoy supporting local businesses, and you get glad on the inside when you listen to good live music) then I will see you on 10/20.

Zach

The details are beginning to come into focus, and I’m excited to announce two bands that will be sharing the evening with me!

Jasmin Kaset (JasminKaset.com) is one of the first people I met when I moved to Nashville, and is still at the top of the list of the nicest people I know here. Not too many people can get away with a live band that includes two keyboards, a cello, and an omnichord, but Jasmin pulls it off like it’s no big deal. (Also, just to clarify, this is not the same Jasmin who starred in the 1992 Disney animated film Aladdin.)

By Lightning! (ByLightning.com) is a wild-eyed 7-piece rock band that’s usually floating around East Nashville somewhere. I caught a stripped-down set of their frontman and frontwoman (Joel Dahl and Kat Brock) a few months back, and got knocked plum off my feet. Add 5 more humans-worth of energy to that, and I’m really excited to have By Lightning! joining us on October 20.