Tim Easton has been singing and writing songs since he was 14 years old. He never considered another career. After finishing college, Easton hit the road with his guitar and spent seven years singing and playing on European street corners. When he got back to Ohio, Easton joined the Haynes Boys, a roots-rock outfit that made one album before breaking up. Free again, Easton picked up his guitar and returned to the road, touching down long enough to make nine albums that earned him a loyal following with their blend of gritty roots-rock and heartfelt songwriting. Every LP took a slightly different approach and his latest, Not Cool, shows off his love of rockabilly and early R&B. Easton will be quest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on him.
Easton: For any of the videos I made in Joshua Tree (“7th Wheel” and “Hwy 62 Love Song,” both links should be easy to find), there should have been a sign flashing on the screen that said “HE ACTUALLY LIVES HERE,” because for five years I did call the Hi-Mojave Desert my home. It’s a land of beauty and desolation, full of beautiful and wild strangers, weekend warriors, visual artists and the fringe of American escapist culture. There are also a lot of military families due to the proximity of the 29 Palms Marine Base, where they test explosions for war, which was probably the main thing, in addition to the birth of our daughter, which pushed my family to search for another place to live. The thought of explaining bombs to a child makes me sick to my stomach.
So many film scraps are made in the Hi-Desert that it’s certainly cliche to have a Joshua Tree in your film anymore. I want to see a realistic story filmed out there that doesn’t have a Joshua Tree in the shot. Just like I want to see a gritty, realistic drama about Alaska that doesn’t involve a bear or a mountain. I will work on this. In the meantime, visiting Joshua Tree should be on any traveler’s dream list, because you will have a fascinating time meeting the people there and walking with them on the surface of what often looks and feels like the moon. And then the real moon will come up over the rocks, and you will be blessed.
Video after the jump.
