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Normal History Vol. 310: The Art Of David Lester

Every Saturday, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 30-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.

Of all the songs on the new Mecca Normal album I’d say “Between Livermore And Tracy” bears KRAMER’s mark of sonic ingenuity most in its soaring conclusion.

You may recall me writing about my father’s health in late 2012 after he had a series of heart attacks and strokes. “Between Livermore And Tracy” is about leaving for Miami to record the new album while he was still in the hospital with acute delirium.

Not wanting to be a downer, I wasn’t going to tell KRAMER about my father, but a pal of his had already seen my posts on Facebook (where ideas for this column sometimes arrive) so he’d been briefed on my possible state of mind. I was afraid telling KRAMER about my father might make recording too emotional (it’s hard to sing when you’re crying), but, as it turned out, it was all OK. Funny how interacting with other humans can sometimes be such a good idea and at other times, not helpful at all. It’s often difficult to tell which is going to be the better course of action. To stifle or spill.

“Between Livermore And Tracy” is really the first thing we did when we got into the studio. I didn’t set out to explain the situation. It was spontaneously created from my writing at that time. I’d never heard the music David started playing. I added piano as he played guitar, and then I sang, opening up what had been deeply felt. KRAMER added his part at his studio in Fort Lauderdale after we’d flown home, whisking what David and I had created together in a way that has come to symbolize the entirety of the recording project and how writing was very helpful to me while my father was literally not himself. And when I say writing, I mean the readers for whom I write—including myself.

“Cherry Flowers” from Dovetail (K, 1992) (download):