New Rules

I've had a general rule of not posting drawings from the live shows, mostly because I believe Show Drawings are like theatre--things that happen in the moment and are unique experiences for the folks present at the event.

But rules are made to be bent and broken.

On Wednesday night, I sat in with Michael Leonhart and the Avramina 7 and drew on the big screen while they played their mix of heavy funk psychedelia. The day before, Michael had finished the final mixes on his new album, The Seahorse and the Storyteller, so he was ready to show off.

After Soundcheck, Michael and I sat down and talked about some of the narrative and notions behind the music. The concepts are dense and the musical images vivid, so I spent a couple of hours letting them bubble beneath the surface while I wandered the city doing Christmas errands and other things. When I got to the Pub, I had absolutely no plan for the drawing, other than to try and draw the musicians and maybe capture some of the images swirling around the music.

But plans are made to be bent, broken and laughed at by the gods.

What emerged instead was the drawing above and I don't have much to say about it because it seemed pretty magic to me. It looks like we'll try to do this again a few more times, these concept concerts of funk and ink. We'll set up and play and let the music and the story take us where it will. As plans go, it seems pretty solid.

The next show is at Joe's Pub on January 9th.

By the way, the current issue of Covers magazine has a feature on Michael and his music and another on me and my drawings. Check them out; the P-funk revolution has begun!