Marley and Us

Monday, May 18, 2009

Here I go again, on my own, walking down the only road I’ve ever known. Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone. And I've made up my mind. I ain't wasting no more time.
- Whitesnake


It’s not easy to know where to begin describing the recent lives of Now You See Them. On Thursday, we gained a new friend and a new perspective on our lives when we were visited by a girl named Marley. She came to us from UNC Chapel Hill on recommendation from our friend John Elliston at the Mountain Xpress. She was looking for a street band to do a story on, and she found us! From that moment on, Marley was one of us. She went to our show, she took our pictures with our friends, she interviewed us each separately in our bedroom, she basically took note of everything we did (or didn’t do), and caught most of it on camera. This was weird. As someone who does not enjoy having her picture taken, ever, really, it was difficult to get used to a camera around every corner…especially at times when I felt less than camera-ready. The interviews were pretty funny too, as I had never really thought of the questions she asked or how I might answer them if someone wanted to know. I found myself thinking, “What if she was a hard-hitting journalist just looking for some dirt?” and “What if I just unknowingly sabotaged myself and my band?” Then I re-realized that she is a genuinely cool girl, just looking to do a story on the awesomeness of Asheville and the people who inhabit it. The thought of being involved in something so scandalous was exciting for a moment …if only in my mind. Like I said, she gave us a new perspective on our lives, and I think we were able to provide her with a pretty solid dose of how our band exists in this somewhat-storybook life of ours.

Friday night, we played an outdoor concert at a really well decorated house in West Asheville for a wonderful group of people who didn’t let the rain stop them from dancing to our tunes. Ben Gradison opened up for us with some bluesy harmonica moments (http://www.myspace.com/theoreticalbluesharpboy), a 7-year-old girl got on stage and sang “somewhere over the rainbow”, and we had a taste of some of the best banana pudding pound cake ever! Our favorite local artist Julie Armbruster was there (juliearmbruster.net). She designed our logo, and she’s always really positive about our music and our future. It’s a treat to see Julie at our shows. Ryan, it was an honor and a pleasure, and we hope to play the stone porch series again someday soon!

Saturday was rainy and depressing during the day, so Marley got a lot of shots of us on our computers and drinking coffee. However, Saturday night was a different story all together! It was our friend Zach’s birthday! I feel like a lot of really awesome people were born in May…. Anyway, we went to Hookah Joes, where RBTS Win was playing (http://www.myspace.com/robotswin). Upon entering, I immediately felt like the plainest, lamest Jane ever to enter that smoky room. Everywhere I looked, there were exotic hipster looking boys and girls; tattooed from head to toe and sporting eyeliner like it was their career. The girls were beautiful, and the boys were mysterious, and with RBTS Win and hookah smoke swirling in the background, the scene was rich with pulp and film-noir vibes. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, someone announced that there would be a “fire performance” outside in the parking lot. There sure was! A beautiful man and woman, both with blonde dreadlocks, twirled fire batons and swallowed flames with style right in front of our eyes. Their performance was stunning, beautiful, and an “only-in-Asheville” moment.

Sunday was sleepy and full of more rain (blah), so again, we got a lot of pictures taken in the tree shack while sipping coffee and checking our email…a lot. Finally, we got restless enough to get motivated enough to get up and go! We realized that our good friends, Taylor Martin and friends were playing at the Charlotte Street Pub, and that it would be great for Marley to see more of the musical diversity of Asheville (http://www.myspace.com/taylormartinsmusic). We got there late (of course), but still with enough time to hear a few songs like “Engine” the title track from Taylor’s new cd, and three or four others. Woody Wood was sitting in with them this week, so that made it even more special (http://www.myspace.com/woodywood33). If you’ve never been to the Charlotte Street Pub on a Sunday afternoon, you should make it a priority in the future. It’s like a sweet little secret, where great musicians get together to play, and other great musicians get together to listen. Marley was really impressed, and we were really proud.

Now it’s Monday, and we still have Marley. We’re thinking about keeping her! Shane promised to feed her, and Jason said he’d make sure she’d get her baths, so it seems like a pretty good deal! Having someone around to observe our lives and ask us questions with the intent of listening to the answers has been really refreshing. Marley has reminded me that we do lead an interesting lifestyle, where we’re lucky to be doing what we want to be doing. She’s reminded me that we have great support from people who believe in us, and we have extremely talented friends to provide us with inspiration and good laughs. Marley has also lit a little fire under us to get back into the habit of practicing new songs, and as a result, we’ve got a couple of new ones on the way! Who could’ve known that having a complete stranger plop down in your life could make you appreciate it so much? I guess I do now.