Safe travels, Jimmy.

You must understand something: back in 2005, when I wrote a song about President Jimmy Carter I could never have imagined the quagmire we’d be in today. In hindsight, I feel like it would have been best to write something meaningful about Carter’s sense of dignity, his humanity, and his moral compass. His imminent goodness. His commitment to honesty. But it was a different time, and Carter was the 13th president for whom I had written a song in one month, and well…I wrote about an experience he had with a strange object in the sky. But I did find myself drawn to the notion that someone of such stature would be open to such ideas, open to mystery. To quote Shane Cashman at The Daily Mail:

“One Georgia night in 1969, Jimmy Carter looked up over the pine trees and saw a moving orb, as bright as the moon.

He was standing outside the local Lions' Club in Leary, where he was planning to address the meeting. But local politicking quickly vanished from his mind. The orb 'seemed to move toward us from a distance, stop, move partially away, return, then depart,' he said later, describing it as 'bluish at first, then reddish, luminous, not solid.' He called it 'the darndest thing I've ever seen.'

Carter's encounter with a UFO may pop up as a line in some of his obituaries, sandwiched between the sober analysis of his presidency and notable humanitarian work since. And like all politicians, he should be judged for his successes and failures, in office and out. But more than just an amusing footnote, this story gives us important insight into who he was as a man.

We have almost forgotten what it's like to have leaders capable of marveling at the unknown. For all the problems the country may have faced during his presidency, Jimmy Carter would openly consider the mysteries of life – before, during, and after his time in the White House – and he should be remembered for that.

Carter wasn't embarrassed to talk about his UFO sighting. In 1973, while serving as governor of Georgia, he filed a report documenting the sighting with the International UFO Bureau. He later said that after his own encounter, he would never again make fun of anybody who reported a similar experience.

His open-mindedness was rooted in the scientific training he received at college in Georgia, at the US Naval Academy, and later with his work on nuclear submarines. Carter maintained that just because something may be a UFO didn't mean it is extraterrestrial. Ultimately, he believed that what he saw - while unexplainable - was likely man-made.”

In my telling of the story, I imagine that Jimmy is indeed an alien and that his “people” have ‘come to take him home.’ That perhaps he was here to teach us something. What an admirable man. A different read, but I don’t think I could make my point any better than Mr. Cashman.

So in honour of Jimmy, I’ve decided to upload the bedroom demo I recorded for the song, many years ago. We tracked a version of similar ilk in the studio, but it wasn’t feeling right. (sadly, I can’t find that one). I suggested that we abort our “Radiohead-ish” pursuit and try something, “sort of lounge-y.” In an astonishingly short amount of time, Scott Leftride worked up a piano bit, Stuart Thomas found the perfect bass line, Andrew Enberg grabbed some brushes, and we did it in one take. My voice was there originally, but I was so thrilled and honored to have the inimitable Rosie Thomas sing. Grab the demo at Bandcamp or Soundcloud. Or check out the studio version here. I wanted Bill Frisell to play guitar on it, and I wrote back and forth with his manager for a while, but finally gave up. (I’m still open to working with him if anyone wishes to pass that along.) I must admit however, that Jeff Alkire’s alto sax sounds incredible. I’ll leave the demo free and I’ve made the full lp free for a week or so. Perhaps you could donate to The Carter Center instead.

A few (terrible) images from the (very dark) session at The Hanger in Sacramento below. We’re embroiled in a bunch of legal paperwork as we attempt to get the studio recordings available for online streaming at iTunes, etc., which is hopefully imminent. As evidenced below, Andrew, Stu and I sat in a circle and somehow tracked 14 songs in one day. Midsummer in Sacramento, and miserably hot. It all felt very punk rock. Plus that damn Les Paul weighed about 13lbs and kept slipping down off my lap. Sounded glorious though.

Meanwhile, my new record of songs, The Bellows, will be out on April 11th, and the first single, The Crane, drops February 7. I’ll circle back here to remind you, but suffice to say I’m incredibly excited about it. I’ll be sprinkling out a bunch of things as spring unfolds. A few stills below from the forthcoming video for The Crane to whet thy appetite…

And that’s it for now…Be well everyone. Be kind to people, be dignified, be curious, believe in mystery, and send some good thoughts up to Jimmy wherever he is…..