Onederlust Tour 6/15-6/16 Rochester: Barbecuing, Boarding, Beshures

Father's Day, Goodbye to my Syracuse family
     I started celebrating Fathers day as best I could, with a call to my Dad. I have a lot to be grateful for especially in regards to him and because of him. He stuck by me and did everything he could to make sure I was happy and taken care of. He is a talented musician and is really supportive of all of my musical endeavors and always wishes the best for me. After doing so, celebrating aloud his successes as a father and my gratefulness for him, I spent some time writing. Kyle, Helena and I wished Mr. Crowell a Happy Father's Day as well and after some talking and well wishing we got ready to drop me off at the bus to take me to Rochester. The Crowells are kind and dear people, being sure to remind me that I always have a place to stay in the area “Never pay for lodging when you're in town” they assured “Even if Kyle isn't here, you are always welcome to stay with us”. It is this kind of eye-watering hospitality and sense of community that baffles me time and again and motivates me to believe in the goodness of people and attempt to further pay that forward! After some delicious breakfast Kyle and Helena dropped me off at the bus station with best wishes and love, and I was sad to see my friends go.

The Magnetic Warmth of Rochester

     The ride to Rochester was brief and I arrived in the afternoon. As I was driving in I saw the modest little cluster of buildings and all of the rural/suburban aspects of town and felt good about it. There were lots of quirky and artful independent storefronts, art studios, pet shops, skateboard shops and so on. There were murals and paintings on electrical boxes in an attempt to offset the industrial ugliness and people were outside with generally warm countenances absorbing the beautiful weather. Having never been in Rochester I was surprised to feel a natural sense of magnetism to the charming little area. Something about the place made me feel at home, the “metropolis” area wasn't overwhelmingly large, but offered a contrast to it's woodsy outskirts and modest suburban neighborhoods. Even from afar, the natives were a people of alacrity. My friend Rob Beshures, whom I know from my year at SUNY Oswego, picked me up with a big smile (proportionate to his towering stature) and drove me to South Wedge Boards, the spot we'd be performing later that day. Rob is a talented aggressive inline skater, health and fitness nut and a musician. H and his younger brother Mike befriended me while at school and I've always known them both for being gregarious and inviting. When I was booking the tour, they asked me to stay with them and assured they'd arrange an event for me to perform, and arrange they did in what I'd come to experience as typical Rochester hospitable fashion. I was thrilled to do my first performance at a long board shop.

   
 South Wedge Boards is an independently owned custom/handcrafted long board shop owned by a grizzly and friendly guy Nick. The storefront is almost incognito, blending in amid houses on a hilly block that several people were skateboarding outside of. We parked in the back of a dirt lot and offered introductions as I stepped into a store and workshop in the making, with quarter pipes and racks of boards, couches near a big full bay window that overlooked the street a segment in which Golden Rd. Clothing (a clothing company that shares the space with Nick's workshop) had their gear set up around couches and television hooked up to an old Sega Genesis. There was a home-made coffee table on wheels made out of a warehouse pallet with a hole in the middle filled with candies. There were photos and paintings decorating the walls. Everyone was immediately like family and it felt like I was already part of the community. Nick was setting up a barbecue that he would man all day while the skaters cruised along the road dodging cars and skating homemade obstacles. I met the bearded punk rock looking fellow, Kasey, who was one of the performers, who lent me his skateboard to cruise around on the obstacles, an opportunity I could not miss. Kasey has a great sense of life and humor he raps and produces well and enthusiastically under the name “Dreadful Operator” and this show was the release party of his project “Mental Projectiles”. While Rob went to pick up some gear to set up the music inside the small living room area indoors, I cruised around and befriended, stretching physically and socially, happy to be back on a skateboard and in the sunlight after the overcast few days prior. Over the course of the afternoon dozens of people gravitated towards the shop, skateboarders and musicians and friends of both. I met the Beshures family, Mom, Dad and their youngest, Claire, who were to be my generous hosts that night. I was impressed and delighted that despite Father's Day, committed to seeing their sons play (Rob to open the show, Mike to finish it) and support the show. Old and new friends and artists congregated, sweat accumulated on the skaters, burgers and dogs were passed around. Inevitably, six o'clock came about and Rob started playing inside among the artful long boards and Sega Genesis playing.

Guitars, Pianos, Mics, Words HEARTS

     Rob Beshures performed an acoustic set to warm up the night complete with sweet and lighthearted original songs and a unique cover of “Floater” by“Every Time I Die”. There was such sincerity and passion in his set and people were really respectful of him.

     The vibe was very much like that of an intimate house concert and when Miles aka “Cu-Cu” went up, with his experimental electronic music, the crowd ebbed and flowed with the juxtaposed energy of his set. Some songs were fun and silly, others serious. We talked for quite awhile before his set and it was obvious from his back story, years of performing on his own in his room and writing songs and being in and out of bands in high school and college he loves music. He is an artist in the purest sense, constantly experimenting and learning for the simple love it it. From my layman's point of view, his ambient, thoughtful piano and vocals are reminiscent of Ben Folds, and while he admits to getting that a lot he doesn't see the comparison entirely himself. With introspective and thoughtful lyrics and interesting effects and beats and piano riffs to accompany them, his set was an enveloping one.

     Up next came emcee and poet S.A.I., who has an initially intimidating appearance I likened to Immortal Technique. He turned out to be a personable and vulnerable guy whose socially and politically informed lyricism made my comparison relatively accurate. He performed a short set of heartfelt bilingual works that transitioned the attentive crowd into the poetic and hip hop styles of the next four performers.

     Then came an excellent and seasons traveling spoken word artist Louis “AgelessPoet”. He got involved in the show when Kasey met him performing on a subway. The anecdote Kasey shared in his introduction was that Ageless Poet got up on the subway, performed and then sat back down with no monetary request, clearly for the love it. He re-appropriated the “swag” trend as an acronym “Spoken Word Affecting Generations” and shared that dedication and ethos with us. He energetically and effectively shared a handful of polished sincerely beautiful poems that celebrated everything from creativity to the importance of his mother (who raised him and gets happy mothers and happy fathers day cards). He was confident yet humble.

     Ageless Poet set a nice pace for my performance, between the emotion, energy, style and consciousness. I performed a nice long set that people responded heavily to. Continuing the spoken word trend that had begun, I opened with “anti-social-net-work-ethic” and in honor of Father's Day performed “Pennsylvanian Patriarch” and went on to do a set that encapsulated my entire catalog, released and unreleased and finished on “Desert Diaries”. The people of the crowded room gave so much energy be it respectful and watchful quiet or energetic participation when it was asked for. This was easily my favorite performance of the tour and the rest of the trip is going to have a hard time topping it!

     After I went up, Kasey a.k.a. Dreadful Operator went up, performing an a capella piece and then a bunch of fun hip-hop songs from his new album “Mental Projectiles”. I relate to him for seeming like the unlikeliest candidate for rap talent based on face value and then coming in and dropping jaws. He produced all the beats, save one, on his project and had a huge excited aura and energy about him. You could tell through his presentation and lyricism that first and foremost he is in love with hip hop In a traditional sense. From line to line he'd have fun wordplay and drop a poignant idea on you and then rap about something silly like eating pizza in a sort of unbridled, open stream of consciousness.

     My dear friend Mike Beshures closed the show out with a beautiful set of organic and spirit expanding songs It was nearly 11 o'clock and his set was just a transcendental experience of sincerity. He played original songs on ukelele, banjo and classical guitar singing about love and life and nature in pure rhapsody free of embarrassment. He is a whimsical, energetic and sincere person in his everyday life and when he is given an instrument that childlike demeanor transforms to a desire to somberly and openly ventilate a philosophical and emotional fascination with life. It was inspiring and exhilarating, complete singalongs from Rob and Claire and others in the room.

     After the show many people generously introduced themselves to me and complimented me on my set and purchased albums of mine and supported me. Everyone that performed exchanged CD's if they had them and there was such a wonderful sense of community and eagerness to assist one another. Many of us exchanged numbers and best wishes for travels and lives and it was a genuine collective of people who were sharing love and thoughts and ideas and hope to see one another grow and evolve and prosper!

The Beshures' Home
 
   Afterward, Mike drove me back to his house, in a suburban sort of area with a nice rural small town vibe. They showed me to my guest room, inviting me to shower and once I had, I came downstairs to join Mike, Rob and Claire watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit. We reflected on the film and ate raviolis and caught up with one another. Rob went home and we said our goodbyes, gradually, I fell asleep.
      The next morning I was admittedly slow to wake, comfortable in my guest bed. Mike made french toast, sausages and potatoes and he, his girlfriend Shawna, Claire and I ate. The Beshures are a very creative, open and connected family. They all are musicians and singers, there are organs and pianos in various rooms, the walls decorated with all sorts of instruments. Mike showed me around his property, it struck me as interesting and beautiful that there were no fences between the yards.
   
After watching some Wayne's World and hanging out being a little lazy we felt stir crazy.  Eventually come the afternoon, this languid behavior became intolerable and we sought out a place to enjoy the weather, however sweltering it might have been. We ended up doing a hike in these beautiful redolent woods of Abraham Lincoln Park.
   
     
Finally, a "Lincoln park" I could enjoy! The woods and trails and trees had such deep rich colors and smells of warm soil and compost and the air felt so fresh and alive and happy to be breathed. We hiked along, I climbed some felled trees and we saw a bay hosting some meandering boats in the distance. Finding ourselves sweaty and fulfilled, we returned home. Mike and I talked on the porch a bit, I packed my things and said goodbye to Claire and Shawna. Mike made me an eclectic bag of foods that sustained me for a week and brought me to the bus station to head to Buffalo that afternoon with hugs and best wishes and plans to return and perform together more. If you are ever near Rochester, I highly recommend you go, it is a friendly and beautiful little place and I am a better person for having the experiences I did there! Off to Buffalo!

Gravity doesn't tell us we can't fly,
it asks us how much we want to.

-AllOne

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