Newest podcast is available

The conversation featuring Grimes and Born Gold is now available via iTunes (search Road Snacks) or on the embedded player to the right of this post.  Enjoy!

Eating Beets w/ Grimes and Born Gold

    The van with Alberta plates pulled into the driveway, bringing with it rain from Vancouver and Seattle.  Four Canadians got out of the van and stretched their legs.  Our two ducks, Miracle and Le Beouf, waddled by the group confirming that Claire Boucher aka Grimes and Cecil, Eric, and Calvin of Born Gold had found the farm.

    The tour of the farm was brief due to the rapidly fluctuating weather.  We walked quickly to the top of the garden where we entered the greenhouse.  While protected from the sudden downpour of rain, I was able to somewhat describe the components of the farm.  When the rain eased, we left the greenhouse and made our way straight to the goat shed, who were well sheltered and out of the rain.  We five humans crowded in with the four goats and a lot of petting commenced.  Pippie (the little white one) quickly took to Claire and vice versa.  At a certain point food was mentioned and appetites overpowered the cuteness of the goats.  We left them for the warmth of the house and the waiting meal.

    The meal consisted of a rutabaga and shallot frittata made with eggs from our laying hens, a mustard green salad, and delicata squash soup.  As an appetizer, I put out a well received pickle plate consisting of beets, cucumbers, green tomatoes, and onions.  During the meal, we bounced around from topics such as Canada, the artistic process, touring, and what Michael Jordan is up to these days.

    Grimes and Born Gold took off for the Holocene right after the meal and a group picture.  If you have the opportunity to see either of these groups live (especially this tour when you can see them live together!) I highly recommend it.  Born Gold is like the Fourth of July meets a Japanese kabuki performance and Grimes' tendency towards shyness cannot suppress the amount of energy and passion she brings to her performance.  I left the show both energized by the amount of creativity and talent as well as tired from so much dancing at such a late hour (I have to let the birds out early in the morning, to me midnight is ungodly late).

    Thanks again to Grimes and Born Gold for participating in the Farm to Artist project.  Be sure to listen to the podcast when it is released this coming weekend.  To hear the album Bodysongs from Born Gold you can go to their website.  You can find more information about Grimes at her website or pick up her new album, Visions, through Arbutus Records or 4AD.

Breakfast with Nolan Calisch

This morning, Nolan and I sat down for breakfast and to record a short Road Snacks podcast.  Nolan, along with co-managing Wealth Underground Farm, is also a graduate student in the Art and Social Practice program at Portland State University and is involved in a number of projects at the moment.  Breakfast consisted mostly of ingredients grown on the farm; we had beets that are ovewintering nicely, eggs from our hens, and shallots.  The result was a nice winter scramble.  Along with a cup of tea for me and a cup of coffee for Nolan, we were set to record.

The projects we primarily talked about were Grocery Stories, which is an installation going into New Seasons stores, Farm School, which you can read more about here, and People's Portlandia, a project/event that I've previously mentioned on the podcast.  If you have the opportunity to view or participate in any of these projects, I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Nolan for joining me and participating in the Farm to Artist project this morning.  Be sure to listen to the podcast when it goes up and subscribe to it on iTunes.  To see more of Nolan's work, primarily his photography, visit his website at nolancalisch.com.

Technical Difficulties

This blog and podcast have, to date, not received a whole lot of traffic.  That's why it irks me that on the day (today!) that a number of people surfed their way to this site, mostly looking for Red Fang, the host website for my podcast was down.  It's back up now but, unfortunately, there are a lot of people who aren't going to check back in with this site and listen to the podcast.

So this is what I need you to do to make up for this injustice, this first world problem that has absolutely pummeled me and left me on the ground, writhing in pain.   First, listen to the podcast and subscribe to it on iTunes.  In the coming week I'll be adding another and I have a few artists I'm stoked about lined up to come out and join me for a meal.  Second, tell your friends to listen to the podcast.  Third, I don't like using Facebook and I hate binaries (including "like/dislike") but if you have a Facebook account, please go to the Farm to Artist page and hit the "like" button.  

Someday we'll live in a world where freedom, equality, and justice are the rule and not the exception.  Until then, enjoy the podcast.

New Road Snacks podcast up and downloadable!

Get up and download the newest podcast featuring Thou either on iTunes or stream it from the player to the right.  Enjoy!

To Summit Newberry Road: Dinner with Thou

Thou are warriors of the road; when they tour, they tour hard.  Instead of taking a night off when faced with a 10 plus hour drive (from Salem to the Bay Area, for example), they forge on toward the next venue, leaving a show and driving through the dead of night.  Though tired from travel, they manage to put on highly energetic shows night after night.  I was lucky enough to catch one of these shows this past week, witnessing an electric set played to an excited crowd at the Backspace in Portland.

An inherent part of being a warrior is suffering blows.  While in Portland, a mirror on their van was broken off.  Between the time it took to repair the damage and the need to get to Salem for their show, I thought that our lunchtime engagement at the Wealth Underground Farm had fallen into jeopardy and that they would necessarily cancel.  But Thou took the incident in stride and two from the five piece, Bryan (vocals) and Andy (guitar), along with their friend, Eleanor, rallied, making the trip out to participate in the Farm to Artist project.

They arrived after dark and so the tour was brief; I pointed out the garden, which was shrouded in darkness, as we made our way indoors.  We settled in to the warmth of the living room and, without any pomp and circumstance, served ourselves food and sat down to eat.  Though the meals are primarily vegetarian and very much vegetable heavy, showcasing the variety of produce we grow at the farm, this particular meal was vegan as per request from the band.  For the meal I made a rutabaga coconut curry, roasted brussel sprouts and garbanzo beans, and rice.

The conversation was quick and to the point as Andy and Bryan needed to get to Salem for their show.  We talked about the wear and tear from their recent stints of touring, food politics and veganism as it relates to their music, and the unknown future of Thou.  Though somewhat dazed from a constant barrage of shows and and long drives, dinner was quite pleasant and Andy, Bryan, and Eleanor were gracious guests.

Thanks to Thou for participating in the Farm to Artist project against all odds.  To here more from Thou, check out their website.

New Road Snacks Podcast featuring Red Fang

The next installment of the Road Snacks podcast is up.  Listen to the conversation with Red Fang at iTunes or over on the sidebar.

Also, I had to find a new host for the podcast.  I'm moving the older episodes to it as we speak and then will be deleting the old account.  Make sure to resubscribe so you keep getting the Road Snacks podcast.