cursed transmigration
Like a time-released hex, within five years of 1994, my debut album Bloomed was released first by a shady German branch of a Washington indie, then a small Texas label that went bankrupt &, almost finally, a third in New England which would eventually be swallowed up by the industry.
In 2000, I took the curse on the road. On a stopover in Alberta Canada, I had been given about fifty t-shirts commemorating the third Bloomed release — free — an early birthday present made by a friend to sell on tour. A perfect gift.
On the way through a small Ontario town, I stopped at a thrift store & found a chord organ. It was about the same dimensions as a spinet piano, but lightweight — just a tiny motor located in a large covered back space, empty of anything else — a simple machine lighter than a small amp. I somehow passed it up. Maybe because it was the beginning of a tour or I was trying to pare things down — I don’t know — but, that kind of willpower was unusual for me, especially when concerning cheap chord organs, which I still have a problem with to this day. Anyway, I headed south for a short drive to cross the border & begin the tour.
I always played by the rules when crossing back & forth between Canada & the US — work permits, gear inventory ready, etc. Sometimes, they searched with dogs — other times, they barely gestured & you'd just keep rolling. Impossible to predict. I was once searched in a hangar beside an elderly canoness in a wheelchair, waiting while they rifled through their convent station wagon. This time, they didn't search, but asked, & I declared the t-shirts. I always did. I never travelled with much & such a small number of “promotional” items was never a problem, just an administrative sort of fee or nothing at all. This time though, I hit a new crossing I hadn’t tried before — appearing like a compound of militia trailers in a desolate area. A US border guard told me I had to pay a duty to one of them. I shopped about four, each estimating anywhere between 25-40% of what they deemed an approximate cost of what I would sell for. It felt like a bizarre flea market of hustlers — unregulated — at their mercy.
Instead, I turned around, drove back to the small town & bought that chord organ. The upright back was covered with a thin wood, stapled in a few places. The staples came out easily, with just fingers, as if from cardboard. I removed the covering to find plenty of space for the t-shirts & neatly stacked them, like they were on display, then just pressed the staples back into place with a thumb. Done.
I packed the organ upright in the truckbed under a hardshell with a few guitars & amps, & traveled to a different crossing, not too much farther east. There was no hustlers’ encampment this time. The border guards didn’t even ask about merch — just checked my passport, then waved me on. I kept looking in the rearview as I headed south, surely leaving the curse behind.
In 2014, a settled label took on the fourth Bloomed installment, reincarnated after twenty years of transmigration. Some matters supernaturally continue their run through the same vein. Resolution is just a silent dream . . .
I was waiting for some punchline of the shirts still being stuffed in that organ all these years later…
I worked for Slow River Records at the time (label #3) and still remember when word came down that we'd be reissuing Bloomed. I was only 21yo, but I'd bummed a promo CD of Since from the Rykodisc offices, which somehow mysteriously never made it back. It's still one of my favorite albums. Bloomed finally came out around the time I was leaving (...just before the industry-swallowing you refer to). Don't think I stuck around long enough to even get a copy. Those were good times and I was happy we did it, although it's sad so many great SRR releases (including yours) vanished into the ether after the acquisition.