‘Cottonwood Falls’ was recorded in an old school house in Chase County, Kansas. The Flint Hills became such a big part of this record and I wanted the art to reflect the place where this project took shape. The album art for the first single ‘Great Big Hearts’ is an illustration I made based on a photo I took several years ago on Carnahan Rd overlooking the Flint Hills between Manhattan and Olsburg. It was easy to love this project from the start because it was created in a region that I love and I call home. I can’t wait for you to hear ‘Great Big Hearts’ on May 22. Pre-saving it helps us a ton: stem.ffm.to/greatbighearts
Ten years ago we hosted @loganmize for a show on the very first Glenn the Wagon tour. It was a crowdsourced tour in Logan’s ‘89 station wagon and it became a tradition that his fans grew to love. In what I know now was the most Logan way it could go, he forgot his guitar and played mine. When Logan sent me that note after our show, I never imagined that ten years later I’d be booking, tour managing and designing merch for the final Glenn tour. I guess when he said “see ya down the road”, I just took it seriously. Cheers to Glenn’s Last Ride!
Last week while I was in Germany, I spent a cold, rainy morning at the Dachau Concentration Camp memorial site and it’s taken me days to process all the things it made me feel.
Walking through the gate and past the guard towers, down the rows of concrete footings where dozens of barracks once stood, through the gas chamber and crematorium and down a path to the pistol range that’s now a field of unknown ashes, my tears were drops of sadness, anger, disgust and confusion. The holocaust was nearly the end of the Jewish people, but walking through Dachau in the rain was exponentially more heart wrenching and sad than I expected.
The last few years have made Jews painfully reflect on the atrocities of the holocaust in the context of a western social movement that supports and celebrates a terror-run state attempting a second holocaust. If you’re reading this and you’re one of those folks that has posted “from the river to the sea”, swipe over to the photo of the gas chamber. If you’ve referred to Israel defending itself and rescuing hostages from tunnels as a “genocide”, take another look at the photo of the cremation oven to see what a real genocide looks like.
Dachau was the saddest place I’ve ever seen. But if we refuse to recognize the shockingly recent horrors that were committed in the name of antisemitism, we’ll continue to have a world where people die simply because of their identity.
I’ve flown this flag outside our home since shortly after October 7, 2023. I said I’d keep it up until all the hostages in Gaza were back home. Although two dozen families still wait for the remains of their tortured and murdered loved ones, I was filled with joy and gratitude when the last living hostages were freed yesterday.
The following has happened since I’ve flown this flag:
-Friends that we’ve invested years of love and time into stopped inviting us to things because they’d rather repost Hamas propaganda than associate with zionists.
-A young man drove by our house and with my daughter in earshot yelled “F*** you, free palestine!”
-I was told to “go back to Auschwitz” when I took this flag to march in counter-protest of a rally for a Hamas sympathizer that organized violence against Jewish college students for months.
-My favorite bookstore hosted an anti-Israel event where participants spewed two hours of antisemitic rhetoric calling for the extermination of Jews and the destruction of Israel.
-Decades-long friends responded to my social media posts telling me that Jews can’t determine what is and isn’t antisemitic and there’s “context” to the murdėr, rąpe and kidnapping of Israelis on Oct 7.
-I saw respected small business owners raise money to fund terrorism and tell Jewish customers they were no longer welcome in their space.
You see, I’ve experienced lots of disturbing, vile, disgusting things since I put this flag up. But I wouldn’t erase a single one of them because those moments delineated between good and evil folks in my life and in our community.
Today, all the living hostages are home with their families after enduring two unimaginable years of torture inside of palestinian tunnels. But once again, Israel, a postage-stamp sized democracy in a sea of violent terror-run theocracies has won. They’ve defeated evil once again, and while the fight against antisemitism clearly isn’t over, Israel has proven that it will always exist, it will always fight elimination and its people are the strongest that history has ever seen.
Am Israel Chai—the people of Israel live 🇮🇱
I’ve been trying to teach myself how to play a little piano, and tonight I decided to learn ‘Hatikvah’, Israel’s national anthem.
Two years ago on Oct 7, 2023, Jews experienced the worst massacre since the holocaust. 1,200 Israelis were killed and over 250 were taken hostage by palestinian terrorists. Since that day, just like the nazis did in Europe, Hamas has successfully administered a propaganda campaign that has convinced many around the world that somehow the tiny population of Jews doesn’t deserve their native homeland and doesn’t deserve to live. Rampant antisemitism has endangered and killed Jews across the globe, and it’s been heartbreaking to see folks I called friends share racist slurs about wiping out Israel, repost AI photos of a fabricated ‘genocide’ and support a terrorist enclave that wants to kill everyone they deem as unholy and less than.
Today there’s hope for the 48 remaining hostages as a peace deal nears, there’s hope for the future of Israel that has all but wiped out yet another force of evil that sought to destroy them, and there’s hope that if you’re reading this and have never picked a side on antisemitism, maybe today you will.
So today, two years later, I choose Hatikvah—the hope that good will conquer evil and that Jews can live in peace once and for all. For the 48 remaining hostages, bring them home now. And for the Israelis that died on 10.7.23, for the IDF soldiers that died fighting to get the hostages home, and for the innocent civilians that died as human shields at the hands of Hamas, may their memory be a blessing.
“Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good it is, it’s just going to be over”. This weekend we wrapped up the Open Road Tour in what seemed like just a few moments after it started. Looking back at the photos and videos, the big crowds and the small crowds, the cities and the towns, the trailer light repairs, the reunion with one of my best friends coming back to the band, the weekend with my sister, the most fun nights on Dylan’s bus that ended when the sun came up, the long days and long drives, all these little moments were so temporary. But I’ll look back on this summer with gratitude that I got to spend my weekends with the best crew on the road who gave me something that will last so much longer than a 90 minute set.
Still trying to come down from the Symphony on Saturday. @loganmize has spent his nearly 20 year career putting Kansas on the map for country music, and I’m so proud that our state paid some of that back by featuring him as the guest artist for the 20th and final Symphony in the Flint Hills. It was the highlight of my year to be part of it. Huge thanks to Manhattan-native @daltonharts for arranging and scoring “Welcome to Prairieville” and to our band for turning a beautiful day into an unforgettable night.
Last week @loganmize put out one of the best songs of his career and today he turns 40. I had never worked a day in the music industry when I showed up and sort of just told him I was his new tour manager, but since then he’s given me incredible trust and helped me grow into a role that I’d like to do until I die. He’s the most talented and most unserious friend I have, so in unserious fashion, swipe ➡️ for some 40th birthday gift ideas I had since the six A-flat harmonicas were such a hit. Happy birthday LBJ!
The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) stands out amongst other flower species for its towering stature, uncommon strength and resilience and its multitude of practical uses. Since she was born ten years ago, Harper has grown into a young lady that’s a friend to all, a constant source of laughter, a creative firebrand in her own right and the most clever, intuitive and empathetic kid. The greatest joy in my life is seeing her grow and find her place in the lives of everyone around her. Happy 10th birthday Harper. Just keep chasing the sun 🌻
