[Rasputina's Melora Creager, the undisputed doyenne of cello-based, kinda-goth, steampunk-avant-la-lettre indie music, has graciously agreed to guest-blog for West Coast Sound in anticipation of their upcoming LA gig at the Troubadour, this Saturday, August 14. She's been sending us these awesome letters from the road, which you can read exclusively here. Click here for the first installment.]

August 10, 2010

Hello,

My apologies for not writing yesterday. I've become consumed with

gobbling a book called, The Help. It's very Oprah Book Club, but

that's not always bad. I neglected all my other non-performance

duties to read it.

We, the Rasputina, are in Santa Fe today. The recital last night

was very sweet! Sound was good, audience was super affectionate. I

could feel it coming off of them. That starts a circle of good

energy, where I can kind of bloom with my performance, they get

happier, we play better, etc. I'm not some hippie-mystic, but non-

verbal emotional energy sure is a potent & tangible force.

Dawn Miceli of Dawn & Drew podcast fame is with us as merch girl/

good friend. The last time we played the West Coast, she came along

and filmed a documentary, 'Under the Corset''. She is flogging that

at the table. I am so pleased with the movie. It shows how hard we

work and that we are a sweet and simple people.

In the tour situation, I'm occasionally confronted with my age.

Someone in the audience might shout, “Will you be my mom?” Or the

opener might repeatedly mention to me that she is “young”. I'm glad

about my age though. When I was younger and doing this tour business,

I would get so pissed off all the time. I don't know exactly how I've

lost all that insecurity and gotten relaxed in my skin, but it does

feel good.

I'm consciously thankful for what and who I've got. The music

business is strange, because there are a super-small number of people

at the top. It's not a realistic goal, nor a healthy one. All things

are relative. There is always someone more 'successful'. But I get to

make my living as a musical artist, and I've got a bunch of good

people on the planet that are interested in what I have to say. I

give thanks.

Is this too saccharine or diary-like?

We're going to spend a night off at some 'art cabins' in the Gila

Wilderness. I need to see some ancient cliff-dwellings, God-damn-it!

Love,

Melora Creager

Directress, Rasputina.

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