Sometimes you gotta breathe deep. If you want to scream into a pillow that’s cool too. Whatever works to quell the anger, because anger doesn’t help with anything. It only tricks us into making mistakes.
The first ever Way Over Yonder Music Festival was a great test of our ability to breathe. It would be lovely if it wasn’t the case that every time we set up shop in our own backyard we encountered a handful of annoyances that drove us mad, but that’s not been our experience. Los Angeles is a town full of folks who put themselves on pedestals without reason and rarely take a moment to look out from their perch. It tends to make things like parking by the beach and filming some music nowhere near as easy going as they should be.
That’s the beauty of The Van though. When that door shuts it locks out all of the nonsense and it’s just music, a pedestal wouldn’t fit inside. Brett Dennen didn’t bring one. He brought only a guitar, and those fit just fine. When that door shuts the magic begins. When it opens you get a couple of songs that can ease the mind better then the loudest of pillow screams or the deepest of breaths. So you see, Los Angeles doesn’t have to be that bad after all, you’ve just got to know the right people.