All The Latest from Tin Pan Folk
​& Americana Artist Breadfoot 

July 2025 Edition
Yup. Uhm, not even sure what I was doing on the 1st. Prolly working a side job. Trying not to melt. Had worked the weekend trying to catch up. Working as much as I have been but yeah, struggling.
 
Anyhow. Hit AVL for the 4th. House there is finally almost back together. Drove home on Sunday. Then Chantal rolled in. Received several tornado warnings. Had to shelter in the downstairs closet with the “girls” for a spell. Storm parked over our region. Worst of it for us was simply losing power for about 12 hours. Neighbors across the way on Harland Creek however, got flooded out. Helped them on Monday to deal with the clearing out the first floor. Threw out my back cause well, wet books are really fucking heavy.
 
Now Saturday and I still can’t get my back to “pop.” Arnica, ice paks, and stretches. Can’t afford a chiropractor so gonna just keep working it best I know how. Back pain sucks. But it’ll pop soon. I hope.
 
In the meantime, trying to get back at things. This is the first weekend I have open in oh goodness, three weeks?! Really need to buckle down. Have been studying on, and reading, and combing feedback for trends and themes, and yeah think I’m about reading to re-watch the archival video from the reading. Feel like I have a good sense of what I’m looking for. Have a short list of items to address. And then as it relates to the theme(s), revealed I have some ideas of how those need to be teased out, enhanced.
 
Oh, and had an alternative ending idea. Sort of a reverse OZ dream thing? Watched a doc – ‘Lynch/Oz’ - that was about David Lynch and his attraction to, and use of “Ozonian” themes, and imagery. Lot of other examples out there. Amazing the influence that film has had on popular culture and art. Anyways Idea I had was what if everything Gibson experiences was in a dream he had while sleeping on the bus? Think the opening with Rory can still work with a few tweaks. But yeah, Gibson sings; “Thunder clouds / A storm is coming / In my sleep / I’m dreaming that / I’m drowning in / A raging, rising wall of gold / The driver wakes me.”
 
They can dream that they were woken up, right? And remain in a dream state? Think it works. Yet if not I’m good with the ending I already have in mind. And yes, it’s dark. And bleak. But hey, that’s life. The themes I’m exploring lend themselves to a Southern Gothic / Grimm’s fairytale vibe. Don’t care to candy coat it. And if fact more than a few mentioned in their feedback that they rather liked the fact that it didn’t end on a high note. Wasn’t “Disney-fied.” 

On not having a happy or even "tidy" ending there is a quote from some writing about Sondheim’s work that resonates with me. The essay’s author observed that, “What Sondheim offers is not life with all its riddles solved, but life deconstructed, and laid bare in all its confusion, and disarray.” They further suggest that Sondheim’s work is, “…not a denial of reality but rather it’s unsparing exposure.”
 
I like that. Or at least it speaks to me. Seems to give me license. All that matters, right?  Cause in the end. It’s my work. And to that end if I may, one last Sondheim quote, “Anything you do. Let it come from you. And then it will be new.”
 
Uhm, so yeah. what do I got to show? Couple new pics. Most of the work being done however involves the getting of what has been in my head scribbled onto legal pads. Pages, and pages, and pages of that shit. 

Oh, here’s something. Think I’m going to apply for the Larson Grant, again. Skipped last year. Wanted to stay focused on getting prepared for the Process Series reading. Few tweaks I’m make. Might be I need to put more emphasis of Larson’s influence on my work. Also maybe need to downplay the “rock banjo opera” aspect of ‘SUNNYLAND.’ Despite ‘RENT’ being regarded by many as a ‘rock opera,’ the guidelines say something about not being able to submit operas. Oh, FFS. Thing that separates it from opera I guess, is that it does feature dialogue though limited, that is not sung through or spoken over music.
 
Anyways. Why not? And at the very least depending on the judges it may help to get it out there. Never know who might see it that may turn out to be an ally or a conduit, right?
 
Uh, okay that might be it. Check out the pics in the side bar. Also links to music and the archival video for the Feb. 8th staged reading.  And as ever follow along on Instagram and Facebook for more regular updates.

Cheers!
XOBF
Chantal parked over us for long enough to cause some major flooding through out the region. She churned up some tornados that had me and the girls sheltering in the downstairs closet. We got off with just losing power for about 12 hours, but other friends and neighbors weren't so lucky. 
Vid from the live stream on Pass The Hat. Kicked a couple live numbers and even shared a few of those new demos. Go on get ya some. 
Here ya go folks. Almost as good as being there. Archival video of the Saturday Feb. 8th staged reading of 'SUNNYLAND - A Rock Banjo Opera.'
First live work shopping of SUNNYLAND from back in December of 2022. This is the performance that landed
us the chance to put on a staged reading with the
​Process Series. 
And if ya wanna do a deeper dive. Here's the SoundCloud Playlist where I parked some of the original  sketches for SUNNYLAND. Go get ya some. 
See? Even Playbill recognizes 'RENT' as a "rock opera."
​You see that right?  Not just me?