Greetings from Camp Lure …

Fall is descending on the Adirondacks.  Even in August there is a chill in the wind.  The maples are the first to turn.  From yellow to bright pinks and reds.  Cold nights by a fire, warm sunny days.  Sleeping and working.  Cutting wood.  Keeping the good, burning the bad.  Dragging and stacking.  My hands look like raw meat, I guess I should have worn gloves.  But I’m okay.

My German Shorthaired Pointer kicked up a covey of grouse in the thick brush by the lake this morning.  They were big, beautiful birds and alas also delicious birds.  The loons are flying back and forth between the lakes.  It’s strange to hear their wail above the water and the tree tops.   Ravens have been gathering at my door too.  I wrote this poem about them:

Ravens

ravens on the road

like ashes blown from

distant fires

floating down

on fern and fawn

darkening the dappled dawn

the raucous chorus line begins

the pompous strut

and drunken spin

an awkward minuet

from hell

so out of place

in natures realm

like black face clowns 

with cheap cigars

they come too near 

and go too far

we shake our heads 

and curse their names

and watch them thru

a window pane

but like the shadow

from a flame

we would miss their ragged song

tolling in the morning rain

My friend John Bancroft has been by with venison and goose eggs.  A goose egg is about the size of a softball and twice as rich as a chicken’s egg.  You only need one for a mountain man-size breakfast.  That’s what my friend John is -- a mountain man.  He can lift boulders and full-grown trees with his bare hands.   He can carry a weight that would take four strong men to carry all by himself.  No lie.  It’s quite a sight to see.  We had some great meals together over the summer.  John supplies all the food -- the venison, the vegetables, the eggs, the fruit.  All gathered from the garden and the forest on his own land.  We had quite a time.  John is doing quite a bit of work for us at the new “Camp Lure.”  The Brownsell boys are building up a storm as well.  They are a father and son team from Eagle Bay.  The best carpenters you ever saw. They work with speed and precision and charge a fair price.  The Brownsells put an artistic touch on everything they do. The new camp is going to be both strong and wonderful.

On the concert trail I had one hell of a summer. The best time I’ve had in years.  From the Great Adirondack Mountains to Hartford, Conn.; Bethlehem and Lancaster, PA.  We finished up in Haddon Heights, New Jersey.  People came out in crowds to see the show. Bigger crowds than I’ve played to in a long time.  Hundreds of people, thousands of people, it was great.  We mixed up the sets a little bit.  Played a lot of stuff from the Seventh Lake CD and Blue Mountain.  We also threw in a lot of new material to be released soon.  The audience seemed to like it.  Songs like “Lucky Hat” and “Muddy Waters” seemed to be faves.  We also dusted off some of the old songs like “Out of the Blue,” “Hang Around,” and “Darling.”  We ended a few sets with “Blowin’ in the Wind” as well.  The encores came one after the other and everyone had a good time.

The band has never been better: Larry Briodo on guitar; the constant and relentless Ken Bernard on drums; Fred DiTomasso on bass, and Michael Vernaccio on keys.  We became a real unit on this tour of dates, a rare thing.  Whenever I can get this group together for a show I certainly will. And let’s not forget Todd Erk on the acoustic upright bass, who joins me whenever he can.  We’re going into rehearsal this week to learn more tunes for the upcoming recording.  Maybe we’ll play some of them out in the clubs.  We’ll be at the Steel City Coffee House in Phoenixville, Pa. on Friday, September 15^th.  Come check us out!  The place is warm and friendly and so are the people.  It’s about as intimate as it gets.  We always have a good time at Steel City.

Once I had a relationship with a young woman.  She began to grow and change.  I didn’t.  I knew she was struggling with her feelings for me and her dedication to her own life and I knew that soon she would leave me behind.  When she did it was sad and very emotional but when the dust settled I would see clearly that she had done the right thing.  When I saw her years later she had blossomed into a stunning woman.  She had always been bright and beautiful but now she had a presence, the self-confidence and grace to carry it off and shine brighter than ever before.

Sometimes it takes a long time to find ourselves.  We take many roads and meet many people on the way.  We run and stumble before we learn to walk.  Humility is in a shadow where we are afraid to look but it is with us all the time.  We just have to let it in.  Make friends with it.  I am shakin’ hands right now.

What I am really trying to say is thanks.  To all the friends and fans who have stuck with me through the last 25 years.  From the techno-pop and raging mania of the Eighties all the way back to the roots music that I so dearly love playing today.  Thanks for all your support -- for coming to the shows and buying the CDs and simply sharing the music with me, which in the end is all I really ever wanted to do. You’re the people I’m singing to now. We’ve grown together. We grow together.

I want to especially thank all of my new friends who have taken my songs into their hearts and don’t know or care what happened in 1982. Who knows, if the planets are aligned, if the light’s just right, if the waitress drops a tray at just the right moment, the boys and I might jump into some off the cuff version of “Escalator of Life” somewhere, sometime, you never know.  But don’t hold me to it. That was all so long ago. You won’t find the word “nostalgic” in my book.  I’m looking to the future.  I feel good about it and can’t wait to get there.  I’m moving on now.

Love and peace. See you on the road.

Robert Hazard

Previous Newsletters:
Spring 2006
December 2005
September 2005
April 2005
January 2005
December 2004
Fall 2004
Summer 2004