headbanded hedgehog (andrew)
Our steady tour rhythm of staying in the houses of wonderfully kind, captivating Baba Lovers continues. In Atlanta, we slept under the roof of Katy Flinn, a women’s studies major whose apartment was draped with fabrics and tapestries. Today we are in Asheville, which is apparently a Baba Lover haven. When Darwin gets off the phone with his Baba lover friends as he rolls into town, he always says, “jai Baba!” It’s a side of him that I’d never seen until this tour. Darwin’s friend Angie West has taken us under her wing in this town. She is a nearly blind albino pixie girl who plays painfully beautiful songs on the harmonium, records incredible albums, and is also a passionate accountant.
While Darwin and Angie had friend cuddle time in the adjacent room, Miles and I whittled down the collection of photos he has taken since joining us in LA, finding the best ones, the ones that tell the story. Miles is a great photographer. I suddenly have competition. We bonded.
Miles told me distinctly LA stories about the bar that he works at. He said that, like many bars, it started out catering to A-list celebrities, and then to B-list celebrities and agents of A-list celebrities, and lower and lower ’til it’s all hill and valley people (analogous to New York’s bridge and tunnel crowd, the cheesy outsiders). People from the hills tend to be rich. People from the valley tend to be more working class. Kids from the hills come to the bar in order to be seen spending money, and kids from the valley come to the bar in order to be around people who are spending money.
Another of Darwin’s Asheville friends (Mike?) designed and screenprinted these spectacular sweatshirts and T-shirts and posters of a hedgehog in a headband. The explanation for this is that Angie West had her CD release party and 30th birthday on Saturday night. Our Darwin show was on Sunday night. Additionally, Angie’s favorite animal is the hedgehog. Therefore, the show promoters decided to kinda lump the events together into one super-concept. Thus, the headbanded hedgehog. I’m so pleased with my yellow hedgehog sweatshirt. I’m going to wear it all the way back home and all over England and Germany. Spread the Asheville love and Asheville genius.