We all come from something. The Lovely Carla and I have been on a little creative journey the last couple of  decades or so. First with our performance group, Black Forest, and then also, with our band, whitewolfsonicprincess.

Someone once dubbed our thing, “Rock and Roll Theater.” That sits right. And just where did that come from? I mean, we all come from something, right?!

There is almost a direct line from Patti Smith and Sam Shepard and their work in the theater and on the r&r stage to our efforts. I mean, maybe no one else saw it, but we knew it in our hearts and heads. Always.

Patti and Sam are the “precursors:” – A person or thing that comes before another of the same kind; a forerunner. AND – A substance from which another is formed, especially by metabolic reaction.

Yes, let’s say it was just metabolic reaction!

When we heard that Sam had passed, it was like an existential wobble, a rent in the fabric of the universe. We only knew him through his work, and it is the best, finest stuff imaginable.

Patti writes about Sam in the New Yorker. It brings a flood of tears. We are left with the tears, and the work – that wild, shimmering, uncontainable, inspiring work. We carry it with us. Always. – Jammer