2020 has been a wild one, and we're just two months in. On January 7th, I released my debut album and celebrated with a packed show at the Tractor Tavern. Then, on January 18th, a surgeon removed a part of my intestine. More on that later. For now, suffice it to say that I'm healthy and so happy to be back to work.
Let's lead with the good stuff:
1) On Tuesday, March 10th, I'll be playing live on KBCS at 12:30 pm! For those who don't know, KBCS (91.3 FM) is the coolest station in the Seattle area. It's eclectic, down-to-earth, and community-minded, prominently featuring local talent. I'm joined by William Mapp and Dune Butler for this studio session.
2) On Wednesday, March 18th, I'm headlining at Conor Byrne Pub in Ballard. I've got a full band with me, including horns! The openers on this bill are so good: Halley Greg (also with a full band) and Marina and the Dreamboats. Plan to come at 8 p.m. and catch the whole show. $8 at the door, 21+. Here's the event page.
3) Beginning on April 5th, I will be performing with my trio at the Pacific Room in West Seattle every first Sunday from 4-6! I'm excited to have a monthly gig at this new venue. The food is excellent, the staff are lovely, it's right on Alki so the views are spectacular, and they recently acquired a Steinway baby grand! Lots to love. Come join us for happy hour and help us make this something special.
4) I'll be touring this year with my trio! First it's two regional mini-tours, April 16-19 (in Portland and elsewhere) and May 8-10 (in Walla Walla and elsewhere). The "elsewheres" depend on what performance opportunities we find. If you live within a day's drive of Seattle and would like to host a house concert, or suggest a venue to try, please get in touch! I'm also planning a longer tour for September, down to California and back.
5) In case you missed it... my album "Driving Home" is out now! You can find it all over the place, including but not limited to:
Spotify
YouTube Music
Google Play
Apple Music
Give it a listen and let me know what you think! I also have CDs for sale and am happy to send you one for $15 (this includes the cost of shipping).
With the announcements out of the way, allow me to elaborate...
The album release show on January 7th at the Tractor Tavern was thrilling. It was magical. It was so ridiculously fun.
Turnout far exceeded my expectations. We sold 161 tickets. When you add all the various band members and their guests, we had close to 200 people in that place. The energy was phenomenal. It was a true rush to be on stage playing for a crowd like that. I believe I am addicted. I'll be seeking out similar situations as often as I can, for as long as I can.
So many people were crucial to making this event possible. I am so grateful to my bandmates who worked hard to learn my music and brought such joy to the performance; to the Cosmic Shuffle and Kate Dinsmore for their electrifying opening performances; to all the friends and family who showed up and partied. A special gratitude shout-out goes to Erin, my partner of 7 years, to whom the album is dedicated, and who made everything run smoothly on release day. She took care of all the little details and potential stressors so that I could just relax and fully show up. Thanks to her, I was able to be truly present in one of the happiest experiences of my life.
I needed that experience. It gave me strength to face a very different kind of experience, eleven days later.
As you may know from previous newsletters, I have Crohn's Disease and have been dealing with complications for quite a while. Crohn's can affect any part of the digestive tract; in my case, it has attacked my ileum, and specifically the ileocecal valve, which connects the small and large intestines. Instead of smoothly regulating the passage of food, this valve had become a scarred and inflamed mass of tissue, hindering digestion and making eating, one of life's great joys, inextricable from discomfort and pain.
I had put off getting surgery for a long time. The idea of someone cutting into me to remove part of my body has always felt weird at best, if not just plain scary and wrong. But the pain was worsening and starting to present a major disruption to my life. I knew, rationally anyway, that this operation would bring significant relief. Being young and mostly in very good health, I knew I could handle it. (Not to say I wasn't a bit freaked out. I had dreams where I woke up in the middle of the operation.)
Happily, it all went relatively smoothly. The surgery was uncomplicated and they were able to do it laparoscopically. Recovery was slow and frustrating at times, but now I feel so much better—I'm eating all kinds of foods with ease that would have been dangerous for me before the operation. This is unlikely to be the end of my journey with Crohn's Disease, but hopefully it will be a very long time before symptoms recur.
It is truly astonishing that we live in a time and place where a surgeon can safely cut out a piece of my intestine, sew me up, and send me home less than 48 hours later. That our medical knowledge and technology have advanced this far feels almost miraculous. We are such clever creatures! We can administer just the right dosage of anesthesia, use cameras to guide the operation, sew ends of intestine together with a thread made from a dissolvable sugar, and provide drugs that make the pain easily tolerable. In fact, all of this has become routine. The surgeon who did my operation does about five intestinal resections a week.
But these advancements are only part of the picture. The larger picture reveals that autoimmune illnesses, of which Crohn's is one, are becoming more and more common, specifically in industrialized nations. As many as one in six Americans has an autoimmune disease. (I'm in very good company!) We're not sure what it is, but there is something about modern life that is messing with our equilibrium. Whether it's processed foods, chemicals in the air and water, hyper-sanitization, antibiotics, disruptions to our circadian rhythms from the urban environment, or all of the above and more, there is something that is causing our bodies to attack themselves.
Each of the potential culprits I just listed are a part of the same ongoing scientific-industrial revolution that has given rise to the medical technologies and drugs I am now dependent on. Furthermore, they are part of the larger apparatus of global capitalism that is killing off species and ecosystems and cultures and languages in its quest to turn life into money.
Science (which in our culture usually refers only to western, industrial science) is an immensely powerful system of knowledge-gathering, but we must also acknowledge that is inherently limited. It has its assumptions, rules and rituals which may appear to be rational but are often arbitrary, if not simply blind. It neglects anything that can't be quantified. It scoffs at intuition, folk wisdom, and subjective experience. It tests one variable at a time in a world where everything is interconnected.
When researchers test dietary modifications for treating Crohn's Disease, there is often little meaningful change in disease activity. Same with probiotics, acupuncture, meditation, yoga. Each one on its own is not enough to show up in the data. One might reasonably conclude that these strategies just aren't that powerful.
On the other hand, monoclonal antibodies like Humira, the drug I took for four years which is also the most profitable drug in the world, or Stelara, which I now take, and which costs roughly $12,000 per month without insurance, do show evidence of efficacy. These are powerful immunotherapies that have all kinds of risks and side effects. It makes sense that they are forceful enough to show up where other interventions achieve subtler results.
But who is studying the efficacy of holistic lifestyle change? Where is the double-blind study that assesses an organic, local, seasonal diet AND drinking clean water right from a well or stream AND maintaining a daily mindfulness practice AND spending more time in the woods or by the water AND striving for honesty in relationships AND finding meaning in your work AND not getting so wrapped up in the news AND much much more, all in combination? Of course there could never be such a study. This is not how the industrial-scientific apparatus works. It disregards these things by design.
I'm placing a bet. I believe that addressing health with more room for nuance, subtlety, intuition, mystery, and hope, will lead to better results. I believe that drugs and doctors and medical technologies have a role to play but that we cannot let them be the full picture nor have the final say.
The kinds of changes I'm talking about making are hard. Each one might be a lifelong project. But if we take up these projects and we persist, I believe that we can be healthier and happier—which may just be the same thing. In fact, I'll bet my life on it.
Lastly, here are some recommendations. Erin told me that her favorite newsletters have a section like this, so I thought I'd go for it too.
BOOK - Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen
This dark American epic of the Florida frontier at the turn of the 20th century is deeply, painfully human. It is as clear-eyed about racism and environmental devastation as anything I've read. Matthiessen is the only author to win the National Book Award for both fiction and non-fiction. This one is heavy and long but well worth the slog if you have the bandwidth.
PODCAST - "On The Media" from WNYC Studios
Always striking the balance between witty and unflinchingly critical, this podcast is made by the chemistry of its two fiercely intellectual hosts, Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield. By examining urgent sociopolitical issues through the lens of how they are covered in the news media, OTM manages again and again to wash away the bullshit and find the human truth behind the headlines.
RESTAURANT - Cafe Munir in Ballard
Amazing Lebanese food in a quiet corner of the city. The atmosphere is charming and the aesthetic is understated. This simplicity is nicely matched by prices that make you wonder if you went back in time or left Seattle. Small plates with exceptional flavor combinations for $8-10, not to mention excellent Lebanese wines. And for the love of the gods please get the baklawa for dessert.
SHOW - Biddadat's Album Release on March 7th at the Sunset
My friend and collaborator Remy Morritt plays drums in this super funky electropop trio. The Sunset is one of my favorite rooms in Seattle. Everything there sounds warm and rich. It's relatively small and this show should be quite popular, so it will have that packed sweaty energy that brings shows like this to the next level. I've also heard great things about the openers Motus and Hoshin.
PARK - Parsons Gardens on Queen Anne
This tiny, well-maintained park near the Betty Bowen lookout on Queen Anne is an under-appreciated gem. Lots of beautiful old trees that are perfect for climbing, and benches that will be great reading spots as we get into warmer weather. As a bonus, there are all kinds of hidden staircases, crazy steep cobblestone streets, and weird old mansions in this part of town. Explore!
I remain ever grateful for the support of friends and fans as I continue on my wild musical journey through life.
With Love,
Jonas