Levi Petree

10/4/17 On Tom Petty ... 

11 days ago, September 22, I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the first time. He was doing three nights at the Hollywood Bowl to close out his 40th anniversary tour and I hadn’t bothered to get tickets. I scrolled through my FB and Instagram feeds that day, a little envious of my friends who’d gone to the previous night’s concert. Around 4 p.m., thinking how fun it’d be to sing in unison with 17,000 people on a warm and open L.A. night, I sent my friend Jon a text and locked us in for some Stubhub tix.

My takeaway was this … Tom Petty shows should not be called “concerts” … they should be called “Communal Sing-a-longs w/ Tom Petty”. Cause you know every word. And you shout them, unabashed, at the top of your lungs while your neighbor does the same.

My favorite moment of the night came after the song “Wildflowers”, when Petty started a soft strum on his acoustic guitar. “Oh yeah”, I thought. “This one”. I felt a change in my heart and a lump in my throat … “Well, I started out/down a dirty road” … Tears just shy of spilling over … “Started out/ all alone” … A video accompanied the song with footage of the Heartbreakers in their earlier days … I thought of my own band and journey, wondering where it’ll lead and if I’ll ever figure this life thing out … “I’m learning to fly/ but I ain’t got wings” … Then I thought of Jon, standing right next to me, feeling it as much as I was. We’ve been friends the last 11 years and during that time he’s been willing to let his guard down and share some big, emotional moments in his life with me. In that moment, I was so happy for him. His career’s started to really take off in the last few years and sitting there, enjoying that moment with him, I couldn’t help but think of where he started. I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.

By the end of the night, Petty’d run through all the hits (did he write anything besides that?) and he closed with “American Girl”. Jon and I, along with 17,000 of our new friends, howled … exactly as I knew we would … unabashed, at the top of our lungs. “And for one desperate moment there, he crept back in her memory” … I thought of my ex-girlfriend and the way she’d make me laugh by impersonating the woman singing “American Girl” in ‘Silence of the Lambs’, pummeling the steering wheel like a drum. I wondered where she was and if maybe, just maybe she was in the crowd that night. Tom Petty had been a staple of our Sunday morning drives through the mountains … “God, it’s so painful for somethin’ to be so close and still so far out of reach” … Earlier, during “Free Fallin”, I finally let myself enjoy the song after years of the lyrics hitting a little too close to home. During “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” I thought of riding around in my Dad’s old gold Maxima and watching music videos with my sisters when we were young’uns. The only song I missed hearing that night was “Don’t Do Me Like That”, which is one I used to drive my Mom crazy over cause I’d flip through all the classic rock stations, hoping to hear it. That one got us dancin’.

I may worship at the altar of Springsteen, but I came away from that concert (sorry, “Sing-a-long”) thinking that the title of America’s Great Rock n’ Roll Songwriter truly belongs to Petty. Pure and universal. Where Dylan and Springsteen seem to be polarizing for some people, I feel very secure in saying everyone likes and knows Tom Petty’s music. He stayed relevant and dependable during that 40 years , cranking out simple, yet extremely catchy and memorable tunes that always spoke to the heart. He was a staple on pop and rock radio for three decades before riding out his legacy in the fourth decade. Even then he was releasing great music and bucking the trend of how ageing rock stars are supposed to go into their twilight. And then, out of nowhere …

“Some things are over

Some things go on

Part of me you carry

Part of me is gone

 … But you got a heart so big … “

We let out a collective gasp when someone like Petty goes because those songs were no longer just his. They were ours and we shared experiences to them. He may have joined the Great Band in the Sky, but in truth he’ll live forever … Smacking your steering wheel on the open road to the beat of a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song … that’s as American as it gets.

8/8/2017 On Glen Campbell ... 

"If ever there was an example of one man being given too much talent in one body ... it'd be Glen" - Merle Haggard

Glen Campbell ... that's the measure for me. The video I'm posting below is the first song/performance I ever heard by him and it immediately became one of my favorites. When I visited the Annenberg photo exhibit on Country Music a few years ago, they had a wall at the end that allowed people to write what their favorite country song was. Without hesitation ... "Galveston". Such a beautiful story/song written by the great Jimmy Webb about a soldier in Vietnam longing for home, released during the early days of the war. My second favorite would have been another Glen Campbell tune ... "Gentle on My Mind".

There's something so pure about his voice in those early recordings. It hits you right in the heart and I always get emotional listening to him sing. But you ain't seen nothin' til you've watched him work his fingers up and down the fret board. Lightning. His battle with Alzheimer's the last few years has been well documented and I'm so glad I caught him on his farewell tour at the Hollywood Bowl in 2012. You could tell his mind was slippin' from the jokes he kept repeating, but his singing and his playing were still that of a young man.

Glen Campbell is one of my biggest inspirations and his voice is something I aspire to sound like in its honesty. If you get a chance today, look beyond "Rhinestone Cowboy" and you'll find a "Wichita Lineman". This man was truly one of the greats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd9nMrvBbmA

7/31/2017 On Sam Shepard ... 

We LOVED the movie ‘Steel Magnolias’ in our house when I was growing up. Such memorable and quotable performances set in the very town I ended up going to college in. The guy that played Dolly Parton’s husband always stood out to me, though. In a movie surrounded by actors who were hamming it up (wonderfully, I should add), it was very noticeable how reserved that guy was. He seemed way too real. Like someone I recognized in some of my friend’s parents. Stoic … somethin’ eating at him.

Now, imagine being an absolute novice in the world of professional theatre and one of the first things you’re given when you arrive at your college drama department is a book of plays … with that guy’s face on it.

“Wait … THAT GUY writes plays?!?!?” … Yeah. And not only does he write plays, he’s considered to be an American master.

Reading the headline of his passing stung. Though I never met him, he is responsible for some of my fondest experiences and memories working in the Chicago theatre community. I think of staying late at Yondorf Hall in the hopes of saving the ‘Fool for Love’ scene Anna, George and I were doing for the Steppenwolf School showcase that year (thank you, Audrey!). I think of my lil’ Crow, Jennifer Shin, and the way Monica worked us and the rest of our castmates through ‘Savage Love’ (was there ever a sexier publicity poster?!). When a guy I considered a rival (at least in my head) gave me a genuine compliment after that show, I could tell his opinion of me had changed and he didn’t realize I could go there. And I remember thinking, “That’s right, mother fucker … I bring it.” But I owed it that night to Sam Shepard. There was something I connected to in his plays and it gave me the confidence to cut loose. To go for it.

But as great a writer as Sam Shepard is rightfully considered, it’s his persona and presence that I have always been most drawn to. As an actor, if is his name was in the credits, I was watchin’ it. His presence on screen and so many of pictures of him personified a quiet and intense dignity. To me, he embodied what is left of the American west. The myth of the romantic and lonesome cowboy. I used to give city trolley tours in Natchitoches, where they’d filmed ‘Steel Magnolias’. One of my favorite pieces of trivia on the tour was that when they were filming the movie, Sam Shepard had driven to town with a small camper in tow. And that was where he stayed throughout. He and Jessica Lange, his longtime girlfriend and muse, befriended the locals, hanging out at the bars and restaurants along Front Street. When I had the opportunity this past Christmas to take a road trip from California to Louisiana, I thought about Sam Shepard pulling his camper through the desert.

For about twelve years now, he’s been an inspiration to me. He’s what I’ve imagined I’d like to grow into as an older man and what kind of body of work I’d like to leave behind. As I write this, all I wanna do is get on a Chicago theatre stage with Cyd Blakewell and tear into some Shepard. Cause if anyone embodies what it is to be a “rock n’ roll Jesus with a cowboy mouth”, it’s her. Of all the things that’ll be said about him, what I love most is reading and seeing the memories people have from working together on his shows. There’s a good chance he’s inadvertently responsible for more friendships and professional relationships than anyone in the American theatre over the last forty, or so years. I’d say that’s a legacy worth celebrating.

1/22/17 For The Kids, Ya'll!

Twice a year, my good friend Eric Stolze asks me and my pal Sue Redman to interpret monologues written by his students at the 826LA organization. Am always blown away by the imagination and intelligence these kids p

1/5/17 On George Michael

Tonight was my first chance to sit on the couch and veg out to George Michael videos since his death. I was never obsessed, but I've finally started to process how much his music has been around my whole life. (Ok, I said I wasn't obsessed, but my Mom would probably tell you different when it comes to me as a child of the 80's and the song "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go". She had to hide that 45.) But watching these videos ... gah ... what a charismatic performer and what a GREAT songwriter. Pop songwriting doesn't get the credit it often deserves. "Everything She Wants" is my jam ... Sean and I kuuuh-ruuush "Careless Whisper" as a duet at karaoke ... I do the "Gi-gi-gi-gi-gi-gi-come ooooooooooooon!!!!!" from "I Want Your Sex" enough to where it's maybe not that random ... "Last Christmas" is one of the few Christmas songs that gets played over and over that I actually welcome hearing over and over ... That hilarious scene in Key and Peele's 'Keanu'. The guy gave us some gems. But, man ... when you watch those classic videos, or videos of him performing live ... he's in a class that few could touch. If you want proof, look up the video of him singing "Somebody to Love" at the Freddie Mercury tribute. Kills it. Nobody can touch Freddie Mercury, but if I hadn't known any better I'd have totally bought he was the frontman of that band.

I guess I didn't realize just how special an artist George Michael was. Looking forward to educating myself.

11/18/16 Excusez Moi ... Do You Know G, C, D? 

11/12/16 I Can't Keep Track of Each Fallen Robin (2016)

"I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend. 
You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception. 
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
who are oppressed by the figures of beauty, 
you fixed yourself, you said, "Well never mind, 
we are ugly but we have the music."

"Chelsea Hotel" - Leonard Cohen

An original and inspiring voice. May he rest in peace in the great tower of song.

1/11/16 ... On David Bowie 

Before iPods, I jogged around the NSU campus with a CD Walkman. One day I walked into Michael Rorex's office for a voice lesson, said Walkman in tow. (The following convo happened 12 years ago and the exact wording may be paraphrased, as well as a bit truncated but the final moment is exact)

Michael: What kind of music do you listen to?

Me: I listen to everything.

Michael: Well, I'm sure not EVERYTHING.

Me: Just name an artist, or a band and I'll tell you if I listen to them.

Michael: ... David Bowie.

I smirk and open up my CD Walkman to reveal the one CD that happened to be in it. A purple disc with white lettering ... David Bowie's Great Hits 1969-74. :-)

I think David Bowie is the single greatest artist of my lifetime, or the few generations before. When I was in high school, I taped the David Bowie episode of VH1 Legends on the VCR and became obsessed with it, watching it over and over again. I also remember feeling a little uncomfortable about the argument that happened when VH1's 100 Greatest Artists in Rock n' Roll History countdown placed Bowie 1 slot ahead of Elvis Presley. I mean, I really love Elvis, too ... but I was team Bowie in that moment. Side note: We MAY have watched a little too much VH1.

There's really no way to describe his impact on me other than to say I was completely fascinated and awestruck by him. It was almost impossible for me to comprehend the fact that he'd created this whole persona of Ziggy Stardust, turned it into a phenomena, and then BLEW IT UP!!! At the height of his newfound fame and popularity, he walked away and dared himself to evolve into something else. He created music that sounded nothing like what he'd just built a fanbase on, which is something that will, at the minimum, test your audience's patience to the extreme, or make them revolt entirely. But David Bowie dared to be different ... and he succeeded. He not only succeeded, but people came to want and expect "new", "different", "change" from him. The only way he achieved this, though, and was able to hold on to it, staying relevant for 45 years, was the fact that he was a brilliant, brilliant songwriter. Without that, who knows if anything else he tried would have been as successful. But thanks to amazing songbook, we got all of him.

I honestly don't know what constitutes being a genius, but if there's one artist out there who had it all figured out (and on a whole 'nother level at that) it's David Bowie. Artists are still ripping him off to this day and I hope they continue ... because a world full of people influenced by David Bowie's groundwork is a much more interesting one. He dared to be great by daring to be himself. Because of David Bowie, there is now more room at the table for those who are different.

eagles of death metal - they only want you...to have fun 11/14/15

Eagles of Death Metal are one of my favorite bands. First saw them open for The Strokes back in 2006 and, having never listened to EODM's music and always being suspect because of the name, I was an instant fan for life. Such a fun, fun rock n' roll band. When The Strokes were done, all I wanted to talk about were Eagles of Death Metal and it's a love affair that's continued since. The people who died at their concert in Paris were there to dance, there to boogie, there to have fun. There are multiple storylines that can be covered and many ways to pay tribute to those who've been senselessly murdered by cowards, be it in Paris, Beirut, or seemingly everywhere else in the world, but I choose to ask you to dance Eagles of Death Metal. It won't bring the dead back to life and it probably won't change yours, but it's fun, it's joyous and it's a "fuck yeah, fuck you" gesture to those who weren't gifted with a sense of human decency. 

So, if you're near an iTunes, or a Spotify and you wanna know where to start, go back to the beginning ... 'Peace, Love, and Death Metal'

"We'll Dance in the garden in torn sheets in the rain" - 9/14/15

As much as I love music, there are only a handful of bands, or artists that I would say carry an emotional weight with me. The most unlikely of them, since they're billed as the world's #1 party band, would probably be The B-52's. One doesn't usually think deep, emotional and meaningful resonance when you hear the term "party band", but that's what The B-52's mean to me. Their music, specifically their album 'Cosmic Thing' represents the end of childhood innocence for me. That time right before the shift ... Right before something happens to you as a kid that makes you realize things have changed. Things are different and that's just how they're gonna be.

'Cosmic Thing' by The B-52's was the first album we had on CD in our house. Before that, I think we even had it on cassette. It came out right after my parent's divorce and right before we moved to Lafayette. I remember my mom playing it around the house, or in the car, dancing and singing with abandon to "Roam" and "The Deadbeat Club". As an adult, with a little bit of perspective, I can look back now and realize those were probably tough times for my Mom. Having just divorced my Dad, she was raising my two sisters and I, at the ages of 9, 6, and 3, in a town she desperately wanted to get out of. She was a single mom to the max. But when that album was on, I remember her being happy. Care free. She "danced in the garden in torn sheets in the rain".

Last night, Bridget and I stood in the aisles of Section M-2 at the Hollywood Bowl and danced our messes around ... "We were wild boys and girls, goin' out for a big time" ... I'm not usually a fan of the Hollywood Bowl as a space to see rock bands,but this was perfect setting. The party never stopped, the hits kept coming, the people were dancing, and there were fireworks to cap it off. For a solid hour, the Hollywood Bowl became a little Ol' place where we all got together ... "A love shack, baby" ... It's one of the best, most fun concerts I've ever been to, but most amazing of all, the evening as a whole matched the fantasy I'd always built it up to be. It was perfect. And for an hour, at the Bowl, with the perfect partner in crime, I was as recklessly, stupidly happy as I remember that 9-year-old kid being on his best day. This time, though, I'd lived enough to know how much the moment meant to me.

Lafayette (What's it Gonna Take?) - A Response to the Theater Shooting in My Hometown of Lafayette, LA

jail guitar doors

May 14, 2015

For the past two months, I've been volunteering for an organization called Jail Guitar Doors, a reform program that provides musical instruments, one day a week for about 3 hours, to any inmates with musical ability, or aspirations. The program was originally formed in the UK by Billy Bragg as a way to rehabilitate inmates serving time and the U.S. version of this program was started up by Wayne Kramer. Each week, we go down to the L.A. County jail and spend a few hours with these guys, giving them themes and helping them craft new songs within that small amount of time. Politics aside and strictly speaking as a person volunteering his time, I have witnessed firsthand the good this program is doing for all involved.

Our goal is to teach these guys they can have a different path when they get out and help them find the ability to communicate and express themselves in non-violent ways. The output so far has been some of the most powerful songwriting I've ever heard and I look forward to going each week because I can't wait to hear what they come up with next. The majority of our group are in for non-violent crimes, but each of them would be the first to admit they're there because they made a mistake. Our goal is to give them an outlet and educate them in the hopes that when (and in some cases, if) they leave, they will not go back to making the same mistakes that led them there in the first place. That they will, in turn, go back to educate their communities with the hope that other people won't make the same mistakes they did. It's truly been a pleasure to work with these guys and see the support they give one another during these classes. You can see what it means to them and there've been a few instances where I could tell someone was discovering something they didn't know they had inside them. You can see there's a chance for real change there. And as great as it is to see the pride the inmates take in the program, it's just as moving to take note of the effort the officers make. They've brought us in and allow us to work with these guys because they, too, feel that just because they made a mistake and wound up in prison, it shouldn't discount them as human beings. They want just as much for this to be the start of a second chance for these guys.

It's an incredible organization to volunteer with and, if you're a musician in one of the cities they have a program in, I'd encourage you to reach out to them. I've found it to be an experience that probably means as much to me as it does the people we're working with. If you know someone that you think would be a good candidate for this, I'd appreciate you passing this along to them, as well.

Stay out of trouble,
Levi

http://jailguitardoors.org/about.html