Dues, the Paying Of

Nathan Shineywater, Brightblack

Well, when I came here in 2002 after a song tour down the coast, I was fresh out from Alabama. I had no "home" or four walls. The prettiest place I could find to sleep was the rural land along Highway 1. The ocean has a way of sending you right to sleep. I was living in my truck at various pull-offs and on the public lands. My song partner Rabob had no truck, she had a car, so she was sleeping on the beach by herself. One thing we had discovered on the road was that we didn't take baths and we had to go potty in raunchy bar thrones. So we'd stock up on those nice herbal baby wipes. That kept things manageable both on tour and while we lived on rural public lands, whose toilets don't come equipped most of the time. I don't call that paying dues though, I call it "Reclamation of Freedom." I'd rather go potty in wild places than submit to a domesticated existence any day of the week. Even if there ain't no baby wipes.