Gotta travel on.
I stayed up with the stars pickin guitars & woke up in West Virginia this morning. I love West Virginia. I’m out on the road again for the first time in a long while & feeling grateful to be out here seeing old friends & making so many new ones.
These last few years have been strange for us all, to say the least. As an independent songwriter, it’s been a pretty dissociative time. Getting the chance to travel around again has been a welcomed reminder of how lucky I’ve been to spend the better part of my life working on what I love & staying connected to so many wonderful people. All of whom, I’ve met over the years in my pursuit of song.
Earlier this month I got a call from an old friend. He was working to organize a labor rally in Philadelphia for Bernie Sanders & asked if I’d be available to perform some songs alongside the speakers. I ended up renting my PA system to Bernie & spent the week helping to organize with the volunteers. It was an honor & a trip to perform alongside the Senator at Independence Mall. It was a powerful day & I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in my small way. I believe a better world is possible & I love when music can be used for good.
I’ve been working on a record of traditional folk songs down in Fort Worth, Texas this summer with my friend Simon Flory. So far, we’ve recorded 10-songs live to tape with the help of a truly fantastic Texas band. I chose, & rewrote, some of my favorite protest songs for this project many of which are rooted in the early American labor movement. I was happy to get the call to perform alongside Bernie Sanders & other labor leaders this month because I knew some of these songs would fit well. I got to sing many of my own protest songs, as well as Joe Hill’s ‘Long Haired Preachers’ & the Almanac Singers ‘I Don’t Want Your Millions, Mister”. The latter of which I rewrote & recorded in Texas as an open letter to Elon Musk:
I don’t want your millions, Mister
I don’t want your diamond ring
All I want is enough to live, Mister
Give me back my dignity
I don’t want your Tesla, Mister
I don’t need your new spaceship
All I want is enough to live, Mister
Give me back my dignity
We all worked to build your fortune
All our money’s in your name
But wears the work that you did, Mister
& How come you don’t feel ashamed
You think I’m dumb don’t you wish, Mister
Call me green or red or blue
There’s one thing that I know, Mister
It must get lonely being you
The change I spoke of in the last letter is still ever present but life keeps moving too. Thank you to everyone that has been coming out to the shows & reaching out in all the ways. Some days I wish things would slow down & other days I feel like I’m not moving fast enough. I’m grateful for the constant reminders of the work I’ve put in or at least the ability to see it. Music has always kept me moving. So I’m still out here leaning into it.
As the weather cools down & we transition into the new season, I’m making more plans to be in the recording studio. If anyone reading this wants to support my forward progress as an independent songwriter, you can join the Rog Sez Supporters Club &/or the Roger Harvey Record Club at patreon.com/rogerharvey. I quite literally couldn’t do this without y’all.
Solidarity forever,
August 26th, 2022
*** be yourself & keep pushing.
