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one rhinelander's thoughts

Linford writes:

"(...and we'll come up with a fresh plan for potential renewal from the
vantage point of promises broken, haphazard collections of unreleased
all-over-the-map tunes being circulated, photos signed and unsigned,
lame Rhinelander Q&A Roundups with no real apple orchard to be found
anywhere and increasingly aloof bandmembers sequestered in tour buses et
cetera.)"



I have never been one to claim to have even half of the story (much less
a handle on the full one), but from *my* vantage point which is not
having seen the band since Emery '97, I *glean* negative vibes out of
this little statement.  It makes me feel both apprehensive and
discouraged with the present "over the rhine world" that we now
contribute to.  Far be it from me to suggest that an otr show would not
be complete if not for the band/audience interaction both during and
after a performance, but dang it that's what I've come to expect and
that's what makes the best live sets IMHO.  Like I said, my vantage
point is from about 250 miles away from the nearest concert (minimum
distance most of the time), and I haven't been able to see a show for
about six months so you lucky locals please tell me if I am way off base
in my interpretation of this NS, or does it read like a harbinger of how
"the times, they are a changin'"? 

It's not just this partial paragraph either, to me the whole thing
seemed to read more like a eulogy of a distant friend, (obligatory, and
strained) than a letter to a thousand of your closest fans.  Now before
all of you cutters and pasters out there start snipping this into a
mini-quote that suddenly characterizes my entire post--wait.  I'm still
grateful *and proud* to be a Rhinelander on the mailing list.  I still
plan to go see OtR *several* times this year.  And I am not just
complaining for the sake of complaining, But--I sense an air of
discontent in Linford's words.  I get a mixed amalgam (thanks Chris, for
the vocabulary!) of excitement and ambivalence from this mailout.  And
I'm sure we're all in agreement on his pen(swords)manship so I hesitate
to chalk this up as an example of miscommunication--although it is
possible.  

As I stated when I began, I don't claim to have the full story, and the
one thing I'm most certain of is the knowledge that there are
circumstances here of which I am unaware and will probably never be
aware, but thinking of "potential renewal" in the fan club instead of
just plain ole renewal, and thinking of bandmembers who sit on a bus
instead of coming out to talk is just kind of dissapointing after all.  

This is a band that I have watched grow, that I have seen suffer loss,
and reach success both before, during and in spite of that loss.  A band
that I have considered "my own" for a little over six years and have
grown accustomed to their music as the backdrop to most of my own
successes and failures during that time.  I have learned to appreciate
the members as human beings behind the art and  have even interacted
(although limitedly) with most of them on a surface level.  I realize
that what I am rambling on about is exactly what Linford is addressing
as "a perceived intimacy (with the artist) that can never be
reciprocated apart from the work itself." and I'm perfectly fine with
that.  I just feel that some of that intimacy is necessary to define
one's love for the work.  Think of your favourite book--there's that
intimacy again.  Think of your favourite painting or movie or play--it's
there in all those too.  Maybe I have gotten terribly off topic here,
but all in all I believe I have expressed how I was feeling about the
direction of the band and managed to bring out some other feelings that
I hadn't quite noticed (completely) before.  Maybe not.  

At any rate, while some of you will applaude me, and while some of you
will reprimand me (as has been the reaction in the past) I have to say
that I'm still very glad that we have this forum to bounce our ideas off
of each other (mostly strangers and some friends) about one of the best
and little know bands in the world.

So now, before I lose courage and delete this incarnation of the same
letter I've been trying to write for the third or fourth time this
week.  Here it is.  It's a little vulerable so be gentle with it.

Mark


and the furies that I feared 
were Eumenides to lead me here
here I linger

and the cadences we hear
may grow different in coming years
still I'll tell you

that I couldn't love you
any more
than I do right now.