holley4734
That Summer Feeling
by T. Easton
I know Vivaldi had his Four Seasons, Stravinsky had The Right Of Spring, and Steve Miller had “Wintertime,” but surely Summer wins for the season with the most tunes written about it. If I was a gambling man, I would say that most of these Summer songs actually get written in the Autumn, because it is in the fall when nostalgia gets fully undressed. Is there any other season besides Summer that seems to last forever but also goes away too soon? Summer is infinite yet it is never enough. It is the true party season. Time to let it all hang out. No school. less clothing, less inhibitions. Time to wade out of the shallows and submerge. The Summertime is the time for exploration, and the time to get in trouble. Summertime is for lovers and for finding the self by leaving the nest.
The infinite Summers of one’s youth tend to stay with you like no other season. We remember the Summers, not the Autumnal spirit from that time. I spent many of my youthful June, July, and August months at a proper Summer Camp in Ontario, Canada. I learnt how to build a fire, catch a fish, and travel by canoe. That feeling of getting out into the wilderness has been a mainstay of my life and today I am going on twenty plus nearly consecutive Summers spent touring Alaska. I did miss one because of the pandemic, but only one in over twenty is a pretty good run. I just love it up there. Everything about it is more enjoyable to me, and today I try to encourage others to make their way up there as well. This encouragement especially goes out to any young people who are looking to enrich their lives. I travelled Europe for a few Summers as well, but today I go up North to America’s last frontier. Life is good up there and there is plenty of work and space for everybody.
Jonathan Richman’s song “That Summer Feeling” is my favorite tune about the nostalgia vibe of the warmest of seasons. I never play it live, but I adore the lyrical playfulness about flopping down on the grass. Occasionally I will play a jazz arrangement of Gershwin’s “Summertime,” and I learned that from my brother. I used to play it on the streets of Spain back in the late 80’s, and I had kind of a speedy rendition, until an African American expat jazz musician told me to slow it down a bit and play it like a bluesman should. “What is the hurry?” he said. “The summer is slow and hot. You are playing a gig in Madrid. You got a gig somewhere else to be?”
My Father would always have me play Summertime, no matter what season it was. He felt it. He would join me in singing it. He absolutely loved that tune and I cannot help but think it brought him back to his 90 plus Summers all over the planet. We Americans do not take enough vacation time, so it seems. My Dad made sure that we went on journeys. We made time to catch the fish and sometimes feast on them by the side of the water. Those are the memories that are permanently imprinted, and also the kind of memories I attempt to provide for my daughter. She has been to Alaska three times and has hooked into some really big Salmon. So big she couldn’t get the fish out of the water. That memory will last. We float rivers in Tennessee whenever we can.
I can almost see why Tom Petty passed on Mike Campbell’s song “The Boys Of Summer,” but it was his loss. Another Californian had to take a crack at it—in the land of the Beach Boys endless Summer. And why does the Summer seem to last forever anyway? Or why did the Summers of youth seem that way? I think it is a combination of two things. One, you do not have school to eat up the majority of your day. Two, when you have less years on the planet, the fraction of your life that is spent on Summer activities dominates the adventurous mind.
Other tunes that just pop into my head are Sly Stone’s “Hot Fun In The Summertime” which just lights up the radio every time. I also think of Seals & Croft’s “Summer Breeze,” which I saw them perform at Blossom Music Center when I was around 12 years old. That was my first real concert. There were topless hippy ladies holding hands and snaking around the field while smoking grass. That made a certain impression indeed.
I have written a few Summer songs. “Summertime Heart” was written several years ago when I lived in Joshua Tree. Much of Southern California is a place that feels like Summer most of the year. I was thinking back on my youth in Akron, Ohio, when we used to experiment a little and listen to The Beatles a lot. There was a girl that I was crushing on. I used to walk by her house a lot even though it was completely out of the way. That is Summer obsession at work right there. I was sixteen years old, and I wanted to know what love was all about. The Summer was the time to find that out. There are several versions on Youtube. One from Japan. One from when Dualtone released a recording of it that was made in a B&B in Idyllwild, California. One I did this week for heading out on the road.
Long live the music festivals of Summer when good times are shared and minds are blown. To witness several great bands in a row fills me with enough energy to travel the world, and I’m still doing it today. If there is one thing the Summer represents, it is traveling. You have to get out into the world. John Muir said “it’s a big world out there, and I want to see it before it gets dark.” Listen to the traveler. Go out and find your muse, your music, and your home away from home.
I will tour Alaska again this Summer, and even hitchhike a few times from show to show. It is part of my adventurous dream that continues. I hope to see you out there in the big world, before it gets dark.
Travel wild. May you find a poet who reads to you by the fire.
Take care,
Tim E. in Tennessee
TIM EASTON ALASKA SUMMER TOUR 2023
THUR 7/20 Sutton Library
FRI SAT 7/21-22 McCarthy Lodge
SUN 7/23 Palmer FishHook Bar
TUES 7/25 Talkeetna Mountain High
WEDS 7/26 Anchorage House Show
THURS 7/27 Anchorage Writer’s Block
FRI 7/28 Talkeetna Mountain High
SAT 7/29 Palmer SKEETAWK FEST(afternoon)+ HATCHER PASS LODGE (early evening)
SUN 7/30 Seward Yukon Bar
MON 7/31 Girdwood Crow Creek Mine
TUES 8/1 Girdwood House Show
WEDS 8/2 Hope Creekbend
THURS 8/3 Hope Creekbend
FRI-SUN 8/4-6 Ninilchik SALMONFEST
MON 8/7 Homer Kharacters
TUES 8/8 Homer House Show
THURS 8/10 Fairbanks Cardboard Castle
FRI 8/11 Ester Malamute Saloon
SAT 8/12 Esterfest
SUN 8/13 Denali Tonglen Lake Lodge
Keep up with Tim Easton
Website | Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Apple Music | Spotify | Press contact
Thanks for sharing this idea Tim Easton. Anita