“Nobody  told you that nothing plays out like it seems; twenty years now, running scared of all of your dreams; Is it everything you thought it would be?”

Green River Ordinance  - “On Your Own” from the album “Out Of My Hands”

Every time I question life, and art, and my strength to pursue what I truly want and love, I end up struggling.  Sometimes I feel like my inspiration - so often derived from the words of others in the form of lyrics - is hollow, inasmuch as I claim to be inspired by so many songs and singers, yet still fail to move forward and act accordingly. And then there are nights when I simply know that, no matter my pace or progress, I’m headed to good things.

On The Rock Boat back in January, I stumbled in to the very tail end of a set by GRO, and was blown away by the back and forth energy between the band and the the crowd. After a few up tempo songs, lead singer Josh Jenkins called the crowd closer, and, as the entire quintet unplugged and came to the edge of the stage, he led the crowd in an unplugged version of this song. It was during these 4 minutes that I became a fan of Green River Ordinance, and also decided that I desperately wanted to know more about the song, and it’s author. What followed after the set was a brief conversation about that song and what it means to Josh, and that in turn led to a full blown interview with both Josh and bassist Geoff Ice the next day. (The interview will be posted in full shortly on this very site.)

My point is this. GRO came to NY tonight to play at the Mercury Lounge up the block from me. As good as they are musically, what continues to blow me away is how genuine and giving they all are, to their fans as a whole, and myself in particular. Their recent success and exposure, via VH1 and the AT&T Olympic soundtrack, is earned and well deserved. But at their core, they are 5 high school buddies from Texas, still excited to make a living playing music. The line above, just one of many about vulnerability Josh and the boys have written, takes on new life when held up next to this line, from the back of their current CD: “As a band we always try to be honest, and never want to pretend like we have it all figured out. We doubt, we run, we learn, we love, we trust, we make mistakes.”

Not a lyric, but lyrical in it’s own right, and brilliantly honest and aware. Running scared of my dreams is pointless, because that is a certain path to unhappiness. So I draw inspiration in knowing that even those who succeed question the path. Questioning is good. Time to actively seek answers.