Fact. Good songs almost write themselves but good pie don’t bake itself. I’ve been writing songs for a long time. Longer than I’ve been baking pie. Back before pie was my life, I’d destroy my parents’ kitchen every morning prior to elementary school. My sister would be sitting at the table waiting for an omelet that was bigger than her head, French toast, pancakes, peanut butter toast with brown sugar. Whatever I was creating that morning was completely out of my head. I wasn’t taught how to cook or bake. I just did it. I wish I had photos from back then. It was a sight. I can still visualize the scene. The colors. Pools of egg and open bread bags. Cinnamon, sugar, butter, peanut butter, brown sugar. Our family kitchen would be straight fucked by 7 am. My mom and dad would come downstairs looking at the mess. Sometimes the reaction was laughter. Sometimes anger, but as soon as everything calmed down and they sat at the table, everything would get back to normal. Laughter, story-telling, breakfast critique, depending what year it was or bad haircut at the time, maybe a prayer. Whatever the case, food always brought us together. Food brought the whole neighborhood together. All the events in my life involved food. Every damn thing. It does for most people, I bet. It’s a bit more up front in my life being that it’s now my livelihood and has been for 20 plus years. Hard to believe that I’ve been a professional pie baker for this long. Not hard to believe is that I’ve been a rocker since eight years old. Wrote my first songs at that time and started my relationship with food around then as well. Food and music have always had a relationship for as far back as you can go.
Fact. If it wasn’t for pie and possibly a head injury I sustained in the Marine Corps, I probably wouldn’t still be out here sharing my songs. Pie puts gas in the van, pie gets people into the venue, pie gets me shelter.
Hell it gets the whole band shelter and the band traveling with us shelter. The quality of touring life goes up immensely when pie is part of the equation. I’m all of a sudden not sleeping next to some speed freak’s cat litter box. No offense to the speed freaks and yahoos, I sure appreciated the hospitality back in the day. I didn’t know anything different at the time and thought that was how it was supposed to be.
Pie makes everything better. Everything. Pie is Everything. Heard of The Pie Myth? No myth. You can break down everything into pie. Don’t really have time to explain, but if you’re half a psycho and obsessed by everything pie, then this is a book for you. When you settle up with the club at the end of the night, what piece of the pie are you walking away with? Probably not a whole hell of a lot. Have pie with you? You’re a fat macking daddy. You’re in a hotel or Air B-n-B. You’ve got a big smile on your face and headed to the Waffle House, late night, cause that Pie helped your ass out.
These days tour is a little bit different then back in the day. I start out a few days prior to my first gig by prepping enough Sweet and Savory Pie to handle the first three days of shows. CDs, Vinyl, T-Shirts and PIE are always my merch table. I set up an Air B-n-B with a good kitchen every 3rd day to bake for the next few nights. When I’m fortunate enough to have a good friend somewhere, I usually enlist their help and we’ll just bust pies out all afternoon, talk smack, smoke a little Mary Jane and have a blast.
Pie is social. Ever heard of a Pie Social ? It’s a thing. Never been to one ? Get to one. It’s a very lively event. People are passionate about pie. Very passionate. Pie brings folks together and that’s why I have them at shows.
It’s fun. Pie is rock-n-roll to me. I get that same electric feeling from seeing someone’s eyes light up when they bite into a slice of my pie as I get from a crowd fully getting down to an original song that I’m performing. It’s a kick. Ok, playing a song folks totally dig and are getting down to is pretty much the best feeling ever, but a bangin’ apple pie can almost produce the same jolt. It’s a fully satisfying feeling knowing that you’re getting to someone’s heart. Whether through their ear holes or mouth. Pie is rock-n-roll. Rock-n-roll is pie.
the museum of americana: A LITERARY REVIEW 