Thursday, August 31, 2006

RICHARD BUCKNER TOUR DIARY ("Incoherencies")- Entry #1


It's doubtful that anyone knows the road as well as Richard Buckner, and he has graciously agreed to share his experiences and observations with us. This is the first installment in a continuing series. Sit back, relax. Buckle up. And smoke 'em if you got 'em.


Oxford, MS - 8/31/06 - 2:36am

Ole Miss Motel: An off-season ("'cept on game night") Taj Mahal too far from the redneck riviera to attract the a-list crackers. On the doors, are hearts with embedded room numbers --- possibly a holdover from the days, only a few years ago, when the rooms were rented by the hour. Beige and brownish-pink motifs invite you into a set that couldve been used in 70s porn. I also believe the room hasn't been cleaned since. Remnants of previous travelers sit, waiting to be discovered; something stuck to the side of a nightstand or a basin.

("What is that?")

("How did it land there?")

("When did it arrive?")

But, its around the corner from Proud Larrys and 1/2 the price of the more maintained cages around Oxford, MS. I was last here a few years ago. There were a couple of Springer-guest archetypes (females, we believed) next door, who talked at my guitar player and I as we loaded our guitars into our room after the show. The two of them were partying like divorcees on their first night out, but i think it was their one zillionth night out. They were somewhere between 19 and 49 years old, so any guess would work here. Tonight, though, its calm, with only a few southern trophies limping to the ice machine across the parking lot or to the trunk of their cars for the second carton of the day before goodnight-johnboy.

Andrew Bryant was playing a beautiful set when we got to the gig. He made me wish that I'd practiced more. We went on about 10:15 or so. There's a midnight curfew at Proud Larrys ("'cept on game night"). After a sonic breakfast sandwich and coffee, 551 miles tomorrow and a step-up bed-wise: the aging queen of motels --- Motel 6.

-buckner
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1 Comments:

Blogger The Sound and the Fury said...

That motel sounds like something out of a Larry Brown novel. It being Oxford, very well could be...

September 1, 2006 at 2:40:00 AM EDT  

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