On the Road to Inspiration for the Writer

Making a Run to the Desert—Joshua Tree: March 29, 2025

Hiking in Joshua Tree

Spending time in Joshua Tree is one of the best ways to recalibrate the mind, settle down. Spend enough time in the desert and the mind will eventually follow. The sweetest sound of all—silence—absolute peace, a divine comfort.

Kim Deal at Pappy and Harriets

Kim Deal performing at Pappy and Harriet’s

After a lengthy hiatus, Kim Deal, former bassist of the Pixies and founding member of The Breeders, if finally on tour with her new album, Nobody Loves You More. One of the finest songwriter, vocalist, bass player of Indie Rock, Deal once again hits the out of the ball park with a score of songs, tragically romantic, nostalgic, ironic, funny, and sweet. I went to see her on Saturday, March 29 at Pappy and Harriets. First, it was great to be back in the dessert, tripping on the landscape with the Yucca Trees and dusty trails, that brilliant great big sky. But the greatest moment was catching the sound of Kim Deal rehearsing with her band and hearing them play “Are You Mind?” For the past ten years, she has been working on her first solo album Nobody Loves You More while in the mean time taking care parents, particularly her mother who suffered with Alzheimer’s Disease for years. In an interview I read earlier this year after the album was released, Deal explained the context of her lyrics. While she was taking care of her mother who paused and asked “Are You Mine?” Though confused or uncertain, if Deal was her daughter, yet internally knowing she was. The sweet melody that goes with the lyrics puts one in a dreamy state of being. While it was maybe four o’clock in the afternoon when I heard them rehearsing, the song brought a nervous energy of loss, more specifically, losing a parent. As messy and complicated as relationships with family can be, it is hard to envision life without a mother and father, though time while they are still here is always running out.