Syd Caldera

Friday's performance at the Woody Guthrie Theater is a special one for me. I grew up in Tulsa, and the landscape here, the time capsules of the buildings, smell and weight of the air, rumbling of the storms, the way the sun heats my skin and the horizon can always be found, instilled in me a sense of adventure, like I wanted to walk and walk and walk and see what was out there. At the same time I remember feeling swallowed by the size of the sky and the length of the land, like I could turn my head upwards and scream, and it would just resonate for miles, and still no one would hear me. When I found the No Direction Home Soundtrack (probably stolen from my dad's CD rack), I fell in love with the magic world I went to when a man sang his heart out to the vibrations of guitar strings over wood. It wasn't polished but it was raw and emotional. I wrote Bob a letter that got returned to sender probably because I had no real idea how to find him. And when I read Bob Dylan's Chronicles: Volume One I learned how influenced he was by Woody Guthrie. And when I read Bound for Glory, I realized the dust I had kicked and dug in as a kid had a powerful impact on others like me. And later, I would drive back and forth across the western United States still searching for a place to scream and be heard; I'd camp on public lands and howl Woody songs into those rare galaxies you can find next to faults and mesas and canyons. Me and the land and the songs and my fellow travelers.

I have bounced from landscape to landscape. I've lived in Tulsa, Oregon, Illinois, France, New York, and now Rhode Island. Something I have learned in my travels is there are only a few things that bring me joy. One of those things is making music. I don't really get it but the closer I am to it the less I want to scream. Another of those things is the innate freedom of riding in the back of a pickup truck - wind, light, sky, horizon. It's these things that inspired the music video for my upcoming release Butter Me Up. I'll be premiering the video April 10th at Woody Guthrie Theater. I hope some of you can come celebrate with me. Tickets are now available at the link in my bio.

Behind the scenes from the Double Life video shoot a few years ago 😍 also featured in this photo are our favorite shirt, your epic pink coat making me feel seen / heard / understood and helping my dreams come true