Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes
“As you probably know, Dayton is the home of the Wright Brothers, the Dayton Peace Accords, and Guided By Voices, the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band of the modern era, in my humble opinion.” - Jay Carney, Obama's Press Secretary
Remember that excited feeling you used to have when you found out a band you loved were coming to town? When I was a freshman in college in Boston I would make sure to get the Boston Phoenix on the day it came out every week. I would get it out of the bin and pour over the club listings there on the sidewalk to see if there was anyone I'd heard of planning on coming to town. When a band I knew appeared my elation would be abounding. I'd immediately start assembling a group to go to the show with me. Then I would go to the actual real life box office on the day tickets went on sale. I'd take those tickets home, stick them in my dorm room desk drawer and check on them daily to make sure I still knew where they were until the night of the show. This is exactly how it all went down when I saw that Guided By Voices were playing downstairs at the Middle East. 18-year-old me could not believe it. How could I be so lucky? I assembled a group - even brought a few high school friends up from boring Connecticut for this one. As I was underage, my usual fun-times-rock-show trick at that time was to fill an empty Snapple bottle with Captain Morgans and sneak it in. Blech! But it worked every time. We got there early and got my usual spot right front and center. Before every Guided By Voices show actually begins - while the mics are checked and the guitars tuned - there is the ceremonial wheeling out of the big red cooler. Inside this cooler is at least 30 12oz cans of Budweiser - all of which singer Robert Pollard will drink on stage during the next couple of hours. The show was a bit of a Snapple blur but did not disappoint. We all ended up getting exceptionally drunk and I'm not sure if the band was trying to keep up with us or we were trying to keep up with them. Either way something pushed us all to the limits. The show ended with someone bringing a giant silver bowl of potato salad onto the stage. One of the roadies proceeded to pull down their pants, jump high in the air and land bare ass-first in the bowl. Potato salad on us all. I was recently told that I shot off a bottle rocket inside of a laundromat on the walk home from the show. Sheesh! How did they even let me into the club with fireworks? Anyway, enjoy the GBV but avoid the Captain Morgan's, kids.
- Will Pratt 9/1/20
Jesus Antonio Urquina - Acevedo, Colombia
Our other release from Acevedo this year comes from third generation coffee Farmer Jesus Antonio Urquina. Jesus' farm, El Mirador, is located at 1,600 meters above sea level, which is the absolute sweet spot for coffees coming from this region. The surrounding cloud forests keep temperatures cool and promote flavor development that you might find more at higher altitudes. The passion Jesus has for his coffee is evident in how it tastes, but finding adequate help in this region of Colombia is difficult even for farmers who pay premiums for pickers. When Jesus brought his coffee to the Acevedo Cup this year he placed ninth overall, tieing with our friend Gloria Silva.