. . . some stream of consciousness . . . from an infrequent regular . . '97 . . . i checked out Boomtown because of an '86 Rolling Stone review, and well, sad to say, because my name is David, what the hell, i can be a little impulsive . . . after the first listen . . . instantly connected . . . i was born Northern California but raised in SoCal, went to high school near L.A., besides the music and lyrics, the stories resonated with me in a profound way . . . shit, i don't really no why, but the line “handsome Kevin got a little off track” brings me right back to JC in Stockton, CA and my self-destructive lifestyle . . . i've been playing Boomtown regularly since . . i've lied awake at night listening to DB . . . mourning the lost love of my life, my high school sweetheart . . . fuck, my mom dying in a car accident at 40 . . . fuck, fuck, fuck!!! . . . hoping, needing, praying that your music will get me through the night (full disclosure, yours and a few other's) . . . i'm still walking around . . . your music gets much credit for that fact . . . fast forward a bit . . . my first CD player . . . have to make a drive, about an hour, into Sacramento to buy Bedtime Stories, 'cause that has to be the first CD I ever play . . . through the years my ex-wife and i agreed on very little . . . but the times we sat, or drove ( a little too buzzed) and sang . . . Boomtown, Swallowed By The Cracks, Ain't So Easy, Heroes, All For You, Hello Mary, Good Times . . . shit you were part of much better memories . . . well then you seem to drop off the face of the planet . . . my life goes on . . . good, bad and so on . . . i then finally get my ass back to college as a dad and husband (a much better dad then husband) . . . stop at a record store between classes and what the fuck do i find in the bargain bin . . . Triage! . . . did not even know you had put out more music . . . now, honest truth, took me a bit to warm up to Triage . . . but as time went on . . . it sank in . . . Born to Love, really, how the fuck can a stranger touch me like that! . . . . of course, now i'm a bit into this new thing . . . the internet . . . i decide to “alta vista” David Baerwald” . . . lo and be damned . . . DB Infosource pops up . . . fairly soon afterward a note from DB's purported mom shows up . . . being the natural cynic I am . . . hmmm maybe one reason for my affinity . . . i'm not convinced . . . even after a minor exchange with DB, i'm not convinced (i asked about track listing choices, first three songs of Boomtown . . . and first three songs of Bedtime Stories excluding Dance . . . i'll stack up against any rock album, any era . . . i like Dance, but it feels out of place) . . . i felt a little giddy over the possibility of having interacted with a musician i dig . . .

here i should say . . . i love music . .. no . . . i love music . . . i do not think i could go on living without music . . .I was raised . . . sitting up late at night, young, very young, with my mom . . . listening to rock . . . from Chuck, Richard, Elvis, The Everlys . . . to . . . Buddy Holly, Carl, The Beatles, The Stones, Aretha, The Supremes, Marvin, Otis, Smokey . . . and on and on . . . hell in my baby book my mom she wrote about dancing with an infant . . . me . . . to “I Got You Babe” and Chain of Fools”

god i miss her

shit . . . music is in my blood . . .

well then . . . even though i'm more than a bit skeptical, i bit on the offer to throw down 28 bucks for some “outtakes” i expected nothing and with 28 songs received more of what gets me through . . . to me it's amazing that your music helped me in my marriage and then helped me when my marriage ended . . .

i saw you live in San Francisco and Santa Barbara . . .

you may feel like you are whoring yourself out, but those that heard you . . . hear honesty, sincerity . . . and amazing fucking musical brilliance . . .

and also . . . i've heard you in movies . . . Crossroads was a complete shock . . . and . . . i'm still very happy that you acknowledged my question about Hooray for Love . . .

up until now this all sounds like one big ass kiss . . . and a drunken one one at that . . . no . . . it's not . . . i am offering a little background before i go off . . . what the fuck . . .stop interacting with douche bags . . . politics and our planet are really . . . no . . . really important . . . and reactionaries are going to always do what they do . . . when it comes to city councils meetings, state hearings, federal subcommittee hearings, elections, protests, fund raising, movements . . . well that's where we react and stand up and hold the line . . .

and as much as i truly enjoy your personal missives on DBIS . . . well . . . your music, and lyrics . . . would inspire or support or comfort or motivate or stand up to or simply resonant with those who love what you love . . .

you can blow of DBIS or suppress that next album or avoid playing live . . . . if you want . . . or . . . bitch-slap a young republican whilst cruising down Wilshire . . .

you can pen an unforgettable song to “rouse the rabble” . . . you are capable, very much so . . . of both . . . it's up to you . . .

as always . . . remember . . . i'm drunk and in the words of Richard Bach “Everything in this book maybe wrong” . . .

D