Mark Lanegan’s new memoir Sing Backwards and Weep just arrived today. The Screaming Trees, and all the members as individual artists have had a profound influence on me. I had the unique experience of living in their hometown during the grunge explosion – an event in music history not seen since Haight-Ashbury. I even worked at a used record stored owned by the first drummer. Famous Seattle band members would come in frequently to hang out including Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, The Posies, Reverend Horton Heat, Mad Season, and a whole lot more. (I’ve always maintained that the Trees were the best.) I was there when the Trees played their last show at the famous EMP in Seattle, which sadly marked the end of the grunge era – and the Trees. Like everything, all things pass. Plagued by in-band tension, fighting, and other common issues, the Trees unraveled like most bands do I suppose. Human nature and the creative drive doesn’t always end well. And so, the members of the Trees went their separate ways with all of them remaining creative and putting out exceptional work to this day. I will start to read this book tonight to take a stroll down memory lane, and be hit with the occasional revelation too no doubt. For the occasion, I’ve added a little music playlist on this post featuring 2 tracks from my 2 music projects which features 4 covers of Mark Lanegan. Tributes, but certainly not to the standard of the originals! The next book I’ll be ordering is The Singing Earth (a collection of musical adventure stories) from Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin, whom I’ll be seeing in Tacoma live, October. Things come, things go, but the music never stops.
