Etten (NB)

Sharon Van Etten
11" x 8.5", markers/white out on paper, 2014

Rewind to May 15, 2011. A concert of the Nationals at the Music Hall in Cincinnati. The memory is a bit hazy as that whole month happened in a daze. The Nationals were awful, I hated their music, no other words, but the opening act I liked. It was a singer songwriter called Sharon Van Etten, whom I had never heard of (I had never heard of the Nationals either, mind you). Her name brought up the memories from train station Etten-Leur, a place I've seen many times on my travels from my home to my adopted studio in Antwerp. My own name comes from a town in the same province. Townes Van Zandt's name most likely originated from the town Zandt (in Germany—Ronk, as a town, I have never heard of.) Anyway, I got free tickets to the concert and an after-show party invitation to go with it (a perk, I guess, of doing this thing right here, right now.) The party never materialized. I was there with my friend, having a few beers, but the Nationals and Van Etten didn't show up and neither did my contact. (The story of my career it seems!) I forgot about Sharon Van Etten for a while but a good year later, after moving to the South, a friend brought over a cd of hers to listen to. (I copied it.)