July 4
Happy 4th of July, everyone
Greetings from the streets
Of innocence at dusk
Where kids roam free
And summer vacation stretches on forever.
Life starts to feel more solemn
As it creeps closer to Autumn
The burnt orange palette
Like cinnamon and nutmeg, is warm—
Welcomes you like an old friend at the door
But still a reminder, life is always changing.
You lost your only son
Three years ago
To a car crash at 22
Being a Dad is the best gift one can have
To have that ripped away is cruel
(As if covid wasn’t enough)
I wanted to take a moment to
Thank you from the bottom of my heart
For being a singer of songs
I wish you all the strength and hope
To carry on.
Rocky Votolato’s gorgeous album True Devotion was my soundtrack during the winter of 2010. Tough times in Michigan. We were in the throes of the great recession, and our economy was leveled. You know you’re in trouble when the auto industry’s on the verge of bankruptcy and collapse…in the Motor City.
The album was released in February of that year, the hardest month to survive in the Great Lakes State. This is the period when the sun disappears for months—you drive to work in the morning and it’s dark, and you leave work at 5pm and it’s dark. Again. Or still. I remember going into work early before the others arrived at the office. I did it on purpose. I would sit at my desk and play this album at a low volume, a new morning ritual. It was like a quiet meditation, a saving grace for me. A prayer that I prayed up to God. These songs were my comfort and companion. Even the simple cover artwork—all black with a red anchor illustration—felt like a small symbol of hope. “God, help me to maintain True Devotion to you during this brutal recession. Please save our company.”
The opening song is ushered in with strings, before Rocky’s acoustic comes in, setting the stage for some bittersweet table that is set before you. You feel an unidentifiable sadness to the tone of the songs. It fit the moment in Michigan. Maybe that’s why I connected and clung to this album so much. I later found out that the opening track, Lucky Clover Coin, is written about his son Kienan, who passed away in 2021. “You’re keeping me alive…”
There was a palpable gloom and grayness in the air. “For Lease” signs everywhere. I had the idea on more than one occasion to do a photography project, where I wanted to drive around to all the surrounding cities of Southeast Michigan, Detroit included, and take photos of all the buildings with “For Lease” signs out in front. I thought it would make for an interesting (and depressing!) art exhibit. I also thought it could be a fitting title for a documentary of this time—”For Lease”.
It’s impossible for me to hear True Devotion and not be transported back to that time. It’s hard for me still to listen to the song “Sparklers” and not get choked up. It stirs a feeling in me that I can’t describe with words.
“Bottle rockets and smoke bombs lying dead on the sidewalk”…
I finally got laid off from my job in April that year, right around my birthday. But don’t feel pity for me, this isn’t a sob story. This is me being my normal, reflective self. Being let go set into motion the seeds that eventually became Saint Creative—the company that I started out of dire necessity. The one I have been faithfully captaining for the last 14 years. To this day, I call it a miracle. Ask my friends. True Devotion, indeed.
