-Read to the bottom because the most important stuff is down there.-
Pyramid Lake, NV.
In the winter of 2009 when I started the traveling portion of this project, it was a short trip to Reno, Nevada, to visit my mother. I had recently bought my first laptop, equipped with Ableton and Reaktor software and a couple of synth cracks. I travelled through the Sierras to get there, on the 395 highway route - one of my favorite routes in the entire country if not my favorite. I made ambient music at different locations along the way, as well as some of my favorite areas around Reno itself.
Reno is actually a place I partly grew up in because my mother has lived there since the 80s. I eventually became a traveller, so I eventually got to know the country in and around that city, which is far more interesting territory than the general public is aware of.
Reno is located in a large valley that separates the Sierra mountains from the Basin desert. With this in mind, it's a given that some amazing outdoor places would naturally be found around there. Many of them--I found.
Reno. Photo not by me.
Unfortunately for the public, Reno and Tahoe is also known for being only a "smaller version of Las Vegas," which is seen as a decadent, "scummy" town where adults go to purge their repressed desire for sin, or whatever. I never bought into that way of approaching the two towns. Those cities have as much "sin" going on as any other town, and everyone knows that.
What no one ever really thinks about is the fact that both Reno and Vegas are located smack dab in the middle of a vast desert wilderness, a wilderness that would be considered wondrous if those two supposedly lecherous and sinful towns weren't there to confuse the situation. And again, the confusion over those cities is just an established stereotype because of the mafia, the old west, and etc.. It's really not as horrible a place as our culture and history tends to brand it.
Reno. Photo not by me.
Personally, I love both of those towns not because they are at the forefront of culture and progress - which they aren't even close to - but simply for the sake that they are both huge oasis's of comfort in the middle of baron wilderness. That is actually a good thing to me, as much of an environmentalist as I am. I'm not hypocritical in that I completely blame civilization for pollution and then live my life on the grid, taking advantage of all of it's comforts on a daily basis. That's not my style. I try to preserve the environment and yet appreciate civilization and some of it's development for the good it has to offer. I am pro-environmental where I think it is a necessity--which unfortunately still happens often. But I can say this, there is nothing more decadent about Reno or Vegas than there is about Los Angeles or New York; they are both huge metropolitan meccas that consume to the extent that any ant colony would, and sin just the same.
Mammoth along route 395. Photo not by me.
Back to the story: during that first music trip I took in 2009 to Reno/Tahoe, I had recorded lots of cool ambient music, and filmed it. To my misfortune, as some of you already know, there was a car theft in 2010 where my car was broken into while I was gone and all of my footage and some of my music was taken. Long story that I'll get to in future posts. But the short part is that my footage from that trip had been completely stolen, and this include pretty much everything from both that year and the year before it. This even included my first Reno trip.
Because of that, I'm going to relive the entire trip again, right now. I'm on my way out the door to take my favorite 395 route through the Sierras and film music creation along the way as well as in-and-around Reno when I get there. Only this time it will be for the winter holidays, which is one of the best times to be doing this. Reno/Tahoe and the 395 are basically like friggin' magic during the holidays, and all of the great precipitation we've been getting this year (finally) will allow for great winter landscapes.
The entire trip should take close to a week, and I will perform at a different location each day.
Pyramid Lake, NV.
Most importantly, I will be broadcasting every location performance I do, LIVE, online, on Livestream.com. This is a major addition to all of my previous locations through the years, and to my entire project in general. So come and join me out there. I will be broadcasting from a new location each day, and possibly even more than one place on some days. But just bear in mind that yes, sometimes certain performances might get cancelled at the last minute, mainly due to cell-phone reception fluctuating out there the further you get away from civilization. I will stay in contact with you guys as much as possible, but sometimes I will drop from contact unexpected simply because of the signal issue. Sorry in advance. And I believe this is a small price to pay for such a great music novelty. :)
The event page to tune into these on-location performances will be here:
https://new.livestream.com/DeanDeBenedictisRelatedEvents/AmbientTravelsWinter2014
Check it daily. Or to see notices whenever I am live, you can either like my facebook page, or join Livestream and follow me there.
My Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dean-De-Benedictis/126273057677
Lastly, here is something to really take note of: tomorrow, Monday Dec 22nd, I'll kick off the entire trip with something extremely cool. I will be performing twice tomorrow, and the second of the two performances will be the important one. I will be performing a set of live ambient music at Mono Lake, in the mid afternoon, accompanied by musician Bruce Licher, ex-guitar player for the post punk band Savage Republic and the band Scenic. Bruce already lives in the town of Bishop (nearby in Owens Valley) so I contacted him and he was all about it. He and I were close friends with ambient music legend Barry Craig (A Produce), so we will probably dedicate our set to him. It will be roughly an hour of improvised lush ambient music with gothic-ish space guitar--perfect for the area and the cold time of year. Try to check this one out. Unfortunately I won't be able to give you exact times for any of these performances, due to weather, road conditions, location conditions and constant equipment adjustments. But like I said, you can either like my facebook page to get posts whenever I'm live, or join Livestream and follow me there.
The event page to tune into these on-location performances will be here:
https://new.livestream.com/DeanDeBenedictisRelatedEvents/AmbientTravelsWinter2014
My Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dean-De-Benedictis/126273057677
And/but yes, you should probably join my Livestream page if possible because I may not get a chance to update this blog after each location I do during the trip.
Mono Lake, CA, in a photo I took for one of my albums.
Also, I will probably do a short 20-30 minute set of live ambient music at the crack of dawn tomorrow, 7-ish am, Pacific Standard time, at Red Rock Canyon State Park, a really amazing little canyon I've known about all my life. This one is far less guaranteed because I won't know if I can get a signal there until the morning. If I can, I will broadcast some music. If not, then just tune in in the afternoon for live ambient music at Mono Lake
So here is my rough itinerary for the entire next week, provided I get a signal in each of these places:
December:
22nd - Red Rock, then Mono Lake, then possibly Mammoth
23rd - Bodi Ghost Town, then Bridgeport Northern Sierras
24th - Virginia City Ghost Town, then Downtown Tahoe or Reno
25th - Virginia Lake, Reno, then possibly Lake Tahoe overlook
26th - possibly Lake Tahoe overlook, then Squaw Valley or Heavenly
27th - Pyramid Lake Desert
28th - Donner Pass, near Donner Lake
At least half or more of these locations proves to be a successful performance, so I'm pretty excited. Join me.
And happy holidays / winter season / end of the year / whatever your poison. ;))
Best,
Dean
(Some of Bruce Licher's past projects...)
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