Jason Traeger

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Anyone who knows me knows I've never been one to revel in the past. I'm the last one to cast a misty-eyed glance back at the "good old days". In my experience the people who take this angle are usually the ones who weren't there. Whatever mistakes, false starts and missed opportunities I've had the pleasure of having, I was wherever I was for better or worse.

This blog is not meant to romanticize any choices I made or any particular era. It's simply a place where I share stories and take stock of where I've been as a way to figure out where I might want to go next. I'll celebrate some people along the way, some of them you'll know or know of, others will be new to you. I'm glad to have known every one of them.

The posts are in no thematic or chronological order. The date at the end of the post's title refers to how the content of the post relates to me personally. I make no claim about the accuracy of my recollections I only promise that I'll be as honest and accurate as I can be. If you were there and you remember things differently than I do, or you find evidence that contradicts my memory (I wouldn't be surprised or upset) feel free to let me know.

Rather than editing the posts for historical accuracy, I'll put ( * ) next to any parts that have been challenged or updated for that reason.

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March 25, 2012

NOTE FROM CARRIE BROWNSTEIN TO CALVIN JOHNSON SLEATER-KINNEY OLYMPIA 1990’s

I’ve made my share of bloopers, boners, and blunders in my time but hanging onto this scrap of paper wasn’t one of them.

What did I know that few others knew when I saved this? After all, Carrie and Corin had likely only just settled on the name of their band when this note was written. I once did my best to convince Carrie that the two of them could do better than “Sleater-Kinney” for a name. I mean it would sound kind of like a law firm to anyone not intimately familiar with the freeway exits in Lacey WA. right? It wasn’t very punk sounding. They should’ve listened to me. It all could have turned out so much better for them if they’d gone with “Estrogenocide” which was one of the joke names that I lobbed their way.

What could’ve been…

The practice place Carrie is asking Calvin to use is, I’m almost totally sure (*), the “big room” that would become Dub Narcotic Studio above one of K Records former locations in Olympia.

Also, dig the pre-cell phone “I’m going to Seattle…leave me a message” part of the note. This reminds me of another fun fact I just remembered: the first time I recall speaking with someone who was on a cell phone was a time I spoke to Corin when S-K was on the road somewhere. I remember finding the idea that she was calling from a phone in a car that was being driven very trippy. Funny.

(* Carrie B. has since let me know this note was actually from the era when the band was writing The Hot Rock. The practice place she was asking about was Calvin’s basement)

Scrap of paper from my personal archives

3:50pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/Zl8DhvIZMTgI

(Notes: 116)