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DMITRI MATHENY

  • NEWS
  • ABOUT
    • Bio
    • Awards
    • DMG
    • Beleza!
    • Horn
    • Commissions
  • MUSIC
    • DM Radio
  • EDUCATION
    • Lessons
    • Classes
    • Workshops
  • TOUR
    • Celebrate Cascadia!
    • Tour Support
    • Touring History
  • BLOG
  • MEDIA
    • Radio
    • Videos
    • Press Kit
    • Reviews
    • Interviews
    • Newsletters
    • Quotes
  • DISCOGRAPHY
    • 2022 Cascadia
    • 2016 Jazz Noir
    • 2014 Sagebrush Rebellion
    • 2010 Grant & Matheny
    • 2008 Best of Dmitri Matheny
    • 2007 Spiritu Sancto
    • 2006 The SnowCat
    • 2005 Nocturne
    • 2000 Santa's Got a Brand New Bag
    • 1998 Starlight Cafe
    • 1996 Penumbra
    • 1995 Red Reflections
  • SHOP
  • CONTACT

Viewing: Roots - View all posts

COURSE CORRECTION

A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s heaven for? 
—Robert Browning 

About a year ago I wrote an obituary for my father. 

I sorted through his letters and personal papers, created a list of his educational…

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THE BONNETS

When I was in kindergarten, if a boy misbehaved, the teacher would make him sit in the corner wearing a blue bonnet.

If he misbehaved a second time he would have to wear the pink bonnet.

I don't…

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GENERATIONAL WEALTH

“What did I know, what did I know 
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
” 
—Robert Hayden 

When the time came for Daddy Bill to move into hospice care, it fell to me to clean out his stark…

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HOW WE LIVE

“The more we share, the more we have.” 
—Leonard Nimoy 
 

Early autumn, 1972. Rural Alabama. Late afternoon. 

Daddy Bill and I are winding our way home in our muddy station wagon. We’re in high spirits, both of us…

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MEETING LELA | PART 7 — BISCUITS & GRAVY


“We all grow up with inherited genes 
and inherited sensibilities, and 
they run very, very deep.” 

—John Lithgow 
 

To recap: it turns out that my estranged mother, who left us when I was a baby, was a singer. Although…

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MEETING LELA | PART 6 — GIFTS

“All of us labor in webs spun
long before we were born.” 

—William Faulkner 
 

The next morning I asked Lela the question that had kept me awake most of the night. “Same repertoire? What did you mean by that?” 

…Read more

MEETING LELA | PART 5 — UNDER THE STARS

“The only thing new in the world
is the history you do not know.”
 
—Harry S. Truman
 

Since Lela’s last Irish goodbye, I’d grown up, moved out, finished high school in Michigan, graduated from college in Massachusetts, lived…

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MEETING LELA | PART 4 — AMERICA McGEE

“Myths are lies and therefore worthless,” CS Lewis told 
JRR Tolkien, “even though breathed through silver.” 
“No,” Tolkien replied, “they are not lies.
” 
—Joseph Pearce 
 

“Dmitri, I can’t believe it! How on earth did you find me!!?” 

…

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MEETING LELA | PART 3 — ADVENTURELAND

“Truth is not only 
stranger than fiction, 
it is more interesting.” 

—William Randolph Hearst 
 

After the Tennessee trip I called my father.

“Did you know that Lela was serious about music when she was in high school? She…

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MEETING LELA | PART 2 — CHATTANOOGA

“It’s good to know where you come from. 
It makes you what you are today. 
It’s DNA. It’s in your blood.” 

—Alexander McQueen 
 

In 1984 I was at boarding school in Michigan when my father called from Arizona to…

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MEETING LELA | PART 1 — THE FROSTY FROG

“Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, 
a long, long way from home.” 

—Traditional 


When I was a kid in Tennessee and Georgia I knew very little about my mother. 

I knew her name. “Lela Matheny” was written…

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PEANUTS

Daddy Bill would sit on the porch, reading, looking at his chinaberry tree, and eating boiled green peanuts out of a can.

After awhile he’d take off his shirt and rub brine from the peanuts can all over…

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SNAPSHOTS | PART 5 — CHEVY MAN

“That’s the great thing about being a teenager. 
You think you’re a genius.”

—Daveed Diggs 
 

Thirteen wasn’t quite the turning point I’d imagined last summer when I sold off all my comic books and action figures. I didn’t suddenly…

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SNAPSHOTS | PART 4 — CHUBASCO

“Your vibe attracts your tribe.” 
—Anthony Bourdain 

“We go back like car seats.” 
—Harry Bosch 

It can’t be an easy thing to raise a son. 

It’s a balancing act. To help him find his way in life…

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SNAPSHOTS | PART 2 — FIRST CONTACT

“What makes the desert so beautiful 
is that somewhere it hides a well.” 

—Antoine de Saint-Exupery 


Four days later we arrive, hot and tired, in the Old Pueblo. 

Daddy Bill pilots our dusty U-Haul into an open parking…

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SNAPSHOTS | PART 1 — LEAVING

Childhood memories are like polaroid photos in an old dusty box. 

They don’t provide a cohesive autobiographical narrative, only brief flashes of insight into the murky past. You sort through the random images, shuffling them like playing cards, until…

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UP IN THE AIR | PART 2 — SEASONED TRAVELER

“You've taken your first step into a larger world.” 
—Obi-Wan Kenobi 

 

When I was first starting out, my mentor Art Farmer told me what it really takes to persevere in this business. “Do you like to travel?” he…

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UP IN THE AIR | PART 1 — JOURNEY PROUD


“There’s no sensation to compare with this 
suspended animation, a state of bliss. 
Can
’t keep my mind from the circling sky. 
Tongue tied and twisted, just

an earthbound misfit, I.”
—Pink Floyd

 

I’m not sure when…

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MY THREE DEMONS

“One day, you’ll make peace with your demons, 
and the chaos in your heart will settle flat. 
And maybe for the first time in your life, 
life will smile right back at you and 
welcome you home.” 

—Robert M. Drake 

…Read more

THE HUNKER BUNKER REPORT | PART 4 — WHAT I LEARNED IN LOCKDOWN

“Honor the space between no longer and not yet.” 
—Nancy Levin 

“COVID-19 has taught us that life and health are precarious. 
We must not squander precious time.” 

—Tom Hanks 

This series of missives from the hunker bunker offer…

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RESOLUTIONS 2021: The Year of Renewal

Health 
Drink water. Eat vegetables. Take naps. Pace yourself.  
Cleaner fasts, more colorful feasts, smaller portions. 
Spend more time outdoors: walking, riding, fishing. 
Expand vegetable garden with new crops. 
Get vaccinated as soon as possible. 

Music 
Prepare arrangements…

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A Singular Patois

WHERE'S ROOT ?

ONE TRICK PONY


SOUTHERN EXPOSURE


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