This constitutes Part II in the “Bus 152″ post from about a year ago….

For the past year I (a.k.a., the publishing company I hired) tried to pitch (i.e., sell) my song “Bus 152″ (Land of the Living) to be a part of the film score for the new movie based on Jon Krakauer’s 1996 book, Into The Wild. The movie, directed by Sean Penn, premieres in theaters 9/21/07. My song did not make it on the score/soundtrack (yes, I am bummed) but I am glad this true story was made into a movie, regardless. It deserves it. Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) did the score and I think it includes songs from a couple of other artists whose names currently escape me. I suppose I’ll need to channel Mr. Vedder next time…

A petite history:
For those of you who may be late to the game, a few years back I wrote this little harmonica-accompanied song called “Bus 152″ that was based on this good book retelling the story and retracing the steps of Christopher McCandless, at the time a brand new college graduate who became weary of society and thus sought to live some portion of the rest of his life in solitude. That is exactly what he did. Christopher changed his name to Alex and forged his way to the middle-of-nowhere Alaska where he set up house in an old, abandoned bus used by hikers and hunters as a refuge. Christopher was not well prepared for the weather - he had brought very few possessions along - and was found frozen and starved-to-death a few months later by folks passing through the area. Krakauer, in his typically thorough and exhaustively researching way, recounts Christopher’s journey across America into the wild. It is both beautiful and devastating to read. Ideals clash with reality. Fathers alienate sons. Wisdom seems to forgo knowledge. Life, death, gain, loss.

In the least self-aggrandizing way I know how, I wish to point those of you who may not have my 2001 album, Land of the Living, to my myspace page where you can listen to the song in its entirety, and, if you’re willing and able, to purchase a copy of LOTL. You can also purchase the song or whole album on iTunes, if that’s your druthers. Either way, thank you for staying tuned in and interested in the highs and lows of it all as I try to get back in the swing of the information age.