Some of my best times ever were had at the SXSW music festival in Austin, TX. I had the opportunity to play there in both 2007 and 2009, but I first attended in 2006, right around the time I’d begun to write solo material in earnest. On my drive back from Austin to Los Angeles, I made a lo-fi demo in a motel room in the small highway town of Ozana. That recording is far too rough to include here, but later I tried to flesh the song out more completely in Venice at subSpot.
The track reveals that “From a Motel Room, Ozana, TX” was always more of a sketch as opposed to a fully realized song. But listening back to it made me recognize how I was already playing around with elements I’d return to later. The clatter of pots and pans (literally, there are kitchen utensils at use here) in the rhythmic instrumental section following the second chorus brings to mind a similar approach in “Blessing in Disguise” from Beneath a Balcony.
The other reason I think this song is fun is because it reminds me that at one point, I actually stayed in motels while on the road, instead of my car.
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