Writer's Round: High Tea, Jamie Kent and South for Winter

Isabella DeHerdt: Hey, guys, how you doing?

[audience applauding and cheering]

You having a good Mile so far?

Audience: Yeah!

Isabella DeHerdt: It’s our first time. I’m Isabella.

Isaac: This is Isaac. Hi.

Isabella DeHerdt: And we are High Tea.

[audience applauding]

And we’re gonna kick it off tonight with a song called “Get in Trouble,” which is about a woman who finds herself living a life that she may have not exactly wanted.

[“Get in Trouble” by High Tea]

[gentle acoustic guitar music]

A little sweet house on a cobbled drive
Got a snow-blowin’, lawn-mowin’ man by her side
A picket fence was never quite her vibe
She sees it every mornin’

A PTA mom with the best damn bakes
Never late to a meeting, never late to a game
Her dad-in-law says she’s got the prettiest face
She sees it every morning

She buys all the groceries, she makes all the food
And her friends say she’s always in a real good mood
But she never says words she’s been told are too rude
Every single morning

She fights the want to put a drop of poison
In her husband’s drink, yeesh
Declare herself hysterical
Just to see a shrink

To change her name, her hair, her clothes
Throw her I.D. down the sink
And those were just normal morning thoughts
She thinks

Get in trouble
Drag race your soul down the street

Going feral
Let that fire burn free

Yeah-ah

And don’t you let them run you out, no
Don’t you let them pull you down, no
Steal away
And blow this town

Oh, yeah
Ohh

She goes to book club on Friday
She drinks a lot of wine
And she tries not to think about
The life she said was fine
See it is, it is, she swears to God
It is hard to get up in the morning
So she pushes it down and she powers through
She tries not to think about the girl she once knew
She can still sometimes see her in the mirror
Looking through
Getting dimmer every morning
So she fights that want to drive her SUV into the lake
Or to get into an argument
Just so she can punch somebody’s face
Lose a few teeth and bleed
Just so she can taste
Get in trouble

Drag race your soul down the street

Yeah
Going feral
Let that fire burn free

Mm-hmm

And don’t you let them
Run you down, no, no, no
Don’t you, don’t you let them, let them
Pull you down, no
Steal away
And blow this town

Ohh, yeah
Ohh ohh, oh oh

And some nights she says she’s gonna take a long walk
And she goes sees the cashier at the store down the block
See, her name is Rita, she thinks she’s hot
She wants to see her in the morning

And Rita says, “Girl, you gotta get out of your head
“No one’s gonna show you how to break your own bread
“And if Jesus were here, he’d say we end up dead
Don’t give them all your mornings”

Oh, get in trouble
Get in trouble
Get in trouble
Get in, get in
Get in trouble
Get in trouble
Get in trouble
Get in, get in
Get in trouble
Get in trouble
Get in trouble
Get in, get in
Yeah, yeah, get in trouble
Get in trouble
Get in trouble
Get in, get in

[audience applauding and cheering]

Isabella DeHerdt: Thank you!

Jamie Kent: High Tea, y’all, come on!

[audience applauding and cheering]

Appleton, how we doing tonight?

[audience applauding and cheering]

That sounds like a Tuesday.

[audience laughing]

It is not Tuesday, it is Friday. Day two of the Mile. Appleton, how are we feeling?

[audience cheering and applauding loudly]

I like it!

I used to write songs about, like, being on the road and, you know, and love and the things directly around me, and now I– The pandemic set me on an amazing, different journey as a person in the creative community, and I still obviously play music a lot, but I also am now a lobbyist for the music industry in Nashville, which is a crazy thing, right?

[audience applauding and cheering]

So this is a song that’s inspired by my being in the inner workings of what it’s like being in Nashville, which is the greatest music place, Music City, in the world where so much is happening. And, yet, it is a lot of people complaining a lot because it’s growing fast and it’s more expensive and traffic sucks and it’s all the things all at once. And that’s what this is about.

[“All My Favorite Restaurants Are Gone” by Jamie Kent]

Well, I live in the It City
Which means it’s the place to be
Yeah, it makes all the lists
It’s the American dream
Got Michelin and movie stars
Neon names on top of bars
Nothing gonna slow us down
Except a highway full of cars

[audience laughing]

Yeah, it’s the place that I love
It’s the place I call home
But all of my favorite restaurants are gone

[upbeat acoustic guitar music]

Well, one became a parking lot, the other a hotel
The rest became condos, the luxurious jail
My friends want to come visit what they saw on the TV
So the hotels keep on filling up
May the circle stay complete

It’s the place that I love
It’s the place I call home
But all of my favorite restaurants are gone
It’s the place that I love
Everything keeps on growin’
But all of my favorite restaurants are gone, yeah
All of my favorite restaurants are gone

Well, I got in early on my house
Now it’s worth twice as much
Hell, I’d love to go celebrate
But parking costs too much
The economy is boomin’, man
The condos grow like weeds
But there ain’t no houses left to buy
They’re all Airbnbs

[audience laughing]

It’s the place that I love
It’s the place I call home
But all of my favorite restaurants are gone
It’s the place that I love
And them seeds keep on sowin’
But all of my favorite restaurants are gone, yeah
All of my favorite restaurants are gone

Well, and every couple years
We look like a brand-new town
But if you want to chase a dream
No better place I’ve found
Yes, growing up’s got growing pains
No matter where you run
But mama said to make your bed
Before you go have fun

It’s the place that I love
It’s the place I call home
But all of my favorite restaurants are gone
It’s the place that I love
And I love to bitch and moan
But all of my favorite restaurants are gone, yeah
All of my favorite restaurants are gone, yeah
All of my favorite restaurants
Are gone

All right!

[audience applauding and cheering]

Thank you!

Whew!

Nick Stone: Now, that’s a Friday night, Jamie, right there.

Jamie Kent: That’s right.

Nick Stone: That is a PBS crowd ending right there, if I’ve ever heard one.

Dani Stone: Well, we are really lucky that we get to share the stage with these artists and even luckier that we get to call each of these bands and artists friends. So thank you, guys, so much for sharing the stage with us today. It’s so lovely to do this at Mile.

Mile of Music is truly summer camp for musicians. We get to see so many of our friends, not only from around the world, but also the ones that we might live next door to and be gone too much to see.

[laughing]

So, this is a song off of our new album. We actually played it here at Mile for the very first time four years ago.

Nick Stone: On this stage.

Dani Stone: On this stage. And this is about the people that change you, where you meet them and you know that something in your life has changed. Something in the stars has shifted. So it’s called “Something in the Stars.”

[“Something in the Stars” by South for Winter]

[gentle guitar music]

I went down where
The mountains spoke to the skies

You sang melodies
I learned to harmonize

And when it came time
To leave your arms far behind

When it came time
I placed my love on the line

Ooh ooh ooh
Something in the stars

Ooh ooh ooh
Shifted in the dark

And time was all ours

We crossed oceans like birds
That search for a home

Couldn’t find it
In all the faces I know

So when it came time
To leave your arms far behind

When it came time
I placed my love on the line

Ooh ooh ooh
Something in the stars

Ooh ooh ooh
Shifted in the dark

And time was all ours

And then I knew
All the Earth had felt it, too
And then I knew
That my love belonged to you
And then I knew
All the Earth had felt it, too
And then I knew
That my eyes saw only you

Ooh ooh ooh
Something in the stars

Ooh ooh ooh
Shifted in the dark

Ooh ooh ooh
When it came time
To leave your arms far behind
Something in the stars

Ooh ooh ooh
When it came time
I placed my love on the line
Shifted in the dark

And time was all ours

[audience applauding and cheering]

Dani Stone: We’re gonna hit you with a song we normally leave ’til the end of a set. So we’re throwing you in the deep end. This song is called “Scuba Diving,” and it’s about– May I share what it’s about?

Nick Stone: Yeah.

[all laughing]

Dani Stone: Yes.

Nick Stone: Yes.

Dani Stone: Guys, consent is important.

Nick Stone: Consent is enthusiastic and consistent and continual. Just ’cause someone says “yes” once does not mean that they are bound to it.

Dani Stone: Can you tell who is training to be a therapist right now? I feel like…

[all laughing]

But, so, Isaac, who takes such good care of everyone’s mental health and knows how important it is, at one point went into an inpatient program. And in that inpatient program, a doctor was talking to you, giving you words, affirmations, just kind of, you know, things to think about.

Isaac: He was the intake guy. He was supposed to decide whether or not I needed to be there. And he was like, “Yeah, you do.” And, also, there was no real–

Dani Stone: Do– Who was this man? Was he a stranger? Did he work there, are we sure?

Isaac: I think he was a doctor.

Dani Stone: And he said to you, as you were going into this program, “I want you to think about one word, or two words, technically, during your stay.” And they were the words “scuba diving.” To which you were like, “Thank you, that’s no help. What does this mean?”

Isaac: There was just a long pause before it, where he was like, “Like, I really want you to think about this one thing. I think it’s gonna be very valuable along your journey.” And I was like, “Thank you. I would really like some help right now, please.” So it was a little disappointing at first.

And it came to mean a lot, both metaphorically and just as a thing to hold onto and dream about and look forward to. But, yeah.

Dani Stone: And sometimes, life, mental health can feel like scuba diving. You’re in dark waters, and you’re trusting equipment that you don’t know if it will fail, and you’re just having to kind of dive in and see what happens. We always say, if you come to a High Tea show, we want you to leave knowing that it is the most important thing to take care of yourself, get help when you need, and talk to your people.

[audience applauding and cheering]

Isaac: It is super important to say this song is from Isabella’s perspective about that whole thing. So I’m gonna sing it, but to be clear, the line “I wish I hadn’t been so selfish that day” is not coming from the person seeking help. You’re not being selfish. Get help. Do whatever you need to do to get help. Do your thing, you deserve it. I don’t care who you are, get help. Yeah, that’s…

[audience applauding and cheering]

[“Scuba Diving” by High Tea]

[gentle acoustic guitar music]

You’re in
The hospital again

No call
No text
No end

And I’m feeling useless
While I’m brushing my teeth

Caught up feeling helpless
You can’t even breathe

Fighting your own damn brain
I guess God never was that sane

But I won’t show
When the doctors say
It’s visiting hours today

I’m on
The bus
To your town

They said
This time’s different
You won’t make a sound

I called your mother
Asked if you’d be okay

I even asked her
If she thought that I should stay

Going 70 miles on a Peter Pan bus
What the hell was she supposed to say?

I wish I hadn’t been
So selfish that day

Fighting your own damn brain
I guess God never was that sane

People die
And people still pray

But I won’t show
When the doctors say
It’s visiting hours today

Scuba diving
In the dark
Hold on
To something

Coral reef
Breaking apart
Hold on
To something

Scuba diving
In the dark
Hold on
To something

Coral reef
Breaking apart
Hold on
To something

Scuba diving
In the dark
Hold on
To something

Coral reef
Breaking apart
Hold on

Scuba diving
In the dark
Hold on
To something

Coral reef
Breaking apart
Hold on

[audience applauding and cheering]

Isaac: Thanks, y’all.

[audience applauding and cheering]

Jamie Kent: That was an amazing, vulnerable moment that it takes to get up there and write that song and sing that song and pour your heart into this room for everyone to feel and experience. And that’s, that’s amazing, so I’m feeling that.

[audience applauding and cheering]

[all laughing]

[bright acoustic guitar music]

This song is a little bit about my family and a little bit about our country here. It’s called “All American Mutt.”

[“All American Mutt” by Jamie Kent]

We got blue eyes and brunettes
Rainbows and rednecks
Good thing we’re in the land of the free

We got Scottish, Jewish
Well, Christian and Buddhist
And that’s just the branches of my family tree

Here I stand in these genes
All kinds of blood
Running through this stream
The many dreams that have been chased
Well, I wear ’em on my face
There’s so many cloths from which I’m cut
So just call me all-American mutt

We got Republicans and Democrats
And they get along like dogs and cats
There’s all kinds of crazy in my crowd

We got athletes and hippies
And they’re all somewhere within me
I may not be perfect, but I’m proud

And here I stand in these genes
All kinds of blood
Runnin’ through this stream
The many dreams that have been chased
Well, I wear ’em on my face
There’s so many cloths from which I’m cut
Well, just call me an all-American mutt

We’re all dreamers, outsiders
Lovers and fighters
Footprints made by every kind of shoe

We may not all agree on
The colors that we see
But they all make up that red, white, and blue

Here I stand in these genes
All kinds of blood
Runnin’ through this stream
The many dreams that have been chased
We wear ’em on our face
There’s so many cloths from which we’re cut
Well, just call us all-American mutts

We’re all-American mutts
Oh, I’m an all-American mutt
Yeah, baby, I’m an All-American mutt

[audience applauding and cheering]

Thank you!

All right!

Dani Stone: We’re having a debate with our set list. Because that song about mental health was just so stunning. It actually had me, got me quite emotional. That was beautiful. And makes me tempted to do a murder ballad about the use of psychiatry in the 1800s.

Nick Stone: Or…

Dani Stone: Or a love song.

Nick Stone: Yeah, so a murder ballad or a love song? What are you guys feeling?

Audience: Murder!

Nick Stone: All right, one more time, murder ballad?

[audience applauding and cheering]

All right, let’s not celebrate murder. But that was excellent. Or love song.

[audience jeering]

Dani Stone: All right, murder ballad it is!

[all laughing]

Nick Stone: What’s the going rate on choices of murder ballad versus love song in general?

Dani Stone: You know, it has a pretty strong hit rate on the murder ballads, but we know they want a love song when everyone looks at us scared when we say the phrase “murder ballad.” So we’re like, “Okay, never mind, wait. “Yeah, terrible, terrible idea. We would never do that.”

[laughing]

So, this song is also off of our new album. And just like High Tea was saying, mental health has come a long way, but it still has a long way to go. But I didn’t know until just a couple years ago just how far we’ve come since the 1800s. So, shocking.

Who knew that they treated women terribly when it came to psychiatry in the 1800s? Isn’t that crazy? Wow. Wrong use of the word.

[laughing]

But in the 1800s, often they used psychiatry to silence women who were considered troublesome, whether they were reading too many books or were asking their husband for a divorce or even turning someone in for assaulting them. There are all these stories of women throughout the United States and the UK and Europe that were put in insane asylums, and a lot of testimonies say that these women were actually completely sane, and there were all these barbaric treatments used against them.

So this is a song that we wrote about that and wrote it in a fit of rage, honestly. And it’s because when you treat people like they’re crazy for long enough, you can actually make someone go clinically insane. So this is for the women of the past, and it’s called “Underneath the Blood Moon.”

[“Underneath the Blood Moon” by South for Winter]

[twangy guitar music]

Barefoot in the garden
Do you hear me calling?
You’ve sown seeds for the harvest
Well, I think that’s tonight

I was barely 15
When you laid hands upon me
Silenced by a jury
You locked your secret safe inside

Madness
Isn’t that what you said?
Darling
They tied me to the bed in a white dress
Took all that I had to lose
Underneath the blood moon

There they kept us quiet
Stifled into silence
Locked in the asylum
I bought my freedom with a knife

Madness
Isn’t that what you said?
Darling
They tied me to the bed in a white dress
Took all that I had to lose
Underneath the blood moon

Ooh ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh

Insanity
What a way to control

With opium in my bloodstream
Ohh ohh

Locked me up so no one would find
All the seeds you sowed
But you’ll reap them this time

So run, run
As the madness takes me
Run, run
See what you’ve made me
Run, run
You got what you wanted
Run, run
Run

Run, run
I’ll show you madness
Run, run
I’m seeing red in the darkness
Run, run
You’ve got nowhere to hide

Madness
That’s what you said, darling
Red stains on my white dress
Nothing left to lose

Madness
And so you’ll have it, darling
You’ve sown the seeds for harvest
Time to pay your dues
Underneath the blood moon

[bluesy guitar music]

[audience applauding and cheering]

Jamie Kent: I love going from a song about neighborhood gentrification to murder! And now we’re gonna sing about the devil!

[all laughing]

We’re a fun crowd up here. Are we okay? Let’s check in. Are we good, everybody? We’re good, okay. This is a song about the devil. But it’s like if the devil was a little, had a little bit of a crush on you. And maybe he’s gonna be a little flirty when he steals your soul. But you cannot change him. You cannot fix him. You can…tune.

[guitar tuning]

[“Whole Lotta Lovin'” by High Tea]

[upbeat acoustic guitar music]

I got a black cat hidden in my blackjack hand
And I’ve been waiting for you at the crossroads, dear
I got a slice of heaven and a little piece of hell
And I’ve been waiting for you at the wishing well
I’ll trade you money and fame
Or just a leg up in the game
Maybe something pretty to put to waste
Maybe something more kind, maybe some of my time
Maybe something that both of us like

There’s something in the way you look at me and say
I seem just like the devil falling from grace
I got a whole lotta lovin’
I could use it on you
Got a whole lotta loving and some heartbreaking, too
Whole lotta loving, I could use it on you
Got a whole lotta loving, if you want me
Want me, want me want me, want me to

Ooh ohh, ooh ooh

I got a black spot painted on my greased palm
Sign it on the dotted line
If you trust me, dear
You smell different than those other kinds of fools
That make their way down this dark road
To face their fear
You got a glint in your eye
The kind that I’ve always liked
And something ’bout that smile just ain’t sane
Well, it’s a lonely trade, tying eight strings in a braid
But maybe there’s something here to gain

There’s magic in the way you look at me and say
I seem just like an angel if I had taste
I got a whole lotta lovin’
I could use it on you
Got a whole lotta lovin’
And there’s heartbreaking, too
Whole lotta lovin’
I could use it on you
Got a whole lotta lovin’ if you want me
Want me, want me, want me, want me to
Hey, oh

Hey, hey

Hey, hey
Won’t you hold me tight?
Sell your soul tonight
I promise just to take a small bite

I got a whole lotta lovin’
Whole lotta lovin’
Got a whole lotta lovin’, whoo
Got a whole lotta lovin’
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
A whole lotta lovin’
I could use it on you
Got a whole lotta lovin’
And some heartbreaking, too
Whole lotta lovin’
I could use it on you
Got a whole lotta lovin’
Yeah, yeah, yeah
If you want me, want me, want me, want me
Want me to

Thank you so much, we’re High Tea.

Jamie Kent: High Tea, y’all!

[audience applauding and cheering]

Isaac: Thank you.

Jamie Kent: All right, Appleton, this one’s my last one for the evening. And, gosh, it’s been so great to be back at Mile. This town is like a home away from home. You guys are like family. I’ve been, this is my ninth Mile, which is crazy.

[audience applauding and cheering]

It’s just been an amazing journey. And I think, you know, a couple– Last year, I wrote a song about it, and so now they’re stuck. You gotta, I gotta keep coming back now. Sorry.

[all laughing]

Well, I’m gonna play that song here to close it out.

[“Famous (in Appleton)” by Jamie Kent]

[upbeat acoustic guitar music]

Well, some days it feels like I’m swimming upstream
But I keep on truckin’, chasin’ the dream
With too little money and too little sleep
Some days still feel like the beginning
But some days, though, it feels like I’m winning

‘Cause my mom says I’m special
My wife plays along
Friends come for the beer and put up with the songs
But there’s still a few cities where the crowd sings along
I’m no Bruce, but I’m still having fun
And I’m famous in Appleton

[audience applauding and cheering]

Where the people, they listen, then sing the refrain
Where they buy all the merch
Chants your bass player’s name
Where the cheese curds, Lord almighty, they reign
Is this heaven I’ve stumbled upon?
Nah, you guessed it, it’s Appleton

Come on, y’all, let’s go!

‘Cause my mom says I’m special
My wife plays along
Friends come for the beer and put up with the songs
But there’s still a few cities where the crowd sings along
I’m no Willie, but I’m really having fun
And I’m famous in Appleton

Come on!

All right, y’all, this is, I know this is a dry establishment with no beverages in it currently, but hold up your imaginary beer and sing with us here! Here we go! You know what to do!

All the Miles and Miles and Miles of Music
The Miles and Miles and Miles of Music
The Miles and Miles and Miles of Music
The Miles and Miles and Miles of Music

Come on!

The Miles and Miles and Miles of Music
The Miles and Miles and Miles of Music
My mom says I’m special, my wife plays along
Friends come for the beer and put up with the songs
There’s still a few cities where the crowd sings along
I’m no Whitney, but I’m really having fun
And I’m famous in Appleton

One more time for the people of Kenosha!
My mother says I’m special, my wife plays along
Friends come for the beer and put up with the songs
But there’s still a few cities where the crowd sings along
I’m no Dan Rodriguez, but I’m having fun
And I’m famous in Appleton

[audience applauding and cheering]

I love you, Appleton.

[audience applauding and cheering]

Nick Stone: That is such an epic song.

[all laughing]

Dani Stone: Well, heck, that should’ve been the closer.

[all laughing]

Nick Stone: Yeah, what do you follow after that? Thanks, Jamie.

Dani Stone: We’ll have a clapping section in this song.

Jamie Kent: You guys got another murder ballad up your sleeve?

Dani Stone: Oh, we got many, but we’re gonna save those for the rest of the band. So we’ll go maybe, like, love.

Jamie Kent: Love?

Dani Stone: You want that pick?

Nick Stone: Yes.

Dani Stone: Sure.

Nick Stone: Thank you.

Dani Stone: All right, so…

Nick Stone: We’ve done a couple dark songs. I think it’s time to end on a happy note. What do you think?

Dani Stone: Hell yeah.

[audience applauding and cheering]

If you recognize Nick’s accent, it’s not Australian.

Nick Stone: Thank you.

Dani Stone: It’s New Zealander, it’s Kiwi. It’s not actually an insult to call them a Kiwi. That’s what they call themselves, don’t worry.

Nick Stone: We call kiwi fruit kiwi fruit. That’s just to distinguish the difference there.

Dani Stone: So this is a song off our first EP. It’s a love song to New Zealand, where Nick is from, and Colorado, where I’m from.

Nick Stone: More importantly, it was actually our wedding song. So if you’re here with a loved one, you know, hold them close and, uh…

Dani Stone: So gross.

Nick Stone: Aw, you wrote it.

[all laughing]

[“How the Mountain” by South for Winter]

[gentle mandolin and acoustic guitar music]

Nick Stone: Lost my way in the blue of the skies
Married the road, and she was kind
Had no roots, no ties to bind
Until you slowed these feet of mine

Dani Stone: I saw you there on a path less walked
But you seemed quite far from lost
You danced me around to the riversong
And I was yours from that time on

And how the mountain
Loves the moon
How the asters
Love to bloom
How the bellbird
Loves to sing
I love you more than all those things

[audience laughing]

No more the skies tempt and persuade
They leave rain for these roots I lay
Wild rose, grow where you may
You’ll find me there each dawn you wake

For how the mountain
Loves the moon
How the asters
Love to bloom
How the bellbird
Loves to sing
I love you more than all those things

I love you more than all those

Nick Stone: You guys feel like doing a little clapping? What do you reckon? We can get that going. Appleton, you can get louder than that. One, two, three, four!

[lively mandolin and acoustic guitar music]

Whoo!

Ahh, ahh ahh

Ahh, ahh ahh

Ohh, ohh ohh

I love you more, oh
Than all those things

I love you more than all those

Nick Stone: Give yourselves a round of applause!

Dani Stone: Thank you, Appleton!

Nick Stone: We love you, Appleton!

Dani Stone: Thank you, Jamie Kent and High Tea! Thank you for having us.

Nick Stone: Thank you, Appleton, we love you!

[audience applauding and cheering]

[audience applauding and cheering]