Constant Change (Be Your Own Guide)
I played this song many, many times with Jason, or Sparky, as I knew him, between 1999 and 2002 and it was one I always connected with. It is perfectly nostalgic and restless, never hopeless, and it almost dares you to underestimate its message: we are all on our own, and must negotiate a world where nothing is promised and everything is in flux. Our version of it appears on the live album we made in 2000, Mi Sei Apparso Come Un Fantasma. We always called it “Be Your Own Guide” (and a version with this title appears on an EP Sparky made with Ali Roberts and Will Oldham) but then for some reason it was given the title “Constant Change” for the live record. One thing in particular I love about the songs Sparky wrote in that period is how malleable they are. They could take on a very different character depending on whom was playing in the band, the mood of the audience, how much we had to drink…there was always plenty of room for me to stretch my legs on guitar and Jason was very trusting with our treatments. This version is very much my own but I like to think Sparky would approve. It was recorded by Greg Norman, who assisted on the Magnolia Electric Company session, and recorded much of my 2002 release Iron Night.
I played some of the best music of my life with Sparky, and I don’t think I really knew what it was to connect with an audience before I played with him. He was hilarious and beguiling and prolific and impossible to nail down. He is missed.
Constant Change from Mi Sei Apparso Come Un Fantasma
Performed and recorded by Nad Navillus
Bio
Dan Sullivan began performing and releasing music as Nad Navillus in 1993, eventually releasing two records on Jagjaguwar in 2001 and 2002. Around this time he was a regular touring member of Songs: Ohia, and played guitar on the 2003 release “the Magnolia Electric Company”. These days Dan lives in Chicago with his wife where he owns and operates Navillus Woodworks, a custom fabrication and furniture design business, and plays in the heavy metal/progressive band ARRIVER.
Links
www.navilluswoodworks.com
www.arriverchicago.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Sullivan_(musician)