Treasure Excavation

Electric Lights Everywhere is John Paul Roney's blog. This is a featured blog. You can read more of his writing at johnpaulroney.blogspot.com.

Since moving to Nashville, we've discovered the joys of antique shopping. We first found it because antique items are waaaay cheaper than their modern counterpart at Target. Once we started frequenting antique malls, we started to notice that you could just sense when an item was more loved than another. Maybe it was from its expert construction, or maybe it was seeing that it has been lovingly worn over someone's lifetime. Finding a cool piece of treasure is a gift, but finding a treasure with love in it is a revelation.

In some ways I don't think it's surprising that we were drawn to antiquing, it's exactly how we got into our endless hunt for vintage instruments and equipment. From every tom in Ben's vintage Ludwig Vistalight kit, to Matt's vintage Telecasters, amps, and effects pedals, to my 61 Fender Jazzmaster, inherited from its original owner Hank Anderson; we've already been looking for pieces that were full of love without even consciously knowing it.

Now that we're writing in the studio in the We The Living castle, part of the reason that this time together feels so magical is that we're conjuring our own love and depositing it into the instruments we're using to craft our new album. Even beyond the thought of our friends being able to hear the love we put into the album that will mark this chapter of our lives, it's great to think of future treasure hunters picking up my Jazzmaster and sensing just how important and how loved that piece of treasure was.