After nine albums of sterling folk/pop/rock, Eleni Mandell had no need to alter her creative methodology. A chance stroll through the history of country music in the cradle of its development gave Mandell the blazingly clear vision to simplify her process on what would become the new Dark Lights Up. Mandell will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. What she will be writing about: “My kids are four-and-a-half years old (twins). We travel with my ex-boyfriend (not their father), who helps out as the ‘nanny.’ They have toured across the USA many times, but now they’re older and have opinions. The tour lasted five weeks, and we had a blast looking for fun things to do. Two places to avoid: Walmart and Cracker Barrel unless you want to listen to your kids hassle you to buy them stuff for hours on end!” Read our recent feature on Mandell.
Mandell: My kids had never camped before and just about went bananas when we finally found an open campsite in Eagle Lake (Lassen National Forest) near the border of Oregon and California. They were just about as happy and gleeful as I’ve ever seen them. Setting up the tent was as exciting to them as getting inside of it. Sadly, we were not as prepared as I had thought. The air mattress was wrong side up (the cold, slippery side); the ‘70s polyester sleeping bags from my childhood held the cold air in instead of keeping us warm. Rob and I woke up freezing and desperate to find a way to stay warm. Our comical attempts made me laugh uncontrollably, which hopefully sounded like a screech owl to the other campers. It was so worth it. The stars were mind blowing. Thankfully, I didn’t have a show the next day.
Video after the jump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZtR8meWKEQ
