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: The thing I love most about touring with kids is that it makes you take chances; follow signs, look for adventure. We saw the brown sign on the highway for this carousel and followed it. Turns out, it’s 100 years old and perfectly restored. It was truly the most beautiful, hand-carved carousel I’ve ever seen. It had all kinds of animals, not just horses. It’s also fast! Since the animals don’t go up and down, it can go faster than other carousels. Please, make a pilgrimage there!
Video after the jump:
