Every week, we’ll be posting a new illustration by David Lester. The Mecca Normal guitarist is visually documenting people, places and events from his band’s 43-year run, with text by vocalist Jean Smith.
I used to think landed gentry meant the wealthy had arrived. Landed. I’ve since learned that landed refers to owning land. What about those who almost got to own land? I guess that makes them the condo-ed gentry, occupying the box of air they’ve purchased without the right to control what goes on around them, which is the fun of owning actual land. Having said that, zoning restrictions and building codes thwart the aspiring landed gentry at every turn.
As a life-long renter on the cusp of purchasing property for the artist-residency project, I’m realizing that the trajectory for most non-musicians (at our level) has been related to jobs and home improvement leading up to selling to make a profit to buy something better (or as a method to increase the value of the asset in advance of selling in old age).
I’ve only just heard about something called the property ladder. It’s unnerving to have maintained a completely different orientation for so long, one based on avoiding jobs to tour and record releases.
“Water Cuts My Hands” from Water Cuts My Hands (K, 1991) (download):
