Interview
with Janie McCabe
Janie
McCabe captured the first series of official Edge of the Known band
photos, one of which also graced the cover of their first album.
She’s the girlfriend of the band’s singer/guitarist Brandon
Chane.
Interviewer:
How did you first meet Brandon?
Janie:
It was at the Pumpkin Festival in Jennes. His band was playing;
but they weren’t called Edge of the Known back then. They were
billed as Witch with a Hangover. I was working a jewelry table at one
of the tents, and I was so intrigued by what I was hearing that I
left for a while to check them out.
Interviewer:
What was it that intrigued you about them?
Janie:
Well, it was him, mostly. I don’t mean to take anything
away from the other two guys. But you know how you can listen to,
like, a hundred bands, and yet there will be just a handful that you
really take to your heart and cherish – like, the music becomes a
part of your life that you’d never want to be without? I was moved
by this music in that way, right away, and particularly by the way
Brandon sang and his presence onstage. He was so passionate; and yet
he didn’t flaunt it in any way. He’s not a showman. In fact, he
seems to drift into his own world when he plays. And yet somehow that
was more captivating to me than someone up there doing acrobatics.
Interviewer:
And then the two of you became romantically involved shortly
thereafter.
Janie:
Yes. And I don’t know what kinds of stories he puts out about
it, but I’d just like to say for the record that I made
all the moves. [Laughs] I knew he wasn’t going to, though I could
tell that he wanted to. My man is chivalrous to a fault
sometimes. And that just drew me to him all the more. Plus, I’d
just had an encounter out in that audience with a creep with
absolutely no sense of boundaries, so… It was
probably the perfect moment for me to meet someone kind and
respectful, someone who thinks with his heart first. He’d probably
get embarrassed and deny that; but that’s how I see him.
Interviewer:
You’re blushing.
Janie:
Yes, well, if that’s a problem for you then you’d better
change the subject!
Interviewer:
Fair enough. You mentioned your jewelry table. Is that a hobby of
yours?
Janie:
Jewelry and clothing, I make. Yeah, it’s a hobby; but of course
I’d love to just devote my life to it if I could. It’s all
inspired by crafts of Native Americans and other indigenous peoples.
Not that I want to copy anything. I take their visions,
and work as closely with the same materials as possible, and try and
create something new that still pays homage to the past.
Interviewer:
So it’s your dream to make this your livelihood someday?
Janie:
I’d like to have my own shop someday where you could walk in
and, by the time I was through with you, you’d be decked out from
head to feet like a tribal shaman. And not only would you look
completely authentic, but I’d be able to tell you all about the
symbolic significance of everything you were wearing, too. You won’t
get that from any costume shop!
Interviewer:
That’d make for an interesting image for Edge of the Known,
too…
Janie:
Believe me, I’ve thought of that and have already mentioned it
a few times. Not that I’d want to go completely tribal…
but I do think that something with that influence would suit them
well. Their music sounds shamanic to my ears anyway. But Brandon, you
know, he can be hesitant about trying radical new things. I’ll just
keep giving him gentle nudges until he finally gives in!
Blurb
A
troubled young rock musician, a mystic mentor, and a generation of
lost souls longing for a new voice to emerge from the wilderness...
When
an altercation outside of a performance venue nearly proves fatal,
Brandon Chane begins to realize how far his life is spinning out of
control. His efforts to channel his pain, frustration and thwarted
loves into his music may not suffice to save him. Then he meets Saul,
a crisis counselor with the soul of an ancient medicine man, and a
far-reaching journey of healing - one that may teach him how to steer
away from the very edge of the abyss - begins.
Excerpt
I
suppose you could compare it to driving on a high mountain road. You
don’t realize how close you are to free-fall, or how sheer and far
is the plunge, until you go around a bend where one side is exposed
to open air and then there it is: The Abyss.
There’s
this edge that you can come to – I imagine it’s a different place
for each of us – and you just know that once you get swept over it
you won’t be coming back. By the time you’re close enough to see
it it may already be too late. You could find yourself teetering,
suddenly hearing the warnings that life had been giving you all
along, knowing that it’s become impossible to step back; because by
that time, those other forces – the ones pounding like the rapids
at your back, always trying to push you towards that edge and then
over it – have grown too strong.
Tommy
and I first talked about forming a band together before either of us
had learned to play an instrument. We both perceived music –
particularly, its heavy, extreme underside - as the ideal vehicle for
our personal salvation. The first guitar that I purchased, a Fender
Telecaster that I immediately spray painted black to my father’s
horror, became my refuge. It was my best friend and confidante. It
gave me a convenient excuse to avoid social situations that, more
often than not, would only remind me of how far off the beaten path I
really was.
About
the Author
"Probably
the most valuable thing that I learned throughout my spiritual
journey in this life is the importance of trusting in one's self.
Many of our cultural lessons encourage us to ignore or even fear our
inner reality. And yet it is this realm that really does hold the
answers to all of our questions, and can point the way towards the
most fulfilling life experiences possible for us."
Mr.
Mullins has lived in Maine, Connecticut, New Mexico, Oregon and
Vermont.
http://www.humanityswayforward.com
(Humanity's Way Forward - my website)
http://frontiersofconsciousness.blogspot.com
(The Edge of the Known by Seth Mullins - my blog)
"What
Casts the Shadow?" (The Edge of the Known) on Amazon:
http://amzn.to/1rkhffS
My
Amazon author page: amazon.com/author/sethmullins
