It’s taken me about thirty minutes to write this sentence - Edinson Cavani’s just put Uruguay 3-0 up on Russia, and it's impossible being a passive spectator while the world’s game’s showcased at the highest level.

Our set at Arroyo Seco was fun! 45 mins, play the hits (hit, in our case), and get the hell off the stage so the Revolution can melt faces. Evidently we gave the producer from Duck Dynasty artist passes. Oh, Los Angeles.

Festivals are great, especially when you play earlier in the day, because you’re able to catch acts not necessarily on your radar. Alanis Morissette was bananas. So good. Hit after hit after hit and jesus christ, that’s her song too?! Zero production, blessedly free of gimmicks, just a stellar band, her still-pitch-perfect, iconic voice, and SONGS.

Alanis’s tunes were more than just hits. Lots of songs top some arbitrary chart and quickly fade - hers entered the cultural lexicon. On any Greatest Songs of the 90’s list, “You Outta Know” is in the top 10, and her set at Arroyo Seco made me appreciate how vital writing great songs really is. As artists, we're expected to cover so many bases, and between myriad analytics, fulfilling Patreon requests and managing our Shopify accounts, actually writing a great song's often relegated to the back burner - it's the last thing most label/management types seem to give a shit about. But I can tell you from first hand experience, when the songs are there, everything's a synch. When they're not, that's when predatory suit types start circling and hearts run for the hills. Better to focus on making great art and trust that the universe is pretty good at opening doors when it's time.

I’m grateful for the legendary artists who’ve set the bar so high.