Upcoming Concerts:
13 Sept. ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – UUFD DeKalb, IL
14 Sept. ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Concerts on the Creek, Rockford, IL
20 Sept. ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Me & Thee Coffee House, Marblehead, MA
21 Sept. ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Music on Centre, West Roxbury, MA
(Special Guests = Miles & Mafale)
22 Sept. ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Roots & Wings Concerts, Norwich, VT
28 Sept. ~ Joe Jencks + Bettman & Halpin in Concert at Swallow Hill, Denver, CO
29 Sept. ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Red Barn Concerts, Glenwood Springs, CO
2 Oct. ~ Joe Jencks + Sadie Gustafson-Zook, On The Tracks, Chelsea, MI
5 Oct. ~ Joe Jencks in Concert – Café Veritas, Rochester, NY
6 Oct. ~ Joe Jencks + Greenwich Village Folk Festival ~ ONLINE (Phil Ochs Night)
Dear Friends in Music,
2024 has been a wild ride so far. Brilliant and beautiful. But wild.
I did not make a public point about it at the time, because the world is full of concerns that desperately need our attention. But now that this period of time in my life has passed, I want to make note of it. After more than 25 years on the road and determined not to be the punchline of a joke about musicians, I have always maintained a proper domicile. This year, I was homeless for six months. It was educational. More on that below in my essay.
Please note the list of tour dates above, which can also be found via the tour dates page of my website: https://www.joejencks.com/calendar. I am excited to be playing in some great venues in the coming weeks from Boston to Denver and many places in between. Starting Friday Sept. 13 close to home, in DeKalb, IL. After a marvelous tour in Ireland and then a brief personal break from the road, I am excited to get back at it.
Please vote.
Please encourage your people to vote.
Please help others get registered to vote.
It matters.
Hope to see you at one of the concerts!
In Gratitude & Song,
~ Joe Jencks (9-12-24)
Real Estate Challenged (a.k.a. Homeless)
(c) Joe Jencks, 2024 Turtle Bear Music
First, let me say that it was strategic, planned, a choice. I was on the road so much between late December and late August, that parking my stuff in storage and banking the saved coin was valid. Holly Near did this for a few years. She realized that the infrastructure she was trying to maintain was not useful, and banking more toward retirement was. I figured if Holly could do it when she was already ostensibly into retirement (whatever that means for a working musician), I could too. For a little while.
Second, let me say that I achieved many of my objectives. The venues I frequent came back in vivid measure in the 2nd 1/2 of 2023 and into 2024. I am grateful. And I said yes to a LOT of concerts. I was coast to coast twice in the first 6 months of the year, including a tour in Alberta and Saskatchewan. From Boston to Albuquerque to Seattle, Green Bay to Austin to Saskatoon; I played 90 engagements in the first 180 days of 2024. But my lease ended, the building sold, and I did not have the time or inclination to look for a new place while deeply immersed in productive touring. So, I parked my stuff in a unit and at a friend’s place. And I finally started that Roth IRA. I was about to do that when the Pandemic hit. Nuf said.
Third, it was an exceedingly privileged form of homelessness. I could afford a good storage unit. A hotel or B&B when needed. I have friends and family all over the country, and a kind welcome in countless places. After a quarter of a century on the road as a musician, I know who has the good guest beds.
Fourth and perhaps most importantly, I became painfully aware of how difficult and stressful it is to spend so much of my time sorting where I would lay my head on any given night. And this from a guy who manages such logistics as an integral part of my career. But being without a home base or a sovereign space was psychologically harder than I had imagined. Especially in a life of continual travel and requisite extroversion. As an introvert who plays an extrovert professionally, the impact of losing what I call Turtle Time, compounded. We all need quiet time to recharge, and familiarity. All of this is real. But on a pragmatic level, there are a crazy number of institutions that will not accept a USPS P.O. Box as a mailing address. So, I had to coordinate with a friend to use her address for banking, taxes, insurance, vehicle registration, having a valid driver’s license, voter ID, etc.
In discussing homelessness and housing insecurity, we perhaps misunderstand the impact of the experience. Many people and organizations set up soup kitchens, food banks, and shelters. These efforts are to be celebrated, supported, and are very much needed. But what about an address for proper IDs? Banking? Vehicle registration, so one might seek employment in places where transit does not go?
What about the economics? A roll of toilet paper in some places is 5x more expensive if you only want to buy one, and don’t have a place to store a large quantity of paper purchased in bulk. Food is more expensive too, if you don’t have a place to store extra or even leftovers. Trying to maintain solid nutrition without a kitchen or storage space is difficult and expensive. Instead most people spend their longevity and health to the extent that they have it, in lieu of the money they do not have. And security? If you are living out of what you can carry on your person or even in your car, you are always looking over your shoulder to make sure your minimal amount of stuff is safe. That you are safe. Again, I have 25+ years of experience with some of this. But I was surprised at the cumulative impact of six straight months of being in motion, and without a clear home base.
Society not only misunderstands the logistical and psychological challenges of homelessness, we TAX it. We charge people fines for not receiving notifications of accounts that are due. We charge people fines for late payments, and then fines for being overdrawn due to the late fee that was automatically deducted from a low balance. And for those who cannot afford access to the internet? That’s a whole other concern in an era when so much communication from institutions to individuals happens electronically. And when people say they want to gift you some money, where can they send a check? It can take months for that to find you, if it ever does. And if you want to receive a cash wire? You’ll get taxed for that too. And BTW, you can be criminally prosecuted for fraudulently representing your home address (or lack thereof).
I did not have these problems. But I am pretty organized, much to some people’s surprise. Ha. I did however go into collections over three different medical bills. Actually, over the balance that Insurance had not paid. But they never sent a physical notification, that I know of. Nor email. I just started getting calls from collection services for $13.74, $31.62, and my favorite, $5.27. Five dollars and twenty-seven cents. For this they ding my credit score rather than send a text or an email? Imagine what it’s like if you don’t start with a credit score over 800?
And now, thanks to the sublime wisdom of the Supreme Court, municipalities and states across the U.S. can legally criminalize homelessness. Not all states are doing this. But, wow. NIMBY. Pass the problem on to others. Compassionate people work hard to help create a Sanctuary City open to immigrants and refugees, and especially those seeking political asylum. They work hard to create walk-in shelters and to address food insecurity in the community. And then their state criminalizes homelessness. Super helpful.
And what about our Veterans? How many of them did I notice on the streets as I was newly aware of the challenges of housing insecurity? How many young women with children, often families of color, did I see flying a cardboard sign all across North America? Thousands upon thousands.
And so, our society will pour hundreds of millions, billions of dollars into processing homelessness through the criminal justice system, rather than putting the same money where it is most needed, addressing housing and food insecurity. That same money could be used to increase access to healthcare of all kinds, thus reducing the number of people who go broke because of medical bills. The same money that will disappear into the criminal justice system (increasingly privatized) could be used to address mental health and addiction issues. It could be used to figure out how to educate and train people to enter the world prepared for the intensity and complexity of modern living. Any or all of that money would do so much more if directed differently. But I guess it’s easier to slam a gavel, and make homelessness illegal. All fixed. Thank you.
I believe that the cry of the Women’s Suffrage Movement of a century ago and the Labor Movement ongoing ~ Bread and Roses ~ still has merit. People need music, art, nature, wonder, and play, to lead productive lives. But how can people enjoy the beauty and grandeur of the world when they are stressed out over finding the next meal and a safe place to be? And now, dodging the PoPo for yet another reason, because simply being you is now illegal? How do we address the detrimental mental health impact of homelessness, when it is criminalized? The inside of a jail cell is maybe not where most people will find the hope and strength and capacity to reshape their lives.
Gratefully, I am now settling into a new apartment even further out into the cornfields of northern, Illinois. It is peaceful. I am fine. I was fine. I had options including money in the bank, work on the calendar, and an ability to pass a credit check with flying colors. I have a car. I had references. I have education and skills. I was sort of over-employed by my own choosing. And I am a white man, aged 52, with enough grey in my goatee to seem like a safe bet to most landlords. I am privileged in countless ways. And a very privileged form of homelessness and strategic fiscal planning was the right choice for me, for six months.
But I want to VOTE. And you need an address that is valid, and a precinct, and valid voter ID with your current address to participate in Democracy as we know it. I was committed to sorting this in time to make sure no one suggested that my vote was invalid. But how many people don’t get to vote? How many people, struggling with housing insecurity are taxed by the system? Criminalized by the system? And then get no say in the system? The number is BIG. We fought a Revolutionary War over taxation without representation. But we now perpetuate a variation of the same.
Next time you see someone on the street who looks like they might be carrying their life in a backpack, or in a cart, or in their car, I encourage you to ask yourself why our society has created a system that is willing to put billions of taxpayer dollars into making the problem worse, rather than better? The answer will be related to who IS making money off of the Homeless Industrial Complex. Now adjacent to the for-profit Military Industrial Complex, and the for-profit Prison Industrial Complex, and the for-profit Health Care Industrial Complex. It’s complex.
Please also note that one person running for President of the United States has boasted that he will, as one of his very first acts in office, eliminate the Department of Education. That will be helpful. Because if you want to keep taxing people without representation and you want to criminalize their existence, it’s easier if they are less educated. Literacy, numeracy, and self-confidence are anathema to totalitarianism. Inconvenient.
Last but not least, an invitation to all of us. The next time you see someone you think might be homeless, please also take a moment to see the person. Know that they have a good story. Imagine what it is? If you have the time or inclination, ask them about their story. It matters. Somewhere along the way, a set of decisions (often under professional advice), led that person to where they are right now: In front of you, with a sign, asking for help.
As Phil Ochs sang so famously, “There but for fortune, go you or go I, you or I.” A simple act of kindness and acknowledgement can change someone’s day. Change enough days, and the direction of a life can change.
In Gratitude,
~ Joe Jencks
Jake Jacobson captured this moment at Circle of Frieds earlier this year.
