Studio Diary Part 8

The band descends

In which I teach Jenny what a C chord is.

Wednesday, September 27

There are several fewer parking spots available around the studio today, which can only mean that the rest of the band have arrived. I see Chris on the street; he’s walking to get a bagel. Inside, John and Jenny are getting settled in, drinking coffee and chatting. I set down my stuff and join in. Nice to see everyone after so long — it’s been lonely in the studio, just me and Tucker and assistant Ryan! Chris returns from his bagel journey with news: his phone as alerted him that Damian Lillard has been traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. We all dig for our own phones, frantically, to confirm this news. It’s true. The Lillard era of the Portland Trail Blazers is over.

The Nurkic era is over too, it should be noted, as is the Nassir Little era. There’s some sports-talk in earnest, hot takes about what the trade means and whether or not we got the good end of it. But we’re mostly getting our hot takes from the comments section of Blazers Edge — we’re no NBA trade mavens by a long shot. Once the dust has settled, we turn our attention to matters at hand: a new Decemberists record is being hatched, is being constructed piece by piece. Stone upon stone. The Lillard era in Portland might be over, but The Decemberists era continues unabated.