The band has performed on Carson Daly's show, opened arena shows in England and been selected as iTunes' Single of the Week. After a busy summer that included the Lollapalooza, Sasquatch!, and Outside Lands festivals and a high-profile slot opening for fellow Portlanders the Decemberists on select dates, Blind Pilot is embarking on a national headlining tour to support their magnanimous debut, 3 Rounds and a Sound, released last year on Expunged Records. Initially a duo of Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski, the group now includes Kati Claborn on banjo and dulcimer, Luke Ydstie on upright bass, Dave Jorgensen on trumpet and harmonium, and Ian Krist on vibraphone.
Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski first met as college students at the University of Oregon. They played together in the occasional band, but the roots of Blind Pilot didn't take hold until the two friends spent a summer abroad in Newquay, England, a laidback surfing town in the coastal county of Cornwall. Nebeker says, "The first night we saw a musician playing on the street. A cop came up and we thought, 'This guy's going to get busted.' But the cop stood and listened, then flipped a pound into the guy's case and walked off. So we said, 'Oh, we're doing this!'" Nebeker strummed an acoustic guitar while Dobrowski, a fine art student, kept time on a makeshift percussion kit constructed out of a sketchpad and pencil tin. "I used that sketchpad more as an instrument than for artwork," laughs Dobrowski. "By the end of the summer, the tin was all flared out from me hitting it."
After that summer of busking by the English seaside, it was a couple more years before Blind Pilot became a serious endeavor, but when Nebeker and Dobrowski decided to focus on making music as a duo, they again sought the ocean air for inspiration. In2006, the pair relocated to the dramatic landscape of Oregon's Pacific coast, a few miles north of Gearhart, Oregon, where Nebeker grew up. His hometown memories are strung throughout the lyrics to 3 Rounds' "Things I Cannot Recall": "We took off sleeping by the river and the beaches in your car/Up where you taught me how to drive a stick and told me your family secret."
In the fishing town of neighboring Astoria, Oregon, the pair camped out on the top floor of an old cannery to prepare songs without outside distraction. The building jutted out into the water, not far from where the Columbia River's broad mouth collides with the Pacific Ocean. Against that tumultuous backdrop, the gentle songs took sturdy formation. Nebeker's honest delivery, accompanied by Dobrowski's uncluttered timekeeping, steered a batch of very personal songs to completion--much like the river's pilot boats, from which Blind Pilot derived their name, guide the mammoth, freight-laden barges up the Columbia.
Both avid cyclists, Nebeker and Dobrowski decided their next move would be a tour by bicycle. Once the songs were together, and a batch of CDRs was readied and hand-pressed, the two embarked without a map or any gigs scheduled. They biked down the West Coast, playing wherever they could along the way. The effort of touring by bicycle was reward in itself. "If we rode all day and we couldn't find a show, or we played for just ten people, we still felt good about our day," remembers Dobrowski.
The first Blind Pilot bike tour started in Vancouver and ended abruptly in San Francisco after their bikes were stolen. But when 3 Rounds and a Sound was finished in Portland last year, they toured again by bicycle, this time making it all the way down to San Diego with new members Claborn and Ydstie in tow--Ydstie's upright bass lumbering behind in a coffin-like trailer. Says Nebeker of touring by bike, "Ironically, the harder you worked, the more fun you had, as long as it's good work for a good reason. When you just sit all day in a van, that's not as much fun." Of course, for this upcoming national tour, Blind Pilot will be traveling by van--a circumstance borne out of practicality, and a necessary side effect of the group's remarkably quick success--but they hold future hopes to tour by bicycle again as soon as possible.
In the meantime, the songs of 3 Rounds and a Sound have stood up after countless miles of road- travel, and Blind Pilot has evolved into a live unit whose group dynamic elevates the music. On record, songs like "The Story I Heard," and "Go On, Say It" are intimately personal meditations, but in the live setting, they take on a communal, celebratory air. Nebeker's voice is buttressed by Claborn's and Ydstie's soaring harmonies, and the folk-spun, roots-inspired arrangements take on both the austere gorgeousness of classical chamber music, and the breathing, perspiring qualities of a great rock 'n' roll show.
"They're playing our song/Can you see the lights?" sings Nebeker in 3 Rounds' title track. "Can you hear the hum of our song? I hope they get it right/I hope we dance tonight before we get it wrong/And the seasons will change us new."
Those lyrics are of careful optimism--but Blind Pilot already has much to look forward to. Very near the start of their journey, they've reached a broader audience than they'd ever imagined, yet they're not willing to make themselves comfortable, even insisting that their first European tour will be via bicycle. "And one of the things I'm most excited about recording the next album is to see how different we can make it,"
Nebeker adds. "The sound that we have going is working really well right now, but I'm totally excited to mess it up."
I Buried A Bone
Blind Pilot Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And darling you don't know him
Darling you don't know him
Darling you don't know
And just where you are
Might be the right place
Might be that sweet space
Now look me in the head
I got nothing on my mind
I've been waiting for you
All this time
And I seen a path turn to an old road
But the secret's too slow
Or we're too fast
Now look me in the mouth
I got nothing in my smile
I've been waiting for you
You're just my style
Look me in the gut
I got fear for my own name
I'd dig it up for you
If you do the same
I buried a bone
And darling you don't know him
Darling you don't know him
Darling you don't know
"I Buried A Bone" is a love song that tells the story of someone who has hidden something away, something that the person they love doesn't know about. The song starts with the line "I buried a bone, and darling you don't know him," which can be interpreted as the singer having buried something within themselves, something that their partner doesn't know about or understand.
The lyrics continue with the line "And just where you are might be the right place, might be that sweet space, but you don't know," suggesting that the singer feels that their partner may not fully understand them or their actions. However, they still have hope that their love is in the right place, that there is a sweet space between them that they can find.
The song's chorus is an invitation to look at the singer - in the head, mouth, and gut - to see that they are waiting for their partner, that they have nothing to hide in their smile, and even have fear for their own name. The final verse repeats the opening lines, but this time with the addition of "I'd dig it up for you if you do the same," suggesting that the singer is willing to share their hidden parts with their partner if their partner is willing to do the same.
Overall, "I Buried A Bone" is a song about the complexities of love, and the difficulties that can arise when trying to fully understand and connect with another person. It speaks to the need for vulnerability and openness in relationships, even when that means digging up buried parts of oneself to share with another.
Line by Line Meaning
I buried a bone
I have hidden something important to me and kept it a secret.
And darling you don't know him
You don't know what's really going on inside my head or what I'm holding back.
Darling you don't know him
You don't fully understand my motivations or desires.
Darling you don't know
Overall, you are unaware of the deeper parts of me and my story.
And just where you are
You may be in a good place in your life right now.
Might be the right place
It's possible that you are in a beneficial position or state of mind.
Might be that sweet space
Potentially, you are experiencing a pleasant or comfortable time in your life.
But you don't know
However, you are not necessarily fully aware of the implications or impact of your current state.
Now look me in the head
Directly face me and try to read my thoughts.
I got nothing on my mind
There's nothing particularly pressing or important occupying my thoughts at the moment.
I've been waiting for you
I am ready to interact with you and share things with you.
All this time
I have been ready and waiting for a while now.
And I seen a path turn to an old road
I have watched a way of life or a plan shift and change over time.
But the secret's too slow
However, things have become too drawn out or kept in confidence.
Or we're too fast
It's possible that things have moved too quickly and out of our control.
Now look me in the mouth
Directly face me and try to read my expressions.
I got nothing in my smile
My facial expressions do not necessarily give away my true emotions or thoughts.
You're just my style
You seem to fit well with me and my personality or interests.
Look me in the gut
Directly face me and try to understand my emotions or feelings.
I got fear for my own name
I am afraid of being judged or misunderstood by others.
I'd dig it up for you
I would be willing to reveal a vulnerable part of myself to you.
If you do the same
If you reciprocate by revealing a vulnerable part of yourself to me as well.
I buried a bone
I have hidden something important to me and kept it a secret.
And darling you don't know him
You don't know what's really going on inside my head or what I'm holding back.
Darling you don't know him
You don't fully understand my motivations or desires.
Darling you don't know
Overall, you are unaware of the deeper parts of me and my story.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: AARON NEBEKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind