Pack your bags, leave a note and put down some food for the dog. Have you settled your accounts? Got your mind right? For you see, fare traveler, your trip is about to begin. Packing is not necessary. The music will release your baggage anyway. Your means of transport is a mystery to you. Whether you think you’ll walk, run or fly; whichever way you go, your mode of travel will only be the start of your expedition. This journey will go beyond the third dimension; through the air, through space, through time- you will leave what you know. The music and writing of Jordan Kempker is your true vehicle and the newest sounds from Wiz and The Warehouse Band will take you to your destination. But it is what you leave behind that will bring you the greatest reward on this trip. And who can say where you will end up? Had Emerson heard Last Stop Before Neptune, perhaps he would have changed his famous quote to tell us that music is a journey, not a destination.  

Since the advent of psychedelia, the self-chosen gatekeepers have struggled to set limits on what can and cannot fit into their nebulous scene. But even the wisest sage could not have prognosticated music like this, nor recognized if it fit into a carefully manicured genre. The art of psychedelic music evolves today, and we are here to give thanks for those that are willing to take us to newly created ports. Does the blues have a place in this landscape? Gypsy? It’s all part of the topography when we recognize the terrain is ever changing. Don’t judge, be curious instead; as soon as you try to fit this music into a box, a box you will become. Can’t you see that constraints only show limits? How can the limitless be classified? And yet, themes tie this music together like DNA ties me to you. Undeniable connections are made through the pedal steel of Mark van Allen, wrapping its warm sound around tales of what is to come for us all. The sound of Kris Karlson’s mandolin exposes your deepest emotions with each sharp pluck of its strings. Melodic trombone from Bill Reichenbach Jr. and blithe sounding flute fills are both full of whimsy and serious at the same time. And lyrics. Oh lyrics; tales of love so strong and love unreconciled, stories as old as the hills and stories as modern as the science we have yet to see invented. Jordan’s poetry is vast, allowing a true landscape to take shape, birthed from what we hear. We are guided through it by what we feel.  

Just as we think that we have gotten comfortable, as if the music has brought us to a place we recognize and understand, our world is again turned on its axis, with the written word and art of Jordan taking us out of the sonic and into the science fiction libretto of Luc and his adventures far from the world we know, yet consumed with the same struggles that consume us all. Jordan’s accompanying novella finds inspiration in the music and the music returns the favor. Both take us away from what we understand and weave in what we know, showing us that certain stories are timeless and have no limits, regardless of location in time and space. Still, our paradigm can change with a dystopian perspective, to show us that we are unique only in our minds; but the unbound feelings of love, fear and a desire for more will follow you wherever you go. Luc’s search for freedom and understanding are what tie us all to him and him to us. He is an everyman, no matter where in the universe he ends up. You will find yourself devouring the pages, seeing different elucidations of each of the songs from Last Stop Before Neptune with different, pragmatic applications of each affecting the life and story of Luc as he takes his Odyssean trip through space. The poetry of the music, the science fiction of the novella, your own interpretations of the sound and the places you find the music in the novella all wrap around each other in your jet stream, giving you power on your journey. But remember, fare traveler, your destination will be all your own. Catch a glimpse of the landscape outside of the window. Take in the world you can now see.  

The writing will challenge what you have always assumed to be the limits of science fiction. Jordan has shown that it is not defined by the constructs of science and man. Love and reinvention, poetry and interpretation; all are a part of science fiction now. The music too could stand alone, each song a lightpost of its own on this musical journey. But when tied together? They create a map that shows you your own unique path. We will all see it the same way at first, but the music representing so many unique places along the way can only be connected for you by you. No two paths will be the same. The writing will change the panorama, but only in so much as you allow it. For you see, you are at the controls. You have been all along. Jordan’s writing along with the music of the Wiz and The Warehouse kids have only provided you the vessel and the seeds for a new land. You will get there with each relisten, with each chapter read. For you cannot arrive until you understand what your destination will be and how you will travel before you arrive.

Are you coming back to earth? To what you’ve known before? Perhaps, but at the end of this voyage you will be changed. What you hear will be different. What you read will not be the same. You have passed through the world of Jordan’s writing and the music of The Wiz and The Warehouse Band. The sounds, the images and the words will become part of the collage through which you will see and hear everything from this day forward. Perchance, like me, as soon as you get back, you’ll want to leave again. But this time, no baggage comes along. You have everything you need. You are welcomed home to a different refuge. The trip will never end. Bon voyage my brothers and sisters. Bon voyage.

J. Stites McDaniel IV

March 2026