This is about Vandaveer. I promise. We will get there by way of a brief scenic route, a less-traveled path, a wormhole into a parallel universe beyond cellular or cyber reception. A graceful return to the music and musings of Mark Charles Heidinger, the dear Sir whose entity makes Vandaveer happen, will only require of you (fingers crossed) perceptive transfusion or insanity, depending on how you dig my digression.

I recently took my son to High Falls State Park for a hike along the river. There is a woman who greets you from a gatehouse with local information in exchange for a three dollar parking fee. She asks me where we're from and if we've been to the Nature Center. It's a great place to take children and it's free, she says. I tell her we're from Atlanta and, no. We haven't been to the Nature Center. She gives me brief directions and a glossy pamphlet with a map. Then she asks me if we've been to the Nature Center. I tell her no, not yet. It's a great place to take children, she says, and it's free. I thank her. She says, Where you folks from? Atlanta...

The Nature Center is a room of glass aquariums containing various genus of alligators, snakes and turtles, a small, ornate graveyard hosting the finely inscribed tomb of the man who donated the land to this preserve and a series of pine-strewn trails through woods where birds and small mammals live in cages. The grand finale is a Born-again Christian bluegrass jam on a stage alongside a field of two snoozing bison. There is one stunning creature in this otherwise weird and unsettling place: the red fox. I stare at a red fox in a cage, but I am gazing at a red fox in a top hat who freely reigns the cosmos. This animal is distinguished. I look for Hansel and Gretel to jet around a bend. Eventually, we walk on. My son and I make our way about fifty feet before the child turns and walks back to the red fox in a trance. I follow. He turns to me and says, Mama, can we bring him home?

That evening is the first time I hear Vandaveer. I'm spellbound. This is music I am going to have to live with, I think. This is music that will set me free.

In March 2007 Mark Charles Heidinger released his first Vandaveer album,

, on the Indie label Gypsy Eyes Records. When I ask him how this collaboration came about, here is what he tells me. "I first noticed Gypsy Eyes sending suggestive signals my way from across a dark and dingy basement bar a few years back. I eventually built up the nerve to glance back, first with a wink, then with a stare. Really, once you get locked into a staring contest with those Gypsy Eyes, you have no choice but to, um, collaborate." Notice that a pair of gypsy eyes stare out of his head (just look at them!) as he articulates his response in a manner both elusive and oddly existential. I'm at large in a posthumously penned Vonnegut novel, free to chat and chuckle with a highly intelligent and hilarious Pied Piper, who also, it seems, is a really nice guy.

Lisa: You're about to go on tour with These United States. Is there a bond between your bands aside from the same hometown?

Mark: A bond? Between Vandaveer and These United States? Ha! Nothing could be further from the truth, except, say, the truth! The bond and/or rift between TheseUS and Vandaveer is as diabolical as it is profound. Profoundly diabolical, even. Nay, what binds these two "acts" is a petty battle of wit, toothy smiles, and remarkably large hat sizes. I loathe loving TheseUS, which is weird and mildly masochistic, as I am a guilty and willing accomplice in said band's music-making ways. But such is life -- living, loving, loathing...

Jesse (from These United States) and I actually met a few years ago at an open mic night... Not long after, there he was, in my kitchen, drinking all my milk, espousing the virtues of "growing up in the Midwest," which apparently includes, among other things, drinking large quantities of milk. Jesse's a titan, to be sure. There are talented folk, brilliant folk, business-savvy folk, and follow-through folk, but seldom do the four meet in a single soul. He's got 'em all bottled up, tireless and unrelenting. I don't know if that's a Midwest thing, but it is a rare thing... Happy to be touring with TheseUS, happy to be pluckin' the four-string bass with TheseUS on this tour, and happy to've somehow turned the very first question of this Vandaveer interview into a clarion call to arms for TheseUS. See what I mean?

Lisa: Are you a D.C. native?

Mark: I'm a Kentucky boy, by way of Ohio, transplanted to our nation's fair capital as both husband to and believer in a great woman pursuing advanced degrees, stupendous graduate school loans, and long-overdue international economic justice... Said lovely lady has achieved goals #1 and #2 and now stands at the foot of mighty mountain #3, ready for the conquering. Meanwhile, I've settled in nicely, learning to love this crazy, confounding, little big city of a capital town.

Lisa: How did you begin playing music?

Mark: My dear mother insists my music career began in the bed of a neighbor's pickup truck in Cadiz, OH (birthplace of Clark Gable, no less). Tone deaf and rhythm-deprived though I was, I apparently gave a stirring rendition of "The B-I-B-L-E." I must say, I peaked early. It's all been a slow and steady decline from that high and mighty perch.

Lisa: Who are your favorite bands to listen to right now?

Mark: I'm sorry, what was that? My favorite Dylan bootleg album of the moment, you ask? Hard to say, but if you gave Charlie Daniels a pistol and a bottle of whiskey, demanding an answer upon penalty of death, I would have to say "Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Live 1975 - The Rolling Thunder Revue." Have you heard Rob Stoner play bass? Seriously. His actual birth-name is Rob Stoner. How can you not love a record with Mick Ronson and Rob Stoner on it?

Lisa: You are a suspect in the Madonna Fetish Mystery Trials. What do you like/love/worship about "Lady Madonna"?

Mark: I have been found out. I have been a card-carrying member of the Madonna Fetish Mystery Trials Recipe of the Month Club since I first watched the "Open Your Heart" video waaaay back in the '80s. Have you seen that video lately? I was that little boy, all suit, fedora & tie'd up, trying to sneak my way into that "gentleman's" club. And let me tell you, I'd have learned to tie my bootlegs quickly too if I had the chance to run off with her. Seriously, have you seen how they run? Fast, that's how. She even quit her job to be with him/me! So bold! So careless! So romantic! Really, though... what happened after the cameras stopped rolling? Who found the money when they had to pay the rent? Did she honestly think that money was heaven sent? Well, did she?

Lisa: What singer/songwriters have most inspired you?

Mark: The fearless ones. You can see it in their eyes, even in old photographs. Usual suspects like Bowie, Dylan, the Beatles, and Tom Waits... That last one even scares me now and again -- that's a helluva trait, to be so damned gifted it scares folks...

Lisa: What influences, aside from musical, inspire you as a songwriter... authors, poets, media, history, current events, films, personal relationships, fine art, good 'ole-fashioned people-watching...?

Mark: My late grandmother was a good ole-fashioned people watcher... the best, in fact. Had a dream I was speaking with her last night, actually; her laughter brought me to tears. Dream tears. Next thing I know, I'm swimming the canals of Venice, and my father-in-law's doin' the backstroke between two gondolas, graceful as ever. And all I could think was, "Just how fast is Venice sinking?" I suppose that sorta thing influences me in the most startling sense, but almost anything can if you pay close enough attention...

Lisa: What comes first, the music or the lyrics?

Mark: Reports vary, but God apparently made the heavens before he made the earth, so there must've been sound before there was verse... But for me, I take it any way I can get it...

Lisa: What happens when you bring your songs to the band?

Mark:With Vandaveer, bringing a song to the band usually means picking up my guitar and running new material by my trusty mutt, Monty. But he's not one to question or critique, loyal boy that he is, so it's a fairly solitary affair... Lately, I've been touring with a handful of dear friends -- Rose, a phenomenal singer/spirit from DC and Robby Cosenza, he of The Scourge of the Sea fame and frequent trap-kit, backbeat man for These United States -- both of whom have offered up thoughtful input and opinion. Vandaveer is a solo-ish project in the sense that I started it as a reaction to my other band, The Apparitions. The idea with Vandaveer was to not have a band, for contrast and perspective.

Lisa: How is the music you make with The Apparitions different from Vandaveer?

Mark: The Apparitions are to Guided By Voices what Vandaveer is to Nick Drake. Vaguely similar, but not nearly as prolific or fatalistic, respectively (and respectfully) speaking...

Lisa: What inspired you to branch out with the creation of Vandaveer?

Mark: Moving to DC meant adding approximately 550 miles to my commute for Apparitions rehearsals, recordings, and the rest, so Vandaveer was inevitable, I suppose. The more time one spends with oneself the more time one rights songs for oneself. Enough with the "oneself" already, yeesh...

The Apparitions is a collaborative affair, full of tugging, pushing, pulling, and shouting -- the collective hammering out of things. With Vandaveer, the arguments are resolved swiftly, usually with a swig and the shrug of a shoulder. Songs I write these days just sound more, well, Vandaveer-y.

Lisa: What can you tell me about The Federal Reserve?

Mark: Well, besides sendin' shivers up and down the sweaty spines of suit-and-tie folk far and wide, I think they're in the business o' monkeyin' around with money to somehow make even more money, even though they could just print as much of it as they'd like with a phone call or two.

Collectively speaking, though, the Federal Reserve is just a band o' like-minded singin', songwritin', folk-ish (but not exclusively so) music makers in the greater DC area generally tuned in to and turned on by the idea of banding together, cross-pollinating, and hosting monthly shindigs where we all celebrate the singing of songs. A little family of sorts...

Lisa: You've got one foot out the door for your European tour... any expectations or particular points of interest on the journey?

Mark: We have 20 shows in 20 days in 4 different countries, and we're still trying to figure out how the hell we're gonna get to and from each town in time to actually play. I expect this trip to be thoroughly awesome, exhausting, nightmarish, exhilarating, and altogether life-changing, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Particular points of interest include every single city posted here.

Lisa: How do your songs evolve or recreate themselves onstage?

Mark:Every venue influences a song to some degree, I think... It's much easier -- and liberating -- to steer a song in an entirely different direction when you're on stage by yourself... For this Euro/UK tour, I'll have Tom Hnatow from TheseUS accompanying me with a handful of noise-making toys... Very much looking forward to that...

Lisa: Any plans to tour the U.S. when you return from Europe?

Mark: Oh, there are plans, to be sure. I've been sworn to secrecy, however, and so I can only disclose the bare minimum. Recording on Vandaveer record #2 shall commence in November... Touring shall resume in earnest in early 2008. Guitars will be strummed. Songs will be sung. Couches will be crashed upon. Life will be lived, loved, and loathed...

Keep up with Vandaveer on myspace.com/vandaveer and vandaveer.net.... Well, try to keep up. He is rather flabbergasting.