"Don't wanna be an American idiot."
Green Day

Hello,

I am writing to request asylum for my friend, an American refugee who has been living in Mexico for over 4 years.  The leader of "Nathan Payne & The Wild Bores," Nathan Payne is an American songwriter who abandoned the U.S. in a state of professional and existential burnout 2 weeks before the contentious 2020 presidential election.  After years of aimless wandering around Mexico, he recently started the Mexico chapter of his band in San José Iturbide, a sunny, gringo-proof oasis of simmering hostility in the state of Guanajuato. 

Guanajuato is one of the most dangerous states in Mexico, being disputed territory between the CJNG and Gulf cartels.  Two musicians were recently executed in the town of Villagran, and a known money launderer was murdered in front of the local bar La Crude in November, which venue Nathan and his new band have been scouting for potential gigs.  The Mexican police working security at the door frisk everyone who enters, and confiscate any weaponry they find.  Nathan's bassist, a Nahua Indian with a jazz background who speaks 4 languages and has a love for Charles Mingus, had to surrender a small knife to the tattooed special forces operatives draped in Mexican flag patches and Punisher logos.  The knife was returned to him when they left the venue.

"Nathan Payne & The Wild Bores" is a psychedelic rockabilly band Nathan operates like a motorcycle gang.  The band is comprised of different chapters, different rhythm sections scattered throughout the U.S. and Latin America like so much Rock & Roll confetti.  Having different rhythm sections reduces the logistical and commitment difficulties for the band, and creates a different listening experience for the audience, depending on the region.  Having played shows from Bellingham to Buenos Aires, Nathan Payne & The Wild Bores is seriously considering returning to the United States.

In a display of dubious outlaw wisdom and Herculean lack of foresight, Nathan has allowed all of his legal documentation to expire, with the exception of his passport.  The license plates on his van expired in 2023, but thanks to a legal team of stray dogs and a Sharpie, they are now valid until 2028.  His driver's license has also expired.  Being well-acquainted with the standard roadside fleecing by drunken Mexican narco cops, the famous "mordida," or "little bite," Nathan has only ever been asked for identification or legal documentation a few times.  Usually, the cops just ask for money and wave him through.  The drunken, cigarette-smoking Mexican cop who ambles up to the driver's-side window in search of a payoff isn't interested in the law.  The only thing he cares about is money.

To date, it has never been a problem.

However, with the new administration, the concern that Mexico will become dangerous territory for American expats, combined with the offhand comment made by his bassist that perhaps Mexico will be "able" to re-annex Texas and New Mexico into the lawless narco state, like it's a good thing, has made Nathan go full Easy Rider on everybody.  Texas is Nathan's favorite country on earth.  Them's my people, he said to the smoking Mexican landscape, tornadoes of children rising over streets paved with bumpy cats.  All of a sudden, his burnout was extinguished.  The ocean of life was re-ignited deep within his outlaw migrant soul, and a plan to abandon Aztlán began to take form.

But to what end?  With the exception of his passport, all his legal documents are expired.  He will be forced, if only by his own "outlaw wisdom" (a mindset also known as "monumental idiocy," depending on the audience), to traverse dangerous cartel territory in a compromised legal state.  Will he arrive at the border with nothing but a disheveled grin and a folder full of songs, or will the lawless desert consume him?  Will he be detained by the Border Patrol?  Will they conduct a thorough search of his heart and soul, as well as his van?  If so, what will they find?

Music?  Ignorance?  Forgiveness?

Love?

He is going to bring along a film crew to record the journey of an undocumented American Migrant returning to the Alamo to play some Rock & Roll.  The film crew will document the findings, perhaps in lieu of finding valid documents.

But we need your help.  We need someone to tell the story in case everybody dies.

We also need to pay the film crew.  And the cops.

We are leaving in an hour.  The conductor is calling to the passengers, "All a boogie board, a-boarding!"  Is it a boogie board, or waterboard?  The nonexistent code of outlaw wisdom provides no answers.  Perhaps because there is no difference.  But the danger is real, and if we're going to survive this trip, we need your help.  The show at the Alamo must go on.  Aztlán must not be allowed to re-annex Texas.  The trad-radical Easy Riders must be permitted to pass through the border like so many kilos of illicit American music.  You can call him an idiot at the DMV the next day, if you like.  It isn't Fentanyl or fear he will be smuggling through the checkpoint like a true American...

Idiot? 

Or migrant?

Which one will it be?

Thank you for listening.  The situation is true, the dangers are real, and we are asking for your coverage to help mitigate the risks at the border.  At least from the American side.  Nathan is a true artist and a true friend, and I know he appreciates your support.

Sincerely,
Denver Williams
Sound Heart Records