Well, we're off again on another tour. No 6-monther this time - how about a nice, easy 3 1/2 weeks? Down the west coast, across the southwest, down to Austin, up through Oklahoma and Missouri, ending in Aimee's and my college town, Iowa City. We're not taking the trusty school bus this time, alas. She's no good with cold winds and winter weather, and we're watching the bucks too. So this time we're a roots band in a caravan, as dubbed by Tubbs. A 1990 gray Dodge Caravan. What a splash we'll make. And joining she and Tom and I will be Moe Provencher on bass/mandolin. Fun times will abound, and such burning questions may be answered. Such as:
- will Millsey's 4-month GERD condition be kicked to the side of the road by the time we hit the Columbia River, thus welcoming an era of chocolate-beer delight with beautiful pints of Guinness?
- will Tubbs show off her glockenspiel talents with her toes?
- will Tommy-Town finish our original xmas tune in time? Will it retain its current title, "No, Not For Christmas"?
- will Moe and Tom face off in a nightly duel of harmonica solos?
- will Tubbs and Tommy split off into a duo, following the raging success of their xmas duet?
- will Millsey and Moesy split off into a duet of tango-flavored instrumental music following their rarely heard rendition of "Tu Es Uno Bueno"?
- Finally, will they film a scary movie in the ghost town of Jerome, AZ where they will be staying for two days in an old saloon with the eyes of its predecessors staring down from the black and white portrait in the bar?
You'll have to wait to find out!
millsey
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Big day...big day!
Hey everyone! The tour is over! Amazing. Thanks to so many people who helped us out along the way, in so many capacities! We are so grateful for your hospitality, your encouragement, and your support. We'll definitely be seeing you as soon as we can.
The end of the tour was great. I've used the word "great" way too many times, but hell, so what. It was great!!! San Francisco brought out a ton of Aimee's friends who've migrated there, and our good buddy, former-Seattleite, Andrew Gallucio hung out with us as well. And our friend Scott Simon too - thanks to Scott for the place to crash. I won't say it didn't take us an hour to find it, but that was our big bad. Saunders LOVES to turn around. Our new friends Tom & Pam were at the show in SF, recording us again, the first time being at Joshua Tree. They are very kind, and even came out to the next day's show in Placerville to record once more, and gave us 3 zip drives of the copies. What a generous and cool thing - thanks so much.
Placerville was a very satisfying return to the venue Cozmic Cafe, where we played on our first tour in 2006. A great turnout, great space, yummiest food to go, and a gold mine in the basement. After we'd packed up the show, Chad was inspired to take some final footage for our archives. We incorporated passing the camera, wild and crazy antics, running through the gold mine, and turning into monsters in a very Theater 101 way. It actually helped blow off some energy, post-show.
We stayed that evening with Richard & Diane, and thanks to them for the offer. They are very connected to events at Cozmic Cafe, and were wearing version 1.0 of the Starlings t-shirts from our previous visit.
Next up was a short drive to Whiskeytown Lake outside of Redding, with a quick stop at the Olive Pit in Corning. We got plenty of olives, and Aimee secured a very large vessel of local olive oil.
The camping aspect at Whiskeytown was a mixed bag. We had an excellent evening making veggie pockets in the fire, and having a great talk around the fire which seemed the beginning of the denouement of the tour. Big love to Chad and Aimee for their participation and heart. You rock.
But then the ranger came by and said we couldn't sleep in the bus there, we had to move to a pavement square of RV parking. It made no sense, but we did as such. We shoved all our food and camping crap into a bear bin, and the rest into the aisle of the bus, and put together our 4-person sleeping arrangement in Saunders for the last Praise & Tangle time. Early the next morning, Tom was out walking, and there was a banging on the door. A new ranger, one much more "official" wanted to see our ID's, because there'd be a complaint about marijuana seeds on a plate. We were none too pleased at the loud approach or accusation, and while he was running all our licenses, Chad picked up a plastic plate with a ton of burnt bread crumbs on it (from the night before), which had been tossed in the bus in haste when we had to move. This was the plate in question! Here were our drugs - crappy bread crumbs that none of us ate. Okay, long story short, we were let go, but enough uptight RV-er's around us were looking at us in our yellow bus as though we were going to start streaking or kidnapping their schnauzers or something. So we headed back to camp and took our time making breakfast and ruminating on our one and only cross with the law.
Up to Ashland, Oregon, and a beautiful, beautiful autumn afternoon there. The show was great, the crowd was too, in a small pub that felt a lot like a snowy chalet. Kites & Crows had put together the show, and thanks very much, guys! We had some fans in the audience, which is always a treat. A very fun show, and our new friend Gary invited us to stay out at his house. Thanks, Gary! For the hospitality, for the breakfast, for the positive energy.
Onward to Portland, where we landed at Chad's house with Maureen. Aimee went and picked up Moe, who would be joining us for the evening. Jack called from the train, and we met up with him near the venue to a raucous reunion and a round of PBR's. Up at the venue, we reunited with Maureen and had some grub and caught the end of Laura Veir's happy hour residency. Then we had a quick set-up and fun show as a 5-piece after 6 months of not being so. Moe and Aimee did a set in between our two sets, which was really enjoyable. Jack and I danced to her new Kentucky bourbon song, while Tom and Chad sat in on guitar and harp. It was a great time (great!), and a suiting way to end the tour.
Fast forward a few days: Tom and I are getting re-settled, looking at apartments, staying with various friends and Tom's dad, setting up work schedules (urg!), etc. The Conor Byrne Halloween homecoming show was tons of fun, and it was a thrill to see all our friends come out in their costumes, or just as their crazy selves. Thanks to Quinn for mc'ing the night, and to The Pennylifters and MoZo for their awesome shows. The Pennylifters were incredibly dapper in 3-part Abe Lincoln costumes, and MoZo opened their set with a hilarious Laverne & Shirley number. Yee haw.
And so that's kind of it! I'm rattling this all off quickly, I feel the need to hibernate for awhile. My sincere thanks again to everyone: musicians, friends, family, hosts, strangers, rangers, etc. for helping us along the way. Saunders covered 17, 645 miles on this trip, and I won't say how much dough we spent on gas, but that wasn't the only thing that fueled our trip. It was you!
But enough of this. Enough. Go vote.
xo
joy, tom, aimee, chad, mike, julian, jack and SAUNDERS.
The end of the tour was great. I've used the word "great" way too many times, but hell, so what. It was great!!! San Francisco brought out a ton of Aimee's friends who've migrated there, and our good buddy, former-Seattleite, Andrew Gallucio hung out with us as well. And our friend Scott Simon too - thanks to Scott for the place to crash. I won't say it didn't take us an hour to find it, but that was our big bad. Saunders LOVES to turn around. Our new friends Tom & Pam were at the show in SF, recording us again, the first time being at Joshua Tree. They are very kind, and even came out to the next day's show in Placerville to record once more, and gave us 3 zip drives of the copies. What a generous and cool thing - thanks so much.
Placerville was a very satisfying return to the venue Cozmic Cafe, where we played on our first tour in 2006. A great turnout, great space, yummiest food to go, and a gold mine in the basement. After we'd packed up the show, Chad was inspired to take some final footage for our archives. We incorporated passing the camera, wild and crazy antics, running through the gold mine, and turning into monsters in a very Theater 101 way. It actually helped blow off some energy, post-show.
We stayed that evening with Richard & Diane, and thanks to them for the offer. They are very connected to events at Cozmic Cafe, and were wearing version 1.0 of the Starlings t-shirts from our previous visit.
Next up was a short drive to Whiskeytown Lake outside of Redding, with a quick stop at the Olive Pit in Corning. We got plenty of olives, and Aimee secured a very large vessel of local olive oil.
The camping aspect at Whiskeytown was a mixed bag. We had an excellent evening making veggie pockets in the fire, and having a great talk around the fire which seemed the beginning of the denouement of the tour. Big love to Chad and Aimee for their participation and heart. You rock.
But then the ranger came by and said we couldn't sleep in the bus there, we had to move to a pavement square of RV parking. It made no sense, but we did as such. We shoved all our food and camping crap into a bear bin, and the rest into the aisle of the bus, and put together our 4-person sleeping arrangement in Saunders for the last Praise & Tangle time. Early the next morning, Tom was out walking, and there was a banging on the door. A new ranger, one much more "official" wanted to see our ID's, because there'd be a complaint about marijuana seeds on a plate. We were none too pleased at the loud approach or accusation, and while he was running all our licenses, Chad picked up a plastic plate with a ton of burnt bread crumbs on it (from the night before), which had been tossed in the bus in haste when we had to move. This was the plate in question! Here were our drugs - crappy bread crumbs that none of us ate. Okay, long story short, we were let go, but enough uptight RV-er's around us were looking at us in our yellow bus as though we were going to start streaking or kidnapping their schnauzers or something. So we headed back to camp and took our time making breakfast and ruminating on our one and only cross with the law.
Up to Ashland, Oregon, and a beautiful, beautiful autumn afternoon there. The show was great, the crowd was too, in a small pub that felt a lot like a snowy chalet. Kites & Crows had put together the show, and thanks very much, guys! We had some fans in the audience, which is always a treat. A very fun show, and our new friend Gary invited us to stay out at his house. Thanks, Gary! For the hospitality, for the breakfast, for the positive energy.
Onward to Portland, where we landed at Chad's house with Maureen. Aimee went and picked up Moe, who would be joining us for the evening. Jack called from the train, and we met up with him near the venue to a raucous reunion and a round of PBR's. Up at the venue, we reunited with Maureen and had some grub and caught the end of Laura Veir's happy hour residency. Then we had a quick set-up and fun show as a 5-piece after 6 months of not being so. Moe and Aimee did a set in between our two sets, which was really enjoyable. Jack and I danced to her new Kentucky bourbon song, while Tom and Chad sat in on guitar and harp. It was a great time (great!), and a suiting way to end the tour.
Fast forward a few days: Tom and I are getting re-settled, looking at apartments, staying with various friends and Tom's dad, setting up work schedules (urg!), etc. The Conor Byrne Halloween homecoming show was tons of fun, and it was a thrill to see all our friends come out in their costumes, or just as their crazy selves. Thanks to Quinn for mc'ing the night, and to The Pennylifters and MoZo for their awesome shows. The Pennylifters were incredibly dapper in 3-part Abe Lincoln costumes, and MoZo opened their set with a hilarious Laverne & Shirley number. Yee haw.
And so that's kind of it! I'm rattling this all off quickly, I feel the need to hibernate for awhile. My sincere thanks again to everyone: musicians, friends, family, hosts, strangers, rangers, etc. for helping us along the way. Saunders covered 17, 645 miles on this trip, and I won't say how much dough we spent on gas, but that wasn't the only thing that fueled our trip. It was you!
But enough of this. Enough. Go vote.
xo
joy, tom, aimee, chad, mike, julian, jack and SAUNDERS.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Dear People Friends
Good morning. It's quite nice weather here in Santa Cruz, where we're enjoying breakfast on the back patio of The Crepe Place. Last night's show here was an upbeat one, requiring all our up-tempo songs to keep folks dancing. The red room, red tin ceiling, gorgeous posters on the walls, and old silent movies running on the screens set the stage for an evening of high spirits and cheer. We had a few factors with the sound and the loud room, along with Chad's amp singing its own tune, but we prevailed and people responded well. Adam, the proprietor and booker, was/is very welcoming and genuine, and treated us not only to dinner/drinks, but breakfast this morning. Crepes it was, and cripes it was yummy. The Juncos, a local band, opened up the evening with their great instrumentation and old-timey/folk/Tom Waits-ish tunes.
We had time prior to the evening to take a nice, long walk down to the beach, which was among my favorites so far along the coast. Also along Soquel Avenue, just across from where our venue sat, was The Rio Theater, and on the bill for the evening was Jenny Lewis. She's a current fave of some of us, and Adam was really cool to check out getting us in for part of the show, before our set. It was not to be, however, since they were slated to start at the same time as us. Thanks goes to Adam, regardless, for being such a cool host and all-around nice guy.
But let me retrace the last week as efficiently as I can. I left off with us rumbling up to Tempe, to play The Last Exit with The Thankful Birds, which is led by Lesley, and old friend of Aimee's. We pulled up to her house in the mid-afternoon Phoenix sun, and lounged on her comfy porch for the remaining daylight hours, making food and hanging out with her. She's a funny, funny lady. The bill for the evening was an eclectic mix of 4 bands: The Pubes, us, The Thankful Birds, and Sister City. It's not often that we share the night with punk, jazz/pop, rock, and everything in between which we all crossover into, so it was nice to experience the full palette. Our set went well, we pulled out up-tempo numbers again, which gave us a rockin' kind of vibe. Aimee got to spend some good time with her buddy Lesley, who gave an awesome set with her band. She's got some serious stage presence and a powerful voice. Thanks to her for letting us crash and putting together the show...
Next day we b'fasted at IHOP down the street, and complained a lot about the bright sun like a bunch of vampires. Lesley had a big box of clothes she was getting rid of, so Aimee and I shopped on her porch before we bid adieu and headed west toward Joshua Tree.
Joshua Tree! (JT, from here on out.) I've been looking forward to this show for a long time. It was the main reason the tour became as long as it did, and was as widespread as it was. We arrived into the strange cluster of small towns around the Palm Springs area, with more windmills in one place than I'd ever seen. I mean, hundreds of them. Big and small. They seem like sentries, sorta spooky like the sagauro. We turned north around the JT National Park, and started seeing the first of the joshua trees. They are pretty neat, and I couldn't help but think of Bono and the great U2 album of 1987. Which reminds me - we've been enjoying some new mixes of tunes while driving supplied by Chad and Aimee. Chad has compiled some of his top 5 EVER albums, and they are a real joy to listen to while Chad explains what he loves about them. Tears For Fears, Huey Lewis, Mason Jennings, and others. He also had a great mix CD of mostly torch songs from decades past. Of particular note was "Blanket on the Ground" sung by Billie Jo Spears. It's a great old country song. Aimee brings a great catalog of rock and pop and showtunes. I've enjoyed the new Detroit Cobras, and hearing Aimee rock out to The Breeders, a CD she's worn out 3 times over. I love the mix of backgrounds we all come from.
It's fun to return to the 80's music we all grew up with, also, and see how it holds up now. Some of it holds up even more in some ways, and some not so much. But it's always a trip. In fact, you can see how it makes us dance in thrift stores if you hop over to the videos. Some of the new artists we've been listening to are Boxharp (Wendy Allen and Scott Solter), which incorporates field recordings into the music. It's fantastic for driving through the desert. Also: Tom picked up an early R.E.M. album from his formative years, and it was killer. I've been soaking it all up. We also got a mini sneak-peek at Aimee's other band, Moe Provencher, and her upcoming release. It sounds really great - it's always a thrill when a friend in our music community releases a new record. Can't wait to hear the final mix.
Okay, JT was awesome. We arrived the night before, since we had an early slot on Saturday, at 11am. We got a call from Curt, one of the organizers and M.C's there, who wanted to make sure we were okay and if we needed anything. Yes, we needed a place to park the bus, and he said, well get over here, and so we did, and were welcomed by the true desert peoples that run this event. There's a certain kind of road-dog, nomadic, rough and tumble and beautiful look that some of the folks carry, and from the moment we arrived until the moment we left, were treated so very well. Bart was the man I booked the performance through, and I don't anything could get that man down. Sarah jumped on the bus and led us over to a parking spot behind the stages. It was great to be there the night before the festival started, to see everyone setting up, eating and drinking in merriment, because the work was fun and they did it with love. Spirits were very high, and we sat in the Artists' Lounge, which was a circle of couches on the desert floor under a big translucent black tarp. Many, many stars were above. There's nothing like a clear desert night. We eventually turned in to sleep in the bus, and woke the next morning to realize the festival in the broad light of the California sun. It was going to be a hot one, that much we knew. We found bathrooms and a shower, coffee and water, and had plenty of time to set up and sound check on one of the two main stages. They had two stages for the event, and only one at a time had music performing, while the other stage was in set-up for the next band. Our sound crew were all British, or mostly British, and we love to talk in a British accent. But we held it to a real minimum around them, because I'm sure it's annoying. What if they talked in a flat American accent around us? Anyway, they were very cool, and good at what they do. Our set began to a burgeoning festival crowd sitting on their lawn chairs and blankets under the many protective sun tarps, surrounded by the "bowl" of vendors. It was a 1 hr, 15 minute set, and it was much fun. Chad looked like a rock'n'roll star with his outfit and new hat (ask him the story of the hat). Our friends Meredith and Cristopher, funnily enough, were able to come catch our set, as they had just stepped off the cruise boat in San Diego that morning. What a treat to see their smiles walking into the crowd. After the set, we headed back to the couches/artists' lounge to have a podcast interview with Curt, the aforementioned chap who got us to the festival early. He was great at interviewing, and had definitely been listening to the albums and reading up about us. The volunteers had set up yummy, healthy food for everybody, and we ate well. We walked around for awhile, heard fellow Seattle band Star Anna on the other stage, saw The Thrift Store Allstars, featuring Victoria Williams and her unmistakable voice. The heat and the sun were high, and we had miles to attack, so we bid adieu to Bart, Curt and everyone we'd met, and headed out of the festival. As we drove away on the silver highway, you could see the little patch of land where the festival was diminishing into a little spot that soon became indistinguishable from the rest of the desert environs. Amazing what mere miles can do.
So we popped in Steve Earle and made our way into the thick city jungle of LA. we arrived in Echo Park at the home of Michelle and Chad, and their two Chihuahua's, one of which was named Rilo. Michelle and Chad were, surprise surprise, also very cool and welcoming. They had invited a bunch of friends and people they knew for the intimate house concert, and we played unplugged, which is always nice for vocal harmonies. It was a shorter set, and then we hung out with all the guests and ate pizza and watched SNL before sleeping on the floor. Morning came, with espresso from Michelle's kitchen, and quick showers before we headed off to the next gig. Thanks to Michelle and Chad, for having us in their home, and being so kind. Michelle sent us off with copies of her own music, which we've enjoyed while driving around in the bus. Thank you!
We headed down to the West LA Farmer's Market and had a nice, morning show surrounded by local food vendors and produce. Kids are always fun at these shows, and sometimes adults are too. One guy brought his cell phone up to the microphones right in front of us and held it up for half a show, his smile ear to ear. Tom's cousin Brenda was there, as was my own cousin Shannon. Hadn't seen her in many years, so that was a pleasant surprise. Following our set was a dog show for pups needing new homes, and they were dressed up in costumes. Dogs named Todd, Lola, Chi Chi, and others paraded the stage while a funny lady described their personalities. I have to say, many of the dogs seemed somewhat encumbered by their tutus, sherlock homes hats, and various articles of fabric on their bodies while they simply tried to walk the catwalk. It was pretty dang cute. Too bad we couldn't help out with an adoption.
Following that was an afternoon down on the Santa Monica beach/pier, lunch on the beach, a roller coaster ride, and various people-watching, we headed out of the city north to Fillmore, CA. Our friend from Conor Byrne (and housemate to Aimee and Moe), Alana, hooked us up with a stay at her parent's farm for a couple days. Her parents, Cynthia and Allen King, were so sweet and hospitable. Their farm sits on the incline to one side of a valley, with trees of avocado, grapefruit, persimmon, orange, pepper and others. A tour of the farm, a taste of the fruit, and several meals on their screened-in porch made for one of the most relaxing times yet. We got our CNN fixes, for those that wanted it, sun and shade, stories about Alana, stories from their early travels in South America, and little taste of farm life in California. I couldn't help but think of so many Woody Guthrie songs and Steinbeck works and the mass migration to jobs in the fruit trees in the 30's. Cynthia describes the difference between the westerly wind from the ocean 30 miles off, and the east Santa Ana winds from the desert. They were also so nice to set up a show at a local coffee shop in Santa Paula that Monday night, and invited their friends to come out, which they did. It was a real pleasure to play that show, and thanks to Maggie at the Santa Paula Coffee Company as well. We night-capped back at the Kings' with a couple rounds of Greyhounds, made with grapefruit juice from the farm. It's my new favorite cocktail. It makes me think of pink racing greyhounds.
We headed off on Tuesday eve to Altadena to play at The Coffee Gallery Backstage. It was a slim turnout, but enough to make the show go on. A friend of a friend came out, Ashley, and that was nice to see her after so many years, as well as local radio host Larry Wines. We'd also caught a movie, Burn After Reading, before the show, so by the time we were driving back to Fillmore for one more night at the King's, we were tuckered out. But still hungry, and had a smorgasbord of snacks before turning in.
We had one more morning at the farm, and helped out Allen in the orange grove of a neighbor, cutting some wood from trees. Sadly, many of the orange groves of small farmers are being bulldozed to let the land be leased out to other farmer's. The economy hits the small farmer so much harder, it's almost impossible for them to survive on their own crop without leasing out land. So this beautiful orange grove was getting pulled up, and we were cutting some straight wood branches for Allen to use for fence-building. Aimee also gathered a bucket of oranges. We set sail from Fillmore not long after that, with a couple crates full of produce from the Kings. Our big, huge thanks goes to them, and Alana, for giving us a place to stay, and such immediate affection. We feel so lucky.
Our road took us north to San Luis Obispo, and Chad and Aimee made that drive lickety-split. It's a cute town, and we enjoyed a dinner at The Natural Cafe, but retrospect has us thinking there was somthing in the vegetables that would haunt me to come. Our show that night at the Frog & Peach was a bit of a loud, college bar, so we did our best again to keep it lively and entertaining as possible without the slower numbers. My aunts Joyce and Carol and uncle Bob came out to see the show, and that was great to see them. They hadn't been in a bar like that for over 30 years, they said, so they enjoyed the people watching. We parked the bus that night at a guy Christopher's house, who was really friendly and cool. He knew the place we were heading to next, Bolinas, and said it was a truly crazy town. People that can't hack it in crazy-friendly San Fran go to Bolinas, he said.
The next day begins a small bit of Dante's Inferno for me. I thought at first it was a mild hangover from a few beers the night before, but soon, I came to realize I was in for a long day of mild delusion and massive vomiting. It had to have been food poisoning, but I also became so dehydrated that I had many red dots around my eyes. I survived, of course, but not before enduring a long drive to Bolinas, which included several stops for me to puke, and also a final 16 miles of hairpin turns on mountainous roads. I can be wimpy, but this was sheer misery. I'll spare any further details, but my sincere gratitude goes to Aimee, Chad and T-bone for taking care of me, and doing their best to make the drive as smooth as possible. Aimee had some anti-nausea pills from Moe and her trip to India last year, and I took a bit of one. It didn't help immediately, but it did eventually, once we got to Smiley's Hotel. I got into the hotel suite, (which was spacious and awesome, even in my state, I could tell), and Aimee had drawn me a bath in the nice jacuzzi. I went on to sleep for awhile, finally able to keep down water. The good thing is, the other folks in the bus had a great day with the beautiful scenery and meeting the crazy peeps (indeed) in Bolinas. They even met a gal who was at our Jerome, AZ show, and sometimes the smallness of the world doesn't even seem weird. Aimee, Chad and Tom did the show, right below our hotel room, in Smiley's Saloon. I made it down there for just a few songs, but couldn't go much further than that, and went back up to bed. In bed, however, I was treated to 3 of my favorite people singing right below me, and they sounded so great. I enjoyed hearing what they pulled out to play, and felt such gratitude for their friendship and presence in my life.
It's been awesome playing this last leg of the tour with Aimee and Chad. Their energy and personalities bring new life to the final stretch. We've got four shows left before we get back to Seattle. Holy cow.
Off to San Fran today. Thanks for reading another long blog, if you are. It always becomes so long in the writing, I never want to miss the stops we make and the people we cross paths with who make this tour what it is.
Joy, Tom, Aimee, Chad
We had time prior to the evening to take a nice, long walk down to the beach, which was among my favorites so far along the coast. Also along Soquel Avenue, just across from where our venue sat, was The Rio Theater, and on the bill for the evening was Jenny Lewis. She's a current fave of some of us, and Adam was really cool to check out getting us in for part of the show, before our set. It was not to be, however, since they were slated to start at the same time as us. Thanks goes to Adam, regardless, for being such a cool host and all-around nice guy.
But let me retrace the last week as efficiently as I can. I left off with us rumbling up to Tempe, to play The Last Exit with The Thankful Birds, which is led by Lesley, and old friend of Aimee's. We pulled up to her house in the mid-afternoon Phoenix sun, and lounged on her comfy porch for the remaining daylight hours, making food and hanging out with her. She's a funny, funny lady. The bill for the evening was an eclectic mix of 4 bands: The Pubes, us, The Thankful Birds, and Sister City. It's not often that we share the night with punk, jazz/pop, rock, and everything in between which we all crossover into, so it was nice to experience the full palette. Our set went well, we pulled out up-tempo numbers again, which gave us a rockin' kind of vibe. Aimee got to spend some good time with her buddy Lesley, who gave an awesome set with her band. She's got some serious stage presence and a powerful voice. Thanks to her for letting us crash and putting together the show...
Next day we b'fasted at IHOP down the street, and complained a lot about the bright sun like a bunch of vampires. Lesley had a big box of clothes she was getting rid of, so Aimee and I shopped on her porch before we bid adieu and headed west toward Joshua Tree.
Joshua Tree! (JT, from here on out.) I've been looking forward to this show for a long time. It was the main reason the tour became as long as it did, and was as widespread as it was. We arrived into the strange cluster of small towns around the Palm Springs area, with more windmills in one place than I'd ever seen. I mean, hundreds of them. Big and small. They seem like sentries, sorta spooky like the sagauro. We turned north around the JT National Park, and started seeing the first of the joshua trees. They are pretty neat, and I couldn't help but think of Bono and the great U2 album of 1987. Which reminds me - we've been enjoying some new mixes of tunes while driving supplied by Chad and Aimee. Chad has compiled some of his top 5 EVER albums, and they are a real joy to listen to while Chad explains what he loves about them. Tears For Fears, Huey Lewis, Mason Jennings, and others. He also had a great mix CD of mostly torch songs from decades past. Of particular note was "Blanket on the Ground" sung by Billie Jo Spears. It's a great old country song. Aimee brings a great catalog of rock and pop and showtunes. I've enjoyed the new Detroit Cobras, and hearing Aimee rock out to The Breeders, a CD she's worn out 3 times over. I love the mix of backgrounds we all come from.
It's fun to return to the 80's music we all grew up with, also, and see how it holds up now. Some of it holds up even more in some ways, and some not so much. But it's always a trip. In fact, you can see how it makes us dance in thrift stores if you hop over to the videos. Some of the new artists we've been listening to are Boxharp (Wendy Allen and Scott Solter), which incorporates field recordings into the music. It's fantastic for driving through the desert. Also: Tom picked up an early R.E.M. album from his formative years, and it was killer. I've been soaking it all up. We also got a mini sneak-peek at Aimee's other band, Moe Provencher, and her upcoming release. It sounds really great - it's always a thrill when a friend in our music community releases a new record. Can't wait to hear the final mix.
Okay, JT was awesome. We arrived the night before, since we had an early slot on Saturday, at 11am. We got a call from Curt, one of the organizers and M.C's there, who wanted to make sure we were okay and if we needed anything. Yes, we needed a place to park the bus, and he said, well get over here, and so we did, and were welcomed by the true desert peoples that run this event. There's a certain kind of road-dog, nomadic, rough and tumble and beautiful look that some of the folks carry, and from the moment we arrived until the moment we left, were treated so very well. Bart was the man I booked the performance through, and I don't anything could get that man down. Sarah jumped on the bus and led us over to a parking spot behind the stages. It was great to be there the night before the festival started, to see everyone setting up, eating and drinking in merriment, because the work was fun and they did it with love. Spirits were very high, and we sat in the Artists' Lounge, which was a circle of couches on the desert floor under a big translucent black tarp. Many, many stars were above. There's nothing like a clear desert night. We eventually turned in to sleep in the bus, and woke the next morning to realize the festival in the broad light of the California sun. It was going to be a hot one, that much we knew. We found bathrooms and a shower, coffee and water, and had plenty of time to set up and sound check on one of the two main stages. They had two stages for the event, and only one at a time had music performing, while the other stage was in set-up for the next band. Our sound crew were all British, or mostly British, and we love to talk in a British accent. But we held it to a real minimum around them, because I'm sure it's annoying. What if they talked in a flat American accent around us? Anyway, they were very cool, and good at what they do. Our set began to a burgeoning festival crowd sitting on their lawn chairs and blankets under the many protective sun tarps, surrounded by the "bowl" of vendors. It was a 1 hr, 15 minute set, and it was much fun. Chad looked like a rock'n'roll star with his outfit and new hat (ask him the story of the hat). Our friends Meredith and Cristopher, funnily enough, were able to come catch our set, as they had just stepped off the cruise boat in San Diego that morning. What a treat to see their smiles walking into the crowd. After the set, we headed back to the couches/artists' lounge to have a podcast interview with Curt, the aforementioned chap who got us to the festival early. He was great at interviewing, and had definitely been listening to the albums and reading up about us. The volunteers had set up yummy, healthy food for everybody, and we ate well. We walked around for awhile, heard fellow Seattle band Star Anna on the other stage, saw The Thrift Store Allstars, featuring Victoria Williams and her unmistakable voice. The heat and the sun were high, and we had miles to attack, so we bid adieu to Bart, Curt and everyone we'd met, and headed out of the festival. As we drove away on the silver highway, you could see the little patch of land where the festival was diminishing into a little spot that soon became indistinguishable from the rest of the desert environs. Amazing what mere miles can do.
So we popped in Steve Earle and made our way into the thick city jungle of LA. we arrived in Echo Park at the home of Michelle and Chad, and their two Chihuahua's, one of which was named Rilo. Michelle and Chad were, surprise surprise, also very cool and welcoming. They had invited a bunch of friends and people they knew for the intimate house concert, and we played unplugged, which is always nice for vocal harmonies. It was a shorter set, and then we hung out with all the guests and ate pizza and watched SNL before sleeping on the floor. Morning came, with espresso from Michelle's kitchen, and quick showers before we headed off to the next gig. Thanks to Michelle and Chad, for having us in their home, and being so kind. Michelle sent us off with copies of her own music, which we've enjoyed while driving around in the bus. Thank you!
We headed down to the West LA Farmer's Market and had a nice, morning show surrounded by local food vendors and produce. Kids are always fun at these shows, and sometimes adults are too. One guy brought his cell phone up to the microphones right in front of us and held it up for half a show, his smile ear to ear. Tom's cousin Brenda was there, as was my own cousin Shannon. Hadn't seen her in many years, so that was a pleasant surprise. Following our set was a dog show for pups needing new homes, and they were dressed up in costumes. Dogs named Todd, Lola, Chi Chi, and others paraded the stage while a funny lady described their personalities. I have to say, many of the dogs seemed somewhat encumbered by their tutus, sherlock homes hats, and various articles of fabric on their bodies while they simply tried to walk the catwalk. It was pretty dang cute. Too bad we couldn't help out with an adoption.
Following that was an afternoon down on the Santa Monica beach/pier, lunch on the beach, a roller coaster ride, and various people-watching, we headed out of the city north to Fillmore, CA. Our friend from Conor Byrne (and housemate to Aimee and Moe), Alana, hooked us up with a stay at her parent's farm for a couple days. Her parents, Cynthia and Allen King, were so sweet and hospitable. Their farm sits on the incline to one side of a valley, with trees of avocado, grapefruit, persimmon, orange, pepper and others. A tour of the farm, a taste of the fruit, and several meals on their screened-in porch made for one of the most relaxing times yet. We got our CNN fixes, for those that wanted it, sun and shade, stories about Alana, stories from their early travels in South America, and little taste of farm life in California. I couldn't help but think of so many Woody Guthrie songs and Steinbeck works and the mass migration to jobs in the fruit trees in the 30's. Cynthia describes the difference between the westerly wind from the ocean 30 miles off, and the east Santa Ana winds from the desert. They were also so nice to set up a show at a local coffee shop in Santa Paula that Monday night, and invited their friends to come out, which they did. It was a real pleasure to play that show, and thanks to Maggie at the Santa Paula Coffee Company as well. We night-capped back at the Kings' with a couple rounds of Greyhounds, made with grapefruit juice from the farm. It's my new favorite cocktail. It makes me think of pink racing greyhounds.
We headed off on Tuesday eve to Altadena to play at The Coffee Gallery Backstage. It was a slim turnout, but enough to make the show go on. A friend of a friend came out, Ashley, and that was nice to see her after so many years, as well as local radio host Larry Wines. We'd also caught a movie, Burn After Reading, before the show, so by the time we were driving back to Fillmore for one more night at the King's, we were tuckered out. But still hungry, and had a smorgasbord of snacks before turning in.
We had one more morning at the farm, and helped out Allen in the orange grove of a neighbor, cutting some wood from trees. Sadly, many of the orange groves of small farmers are being bulldozed to let the land be leased out to other farmer's. The economy hits the small farmer so much harder, it's almost impossible for them to survive on their own crop without leasing out land. So this beautiful orange grove was getting pulled up, and we were cutting some straight wood branches for Allen to use for fence-building. Aimee also gathered a bucket of oranges. We set sail from Fillmore not long after that, with a couple crates full of produce from the Kings. Our big, huge thanks goes to them, and Alana, for giving us a place to stay, and such immediate affection. We feel so lucky.
Our road took us north to San Luis Obispo, and Chad and Aimee made that drive lickety-split. It's a cute town, and we enjoyed a dinner at The Natural Cafe, but retrospect has us thinking there was somthing in the vegetables that would haunt me to come. Our show that night at the Frog & Peach was a bit of a loud, college bar, so we did our best again to keep it lively and entertaining as possible without the slower numbers. My aunts Joyce and Carol and uncle Bob came out to see the show, and that was great to see them. They hadn't been in a bar like that for over 30 years, they said, so they enjoyed the people watching. We parked the bus that night at a guy Christopher's house, who was really friendly and cool. He knew the place we were heading to next, Bolinas, and said it was a truly crazy town. People that can't hack it in crazy-friendly San Fran go to Bolinas, he said.
The next day begins a small bit of Dante's Inferno for me. I thought at first it was a mild hangover from a few beers the night before, but soon, I came to realize I was in for a long day of mild delusion and massive vomiting. It had to have been food poisoning, but I also became so dehydrated that I had many red dots around my eyes. I survived, of course, but not before enduring a long drive to Bolinas, which included several stops for me to puke, and also a final 16 miles of hairpin turns on mountainous roads. I can be wimpy, but this was sheer misery. I'll spare any further details, but my sincere gratitude goes to Aimee, Chad and T-bone for taking care of me, and doing their best to make the drive as smooth as possible. Aimee had some anti-nausea pills from Moe and her trip to India last year, and I took a bit of one. It didn't help immediately, but it did eventually, once we got to Smiley's Hotel. I got into the hotel suite, (which was spacious and awesome, even in my state, I could tell), and Aimee had drawn me a bath in the nice jacuzzi. I went on to sleep for awhile, finally able to keep down water. The good thing is, the other folks in the bus had a great day with the beautiful scenery and meeting the crazy peeps (indeed) in Bolinas. They even met a gal who was at our Jerome, AZ show, and sometimes the smallness of the world doesn't even seem weird. Aimee, Chad and Tom did the show, right below our hotel room, in Smiley's Saloon. I made it down there for just a few songs, but couldn't go much further than that, and went back up to bed. In bed, however, I was treated to 3 of my favorite people singing right below me, and they sounded so great. I enjoyed hearing what they pulled out to play, and felt such gratitude for their friendship and presence in my life.
It's been awesome playing this last leg of the tour with Aimee and Chad. Their energy and personalities bring new life to the final stretch. We've got four shows left before we get back to Seattle. Holy cow.
Off to San Fran today. Thanks for reading another long blog, if you are. It always becomes so long in the writing, I never want to miss the stops we make and the people we cross paths with who make this tour what it is.
Joy, Tom, Aimee, Chad
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Southwest Adventure
With only two weeks left in the tour (a statement that is hard to believe), our trusty bus Saunders needs some attention. She requires a couple new tires in front, some brake pads, and an oil change to get us home. It seems her front shocks are unhappy, which has created uneven wear on the front tires. At the mechanic's this morning, we saw the alternating bald spots on the tread and couldn't believe we hadn't noticed it before. Isaac, the mechanic our friends Landi and Ayman recommend, gave us his diagnosis, and we got the work done this morning. It's a relief to have that completed, and without too much hassle and expense. It's been a long haul for this tough bus.
We've also had a switch in line-up since the last post. After Amarillo, which was a mild affair, we headed further west into New Mexico, and quickly the land transformed into the picturesque Southwest desert. Our first stop in Santa Fe was a fun evening at the Santa Fe Brewing Company. We were competing with yet another debate, which we caught part of on the bar's TV. The performance area and stage were in a separate room, and were among the best we've played on in terms of sound and lighting. We enjoyed playing for ourselves at the very least, and had a good handful of people enjoying the show. We camped out in the bus in the parking lot, and the morning sun pierced our eyelids open at an early and chilly hour. So we headed north to Taos, on one of the more lovely drives that I've been on this whole adventure. Swooping vistas, red and orange and burnt, bursting rust colors all across the mountains and rocks. The Rio Grande met us halfway up and we stopped to test the temperature. As expected, colder than an arctic worm.
We got into Taos, which is up on a high plateau, in time to fully experience our hunger at full throttle. Our mission: huevos rancheros. We were anxious to find the right spot, because no one wants a disappointing meal that's been floating in our minds for the past couple hours. We succeeded at a humble little restaurant called Ricky's. Beans, eggs, hashbrowns, and green chile sauce on tortillas. Mike and Tom cleaned their plates, and I wasn't far behind. This held us over for about 8 hours. After that, we enjoyed a long day of perusing the city's central plaza. It's a very touristy little town, but it didn't bother me too much, since it was still so rustic and homey. We spent a long time in the sun, however, which made us quite sleepy and worn out later on. Tom and I played a couple songs on the solar-powered KTAO, which was fun, and we found an odd and slightly entertaining pawn shop to walk into and run out of. People can be strange. I really hope that some day I can sit down to write a book, there are so many characters we run across that are endless fodder.
The show at the Adobe Bar was fun, albeit long and tiring. It was a cozy and charming hotel bar, with a nice flow of people in and out throughout the evening. It was also our last show with Mike on bass, and it seemed fitting that the length of the show required us to cover most all of our repertoire. We hit the road that night to get the miles under us that we needed before Mike's plane departure the next morning. His friend Nate in Albuquerque invited us to crash at his place, and after our arrival at 1a.m. and a how-you-doin with him, we hit the hay. Thanks, Nate.
So we pulled into the Albuquerque airport (called the sunport) and said our good-byes to Mr. Mike, who has been a truly enjoyable road buddy. Thanks for the memories, the notes on the 4-string, the observations shared, the dangerous whiskey, and all else. We'll see you soon with your stove-top hat.
We pulled away from the airport and headed a few minutes across town with the view of about 40 hot air balloons in the morning sky to the north. Balloon Fiesta time. I hadn't seen that many in the air since I was a kid. After a coffee break and a grocery run, we headed over to pickup Ms. Aimee Tubbs, who had arrived with Moe P. at a friend's house after their trip down the coast hitting a festival and a few gigs. We chatted a bit and then hit the road to Flagstaff, where Chad's plane would be touching down in a couple hours. The drive was a bit long and windy, the same as it has been lately, and we were excited to finally pull into town in front of the gig at Mia's Lounge. Reuniting with Chad was awesome, and it seemed full circle had come to pass, with the two troubadours joining us from the beginning of the tour. We enjoyed the afternoon on the back patio, shared stories and news, then had a delicious Thai dinner before the show. The show was fun, and we shared the evening with Missouri songwriter Cindy Woolf. Afterwards, we went along with her crew to a camping spot up in the trees. Some of us hit the hay, some of us stayed up around the campfire, and the morning arrived with a bright sun showing the many millions of pine needles on the ground and the acres of trees on this part of the Colorado plateau. We fired up some breakfast, and broke camp, heading down through Sedona, and on to Prescott where our next show was. This was when we started to feel Saunders really pulling to the right, and a vibrating noise up in front. Luckily, we wouldn't have to go much further before getting her serviced.
Prescott was a really great show. We had the afternoon to get settled in a hotel room, with its clay pot roof and somewhat abandoned look. We don't always opt for the hotel, but it's nice when we do and we can relax for a few hours. The Raven Cafe was our venue for the evening, and it's a super nice restaurant/bar with a huge beer list, and yummy food. The staff and manager (Brian) and sound guy (Kerry) were so very kind and hospitable and welcoming. We opened the night and played for about an hour to a great crowd, and following us was Portland-er Nick Jaina and his 4 band members. They were thoroughly enjoyable and awesome with a Tom Waits-esque, chamber folk collection of ballads and rompers featuring upright bass, clarinet, trumpet, violin, drums...etc. Great stuff, and they were cool, cool guys to boot. That's always pleasing.
We ended the night with a full meal and a brew, and then headed back to hit the hay. We slept. And then we woke up again. We were still on tour. It's becoming a feeling of permanence, though I know it's not.
We spent the morning walking along Whisky Row in Prescott near the square and the happening arts and crafts fair. We considered a little busking, but the wind was high and chilly, and we opted to head up to Jerome instead. We missed the turn though, and got a bit sidetracked. Mapquest led us astray, I'll have you know. 89 is not 89A. And that's the truth.No matter, though. It was one of those afternoons on the drive where spirits were mellow and content, and we were listening to the sneak peek of our friends Truckstop Souvenir's new album, "Under a Big Blue Sky." It sounds really great, and it was totally perfect for our drive in the high desert Arizona, under the big, blue, you know - sky. You should check out their new albu, which should be available shortly...truckstopsouvenir.com
So we back-tracked and found 89A and headed up into the high mountain area toward Jerome. Jerome is a famed ghost town with many stories of haunt from the mining days. It's wedged into the side of the mountain on very curvy and steep roads. It's super cool. It happened to be the Ghost Walk weekend, so there were more people than usual, which was good for business. The wind was cutting, and we were all putting our extra sleeves and hats on. The view of the far canyon of Sedona was breath-taking. Our venue, The Spirit Room, was hosting an afternoon band, Los Guys, who were really great. We caught a honky-tonk piano version of Nirvana's "No Apologies." It worked. We tooled around for a bit, took naps and nips, and loaded in for the show. The room was a typical saloon style room below a hotel. The stage was quite accomodating for our 4-across standing line-up. Friends of my dad's showed up, and that was nice to chat with Judy and Marty, who were very cool and supportive. We had a lot of fun with this show, and Chad started us off with a short set of his tunes, accompanied by Aimee. It was a long show, and we pulled out most of our material and had a great time. We were the last ones in the bar, putting tunes on the jukebox and dancing off the evening. We had many people come up and chat with us, and one woman said we had pleased the ghosts of past musicians. Apparently, there was an old picture on the wall of a group of musicians who used to play in the room many years ago. It is said that if you look up at the picture when another band is playing, you can tell if they approve of them or not. We were approved of, we were told. There's nothing like pleasing the spirits in a ghost town.
We drove up over to a new parking lot and slept like birds in a nest. Though it was cold outside, we were warm. I awoke with a dripping nose as if I were in a room with 12 cats. I had to pee, too, and I somehow had to make my way over two seats and the sleeping bodies of Chad and Aimee. I've done it before, but somehow the tangle of sleeping bags and miscellaneous crap made it more difficult. Tom pointed to a couple spots to put my foot and soon I was splayed like a spider above them. They didn't wake, or at least pretended not to. Tom was next, and it was more than humorous to see him perched over the seats as if playing Twister in mid-air.
We walked into town in the early morning chill, there wasn't anybody around. It was like a ghost town. We sat outside the Red Rooster Cafe, and were let in a little early by the kind owner. The waitress said we knew how to get him, because he could never leave customers sitting out on the bench in the cold. Aimee drove the bus down to where we were, and we had an awesome breakfast and great conversation with the waitress, Liza.
Then we were off. We definitely knew Saunders was needing immediate attention, and it was only a 4 hour drive to Tucson that was left before that could be done. It was a long, but easy drive. We didn't particularly take to the sprawl of Phoenix as we drove by, it seemed endless. But soon enough, we were pulling into Tucson, and the home of my oldest and dearest friend, Landi. She and her husband, Ayman, have a 5-month old daughter, Noora.
That was Sunday afternoon. It's now Thursday afternoon, and we're about to head out of Tucson to Tempe. Noora is about asleep. We're watching her until Ayman gets home from work. Landi left a little while ago. I miss her already. It's been a truly lovely few days here, enjoying the autumn heat of the Southwest, catching up with friends, avoiding the wrath of Lulu the angry cat, and hanging out with the endlessly entertaining Noora. She's the cutest of the cutes. Ayman took us on a tour on 4th St in Tucson, and we caught the end of the sunset up at Saguaro National Park, which was lovely. The Saguaro cacti have interesting spirits, and I think at night they move around a bit. Landi and I had some wonderful quality time, and she was able to get a couple things done with all of us around to help. It really does take a village. I think Noora has come to think that the group of us are always in the next room, just waiting for her arrival to take turns playing with her.
It's very exciting to see a dear friend with her first baby. It's also really cool, because Chad is going to be a parent too! He and Maureen are due in June. We are very happy for them, and also convinced that their little one will be running Pro-Tools at 3 years old. They will be awesome parents.
We had our Tucson show last night at the very rustic and ambient Old Town Artisans. We played in the courtyard, surrounded by lit-up trees, a cool bar, and several shops. It was a nice crowd, and we met Dorothy and Henry who volunteered to run the door for us, which was very nice of them. Thanks! It's always fun to play outside, and we thank Beverly for having us there.
We'd also done a radio spot on KXCI and had fun meeting Mel and Ginger who work there. After the show, we hung out with Ginger and stopped by Plush, a posh and red room with a great jazz band. It's somewhere we'd definitely like to play sometime. We capped off the evening with a sandwich from down the street, and a final fitful sleep at Landi and Ayman's.
Today we're wrapping up our stay, taking care of Noora who seems not to want to be put down, and getting ready for our final Arizona show before we head to California and the Joshua Tree Roots Music Fest.
This is a long one, and after 4 sittings, I've finally completed it. Hope everyone is well, and we'll talk to ya later...
joy and the 'birds.
We've also had a switch in line-up since the last post. After Amarillo, which was a mild affair, we headed further west into New Mexico, and quickly the land transformed into the picturesque Southwest desert. Our first stop in Santa Fe was a fun evening at the Santa Fe Brewing Company. We were competing with yet another debate, which we caught part of on the bar's TV. The performance area and stage were in a separate room, and were among the best we've played on in terms of sound and lighting. We enjoyed playing for ourselves at the very least, and had a good handful of people enjoying the show. We camped out in the bus in the parking lot, and the morning sun pierced our eyelids open at an early and chilly hour. So we headed north to Taos, on one of the more lovely drives that I've been on this whole adventure. Swooping vistas, red and orange and burnt, bursting rust colors all across the mountains and rocks. The Rio Grande met us halfway up and we stopped to test the temperature. As expected, colder than an arctic worm.
We got into Taos, which is up on a high plateau, in time to fully experience our hunger at full throttle. Our mission: huevos rancheros. We were anxious to find the right spot, because no one wants a disappointing meal that's been floating in our minds for the past couple hours. We succeeded at a humble little restaurant called Ricky's. Beans, eggs, hashbrowns, and green chile sauce on tortillas. Mike and Tom cleaned their plates, and I wasn't far behind. This held us over for about 8 hours. After that, we enjoyed a long day of perusing the city's central plaza. It's a very touristy little town, but it didn't bother me too much, since it was still so rustic and homey. We spent a long time in the sun, however, which made us quite sleepy and worn out later on. Tom and I played a couple songs on the solar-powered KTAO, which was fun, and we found an odd and slightly entertaining pawn shop to walk into and run out of. People can be strange. I really hope that some day I can sit down to write a book, there are so many characters we run across that are endless fodder.
The show at the Adobe Bar was fun, albeit long and tiring. It was a cozy and charming hotel bar, with a nice flow of people in and out throughout the evening. It was also our last show with Mike on bass, and it seemed fitting that the length of the show required us to cover most all of our repertoire. We hit the road that night to get the miles under us that we needed before Mike's plane departure the next morning. His friend Nate in Albuquerque invited us to crash at his place, and after our arrival at 1a.m. and a how-you-doin with him, we hit the hay. Thanks, Nate.
So we pulled into the Albuquerque airport (called the sunport) and said our good-byes to Mr. Mike, who has been a truly enjoyable road buddy. Thanks for the memories, the notes on the 4-string, the observations shared, the dangerous whiskey, and all else. We'll see you soon with your stove-top hat.
We pulled away from the airport and headed a few minutes across town with the view of about 40 hot air balloons in the morning sky to the north. Balloon Fiesta time. I hadn't seen that many in the air since I was a kid. After a coffee break and a grocery run, we headed over to pickup Ms. Aimee Tubbs, who had arrived with Moe P. at a friend's house after their trip down the coast hitting a festival and a few gigs. We chatted a bit and then hit the road to Flagstaff, where Chad's plane would be touching down in a couple hours. The drive was a bit long and windy, the same as it has been lately, and we were excited to finally pull into town in front of the gig at Mia's Lounge. Reuniting with Chad was awesome, and it seemed full circle had come to pass, with the two troubadours joining us from the beginning of the tour. We enjoyed the afternoon on the back patio, shared stories and news, then had a delicious Thai dinner before the show. The show was fun, and we shared the evening with Missouri songwriter Cindy Woolf. Afterwards, we went along with her crew to a camping spot up in the trees. Some of us hit the hay, some of us stayed up around the campfire, and the morning arrived with a bright sun showing the many millions of pine needles on the ground and the acres of trees on this part of the Colorado plateau. We fired up some breakfast, and broke camp, heading down through Sedona, and on to Prescott where our next show was. This was when we started to feel Saunders really pulling to the right, and a vibrating noise up in front. Luckily, we wouldn't have to go much further before getting her serviced.
Prescott was a really great show. We had the afternoon to get settled in a hotel room, with its clay pot roof and somewhat abandoned look. We don't always opt for the hotel, but it's nice when we do and we can relax for a few hours. The Raven Cafe was our venue for the evening, and it's a super nice restaurant/bar with a huge beer list, and yummy food. The staff and manager (Brian) and sound guy (Kerry) were so very kind and hospitable and welcoming. We opened the night and played for about an hour to a great crowd, and following us was Portland-er Nick Jaina and his 4 band members. They were thoroughly enjoyable and awesome with a Tom Waits-esque, chamber folk collection of ballads and rompers featuring upright bass, clarinet, trumpet, violin, drums...etc. Great stuff, and they were cool, cool guys to boot. That's always pleasing.
We ended the night with a full meal and a brew, and then headed back to hit the hay. We slept. And then we woke up again. We were still on tour. It's becoming a feeling of permanence, though I know it's not.
We spent the morning walking along Whisky Row in Prescott near the square and the happening arts and crafts fair. We considered a little busking, but the wind was high and chilly, and we opted to head up to Jerome instead. We missed the turn though, and got a bit sidetracked. Mapquest led us astray, I'll have you know. 89 is not 89A. And that's the truth.No matter, though. It was one of those afternoons on the drive where spirits were mellow and content, and we were listening to the sneak peek of our friends Truckstop Souvenir's new album, "Under a Big Blue Sky." It sounds really great, and it was totally perfect for our drive in the high desert Arizona, under the big, blue, you know - sky. You should check out their new albu, which should be available shortly...truckstopsouvenir.com
So we back-tracked and found 89A and headed up into the high mountain area toward Jerome. Jerome is a famed ghost town with many stories of haunt from the mining days. It's wedged into the side of the mountain on very curvy and steep roads. It's super cool. It happened to be the Ghost Walk weekend, so there were more people than usual, which was good for business. The wind was cutting, and we were all putting our extra sleeves and hats on. The view of the far canyon of Sedona was breath-taking. Our venue, The Spirit Room, was hosting an afternoon band, Los Guys, who were really great. We caught a honky-tonk piano version of Nirvana's "No Apologies." It worked. We tooled around for a bit, took naps and nips, and loaded in for the show. The room was a typical saloon style room below a hotel. The stage was quite accomodating for our 4-across standing line-up. Friends of my dad's showed up, and that was nice to chat with Judy and Marty, who were very cool and supportive. We had a lot of fun with this show, and Chad started us off with a short set of his tunes, accompanied by Aimee. It was a long show, and we pulled out most of our material and had a great time. We were the last ones in the bar, putting tunes on the jukebox and dancing off the evening. We had many people come up and chat with us, and one woman said we had pleased the ghosts of past musicians. Apparently, there was an old picture on the wall of a group of musicians who used to play in the room many years ago. It is said that if you look up at the picture when another band is playing, you can tell if they approve of them or not. We were approved of, we were told. There's nothing like pleasing the spirits in a ghost town.
We drove up over to a new parking lot and slept like birds in a nest. Though it was cold outside, we were warm. I awoke with a dripping nose as if I were in a room with 12 cats. I had to pee, too, and I somehow had to make my way over two seats and the sleeping bodies of Chad and Aimee. I've done it before, but somehow the tangle of sleeping bags and miscellaneous crap made it more difficult. Tom pointed to a couple spots to put my foot and soon I was splayed like a spider above them. They didn't wake, or at least pretended not to. Tom was next, and it was more than humorous to see him perched over the seats as if playing Twister in mid-air.
We walked into town in the early morning chill, there wasn't anybody around. It was like a ghost town. We sat outside the Red Rooster Cafe, and were let in a little early by the kind owner. The waitress said we knew how to get him, because he could never leave customers sitting out on the bench in the cold. Aimee drove the bus down to where we were, and we had an awesome breakfast and great conversation with the waitress, Liza.
Then we were off. We definitely knew Saunders was needing immediate attention, and it was only a 4 hour drive to Tucson that was left before that could be done. It was a long, but easy drive. We didn't particularly take to the sprawl of Phoenix as we drove by, it seemed endless. But soon enough, we were pulling into Tucson, and the home of my oldest and dearest friend, Landi. She and her husband, Ayman, have a 5-month old daughter, Noora.
That was Sunday afternoon. It's now Thursday afternoon, and we're about to head out of Tucson to Tempe. Noora is about asleep. We're watching her until Ayman gets home from work. Landi left a little while ago. I miss her already. It's been a truly lovely few days here, enjoying the autumn heat of the Southwest, catching up with friends, avoiding the wrath of Lulu the angry cat, and hanging out with the endlessly entertaining Noora. She's the cutest of the cutes. Ayman took us on a tour on 4th St in Tucson, and we caught the end of the sunset up at Saguaro National Park, which was lovely. The Saguaro cacti have interesting spirits, and I think at night they move around a bit. Landi and I had some wonderful quality time, and she was able to get a couple things done with all of us around to help. It really does take a village. I think Noora has come to think that the group of us are always in the next room, just waiting for her arrival to take turns playing with her.
It's very exciting to see a dear friend with her first baby. It's also really cool, because Chad is going to be a parent too! He and Maureen are due in June. We are very happy for them, and also convinced that their little one will be running Pro-Tools at 3 years old. They will be awesome parents.
We had our Tucson show last night at the very rustic and ambient Old Town Artisans. We played in the courtyard, surrounded by lit-up trees, a cool bar, and several shops. It was a nice crowd, and we met Dorothy and Henry who volunteered to run the door for us, which was very nice of them. Thanks! It's always fun to play outside, and we thank Beverly for having us there.
We'd also done a radio spot on KXCI and had fun meeting Mel and Ginger who work there. After the show, we hung out with Ginger and stopped by Plush, a posh and red room with a great jazz band. It's somewhere we'd definitely like to play sometime. We capped off the evening with a sandwich from down the street, and a final fitful sleep at Landi and Ayman's.
Today we're wrapping up our stay, taking care of Noora who seems not to want to be put down, and getting ready for our final Arizona show before we head to California and the Joshua Tree Roots Music Fest.
This is a long one, and after 4 sittings, I've finally completed it. Hope everyone is well, and we'll talk to ya later...
joy and the 'birds.
Monday, October 6, 2008
we made it through Oklahoma...
Yes, this great migration of squirrels is now snugly located up in the panhandle of Texas in Amarillo in a small hotel room. The last couple days have been wearisome for us, driving-wise. Strong head-winds that remind me of Wyoming, cross-winds that remind me of Kansas, and split-seamed winds which remind me of Montana, east-bound. The gas gauge needle just sliiiiides to the left with too much gravity. But we're here. CNN is telling me all about it. Tom is taking a walk. Mike just rearranged his suitcase in preparation for his departure (sigh) in 3 days. He also just showed me his girliest jeans of all, with a certain trim and cut on the back pockets. He's very happy to have gotten a shower just now. Last night we camped/parked at Chandler Lake in Oklahoma, the 2nd of two campsites available within our driving area (the first one was closed). We were the only ones there, the reported "Honor Box" was nowhere to be found, and the soil was red, red, red. A great wind kept us company throughout the evening as we dined on brats and beans and Corona and did quite a bit of reminiscing on our jaunt together.
Our three shows in Missouri were awesome, particularly the Lupus and Reeds Spring shows. Lupus General Store was an old-time general store replete with the knick-knacks and antiques and dust. We got their early enough to go peek at the Missouri River, which is where the town road stops. This town is population: 29. Doug, our host, arrived in time to take us out for a quick ride in his motor boat, and it gave us an up close look at the beautiful bluffs in the area. The show was well-attended, even after we were warned it might not be (due to the VP debate and regional Blues fest). So, that was a nice surprise. The audience was receptive and attentive, and were very interested in the albums. Doug gave us a tour through his house, one of many in the town up on high stilts to protect against frequent floods. He and his wife, Meredith, were jolly and cheerful hosts, and we can't wait to visit Lupus again.
Rocheport General Store was the next night, also just outside of Columbia, MO. We were staying with my good friend, Renee, and her husband, Steve, both nights, so we had a lovely afternoon hanging with them. Steve plays a multitude of instruments, and he cemented my newest desire to obtain a ukelele. He played it very well, and I recorded him playing Elizabeth Cotten's "Shake Sugaree" so I could learn it. I love it. Thanks to Renee and Steve for the company and hospitality. It's always so great to see you, and we'll look forward to next time.
Next up was the Rock House venue in Reeds Spring, down in the southeast corner of the state, a stone's throw from Branson. It's a tiny town, and we pulled in to see an Auction house, a thrift store, an art gallery, and the Rock House itself. It's Jeannette and Bruce's home, with a large room dedicated to the concerts they host. Jeannette and Bruce are one of a kind(s). Effusive, friendly, interesting, and busy with numerous projects and activities, which includes the renovation of their home (made of only locally-found giraffe rock). We arrived early enough to hang out on their huge and comfortable front porch, and watch as their friends and they put together a smorgasbord of yummy foods, most of which were supplied by their garden. Fresh pesto and garden tomatoes were to die for. One of their neighbors brought this warm kale and rice dish that made me feel like Popeye.
The show was just awesome - a great audience that were so curious and enthusiastic. A distant relative, Aunt Mable, arrive, which was really nice. The three of us felt great up there, with a nice-sounding room and enough libation and food in our bellies to keep us in high spirits all night. We met the famous Greg Linn, sent out to the show by above-mentioned buddies Renee and Steve. Jeannette was a most gracious hostess, and when she sang along to every song from the albums, I wanted to bring her along with us.
We slept well that night, and awoke to great coffee and eggs and garden-perusing and porch-sitting and chatting. Thanks so much, Jeannette and Bruce! you have such a great thing going there, we hope to make it back very soon. The fresh beans and peppers you sent along with us are dee-licious.
Thus, began the driving against the wind across Oklahoma. But now we're here, almost all cleaned up (save me) and ready for Monday night show in Amarillo!
Three more shows with Mike of the Silverhands clan. Right now he's translating Spanish jokes from the TV comedian. He filled the wastebasket with ice as a cooler for our local beers. Tom smells good and shower-fresh. How novel!
By the by, I'm starting to put the word out for our homecoming show on Friday, October 31st at Conor Byrne Pub. It's a Halloween party, along with MoZo and The Pennylifters. It will be hella fun. Please come!
Texas-style Millsey
Our three shows in Missouri were awesome, particularly the Lupus and Reeds Spring shows. Lupus General Store was an old-time general store replete with the knick-knacks and antiques and dust. We got their early enough to go peek at the Missouri River, which is where the town road stops. This town is population: 29. Doug, our host, arrived in time to take us out for a quick ride in his motor boat, and it gave us an up close look at the beautiful bluffs in the area. The show was well-attended, even after we were warned it might not be (due to the VP debate and regional Blues fest). So, that was a nice surprise. The audience was receptive and attentive, and were very interested in the albums. Doug gave us a tour through his house, one of many in the town up on high stilts to protect against frequent floods. He and his wife, Meredith, were jolly and cheerful hosts, and we can't wait to visit Lupus again.
Rocheport General Store was the next night, also just outside of Columbia, MO. We were staying with my good friend, Renee, and her husband, Steve, both nights, so we had a lovely afternoon hanging with them. Steve plays a multitude of instruments, and he cemented my newest desire to obtain a ukelele. He played it very well, and I recorded him playing Elizabeth Cotten's "Shake Sugaree" so I could learn it. I love it. Thanks to Renee and Steve for the company and hospitality. It's always so great to see you, and we'll look forward to next time.
Next up was the Rock House venue in Reeds Spring, down in the southeast corner of the state, a stone's throw from Branson. It's a tiny town, and we pulled in to see an Auction house, a thrift store, an art gallery, and the Rock House itself. It's Jeannette and Bruce's home, with a large room dedicated to the concerts they host. Jeannette and Bruce are one of a kind(s). Effusive, friendly, interesting, and busy with numerous projects and activities, which includes the renovation of their home (made of only locally-found giraffe rock). We arrived early enough to hang out on their huge and comfortable front porch, and watch as their friends and they put together a smorgasbord of yummy foods, most of which were supplied by their garden. Fresh pesto and garden tomatoes were to die for. One of their neighbors brought this warm kale and rice dish that made me feel like Popeye.
The show was just awesome - a great audience that were so curious and enthusiastic. A distant relative, Aunt Mable, arrive, which was really nice. The three of us felt great up there, with a nice-sounding room and enough libation and food in our bellies to keep us in high spirits all night. We met the famous Greg Linn, sent out to the show by above-mentioned buddies Renee and Steve. Jeannette was a most gracious hostess, and when she sang along to every song from the albums, I wanted to bring her along with us.
We slept well that night, and awoke to great coffee and eggs and garden-perusing and porch-sitting and chatting. Thanks so much, Jeannette and Bruce! you have such a great thing going there, we hope to make it back very soon. The fresh beans and peppers you sent along with us are dee-licious.
Thus, began the driving against the wind across Oklahoma. But now we're here, almost all cleaned up (save me) and ready for Monday night show in Amarillo!
Three more shows with Mike of the Silverhands clan. Right now he's translating Spanish jokes from the TV comedian. He filled the wastebasket with ice as a cooler for our local beers. Tom smells good and shower-fresh. How novel!
By the by, I'm starting to put the word out for our homecoming show on Friday, October 31st at Conor Byrne Pub. It's a Halloween party, along with MoZo and The Pennylifters. It will be hella fun. Please come!
Texas-style Millsey
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Midwest Cocktail
Hola folks...it's been quite awhile since my last post, but things are still rolling along, just a little bit slower once we hit the Midwest. If I can briefly back up:
-Nashville was a mixed bag - ultimately a pretty cool experience, mostly due to the showcase we had at The Basement, which was a quick set to a good crowd, along with several other acts, some of which we enjoyed a great deal. We also saw a friend we met in Mexico last winter, Christa, who was kind to give us a safe parking spot and her home to hang out in. The 2nd gig we had there was a bit of a bust, but we made do, and met some interesting locals to boot.
-Chicago/Joliet. Chicago was also, sadly, a bust, due to the fact that it was raining hard and the local headliner had to cancel at last minute, for good reason. We did have some good friends show up, and Silverhands made his debut, short-lived, but still well-performed, in the midst of his hanger-on sinus infection. The next day, we had a long day of hanging out in the Chicago library while buckets of rain fell. I took a long, long walk with an umbrella, and returned to the bus which had blossomed some lily pads of moss and fungi from all the wetness. We headed down to Joliet to return to the Chicago St Pub, our good buddies we made back in May, and had another great night there. Ali Moroni gave another great set, as did Silverhands, and then we finished up the night. Mike's been really locking us in with the low-end, and it's been a blast having him along. We headed down the interstate that night, with Mike at the wheel, hell-bent on crossing the Mississippi in good time to land at his folk's place. We arrived in the middle of the night, and slept soundly.
We parted with Mike for a spell, and had some downtime with the family in Iowa. Tom and I headed up to NW Iowa for two nice shows in Spencer and Estherville, then another return to Grinnell and Saint's Rest Coffeehouse. Following that, we headed to Fairfield to the home of our dear friends Lauryn and DJ, who hosted us in one of our favorite shows. DJ recorded it as well, and we'll hope it ends up a nice recording to pull from for future recordings.
The Midwest romp ended with shows in Tama and West Branch, both enjoyable in their own ways, and that leads us up to now, sitting in the countryside of Iowa, less than 12 hours from our next big departure. This time we head south through Missouri, then west through the Southwest and onward. A whole month remains, and part of our brains already reside in Seattle again, anticipating our return, and all the things we'll need to attend to.
Pardon the brevity and rushed sense of this blog, and stay tuned for hopefully more poetic reprise. There's a lot of other crazy things going on in the world, sometimes blogging seems hard to muster.
Cheers,
Joy, Tom, Mike
-Nashville was a mixed bag - ultimately a pretty cool experience, mostly due to the showcase we had at The Basement, which was a quick set to a good crowd, along with several other acts, some of which we enjoyed a great deal. We also saw a friend we met in Mexico last winter, Christa, who was kind to give us a safe parking spot and her home to hang out in. The 2nd gig we had there was a bit of a bust, but we made do, and met some interesting locals to boot.
-Chicago/Joliet. Chicago was also, sadly, a bust, due to the fact that it was raining hard and the local headliner had to cancel at last minute, for good reason. We did have some good friends show up, and Silverhands made his debut, short-lived, but still well-performed, in the midst of his hanger-on sinus infection. The next day, we had a long day of hanging out in the Chicago library while buckets of rain fell. I took a long, long walk with an umbrella, and returned to the bus which had blossomed some lily pads of moss and fungi from all the wetness. We headed down to Joliet to return to the Chicago St Pub, our good buddies we made back in May, and had another great night there. Ali Moroni gave another great set, as did Silverhands, and then we finished up the night. Mike's been really locking us in with the low-end, and it's been a blast having him along. We headed down the interstate that night, with Mike at the wheel, hell-bent on crossing the Mississippi in good time to land at his folk's place. We arrived in the middle of the night, and slept soundly.
We parted with Mike for a spell, and had some downtime with the family in Iowa. Tom and I headed up to NW Iowa for two nice shows in Spencer and Estherville, then another return to Grinnell and Saint's Rest Coffeehouse. Following that, we headed to Fairfield to the home of our dear friends Lauryn and DJ, who hosted us in one of our favorite shows. DJ recorded it as well, and we'll hope it ends up a nice recording to pull from for future recordings.
The Midwest romp ended with shows in Tama and West Branch, both enjoyable in their own ways, and that leads us up to now, sitting in the countryside of Iowa, less than 12 hours from our next big departure. This time we head south through Missouri, then west through the Southwest and onward. A whole month remains, and part of our brains already reside in Seattle again, anticipating our return, and all the things we'll need to attend to.
Pardon the brevity and rushed sense of this blog, and stay tuned for hopefully more poetic reprise. There's a lot of other crazy things going on in the world, sometimes blogging seems hard to muster.
Cheers,
Joy, Tom, Mike
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Mushrooms and Comfort Food
You can see the Tennessee River from the window of this B&B in Knoxville. It's a pretty town, too bad it's the asthma capital of the world. Last night a little rain came, outside the Preservation Pub. It was nice, and I could've used more.
All is well in yellow-bus land. We picked up Mike at the Atlanta airport last Tuesday, to an un-fun episode of a lost guitar. In the end, it was found, to utter relief and smiles. It was great to see our buddy Mike since our last parting at The Chicago St Pub back in May. Feels like an eon ago.
We were in Decatur for 4.5 days, something that ended up happening without intention. It was a bit surreal to be hovering in one place for that long, and the coolest part was our friend Moe hooked us up with her friend, Heather, who put us up in her house for the duration. Her hospitality made all the difference for that hot and muggy run. Our Blue Sky Concert in the town square was our first show as this particular 4-piece, and it was a sunny, fun time. Lots of moms and kids, business folks on their lunch break. Afterward, we got the guitar from the airport, hit the grocery store, and headed back to Heather's to grill up some dinner. Music jams on the deck, book-reading, crochet-hour, a walk to the neighborhood BBQ joint, and other such pleasantries marked our following 2.5 days, since our gig in Athens was double-booked (always an irritating affair), and we were left unemployed for the evening. Our last night in Decatur brought us to Oakhurst Square to Kavarna, a nice venue in a cool neighborhood full of restaurants and parks. It was a bustling evening, and we arrived early to load-in with ease, take a walk around the block, get online, drink coffee, play Scrabble. The show went well, we went on first and it felt great to be playing after our respite. We pulled out a newbie of mine, called "Rhyme or Reason", and it went off pretty well, though I kinda screwed the guys up on the instrumental break. New songs can start off clunky, but it was refreshing. We headed back to Heather's to sleep our last night in Georgia. Thanks again, Heather, you were such a great host and friend! The hats and soap and coffee are much appreciated.
Our instruments are feeling the effects of the weather. The bridge on our blond Martin is pulling up a little which allows for some string buzzing at times, and also a strange thud with you poke the body near the bridge. We'll have to attend to that soon. Julian's Dobro has a bit of a buzz on a certain string, but it's a new instrument, so it may not be the temperature causing it.
It was a short drive to Chattanooga, and the sun bore down on us like a mean god. The kind folks at Charles & Myrtle's Coffeehouse put us up in a hotel not far from the venue, and we checked in after a stop at the Chattanooga Times Free Press to do a podcast with Sean Phipps. It was cool to walk through the printing room where the huge piles of newspaper made their way through the machines and into tightly packed stacks. We did a couple songs for the podcast and a little interview with Sean. Tom had a great response to the question about song-writing. I was saying that I thought Tom would probably write a couple more songs in time for the next album, and Tom said, "Yeah, they just kinda pop up like mushrooms. I can't force them out, so I just give them a bunch of crap to grow in."
So we had a good show at Charles & Myrtle's Coffeehouse to a modest crowd who showed great support and asked us a lot about traveling around. We went back the next morning to play a few songs for their service. We met quite a few friendly folks who hadn't been able to make the show the night before. Tom made them all laugh when, before going into "Geraldine," paused and said, "You know, comfort food makes for uncomfortable pants."
Then it was a 9-mile drive to our next show at The Chattanooga Market. It was housed in a large, open pavilion with copious stands featuring farm-fresh produce, arts and crafts, prepared food, jarred food, and salon services with proceeds going to local charities. At the far end of the pavilion was the stage – a nice big area with Kim running sound. We alternated 45-minute sets with fellow songwriter Miche. Everyone was incredibly nice with the oft-referenced Southern charm. Many people said, "Welcome to our city, we're glad to have you." That really made a difference.
Our first set was really great. Lots of folks came over to hear us, and the CD's were flying. In between sets, Tom went and got a haircut at the salon in the middle of the building, and the stylist decided he need to keep his rock'n'roll appearance, so he didn't take too much length off. It looks good.
Our second set was good, though we were a bit flushed and tired from the intense heat, especially since the sun had moved to a spot on the side of the building where it had excellent opportunity to shine in on our legs and feet. It was our last set with Julian, who's been awesome to travel with and have on our shows.
We packed up afterward, and I headed off to procure some yummy produce for the road. We headed down to the river next, where locals told us about cardboard-surfing. They don't have waves here, and don't really get snow here, so the solution is to take flattened cardboard to the top of the steep incline by the river and slide/surf down. It was actually pretty fun. Climbing the hill after you hit the bottom was hot, but let's not be wimpy. Tom and Julian and I even jumped in the Tennessee River, which, given another chance, I would probably opt not to. Luckily, we showered off not long after. I guess it was just that hot.
We moved to a different hotel near the airport, where Julian would be heading out of in the morning, back to Seattle. It was a mellow evening, and early the next morning we sleepily hugged Julian and Mike took him to the airport. Thanks, Julian, for joining us for a leg. You were good company, and you made that Dobro sound mighty pretty.
After Mike returned and we cleaned up and had a cup of coffee at the nearby Waffle House, we headed down the road to Knoxville with the sun just rising and casting a bright orange and pink spotlight on the rolling hills. It was to be another sizzling day, and luckily it was a short and easy drive. We pulled up to WDVX's studio at the Knoxville Visitor Center early enough to load-in and take a stroll through downtown. I popped over to a general store and bought a denim jacket, partially in the hope that the weather would take that as a signal to going ahead and cool down.
Our set for WDVX's Blue Plate Special was great. They have a stage in the visitor center that hosts free, live music at the noon hour five days a week. That's a lot of shows, and their walls were lined with blue plates with printed photos of artists who have played. They don't make the blue plates anymore, and I understand why they stopped, but I kinda wish we had gotten one. Matt Morelock is the host, and he is a very funny, loquacious guy who has a bit of a dry wit about him. He hooked us up with the Maplehurst B&B, where musicians get a room rate discount. It's reportedly haunted, and it's got the semi-gothic, older, stately feel of a haunted house, but I have to say I did not experience a cold draft here, aside from the air-conditioner. We stayed in the Double Rose Room, next door to the parlor where I played a bit on the piano. There's lot of lace, pink and mauve colors, old-fashioned Southern décor, and a spiral staircase that leads downstairs to the dining area. Sonny, who owns this place, is a sweet older gentleman who remembered our names on one introduction, and made us feel quite at home.
We hung out the rest of the afternoon at the B&B, taking naps and catching up on computer promo. Mike took his guitar down to the river and wrote a song. Tom read on the front stoop. Then we headed out in the world again, with a brief stop at a store for Mike to get soles for his boots, we landed at The Preservation Pub in Market Square. We had time to spare, and we brought in some food from the restaurant next door while enjoying a round of Stella's. The room is cool, much like a Conor Byrne layout, one long room with a high stage at the far end. Lots of paper stars hanging down from the ceiling, and large photos of famous people lining the walls with their quotes relating to drinking. One of my favorites was Tom Waits: "I've rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy." Who can argue?
The show was good, though Mike and I agreed there was some strange energy force around that seemed to make everything slow down and speed up without apparent cause. It was kind of twilight zone-ish. Probably something to do with the monitor mix being over 20 feet away from the stage. By the end of the show, there was a fun crowd out to celebrate a birthday and they clapped along in perfect time for the entire run of "Wild Child."
Then it was back to the B&B. I hit the hay, but I think Tom and Mike stayed up for a bit. This morning, we took our time moving about, and Sonny cooked us up an egg casserole for breakfast, with a marathon of CSI on the TV in the background. We're heading out to Nashville in a bit, where we'll have 2 shows there: one is a showcase slot tonight at The Basement, and tomorrow a regular show in East Nashville at Foobar. We hope to see a couple friends out there.
Hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer, but is it still summer? Hurricanes and campaigns. That's all I hear.
Ciao for now.
Joy, Tom, Mike
All is well in yellow-bus land. We picked up Mike at the Atlanta airport last Tuesday, to an un-fun episode of a lost guitar. In the end, it was found, to utter relief and smiles. It was great to see our buddy Mike since our last parting at The Chicago St Pub back in May. Feels like an eon ago.
We were in Decatur for 4.5 days, something that ended up happening without intention. It was a bit surreal to be hovering in one place for that long, and the coolest part was our friend Moe hooked us up with her friend, Heather, who put us up in her house for the duration. Her hospitality made all the difference for that hot and muggy run. Our Blue Sky Concert in the town square was our first show as this particular 4-piece, and it was a sunny, fun time. Lots of moms and kids, business folks on their lunch break. Afterward, we got the guitar from the airport, hit the grocery store, and headed back to Heather's to grill up some dinner. Music jams on the deck, book-reading, crochet-hour, a walk to the neighborhood BBQ joint, and other such pleasantries marked our following 2.5 days, since our gig in Athens was double-booked (always an irritating affair), and we were left unemployed for the evening. Our last night in Decatur brought us to Oakhurst Square to Kavarna, a nice venue in a cool neighborhood full of restaurants and parks. It was a bustling evening, and we arrived early to load-in with ease, take a walk around the block, get online, drink coffee, play Scrabble. The show went well, we went on first and it felt great to be playing after our respite. We pulled out a newbie of mine, called "Rhyme or Reason", and it went off pretty well, though I kinda screwed the guys up on the instrumental break. New songs can start off clunky, but it was refreshing. We headed back to Heather's to sleep our last night in Georgia. Thanks again, Heather, you were such a great host and friend! The hats and soap and coffee are much appreciated.
Our instruments are feeling the effects of the weather. The bridge on our blond Martin is pulling up a little which allows for some string buzzing at times, and also a strange thud with you poke the body near the bridge. We'll have to attend to that soon. Julian's Dobro has a bit of a buzz on a certain string, but it's a new instrument, so it may not be the temperature causing it.
It was a short drive to Chattanooga, and the sun bore down on us like a mean god. The kind folks at Charles & Myrtle's Coffeehouse put us up in a hotel not far from the venue, and we checked in after a stop at the Chattanooga Times Free Press to do a podcast with Sean Phipps. It was cool to walk through the printing room where the huge piles of newspaper made their way through the machines and into tightly packed stacks. We did a couple songs for the podcast and a little interview with Sean. Tom had a great response to the question about song-writing. I was saying that I thought Tom would probably write a couple more songs in time for the next album, and Tom said, "Yeah, they just kinda pop up like mushrooms. I can't force them out, so I just give them a bunch of crap to grow in."
So we had a good show at Charles & Myrtle's Coffeehouse to a modest crowd who showed great support and asked us a lot about traveling around. We went back the next morning to play a few songs for their service. We met quite a few friendly folks who hadn't been able to make the show the night before. Tom made them all laugh when, before going into "Geraldine," paused and said, "You know, comfort food makes for uncomfortable pants."
Then it was a 9-mile drive to our next show at The Chattanooga Market. It was housed in a large, open pavilion with copious stands featuring farm-fresh produce, arts and crafts, prepared food, jarred food, and salon services with proceeds going to local charities. At the far end of the pavilion was the stage – a nice big area with Kim running sound. We alternated 45-minute sets with fellow songwriter Miche. Everyone was incredibly nice with the oft-referenced Southern charm. Many people said, "Welcome to our city, we're glad to have you." That really made a difference.
Our first set was really great. Lots of folks came over to hear us, and the CD's were flying. In between sets, Tom went and got a haircut at the salon in the middle of the building, and the stylist decided he need to keep his rock'n'roll appearance, so he didn't take too much length off. It looks good.
Our second set was good, though we were a bit flushed and tired from the intense heat, especially since the sun had moved to a spot on the side of the building where it had excellent opportunity to shine in on our legs and feet. It was our last set with Julian, who's been awesome to travel with and have on our shows.
We packed up afterward, and I headed off to procure some yummy produce for the road. We headed down to the river next, where locals told us about cardboard-surfing. They don't have waves here, and don't really get snow here, so the solution is to take flattened cardboard to the top of the steep incline by the river and slide/surf down. It was actually pretty fun. Climbing the hill after you hit the bottom was hot, but let's not be wimpy. Tom and Julian and I even jumped in the Tennessee River, which, given another chance, I would probably opt not to. Luckily, we showered off not long after. I guess it was just that hot.
We moved to a different hotel near the airport, where Julian would be heading out of in the morning, back to Seattle. It was a mellow evening, and early the next morning we sleepily hugged Julian and Mike took him to the airport. Thanks, Julian, for joining us for a leg. You were good company, and you made that Dobro sound mighty pretty.
After Mike returned and we cleaned up and had a cup of coffee at the nearby Waffle House, we headed down the road to Knoxville with the sun just rising and casting a bright orange and pink spotlight on the rolling hills. It was to be another sizzling day, and luckily it was a short and easy drive. We pulled up to WDVX's studio at the Knoxville Visitor Center early enough to load-in and take a stroll through downtown. I popped over to a general store and bought a denim jacket, partially in the hope that the weather would take that as a signal to going ahead and cool down.
Our set for WDVX's Blue Plate Special was great. They have a stage in the visitor center that hosts free, live music at the noon hour five days a week. That's a lot of shows, and their walls were lined with blue plates with printed photos of artists who have played. They don't make the blue plates anymore, and I understand why they stopped, but I kinda wish we had gotten one. Matt Morelock is the host, and he is a very funny, loquacious guy who has a bit of a dry wit about him. He hooked us up with the Maplehurst B&B, where musicians get a room rate discount. It's reportedly haunted, and it's got the semi-gothic, older, stately feel of a haunted house, but I have to say I did not experience a cold draft here, aside from the air-conditioner. We stayed in the Double Rose Room, next door to the parlor where I played a bit on the piano. There's lot of lace, pink and mauve colors, old-fashioned Southern décor, and a spiral staircase that leads downstairs to the dining area. Sonny, who owns this place, is a sweet older gentleman who remembered our names on one introduction, and made us feel quite at home.
We hung out the rest of the afternoon at the B&B, taking naps and catching up on computer promo. Mike took his guitar down to the river and wrote a song. Tom read on the front stoop. Then we headed out in the world again, with a brief stop at a store for Mike to get soles for his boots, we landed at The Preservation Pub in Market Square. We had time to spare, and we brought in some food from the restaurant next door while enjoying a round of Stella's. The room is cool, much like a Conor Byrne layout, one long room with a high stage at the far end. Lots of paper stars hanging down from the ceiling, and large photos of famous people lining the walls with their quotes relating to drinking. One of my favorites was Tom Waits: "I've rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy." Who can argue?
The show was good, though Mike and I agreed there was some strange energy force around that seemed to make everything slow down and speed up without apparent cause. It was kind of twilight zone-ish. Probably something to do with the monitor mix being over 20 feet away from the stage. By the end of the show, there was a fun crowd out to celebrate a birthday and they clapped along in perfect time for the entire run of "Wild Child."
Then it was back to the B&B. I hit the hay, but I think Tom and Mike stayed up for a bit. This morning, we took our time moving about, and Sonny cooked us up an egg casserole for breakfast, with a marathon of CSI on the TV in the background. We're heading out to Nashville in a bit, where we'll have 2 shows there: one is a showcase slot tonight at The Basement, and tomorrow a regular show in East Nashville at Foobar. We hope to see a couple friends out there.
Hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer, but is it still summer? Hurricanes and campaigns. That's all I hear.
Ciao for now.
Joy, Tom, Mike
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