Thank Yous

...a tour is a big project, like a record or a film. So there should be thank yous. And here they are...

First off, to Lisa, for supporting this endeavor even as it kept me away from home for a long time. Similar thanks to Brynn and Larissa for understanding.

To One Happy Island...being a band is like running a successful small business with a family member that you're married to. Of all the bands I've been in, this is the most natural and productive, the most intense yet effortless, the most charismatic and honest. It works.

Let's take it town by town...

New York: Thanks to Dave Godowsky for getting the gig, to Zach for following up, and to the club owner for helping us get down the road just a little bit. Thank you Anna and Jane for coming to support us. Thank you Michael Murphy for being the only NYC pop kid to make it out, and for supporting us since day one. We really appreciate it.

Baltimore: This show wouldn't have happened, nor have been nearly as delightful, without the help of our dear old friend Caleb Stine. Thanks for showing us your town -- it's a great one. Thank you Pete for sharing your wonderful venue. Thank you Car Phone and Jen for sharing your fans and Josh and Caitlin for lending your floor. Thanks to my family -- Bob, Rose, Scott, and Ron -- for making the trip, and special thanks to Scott for sitting in. We need to do that more.

Indianapolis: Indiana is the birthplace of Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, and Eddie Condon -- but it will be forever linked in my mind with the Reeves. Thank you to all the Reeves family members who came out, especially Andy, Emily, Pauline, and Mike. It was so heart-warming to see everyone. Big thanks also to the nifty Heavy Hometown, to Brian and Aaron, and to the Lebanon Reporter. So nice to meet you, Jeff -- the other half of the legendary She Touched It.

Chicago: Thank you Jennifer and Martin for setting it up, to Very Truly Yours for bringing the sweet, and the Revelettes for bringing the sass. Thanks Jake and lil' Ratso for a truly memorable interview. Thank you Kerry Davis for giving us a cozy place to crash. Thank you Ron and everyone at the Dark Room. We hereby acknowledge the existence of Black Diamond Bay. Thank you, Anthony, for the photos and, more importantly, the friendship. Thanks to the Jazz Record Mart for being so dang awesome.

St. Louis: Thanks Matt, for setting it all up, and thanks to William for putting us in touch. Thank you Mustard Rob and Shitty friends for truly unforgettable sets and to She Got Ugly for wrapping it all up. Thanks to the nice folks at CBGB and Thai Basil. Rock on, arch.

Memphis: Thank you Dave for hosting us, to the Redmen for bringing the rock and the gear, and to the Buccaneer for the beer. Thank you, Elvis. Thank you very much.

Houston: Thank you to the Halbrook family for sharing your home (and your son). Being on the road is lonely, and having a friendly home to spend time in is so restorative. Thanks to Aila, Jim, and Sharon -- so nice to meet you. Thanks to the Mathletes for hooking it all up, and the Sound Exchange for being so cool (and for the Lenny Kaye LP).

Austin: Thanks to Del, Blair, and Julian for opening up your home to us. Thank you Jay for the gigs. Thanks to Gary and KRVX for a great interview. Big props to Michael at Waterloo Cycle -- please support them. So nice to see the Besties again. Thanks to all of Shannon's Austin pals: Scott, Clark, Mike, Jonathan, Sean, Brandi, and everyone else. Thank you Chris and Laura for driving out to see us. It's been too long.

I'm sure some more folks will come to mind...if I left you off, please know that I am nearly delirious with exhaustion. I will continue to augment this.

Home Now

Wow.

4800 miles. Innumerable bottles of water. Five or six beers. A set of guitar strings. A broken uke (to be repaired soon). 11 shows in 12 days. Not enough underwear. Lots of couches, too few beds.

The tour is done. More subsequent details will be offered, but for now, let's sleep.

Austin Powers, Day Two

….slept on Del and Blair’s couch last night. I thought I heard fireworks sometime in the middle of the night, but no one else said they did. So I may just be delirious. There was a sheet on the sofa, but I still managed to sweat and stick to some of the leather. The sheet shifted. Still, a decent night’s sleep in a very loving household. That’s restorative.

Day two in Austin was another whirlwind. We woke up, and while Rebecca hung out with some old friends, Clint, Shannon, and I went to visit an old friend of Shannon’s – Maria’s, a taqueria in South Austin. I had a breakfast taco (chorizo and eggs – Mexican chorizo), a barbacoa taco, and a marinated steak taco. Pretty awesome, although the place has gotten a bit touristy. Shannon said it was originally just a trailer. Also, the Americana Music Association had taken over the patio, and was hosting some anonymous boogie bands. I like the idea of the AMA, but in my experience it’s just a bunch of old dudes who used to be into rock, and now like roots rock, complaining about how young people don’t find crusty singer-songwriters cool.

We then went over to Shannon’s old house to have a look…then unloaded at Waterloo Cycles, a bike shop owned by our friend Michael Zakes. Sweet guy, and a great store. He had a tent set up outside, and bands were playing in it all day. I unloaded, and Clint and Shannon went downtown to check out Shannon’s friend Scott’s band Silver Scooter. I stayed and went to Antone’s, buying a CD of Chicano soul music and the new (self-released) Randy Weeks for Lisa (my long-suffering wife). I got back in time to see most of a nifty set from Casper and the Cookies. As the next band, the brash and loveable Bearsuit, was playing, my old high school Spanish teacher Chris Sisto strolled up. He, his wife Laura, and I went for a walk and caught up. He’s a good guy, and it’s nice to hear he’s doing well teaching college in Texas.

Having regrouped, we set up in the tent, which was pretty boiling, and bashed through an energetic set. Halfway through, the ukulele konked out – the pickup jack fell out and a wire snapped. I decided to solder it when I got home. After that, a really impressive Mexican indie-pop band called Hello, Seahorse played. They were one of the highlights of this whole tour for me – sweet vocals with great synth textures and hooks. Classic but modern, and a very charismatic group, especially the frontwoman, who at one point launched into an adorable version of “Rapper’s Delight.” The irrepressible Besties followed, albeit an altered lineup with a different drummer (Frank had to work and couldn’t do their EIGHT WEEK tour) and a trumpet player named Joe. They played well, but the set ended badly when a microphone shocked Kelly so bad that she started crying…it was odd.

Here we are in the tent:


We had a great Mexican dinner, then zipped to our last show, which was in a club in East Austin. It was out on the back patio. The night was cool and clear, and with no uke available, we did a set of pretty intense guitar-driven pop. “Flounder” was really cool, and “Florida, Dear” came back with a vengence.

Now I’m in the car, at long last speeding home to Boston…

Austin, Day One...

...the specter of home looms large at this point, on the horizon, in the future. I'm not quite sure how bands go out for weeks at a time. I miss my wife, my cats...I miss being at home and the simple chores of everyday living. Being in a different place every day is really taxing -- new sinks, new toilets, new sofas, new surroundings, new streets, new restaurants (mostly bad)...but that's just the side of the coin closest to the floor. The upside is great -- new friends, old friends, my bandmates, the shows, the songs, the other bands, the rooms, the sights, the smells, the good restaurants...

We arrived in Austin around 2pm today and went straight to a houseparty put on by Shannon's friend Jay. Austin is really hot. We all were dehydrated instantly, and quickly switched from Lone Star (which is quite good) to water. Shannon knew five or six people immediately, and went about introductions and catching up. We ate some burgers, hung out, and eventually played in the living room of what's called "The Cue House." We were preceded by really loud hardcore band, which probably drew out a pretty intense set from us. The theremin worked. "Annette" almost came together. Shannon's old buddies (including some former bandmates) really liked it.

Here are Shannon and Clint during another set at the house party:



Shannon is definitely experiencing that strange feeling of coming back to someplace very formative, and seeing how things have continued -- largely unchanged -- without him. It's good and bad...and heavy at times.

The next stop was KVRX, the UT student station. We did an acoustic set, which was a huge relief, given that most of our sets have been really loud lately. We played with surprising finesse. I really liked it. I love knowing we can do that...

Now we're back at Rebecca's friends Del and Blair's house. Nice people, and a comfortable couch. I won't be online long.

Houston, I'm Comin' To See You...

...thanks to Tim Shelton and NewFound Road for introducing me to the Glenn Campbell song that I stole the title of this post from!

…we had the day off after Memphis, which was a luxury. I re-visited the Graceland gift shops early in the morning, hit the continental breakfast, and then we took to the road. We drove eight or so hours to Lufkin, Texas, and checked into a Motel Six. When we saw the condition of the room (filthy, door lock broken, bathroom door kicked in), we quickly checked out. We wound up at the Lufkin Inn, which was clean, friendly, and cheap. It was also next door to Wild Willie’s Private Club, which we assumed was a gentlemen’s establishment. The bass thumped through the room, but thankfully subsided by midnight, and everyone slept well.

From there, we drove three hours down 94 – a cool state road with lots of scenery and local color (pool halls inside metal hangers, cows, etc.) – and ended up and Shannon’s folks house in Tomball, Texas (I kid you not). Really nice people, and Shannon’s childhood home was wonderful to experience. They had lunch ready to go, and after a few hours of conversation and napping, we headed off to a diner for dinner with Shannon’s in-laws, Jim and Aila, and Jim’s wife Sharon. The food was actually pretty good, a rarity lately.

The venue in Houston was the Sound Exchange, a great indie record store on Richmond. There was a simple PA – two mics – but that was plenty. The theremin worked for once, as it seems to be malfunctioning every other gig these days. I browsed a bit beforehand, but couldn’t really find anything. We bashed through a set. Shannon’s folks had never seen him play before – at least not since high school band concerts. So I think he wasn’t fully able to cut loose. We were all a little self-conscious and tired, but there were good moments. “Temporary Tattoo” was especially nice. Shannon’s family seemed to enjoy it…

Me setting up:



Now it’s the morning, Friday, and we’re leaving for Austin soon. We have four shows in Austin…one of everything: a house party, a radio broadcast, a bar gig, and an in-store. All within 24 hours…

Us and Shannon's folks:

St. Louis / Memphis

…in bed by one – what a luxury! Memphis and St. Louis were the two shows we were most worried about. They are cities where we don’t know anyone, really, and have no pre-existing fans or family. In the end, they were surprisingly similar and similarly affirming.

St. Louis went down at a room called CBGB. It’s a neighborhood dive bar in South Grand, an up-and-coming neighborhood that fifteen years ago was downright dangerous, and is now home to a lot of artists and assorted hipsters. We arrived, and the bar wasn’t even opened – and this was at 8pm! So we went down to the famous arch, the gateway to the west. The enormity of it was staggering. Then we loaded in…Matt from Bunnygrunt set up the show and brought in a PA. The neighborhood was dead, but he insisted that, owing to the nice night, that folks would be out. And after a few PBRs and some Thai food, there actually were.

The best part of touring, for me, is seeing the local bands – almost all of which are new to us. In St. Louis we were supported by the Shitty Friends, a very entertaining and provocative trio that blended folky pop with this a strange script that involved a cupcake business, a pony, a robot (who was given to the pony as a pet), and a sibling who is coming out of the closet. They were followed by a beguiling solo act known as Mustard Rob. It was our turn…it was probably the most basic set-up we’d had: a four-channel mixer, no mics on the amps, no monitors. We responded with a pretty intense set, more charged than Chicago, more angry, more tense. Stage was small too. People actually liked it, and we sold some merch and passed the hat. Made enough to get to Memphis.

We rolled into Memphis around 4, checked into our hotel, grabbed a bite, and went to Graceland. It still awes me that one man could mean so much to so many, strictly as an entertainer – albeit a revolutionary and extremely gifted one (prior to his lapse into explosive self-parody). The tour of Graceland ends at Elvis’s grave, and I’ll admit to being a little choked up. It’s very confusing.

Clint and Shannon in Graceland:



Memphis venue was another dive bar – a pirate-themed hovel called The Buccaneer Lounge. Check out the sign:



Forgetting it was St. Patricks’ Day, we went down to Rendezvous on Second, a stone’s throw from Beale. Some revelers spilled over, but it wasn’t too bad. The club was empty, but slowly filled. The opener was a great punk band from South Dakota (!) called the Redmen, which actually had two Native American members. Really nice guys. Very sweet. We thought we’d have to do an acoustic show, but they lent us their bass and drums and again we mined a more intense vein. “Annette” is still a little rough, but “Texas Toast” was great, and “Laser Show” was one of the better ones. Reaction was good, and we got some money – but sold no merch.

Local headliner Dave (I can’t remember his last name at the moment!) did an acoustic duo with a drummer playing just a plastic bucket, and drew from snarled blues and more John Hiatt-ish sorta singer-songwriter stuff. It was a weird paring, but he was eccentric enough and a very engaging personality. Nice man, too. His guitar playing took everything I don’t like about acoustic-electric guitars (the tinny sound, the buzzing, the feedback) and used it to an advantage, creating waves of feedback and using delay to turn the pinging sound into a percussive element. Very cool.

Now sleep.

Chicago, Part 2

…Chicago was an interesting one, for a number of reasons. I had heard that the club was in a bad neighborhood, but it wasn’t…the venue was actually right next to the Ukrainian newspaper, which was cool. After shuttling it to Jazz Record Mart and back, we settled in…

It was a little worrisome at first, when an anonymous-sounding rock band from Montreal played to a handful disinterested people. The room brightened considerably when Anthony, one of our very first fans from Boston, showed up. It turned out he had moved to Boston. So Shannon and I hung out with him while Clint and Rebecca reconnected with old friends. The spirits lightened even further when Clint’s parents showed up – they drove up from Indiana to take in a second show.

Anthony, Clint's parents, and us:



Once Very Truly Yours kicked off their set, the crowd swooped in, and the energy ratcheted up. I wouldn’t say it was packed, but there was a fairly good-sized, devoted audience there…following their wonderfully charming set, local go-go troupe the Revellettes did four choreographed dance numbers as we set up. Having never really been around go-go dancers before, it really got the room charged up. Shannon had six gin and tonics, and we tore into the opening number with a nice mix of abandon and assurance. As the gig continued, we played it fast and loose, with a bit of talking and humor. The audience was really wonderful, and by the end, the Revellettes were back up dancing with us to a bunch of the songs. A fan requested “Potential,” and Clint’s dad requested “Earth’s Circumference.” We never get requests, and we got two tonight…

Us in action:



The Revelettes dancing to us:



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Afterward, we were interviewed by Lil’ Ratso from the cable access show Chick-a-go-go…we’d never been interviewed by a puppet before. A perfect ending to a pretty amazing night…

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