Six Shows Down South: MS, TX
Thursday, Feb. 25-Sunday, Feb. 28.
On Thursday morning, after staying in the crappiest motel we’ve encountered thus far, we stopped at a gas station to pick up some milk. As we were sitting in the van, enjoying our granola and orange juice breakfast, we noticed a little dog running along the highway, about to enter four lanes of traffic. Nic handed his bowl of granola to Heather and leapt into action. We were able to lure the little dog out of traffic, and then left him with the gas station attendants, hoping he would find his way back home!
As we proceeded toward Jackson, our friend Gillian reminded us of the Johnny Cash and June Carter cover: “I’m going to Jackson…” We weren’t sure what to expect, but Jackson was a surprisingly magical city. There seems to be a group of people there who are committed to making Jackson awesome. They are promoters of community, music, art, and bikes. One of those people is Lizzie Wright, and we were lucky enough to play an amazing show/birthday party at her house. The place was packed, and everyone was attentive during our set. It was a great night.
We were interviewed for the Mississippi Happening podcast as well. You can find that podcast and some video footage of the show here.
From there, we made a couple stops in Texas. Friday night we played at the Fuel Cyber Café in Humble (near Houston), and then Saturday we drove on to Austin. If you’re ever in Austin, we highly recommend Torchy’s “Home of Damn Good Tacos.” We especially enjoyed the Dirty Sanchez, which included scrambled egg, guacamole, fried poblano chili, and pickled carrots. Yum!
We played an awesome show that night in the backyard at the Annie Street Arts Collective. There was a stage made of scrap wood and Christmas lights hung in the trees above the stage. Chairs lined the yard, with a fire off to one side. Dana Falconberry opened the show, and Annie Street residents Some Say Leland closed out the night.
Sunday held a dreaded drive—1,027 miles from Austin, TX, to Urbana, IL. We stopped near Waco to get gas and kolaches at a place called Czech Stop. Hours later, another break found us at Tops Bar-B-Q in Memphis with some college friends. We made it home safely, feeling exhausted and unprepared for the return to our day jobs.
Thanks for following our journeys. We’re currently learning some new songs and will hit the road again at the end of March!
Six Shows Down South: TN, AL, FL
We began our February respite from the cold with a few days in the Smokies near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where Heather’s sister got married. After gaining a new brother-in-law and spending some quality time with family, we drove further south, playing six shows along the way.
Monday, Feb. 22; Cleveland, TN. It was great to see and play with our old friend Rob Alderman in Cleveland. We met him years ago when our former bands (Winter in Alaska for us, Bigger than Dallas for him) played a show together on a snowy, blustery night in Appleton, Wisconsin. And we’ve just kept in touch ever since.
Last week’s show was at a place called Live on First. It’s kind of like a storefront that is being used as a recording studio with apartments in back. People came, and they were really excited about the music. It was a great way to start a tour. Before leaving town on Tuesday, we checked out the famous chicken salad at a restaurant called Jenkins. Sure enough, it lived up to its reputation.
Tuesday, Feb. 23; Birmingham, AL. Our next gig was a living room show in a super cool downtown loft. The crowd was slim, as we were competing with the television show LOST. Even still, our host Bekah was really great, and we got to entertain a handful of people that night. Birmingham seems to have a good vibe. We learned that it is the “Pittsburgh of the South” (both steel cities), and we recounted the city’s history as a battleground of the Civil Rights Movement. The 16th Street Baptist Church (pictured below) was within walking distance.
Wednesday, Feb. 24; Pace, FL. Next we traveled to the Florida panhandle, near Pensacola, where it was much colder than expected. At one point during our drive, we got caught in a line of traffic. Must have been an accident, we thought. But as we got closer, we could see that a car was blocking one and a half lanes of traffic. Apparently, the guy needed to change his tire right in the middle of the interstate.
Many people at Wednesday’s show wanted to talk about the weather—telling us it had been the coldest winter in 50 years, and that people lost their minds. “It snowed in Florida, and people just went crazy,” we were told. We played in the garage at the Chumuckla House, and much like the night before, it felt like we were sharing music with friends.
For two of these first three shows, we called the host as we were driving into town. In both instances, the host said, “After you take the exit, you’ll see [insert name of fast food restaurant]. Pull over. I’ll be there in about 10 minutes.” We would then caravan to our destination. Though this is a practice we’re unaccustomed to, we felt very well taken care of. Thank you, southern hospitality.
A Midwest Weekend: IN, MI, IL
After waking up to a broken furnace and then spending the day working or hanging out with family, we found ourselves exhausted…and in Indianapolis. The Planet Home, where we played last Friday, is a huge old house that’s being renovated by a guy named Ben. The place used to be organized into four apartments, but Ben is knocking down walls and converting it into a single-family home. With lots of open space, it was a great spot for a house concert.
The line-up was almost identical to our last show in Indy, which was over three years ago—Lovely Houses, us, and Kendall Ludwig. We had a great time at the show and were able to connect with Ben on our mutual love for Polar Pop. Dave from Lovely Houses said we don’t seem like Polar Pop people. “In fact,” he said, “Ben is the only person I know who seems like a Polar Pop person.” At that point, old memories came flooding back.
Ben is a gas station enthusiast. When we met him three years ago, he was on a mission to visit every gas station in Indianapolis. He had a spreadsheet where he was rating each place on a variety of factors, such as cleanliness and selection. He now knows how to adjust the mix of syrup and water in fountain soda. Apparently, when you remove the Coke cover, there are two knobs that can be turned using a pocket knife. It is the perfect positioning of these knobs that creates a great-tasting fountain drink! When gas station attendants catch Ben fine-tuning his soda, he just tells them he works for Coke. As we were leaving, Ben directed us to the nearest Circle K, where we picked up some Polar Pops for our Saturday drive.
Next we made a stop in East Lansing, MI, where we played an intimate show at an art gallery called (SCENE) Metrospace. It was great to see some snow, and we were able to take a short detour to visit Lake Michigan in Saugatuck.
We ended our weekend trip with a Sunday night gig at The Orphanage in Chicago (pictured above). The Orphanage is a cool art and music space in the upstairs of an enormous old Lutheran church. We were pleased to see our college friends Joe and Dave. Dave even brought us some homemade pickled green beans! They look awesome, and we’re excited to try them. (We’re just saving them for that perfect moment.)
After the bands played, an Orphanage volunteer pulled out a turn table, which was followed by some amazing hula hooping. We’ve heard rumor of this hula hoop trend, but we didn’t really get it until now. (The following video is posted with permission.)
Around the Midwest: MI, WI, IA
A road through the UW-Madison campus
Monday, Nov. 16, was a drive day to get from Brooklyn to Grand Rapids. We left NYC early that morning, drove for about 12 hours, and eventually crashed at a motel around Toledo, OH. Tuesday we drove on to Grand Rapids, MI, for our show at Cave Café—a popular restaurant/student hangout in the commons area at Calvin College.
The following night we were in Madison, WI, for an intimate Wednesday night show at an art space called The Project Lodge. In our conversations from stage, we discussed the opposition to a proposed commuter rail. An article we had seen in the Isthmus said that Vicki McKenna (a radio announcer in the Madison area) thinks the commuter rail is “about those damn liberals trying to micromanage everyone else’s lives.” A guest on McKenna’s radio show (Republican Party spokesman Bill Richardson) even suggested that a commuter rail would turn the city into the Soviet Union or East Berlin. Damn liberals. Fittingly, we also learned that Stalin’s daughter lives in Madison.
A view of UW-Madison on a rainy afternoon
Next we traveled north to Menomonie. Sadie got sick while we were eating lunch, resulting in a mess throughout the van, a stop at Shopko to find carpet cleaner, and driving with the windows cracked despite rain and cold temps. Nonetheless, we made it. Opening for LOW at UW-Stout was certainly a highlight of this tour. It’s a huge honor to open for a band you admire. We played for 35 or 40 minutes, and then LOW was on. One of our favorite parts of the show came during LOW’s encore. It went something like this:
Alan Sparhawk of LOW: Are there any questions I can help answer?
Girl in Audience: What should I do with my life?
Alan: How much have you traveled? Where have you traveled to?
Girl: I’ve traveled quite a bit. I’ve been to the West Coast and to Colorado.
Alan: Oh, a Phish fan.
Girl (with a hint of defensiveness): No, not that at all. I lived out there and then moved back here.
Alan: Well, you should go to Holland, and then travel down to Barcelona. Be careful in Barcelona though or else you’ll get mugged… Have you considered theology?
Girl: No.
Alan: What are you studying right now?
Girl (dodging the question): This is getting a little personal. How about I just go to Holland, then to Barcelona, and I’ll figure it out from there.
Alan: Well, ok. And Tel Aviv. You should go to Tel Aviv. So start in Holland, then after you get mugged in Barcelona, go to Tel Aviv…
We drove to nearby Eau Claire after the show and stayed at our friend Pakou’s apartment. Before leaving town on Friday, we accompanied Pakou to a lunchtime Chris Koza concert at UW-Eau Claire.
Our final stop on this tour was in Ames, IA, where we were able to connect with our friend Phil and play a fun house concert. (Some of you may remember Phil as the pedal steel/guitar player who sometimes sat in with Casados.) Phil recently scored a nice lap steel at an estate auction, and we gladly gave him a reason to try it out. Saturday night’s house party was complete with food, drinks, and lots of music (us sandwiched between six local musicians). It turned out to be the rowdiest crowd we played for on this tour, but we were able to engage them and had a really great time. Honestly, we can’t imagine a better way to wrap things up.
All in all, the tour was excellent. We’re approaching some time off around the holidays, with a handful of Midwest shows throughout December. We’ll keep you updated on our plans for 2010. Thanks for reading!
LOW, Andrew Bird, & more miles on the van
After a couple weeks at home, we’re off again! This time our journeys will take us to the Northeast and around the Midwest. We’re espeically excited to be opening for LOW at UW-Stout on Nov. 19. We’re also stoked to announce that we’ll be opening for Andrew Bird on Dec. 8. Tickets are on sale now.
11.06.09 — Champaign, IL — In Studio @ 107.1 WPGU (stream online @ http://the217.com/wpgu)
11.07.09 — Champaign, IL — Record Release Party/Nic’s B-day Bash @ Indi Go Art Coop
11.08.09 — Huntington, IN — The 509
11.09.09 — Jamestown, NY — Labyrinth Press Co.
11.11.09 — Syracuse, NY — 2nd Story
11.12.09 — Canton, NY — SUNY-Canton Underground Lounge
11.13.09 — Middlebury, VT — Middlebury College Gamut Room
11.14.09 — Montague, MA — Montague Bookmill
11.15.09 — Brooklyn, NY — Pete’s Candy Store
11.17.09 — Grand Rapids, MI — Cave Cafe @ Calvin College
11.18.09 — Madison, WI — The Project Lodge
11.19.09 — Menomonie, WI — University of Wisconsin-Stout w/ LOW
11.21.09 — Ames, IA — Tom and Mary Jane’s House
Show details can be found at the in person page. Hope to see you out there!
24 Days West of the Mississippi: NM, OK, & MO
Better late than never, right? Read on to learn about the final four days of our West Coast tour.
Wednesday, Oct. 14; Santa Fe, NM. After camping in the van somewhere in Arizona, we completed the drive to Brian’s house. Brian is a guy we met about two and a half years ago in Tucson when our former band Casados played with his band D Numbers. This time around, he was kind enough to hook us up with a house show in Santa Fe. The fall fiesta included a variety of amazing foods, with Brian’s soup being our favorite (ingredients: carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, apples, etc.). Yum!
I think this Santa Fe show may have been the first time we’ve had people laugh out loud during our set. As we played in the living room, the crowd was listening closely, processing the lyrical content, and then chuckling at the poignancy. It was pretty awesome. And based on the people we met, Santa Fe seems like a cool city.
Found at a rest stop somewhere between Santa Fe & Norman, OK
Thursday, Oct. 15; Norman, OK. Universe City, where we played in Norman, is a huge house that used to be a fraternity dwelling but is now being fixed up and used as a community art space. There are also 14 bedrooms upstairs, with 12 people currently living there. Much to our surprise, the paparazzi showed up in Norman. Who would have guessed? A guy named Adam asked if it was ok for him to take some pictures of us. We said yes, assuming he would take a few shots during the show. No big deal.
As we turned around to pull some equipment out of the van, the flashes began. Two cameras were flashing frantically during our set, and we tried not to be distracted by Adam climbing on a speaker behind us, then lying on the floor in front of us. (We love you, Adam.)
We met some interesting folks at the show as well. One guy in the front row was doing yoga stretches throughout our performance. Another guy was leaving the show with a huge wooden cross that he carries everywhere. We tried (unsuccessfully) to get the lowdown on why he carries this cross. He didn’t give us much info; I guess he’s just taking that “carry your cross” thing quite literally.
Friday, Oct. 16; Kansas City, MO. Before we knew it, we were back in the Midwest. The West Bottoms of Kansas City provided perhaps the craziest experience of this tour. We were surrounded by seemingly vacant warehouses as we drove into a shady-lookin’ part of KC.
Sunset in the West Bottoms
The night started off as a downer. Two of the three locals had dropped off the bill last minute, and it was questionable if the show was even going to happen. The original plan was a show at The Pistol—an open space with a stage located on the second floor of an old warehouse. But the promoter, Joe, was suspecting no one would show up (since two of the locals bailed), so he proposed we play at some art show instead. He recommended that we head over to the art show, get some food, and check the place out.
We scrunched into Joe’s Chevy Cavalier, with Nic and Heather both in the passenger seat. (The backseat was occupied by salvaged windows Joe had found in a dumpster earlier that day.) As we passed by a police officer who was directing traffic in the middle of the street, Joe repeated, “Please don’t look at the tags. Please don’t look at the tags. Please don’t ask if I have a license.” We made it by with no hassle, and Joe informed us this was just a “rent-a-cop” anyway (an off-duty officer hired to make visitors feel safe).
Our destination: An abandoned warehouse. We took the freight elevator up a couple flights to learn that this building was actually very full of life. Several floors are occupied by artists, and on this particular evening, the artists had opened their studios to display their work. We explored the building, eating hummus and Doritos, drinking beer or wine, and viewing paintings, photographs, pottery, and so on.
We ended up playing two shows that night. We first played a few songs in an elevator lobby situated between some art studios. Then we played our original show over at The Pistol, which turned out to be pretty great despite the bogus start. The underground art communities of the West Bottoms, where lots of people live and work, were unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before. We do love you, KC.
All our gear crammed into a wheelbarrow; Kansas City, MO
Saturday, Oct. 17; Columbia, MO. The final show of our tour was part of the Bluebird Music and Arts Festival. Darling Disarm, a band from Champaign-Urbana, was playing on the same festival. It was fun to run around Columbia with Mike, Kayla, and James, and we enjoyed seeing Chicago Farmer and Death Ships that evening.
We completed our 8,747.1 mile circle on Sunday (Oct. 18), landing at home in Urbana, IL. We returned feeling at peace with the world. It was a good tour. For the next couple weeks, we’ll be sleeping in our own bed and cooking in our own kitchen. Then, come November, we’ll be off again.
24 Days West of the Mississippi: CA
Have you ever woken up from one of those dreams that felt so real you questioned if it actually happened? That feeling of confusion pretty much sums up our experiences in California—asking questions like “did that really happen, or was it a dream?”
Wednesday, Oct. 7; Chico, CA. By the 14th day/14th show, exhaustion was an understatement. We had both reached delirium. It was a long drive from Portland to Chico. After sleeping very little and being in a van for about nine hours, we arrived at our destination—a train car disguised as Empire Coffee. It felt like we were in some strange dream, like soon enough we would wake up and try to explain to one another that we were playing in a caboose in some sleepy California town.
If you’ve ever known an independent touring band, you’ve surely heard stories about going on tour and playing for five people. It’s far from ideal, but it happens. It’s hard to go to a new town where you know no one and no one knows you. In general, it takes a lot of work to get people to come check out a new band. We’ve toured enough to know this, so we typically set our expectations low.
So far on this tour, however, we’ve had the opportunity to play for people every night. Some shows have been bigger and some have been smaller, but there have generally been 20+ people each night who seem genuinely interested and supportive. Chico was our night of playing for about five people…in a train car. On the positive side, we did gain a couple fans and enjoyed hearing Fera.
Leaving Empire Coffee, we realized we never ate dinner and were both quite hungry, which seems to be a common predicament when traveling. We drove down the road and found a Denny’s. As we paid for our hash browns and eggs, the waitress advised Nic to go find his pillow. He was looking pretty rough.
Dillon Beach, CA
Thursday, Oct. 8; San Francisco, CA. Our drive took us through several cute northern California towns in route to San Francisco. We followed some signs for Dillon Beach (our last name, for those of you who don’t know), and though we only spent a few minutes there, we found ourselves considering a move. Eventually, the GPS led us to the San Francisco tower where we would be playing that night. We used a loading dock and elevator to transport our stuff up two floors, and then carried everything up one flight of stairs.
The building we were in is three stories high. If you walk onto the roof of the three-story building, you can see a tower on top of the building that stretches up four more stories. (Photo at left was taken from the roof of the three-story building.) Our friend Annie and her boyfriend Jeremy live in this tower. We played in their living room, on the tower’s first floor. “Last night we played in a caboose,” Nic told the audience. “And now you’re playing in a tower,” someone added. Yep.
We were the first band of the inaugural Tower Concert Series, which turned out to be amazing! Our San Francisco show is definitely in the running for best show of this tour. Sixty or so people packed into the tower. Most people sat on the floor, with a few viewing the show from a spiral staircase. The crowd was silent as we played, and there was lots of fun crowd interaction. Everyone there was incredibly nice, and it was great to see former Champaign-Urbana resident Darrin Drda.
Our set was followed by a folk opera, written and directed by Annie Bacon. Ukulele, upright bass, and fiddle provided the instrumentation, and four vocalists each played a role in the story. For example, Savannah played the part of an elderly woman with dementia, and Elizabeth was her caretaker. The story slowly unfolded, with each song providing additional details.
Friday, Oct. 9; Santa Barbara, CA. The next morning we left for Santa Barbara. Sometime during our drive, we stopped to take a picture of the “City of Burlingame” sign. (Burlingame is Heather’s maiden name.) Soon after, we got a call from our friend Gillian (who lives in Illinois). She casually asked where we were, and then said, “Well…I’m in Santa Barbara waiting for you guys to get here.” What? Was this for real? Gillian’s sister had been planning a trip to LA, so Gillian flew to LA with her sister, then rented a car and drove up to Santa Barbara to see us! We were shocked and impressed.
Nic, Heather, & Gillian; Santa Barbara, CA
Once arriving in Santa Barbara, we walked on the beach, ate some superb Mexican food at a place called La Super-Rica, and played a show at Muddy Waters. We enjoyed having Gillian there—having a piece of home in California. The three of us were able to vent about our road-weariness and our existential crises, which was refreshing. The highlights of our Muddy Waters show were meeting venue owner Bill and seeing Rey Villalobos play. Rey is the singer/songwriter of The Coral Sea, whose Volcano and Heart record frequents our CD player. It was great to hear some of his solo stuff as well.
So…a caboose; Dillon Beach; a tower; Burlingame, CA; and a surprise visit from Gillian. As I retell these events, it does in fact feel like a strange dream.
24 Days West of the Mississippi: UT
Weekday shows are always a bit uncertain. People seem likely to go out and see a band on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday nights…but Monday or Tuesday? Maybe. Maybe not. Luckily, things worked in our favor this time, and we had three fun shows in Utah!
On Monday (Sept. 28), we drove from Ft. Collins, CO, to Provo, UT. Most of our nine hour car trip was spent on I-80 in Wyoming.
The road to Utah
An exit off I-80. Welcome to Wyoming!
We showed up at Footloose House in Provo not knowing what to expect. It’s a pretty normal-looking house, with a garden and some backyard chickens (yep, the “emblem of extreme foodie street cred,” according to the NY Times). We also learned later that the movie Footloose was literally filmed inside this house.
The show started with Brent from The Awful Truth. During his opening set, people poured into the house. I can tell you that there are not many things better than packing 40-50 people in a living room! As a side note, while in Provo we observed this—a room full of Brigham Young students can make for an intimidatingly good-looking bunch. From stage, Nic noted that this was the sexiest crowd we’d played for so far. They laughed as he assured them they looked classy…thrift-store classy.
Tuesday (Sept. 29) we had a short drive, so we spent the afternoon at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. It was quite warm—87 degrees and sunny. We walked, ate lunch, and laughed at Sadie as she went into the lake after some geese. Our LPs also arrived Tuesday. They were shipped to our friend’s house in SLC.
Later in the day, we drove to Logan, UT, for our show at WHY Sound—a small, but very cool space. It is a 49-person capacity listening room with a stage and several rows of chairs. Our initial thoughts were, “This place looks awesome…if people show up.” Again, Tuesday nights can be questionable. But people came, and we had a fun show, including lots of dialogue with the crowd. Several comments and questions came from an enthusiastic audience member wearing a black t-shirt with white letters that read, “I shaved my balls for this?”
Wednesday (Sept. 30) turned cold in Utah, with highs in the 40s and snow on the mountains. We stayed inside most of the day, and that night found us at Kilby Court in SLC. We had heard that Kilby was a great venue, but we had never been there. Turns out, it’s basically a warehouse/garage-like space with a sound system and a fire outside. It definitely exceeded any expectations we may have had.
Utah has been good to us, though we are ready to breathe some air with more moisture. Staying hydrated in the desert is a full-time job.
24 Days West of the Mississippi: IA, NE, CO
Getting packed and ready to leave home for three and half weeks is never an easy task. And, inevitably, you will forget some things. In the days before Sept. 24, we had a button-making party with our sidekick Gillian, built a wooden shelf for the back of the van, purchased a mini-fridge that runs off the car battery, made some pasta salad and hummus, and threw some clothes into suitcases. Nic did forget his coat (which might be unfortunate when we hit ID or MT in the next few days), but otherwise, we’re in pretty good shape!
The first three dates of the tour were some of our favorite shows ever, organized by three truly excellent promoters. Thursday night (Sept. 24) we played in an Iowa City art space called Public Space One. It was an intimate show with a couple good openers and a very welcoming crowd. We also got to see our good friend Caleb, who made us dinner and let us crash on his futon.
Friday (Sept. 25) we played at the Clawfoot House –the upstairs apartment of an old house in Lincoln, NE. After drinking tea and eating the best vegetarian chili we’ve ever had, the dining room table was replaced by rows of chairs, and people filtered in for a night of music and friends.
There was lots of crowd interaction, and people felt comfortable to insert comments or questions between songs, like, “That was beautiful,” or “What is that instrument?” Sadie was on her best behavior, serving as the welcoming committee and convincing at least a few show-goers that they should get a dog. Below are photos of the other acts: the Ember Schrag trio and John Walker. We could have listened to them play for hours!
Ember Schrag trio at Clawfoot House show
John Walker at Clawfoot House show
Saturday (Sept. 26) we were at Everyday Joe’s in Ft. Collins, CO. Again, a very fitting venue for what we do. The place filled up, with people drinking coffee, sitting at tables, and listening attentively. A freight train forced us to pause in the middle of Soul & Body. But once the train passed, we picked up right where we left off. Our set was followed by Danielle Ate the Sandwich, who was captivatingly witty. We hear she has some pretty awesome YouTube videos.
On Sunday (Sept. 27), we were able to spend some time with our friends Brian and Becca in Ft. Collins. We hiked up a mountain (see photos below) and ate some awesome beef brisket that Brian smoked for 14 hours. Then we headed to Denver for another house concert.
Denver proved to be one of our most random touring nights ever (and we’ve toured a decent amount in the past). We showed up at the venue address, and it looked pretty dark. Not exactly a good sign. Eventually we got in touch with the promoter and learned that he thought we were coming Oct. 27 instead of Sept. 27. Oops. But he asked us to hang tight while he made some calls.
Long story short, we found ourselves eating and playing at some kind of anarchist potluck. We felt a bit awkward about the whole situation, but the people of Denver welcomed us in, fed us, listened to our songs, and even requested that we play more. When Nic apologized for crashing their potluck, one person said, “I wouldn’t say you’re crashing it, just enhancing it.”
More info to come about our shows in Utah, but one thing we know for sure: There are still lots of generous, hospitable people in this world, and we’ve been lucky enough to meet many of them. Thank you for renewing our faith in humankind.
