Beyond the Road Blocks to the West
After the blizzard/closed interstate in Wyoming and the break-in in Idaho (which we wrote about here), we considered turning around and going back home. But instead, we continued on, and the second part of our Northwest tour went quite well. We especially enjoyed our stop in Pendleton, OR.
The day had been long—woken up at 6 a.m. by the motel front desk clerk, talking to police officers and insurance companies, waiting to get a new window in the van, and then driving to Oregon. As we showed up at a wine bar called The Great Pacific in Pendleton, we were greeted with warm hospitality. It was exactly what we needed after the drama that had surrounded our recent days. Pendleton is a rodeo town, known for the Pendleton Round-Up, which is in its 100th year. We even met a man at our show who used to ride bulls in the rodeo!
Seattle and surrounding areas were green and flowering, as always. That is certainly one of our favorite parts of this country. After several shows in Washington, we made our way home through Montana and North Dakota. Our show at Rhombus Guys Pizza in Grand Forks, ND, left us with some entertaining stories. Perhaps our favorite is of a guy we’ll call Visor Bro (you know, visor, spiky hair, board shorts).
Every level of Rhombus Guys, including the rooftop deck where we played, was packed. Since no tables were available, we were eating pizza at the bar. Directly in front of us was a poster for the show that included our picture. A couple girls came and sat to the right of Nic; Visor Bro and another guy stood behind them. They were having drinks while waiting for a table to open up. Pointing at the You & Yourn poster, Visor Bro said, “Look at that guy. He doesn’t even look like he could hold a guitar.” The bartender responded with, “Umm…they’re sitting right next to you.” Of course, at that point Visor Bro began to backpedal. “Well…you don’t look that small in person,” he said. Too funny.
We were also left wondering if ska and skanking are making a comeback. At our show in Bellevue, WA, we saw kids skanking, and then in Missoula, MT, we played with a ska punk band. Makes ya wonder…
To the Northwest and Back
We kicked off a tour in Omaha, Nebraska, last night, and we had the pleasure of playing the Clawfoot House in Lincoln this evening. Over the next three weeks, we’ll be traveling to the Pacific Northwest and back. Tour dates are below.
03.31 — Omaha, NE — Barley Street Tavern
04.01 — Lincoln, NE — Clawfoot House
04.02 — Greeley, CO — Zoe’s
04.03 — Ft. Collins, CO — Everyday Joe’s
04.06 — Logan, UT — Why Sound
04.07 — Boise, ID — 208 House
04.08 — Pendleton, OR — The Great Pacific
04.09 — Bellevue, WA — Ground Control
04.10 — Olympia, WA — Chez Puget
04.11 — Seattle, WA — Sunset Tavern
04.12 — Seattle, WA — Shenandoah’s
04.13 — Spokane, WA — Empyrean
04.14 — Missoula, MT — ZACC Gallery
04.16 — Bozeman, MT – Leigh Lounge (MSU-Bozeman)
04.17 — Grand Forks, ND — Rhombus Guys Pizza
04.18 — Minneapolis, MN — Kitty Cat Klub
Later this month, we’ll be heading to the Northeast for some recording and a few shows. More info on that to come!
Take good care,
Nic & Heather
24 Days West of the Mississippi: ID & MT
Thursday (Oct. 1) we made a stop in Pocatello, ID, which proved to be a good idea. A guy named Levi from the college radio station set up a show for us at College Market Coffee and Books. We were very much at home. Idaho, in general, felt strangely similar to the rural Midwest. College Market also reminded us of a place called The Coffeehouse in our college town of Normal, IL, where ISU is located (Idaho State in Pocatello or Illinois State in Normal).
There was a good turnout at the show, and people seemed into our music. We also learned some fun facts from the crowd. For example, Pocatello is the Smile Capitol of the U.S. It is actually illegal to NOT smile there. Also, the lead researcher of Bigfoot apparently resides in Pocatello.
We stayed with our friend Cary Judd and his family after the Pocatello show and had a great breakfast of waffles, eggs, and bacon the following morning. We were quite comfortable at Cary’s house and probably could have just moved in. But soon enough, we had to embark on the beautiful drive to Bozeman, MT.
Friday night (Oct. 2) we played at The Filling Station in Bozeman, which is one of the only bar shows on this tour. In recent years, we’ve become realistic about who we are (and who we aren’t). The Filling Station served as a reminder that our music is not well-suited for a bar on a Friday night.
Nonetheless, it was a good show. We’re glad we got to see Tony Furtado from Portland and Gospel Gossip from Minneapolis—both pretty amazing. And the audience was quite nice. We even had a world music lesson about the harmonium when one guy from the crowd said, “That lady should tell us about her instrument.”
The Filling Station; Bozeman, MT
Saturday (Oct. 3) we drove down the road to Missoula, MT. We took one detour during our trip. The signs for Garnet Ghost Town looked innocent enough…
As we followed the signs, the road became gravel, then eventually dirt. It also became increasingly narrow and steep. Abrupt drops bordered one side, and of course, there were no guard rails in sight. As you might imagine, our mini-van is not ideal for sharp turns on an uphill one-lane gravel road. But by the time we figured that out, we were committed, because there was nowhere to turn around. Luckily, Nic is a calm driver, and we made it out alive!
(Yes, those are bullet holes.)
Our show in Missoula was a smaller show in the basement of an art gallery. We had reached a point of exhaustion, so this was a lower energy performance for us. It felt like we were playing in our living room for a group of friends. Everyone at the show, including several children and our dog, sat on couches and conversed with us between songs. It was a nice show, and was the first time we’ve shared a stage with eight-year-olds (The Scribblers). Missoula seemed hip, and we enjoyed spending time with new friends.
