Good morning...
Some folks take to traveling pretty well... I'm one of them... I don't mind driving six or seven hours to play for 45 minutes, check into a hotel (or couch or floor space), get up early and clear on out for the next town. Many people ask if it's some sort of crazy party... not in any conventional way. I'm blogging at 7:30 AM on a Wednesday morning in the lobby of a hotel in Charleston WV.
Party in the USA.
Charleston, on a Tuesday evening, has all of the same ring as a post apocalyptic landscape... dead quiet with seemingly random lonely pedestrians propelled by a remote supernatural power. Even the smallest conversation between two people sounds like an overly dramatic fight scene.
Regardless, I like Charleston. The people I have met here in the past few years speak with genuine warmth and humanity. Without irony or criticism, they keep showing up and making it count. Whatever that means. I found the Boulevard Tavern a little while back... and Dave, bartender and booker, was gracious enough to give us a shot. The Tavern has a part dive bar, part concert hall feel to it... high ceilings and worn floors... oh, and some very very very large Iron Maiden tapestry decorations. (The owner[?] played drums in an Iron Maiden tribute band.)
Last night, being the first night of the tour did not really hold many surprises... your normal tentative performances happened... on our end at least... not surprising at all is how good Matt Monta is. Almost to the point where I ask myself, "Does he know that he is that good?" He's got this song "5AM" talking about his struggle insomnia... replete with the rising sun and skewed visions of jet plane vapor trails... and the delivery... a typical (in no dismissive tone) Monta mode... a he builds a phrase with rhythm and stressed syllables with a force and deliberateness and/or intensity that would make a cheery "good morning!" sound both welcoming and menacing, equally.
Today... short drive to Columbus OH and a day of rehearsal... Tonight, the Big Room Bar.
Grimm
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Tour Diary: Day28? Who knows... rebooting, right? That's the American way.
Today, Andy Bopp and I head out to West Virginia for a short tour... good times... fun times... preparing for a tour, at least for me, can feel hectic... I hate missing school. Some folks might believe that to miss school is kind of a relief... and despite my mixed feelings about my career, I still love my job... I do it like it's my job and it's not really work. To miss a couple days wears on me.
Regardless, I'm up early and hanging out at my dealership getting the oil changed for the Fit and watching the news on Brussels. Ugh. Terrorism. A potential GOP candidate was asked what he would do and he said he would do what he would have been doing as the President which, basically, was being President. Succinct answer, brah.
We just read 1984 in my 2nd period class and I keep thinking of this line, "We are the dead."
So... enough of that... the tour! We're bringing with us Matt Monta... he's a really great singer/songwriter from Columbus OH. We've played a bunch of shows with him and he's always been super accommodating to us... this is his first tour and he's really excited.
What else has been going on? Our digital version of he vinyl single is live and ready for download at our BANDCAMP page... get there! 50% of online sales go to Cancer LifeNet at Upper Chesapeake Hospital... It is a program a friend of mine really supported... the song "You're Still Here" was written with her in mind... So, buy a copy. Eh? I have the blogger app on my phone and I'm going to attempt some sort of updating while out there... stick with me.
Grimm
Regardless, I'm up early and hanging out at my dealership getting the oil changed for the Fit and watching the news on Brussels. Ugh. Terrorism. A potential GOP candidate was asked what he would do and he said he would do what he would have been doing as the President which, basically, was being President. Succinct answer, brah.
We just read 1984 in my 2nd period class and I keep thinking of this line, "We are the dead."
So... enough of that... the tour! We're bringing with us Matt Monta... he's a really great singer/songwriter from Columbus OH. We've played a bunch of shows with him and he's always been super accommodating to us... this is his first tour and he's really excited.
What else has been going on? Our digital version of he vinyl single is live and ready for download at our BANDCAMP page... get there! 50% of online sales go to Cancer LifeNet at Upper Chesapeake Hospital... It is a program a friend of mine really supported... the song "You're Still Here" was written with her in mind... So, buy a copy. Eh? I have the blogger app on my phone and I'm going to attempt some sort of updating while out there... stick with me.
Tuesday, March 08, 2016
Tour Diary: What day is it again... Day 17? Update...I don't even know...
Here's what I wrote after heading down to NC:
A couple of things I learned about myself this weekend. Traveling and posting to social media, blog-type things is hard to do. I don't know how people do it... I wanted to compartmentalize some of the process... and then never got around to it... I want to document stuff... as it happens... sort of... without being that person who isn't enjoying the concert, or funeral, because he's too busy recording it for later. The only way I feel like I could do it was to wear a body cam... but that's just stupid.
I guess part of the purpose of this blog is to really take my time to reflect and report with some accuracy about my experiences with traveling and music? It doesn't need to be "real time." So don't expect it... but you can expect real time pic updates...
Right. So it's not that easy all the time. But, rarely is anything... keeping a house in order, maintaining a blog, understanding love. Regardless, we try, or at least we should try, because if we didn't, nothing really wouldn't matter, would it? So here I am, again.
The past few weeks have been fairly busy with many bouts of productive/unproductive bursts in activity. As I type, I'm listening to an edition of "Mountain Stage" which reminds me that in a couple of weeks Andy Bopp and I will be heading out on tour... here's where we're going, again:
3/22 The Boulevard Tavern, Charleston WB
3/23 The Big Room, Columbus OH
3/24 PJ's Lager House, Detroit MI
3/25 The Acorn Alliance, Pittsburgh PA
3/26 The Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center, Harrisburg PA
This is in advance of that new vinyl thing: You're Still Here... see the image below:
Very cool: You can hear the lead track at our Bandcamp Site.
That's it for now...
Grimm
A couple of things I learned about myself this weekend. Traveling and posting to social media, blog-type things is hard to do. I don't know how people do it... I wanted to compartmentalize some of the process... and then never got around to it... I want to document stuff... as it happens... sort of... without being that person who isn't enjoying the concert, or funeral, because he's too busy recording it for later. The only way I feel like I could do it was to wear a body cam... but that's just stupid.
I guess part of the purpose of this blog is to really take my time to reflect and report with some accuracy about my experiences with traveling and music? It doesn't need to be "real time." So don't expect it... but you can expect real time pic updates...
Right. So it's not that easy all the time. But, rarely is anything... keeping a house in order, maintaining a blog, understanding love. Regardless, we try, or at least we should try, because if we didn't, nothing really wouldn't matter, would it? So here I am, again.
The past few weeks have been fairly busy with many bouts of productive/unproductive bursts in activity. As I type, I'm listening to an edition of "Mountain Stage" which reminds me that in a couple of weeks Andy Bopp and I will be heading out on tour... here's where we're going, again:
3/22 The Boulevard Tavern, Charleston WB
3/23 The Big Room, Columbus OH
3/24 PJ's Lager House, Detroit MI
3/25 The Acorn Alliance, Pittsburgh PA
3/26 The Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center, Harrisburg PA
This is in advance of that new vinyl thing: You're Still Here... see the image below:
That's it for now...
Grimm
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