September 2010
6 posts
ST. LOUIS
The last day of any tour is always bittersweet. It’s often difficult to keep up the energy you’ve put out in every other city knowing that you’re so close to rejoining your everyday life. You’ll do anything you can to make sure you don’t deliver a stinker of a show as your last memory of the tour. Drinking a bunch of really good free beer is usually helpful. ...
TULSA
Two years ago when we went on tour, we got set up on a last-minute save our asses show in Tulsa at a DIY space called the Monolith (RIP). While we had fun, it was far from an ideal experience. We played with a lot of, um, “sensitive” bands and we discovered the hard way that you can’t buy cold carryout beer due to Oklahoma’s archaic liquor laws. So we weren’t...
DENTON
The turnaround is the hardest part of any tour; you get to the point where you’re as far away from home as you’re going to get and have to confront the conflict of missing home and wishing the tour would never end. We pointed the freshly dented Silver Fox toward the east and put the pedal down through West Texas. All hail.
It’s easy to lose oneself in the landscape out here,...
LUBBOCK
On tour, you end up stopping at a lot of gas stations for pee breaks, snacks, and gas, of course. About a half hour outside of Lubbock, we were at a gas station when a couple came up to our van and the woman asked if we were a band. We said “yes,” to which she asked “Christian or Country?”
Do you know where you are?
First of all, an 11-hour drive makes a 7-hour drive...
August 2010
11 posts
AUSTIN
Austin. The Live Music Capital of the World. We lined up a great show with lots of friends at a great venue. All we have to do is get there and sing our songs.
What could possibly go wrong?
We left New Orleans at around 9:30am after a quick breakfast at Casa Sowash. Dan had us cruising across the bayou at a pretty good clip, so we decided to stop and grab some drinks and snacks. I-10 is...
NEW ORLEANS
The Big Easy is famous/infamous/notorious for great food, colorful characters, and booze. You bet your ass we got all three.
We rolled into town right around dinner time. Kyle’s dad lives in New Orleans, so we always get the posh hookup when we come to town. Within 2 minutes of walking in the door, we’ve got Abita Amber Ales in our hands and a pizza dip coming out of the oven. ...
TUSCALOOSA
I am hung over. Hung. The. Fuck. Over. Don’t ever let it be said that Tuscaloosa doesn’t know how to party. But let me back up a bit…
First order of business: breakfast. We hit up Waffle House (the Starbucks of the South) to get prepped for the long drive. People in Kentucky talk funny. It’s like they’re adding 15 or 16 vowels to every word, and some of...
CINCINNATI (OR RATHER, NEWPORT, KY)
We love playing at the Southgate House, except for one thing: the load-in and out. If there were an award to give for the most ridiculous load-in situation in all of American rock, I’d say the Southgate House Parlor has to be in strong contention for the gold medal.
First, if you’re not familiar with the place, it’s an old mansion near the southern bank of the Ohio River. ...
COLUMBUS (TOUR KICKOFF SHOW)
So I’m sitting at work checking out Donewaiting.com and an interminable argument about how much love bands in the Columbus music scene are getting. Without dragging any of you readers into that tar pit, suffice it to say that some bands are more beloved than others, and it seems to stick in the craw of some on the short end. Typical music scene drama. However, embedded in one of these...
