Hang low

Today is my off day and I hang low - no photos, just Coffee, Email and a movie (MI3) later on (no clue why I did that) I stay with Lea and John this night. They have a wonderful old house with lots of rooms and a food COOP.

Kentucky Detour

I wake up with a slight headache from the smoke yesterday. I’m not used to that anymore. Another famous one arm shot with Kevin before I leave his house.

I find a little coffeehouse with wireless and do my biz for a couple of hours.

I play in southern Indiana and the drive should not be more than 4 hours. I have to cross the great Ohio River into Kentucky - my first time!

Somehow I miss a turn and end up going straight South towards Lexington. That’s a good 120 mile detour and another 2 hours on the trip. Luckily I also cross a time zone and make up one hour. Here is a pic of Louisville, KY

I arrive in Evansville, IN just about in time to set up. But before that I tale a quick stroll around the block to stretch my legs.

Heidi, the owner and Ross, tonight's barista are very nice and welcoming and create a great atmosphere where everybody feels at home.

I have about 12 listeners and feel good about it. It’s again about the quality not the quantity of the audience. Heidi and her husband Paul invite me to stay the night at their house and we chat until late hours.

Cheeseburger in Paradise

The motel was right next to a railroad so I wake up quite early and get going again. It is still raining and slowly I’m starting to be affected by that.

I haven’t had a breakfast yet and just take an exit on the highway. It says Jeffersonville or something like that. Did I mention Twilight Zone yet? Gosh it’s scary, there is a huge mall with simply nobody there. Everything seems deserted and boards are nailed across the windows. Do I ever get out of here?

I’m glad when I see Cincinnati. I still have some fond memories of the last time here where I played a contra dance with Jamie. It’s different and downtown is pretty depressing, well maybe it’s me. It takes a while before I find some good coffee and a muffin I feel better and see actually a cool building close to where I paked my car.

I drive out the venue which is in another mall.

The staff is really nice and Kevin, who got me the show is a great songwriter who just got a publishing deal in Nashville and is now going back and forth between TN and OH. It’s a bar style show but the people seem to enjoy my songs.

Kevin and me play alternate sets from 7 pm to 11 pm and the last one we jam together.

When we’re done we take a picture with the owner mark and the staff.

Kevin, his friend Neil and me are going out to another club in town to see a great salsa band. They’re cooking and the room is overflowing with dancers. I love watching people salsa dance. It must be the most sexy dance around and a lot of the people there are really good. It’s also mixed ages which I like a lot.

Twilight Zone

I get an early start from Jenna’s house going to Columbus, OH. It’s pouring again and my wiper can’t keep up with the rain

Driving is certainly and adventure and especially if big trucks pass you with more than 75 mph. This one was crazy, he almost crawled in my trunk before he passed me and made me blind for some seconds. I was just holding the steering wheel straight hoping there is no curve in the street.

That’s my usual facial expression. The guy on the other pics is my double!

Coming into Columbus is like driving into a twilight zone, There is no one on the street and I feel like in one of those movies where you wake up after everybody else was snatched by aliens.

Billy is already at the club 202 and sets up the PA. He’s a very nice guy and good singer songwriter. Here is a picture with everybody on the bill including Molly & Grace.

Jamie the owner had agreed to open the venue on Sunday to try out a show. I thought that was great to facilitate that!

We get some people there and play the first half kind of like a house concert all acoustic close to the audience. I love that! The second half is on stage and amplified because more people are showing up and it makes sense to get the PA going. This time nobody offered a place to stay so I pack up after the show and start driving out of the city towards Cincinnati, my stop tomorrow. I find a motel 6 and hope there is some food somewhere but everything is closed already and I go for a beer, chips and snickers. That’s bad, I know but I’m starving!

Being on the road can be strange sometimes and it takes me a little time to relax and get in a positive mind setting. Eventually it is ok and I’m fine with the way the day worked out.

Steel City

When I wake up I feel transferred back 15 years when I played with my band Moka Efti at a German farmhouse and we all slept in one room with bunk beds. I go down to the kitchen and grab cup of coffee. They already started preparing food for lunch. When I’m done I pack my guitars in the car and work on the computer. It’s almost noon when I realize that I’m supposed to play a 5 pm show in Pittsburgh. I thought it’s 7 pm and dash out the door. I drive faster than usual and average about 75mph and it’s raining again.

The shadow lounge is right next to a huge church in a kind of funky neighborhood.

Like on the train in Brooklyn I’m the only white dude around but I don’t care and so does everybody else. The venue has a great atmosphere and I’m looking forward to the performance.

The two owners Justin Strong and his friend Tim are very nice and created a little oasis in the hoods that is slowly starting to pick up.

They have mostly Hip Hop acts or full dance bands and I’m an exception. For sure there is nobody in the club at 5 pm and so we wait. I give Tim a guitar lesson outside and we sit in the sun who finally decided to peek out between the clouds. Justin didn’t get anybody else on the bill so I can start whenever I want. Jenna, Abby’s cousin who lives with her daughter Gab and husband Jeff in Pittsburgh comes by for my rescue. She and Ivan, a gentle spoken African American are my only audience besides the owners and the staff.

I do about 4 of my original songs and then start jammin’ out with Dahu, a local drummer who’s playing with his band at midnight.

By that time this venue is probably cooking over with people. However, I made some good new friends and they respected what I was doing despite age and cultural differences.
Around 10 pm Jenna leads the way home through downtown Pittsburgh.

It’s a 15 minute drive to her home and have to pick up Gabrielle her daughter who spend the evening with her grand parents. By the time we get home it’s about 11 pm and we chat until 1 pm before we all go to bed.

Leaving the City

This is my last morning in Brooklyn and I gather all stuff together and get ready to drive again.

It’s raining this morning but as soon as I get over to New Jersey the sun comes out and by the time I drive across the Bridge into Delaware I have a blue sky.

Maryland is beautiful and it feels good to be surrounded by green again. I loved NYC but the again…

The concert today is at a little community that lives off the grid somewhere in the woods. I get lost between “York RD” and “Old York RD” and end up driving about 30 miles in the wrong direction. It’s a long driving day but at least it’s a beautiful day.

The people at Heathcote are very nice and inviting and their community house has a wonderful room for the performance.

I have between 20 and 30 people there and am very inspired to have a good audience that really listens. It can be so simple! Here are Paul and Dana just showing me around.

After the show I talk to a lot of people and feel great being connected and having made so many new friends. At the end of the evening we take one last pic with everybody that stayed.

The community has some bunk beds in the upstairs and I’m glad to lay down and get some rest. Somehow I’m very tired but happy.

Disoriented

I have a little headache when I wake up from partying a little too much, well there has to be some Rock’n Roll. After a couple of hours of email and biz I get ready to go to my students house in uptown Manhatten. Frrom Andy’s house ot’s a little walk to the subway.

I have to change trains several times and somehow I get disoriented and take the 2 train in the wrong direction. I’m slow processing and only realize it when I reach the last station in Brooklyn 25 minutes later. When I take the train back I’m the only white dude and it’s actually kind of funny. I have to get out at 96th Street and take a cab to Riverside Drive. All in all it took about 2,5 hours in the subway to get there – well including my little detour.

Shiro is from Japan and works as a translator. He wants to learn DADGAD tuning and somehow found me online and got in touch. He lives in an apartment on the 11th floor and from there I can oversee the Hudson river.
After a 2 hour lesson I make my way back to Brooklyn. This time I get into an express train and fly by my exit – darn, not again. Four stops later I can take a train back. I says local which means it stops at every station, not just at a few. It is another Express and this time I pass by in the other direction. What’s wrong today? I’m quite exhausted when I finally reach Andy’s house. I have to get myself ready to leave for the Vox Pop pretty soon and just have time to have a little bite with Sheila and Calli.
The Vox Pop is only about 4 minutes driving away but I get totally lost and it takes me about 45 minutes. I can’t believe that, I’m usually pretty good with directions. Jeff Jacobson a Singer Songwriter from NYC that I invited to share the bill is already there. He’s a very nice fellow and a great writer, so I get to enjoy some good music.

After the 4th song I get up and play with him the rest of his show. Then Tom and me go on.

It’s a nice atmosphere and I like the combination of books, coffee, beer and friendly staff. After the show I hang out with some of them and share some more songs off stage. The guitar makes the round and several of them play a song or two for me.

It’s getting real late and I need to go back and get some sleep. Again I get lost and can’t help but laughing out loud – this is pathetic and it’s amazing how disoriented I’ve been today.

The City Never Sleeps

It’s another early morning and I’m quite tired. I was supposed to drive from Boston to Brooklyn, get settled, take the subway to uptown NY, teach a two hour lesson and then go to CBGB’s and play a show. Luckily I cancelled the lesson and rescheduled for tomorrow. Yesterday’s fiasco with my computer, the drive and rain took out some of my energy. So I trake it easy and leave around 10 am instead of 8 am. Steve and Vicky were so nice and I’m glad to have made new friends. They give me a Starbucks card as a goodbye present and I get on my way.

The drive is ok but it starts raining pretty soon.

I have directions but at some point I take Exit 14 in CT rather than in NY which gets be out into the boons. At least it’s pretty here and I take a quick snapshot before I wind my way back to the highway.

New York City, I love it, never drove my car though. When I reach the Bronx the traffic starts picking up.

Around 3:30 pm I reach Brooklyn where I stay with my friend Andy, Sheila and their daughter Calli.

I haven’t seen Andy for more than 7 years and we just pick up where we left as if no time had passed. He’s pretty busy preparing for a job interview as Composition teacher at the Vienna conservatory plus he’s currently recording a new Octet he wrote. Before I leave for the show we take a little stroll around the block and I get to see the street were they filmed a flick with Jack Nicholson and either Helen Hunt or Jodie Foster, I’m not sure (As good as it gets).

When we get back I get ready and leave for the subway.

The CBGBs is downtown Manhattan at Bowery and I meet there with my friends Tom and Robin. Tom is going to play the set with me.

I’m playing at the gallery, next to the downstairs and it’s a nice venue. The only disturbing thing is the rumbling sound of Marshall stacks from the show next door but whatever…

Carol Alban my flute player friend from Oakland is also in NYC and sits in with her friend Karen.

After the show Tom, Robin and me go out for dinner. Somehow I have one glas of wine too many and get a little silly. I’m tired from a full day and around 1 am were sitting in the subway on the way back to Brooklyn. Tom and Robin moved there from Seattle about 6 months ago. Andy is still awake when I come home so we chat another hour before I fall flat into bed.

$1399 later and it's still raining

The day starts with Rachel making a good cup of coffee. I’ll miss my “family” in Portsmouth, they’ve been so good to me. I have to leave early to get to the radio station. I’ll have an interview with Tim Stone and am looking forward to it.

I just love doing radio and it is very satisfying to me. After that I get a recommendation to go to the “Friendly Toast”, a breakfast place her in town.

I’m starving and can’t get enough food into my mouth. It’s really good, scrambled eggs with feta, olives and dried tomatoes. After that I visit the local Record store which a has an incredible selection. I find one of my favorite Cd’s, Teitur’s “Poetry and Airplanes.” I just love that album.

After that I’m looking for a Café to do some email. When I can’t find anything I decide to just drive around and see if there is some wireless. I find some place, park and start working. All over sudden the screen turns all green, then red, then blue, then grey and then it’s gone – that was it. I have an instant feeling of panic. All my database, contacts and tour info is in that machine. I’ve backed up last week but already collected tons of new stuff. Any attempt to turn it on fails and so I call Tim and ask him if he knows a Mac store in town. He gives me three phone # of people who might know. In the meantime it is 1:30 pm and I need to get going – but where? Finally I get an address of a store in the North Shore Mall in Peabody. It’s on the way to my show tonight at the Midway Café in Boston. I drive back to the radio station to print out directions and get going. It starts raining and I’m also close to tears. If my computer is toast I’m in serous trouble – period.
The Mall is a maze and it rains even harder. By the time I find the store I’m all wet. I’m lucky and get somebody to look at it right away. The diagnosis is devastating – no way to repair, it has to be send to TX. I’m searching as hard as I can for an option but the only one is to buy a new computer on the spot and transferring the data so I can continue my tour. That hurts and $1399 later I get a smile from the technician.

Two hours later I walk out of there into pouring rain. If it rained cats before, now it’s Dobermans! When I reach the first row of parked cars I’m completely soaked and still have to find my car which is in row 12, I guess?! I barely find back to the highway and am trying hard to figure out how to get to the club. The rain does not make it easier and my mood does not help.

Finally I’m back on track but run into Boston rush hour – not again!

Oh man, there is the tunnel again and it takes about 90 minutes until I see daylight again. Now I’m really late and kind of disoriented but still determined to get there for the sound check. When I arrive, nobody is there and when I look at the billboard I don’t see my name on it. Oh no! Jess forgot that she booked me – I can’t believe how that day is messing with me. Now it starts to be funny and I can’t help but getting that stupid smile out of no reason – or maybe a really good one. When Jess arrives I introduce myself and she’s slowly getting it. She is a little embarrassed and offers me to open up but I was looking forward to playing a round and either want to do that or just drink a couple of beers and listen. We end up doing the round with Jess Yoakum, Liz Stahler and Kristin Cifelli. My friend Patti DeRosa show up too and we take a picture before we start.

I know Patti from Myspace and am glad that she came to see me with her friend Arnold. Andy, Vicky’s husband comes too and so I have some people there and don’t feel too lost. The show is nice though I miss the friendly support that I know from the Seattle rounds. I guess the others were not quit at ease with me as unexpected 4th wheel. Whatever – I’m enjoying it and the music heals my injured soul. By the end of the evening I’m back on track and have a great conversation with Andy before he guides me back to their house. After all it is only money that I lost.