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Wow. Back. Don't even know where to begin.

Feels like was gone for 3 weeks but save for the 2 week break in July it was 3 months. So far so good on rotating back to civillian life. None of the mindfuck that coming home from the long Mother Truckers 08 summer tour was, that was rough. This time spent most of yesterday recouping and went for Mexican food with Triniti. She's currently in town doing a Reiki session with Karen Slafter, I'm at Tim and Traceys about to tak a cold shower as the downstairs plumbing is a little out of whack right now.

Projects for today are make new business cards, keep looking into cd duplication for Ocean of Stars re-release and keep ball rolling with Magnetic Eye, may eat mastering costs to keep overhead down but still have Scott Reeder stamp of approval on it. Plan to see Totimoshi tonite w/T at Scoot Inn. Last time they were in town Shandon opened for them with Nebula on the bill. I was out w/TMT and had Amber Lucille fill on for me on guitar. Sounds like I missed an awesome show.

That and start playing guitar more, get back into that in my spare time. Would like to get Ocean of Stars up and running as a side project but need a band. The people i'd like to have involved are pretty busy themselves but wouldn't hurt to ask, maybe have several players in rotation like Shadon's band. Need to make some phone calls...

Tomorrow ETB plays the Fox 7 morning show then Sam's Burger Joint in San Antone that night. Sat is big homecoming show at Antone's, need to get out laptop and start promoting the shit out of all those. Next week/weekend off so plan on going to Corpus with T for family time, come back for the weekend and hit shows/network. Tim says he has sessions with Mike Smith that weekend, would love to hang out and watch. See what happens.

My birthday weekend ETB is in San Angelo and Lubbock. Will spend my birthday on the 18th driving back from Lubbock, probably hung over. Again, see what happens. After that ETB flies to India for several shows. That will be something.

Mon Aug 29, 2011

Greetings from Boss Hoss, somewhere in SE Kansas. Just drove thru the Flint Hills, very nice drive even if you are spoiled by mountains.

En route to Norman OK for gig at Brother's Eatery & Pub. Last night of the tour, holy cow. 3 months have whizzed by in what seems like 3 weeks. I always equate longer tours with astronauts traveling at the speed of light--they come back after a few weeks and years have passed. Crazy. Will see what condition Austin and Central Texas is in from a record summer. Was 110 there yesterday. Fuck.

Last night at Music in the Park was a blast. Set up outside a gazebo, good sound system. I was far enough away from Rob's cymbals to not need earplugs, heh. My rig sounded great. Played a fun 2 hour set to about 700-800 people scattered around a duck pond. Glad more people than waterfowl...! Rob wearing his new Kum & Go shirt (best convenience store chain name ever), guy in crowd had his little daughter hand Rob a Kum & Go lighter between songs. Awesome. End of set joined Eric in ripping my strings off. Might as well go out with a bang, heh.

How's this for small world: bass player in band before us I've known for years, surprised I didn't recognize him at first. Hard to miss a huge barrel-chested black guy with dredlocks down his back and plays bass like a mofo. Jemmie was playing with Endever when Southern Gun Culture did shows with them at the Backroom, then we briefly played together in Stepacyde, did a gig during SXSW 05/06. He'd recently moved to Kansas City, always awesome to bump into an old friend when u least expect it.

Note to self: eat. Have been eating pretty decent lately but made the mistake of having only a choc milk, blueberry/pomegranite juice, and leftover fries from Knuckleheads. Was low on gas, then the Coors original kicked in a little sooner. Drank plenty of water and was fine playing, but still. Allergies then went haywire from being outside and by the time we got back to hotel from post-show pizza almost felt like I was coming down with something. 3 months exposing myself to an infinite number of micro-organisms and contagions, and I finally get sick on the way home? Fuck a bunch of that. Took Target brand Clartin, B complex and a Vit C and feel fine this morning.

Second note to self: warm up a little before we play. Last few gigs have felt tight as hell first song, affects playing and risks injury. That and stretch out. Put Tiger Balm on forearms/wrists/hands this morning.

Third note to self: make new business cards. Current ones have myspace addy and no link for this blog.

OK going crazy. Will keep you posted, loyal readers.

Sat Aug 27, 2011

Kansas City MO

Greetings from Boss Hoss. Just played Knuckleheads, decent show. Been here with the Mother Truckers in the past, wasn't going crazy that outdoor stage bigger than I remembered (tey expanded). But early night, bout to check in at hotel, get cleaned up then get shitty at Trouser Mouse, where we usually play.

Thank God or corporae rates, we've been sleeping in the van at rest stops quite a bit as of late. Livin the dream. But home on tueseday morning. Wow. 3 months.

We're here at hotel now, signing off for now.

Later:

Having a Beam on the rocks at Trouser Mouse. Seems like we were just here. 2nd night of the tour after we heard news bout loss of Sergio. RIP brother, heaven just got a lot cooler.

Rockabilly band playing, guy just joined them onstage for a set of Buddy Holly covers. Would be better if they played insteadof guy talking incessantly. Anyway I am burned out and want to go home. Not long now. Will be good to be home.

Mon Aug 22, 2011

Off day, Richland Center WI

Going to Noah's Ark water park today, should be fun. Could almost use the rest if we cancelled but fuck it we need to blow off some steam.

Burnout setting in big time. Been a long run and ready to go home. I think we have just over a week left. Holy shit, has it been three months? And now it's almost over? Wow. No wonder I can't remember where we played 3 days ago and can barely keep up with the coming week's schedule.

There are a lot of things I could be doing in downtime that I just have no motivation for. Could download/edit/post pics from my camera but barely have the energy to take pics, let alone do anything with em. Backlogged enough as is. Would be great to use camera pics for this blog rather than same phone pics I posted on FB, but phone pics more time/energy efficient way. Could be working on vid blogs but no energy and FlipShre pretty primitive for vid editing. Could be playing bass, felt great to play the other night (when? where?) for fun, but hands/forearms tired.

But we did clean Boss Hoss out yesterday, that was needed. Eric and his dad also cut/welded some sheet metal to mke a new seat mount for the passenger side. Now that seat ain't rockin bck/forth anymore. Also some new parts purchased while in town, engine runnin a little wonky. Please we need to replace the rear tire which blew out en route to NYC. Spare is pretty shot. All that will be done today/tomorrow. Clothes already warshed. Even had a bonfire last night, got great phone pics but Blogger seems to like Retro Camera better. Mah.

So yeah. Hard to fathom next week Saturday I'll be back in Austin and playing Antones. Brain hurts.

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Whoops, let's do the time warp again. Greetings from Chez Tessmer in Richland Center WI.

I am beat. We are beat. 2 days off before heading to Minneapolis and Eau Claire WI, Chicago-area again then headin generally south towards home, finally. Looking forward to this run winding down, been bout 3 months and ready for an actual break.

Last night in La Crosse was interesting. The Joint is a really cool place staffed by some really cool people and a competant soundman (yes used those words together and meant it, heh!). Similar setup to the old Room 710, venue/stage one side and bat on the other. Decent size stage and good sound. Stopped en route to Eric's friend Travis' place for steaks and a quick beer.

Venue never really filled up, ebbed and flowed. We were dragging ass and tried to appear otherwise, not sure if people noticed. Met Van Man from the old RiffRock.com, always good to finally meet a former forumite in the flesh. Was real nice having an online discussion forum of people I would hang out with if we lived in same town. Wearing a Dixie Witch shirt to boot, which earned him a free ETB coozie. \m/,

We slugged thru 3 sets to varying amounts of people. Played pretty good I guess. Didn't sell much but got 3 pages of emails, that's cool. During soundcheck my wireless unplugged itself, remedied and good to go. Finally restrung Cate Blanchett as well, only use her for Taildragger and haven't restrung since last run. Put on my last set of Dean Markley Blue Steels, now remember why I liked them back in the day: they last a long time. The ones on Minnie Pearl are several days older than they should be and only now need to be changed. Kicking myself for not buying more at Dave's Guitars earlier that day.

After show things got crazy on streets of La Crosse. As per Eric, river towns in WI get rough. Were privy to drunken bar-closing stupidity and a rumble between some dumbasses. Good times. Eric and I kept our eyelids open with toothpicks to get home overnight. Windy roads and patches of fog. And maybe 2 towns in between. Yeah. But here we are. Day off today, going to Noah's Ark water park tomorrow. Fun.

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Whoops, let's do the time warp again. Greetings from Chez Tessmer in Richland Center WI.

I am beat. We are beat. 2 days off before heading to Minneapolis and Eau Claire WI, Chicago-area again then headin generally south towards home, finally. Looking forward to this run winding down, been bout 3 months and ready for an actual break.

Last night in La Crosse was interesting. The Joint is a really cool place staffed by some really cool people and a competant soundman (yes used those words together and meant it, heh!). Similar setup to the old Room 710, venue/stage one side and bat on the other. Decent size stage and good sound. Stopped en route to Eric's friend Travis' place for steaks and a quick beer.

Venue never really filled up, ebbed and flowed. We were dragging ass and tried to appear otherwise, not sure if people noticed. Met Van Man from the old RiffRock.com, always good to finally meet a former forumite in the flesh. Was real nice having an online discussion forum of people I would hang out with if we lived in same town. Wearing a Dixie Witch shirt to boot, which earned him a free ETB coozie. \m/,

We slugged thru 3 sets to varying amounts of people. Played pretty good I guess. Didn't sell much but got 3 pages of emails, that's cool. During soundcheck my wireless unplugged itself, remedied and good to go. Finally restrung Cate Blanchett as well, only use her for Taildragger and haven't restrung since last run. Put on my last set of Dean Markley Blue Steels, now remember why I liked them back in the day: they last a long time. The ones on Minnie Pearl are several days older than they should be and only now need to be changed. Kicking myself for not buying more at Dave's Guitars earlier that day.

After show things got crazy on streets of La Crosse. As per Eric, river towns in WI get rough. Were privy to drunken bar-closing stupidity and a rumble between some dumbasses. Good times. Eric and I kept our eyelids open with toothpicks to get home overnight. Windy roads and patches of fog. And maybe 2 towns in between. Yeah. But here we are. Day off today, going to Noah's Ark water park tomorrow. Fun.

Thu Aug 11, 2011

New York City, NY @ Stout Bar

In case I hadn't mentioned it, en route to Rochester last week we discovered a bubble in the side of the L rear tire. Eric marked the boundary of it wth silicone to mark it's possible expansion. Got to Rochester plannin on findng a new tire and the bubble is gone as mysteriously as it hd appeared. Of course we didn't buy a new one.

So en route to NYC it decides to blow. Drivin along, then loud POP that woke me up and Rob pullin van to side of the road. Well shit. Luckily we didn't have to unpack half the van on the side of the road to jack it up. But Eric and Russ did have to wrestle the spare tire from the jaws of the fucked up/jury-rigged spare mount, took more time than swappin tires. Sure enough, tire split between the treads. Kaput.

Made it to NYC in one piece. This time at Stout we were playing downstairs (stage, lights, freight elevator) as opposed to ground level (no stage, no lights, setting up "in the way"), and Eric sang thru his Dual Professional as opposed the the extra time/effort/money of a PA rental. Sweet. Walked 19 blocks to Guitar Center on 14th Street for strings. Dean Markley Blue Steel bass sets priced to move, haven't been able to afford them in a long time.

Had a really good crowd this time. Phil and his wife there, Ben Smith from The Brought Low as well (awesome 3-piece southern rock from Brooklyn, check em out!!!) good to see him and catch up. Planned on taking it easy drink-wise as we had an all-night drive to Watkins Glen. But a drunk businessman changed all that when he started buying us round after round of shots. Uh oh. We didn't want to be rude, but damn. He got us pretty schnockered. Thanks, I guess.

We were good to go tho, Russ and I sobered ourselves up enough to be pilot/co-pilot. Drove until fog started rolling thru the hills and we found a rest stop, slept in the van. It was upper 40's and felt great.

Mon Aug 16, 2011

Greetings from the van, which we've been staying in last few nights. Past days now a blur, do my best to recap and catch y'all up. Drive day today, en route to Tuscarawas OH (wherever the hell that is) for a routing date tomorrow b4 Chicago on Wed. Have a room or 2 waiting there for tonight, first time to sleep in a bed in almost a week.

Stopped at a truckstop in the far corner of PA and saw my first real Trucker's Chappel, and we parked Boss Hoss next to Popeye the Good News Man. This place is fuckin weird. But we are done with New Engand for now.

Wed Aug 10, 2011

Dolly's Wash House, Harrisburg PA

Trying some spray shit Eric has to battle the armpit stains in my white shirts. About to trash and replace, evidently nicotine, beer and other toxins are expunged there. Looks nasty.

Day off, 2nd night here at Carlisle (?) Hotel. I swear this place used to be a retirement home. Weird complex of semi-creepy buildings, seen a woodchuck outside our building. But a big room, good since we're all crammed into it. Need to take a pic of the bathroom, eyemelting mustard yellow toilet and shower.

Early loadin for Stout in NYC tomorrow so I hear. But not renting a PA this time so that will save a lot of money and a lot of hassle. We've used Eric's stricken Dual Professional in Buffalo and Leesburg as a mae-shift PA and worked like a charm. Makes luggin it around (110+ pounds) worth it. Should we find another xlr-to-quarter inch adapter and I could sing too, heh.

Not much else going on, today at least. Sounds like there will be a camera crew following us in India, film ready by SXSW. May do some humanitarian work out there as crew is affiliated with such, will have to re-read that email. We'll be finalizing our wishlist of bands to open for for the Agency Group tonight, will try to catch this blog up time/energy/memory permitting.

Tue Aug 9, 2011

Greetings from the van, somewhere outside Strasburg VA.

Haven't been keeping up with this blog, been a long week, but will post recaps as time allows. Just did 6 shows in 6 nights in 3 states. Took some ibuprofin cause even my will to live is a little sore. En route to NYC for Thursday gig then Friday at Nascar event in Watkins Glen. Should be awesome!

Been slow going today. Pulled over in front of this Texas Chainsaw Massacre-looking house, engine misfiring or something, I dunno I was asleep on back bench. Spent an hour or so, Eric taking things apart and cleaning wiring. Got back on the road and eased 2 miles to a gas station. Guess we were running out of gas, heh. But got a new wire and Eric installed that after stopping at Subway for breakfast/lunch. Back on road and running smooth. Not sure where we stay tonight, Rob researching hotel deals. Laundry and internet are a must.

Feel pretty good, was getting very worn down from this week of gigs. Feels like gaining weight too, if that can be believed. Was about to add another notch to my belt last run, now jeans fit tight and belly feels bloated. Guess we're getting fed more this run, that and beer. Guess I'll go get some running shoes and a track suit, and a cool headband.

Just off the wire, we are staying in Harrisburg tonight. Not sure if in VA or PA. Keep y'all posted.

Wed Aug 3, 2011

Woke to the cat Ziggy pawing at my toes. He was tiny and crazy last time, now had grown some and feeling frisky. Slept on a matress that folded into a love seat. I didn't bother unfolding it. Felt like sleeping on a van bench seat. Eric and I up first, got to see off a kid who stayed the night, he was spending a month bicycling around Lake Ontario, and was headed back home to New Hampshire that morning. Wow.

Once all up we made the walk downtown to eat and pick up the van. Still there across the street from Charlie O's, no ticket. Ate at a crepe place, had a Greek breakfast crepe that was awesome. Got word that a local college station, WGDR had an opening and wanted us to swing by for an interview. Awesome!

Josh the music director really cool. Very knowledgeable and respectful, "gets it." Asked us pertinent music related questions rather than asking if any of us had banged a certain respected Austin singer like that guy the other day. The kind of interview that was meant to earn more fans. Really nice of them to squeeze us in that day.

Rob and Russ went to a swimming hole somewhere. Eric and I stayed back. The daily lives of "rock stars." Swimming, sleeping, relaxing, working. Headed downtown earlyish to grab dinner after loading in. Ate at Pizza Vilage, had an Italian sub that was awesome and a Greek salad, the greens that came with my breakfast crepe whetted my craving of greens and olives. Ate half the sando, was stuffed, and still starving end of the night.

Show was decent. Had hoped word had spread more, but good enthusiastic crowd. Lotta familiar faces from last time. Good times with good people, and took it easy compared to the previous night. Early-ish van call. Have been playing every show with wirless on all the time, and battery guage still hasn't moved. Starting to wonder if working properly, heh. Jumbo pack of AA's I bought pre tour will last 2 years at this rate.

Tues Aug 2, 2011

Tuesday morning early van call, 7:30am. Ouch. Had a 10:30 radio interview in Rochester and a lunch meetup with Phil in Albany en route to Montpelier VT.

Radio thing went alright, were on the Wease show right after some girls from the Tally Ho strip club. Okey doke. Russ stayed behind while Eric, Rob and I needed help navigating the maze of halls and office cibicles. Then in a panic realized we forgot to bring CDs... damn! Texted/called Russ who saved the day in the nick of time before we were on air. Hopefully good promo for show Friday.

En route to Bro's Tacos in Albany I texted Mike from Magnetic Eye Recordings, see about a possible last minute meetup. We've been talking for months about re-issuing Ocean of Stars and doing a follow-up, but have still never met, heh. He was down.

Eric got a shock as drving thru an intersection he popped his head up long enough to see Phil's car, not knowing we were meeting up, heh. Good to see Phil, and Bro's Tacos serves some damn good food! Met Mike, who gave me 3 MER tshirts, the new Ironweed (his band) vinyl and some burn CD's. Awesome! Chatted business and non-business but he had to run. Good finally meeting him! Now to find a cost-effective means of re-issuing OoS...

Anyway Phil directed us to a much-needed laundromat then took us for a last beer or three before hitting the road to VT. I designated myself as driver. Damn, name of brew pub we went to escapes me. Cool place. But as I took Boss Hoss rest of way to VT I realized again that i'd volunteered to drive in beautiful country at that perfect time of sunset when the light is gorgeous. Well shit. But soon sun was down, sure was a beautiful drive during the day, heh. Not as white-knuckle as the drive thru Blue Ridge Mtn, but crossing the spine of the Adirondacks at night keeps you on your proverbial toes.

Arrived into Montpelier in one piece and drove straight to Charlie O's World Famous. And just like that, we were back. When were we here last... June? July? But we walk in to Tuesday night Karaoke, and the same old guy is belting out "My Way" by Sinatra. Maybe we were here just last week. Who knows. So we said hello to all the familiar faces at the bar and dove right in to getting hammered.

Wasn't nearly as bad as Horseheads NY. But we left the van downtown to be safe, NONE of us would be driving. Let's just say we drank a lot, talked to people, some of us sang karaoke, some of us filmed it, a cab was provided to avoid walking a mile to the house, most of it uphill, and it continued for a bit back at the house. Good times.

Charlie O's def has that character. Been open since the Civil War, and still feels like a Wild West bar. But everyone is... NICE. Bunch of people from all crazy different walks of life, and everyone gets along. Very cool vibe, now one of my fave bars in America. Montpelier def has a vibe like Austin.

Mon Aug 1, 2011

Day 2 off in Buffalo NY, Rob Disaster's 29th B-day!

Thanks again to Brian and co for the rooms. Saved us a bundle and provided much needed rest. Which was good, cause when we went to pile into the van to hit Guitar Center so Rob could get the part he needed for stricken tom hardware we found the L front tire low. I found the nail, what looked like a rock in the tread made a hissing noise when I wiggled it...! Kicked it back in with my foot.

Found a cheap tire patch kit at a gas station, see if it holds. At Guitar Center we of course would have to special order the lug parts and figure out where they needed to be sent (how long will it take, and were will we be at the time...?). Rob also priced a snare stand while there. Cheapest one was $60. Ouch. But all this time we were also chatting with a local named John who plays for a metal band and does tour managing/sound/promoting. He was very sympathetic to our plight, been there before.

As we left to find a drum shop or pawn shop, he offered to buy Rob the snare stand. Wow. Tried to talk him out of, but he was paying it forward. Awesome, the kindness and hospitality of strangers is always a Godsend. And now he has some solid contacts for Austin, which he was lacking up til this point. Kindness of that sort is never forgotten, and repayed when possible. That was awesome. Thanks brother!

Of course no one mentioned goin to Niagara Falls after GC, so I neglected to bring my camera. I mean, what amazing stuff ever happens at GC or Chipotle? Had my phone camera anyway. But Niagara Falls calls for the big guns. But Eric was still filthy from patching the tire anyway, so hotel run was needed.

Niagara Falls is Niagara Falls. Has to be seen to be believed. Been there once before on tour with the Mother Truckers in 2008. Just as awesome this time as well \m/, If you have the means, go.

Later on after resting up we went to the Anchor Bar, home of the original Buffalo Wings for a b-day dinner for Rob. So guess what we had? We ate 70 of those fuckers. Excellent, better than previous place (duh, they invented them!). Towards the end of them we had to put some motivational music on Rob's phone so we could finish them, which our waitress got a kick out of. Wow. We were stuffed.

Out in parking lot on phone with Triniti was privy to an employee escorting a bum from the parkin lot. Then he was literally chased away by a McDonalds employee next door. I try to be sympathetic to the less fortunate, but roving freeloading drug addicts kinda piss me off. Just be honest and say you need money for drugs rather than a bullshit tale about trying to get home. Judging by his reception at each establishment I'd say he was a regular.

Sun July 31, 2011

Day off in Buffalo NY

Day off and nowhere to drive 10 hours to. Nice! Feels good to stay in the same place for a few. Just wished the AC in Russ and I's room worked a little better.

Didn't do a whole lot. Took advantage of the hotel wifi to get some work done on my laptop. Figured out that Retro Cam phone pics work great for this blog, but the regular phone camera not so much. Had one entry clogged like a gas station toilet and had to plunge it on laptop.

Only thing of consequence we did was Brian and his wife took us to a swank Italian place for lunch. Had a slab of lasagne about 8"x8" and 2 inches high. And I ate almost the whole damn thing. Needless to say still felt stuffed 7 hours later. Waiting for them out front of hotel saw real woodchucks for the first time, 3 of them rooting around a field by hotel. Crazy looking fuckers. Didn't see them chuck any wood, or chuck anything for that matter. But they did rear up like chipmunks when they ate which was kinda cute.

Later that evening started going thru list of artists on Agency Group website to form a wishlist of possible acts to open for, should they want to start working with us. Found some cool shit, and many bands thank God said either "electronic" or "pop" in their descriptions, as if band photos weren't a dead giveaway that we wouldn't fit. One band had audacity to claim they didn't have a bass player cause "bass is boring." WTF?!? Don't mean to toot my own horn, but I added them to my wishlist so I could how them what a real bass player could do.

Got the call at 11:45 that there would be a b-day party shindig for Rob in him/Eric's room. Sweet! There! Drank Yueglings and watched vids that we discovered researching Agency roster. Some cool and funny shit. I was pretty floored by the Melt Banana live vid I stumbled across. Just DAMN. Good times, and nowhere near the damage we did to ourselves in Horseheads few nights previous. And that was a good thing...

Sat July 30, 2011

Buffalo NY, private event for company that made our stckers.

Great googly-moogly. We felt like ass next morning. Just wow. Nobody sick and vomiting, but darn close at times. That was unbelieveable. Possibly the stuff of legend. Not something we want to make a habit of tho, we're not the Rolling Stones.

Drive to Rochester was a blur. I took 2 tylenol in the AM which staved off my headache for awhile. Worn out, sore and stiff. But that's what happens when I don't stretch out befrore gigs and then try to drink like a maniac.

Rolled into the venue in good time. Was this creekside tent/pavillion/hall that is often rented for weddings. The days leading up we tried to find a cost- and time-effective way of renting a PA but no dice, so Eric sang thru his Dual Professional. Saved lots of time and money. But Brian and his wife were great as always, they really believe in the band and are awesome people to boot. Paid for 2 rooms for us not just for the evening, but for the next 2 nights as well. Wow, thank y'all so much! Good to have provided lodgings for gig night and next 2 off days. Said they'd take us to lunch next day and to tour the sticker factory as well.

But still kinda weird to play under a big circus tent alongside this idyllic creek. Even a little water feature behind Eric's amps, ha! Also weird to be hungover, stinky and setting up while families are playing bingo at the tables. Great catered BBQ and an open bar, tho none of us really felt like drinking...

But setting up Rob noticed that a rubber lug for his tom mount hadbroken. Well shit... He, Russ and I rigged it with fishing line and gaff tape. Would get thru the gig, but not much else. Sucks, cause that is of course a special order part. So we made tentative plans to remedy that in the next few off days by ordering part then finding Rob a cheap snare stand for it in the meantime. That, and a Niagara Falls trip as well!

We got a huge morale boost when Phil he superfan showed up with his dog! Awesome! Great to see him yet again, always showing up unexpectedly, heh. So he was privy to yet another facet of our live show: the low-key, playing-to-families-while-apocalyptically-hungover side. Still a fun little show. Not that many were watching us, heh. Hung for a bit afterwards and leisurely loaded out.

Were feeling a bit more ourselves finally so after checking in at Quality Inn by the airport went with Phil to a wings called the Brew Pub I believe. Delicious micro brews, but after the previous night's liver destruction we only had one beer a piece. Wings were good too. Back at rooms finally took a much-needed shower and felt like a reptile that just shed its skin.

Fri July 29, 2011

Horseheads NY @ Jake's Saloon

Drive there was another time warp/alien abduction situation. 3-4 hours turned into 7. Weird. Well, stopping a a truck stop parking lot to half-unload the van as to jack up the van and pull apart rear brakes ate a little time. Back brakes making godawful noises. But right side a cable for the emergency brake came loose and was grinding, easily reattached. Left side something had also come loose, not needed immediately so clipped and removed. Problem solved! Back brakes work better than ever.

Met our promoter friend Steve Todd there. Good to see him again. Loaded into the small venue and set up, more or less. Steve then took us to his buddy's place for BBQ and beers, all great and hit the spot. Good to chill for a bit and NOT be in the van.

Back at venue crowd already starting to build, that's good. Was hoping word had spread since last visit, and it had. My neck has been sore as shit since the previous morning so feeling a little stiff. But we tore into it and had a good crowd!

Weird thing about the bar, we played in front entry way divided into 2 alcoves. Me on one side, Eric and Rob on the other. Despite chair blocking door with taped sign "PLEASE USE SIDE DOOR" people kept walking in/out, meaning walking right thru us. No big deal. But then drunks would come up and talk to us between (and DURING) songs which got a little distracting. One guy came staggering up and mumbling gibberish, had to politely tell him stand over there with everyone else. At least the drunk lady who tried to give me a wedgie then later ate shit at the bar wasn't there...

New wireless works like a charm. Batteries last forever. Used it for all of Bethlehem set (90+ mins) and batt guage hadn't even moved. Sweet! Used it only for crowd walks at Jake's, didn't want to push my luck yet. At one point another drunk older guy was smiling and mimicking my stiff-neck head bob. Couldn't tell if he was enjoying himself or making fun of me. Put it out of my mind either way. Towards the end Brad the owner came in with his sax case, hell yeah he can sit in! He played for awhile in the corner, I kept motioning for him to get on the mic-- what he was doing sounded great! But he ket saying "That's not it..." We play a half-step down in Eb, guess that was throwing him off a bit. But he finally got on my mic and wailed last 2 songs. Awesome!

Fun show, great crowd. Small places are easy to fill \m/, That and Brad and Steve were taking great care of us (drinks). Before getting totally hammered we made sure to load the van and find out who we are following to where. Went back to Steve's buddy's house who had a full bar and pool table in the basement. And we put the PARTY in after-party... holy cow. End of night got real hazy real quick. I managed to beat Rob at pool,that was unexpected. Don't recall much about going to sleep,but woke up on living room couch, Eric on the loveseat nearby. Despite heroic alcohol consumption I managed to take off my shoes and contact lenses. We really let it all hang out, mainly cause we didn't have to go anywhere other than to sleep. Wow.