Memphis Photos

This man treated us for his rendition of a Martin Luther King Jr. speech and one of his pamphlets in exchange for $10. It was worth it.

In Dallas, bout to leave for Austin, where we'll play a bunch of 20 minute sets over the course of 4 days and one full set at some point. A lotta friends and awesome bands will be there and I am very ready.

your back door man....

These seven hour drives are less painful than they sound. Today it gives me enough time to glance at some reading for a class that I have paid zero attention in, and will now be missing the midterm for. Glorious. I’ll be alright.

Driving through Arkansas, left Memphis at a healthy 10:30 in the morning. Passed a giant green sign that you see in the highway telling you about the upcoming exist, except this one only said “JESUS.” We kept a look out but didn’t see him anywhere. Thirty miles later a separate billboard said “Warning, prepare to meet God.” We’re pretty sure he was in the Waffle House a few miles off the road but we didn’t have time to stop…got a gig tonight! I’m pretty excited for it, I played the House of Blues in Boston before it closed down, with Newton, Massachusetts highschool ska heroes The Eskapade (RIP sweet princes) for a battle of the bands, and even though the chain is pretty corporate, it feels good to play at another one. Plus, the sound will be great, we have a guarantee (now we’re only $2,850 in the red!), and a headliner who should bring out a solid crowd. After two nights off I’m jonesing to play in a big way. I could definitely see myself doing this six months out of the year. Maybe eventually in a van with heat! No need for that anymore though, we’re in Southern Country til the last night of the tour, in Baltimore.

Back to reading. Impressionist contemporary composers. Yahoo.



here are some belated photos from the miserable drive from Pittsburg to Dayton, OH, and the van breakdown

http://schatzattack.smugmug.com/gallery/4494138_9F9Ym




Memphis photos to come...

Oh, Hi. Oh?

I am finally relaxed. I am in Troy, Ohio, in Tim (singer, older brother) and Terry’s (lead guitar, younger brother) parent’s house, we’re drinking coffee and watching birds fly in the 8 inches of snow through the window. Pittsburgh to Dayton, where our show was last night, is normally a 4-5 hour drive. For us, it was an 11 journey through the realms of traffic, fast food, and bad memories.
We didn’t leave at 6 AM. Or 7 AM. Or 8, 9 or 10. We left the glorious Econo Lodge at 11 AM, banking on the sturdiness of our van, the Vincent Black Shadow, and the sensibilities of the Ohio plows. Both failed to deliver the goods. After a few hours in steady traffic on roads that were barely snow covered, but enough for people to freak out and not plan in advance enough to plow (one radio announcer deemed in the “storm of 2008 and maybe the biggest storm in the past 15-20 years), we got off I-70 to eat at an A&W / Blimpies / gas station / depressionmart. We spent not more than fifteen minutes eating, went out to the van, turned the key in the ignition, nothing. Got electricity, but the engine wouldn’t budge. Now, we already weren’t in the best spirits. We knew a warm house with good people was only 120 miles away, but we were powerless, left only with our dwindling sanity, French fries, and a travel Connect 4 game.
Hours later, tow truck, cab, National Tire and Battery in the glorious Zainesville, Ohio. Some bullshit with the alarm being triggered, which we had removed, but had happened before, and they couldn’t figure out how to disengage. No alarm sound, but it still stopped the engine. They got it running, wished us well, and hoped it wouldn’t happen again. So did we.
BACK ON THE ROAD! In…..more traffic! They closed I-70 due to a five tractor trailer pile-up, so we chugged along the detour for far too long, calling the club in Dayton to make sure they were still gonna be open, because the radio alerted us that both the American Legion’s Meatloaf Dinner and the local high school’s cheerleader competition were both cancelled, so needless to say, we were worried. But at that point, in our drummer Kyle Wills’s words, if we didn’t get to play that show we would’ve just pulled the van into a garage and kept it running.
Never fear. We did make it. 10 minutes before our scheduled set, to the Canal St. Tavern in Dayton Ohio. The headlining but unfortunately named Audible Influence were amazing guys, let us use all their gear and take the door money as a favor for braving the weather. We played a great set, there were people there (which we couldn’t believe!), Tim and Terry’s dad, the original Tim Adams, made it out, and it was great to finally meet him. The feeling of standing and walking around in a warm bar after spending far longer than you’d ever want in an A&W, and then a cold van, can not be put into words. It’s like holding 3 month old puppy while being fanned with palm leaves and watching the episode of the Cosby Show where all the guys dream they’re pregnant…complete utter perfection.
Drove back to the Adams household in Troy, and ate a much needed dinner. This house is wonderful, as are the people here. There is also one ridiculous dog. The show tonight is in Cincinatti, which is only a 45 minute drive, so we’ll give ourselves about five hours to get there.

Unprepared

When packing last night I commented to my roommate how thrilling it is to pack shorts when its cold where you're packing. I knew Pittsburgh wouldn't be warm (it wasn't), but in three days we'd be in Memphis and it wouldn't matter.

Let's go backwards. It's now 3 AM and I'm in a room in the econo lodge with the rest of the merry men. We almost flooded the room when turning on the shower to heat up the place. Our plan is to be up at 6 AM so we can beat the 2 feet of snow projected to land in Ohio tomorrow, where we're going. TWO FEET. A few things to note. We definitely will not be actually getting up at 6 AM, and judging by past experience with weatherfolks, we have no idea how much snow will actually fall. Still. I have three pairs of shorts, and only one pair of pants, other than the ones I'm wearing (going on week 3 in these bad boys).

Back again, we finished a really solid set at Club Cafe in Pittsburgh around 11:30 PM. Great crowd, friend-of-the-Prayers Anthony hooked the show up, and it was a great time. Played with Harlan Twins and Pizza Peroggi. Pizza was one girl and a ukelele, who did a mean cover of Beat It.

2 hours earlier, I'm in a cafe wondering how I'm possibly going to maintain all my scrabulous games while on the road. More on this as it develops.

1 hour back from that, Kyle our bassist's Dad drove from Union Town to take us out to dinner. It was delicious. I got the Famous Meatloaf. It broke the meatloaf color barrier in 1969. A big deal. and I ate him.

Six hour drive from New York. Painless. We drove under a few mountains. The tunnel photo of that is above. I went a little nuts with the neon sign. If you have any friends or family who live in a city we're playing in, send em over! Here are the dates

Mar 7 2008 9:30P	Canal Street Tavern	Dayton, Ohio
Mar 8 2008 9:00P	Northside Tavern w/ The Delusionals	Cincinnati, Ohio
Mar 10 2008 12:00P		Memphis, Tennessee
Mar 11 2008 8:00P	House of Blues - Cambridge Room w/Back Door Slam	Dallas, Texas
Mar 12 2008 3:00P	SXSW Dayshow - Enchanted Forest/Art Outside 2:30PM	Austin, Texas
Mar 12 2008 8:40P	SXSW - STUBBS Cellar	Austin, Texas
Mar 13 2008 6:00P	SXSW - AMOEBA RECORDS DAYSHOW @ the Compound 5:30pm	Austin, Texas
Mar 14 2008 8:00P	SXSW - Austin	Austin, Texas
Mar 15 2008 8:00P	SXSW - SHOWCASE @ LAMBERT’S w/Cassettes Won’t Listen, Tigercity, Care Bears on Fire	Austin, Texas
Mar 16 2008 9:00P	Circle Bar	New Orleans, Louisiana
Mar 17 2008 8:00P	Tasty World w/ Betsy Franck - ST PATS SHOW	Athens, Georgia
Mar 18 2008 8:00P	the Basement	Nashville, Tennessee
Mar 19 2008 9:00P	Star Bar w/ Hymns, Spottiswoode & His Enemies!!	Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 20 2008 9:00P	The Milestone - w/ The Hymns, Deer Tick	Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 21 2008 8:00P	Slim’s Downtown w/ Hymns, Deer Tick	Raleigh, North Carolina
Mar 22 2008 8:00P	The Lo-Fi Social Club -- w/The John Hardy Boys & The Payola Reserve	Baltimore, Maryland

Wham bam thank you fam. More tomorrow. Expect snow angel photos.

night before

Sitting in a classroom, in a class I don't want to be in, and never wanted to be in, but have to be in, to get a thrilling degree in jazz performance. In 24 hours I'll be in Pittsburgh and couldn't be happier about it.

We have a solid chunk of shows booked at the festival, and I'm the most psyched about seeing Fastball. I'm assuming their set will consist of one song.

Updates every day from this day forth!

Head First

This is my impulsive blog creation and I might as well do it now before I decide it's a dumb idea. This will be my first time at the South By Southwest festival/conference in Austin, and its only over a month away (March 11th). I'll be writing and photographing the festival from the eyes of a first time participant, showing misconceptions, preconceptions, and postconceptions. I predict sweat, BBQ, Ice Cream, blood, and Michael Stipe. Sounds like my average wednesday (bazing!)

Here's who I am, thus beings the tale: