Kansas City was a breeze. I got to play disc golf again at the Water Works park. It was hilly and demanding, the holes were hard to see even though there were maps of the holes at each tee. I still had a blast, and played 24 holes or so.
Our venue was called Knuckledheads, a nicely equipped joint outside the hustle & bustle of downtown KC. Excellent BBQ.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
On the Road Again - July tour DAY 5 & 6
So the itinerary indicated that we had Monday and Tuesday off, and so rather than drive all the way to Columbus, MO in a hurry, we took our first day off in Denver. Rather uneventful, other than our dear friend from the Delbert cruise stopping by to see us. Most of the day was spent resting...
Tuesday morning, Super 8 Denver parking lot, 8:45 am.
Norman walks out to the van to find that the trailer is partially open. He opens the door to find that his brand new keyboard, Manny's 50th anniversary 5 string Jazz Bass, and the suitcase with our CD's are all gone. We've been had. So we get to work trying to replace the stuff--first we drive down through Aurora (east of Denver) to Colfax St. where all the pawn shops are. No luck after checking 1/2 dozen+ stops. After stopping for barbecue, we are on our way to the music shop to pick up a Schecter bass to keep Manny up to speed. BIG THANKS to Johnny @ Schecter Guitar Research for saving the day.
Cyril calls, we have to run back to the hotel before we get charged for another day. Another surprise is waiting for us--our gig in Columbus was for Tuesday night, not Wednesday. Our itinerary was erroneous, and we had to cancel our gig, so we lost even more $$$. So what do we do? We drive nearly 600 miles, all the way to Kansas City, MO to another Super 8 and we'll be able to move to the hotel provided by tomorrow night's club in the early afternoon Thursday. And who says playing music is all fun and games?
Oh, and did I mention that we got pulled over in Kansas City, KS? I was driving with no ID and got asked to kindly remove myself from the van to go ID myself in the trooper's sedan. Luckily, he was a very nice officer who took kindly to me knowing all my info and it matching up with the voice in his radio. The consensus in the van was that I wasn't coming back. They don't know how well I get along with officers of the law. Apparently our fuse went out on the van/trailer tail lights, but I made it out with a warning for that and the driver's license (I told them mine was stolen this morning). I'm going to go ahead and call that a stroke of luck so this day isn't entirely crap.
Goodnight, folks.
Tuesday morning, Super 8 Denver parking lot, 8:45 am.
Norman walks out to the van to find that the trailer is partially open. He opens the door to find that his brand new keyboard, Manny's 50th anniversary 5 string Jazz Bass, and the suitcase with our CD's are all gone. We've been had. So we get to work trying to replace the stuff--first we drive down through Aurora (east of Denver) to Colfax St. where all the pawn shops are. No luck after checking 1/2 dozen+ stops. After stopping for barbecue, we are on our way to the music shop to pick up a Schecter bass to keep Manny up to speed. BIG THANKS to Johnny @ Schecter Guitar Research for saving the day.
Cyril calls, we have to run back to the hotel before we get charged for another day. Another surprise is waiting for us--our gig in Columbus was for Tuesday night, not Wednesday. Our itinerary was erroneous, and we had to cancel our gig, so we lost even more $$$. So what do we do? We drive nearly 600 miles, all the way to Kansas City, MO to another Super 8 and we'll be able to move to the hotel provided by tomorrow night's club in the early afternoon Thursday. And who says playing music is all fun and games?
Oh, and did I mention that we got pulled over in Kansas City, KS? I was driving with no ID and got asked to kindly remove myself from the van to go ID myself in the trooper's sedan. Luckily, he was a very nice officer who took kindly to me knowing all my info and it matching up with the voice in his radio. The consensus in the van was that I wasn't coming back. They don't know how well I get along with officers of the law. Apparently our fuse went out on the van/trailer tail lights, but I made it out with a warning for that and the driver's license (I told them mine was stolen this morning). I'm going to go ahead and call that a stroke of luck so this day isn't entirely crap.
Goodnight, folks.
Monday, July 13, 2009
On the Road Again - July tour DAY 4
Breckenridge, CO
Sunday
It was an easy drive to Breckenridge. I-70 crosses over and through many mountains as you enter the Rockies leaving Denver. For some reason it makes the other drivers in the band nervous to take on these hills, but I love it. I'd rather drive if I'm not too tired. There was an RV that had burned up from trying to come up the hill approaching the Eisenhower tunnel on eastbound I-70, and I mean completely burned up all the way to the back. There was 3 miles of traffic behind it.
We stayed in Silverthorne, about 30 minutes from Breckenridge. It's hard to imagine what these places look like covered in snow, but I'm sure it's beautiful all the same. Grey brought some friends out to the show, there was a decent crowd, but since I'm blind now I really couldn't pay attention. The venue was called 320 South. Did I mention that I broke my glasses on the first night out and now wear my RX shades during the day or go blind at night? Good times. I'm gonna go find a dry cleaning service...
Sunday
It was an easy drive to Breckenridge. I-70 crosses over and through many mountains as you enter the Rockies leaving Denver. For some reason it makes the other drivers in the band nervous to take on these hills, but I love it. I'd rather drive if I'm not too tired. There was an RV that had burned up from trying to come up the hill approaching the Eisenhower tunnel on eastbound I-70, and I mean completely burned up all the way to the back. There was 3 miles of traffic behind it.
We stayed in Silverthorne, about 30 minutes from Breckenridge. It's hard to imagine what these places look like covered in snow, but I'm sure it's beautiful all the same. Grey brought some friends out to the show, there was a decent crowd, but since I'm blind now I really couldn't pay attention. The venue was called 320 South. Did I mention that I broke my glasses on the first night out and now wear my RX shades during the day or go blind at night? Good times. I'm gonna go find a dry cleaning service...
Sunday, July 12, 2009
On The Road Again -- July tour DAY 3
Saturday, Denver.
Long drive from Crusted Butt. We stopped for food and gas on the way. I should have known better than to order Pad Thai from a roadside cafe. I should have changed my order when she asked me what kind of sauce I wanted on it. You live, you learn.
I got to link up with an old friend in Denver named Elliot Rado. We've known each other since we were in elementary school. We got to kickit in the green room for a while before the show, and honestly, I'm glad he was there because he and his friend Gavin increased the crowd by 20%. We played the Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom for the soundguy and bartenders. The highlight for me was most definitely the soul food restaurant across the street.
Recipe for a sleepy performance: start with 2 fried pork chops, add BBQ baked beans with big chunks of brisket in it, and finish with yams (plenty of cinnamon) and unfiltered wheat beer. All the Red Bull did was make me tap my foot.
Our hotel was way across town, and after the show I dropped everybody off and had to go pick up another lock for the trailer, because it got lost in the mix. I found a case of 3 with the same keys, and I'm stashing them in my laptop bag so as to never have to make that 330AM run again. The promoter told Cyril that people didn't know him as a solo artist, and that's why we had a bad turnout. The people in the crowd said they were lucky they heard about it and that it wasn't well advertised. Who should we believe? Well, I won't tell you what to think but let me remind you we had over 3000 people at our show 2 days previous.... I want to go back to Cervantes in the winter time when they have more business, summer is slow for this area.
I almost forgot. HENRY BUTLER came and sat in with us. Holy crap that guy is good. I found him on facebook and told him about the show, and he came, he saw [heard?], and he conquered. He jammed a couple of our tunes, and played the hell out of Tipitina. The intro he made up on the spot for that tune could take a mere mortal years to learn. What a treat. I was nervous having him listening--those are some big ears, I'd hate to leave a bad impression.
If anybody's seen my bass player's left sock, please send it to:
Manolo Yanes
c/o Jimmie Dreams
2410 Aldford Dr.
Austin, TX 78745
Long drive from Crusted Butt. We stopped for food and gas on the way. I should have known better than to order Pad Thai from a roadside cafe. I should have changed my order when she asked me what kind of sauce I wanted on it. You live, you learn.
I got to link up with an old friend in Denver named Elliot Rado. We've known each other since we were in elementary school. We got to kickit in the green room for a while before the show, and honestly, I'm glad he was there because he and his friend Gavin increased the crowd by 20%. We played the Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom for the soundguy and bartenders. The highlight for me was most definitely the soul food restaurant across the street.
Recipe for a sleepy performance: start with 2 fried pork chops, add BBQ baked beans with big chunks of brisket in it, and finish with yams (plenty of cinnamon) and unfiltered wheat beer. All the Red Bull did was make me tap my foot.
Our hotel was way across town, and after the show I dropped everybody off and had to go pick up another lock for the trailer, because it got lost in the mix. I found a case of 3 with the same keys, and I'm stashing them in my laptop bag so as to never have to make that 330AM run again. The promoter told Cyril that people didn't know him as a solo artist, and that's why we had a bad turnout. The people in the crowd said they were lucky they heard about it and that it wasn't well advertised. Who should we believe? Well, I won't tell you what to think but let me remind you we had over 3000 people at our show 2 days previous.... I want to go back to Cervantes in the winter time when they have more business, summer is slow for this area.
I almost forgot. HENRY BUTLER came and sat in with us. Holy crap that guy is good. I found him on facebook and told him about the show, and he came, he saw [heard?], and he conquered. He jammed a couple of our tunes, and played the hell out of Tipitina. The intro he made up on the spot for that tune could take a mere mortal years to learn. What a treat. I was nervous having him listening--those are some big ears, I'd hate to leave a bad impression.
If anybody's seen my bass player's left sock, please send it to:
Manolo Yanes
c/o Jimmie Dreams
2410 Aldford Dr.
Austin, TX 78745
On The Road Again -- July tour DAY 2
Ah the elusive Crested Butte.
Every time I told a local that we got our directions from a navigation system they laughed.
We drove down from Aspen on Castle Creek road, which was amazingly lovely--lots of wildflowers, creeks, mountains, eye candy galore. Unfortunately, the Independence pass was closed to vehicles, and was over an hour from Snowmass Village, which we then had to backtrack past in order to come around the back way to Crested Butte. We ended up taking a small dirt road over 2 mountains, something like 40 miles of nailbiting every time we have to pass a car. It got to a point where we were wondering if we'd ever get there. It was at that point that we rolled up on a couple cows grazing on the side of the road. Our bassist Manny, a Cuban-American, told me to slow up so he could ask them for directions. He rolls down his window and hollers "OYE!" which gets the closest cow's attention. Manny and the cow are looking directly in each other's eyes, and Manny asks him "Donde esta Crested Butte?" The cow licks his chops and without breaking eye contact drops the biggest runniest dump out his rump. We took a good long laugh break and headed on our way, knowing that the cow had affirmed we were going the right direction.
Finally we arrive at a hotel. We don't have reservations at the hotel. The promoter meets us at the hotel, takes us to a house that they have rented. Someone else is already there and paid up. So he gets on the horn and books some rooms. Finally, we head up the mountain a couple miles to one of the resort hotels for a brief ciesta. The Eldo was where we played, which was a smallish brewery that served up some mean pub grub. Our show was packed, the dance floor was moving all night long. The crew at Eldo's hospitality was second to none. I was so exhausted after the show I fell asleep in my jacket with my glasses on, laptop still on the bed in front of me. I was listening to the tracks we recorded from the show in Snowmass, I'll post some of them on myspace ASAP.
Every time I told a local that we got our directions from a navigation system they laughed.
We drove down from Aspen on Castle Creek road, which was amazingly lovely--lots of wildflowers, creeks, mountains, eye candy galore. Unfortunately, the Independence pass was closed to vehicles, and was over an hour from Snowmass Village, which we then had to backtrack past in order to come around the back way to Crested Butte. We ended up taking a small dirt road over 2 mountains, something like 40 miles of nailbiting every time we have to pass a car. It got to a point where we were wondering if we'd ever get there. It was at that point that we rolled up on a couple cows grazing on the side of the road. Our bassist Manny, a Cuban-American, told me to slow up so he could ask them for directions. He rolls down his window and hollers "OYE!" which gets the closest cow's attention. Manny and the cow are looking directly in each other's eyes, and Manny asks him "Donde esta Crested Butte?" The cow licks his chops and without breaking eye contact drops the biggest runniest dump out his rump. We took a good long laugh break and headed on our way, knowing that the cow had affirmed we were going the right direction.
Finally we arrive at a hotel. We don't have reservations at the hotel. The promoter meets us at the hotel, takes us to a house that they have rented. Someone else is already there and paid up. So he gets on the horn and books some rooms. Finally, we head up the mountain a couple miles to one of the resort hotels for a brief ciesta. The Eldo was where we played, which was a smallish brewery that served up some mean pub grub. Our show was packed, the dance floor was moving all night long. The crew at Eldo's hospitality was second to none. I was so exhausted after the show I fell asleep in my jacket with my glasses on, laptop still on the bed in front of me. I was listening to the tracks we recorded from the show in Snowmass, I'll post some of them on myspace ASAP.
On The Road Again -- July tour DAY 1
Howdy!
I'm back out on the road with Cyril, we have headed up from Austin to Snowmass Village, near Aspen. We arrived late Wednesday night, and after 23 hours in the van I was anxious to head down to the bar nextdoor to the hotel for a brew and food. I ordered "cheese" fries, where were akin to the kind of cheese you get on your nachos at a football game. Upon investigation, I found out that this was so they didn't have to bake anything. Apparently a deep fryer is more practical for a kitchen than an oven...
So things were winding down there, and I wandered over towards the other end of the hotel, where another bar was. As I neared the back of that bar, I could hear two very inebriated individuals having a mostly unintelligible conversation. Amazingly, they could still run a pool table, I asked to play with them, and even though they could hardly stand or speak my opponent hit in 5 balls on his break and first four turns. I still whipped 'em though. Some other drunk fool hit me on the head with his pool cue, but smashing my pint glass on his head wasn't going to help my band get through the rest of the tour. Sanity prevails. Sigh.
Thursday was a gorgeous day, apparently some people were complaining that it was too warm...wasn't it 106 in Austin the other day? Pansies. I was tempted to tell them they could still prance around in a dress in this weather.... Anyways, I played disc golf on the mountainside, which was awesome. I lost a $25 disc and got lost after hole 6, but still managed to enjoy myself.
The show was part of a free outdoor concert series near the base of the ski slopes, which are covered in beautiful grass this time of year. There were over 3000 people in attendance, a large stage, and very comfortable accomodations for a dressing/green room area. What a great start.
I'm back out on the road with Cyril, we have headed up from Austin to Snowmass Village, near Aspen. We arrived late Wednesday night, and after 23 hours in the van I was anxious to head down to the bar nextdoor to the hotel for a brew and food. I ordered "cheese" fries, where were akin to the kind of cheese you get on your nachos at a football game. Upon investigation, I found out that this was so they didn't have to bake anything. Apparently a deep fryer is more practical for a kitchen than an oven...
So things were winding down there, and I wandered over towards the other end of the hotel, where another bar was. As I neared the back of that bar, I could hear two very inebriated individuals having a mostly unintelligible conversation. Amazingly, they could still run a pool table, I asked to play with them, and even though they could hardly stand or speak my opponent hit in 5 balls on his break and first four turns. I still whipped 'em though. Some other drunk fool hit me on the head with his pool cue, but smashing my pint glass on his head wasn't going to help my band get through the rest of the tour. Sanity prevails. Sigh.
Thursday was a gorgeous day, apparently some people were complaining that it was too warm...wasn't it 106 in Austin the other day? Pansies. I was tempted to tell them they could still prance around in a dress in this weather.... Anyways, I played disc golf on the mountainside, which was awesome. I lost a $25 disc and got lost after hole 6, but still managed to enjoy myself.
The show was part of a free outdoor concert series near the base of the ski slopes, which are covered in beautiful grass this time of year. There were over 3000 people in attendance, a large stage, and very comfortable accomodations for a dressing/green room area. What a great start.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
On the Road Again--Day 30 til now
Day 30
5.10.09
Atlanta, GA
Cyril's friend David, with a large house near Emory, let us stay with him for our last night out. He was very hospitable, and even had food waiting for us when we got back from the gig.
The bar was called Smith's Olde Bar (SOB), they had a killer opening band and great gear, a curtain covered the stage when we set up, which I thought was fancy for a dive bar.
......getting home was a long trek, I slept from Atlanta to NOLA, we dropped off band members and visited family, and headed out around 1030 with me at the wheel. We made it into Austin by 5 am, and rather than rest, I stayed up all night to make an early afternoon appearance on the local radio. Still up and going, have a rehearsal and another gig tonight. I'll be working with Sick's Pack in the studio tomorrow, and have a gig on Thursday and two on Saturday. Still not sure when I get to rest....
5.10.09
Atlanta, GA
Cyril's friend David, with a large house near Emory, let us stay with him for our last night out. He was very hospitable, and even had food waiting for us when we got back from the gig.
The bar was called Smith's Olde Bar (SOB), they had a killer opening band and great gear, a curtain covered the stage when we set up, which I thought was fancy for a dive bar.
......getting home was a long trek, I slept from Atlanta to NOLA, we dropped off band members and visited family, and headed out around 1030 with me at the wheel. We made it into Austin by 5 am, and rather than rest, I stayed up all night to make an early afternoon appearance on the local radio. Still up and going, have a rehearsal and another gig tonight. I'll be working with Sick's Pack in the studio tomorrow, and have a gig on Thursday and two on Saturday. Still not sure when I get to rest....
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