Summer Tour - Day Eleven: Lincoln, NE

I have no idea why I haven't been naming the cities in the titles of these posts. It looks funny to start now, but whatever. I like it.

Woke up this morning in our friends Todd and Amy's fantastic house, ate some donuts. Their nine-year-old son Ayrton cooked me some burnt scrambled eggs: nothing a slathering of catsup couldn't fix. Spent the day on the porch listening to tunes.

We played in a brick courtyard outside the Crescent Moon Coffee House in Lincoln. Here we are in the midst of setting up:








The sound reverberating off the walls was glorious. As we played, more and more people filtered in. By the beginning of our second set, a good crowd had gathered. We played; they came. We played some more; they bought CDs. Sweet. Thanks to our new friends in Lincoln for being so damn cool! We promise to return soon.








Tomorrow: the mighty KC.

-Troy

Summer Tour - Day Ten

We started the day with a trip to the Luthery Shop in Des Moines to get the jack on John's guitar fixed. (It came unscrewed during the previous night's show.) We were out of there in ten minutes. Thanks Tim.

We drove to Omaha to play O'Leaver's Pub. It's the coolest(?) hole in the wall we know. The great Turtle Moon opened. It was kick ass. People were singing along and bought me drinks afterwards. Oh yeah. Thanks to Brandon for running sound and to Brady for doing door (good luck in Ireland).

We're currently staying with our friends Todd and Amy in the house they just built. Were very comfy, and Jimmie gets to play street hockey with their son Ayrton.

(…holy shit! They have hidden speakers built into their porch! What a cool house.)

Summer Tour - Day Nine

Woke up, did laundry, maybe mooched food from our parents, kissed the girlfriends/wives goodbye (again) and trucked it to Des Moines to play Nada 'Nother Sunday at AK O'Connor's.

It was a nonstandard show for us - no drums and quiet. We started the show with only John, Cory, and I. After the break, Diana and Jimmie joined us. The highlights of the night were a slow, melancholy version of "He Loves Me" and an unexpectedly rocking rendition of "Folsom Prison Blues" with ripping on the guitar.

We ate food; I got to hang with my friend Frank; John got into a conversation about socialism with a drunk Bosnian.

Now, here's another interview conducted a few days ago by the Ottumwa Courier's special S4 correspondent, Spencer Aurwut:

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(We miss you Jess and can't wait to see you on Thursday.)

-Troy

Summer Tour - Day Eight

It's been a few days, so you'll all get to read multiple posts today. So, day eight - played Balloons Over the Mississippi in Ft. Madison. We parked the van and got to sing along to "Every Rose Has its Thorn" played by a terrible cover band. We were waaay into it. We played two sets that night, with a break in the middle for a hot air balloon glow and fireworks. It was great. People were more interested in the balloons during the first set, but the second brought out the dancers. Then, people bought a bunch of our schwag. Balloons, fireworks, and selling a lot of stuff: if only every night could be like that. Special thanks goes out to the soundman, Gary. He dialed in the best outdoor sound we've ever had and introduced us to his excellent family.

Our next show was in Des Moines, so we drove home for the night and slept in our own beds.

Summer Tour - Day Seven

Spent part of the day today on a movie set in Davenport. Ever since Iowa passed tax credits for film makers and investors, the Iowa film industry is exploding. It would be awfully nice if the same could be done for music. It was a good time. We got to eat lunch with the crew, and Jason got to hang with his film making buddies.

Then we headed to Iowa City to load into the Mill. The Mill is definitely our favorite place to play in Iowa. Good stage, good sound, good food, and super nice people. Best of all, I got to hang out with my old friend Sam Locke-Ward. His band the Miracles of God put out a record this year called "What a Wonderful Day," and it's on my top records of 2009 list. Do check it out.

The show went off without a hitch, and people bought a ton of stuff afterwards. Thanks to those came! Also, thank you to those who watched online via ustream and spent the show looking at my ass.

In the last few days, we've also been graced by the presence of Mr. Spencer Aurwat, special S4 correspondnent for the Ottumwa Courier. This time he interviewed Jimmie Lee Dalton, the newest member of band:

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-Troy

-- Post From My iPhone

End of Day Four and Days Five and Six

Monday (technically Tuesday, but we haven't gone to bed yet), 12:16 am - Staying at the Sabertoothman house. Listened to lp's: Buddy Holly mostly. Sabertoothman is a great band made up of great people - a fellow six-piece, three of whom are siblings. I wish I wasn't the only musician in my family.

Tuesday - Ahh. Day off. Woke up and said goodbye to Sabertoothman. Stopped at a Toys'r'us so Jimmie could pick up a present for his son and Jason could look at at Transformers. Made our way to McHenry to stay with Diana's aunt and uncle. They fixed us burgers and dogs, and we anhilliated them.

Wednesday - Woke up early to make it to a meeting in Chicago. Then, we found Jess a Jamba Juice, and ate at an Italian place nearby. We checked out the bean. Later, we were greeted at the Abbey Pub by Gary, the soundman. He was fantastic. Thank you, Gary. Stepnaniesid sounded great. Our set was rough. Jimmie's amp blew two fuses, so he had to run to the trailer for his other amp. We ended up going off setlist a bunch. Overall, I think we held it together pretty well. Post show we ended up staying with our friends The Future Laureates, who were gracious enough to allow seven peope to take over their apartment. I wonder what their sleeping roommate thought when he woke up to find two guys sleeping in his kitchen.



-- Post From My iPhone

Summer Tour - Day 3 and Part of 4

3:30 am - I am drunk and tired. The bartender served ruuuuum and a only a little coke. Woo. The show was great - great sound provided by Mike, on loan from First Ave. He kept the upright bass feedback under control.

Since he's interested, no Butterworth, no one got laid tonight. Damn.

Monday, 12:30 pm - Back in the van, on the way to Madison to play the Frequency with Madison's Sabertoothman. We have headaches, but we love this job

Monday, 8:00 pm - getting on into day four now. I'll have retitle this post. We're now watching Madison's Sabertoothman - loud indie rock craziness with a lot of gang vocals. We love it. It's Monday, but the crowd that was here was enthusiastic. I have to mention in a public blog that the first band who was supposed to play tonight - Daniel the Lion - did not show up or call. That made us sad. John' voice started to go out during our set. We all hope that only a tonight thing. We need that voice.

…

Goddamn, Sabertoothman is awesome.

Monday, 9:03 pm - Ok, for real this time - pizza. Have to have it.

-Troy


-- Post From My iPhone

Summer Tour - Day Two

3:00 am -- Opened for The Nadas at The Hub in Cedar Falls. Driving into town, we saw broken trees all over. I was told that there were over 100 mph winds yesterday - enough that a medical helicopter was picked up and dropped on a fence and a tractor was thrown into a grain silo - but according to the local paper, it wasn't a “tornado.”

There was good energy tonight, and there were plenty of people to feed it to us. The Nadas were outstading, despite their claim of running on little sleep. Met some cool people - Diana's friends Ned and Alyse (I hope that's close; she said there was a y and an a in it). Thanks to all the people who came to see us and those whom we'll see again.

John, Jimmie, and I are staying my Dad's house; Diana, Jason, Jess, and Cory are staying at Diana's. Diana promised me guacamole, but I don't see my dad that often - others were lured over by the prospect of sleeping on beds and comfy couches. John, dad, and I drank Black Velvet and talked about real estate and car accidents.

Sunday, 2:00 pm - I'm told the guacamole didn't happen. Dad brought us donuts. He and my stepmom looked awfully cute in their matching S4 tshirts:



Now we all have heavy guts from eating "New Century International Cuisine."

In the van now, headed Minneapolis. Playing with the Slats at the Uptown tonight. Rock.

-- Post From My iPhone

Summer Tour - Day One

The Ottumwa Courier's She Swings, She Sways field correspondent, Spencer, interviews Cory on our first night of tour.

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-- Post From My iPhone