Summer Tour - A Bunch of Days

To the call of the green machine's mighty honk, we're setting off again, tank full of gas; tires full of air; shoes full with feet, and hearts filled with hope. (burp). … And guts full of gas.

Playing the Uncommon Ground on Devon in Chicago tonight, then staying in a church gym/home to my friend Jim's theater company. Should be a great Saturday night.

I dropped off a bit during the last few days of the first leg. My apologies, faithful readers. A good portion of the band was suffering from lung infection, so my thoughts at the time would have consisted of various renderings of cough, hack, and spit sounds: not too pleasing to write about. Now, being in a better mood and state of health, I can share some recollections of those days.

Day twelve - Davey's Uptown Rambler's Club, Kansas City MO. Played with the Expassionates, who were great. We got to hear ourselves through the best sound system in KC. It was glorious. The sound guy was all business, and the bartender was kind. She noticed my sniffling and offered me green tea. I sat at the bar with the day drinkers and sipped it from a mug while watching an Obama health care plan speech. We stayed with Jess' cousin Jason. He made us his signature bean and meat concoction, and we destroyed it. Cory and I were facsinated by his magnetized fish tank cleaner, and Jimmie read a book Jason keeps in his bathroom called "What Your Poo Tells You."

Day thirteen - Ottumwa, IA, RAGBRAI show at the Central Park Stage. Mother nature was being an emo goth chic and spat on us. We'd never been rained out before. Now we fear it. We cleared the stage as fast as we could, but the drums and the keyboard got soaked. It all turned out okay, but the at the time we were all melted into soaking rage. We had to haul everything into our house to dry out. The organizers were great though, and we are disappointed that we didn't get to play for the riders. To the the people who came from Missouri to see us: we'll come your way soon. We were interviewed by a film maker working on a documentary about RAGBRAI. We looked and smelled like wet dogs and waxed intellectual on the relevence and viability of Midwestern culture.

Day fourteen - Pop's Blue Moon, St. Louis, MO. Sickness was fully upon us and moods were sharpened. The highlight of the night was eating at a place called Guido's in the Hill district. Best meal in months. Played with a duo called the Big Idea. They were great - guitar and guitar/banjo thing and some strong vocals. We survived the show and slept in a top secret location. We like top secret locations. They have plenty of floor space.

Day fifteen - Cherry Street Artisan, Columbia, MO. Jimmie got a new amp here, a Fender FM 212. It sounds good. We observed tradition and ate at Shakespeare's Pizza. The Artisan was eerily quiet. Drove home for five days off, coughing and tired.

Days off - Ottumwa, IA - for some, it was wives and girlfriends. For others, it was the job. Wives and girlfriends. Yay. Jobs. Buh.

Second Leg, Day One - Live After Five at the Central Park Stage, Ottumwa, IA. Outdoor show in otown, take two. Mother nature finally checked out our tunes on MySpace and found out we're actually kinda good, so she put on a nice blue sky and some puffy white clouds for us. Live After Five is a series of concerts put on every year in July, and it's a big deal in Ottumwa. Everyone brings a lawnchair and drinks beer in the park. We had fun. My mom got smashed. Just so I get it right at least once: thank you to South Ottumwa Savings Bank, Golden Eagle Distributing, and the Ottumwa Childrens Theater (for the kid's games). Special thanks to Pam Kaupins, who organized the event. Whew finally -- I couldn't say that on stage to save my life. Quote of the night, said to merchant gal Jess: "Can you get these guys to play some Jimmy Buffet and turn up the energy a little." Fuck Jimmy Buffet. Sorry… had a little outburst.

Ok. Enough rambling. More tomorrow. This job kicks ass.

Love, Troy.