Mini-Tour Part 3: Common Grounds and Lexington, KY

We pulled into Lexington around 4 with a few hours to hang out before the show.  Our buddies Tara and Rick have recently moved in with Mark and Kristi, who we had met before and were thrilled to finally get the chance to get to know.  They were even more awesome than we had anticipated AND they have the coolest dog ever:

Her name is Cheeseburger.  She likes getting her butt scratched and has the softest armpits we've ever felt :D  She also sits up like a person while regally surveying the room with her droopy face.  She loves pawpaws and is terrified of corn husks.  Needless to say, we had a blast hanging out with this crazy dog all weekend.

The Common Grounds show was wonderful, as usual.  Melissa and Katie were the coolest baristas ever, making us delicious lattes including an Almond Joy (chocolate, almond, and coconut) and a Honey Bee (vanilla and honey).

We had the honor of playing with Jerry Belsak that night, who moved us all with his warm, heartbrakingly glassy tone and stunning arrangements.

It wasn't the biggest crowd ever but those there were as nice as they could be- we always vote quality over quantity.  We also met a great guy who happens to be best friends with another great guy that we met at our Salisbury shows- and guy 1 came out on guy 2's recommendation!  Thanks, guys!  Can't wait to see you both again :)

Ricky Lewis from The Key Note Speakers sat in with us on djembe and kicked some serious arse (no surprise!).  We're eager to play with him again.

Ron killed with some pirate songs to a happy late-night crowd.  If Common Grounds hadn't been closing and we hadn't had somewhere to be, we would have stayed there all night.  It really is a fantastic coffee shop.  It's in an old 2 story building that we still haven't properly explored.  It's full of chess boards and cushy sofas, warm-colored walls and pretty lamp fixtures, rotating artwork on display and it's always buzzing with that particular breed of nice, laid-back Kentuckian that we have yet to find anywhere else in such concentration.

We made our way back to Tara and Rick's after the show where Mark had cooked up an incredible meal of ribs, bacon & greens, black beans, and rice.  It was so rediculously delicious, it's a little hard to think about!

We stayed up way too late with a wonderful group of people telling stories, playing music, and enjoying a few adult beverages.  It was a great night.

We woke up to rain, which was a little sad since we had planned to go camping in the Red River Gorge.  But it worked out great because there was an art fair in town we got to prowl around.  We saw all sorts of beautiful local work and heard a killer band called Prefab Rehab who is definitely worth checking out.

After the fair, Mark made us mouthwatering soup beans & rice so good that my tastebuds almost mass-suicided, resigned to never having a better meal- but then Mark said he'd make pork loins the next day and my mouth found renewed purpose :D

That night we went to see our buddy Byron's band, A Melodic Horizon in nearby Richmond, KY.  They were AMAZING!  Curse Childers writes the wonderful lyrics which he sings with his smooth, willowy voice.  The arrangements are rich, the sections complex, and the musicianship is through the roof!  It is music that you can fall right into the groove of and each song is like a present- all different and all full of surprises.  I can't wait to see them again.

A Melodic Horizon kindly offered us time to play while they took a break.  The crowd was in right away.  We played The Worm and Curtis Turner to a rockin' house.  Alas, the bouncer was not diggin' the tunes, so we skipped Chopo.  We were thrilled to get a chance to play- especially because it broke the ice for us to meet some of the awesome people hanging out.  I sincerely hope we cross paths with all of them again.

A Melodic Horizon's second set was just as incredible as the first.  It flew by before we knew it- I would have listened to them all night.

We made our way back to Tara and Rick's for a relaxing and even later night than the first.  It's impossible to crash early when there are such great people around. 
A few hours of sleep later, we had an easy morning, sipping delicious French press coffee and soaking up all the wonderful company.

That afternoon, we went to the Red River Gorge and were blown away by all the epic scenery. 

We saw Skyline Bridge, Tara and Rick's regular campsites, 

 and a huge spider that I hope I can forget about.

Tara and I went for a dip in the river before we headed home for another chill night of good people and tremendous food.  Mark made more of his amazing greens and a porkloin that melted in our mouths, smothered in mustardy BBQ sauce that I'd chug by the gallon if I could.  He also grilled corn on the cob, which Cheeseburger fled from.

We also picked up supplies for Ricky to make panang, an incredible Thai dish that he masterfully prepared.  I think I had three helpings by the end of the night, not counting Mark's dinner.

It was sad to say goodnight and even sadder to say goodbye in the morning.  We had such a fantastic time.  I'm just glad we have another Lexington show booked, or I'd be plunging into unbearable Kentucky withdrawal.

We had a smooth drive home full of epic weather that I thoroughly enjoyed from the passenger seat.

Now the September Tour looms on the horizon.  We're feeling a little overwhelmed and that much more eager to hit the road.
I just posted brand new tracks that we'll be releasing this trip as a preview of the final CD, which we'll have remastered with nice packaging for a CD release tour we anticipate for December or January.  We also have a brand new T-shirt design coutesy of Ron, which we've turned into a screen and are going to print our first shirts with this very evening.

I'd say goodnight but sleep is nowhere in my very near future...

8.2010 Mini-Tour Part 2: The Acoustic Coffeehouse

We woke up the morning after our wild romp at Shenandoah Pizza in the George Washington National Forest.  Our free campground book had led us slightly astray- we followed the directions faithfully but they only led us to this random gavelly patch of flat ground by the side of a forest road so backwoodsy that the gps couldn't detect it.  We're not convinced was an actual campsite, but we made an early getaway, thus avoided any undesirable confrontations :)

We slept well enouhg after a late night of delicious pizza and stargazing.  Mars was SO bright that night- it cast shadows on the ground!  The "site" was also scattered with glow worms, which I've never really seen before.

We packed up and set off on a cool, beautiful, rainy drive to Johnson City.  Thelonius Monk provided a perfect soundtrack.  We passed all sorts of crazy places in GW Forest, including Whiskey Creek on Thundering Herd Road in Churchville, VA and this unfortunate home near Dire Wolf Lane:

We rolled into J.C. a few hours early and had a lovely walk around town, stopping at a couple music stores, one of which had a decent uke selection.  I got to play my beloved bass uke again and fell in love with a mango Kala baritone.  It was so pleasing to play that it got me thinking I might try picking up guitar again, because baritone ukes are truly like little guitars- the sustain, the rich, warm tone, the body that hums against you as you play, it was awesome.

We made our way back to the Coffeehouse, cutting my foot on a piece of broken glass along the way- flip flops were not the brightest idea.

There was actually a 6pm band scheduled at The Acoustic Coffeehouse that day called The Mudbugs and I'm SO glad we got to see them!  They played a very relaxed but lively set of old New Orleans-y pop tunes with killer harmonies, sax solos, super-slick drums, piano, bass, and charming between-songs-banter to boot!  And they were as nice as they could be- total pros.  We were very impressed.

We hung out with a few familiar faces, including Steve Strawberry and all his slick dance moves :)  We feasted on an AMAZING reuben and bbq chicken burrito, sippin' chai tea, Fat Tire, Star Hill Amber Ale, and Gaelic Ale (which we ended the night with- I think it was my favorite!).

Feeling a little sluggish from all the good food, we had a great time rockin' out to Captain Ronzo.  He played more new tunes, including I Need My Gun, Spirited Voyage, and I'm Not a Psychiatrist.  Some folks weren't quite sure what to make of the punk-rock pirate at first, but he totally won them all over, including a dancing man wearing these crazy toe-shoes and a groovin' little girl who danced like the house was on fire.  It was awesome.

We weren't lucky enough to have dancers for The Galt Line set, but we did have the trumpet player from Demon Waffle join us for a bunch of songs, which just rocked our world.  We had such a blast jamming with him- he especially killed on Chopo and Chinatown Special.  I'm so bummed to have no footage :(  We also had the drummer from Existentia join us on hand drums for a tune or two- such a treat!  We played loose and easy to an appreciative crowd that we thoroughly enjoyed. 

The glory of Acoustic Coffeehouse is that we have just as much fun hanging out afterwards as we do playing tunes.  We always meet so many wonderful and different types of people there.  We hung out with a financial planner and an arborist right along with musicians and professors, as well as a super-sweet couple that just moved to TN and are working towards starting a goat farm!  How cool is that?
We also met the awesome artist who drew this (while wasted!  Totally amazing!), who was a joyous and charming interior designer with very nice friends :D:

We didn't leave the A.C. until after 4am and only because we absoluely forced ourselves to go- we just couldn't get enough of all the awesome people!  But it's always like that at The Acoustic Coffeehouse.  It's such a crossroads for all kinds of people from all walks of life and you can't help but love it.

We finally made our way to Morristown, TN as the sun came up, pitching our camp at Cherokee Park- a beautiful lakeside campground in the Land Between the Lakes region. 

We saw a bit of the sunrise over the water as we collapsed in our tents...

...then were roasted into wakefulness about 5 hours later.  We were under several huge trees but somehow still ended up in a fully-sunned oven.

Ah well, we were eager to get to Lexington and sleep is for chumps, anyway.  The following drive was all neon sky and glowing green hills- breathtaking to say the least.  And we were en route to some of our all-time favorite people in on of our all-time favorite places.

To be continued.... DUN DUN DUUUNNNNNN!!!

8.2010 Mini-Tour Part 1: Shenandoah Pizza

So, Shenandoah Pizza is one of our new favorite places.  We arrived about 3 hours early and it's a good thing we did because even that wasn't enough time to really soak up the place.

You walk up to their charming stone storefront where they had very kindly posted a sign for our show that night.

You enter into a sparkling clean room full of bright green tile, gleaming wooden tables, colorful posters speaking of Staunton's lively music scene, and one of the friendliest staffs we've ever encountered, all of whom are either musicians, music lovers, or both.

John and Cheryl, the owners, are as warm and accomodating as they can be, recognizing everyone that walks in the store.  They are organizing all kinds of musical events in the area, including a big Summer Blues Fest this past Saturday that we sadly had to miss (although Lexington was a thrilling substitute :D).

Right away, we got all giddy when they told us we could order any pizza and beer!  They have over 200 varieties (!!!), all bottles because the building is from the 1800s and it's near impossible to drill through the thick concrete floor to put in taps.  And anyway, you can have more variety with bottles.  We tried all sorts of amazing brews, including Pyrat, Baltika Russian Lager, Starr Hill Jomo Lager, Stone IPA, Old Peculiar, Legend brown ale, Blue Mountain Classic Lager and more.

Our awesome waitress, Brooke, kindly chose all my wild flavors for me.  (She also left us the biggest compliment ever on a note in our tip jar:)

*Seriously, Brooke, if you only knew how much that made our life!  They are our favorite band!!!*

All the beers were incredible and the perfect compliment to their gourmet pies!  In fact, gourmet doesn't even do it justice- their pizzas are some of the most delicious food I've ever eaten!
Meet Pizza Gypsy Hill (tomato, mozarella, avocado, feta, & sunflower seeds):

And Pizza Margherita (tomato, basil, fresh mozarella, wheat crust):

The wheat crust is made with local wheat ground at a mill just a short drive from the shop.

So, bodies full and satisfied, we dove into a smooth, easy set.  No need to push that night- we were feeling good and enjoying every minute.  The time flew and then it was the good Captain's go.  He turned heads with a bunch of awesome new numbers, including Pirate Jesus, I Stole Your Beer, and Robot Housewife (very jazzy!).

The crowd was appreciative, laid-back, and very fun to play to.

We got to meet some awesome local musicians from killer bands like Secret Ninja Death Squad and JD & the Shenandoahs.  And John told us about a great Charlottesville group, The Judy Chops, who've been playing at Shenandoah Pizza for years.

We're checking out The Staunton Music Guild  to find more Staunton bands and we highly suggest you do the same because that valley is hopping!

We can't wait to go back and any Marylanders are welcome to hitch a ride- everyone needs to go to Shenandoah Pizza as soon as they can!

Awesome August

This month has started out GREAT!
It began in Richmond, VA with some old friends seeing a show at an awesome venue called Strange Matter where we had our minds stomped by Whatever Brains and Catacombz- check them out.

That very night we were linked to a show in DC by our dear buddies, The Nice Trys.  We confirmed it over the next couple days and thus spent this past Friday night screaming and shouting to our hearts content at the lovely H St. NE residents as we played a 3ish hour set outside of Gallery O/H, which EVERYONE should check out.  It's a beautiful and cozy space run by the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.  They have a varied and unique collection of art- this particular display focuses on the female form.
We set up on the street in front of their gorgeous courtyard, which features a 16' tall rocket sculpture made from recycled metals, among other magnificent creations.  We had a blast hangin' out with all the cool people, watching cars stop in the middle of the street to watch us (some of whom very kindly pelted us with change), and playing as loud and sloppy as we liked.  It was casual and crazy, which is our favorite type of show.  One awesome guy came up and put a cigarette in Willie's mouth in the middle of a solo.  It was pretty impressive on both their parts- especially getting it lit.  Thanks to Steve and Dolly for having us and to Michael, Luwanda, and Mo for facilitating!  We can't wait to do it again.

The next morning featured an extremely traffic-y drive up to New Jersey for the Elephant Talk Music Festival.  A HUGE thank you to Shannon Bailey for bringing us in and to Jerry Ryan for throwing the whole event.  It was truly incredible- we got to rock out to so many awesome bands, including The Echo Wall, Mittenfields, The Callen Sisters, and many more.  We were there in spirit for Mind Grenade.  Longboard beer on draft was also a highlight.  We met so many amazing people (shout out to Rudy & Jill :D) and got to walk around bizarre and sparkly Atlantic City.  We had a late drive home- I pounded MK's amazing pasta salad the whole 3+ hours to stay awake.  Mmmm.  And the driverside window got stuck in the down position, which we were going to get fixed today except it started working again so the car dudes couldn't figure out the problem (but they still had us wait 3 hours and charged us for having them look.  Great.)

Jerry taped some of our set from the festival- thanks, Jerry!  The footage is on his channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TALLSHADY42


So that's our killer month so far.  We're playing at Chloe's Coffee on the 14th- check out this blow-your-brains-out-awesome flyer that Dan Ellis made for us!  I can't stop staring at it and have started writing a song based on the toothy guy.

So, we've had a shyt-kickin' month so far and it's not even half-way through.  Oh, and we have 3 new songs: Helen Morgan, Your Mama, and A Little More.  AND today we recorded foundation tracks for our CD that will hopefully be done by the tour- at least in preview form.  The official track-list (in no particular order) is: Trouble, The Worm, Barfly Betty, Cabin Fever, Chopo, Sailing, Glass of Scotch, Damocles, Take Me Home, Chinatown Special, Free Fall, and Curtis Turner.

So stay tuned, folks!  This is gonna be a busy month.  And we're going to Kentucky in a week!  WEEEE!

June-Swoon (part 2 of 2)

I've spent the better part of today trying to fix the many glitches with our new website.  I announce with pride that I've FINALLY figured out how to make the backgrounds stretch with the browser window, getting rid of that annoying white bar forever and ever.  Turns out the instinctive and very easy solution will be available with the next version of CSS but I'm screwed for now so I had to find a fakey backdoor tactic.

But before I plunge back into code-land, I'm gonna tell you about our post-Wonderland Ballroom month.

On Saturday, June 26th, we got to play at one of my favorite places in the whole wide world: Cugini's.  It's the best pizza place ever run by some of the best people ever.  If you haven't been there, get up and go because it's some of the best pie you'll ever have.  And the cheesy bread?  Don't get me started.  And now they have a bar and live music pretty much every week- never a cover.  It's awesome.  It was also my first and favorite job :)

We played for almost 3 hours straight to a steady stream of awesome people.  We played lots of new songs (brand new- mostly learned that afternoon :D) including Poor Boy John and Blood on the Saddle, both of which featured banjo (first time!), and the now-notorious Night of 1000 Cats (the link is to a facebook video clip!) performed by bassist Brian, whose high-kicks and snarling visage put Jack Black to shame.  Please note the hysterically-undersized sweatshirt:  a priceless Poolesville Thrift Store number featuring an oversized cat face on an undersized black background.

The story:  Willie and I were getting our car fixed by the dirt mall in Frederick when we found this incredible movie in the bargain bin:

 So we took it to Brian and MK's house with some serious booze and somehow managed to sit through all 63 minutes.  It was the longest hour of our lives but most definitely worth it in the end, as it sparked the spontaneous and ingenious birth of our new favorite song.  It exploded out of Brian and Willie with such passionate force that MK and I almost left the kitchen.  But instead I recorded it on my phone, we dictated it later, rehearsed it never, and the rest is history. 

We got to hang out with so many spectacular people at the Cug- it really was one of our best shows ever.  We also had our home-made screen-printed shirts available for the first time and sold out!!!  Woo hoo!!

Just a few days later came Bar Monkey in Frostburg on the 29th.  We weren't exactly sure what to expect since neither of us has spent much time in Frostburg, but that town blew us away with awesome!  The bar is actually set up in the downstairs of a house, so it's got the greatest, coziest atmosphere.  The outdoor area is huge and beautiful.  Cushy grass, freshly-carpeted stage with primo equipment, dance floor, grill, horseshoe pit, the list goes on and on.  And the people are so welcoming and wonderful.  We're going back in July and September and we cannot wait!  Pictures don't even do it justice, but here's one anyway.

A local legend came by and was dancin' some seriously fancy footwork through at least half of our set.  His name is Swamp Fox and he generously insisted on giving us these amazing hats of his.

After the show, we hung out for a long time in the warm summer night, meeting lots wonderful people and eating bbq that's making me hungry even thinking about it.

Then we made our way up the street to Dante's, another stellar Frostburg bar, where we did an impromptu set to a brilliantly toasty crowd (we fit right in :D).

Eventually we stumbled back to Bar Monkey and slept under the stars on their comfy stage.

We woke up at 6:45am *blecch!* to me hacking my lungs out- I had picked up a gross cough earlier that week that fortunately settled down when I sang.  Mornings are not our strong suit but some kind folks had told us of an Amish breakfast buffet down the road, so we set off on a quest for Penn Alps.  Much to our chagrin, it didn't open for another 3 hours, so we continued on to Thomas, WV where we were playing later that night.

We were set to play at The Purple Fiddle, one of the coolest places in the Allegheny Mountains.  Thomas is a beautiful mountain town and The Purple Fiddle is set up in an old general store turned restaurant/bar/music venue.  It is eclectic and cozy, run by awesome people and covered with posters of all the bands that have played there.  They also have this delicious beer on tap that's made right up the street at Mountain State Brewing Co.

Well, we were still running early when we got to town so the Fiddle wasn't open yet.  We napped in the car for a bit and then wandered around Black Water Falls after a mouth-watering cheeseburger and country-fried steak sandwich.  We had a hot and lazy day spent at some of the best overlooks in the country.

We had a great time during our set that night and would've loved to have hung around for days.  Alas, Willie had to work the next morning so we drove through the misty mountains until the wee hours.  It was a breathtaking drive until the very end when we tragically tried and failed to avoid a suicidal skunk who has left an unyeilding stink-cloud of death around our poor van.

Well, that's pretty much it for June.  July just opened with a killer weekend at New Deal Cafe and Piratz Tavern but the website's calling me back, so more on that later.  Party on, Wayne, and party on, Garth.