This little trip was supposed to be centered around a friend’s wedding. It was never going to be very long – perhaps two weeks at the most, but it slowly got shortened as we landed things like Honfest and Herndon Festival on either end of it – but we held Saturday the 12th – until we found out that the friend and her fiancé had broken up…
And so the trip doesn’t really still have its heart in, and financially it’s probably no longer quite as smartly planned, and there was some free time that’s being filled with open mics – and yet it’s been one of my favourites. Perhaps I just NEEDED to be out on the road again. Perhaps I’ve spent too much time in Maryland growing complacent with cats.
Even today – we’re driving five hours North and four hours South just to hit an open mic or two in Chicago and to visit some friends – but every time I start to question the course’s “worth” we keep coming back to one particular fact: we just WANT to.
Between Heather and I there’s always this balancing act – dream vs practicality, strategy vs desire. We take turns taking sides, but for the moment we’re both lining up on a route that’s a little more whimsical than usual. If I REALLY had my druthers I think we’d head a little further North to Michigan and play somewhere in Anne Arbor. We’ve got friends there and it’s the home of my favourite role playing game company and we’ve never been to Michigan… surely that’s enough?
Next year there’s another wedding. I’ve got a little more faith that it won’t get called off, but it’s an intimidating commitment. Juneau, Alaska is not easily reached. It would involve a truly international tour, or a flight. It could involve a very expensive ferry. I don’t know all the options yet, but I’m definitely feeling the pull to just DO it.
Tuesday night Heather and I played a friend’s backyard. He’s hoping to eventually turn that event into a series of sorts – part backyard BBQ and beer party, bonfire, b-words…. And our show there was an experiment, but a successful one. We joined up with another artist, Shane Tripp, from Michigan and played for a couple of hours in the gloaming and increasing drizzle. We were lit by firelight and tiki torches and we kept the volume reasonable, but still attracted attention all down the block.
In between sets I found myself feeling kind of anti-social – perhaps because one of the dogs who’d come to the show had spent all his energies expressing his hatred for me: Oliver strained at his leash, barking and snarling at me – and I had to get past him to get to the car. Upon closer examination his rage seemed to be completely focused on my shoes and he bit my toes quite mercilessly. Luckily, Oliver was tiny and the pit bull that had also come to the party was the quiet, sweet one.
And so later in the evening I stood munching some of the best bratwursts I’ve ever had, passing on offers of various sorts, and just feeling the rain on my face. Cold drizzle, the world smelled of soil and campfire. Our friend and fellow roadwarrior Eric Nassau came out for the last set, and it was warming to see his distinctive beard-tentacles appear out of the darkness – he hugs better than most guys know how to hug, holding tight until you realize that you’re not going to be slapped and that it’s useless to escape – and that you don’t want to.
Touch means so much.
The next night Eric invited us to join him at his favourite local open mic at the Woodlands Tavern. Up until pretty recently, this bar had been the Thirsty Ear – and its reputation as a good room to tour through had meant that I’d tried to hit the bar up a couple of times for gigs, but I’d never landed a show and we’d never been there. Apparently the place changed hands a little while ago, but it still maintains a killer stage and a decent sound system. The crowd was pretty thick, friendly, and enthusiastic.
Our set went okay – I was sloppy. I still haven’t mastered my Ox yet and I need to remember not to try to play it with stuff in my front pockets – the balance was all wrong and I ended up playing LooseN FAR too fast out of sheer nervousness. I also screwed up with Love A Girl, starting it off without a capo, much to Heather’s displeasure – still, it sort of sounds cool when you start a song and then move it up a fret – it sounds like you’re revving up, and the audience Loved it. We sold some CDs and saw a LOT of really great artists. I collected cards and traded cards and traded CDs and generally networked my little ass off. I found myself genuinely LIKING the other artists there a lot more than I generally do. I think we finally found a cool crowd of Columbusites to visit and play with when we come through.
I hope. I say that every once in a while… and then often it never comes to pass….
In any case, Eric Nassau ended out the night with a couple of great tunes, including his anthem, B&B, which even my memory-challenged self was able to sing along with. The VERY end of the night found Heather on stage with a bunch of the locals singing a song about birds and flap flap flapping, peck peck peckin and wiggling along with all the little moves of a children’s song that we hadn’t ever heard before. The image of Eric’s dangling cigarette and Heather’s margarita bobbing back and forth as a stage full of other-wise pretty serious-looking men and women extolled the virtues of various aerial fauna was…. Unforgettable.
The kazoo was pretty out there too.
Well, it’s less than two hours to Tim’s door. He won’t have enough parts to make up a Might Could show, but if I’m really, really lucky perhaps I’ll convince him to play a Monty Python song. I don’t know… nobody’s THAT lucky.
