Ohio stretches out before us forever. It often does. Unlike the stretches of the interstates that barrel through unpunctuated farmland, here we’re on a “small” road that still demands speeds of 55mph passing hundreds and hundreds of small homes and small towns and barns, both upright and in various states of decomposition. Trailer parks and cemetaries and corn fields all straining towards the light, bleached brown by the winter and still muddy from the flooding and eager for another 70 degree day with nothing from above but blue skies.
Thursday we played Saint Patrick’s Day in Columbus, OH to a hundred people or so. Some of them listened. We don’t do Irish music though maybe it should be a resolution to learn a couple of tunes for each of the music-friendly holidays for 2012. It could be the end of the world as we know it, maybe I should learn some REM. I could Love Columbus. It’s got a lot of energy to it. O H!
I O!
IO. I miss the band. Wouldn’t have THAT in Columbus.
Last night we’d lost our Saint Peters, Missouri gig at Saint Charles Coffeehouse. We were downcast at the scheduling snafu that lead to that loss. A double-booking on behalf of an otherwise if-it-were-closer-almost-perfect venue. The owner was apologetic, and maybe it all worked out for the best. We used it as an excuse to go make up for one of our OWN cancelations: we’d had to bail on Coffee Amici in Findlay, Ohio when we received our feature at NACA. Coffee Amici is also on the list of if-it-were-closer-almost-perfect venues – beautiful music-friendly coffeehouses run by supportive and wonderful people with big, supportive and wonderful built-in crowds. Coffee Amici also boasts some of the best sound you’ll find in any coffeehouse anywhere. I’d already booked ilyAIMY for four shows there over the course of 2011 in the tail-end of last year because it’s THAT much in demand. And it deserves to be.
Craig, the host, let us play a fourth tune at the open mic and gave a tiny intermission after our set to let us work the room. He really knows how to let an open mic flow for everyone involved and it really worked out well for us. We sold a lot of CDs and made a lot of new friends. Heather and I are really meshing well on this wandering and things felt amazing last night. We were on, shiny, tight… the way pleather pants ought to be, you know? Fiscally, playing that open mic might have been just as smart as actually playing the gig, once travel time is considered.
Still, I can’t wait for June when we get to shove Missouri and Illinois back into our travel plans. What do you think, gas ought to be about $4 / gallon and we’ll be trying not to use our air conditioner, dying of heat stroke somewhere on the Mississippi river in the midst of a Midwest summer?
Tonight is Columbus Bar and we’re getting plenty of texts and Facebook message buzz making it look like it might be a pretty populated night. For as much as I Love the people at Columbus Bar, it can be a hard gig simply because we’re so physically removed from people. Especially after the amazing synergy of Coffee Amici, the balcony of Columbus Bar can easily make me feel kind of isolated.
I’ll just have to run down the stairs frequently for hugs from my Indiana peeps.
