First night on the road. Pittsburgh house concert with Brad Yoder. Started sparse. Got amazing. And then the highpoint of course was getting to play a couple of songs with Brad Yoder on soprano sax and Jason Rafalak on upright bass. Really fun jam, really fun cross-pollination. And a beautifully responsive audience.
Brad’s home is a marvelous thing in and of itself, part solar energy farm, part arts commune, part vegetable garden – it’s been a mansion, a church and a funeral home – and it’s stunningly sprawling, full of nooks and crannies and little surprises and enough twists and turns that I frequently made wrong turns on my way to the kitchen or the bathroom.
Pittsburgh itself continues to be one of my favourite cities, filled with old homes and dramatic topography. The local stone has been formed into beautiful houses, and a lot of it is rusted and grown over and frankly whole neighbourhoods are falling apart, but it cries out for creative minds and artists to make it whole again…
Navigating it can be a little dicey sometimes. We had more trouble getting out of town than we’d ever had before with a departure that reminded me something of Windows 8.1: I could see where I WANTED to go, I could’ve sworn I’d done it this way BEFORE… it was RIGHT THERE and you told me to do one thing, gave me a very obvious visual representation of me doing something entirely opposite – and generally it took us about 3 times as long as it should’ve.
Whatever. Now it’s I-70 to Columbus, OH and a triumvirate of paycheck bar gigs to pad out the bank account before heading further west. In other news. I’m not sure if it’s simply this computer or what, but it’s going to be time to change up the Journal’s format soon because…. as people’s computers’ screens get bigger and bigger, it’s getting dangerously teeny…
Not satisfied with merely FINDING the tower at the middle of the Labyrinth, Sharif had to climb it. 
And I joined Sharif all up the tower. And then took a selfie. With my big ass flash. 
One last day at the shop before Kristen and I make a run for it – but it’s a pretty cool day. Probably the highpoint was when THIS walked in. It’s a pre-war Martin. Pre CIVIL WAR. What’s more, the guy who brought it in, Bob Clayton, is a specialist in music of that period and I’ve often heard him chat eloquently about period tunes through his beautiful snow white beard – and I’ve never seen him play an instrument less than a hundred years old. I jokingly offered to sell him an electric guitar while he was there – and he surprised me by replying that he only plays Reverends – which is a very, very specific brand also favoured by my friend Ato of White Rose Confession. Bob proceeded to wax poetic about their aluminium chambered core and how they’re P90 pickups are overwound so you CAN’T get a “clean” tone, but “if you’re playing electric, why would you want CLEAN anyways?”. He walked out leaving me and Peggy a little bit stunned! 
The trunk of the ilyMobile. If we want to buy anything it’s gotta either be a postcard or about the same size and shape of any merch we sell. Meep! (Departing from Owings Mills, MD) 
Last open mics run, checks handed to house mates, cat squozen, strings packed, clothing packed, gear packed, laptop backed up and loaded for bear – it’s Wednesday morning, September 10th, and we’ve loaded the car and we’re ready to roll. There’s the Weasel Nest where Kristen will spend much of the next 45 days. 
ilyAIMY BEFORE 45 days on the road together…. 
