It’s been an interesting day. Highs and lows to an extreme – joining up with singer/songwriter Justin McMahon (Reno, NV) and driving with him down to Ashland Coffee and Tea and the downside – well, you know, as above.
I think Justin rolled in yesterday, played a show with Heather at the venue where I’ll be starting an open mic next week(West Madison Craft Beer and Wine – really, what is UP with long venue names?). I went and watched and hung out and tried the tacos. Then I came home, wrangling phone calls with my mother and my brother… hung out with Mosno and drank tequila till it was time to go the Hell to bed. This morning, once I calmed down from my heinous dream, I sat up, worked out (DECREASING my heart rate), showered and went upstairs and made breakfast. Heather rolled up, we shoved the gear in the car and headed to I-95.
Oh, woe is unto those who wander I-95 on Memorial Day weekend: Rolling Thunder hath rolled, but it’s a bright and sunshiney day so holiday congestion combines with peoples’ innate desire to ram their automobiles into one another. We are collectively impressed by one car that has apparently teleported sideways off the arrow-straight stretch of interstate and through a tree, becoming somehow lodged in the woods with no obvious broken foliage surrounding it. In this one case I feel it’s worthwhile to slow down so that rubbernecking can evolve leisurely into a slow-moving community WTF moment.
We finally ramble on down to Justin’s favourite BBQ place in Richmond, VA and then work our way back up to Ashland Coffee and Tea – Kristen is coming separately from
another gig (and going to another one down here tomorrow) and is at first ahead of us by 20 miles, then as we stop at Hyperion in Fredericksburg, VA and she stops at a Panera for lunch, we make up time and pass her… we eventually beat her by a few minutes the gig – a beautiful venue filled with photographs of folk-scene heavy-hitters like John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky – it’s flattering to play this prestigious stage. We had a marvelous show – Justin opens the night and we close it the Hell down.*
[for continuity’s sake I’m continuing with my tale, but let it be known that Justin just fell asleep – more on that below!]It wasn’t our finest musical performance (rob’s lyric-retention / lack thereof struck twice), but I’d argue it MAY have been one of my finest moments of banter. Like… if that had been recorded, tonight’s “Giant Chickens of Baltimore” rant would go down in history next to “C-3P0 vs Frankenstein” and “Gypsy Caravans of Language”. I may have to revisit it. We did an encore. We sold CDs. W pressed flesh and re-met old friends and made some new ones. It was frankly a GREAT audience. Small – but FOCUSED and responsive. Our sound guy was great. The sound was great. It was a short set, but frankly, with all the driving down and home again (we have to be home tonight to play SOWEBO on the morrow) it was just right.
I’ve enjoyed having him along for the ride, for the shows… Living on gigs and highways is NOT something that everyone understands – and maybe I’m romanticizing it – but I feel a real kinship with other people who do it at our level : DIY, Love, staying with friends. The people who show up where their manager tells them, the people who spend the nights hidden away in cheap (and not-so-cheap) hotels…. The people who HAVE people for this or that or the other… to answer the phone or to post to social media or to drive the car or haul the gear…. they’re just not REAL to me.
Yeah. It’s about cred. Road warrior cred. I’m fucking PROUD of what I do. It’s a struggle, and there are plenty of days when I don’t know that I’m good enough to deserve it, but damn I can’t imagine anything else bringing my this sense of discovery, of wonder, and of joy. If every night was perfect, that’d be boring. I’d like a LITTLE more perfection in my Life, but even tonight as I fought the emotional weight of my aunt’s death, played phone tag with family members, worried about turnout (a whole OTHER story… sheesh), the gig was great, and the trip down was beautiful and the late night snack at a Dairy Queen was one of the best fast-food meals I’ve ever had and my ginger ale is warm and my phone is dead…. Heather’s singing quietly to herself, I’m typing quietly to myself, Justin’s head is lolling to the left cause we’re curving to the right – and I don’t think I WOULD trade this moment for a tour bus…
*Shh! Justin just fell asleep! It’s cute as Hell. I can tell how level the road is by where his head lolls. I think I’ve written before about how much I Love encountering our different road warrior friends in various parts of the country, but something I rarely get to do is share a car with anyone outside the band. It’s a strangely intimate thing. Justin travels the country either solo or with his dogs, and of course Heather and I have traveled for fifteen years with one another, with even KRISTEN being a relatively recent addition. Traveling with someone ELSE is just… fun!
