We’re somewhere north of Putnam… I guess. North West I guess. It’s not even 1am yet but I’m feeling the weight of not having slept enough and of the darkness outside and… and maybe I’ve been at a college too recently but it reminds me of when I’d pull all-nighters and at the very end of it I KNEW I wasn’t putting in 100% and I could just take a nap, right? Just for a moment? Even 15 minutes? Surely I’d still get everything done…. I remember my girlfriend and I taking shifts all night, waking one another up after 30 minute naps, trading off between productivity and much-needed slumber.
Heather doesn’t REALLY need me to be conscious. The GPS keeps us on course and my glasses broke at Caffe Lena so my eyes aren’t helpful in this long dark stretch between Saratoga Springs, NY and Putnam, CT. I really COULD go to sleep… but it would feel a bit like a betrayal. I know Heather’s tired too (Happy Connecticut) and, not that she’d fall asleep or anything, but she deserves the company, even if it’s silent and not particularly attentive.
I Love places that have great decor, and the stairway up to Caffe Lena definitely counts. The whole place is well-Loved and more than slightly-used and worked over by dozens if not hundreds of artistic hands…. by muralists and photographers on the walls… Caffe Lena marks the first time we’ve ever played somewhere that Bob Dylan played… albeit 50 years later. The open mic host at Caffe Lena, Jerry Moon, was really excited to have us and betwixt him and another performer named Willy, made us feel fvery, very welcome. The sign up method at this open mic is a slightly different take on the randomized method I’ve encountered before – names are put in a bowl and then drawn randomly, and that’s NOT the order of the list, but the order you get to sign up in. …And by the myriad and sundry on the bathroom walls… Well-Sharpied walls always win me over and gives this decidedly folk-oriented club a bit more of a punk-rock feel.
Today’s been mostly driving. Heading out from Plattsburgh this morning, we’ve stopped at a Starbucks and a Panera and probably have enough coffee in the two of us to wake a dead dwarf. We’ve stopped at a drugstore in search of batteries and, not finding them, then stopped at a Radio Shack. I Love being able to go someplace where the string of numbers and letters “CR2032” MEANS something to someone! We stopped for sushi. We stopped to look at an all-natural foods market, and then finally stopped at Caffe Lena, a well-known folk venue that’s regularly played by names on and above our professional tier. We played their open mic tonight, and after 10 minutes on stage received the heart-felt assurance of the host that we’d be on their booking roster in no-time.
Sounds good. I’d be eager to share that stage with some of our NY friends. Anthony da Costa, Pat Wictor… We’re About 9 and Daniel Miraglia drop through here and we’d be happy to sonically shack up with any of them. Often I’m blown away by the people we count as our friends and peers. However, at the moment my mind is too tired to perpetrate any blowing and sits resolute and sticky inside my skull. 44 East looms out of the darkness in front of us and we veer off into the night, following the curves of warning signs and entering into a small town where all the traffic lights have shut off hours ago. Slowly, even in the dark and without my glasses I get my bearings, landmarks rear up out of the gloom and with relief I realize we’re going to be in bed about an hour before I’d guesstimated… that sounds just about amazing right now.
Later we’re officially introduced to Derp, but we spend some intimate time with the creature before names are exchanged. Victoria Station Cafe always feels like Christmas. (taking a break from playing, enjoying the air outside in Putnam, CT)
