Matt's Random Updates

SoCal Leg

2009-08-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

After a few days back at home, we left for a quick 3-day tour down South. Wednesday, Aug. 12 (I know, I'm lazy!) we were in San Luis Obispo at a great venue called Mother's Tavern. We had a good show, especially for a Wed. night in a college town when school's still out. These pictures are of "gum alley" - a narrow passage between 2 buildings (one of them is Mother's Tavern) where everyone sticks their gum as they walk through. It's maybe 200 ft. long, and literally covered with gum from the ground to about 7' high.

The drive from SLO to Victorville, CA was terrible. Because of the landscape in CA, we decided it would be quicker and easier to take the freeway through L.A. than to go through narrow, winding, single-lane highways that zig-zagged to our destination. We were wrong. Traffic was slow and shitty the entire way. Nonetheless, we got there and had a great crowd at a tiny dive bar. These pics are intended to show how crappy the air quality is in L.A. county! The second one almost looks like it's dusk, but it's really about 5 PM and there's another 4 hours of daylight left!

Our 3rd and final show of this little stint (not counting our show in Sac on Sat.) was in Bakersfield. The show was O.K. - nothing special, but when we went to leave at the end of the night, we went across a huge dip in the driveway and broke our trailer hitch off and drug the trailer about 100 yds down the street before we finally realized that something was wrong! That sounds like a long ways, and it is, but the RV is wider than the trailer, so you can't see it in the side mirrors, and there's no back window, either. Also, the RV weighs so much more than the trailer and has enough power that Jonny couldn't feel the resistance while he was driving. We heard the the jack dragging on the pavement, and that was our only clue. Thankfully, we had an extra hitch (I can't even tell you why) and we switched them out and went on our way!

We have quite a bit of time off now, so I probably won't post anything else very soon. I'll throw up an update when something newsworthy happens. Peace.

The Long Haul

2009-08-17T14:00:00.001-07:00

Day 23 (Telluride, CO) - The last time we were in Telluride, The Fly Me to the Moon Saloon went off the hook with Subilme fans. Of course, that was a Saturday and we were there on a Thursday this time around, so were surprised when we actually brought out MORE people than we did a couple months ago! Needless to say, Telluride has quickly become one of our most favorite places on Earth! Below are some pictures of the crowd we had, and the spot in the green room where Bradly (of Sublime) signed the wall when they played The Moon back in the 90's.

Day 24 (no show): We ended up with a weekend without anything booked, so we decided to head home for a few days before our Wed/Thurs/Fri down in Southern Cal. We drove about 18 hrs. straight from Telluride to Sacramento and hot home around 5:00 A.M. I spent the next 4 days doing nothing, which is why I'm posting this blog about 10 days late. I'll post another one tomorrow (hopefully) and let you know how our trip down South went.

More of Colorado

2009-08-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

Day 21 (Denver): Our 3rd day in Denver (the first 2 spent camping in an RV park), we got to Herman's Hideaway pretty early and unloaded. It was a really cool venue, with great built in sound and light systems and a great engineer; this place has hosted the likes of 311 and Dave Matthews (before they were huge). They don't, however, have a great built in crowd - at least on Tuesday nights! Nonetheless, we got some free booze and had a good time. Oh yeah, and I had leaned Precious Pearls up against a trash can while we unloaded and she got stolen (2 flat tires and all - there were stickers at the last RV park) within the hour! Great neighborhood!

Day 22 (Colorado Springs-ish): Ty got a voicemail a day earlier from the dude at the Thirsty Parrot in Colorado Springs saying he wanted to cancel the show. We never actually got ot talk to him, but Ty said he sounded like a douche on the phone when he booked the show. The guy never told us why he canceled on us, but if I were to take a guess, it would be because 40 Oz. to Freedom (another Sublime tribute band, out of San Diego) was playing that same night at a different club in Colorado Springs (we try to avoid other tributes while we're booking, but it still happens on occaision). Of course, we believe that we're better than them, but they've been on the road for about 2 years longer than us and have more name recognition. Plus, they were playing a premier venue and we were at some shit-hole that cancels on you in the 11th hour. We spent the day driving to Telluride instead, and found another RV park to camp out at for a day. The only bad thing is that it was waaaaay up in the mountains with no internet, cell phone service, or gas stations/stores of any kind. It was a boring day & night, though very pretty (see photos)!

Sublime (Tribute)?

2009-08-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

Days 16 & 17 (Rapid City): Ty and myself were both pretty excited when we booked a 2-nighter at the Robinsdale Lounge in Rapid, because we both know a lot of people there (Ty has family & I went to college there). When we got to town, I jumped out of the moving RV at a stop light and walked 3 blocks to Matt Kautz's house. Within the first 5 minutes of our conversation, he brought up the fact that the radio ad on KSKY said that the 2 remaining original members of Sublime were going to be at the show, which of course, was a complete lie! Somehow (and of no fault of our own), the venue believed that the REAL Sublime was coming to Rapid City to play 2 free shows at a bowling alley lounge for $1500... seriously?!! I spoke with the radio station DJ who made the ad and he told me about his overwhelming skepticism and how the venue representative swore that it was true, and I apologized for the misunderstanding and reassured him that that's not the way we do business!

We were a little nervous at how the crowd would react when they found out we weren't the real band, but most of them didn't even notice. Many of my friends that were at the shows heard several people repeating the rumor and even adding to it! I'm sure some people noticed, but nobody said anything to us, and hey - free shows! In the end, the place was packed (sold out on Friday) both nights, everyone had fun, and we had 2 killer shows, so we're going to call it a success despite the fraudulent promotion.

Day 18 (Breckenridge, CO): Normally we try to keep our drive down to 6 hours or less per day, but today we found ourselves getting up at 9:00 A.M. (which isn't early unless you're up until 3 A.M., which we usually are) to break down and load equipment so we could start our 8-hour drive to Breckenridge. We got there just in time to load in, sound check, and microwave a few burritos before going on. The night was a little slow, but we were O.K. with that, since we were all low on sleep, low on energy, and low on oxygen (elev. 9600'). Besides, we had a guarantee, so we got paid the same no matter how many people showed up!

Days 19 & 20 (no shows): After 15 shows in the first 18 days of our tour and 3,900 miles of driving, we finally get a couple of days off in a row. We woke up in Breckenridge, drove to Denver, stopped at a grocery store, then found an RV park to camp at for 2 days. Our next show is here in Denver tomorrow night.

A packed house in Rapid City.

Ty crowd surfing in Rapid City!

The view from off stage - what a crazy night.

One of my former IE professors, Dr. Carter Kerk came to the show on Friday.

My parents came to Rapid City for both nights and we got to hang out quite a bit, and had a lot of fun.

Tom Campbell (Ty's dad) stopped on his way to Sturgis to hang out. If we didn't have to head to CO, I would have rode up with him on "Precious Pearls" (my $11 Salvation Army Special that gets me around when we have some free time).

It's a Funny Business

2009-07-31T09:49:00.000-07:00

Day 12 (Bellingham, WA): After a slow Friday & Saturday in Spokane, we were a little apprehensive about traveling 360 miles to Bellingham for a Sunday night show. As it turned out, we had a great crowd and an exciting night at the Wild Buffalo, which is a very nice venue that tailors to a lot of touring bands!

Day 13 (no show): We headed back to the East and spent the night in Spokane with some people we met at our shows there. Nothing really exciting.

Day 14 (Missoula, MT): We had a great show at the Top Hat on a Tuesday, which reinforces the fact that in this business the best days aren't always on the weekends! One of my friends that I worked with at Granite, Jacque Chatriand (right) now lives in Missoula and came to the show with her sister, Jessi (left).

Day 15 (Sheridan, WY): We booked our show at the American Legion Post #7 in Sheridan about 2 weeks prior, and weren't expecting a huge turnout for a few reasons:

1.) It's the American Legion and not a hot spot for the younger crowd.

2.) It's Sheridan, WY on a Wednesday night.

3.) They only had 2 weeks to promote the show.

4.) Their live music schedule included the likes of the Boot Hill Band and Ethyl & The Regulars.

Despite our expectations, however, a lot of people came to the show, due to the efforts of the manager of the Legion, who did an excellent job of promoting and even put an ad on the local rock radio station. At the beginning off the night, the crowd looked like this: And at the end of the night... It turned out to be the best show of the tour so far! Thank you, Sheridan, Wyoming!! And just to recap the week so far:

Friday Spokane, WA slow night

Saturday Spokane, WA slow night

Sunday Bellingham, WA great night

Tuesday Missoula, MT great night

Wednesday Sheridan, WY amazing night!

It's a funny business!

Dance, Dance!!

2009-07-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Day 9 (Coeur D'Alene, ID): We played a venue called The Grail, that hosts a lot of larger national acts (Powerman 500 and King's X are the most recent). We were supposed to have 2 opening bands for the show but one of them had to cancel because their van broke down. We met the other band and they seemed nice, but then disappeared before load-in and we never saw them again! The show itsself was good but not great, though it's always fun to play on a big stage with a great monitor mix, and believe me, the sound guys at The Grail do an excellent job!

Day 10 (Spokane, WA): We got to town and met Ty's dad at his old Air Force buddy's (Jack) house. We showered there (for the first time since we left Boise 3 days prior) and spent a few hours relaxing in the shade. That night we played a place called Litz's - a smaller bar with a lot of regulars. They wanted us to play outside for the first part of the night then move inside because of a noise restriction. It was a pain in the ass, but we did it anyway. On the outside patio, there was not quite enough room for one of Jonny's cymbal stands, so we had to find a short coffee can to put under one of the leges (see the photo). We had everything plugged into 2 outlets and kept blowing breakers. By the end of the night, everything on our end of the bar was turned off except for our equipment!

Day 11 (Spokane, WA): Our 2nd night at Litz's, it was pretty much the same as the previous night. There was, however, some fat guy the had the greatest dance moves I've ever seen! I managed to shoot a video of him by placing my camera on top of my amp during our last song. The video is posted at the very bottom of this blog, but be patient, because it takes him a minute to warm up.

Old Air Force buddies: Jack (our host for a day) and Tom (Ty's dad).

Our outside setup at Litz's.

Johnny's new cymbal stand addendum.

The best dancer I've ever seen!

A Tough Couple of Days

2009-07-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

Day 6 (Boise, ID): Monday nights are always tough! I would rather play a Sunday because all of the waitresses, bartenders, and bouncers go drinking on Sundays - we refer to it as an "industry night". Anyways, we played a comedy club and had a pretty mediocre crowd. As you'll see in the pictures, I actually got bored (drunk) enough to take some pictures of us while we were playing! It beats a night off, though.

Day 7 (no show): Nursing the worst collective hangover since we started touring, we had to go back to the club and tear down/load up our stuff, which was not-so-conveniently located on the 2nd story of a downtown building on a weekday. After holding up a lane of traffic and sweating booze for 45 minutes, we left and found a cheap RV park, showered, then plugged in and enjoyed the air conditioner for the rest of the day.

Day 8 (Idaho Falls, ID???): We got up and drove to Idaho Falls, ran a few errands (music store, internet stop), then met Jana & Tyler Petty (siblings, not spouses) for early dinner at one of the best sandwich shops I've ever been to (Mike McCroden can vouch for me when I say that). Then we rolled out to the club, said "hi" to the bartender lady that we met the last time we played there, then started loading in. Around 9:15 P.M., we had everything set up and were still waiting for our sound guy, who is also the club owner and booker. Jana & Tyler showed up and we were hanging out when the dude finally got there and told us the show was cancelled. The only reason he would give us is that the posters we sent him arrived "late" (about 10 days before) and he "didn't have enough time to promote the show". Our take on the situation is that the guy thought he could get more people out with a DJ and is, generally speaking, a dick. So we packed our stuff up (under the watchfull eye of one of the bouncers) and got the hell out of there, plotting our revenge all the way to Missoula, MT, where we stopped for the night. All told, he screwed us out of about $400 cash and $150 worth of fuel by making us drive to Idaho Falls and not play a show. Needless to say, we'll never go back to The 840, and never stop telling people how shady the owner, Shawn, is.

Ben & Jonny goofing around in Boise.

This is me getting creative with my camera.

Jana outside of the Sandwich Tree - great sandwiches!

My sandal, that Ben stepped on and broke when he was trying to ruin my picture of the Sandwich Tree.

Myself and Jana, after the show that she didn't get to see because of The 840's crooked owner, Shawn.

July 17-19

2009-07-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

Day 3 (Mt. Shasta, CA): Another little mountain town - we had a great show despite a slow start. We needed a little morale booster after a tough night in Redding. The stage was really small and we had to set up on it and in front of it. Luckily, they put a bouncer next to us and he saved us multiple times from drunk people stepping on and spilling booze on our pedal boards.

Day 4 (Dunsmuir, CA): We got up today called some dude that had offered us a shower and we very gratefully accepted. It's been really hot the last few days (100+) and that makes showering so much more valuable! Afterwards we spent the day hanging out at Lake Siskiyou just outside of town. Dunsmuir is only about 6 miles from Mt. Shasta, which made for a nice, short, cheap commute. We had another good show and made pretty good money, which is important because our dates are going to start getting pretty far apart and we need a bank roll to travel on.

Day 5 (no show): We have a day off today, and drove about 6 hrs to Burns, OR and rented an RV campsite (showers, poopers, & electricity - very nice). We're about another 3 or 3 1/2 hours away from Boise, where our show is tomorrow night. Nothing really exciting to report (sorry), just moving along...

We ding'd up our trailer a little from trying to weasel our way out of a tight spot.

A view of Mt. Shasta (the mountain) from Mt. Shasta (the town). The elevation difference is about 10,000 ft.

A shot of the crowd at Roxy's Vet Club in Mt. Shasta.

This guy loved the show, but was really annoying and eventually got kicked out. His signature move was flipping the bird, and did it all night to everyone.

Lake Siskiyou, outside of Mt. Shasta City, CA

The First Leg

2009-07-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

Summer Tour, Day 1 (Chico, CA): Only 100 miles North of Sacramento, Chico is almost a local show for us. As close as it is, though, we still won't be going home for another 31 days, so it makes little difference! We had a good show last night and I got to hang out with Abby Denzin, who just moved to Chico and I haven't seen since my days at the School of Mines.

Day 2 (Redding, CA): We got up this morning and drove to Redding, which only took us about 1 hour. It's kind of nice to be so close to our next show and we're savoring it, because we have a few 8 hr. drives between shows coming up in a couple weeks. We did run into a little trouble on the drive today when we came to an overpass that only had 8' of clearence (seriously?! eight feet tall?!!). Needless to say, we had to back into someone's driveway and turn around and when we did some crazy old-timer came out of his mobile home half nude and started barking orders and waving his cigarette at us. It was kind of funny - see the pictures!

On the Road Again (soon)

2009-07-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

The next tour starts in Chico, CA on Wednesday, and it's going to be a long one! It's 32 days from first show to the last, and we're covering more territory than the last 2 times out. Check the dates posted on the "Where am I" section to the right or follow the link to our website for more info, because we're coming to a city near you!

We had a couple of local shows this past weekend, and now it's getting ready to be gone for a month: doing laundry, making sure all the bills are paid or arranged to be paid, eating all of the food in the fridge so it doesn't spoil, and etc. We're also still doing some booking for the tour. There are a lot of places we've been in contact with that just haven't confirmed a date yet, so I'll try and update the calendar as we add more shows.

That's it for now, but stay tuned because there's a lot coming up! Also, I don't have any photos to post, so here's a hand drawn picture of Sean from The Animations that I found at the show in Sunnyvale (artist unknown):

And the Winner is...

2009-06-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

After 2 days of rest coming off our Colorado tour, we headed down South for 3 shows in San Luis Obispo, Bakersfield, and Sunnyvale. They all went pretty well and in Sunnyvale we got to play with our friends, The Animations, with whom we haven't seen or done a show with for a long time (I used to work with Beau at Granite Construction). Below is a video I shot of them covering Bohemian Rhapsody. It's really crappy sound quality, but you get the idea (I love their version of the song).

We drove home after the Sunnyvale show and got back at 4:00 A.M., slept until about noon, then at 3:30 P.M. headed downtown to the Sacramento News & Review's Musicfest celebration. It was about 103 degrees out at 6:30 when we played, but it was tolerable and we were pretty much flawless (we have been playing almost every day for the last 2 months, so we should have the kinks worked out by now!). We included "Billie Jean" in our 4 song set since Michael Jackson died the other day and the crowd was really responsive to it. We also got a lot of good feedback from people and it was great exposure for us.

At 8:00 P.M. they started announcing the winners of this year's Sammie Awards. For the second year in a row, we won the Readers' Choice award for Outstanding Reggae/Ska/Funk/Jam band!! Thanks to all of you who voted - we won because of your support! It feels good to get home after a tour, but it feels even better to get home and receive an award!

Now we have a few weeks off before our next tour starts (with a couple local shows between now and then), so I may not post a new blog for a while unless something cool or crazy happens. Have a happy (and safe) 4th of July and remember to remember why we celebrate it. God Bless America.

Video of The Animations (Beau & Shawn)

A quick shot of the crowd in front of the main stage at SN&R's Musicfest. There were about 4x as many people in the beer garden!

Ben eats a sno-cone, then does his best impression of a drunk albino smurf.

Matt does his impression of a guy in a band that just won a Sammie.

Bac in Sac

2009-06-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

We’re back in Sacramento, after our Friday show in Breckenridge, CO and our Saturday show in Salt Lake City. Neither show was exceptional, but the respective crowds were very fond of us. I was surprised to see Brooke & Quinn Herran at our show in Breck, and we had a great time hanging out and catching up (I guess Raine had to wash her hair or something else really important, because she couldn’t make the trip). We slept a little late yesterday then drove most of the day to get home; it’s about 10 hrs. from SLC to Sac. We have today and tomorrow to hang out, then we’ll gone for 3 more days before coming home again for the Sammies Award Show, which we have the honor of performing at this year and are up for an award as well – thanks for those who voted for us! After the Sammies, I have 3 days to move into our new house (our landlord terminated our lease) then I’m flying back to Nebraska for the 4th of July. After spending most of the last 8 weeks on the road, we’re going to use the first couple weeks of July to relax at home before heading out on our Northern route again. To be continued…

Curvy mountain roads South of Breckenridge.

More curvy roads South of Breck. We were kind of glad we weren't in our bus at this point in the trip because it only has 4 gears and no jake brake.

L to R: Brooke, Myself, Quinn. Two Herren girls out of three is pretty good if you ask me! I know - it ryhmes.

Beggers Can't Be Choosers

2009-06-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

We had a decent show in Durango (pretty good for a Wed), then left that night for Alamosa because we didn’t have a place to park for the night. We got to Pegosa Springs before we pulled over to sleep. The next morning we drove through Wolf Creek Pass, which constantly reminded me of the C.W. McCall (who also wrote “Convoy”) song except that we were heading from Pegosa Springs and weren’t hauling chickens. We got to Alamosa around noon, and discovered that it’s apparently the scenic anomaly of Colorado. After pillaging the Wendy’s dollar menu Ty, Ben & Jonny laid down for a nap and I headed out on a walkabout (in the style of Brandon Lechtenburg) in search of the fabled “internet”.

After walking for about 2 miles I still hadn’t found a coffee shop (the most common source of free wifi) but realized that I was right in the middle of the Adams State College campus (had I known I would end up here, I would’ve worn my CSC FB shirt again, despite the odor). I just happened to be across the street from the library, so I went in and sweet-talked the librarian into giving me a temporary library card. After killing about 3 ½ hours cruising the net I walked the remaining mile to the venue to meet the other guys there.

We had another decent night (again, good for a weeknight), though the venue was big and open and sounded like we were playing in a tin shed. Afterwards, the owner of the bar gave us the key and directions to his “band house”, where we could shower and spend the night. The house looked (and smelled) like one of those old abandoned country houses that you sneak into when you’re a kid to look for various treasures and to break everything that’s made of glass. Nonetheless, about half of the lights worked and it had running water and beds, so we were tickled pink to be there! After crashing on a 4’6” long RV couch for 10 days, I felt like a king in the old, squeaky, garage sale special double bed that I called dibs on, and got my best night’s sleep since this tour started.

Tonight we have a show in Breckenridge, which we have fairly high expectations for. We negotiated a hotel room when we booked this show, but probably won’t be sleeping there. Since we have a show in Salt Lake City tomorrow night, we’ll most likely just shower then start driving so we don’t have to knock out the drive all at once.

Below are pictures of the Alamosa Band House:

Durango, CO

2009-06-17T11:51:00.001-07:00

So we've been in Durango for 3 days now, and really couldn't have found a better place to spend our days off. It's another mountain town that's 10x longer than it is wide, but there's a central downtown area with all sorts of food & shops, and there's a free trolly that runs through town and even out to the RV park we stayed at. One of my last clean shirts is from a Chadron State FB team camp and I've been getting a lot of comments about it, since Fort Lewis College (here in town) probably hasn't beaten CSC since 1980-something.

Ty made a flyer on his computer and had 400 of them printed at a Kinko's for $10, so we spent most of yesterday afternoon/evening walking around and promoting our show. Hopefully we get a good turnout since part of our deal was 90% of the door. We stopped by The Summit (the venue we're playing at) yesterday and talked shop for a while and checked the place out. It's up a flight of stairs - we hate stairs. Most of our equipment is stored in huge flight cases that weigh 100+ lbs. each. They all have wheels, which makes rolling them easy but carrying them is just brutal, especially at 6000' above sea level.

I don't have any pictures because I haven't taken any since we've been here. Next time. Peace.

Little Mountain Town, Big Sublime Fans!

2009-06-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

We had the greatest show of any tour 2 nights ago in Telluride. We played at the Fly Me to the Moon Saloon, which the real Sublime had played at twice (once in 1993 and again in '98 or '99, I believe). The show was well promoted, the venue has a great reputation and a large built-in crowd, and the band... well I don't even need to tell you (but I will) that the band was f-ing amazing! Needles to say, we had a great time and made a wad of cash, and penciled in another date a few months out.

The town itsself is tiny; about 4 blocks wide by 10 or 12 blocks long and stuck in a holler (surrounded by mountains on 3 sides). It's a little touristy ski town and all of the hotels and much of the day to day needs are located over the mountains to the South, accessible by a ski lift type machine they call the Gondola that runs for free from 7 AM - 10 PM. My friends Goose & Mary came down from Grand Juntion and came to the show, and we spent some time hanging out around town as well.

Last night we played a show in Cortez, CO, and did pretty well for a Sunday night. It was kind of a laid back early show that started off with us playing for a dinner crowd, and by the end of the night turned into a very personal concert for a bunch of regulars that we made friends with throughout the night. We even made up a couple impromptu songs for people when they would shout stuff like "play a song about Aspen!"

We got to Durango today and decided to rent an RV campsite for the night so we can shower, clean things up, and get our stuff together again. We have a show here in town, but not until Wednesday, so we have a couple days to rest and get our energy back before our last four shows, which will require a lot of driving between them. Until next time...

Mountains to the East of Telluride

The view of Telluride from the Gondola, about halfway up the mountain.

A picture of me :)

Our crowd at the Fly Me to the Moon Saloon. They sang every Sublime song with us.

L to R: Myself, Mary (wearing a shirt with a picture of me on it), and Goose (with whom I shared a 710 sq. ft. house in Rapid City for 2 years).

An even better picture of Telluride, CO (looking East). It's hard to see, but there's a waterfall between the 2 nearest peaks. This town treated us well.

Quick Update

2009-06-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

We're still loving Colorado and having a shit-load of fun. We love the RV we borrowed from Jonny's parents (it's very modern and drives with minimal effort), but miss Violet (our bus) and the privacy we get from our bunks (she's still in the shop in Sac-town). I saw Ben Brabec at our show in Denver. We played an early show in Canon City, then spent the rest of the night taking full advantage of our "free drinks" agreement. We got our first showers of the tour this morning (day 5), courtesy of a generous employee from the Whitewater Bar. Telluride is a gorgeous town surrounded by mountains on 3 sides. Former college roommate Adam Geis and his fiance Mary Hart are coming to our show tonight (in Telluride) from Grand Junction, and I'm pretty excited to see them. Morale is Medium-High. More to come in the next few days (we have 2 days off after tomorrow night).

(picture: this guy made this painting at our show in Boulder, then sold it to us)

(Picture: the damage we incurred to the street in Boulder)

(Picture: the beautiful outdoor show we played in Canon City. We were set up in the gazebo at the left.)

(Picture: the view directly over my right shoulder as I'm typing this right now. See our trailer at the left.)

Colorado

2009-06-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

The first leg of our Colorado tour is underway. We left yesterday morning and just got to Boulder about 4 hrs ago (stopping a few times to sleep, eat, etc.) - about 19 hrs of actual driving. We were a little unsure about making it to some of the dates we booked because our bus is in the shop, but we were fortunate enough to get to borrow Jonny's parents' RV. Our venue tonight is downtown Boulder and not RV/trailer friendly! Altogether we spent about 2 hrs looking for parking spaces, parking, and moving when people complained. We also did a considerable amount of damage to the street by dragging our hitch while trying to back out of an alley. We eventually found a permanent parking space a block from the venue, just as it started pouring rain. And on top of all of it, we have to deal with this kind of thing (see below):

P.S. For those who didn't get the memo, our show in Casper fell through - don't go to Casper to see us! We won't be there!!

Home Again

2009-05-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well, 24 days, 15 shows, 3500 miles, and 6 states later, we're home. We've actually been back for 6 days now (the date above says May 30 because I typed about 2 sentances on that day, saved it, then finished it today, June 4), but I would've been more productive in a coma over the last few days, so I'm just now getting around to posting a new blog. Example: I watched 3 entire baseball games today. Granted, the 2nd game of the Giants' double header was called in the 6th due to rain, but they still got the win so I'm counting it as an entire game.

We have a local show tomorrow, a show in Auburn (20 mi.) on Saturday, and then we have a couple days off before we head to Colorado for 8 shows in 10 days, and maybe 1 in Utah or Nevada on the way home if we can pick something up last minute. Then it's another 2 days off (and 1 for driving) before we head South for 3 shows before the we play at the Sammies Awards Show on Sat. June 27 - don't forget to vote for us at www.sammies.com!!

Originally, we were going to make our way from CO through NM and AZ before our SoCal stretch, but we had troubles booking in the Turquoise Circuit states so we just kept picking up dates in the Centennial State. However it ended up, though, we have 14 shows in June (plus one tentative show) so we're happy. July is going to be a little light in the first part of the month (4th of July & etc.), then we're hitting a NW tour that's going to be very similar the one we just finished. We're hitting a lot of the same venues we did in May, but a lot of new ones also.

I don't have any relevant photos to go with this blog, so I'll just leave you with this:

Steak 'n' Eggs

2009-05-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

We're in Medford, OR right now, at Jonny's parents' vacation home in a senior mobile home park. Got our first showers since Sunday (today's Thursday) and we're feeling pretty good about it, though Violet (the bus) still has a pretty funky odor going on. We had 3 days off in a row in Oregon (Sun, Mon, Tues), which seems like 3 weeks when you have nothing to do and not a lot of money, but we made it through. I bought a new cell phone, one that gets internet, and I'm currently using it as a modem and typing on my computer since there's no internet available where we are - a very clever feature that helped convince me to buy the phone!

One of the reasons we're not very fond of Oregon (and we're not!) is because it's hard to find a place to park our bus for the night when we don't have a show. Any Wal-Mart in the country will let you park overnight except for the ones in Oregon. We constantly get waken up in the middle of the night or early morning and told to move along, like the vagrants we sometimes are. On Tuesday we went to a mall in Springfield to kill some time, and got hassled by a rent-a-cop in a golf cart who told us we had to park behind the mall in BFE. Later that day, as we were leaving, we threw a bag of trash in a mall dumpster and were about to add another when he caught us red handed! As he raced up to us in his golf cart with his lights-a-flashing, we just drove away and he chased us all the way to the front of the mall. As we turned on to the street and took off, he kept pursuing us, but from the mall parking lot and a few hundred yard behind us. It was absolutely hilarious!!

We had a show last night in Sutherlin, OR and did O.K. for a weeknight in a one-horse town. The only sure thing we ever encounter on the road is that things are going to get weird in Sutherlin! That aside, we had a good time. At the end of the night, I ended up taking a shot of tequila and 2 Jager-bombs, courtesy of some generous fans, and that on top of 3 Busch tall boys made me a little tipsy. When we parked the bus for the night, it was next to a 24-hr. diner, and I went in and had the steak 'n' eggs for a modest $7.50 - the special for the night. Then I went back to the bus, told the guys about the great breakfast I had and crawled in my bunk to go to sleep, but I soon heard Ben telling Ty that he was hungry. So I leaned out of my bunk and said, "steak 'n' eggs for $7.50". He said he didn't want steak 'n' eggs, so I repeated myself, using more volume and a stern tone. He replied with some generic derogatory statement that I normally would have ignored, but the Jager-bombs from earlier had made me spry, and I decided to try and convince him to get the steak 'n' eggs by using force (it seemed logical at the time). Anyways, Ben & I ended up grappling at the front of the bus (in a playful manner - there was no real anger involved) and after going back and forth a few times I shoved Ben up against the door, with my left hand hand behind his back somehow, and when he hit, my hand broke the window! That pretty much ended our little tussle, and we had to tape up the window to keep it somewhat together until we get home on Saturday. And after all of that, Ben still didn't get the steak 'n' eggs!!

Rockin' the Brewery

2009-05-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

Last night we rocked the Block 15 Brewery in Corvallis, OR in front of another good, energetic crowd. After being on the road for a couple weeks now and playing constantly (last night was our 10th show in 12 days) we've definately gotten a lot sharper, and we're starting to focus more on putting on a great live performance. We're also starting to see the snowball grow a little, as this is our 2nd trip through Oregon (we were here for a week in March) and last night we had some people tell us they've seen us before and drove several miles just to come to the show.The picture above is of Christen and Nick, owner/operators of Block 15 Brewery in Corvallis, OR. I really can't say enough about the these 2, the rest of their staff, or their establishment as a whole; the beer is amazing (15 different beers brewed in-house), the food is some of the best we've had, and the everyone here (yeah, I'm still here!) is super friendly and accomodating. I already feel like more of food critic than a musician, but this place is awesome! 10 billion stars!! Visit their website at www.block15.com.

One from the road...

2009-05-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Last night was probably the craziest night of our bender... I mean tour, thus far. Ladies, Gentlemen, the following tale is one of epic heroism, and will not soon be forgotten.

Feb 26 - booking our May tour, we confirm a show at the Tonic Lounge in Portland, OR for Friday, May 23.

March 24 - we receive notice from Tonic Lounge that our show has been cancelled.

March 28 - we confirm a show with the Red Room in Portland for the same date through their talent scout, Jacquie. Crisis averted.

April 7 - we negotiate 100% of the door at the Red Room, with one local act, The Mercury Tree, opening the show.

May 22...

10:00 AM - wake up. Had a great show last night, and are looking forward to the show tonight. It's tough suffering through weekday shows, but it's friday and expectations are high. Ben is hungover. Morale is medium-high.

10:15 AM - we shower (Jonny's wife, Amy, flew up for a few days and rented a hotel room).

11:15 AM - Amy checks out of her hotel room.

11:30 AM - we head out of town. Roughly 142 miles from Tacoma, WA to Portland, OR.

2:00 PM - 7 miles outside of Portland, we see a sign for Panda Express and exit the freeway. Morale is high.

2:30 PM - the P.E. is awesome, but forces me to make a turd. Morale is still high.

3:00 PM - we arrive at the Red Room, go inside and check it out. It's pretty shitty bar in a pretty shitty part of town, but the only guy working at the time is very friendly and anxious to hear us. There's a poster on the wall that reads:

The Slants

The Mercury Tree

Arden

The Livin's Easy

This raises some concerns, but we're not that worried about it. Morale is medium-high.

4:30 PM - I lay down in my bunk for a nap.

5:45 PM - I wake up in a fairly large puddle of drool. Great nap.

6:00 PM - I go inside to tap into the Red Room's WiFi (check my email, watch baseball scores, blog, etc.).

6:30 PM - I meet the manager of the Red Room and ask him about the The Slants and how we lost the headlining slot. He tells me Jacquie was fired 2 weeks ago and he doesn't care about the agreement we had with her, he booked The Slants becasue they're local and have a draw, and he's going to give them the door. I ask if we can get $100 for fuel and he says no. I'm disappointed.

7:30 PM - I tell the guys what the manager told me (they had left the club while I was using the internet and I waited for them to get back). Morale is low.

7:45 PM - Ty talks to the manager and tries to make sense of what's going on. We ask for 30% of the door (our original agreement was for 100% of the door). The manager leaves to discuss this with his boss or the other bands or someone we're not aware of.

7:55 PM - Jonny upper decks the toilet at the Red Room (for those who don't know, that's when you poop in the tank and the turd floats around in there until someone discovers it and has to fish it out). Morale is medium.

8:00 PM - the manager counter offers us 1/3 of the door after the first 40 people. We decline the offer and walk out. Morale is low.

8:15 PM - we discuss our options and hit the phones. Morale is medium.

9:15 PM - we confirm a show across town at a small restaurant/bar and negotiate a small guarantee, but probably more than we would've made at the Red Room if our original agreement had stuck. Morale is high.

9:45 PM - we arrive at Cactus Jack's in Portland, OR.

10:15 PM - karaoke finishes and we load in to a tiny corner of the bar (the previous night in Tacoma we played on a 30'x12' stage).

11:00 PM - we start our set, determined to leave the 25-30 people in attendance with the best, most personal show they've ever seen. Morale is very high.

1:45 AM - we finish playing for the night. The people love us, the owner (apparently a former NFL QB, Jack Stanley) loves us, we got numerous free shots & beers, Ty took a shot out some girls cleavage, and some guy that looks like a WT version of Bret Michaels calls us the greatest band he's ever seen.

1:55 AM - Jack (owner) is hammered & makes us tacos from the kitchen. Morale is still very high.

2:00 AM - we break down, load up and get paid.

2:15 AM - on his way out, WT Bret Michaels hands Amy (Jonny's wife) a fist full of cash (he thinks she's our manager), tells her that he loves our band, gets into his Porsche with some really hot chick, and drives away. The money he gave us doubled what we made for the night! Morale is extremely high.

2:45 AM - we search for Ben so we can leave.

3:00 AM - we leave.

3:15 AM - stop for fuel. Buy a box of black & mild cigars.

3:40 AM - park for the night outside of Amy's friend's house. We recount the evening and party. Morale is at an all-time high.

4:00 AM - Ben pukes.

4:45 AM - we go to bed.

10:45 AM - wake up and start over...

Notable Quotable: "I just do what I'm told, when there's tits involved." -Ty

(picture: the staff at the Red Room. The bartender was cool, the guy on the left was a douche, & the guy on the right was the one that refused to pay us anything.)

(picture: this is Jack, the owner of Cactus Jacks. He looks a lot more like Gerald than the photo indicates. He apparently played QB for the Redskins and the 49ers in the '80's)

(picture: this was our "stage" for the night. Kind of cozy, huh?)

(picture: this was our crowd. Not huge, but a good crowd, and loved us.)

(picture: if I could use a photo to show the level of morale at the end of the night, this would be it.)

(photo: Ben has a tummy-ache. Poor little guy!)

Headline: "Burger Changes Man's Outlook on Life"

2009-05-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

So we had a slow night in Seattle on Tuesday, had a night off, then had a great show in Tacoma last night - there was a good crowd who loved us, we were tight and made no mistakes, we sold a bundle of merch, and we made a wad at the door! And on top of all of it, we were comp'd food and drinks and I ate a cheeseburger that changed my life. Topped with grilled onions & jalepenos (w/o tomatoes - I hate tomatoes), slathered in pepper jack cheese that oozed through every crevas, and served on a roll instead of a traditional bun, this burger (nicknamed the Ass-Fire burger) made me a better person and the world around me seem without flaw. I wish every day I could feel like I did for 15 minutes while I experienced what a burger must taste like in heavan.

(picture: our bus outside Hell's Kitchen in Tacoma, WA - home of the Ass-Fire Burger)

(picture: the marquee at Hell's Kitchen - generic, but sharing it with Dick Dale, King of surf guitar!)

(picture: the space needle from I-5)

That's it for now, just a little update. I'll let you know how the weekend goes. Peace!

VOTE FOR US!!!!!

2009-05-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

For the 2nd year in a row, we were nominated for a Sammie (Sacramento Area Music Award)!! We won our category last year and would love to take it again (after 3 wins, bands get inducted into the hall of fame, joing the likes of Cake, Oleander, and The Deftones).

Go to www.sammies.com, click on "Click Here to Vote" at the top of the page, and follow the instructions - we're in the category of Outstanding Reggae/Ska/Funk/Jam Band. Voting ends on June 14.

Thanks for your support!!

Win some, lose some...

2009-05-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

We had a less than ideal show in Couer D'Alene, ID, but made up for it with a great show in Bellingham, WA the next night. We played only our original stuff with 2 other bands on the bill: Ballyhoo! (www.ballyhoorocks.com) and The B Foundation (www.thebfoundation.net), both great bands that are really successful, have been touring together for about 6 months and are a really good fit for us. The club we played at (The Wild Buffalo) is also a really good venue that supports touring bands and we scored a last minute gig for the next night (Sunday the 17th) with our Sublime tribute set and made a fair chunk of dough that we wouldn't have otherwise.

Our latest show was here in Seattle last night and it was another shakey one (every night seems to be hit or miss, and you never know what you're going to get!). It's tough to get a crowd on a Tuesday, especially when we're competing with the season finales of American Idol and Dancing with the Stars (strange, I know, but a lot of people would rather see their favorite TV shows on a weeknight than go out & see a band). However, our next 3 shows hold a lot of potential and we're excited about them. Right now we're holding up at Ty's aunt & uncle's house, who live in one of the 'burbs and were kind enough to put us up for a few days.

We've been booking a lot of shows at the venues we are currently palying at. It's becoming very common for us to talk to the owner/booking agent the same night we play a venue and put another date on the books. This is very good for a few reasons: it's way easier to book in person than by making 20 calls & emails, we can negotiate quicker & more easily, and it means the talent buyer likes us (a testimate to our music & ability). I've added a few more dates on the calendar - be sure to check it, as we're venturing closer & closer to the midwest and we may get within striking distance of your town! Sorry I don't have any pictures up this time, I promise I'll take some more at the next few shows.

Hanging with our new Idahomies

2009-05-15T16:17:00.001-07:00

We're about a week into our tour now, and I'm currently in a Starbucks in Couer D'Alene, ID. We haven't had a real chance to seek the precious internet since my last blog, which is my excuse for not posting one since we were in Boise. By the way, we ended up spending 3 days in Boise with our new friends, who were very hospitable, lending us their showers and even cooking for us! Our show in Idaho Falls went well for a Tuesday, but the next night in Butte was pretty much a bust. The lady we booked with wanted to do an all ages show in a room attached to the bar, so we played for 4 teenagers while there were 30-some people in te bar next door! Last night we were in Moscow, ID (home of the University of Idaho) and had a great show in a great bar with a great stage and a great sound system. We definately want to make it back to John's Alley!

(picture: our new Idahomies in Boise)

Already in the tour we've encountered a lot of crazy adventures. The weirdest perhaps, is when Ben's wallet was "traded" at the old Idaho State Penitentary, which is now a museum. We were taking the self-guided tour when Ben crawled in an old washing machine in the laundry so we could spin him around. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he crawled out, but we never found it, so instead just informed the ladies at the front desk. A few minutes later, one of the ladies came up to our bus with a lost wallet that wasn't Ben's, but had all of the contents from Ben's wallet. Some dude found his wallet, put all of Ben's stuff in his own much shittier wallet, and turned it in! Ben was pissed, but happy he had his ID and credit cards!

(picture: Ben - angry, but relieved)(picture: Ben's "new" old, shitty wallet)

(not pictured: Ben's "old" new, awesome wallet)

Aside from the craziness that insues after a show, we're finding out that touring is mostly driving and loading/unloading. It's like we're a group of talented truck drivers. ...well, more talented than most truck drivers, probably!(picture: Idaho, from our perspective)

Tour is underway!

2009-05-10T13:13:00.001-07:00

So I'm posting this blog from a coffee shop in Boise, ID. We played a place called The Reef last night, after a show in Ogden, UT on Friday night. Both were good shows and we made good money, which is nice because we needed a little cash to operate with. We were comp'd a motel room last night (our 1st showers of the tour) next door to the venue and tonight we'll sleep in the bus again. We're going to stay in Boise today and most of tomorrow, as it's a very nice town and our next show isn't until Tuesday in Idaho Falls, which, from what we hear, is somewhat desolate. The Reef and our motel (temporary HQ) are right down town between the college (Boise State, with the blue turf) and the State Capitol; very neat part of town.

The barista here at the coffee shop, Jen, is a comedienne (I believe that's the female version of comedian), relocated from NYC a year and a half ago and is very friendly. She invited us to her roommate's show (also a comedian) tonight and is getting us in for free. Jen also has a lot of good advice about traveling and saving money on the road, since she's been doing comedy for 10 years.

Well, I'm going to wrap it up, because Ben & Jonny are A.D.D.-ing me into a rage, and we have to go load up equipment in a few minutes anyway (something we opted out of last night becasue we were drunk and the venue's up 2 flights of stairs). I'll leave another post the next time we find free interent. Peace.

Mini-tour Gives Us a Preview

2009-03-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a little late getting this up, but we played 4 shows in 6 days in Oregon over St. Patty's day weekend and got a little preview of what it's like living in a tour bus. We got along really well (better than expected!), made a little money, had some fun, and learned a lot more than one would think you could in 6 days!

For example:

- A 6% grade for 7 miles will make your brakes smoke.
- You can shower at the YMCA for $2.
- Two consecutive days without a show is BORING!
- Motorhome camping is about $40/night.
- Parking at Wal-Mart overnight is free (but often frowned upon)!
- It only takes 2 attempts to fill a 1.5L bottle with pee.
- When our fuel gauge says 1/8, it really means "E".
- The Twilight Zone is actually located in Sutherlin, OR!
- Inactivity actually inspires more inactivity - something that needs a cure.

That's about it for now - more to follow. Be sure to check out the dates I've listed to the right and hit me up if we're comng to your town. Peace!

More Booking...

2009-03-06T16:10:00.000-08:00

So, as it turns out, booking a tour is HARD!! We had to start our own booking agency, it takes a long time to find venues that fit your band or have weeknight shows (you can't tour and just play weekends), they're usually already booked 1-2 months out, and they never answer your first 2 calls/emails. Also, trying to connect the dots across a map is like some sort of wierd "Da Vinci Code" riddle. Our route has already changed a half dozen time due to venues' availabilities. Running this band is just like running a small business: it's going to take a lot of effort with not much pay, but if it works it'll be awesome!

Despite the difficulty, however, we are getting our first tour booked. You can see where we're playing by reading the "Where Am I" column at the right of the page. A lot of venues will only work door deals (bands get the cover charge), so it's hard to say how much $$$ we will make on the first one (or two, or three), but at least it's happening. And if you happen to talk to me, don't ask me if I'm famous yet; the answer is "no"! Besides, that question doesn't even make sense. If I was famous, you'd already know it - that's what being famous is! A better question would be, "are you homeless yet?" (the answer, at least for the time being, is also "no").

Last thing, for the few of you who get emails when I post a new blog, feel free to forward that email to anyone who might be interested. Everyone else has to periodically check my blog page for updates, and I'm not that great at updating it in a timely fashion! Thanks.

Booking...

2009-02-11T16:11:00.000-08:00

So, January 30th was my last day of work and the past 11 days have been AWESOME! We've started doing a lot of our own booking and it's alreay taken a ton of effort. I still work just as much as I use to, only it's really fun and exciting; researching similar bands, finding venues & contacting them, negotiating dates & dollars, setting a tour schedule, promoting, watching for scheduling conflicts with bigger bands, and of course learning new songs and having band practice. And did I mention that I love the freedom and lazy stereotype that comes with being a professional musician? Well, I do! I still haven't quite got the hang of the other stereotype - doing drugs, but maybe I can work up to that if it becomes an issue.

First Show

2009-01-18T10:13:00.000-08:00

We played our first 2 shows ever as The Livin's Easy last week on Jan. 9th and 11th. The following link is a video from the one at the Fire Escape in Citrus Heights, CA on the 11th. The quality isn't great, but you get the idea. As for the tour, we're still booking it. A lot of venues book a month or 2 in advance, so it's likely that by mid to late Feb. we'll be traveling, playing 3-5 shows within a few hundred miles of each other, then coming home for a few days - not exactly a full-on "tour", but we have to build up to that.

The New Plan

2009-01-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

So our plans to tour with the LBC fell through for reasons I won't disclose at this time. After exploring our options we decided that we're still as road-ready as we'll ever be, and are going to tour ourselves as Arden Park Roots and as our own Sublime tribute band, The Livin's Easy. We're currently in the process of learning the entire setlist, putting together our marketing tools (videos, press kits, etc.), and working with an individual (who may take a permanent position as our manager/sound engineer) to start booking shows. At this point it, we're hoping to be out by mid-late February.

Going on tour...

2008-12-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

So the real reason I've created a blog: my band is going on tour in January with a Sublime tribute band called The LBC (for whom myself and Ty, our singer, will be playing for also). I've created this blog so that anyone who's interested can see where we are, where we've been, and what we're doing. Exciting times lie ahead. Stay tuned!

I've Created a Blog...

2008-10-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

Sad day. I've succumbed to the limitless evil of blogging. As if the things I do we're so damn exciting or cool that other people would want to try them, much less read about it. I'll post a new blog when something cool happens - I'm predicting sometime around July.