So an eventful Monday and Tuesday have come to pass... we played in Chicago at Reggie's on Monday night (big thanks to Brendan from MP Shows for having us on such short notice). If you are in Chicago, this venue is worth checking out. During the afternoon we hung by Lake Michigan and enjoyed a suprisingly temperate day in the Windy City with an old friend...

We made it to Detroit on Tuesday night and had the pleasure of sharing the stage with one of the better bands we've paired with this tour, The Kickback from Vermillion, SD. These dudes freakin' rock so you should check them out. Now it's time for a day off, a much needed one. I just realized we've played everyday since July 21st. See you soon.

Well yesterday sure was an exciting day! We drove all the way from St. Louis to northern Illinois on Saturday night after a fun show at Red Sea Underground (across the street from a really sweet vintage record store in "the loop"). Why you ask? We wanted to get to the factory with enough time to enjoy the sweet smell of sugar and our subsequent bellyaches (the tours stop at 4pm, which is still morning --albeit late morning--for us. . .) We had a chance to tour the factory--wearing FDA mandated hats of course--

got free samples--not only in bag format, but at the "sample counter" you can try anything--and left with a pound and a half of our favorite 35 jelly belly flavors. There's nothing like nutritious snacks for the road. . .

The day just kept getting better--we arrived at Points East Pub in Milwaukee and were greeted by Rasta, an adorable, energetic, fuzzy puppy who interpreted setting a guitar case down as a precursor to playing. We had teriffic sound (thanks, Dave!) and thouroughly enjoyed sharing a bill with Casey Stang and Bill Mallonee and Moriah. Turns out, Bill and Moriah--from Athens, GA--began their tour two days after ours and are completing theirs two days after ours! We stuck around and chatted until we were chased out. . .it's a good thing Chicago's not too far!

The night before last we were at Donna's Ice House in Lake of the Ozarks country, where the people were great and the humidity was so high that we must have been inside a cloud--a very hot cloud (where we didn't have internet, hence the delayed blog entry). The focal point of Donna's stage area was a huge sign that stated that any requesting of or playing of Mustang Sally, Stairway to Heaven, Freebird, or any Jimmy Buffett song would result in "heavy fines." I only wish we'd been able to find the camera. . . and that was just one of the many interesting things we've seen on our trip through Missouri. . . We were in Columbia yesterday, a pretty college town. The Missouri train keeps right on rollin' to St. Louis for a show in the hip Delmar District.

Last night we were in Kansas City at Knucklehead's. The roadhouse vibe with great people just can't be beat! Thanks to Pete not only for the great sound, but for standing in as photographer extraordinaire. . .
(Please ignore the fact that we're wearing the same clothes as we were the night before--Febreeze really is a great product. . .)

We'll be in the Ozarks tonight in Linn Creek, MO, population 280 strong!

We spent the day in Lincoln, NE at the library, then went to the park to throw the frisbee around a bit (we've gotten to be pretty good frisbee-ers this tour). At the park we saw these guys enjoying their afternoon. . .thankfully, their swords were covered in foam--swimming pool floaty "noodles" we think. . .
The Box Awesome lived up to its name; it is indeed a really cool venue. There were supposed to be two shows, one upstairs and one downstairs, but due to the fact that it was indeed a Tuesday evening, we blended our shows and had one monster show! Thanks to Jon from Max and the Marginalized for snapping some pictures for us.

Off to Kansas City!

Driving through Nebraska sure is a change from everything further west; where else can you see a billboard for the birthplace of Kool-Aid in someone's backyard?

We enjoyed playing for the folks in Omaha last night; it was quite eventful for a Monday! After our show, the fingerboard fell off my violin and I got two of my fingers super-glued while operating on the poor guy. . .luckily we have a short drive today to Lincoln, lots of time to get things sorted out!

Greetings! We played Denver, CO on Saturday at one of the Quixote Family venues. We only got one picture from the evening, but it pretty much sums it up...



So we waved good-bye to the Rockies one last time and started back east. We forgot how much humidity is like a good kick in the balls... but it's nice to be heading back towards home. We'll have some good stuff from our Omaha and Lincoln shows up after they happen.

Our latest video finally uploaded; here it is!

We capped off an week of craziness in California on Monday night and began the long trek east. Even after a few days, it still seems weird to be following the "East" highway signs. . . We had a few rare days off earlier this week and were driving through the southwest so we spent our time hiking around and enjoying Arches National Park in Moab, UT. We were lucky enough to be there during a thunderstorm.Refreshed, rejuvinated, and really hot, we headed into Colorado yesterday for a return show at Road 34 in Fort Collins. An awesome venue that quadruples as a bike shop/deli/music venue/watering hole. As it has happened a few times on the road, we had someone come out to the show that had seen us back east; always a treat.

Sorry for the delayed post but it's hard going to get service in the middle of nowhere. We'll be in Denver tonight and then say good-bye to the West for awhile .... tear....

We've had tons of fun these last few days in the San Fran area. Playing at Mountain Sage in Groveland on Saturday was for sure a highlight; the venue had a teriffic outdoor stage and gardens and the folks couldn't have been nicer. We've got a video and some pictures ready for your enjoyment, but our internet seems to be taking a long weekend break. . .it'll all be up as soon as we run into some powerful wifi!

Well, we've come and gone from LA and was it loads of fun! We had a chance to hang out with friends from long ago and see the city from a locals only point of view. Our first LA show at Aura went swimmingly and we were lucky enough to have had it recorded by friends (thanks Andrew!). Last night at the Good Hurt near Venice, CA was a fine farwell to the City of Angels. We are so thrilled to have had such a good reception our first time in LA; thanks so much to all of the folks who came out and listened!

(Be sure to enjoy the bonus footage. . .)

Back in Cali for a day off. We jumped into Hollywood around noon and got to see the city and all the craziness.

Our friends live right near the Capitol Records building and one block away from Hollywood Blvd.

We ran a muck at night and had a good, wholesome, somewhat debaucherous time. I could go on, but you just hafta be here.... more to come...

The desert... hot and lonely. This barren wasteland was the scenery on our way into Flagstaff, AZ. It clocked 115 degrees in certain parts... like Needles, CA; 20 miles from water and 2 feet from hell (and that's how the locals describe it). We arrived in Flagstaff to find a hip, little mountain community adorned with history and haunted places; like the venue we performed. The Hotel Monte Vista has housed the likes of Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, and Carole Lombard whose room we stayed in. She--or somebody--must have paid us a visit this morning when one of the ancient single-hung windows slid up and open on its own. . .creepy!
We killed it last night at the Monte V lounge, which also had its fair share of flair.

It was an awesome crowd of locals mixed with weekend travellers coming to Flagstaff for the cool mountain air.

This morning, on the way to Phoenix, we were lucky enough to get caught in a thunderstorm in the desert--lightning and cacti = awesome.

We visited Bell Rock in Sedona on the way and Chris managed to climb all the way to the top and take some pretty amazing pictures.

The ChyroArts venue was equally impressive. An adobe building with a great sound system, super-colorful walls and awesome crowd, you can't beat that for cool factor! We played with a few local groups including My Mind --lots of fun!

California!!!! We set foot in Cali for the first time last night, slept in a fancy mall parking lot, and woke up to the hot So. Cal sun. We checked out San Bernadino Nation Forest... f'ing gorgeous. Got some distance and explored all it had to offer. Later that evening, we performed at The Vault in Redlands, Ca. An awesome venue with a great crowd and great space. We melted some faces and started the Cali portion of the tour off right. Point of interest, Asheville singer/songwriter Oso Rey is a local celebrity at The Vault... this picture was the certerpiece of their famous people wall...

Handsome devil.... So we cut back to AZ to begin a two day run of some fine AZ venues... haunted hotels and avant art galleries. Kind of the sore thumb (route wise) of our tour but we absolutely had to get to AZ sometime while we were out here and this weekend was the only time. We'll have plenty of pictures from our haunted hotel so check it tomorrow. Good night and good luck.

C

We spent our 4th of July quite patriotically, driving through 10% of our nation's states: Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Luckily, we made the drive from Denver to Vail after our show the night before so we only had half of Colorado to drive through. . . We saw some interesting town names in Utah.
Of course, as we drove further in, the exits lost their town names and were just listed as "Ranch Exit." Things got really interesting as we went on; this is a rest area in Utah (Chris is the tiny speck wearing a brown T and white shorts in the bottom left). Right before we got crossed from Utah into Arizona, Chris finally got to go to his first In-N-Out Burger. For those of you not from the west coast, In-N-Out makes really delicious burgers heaped with lettuce, onions, cheese, orange-thousand island-mayo-like stuff, and tomato. The menu options are hamburger, cheeseburger, and double double (double cheese, double burger on one bun). Really really tasty.

The small amount of Arizona that we drove through proved to be quite beautiful; it looks just like the picture on their license plate! We'll be back into Arizona tomorrow to play in Flagstaff and Scottsdale, but this was a great first impression! We were lucky enough to hit Las Vegas on the 4th of July. Fireworks like CRAZY! Las Vegas stretches on and on and on. . .this is the middle part from miles and miles away--so far away that the fireworks looked really low in the sky. Today we spent some time in the San Bernardino National Forest and relax some before our show in Redlands, CA CALIFORNIA! We're here for a day then we'll be back next week for a longer stay--palm trees!

We played Denver last night before heading out across the desert. The venue was Owsley's Golden Road; a terrific room with the potential to be one of the best in the city. Our first set was outside so we provided interpretive music coordinated with the fireworks show that followed the Rockies game a few blocks away--kind of like a Hollywood movie!

Happy 4th of July--don't blow your hand off!

We spent the morning yesterday in Arapahoe National Forest, just outside of Boulder, enjoying the scenery and getting some much needed work done.

We broke out the road atlas to start routing and planning our fall CD release tour; it seemed one of our forest friends wanted to help.

Apparently, he was really excited because he peed on the table--but luckily not on our atlas!

We ventured into Boulder last afternoon well before our show and experienced their HUGE weekly farmer's market, complete with organic veggies, cheeses, and delicious snacks, all ready to take home in recyclable or compostable packaging. Very cool. Not only does Boulder have a Ben and Jerry's ice cream store, but right across the street is a Haagen-Dazs--fantastic!

We played at Conor O'Neills, an awesome hometown irish pub with our friend t.Mule, a great Boulder-based folk/rock songwriter and Forever Growing, an instrumental jazz group from Oregon. It's off to Denver tonight, then we're beginning our travels across the desert!

Wichita, KS… famous for many things and people… the first Pizza Hut, Don Johnson from Miami Vice, Kristie Alley, and the original White Castle. But that is only scratching the surface… such incredible art and culture in Wichita as well as at the University, Wichita State.

We played at Kirby’s Beer Store, a historic landmark and awesome little rock club. This place has been around since the mid 70’s and has seen a lot of faces from many places. Totally shocked to see how many bands from around the country have come and gone through the walls and halls of Kirby’s and we’re glad to be part of the tradition. A point of interest: Steve, the previous owner/booker for Kirby’s, passed away the night of May 1st. Looking back through the files we booked the show the afternoon of the 1st, leading us to believe we were the last group Steve ever booked. So, we played with a higher purpose last evening and (hopefully) did Steve proud. As I conclude this entry I see tall, Rocky Mountains on the horizon… Westward ho!