We finally got the camera working again, so now it's time to fill you in on our adventures since last Friday. . . We played in Lincoln, NE at the Box Awesome with Jodie Loves Hinkley and the Whipkey Three. It was good to finally play in Lincoln on a weekend. Our friend Doug who works at the Box came in on his day off to see us and visit, wrapping up a good two-day stint in Nebraska.
From there we headed north to Spencer, IA to visit our friends at Shaky Tree.We always have fun going to Spencer and this time was no exception. The NW Iowa arts and entertainment paper ran a huge picture of us on the front cover and a big article so we saw quite a few new faces in the Shaky Tree crowd. We kept everybody up late and I guess we wore out the younger members of the audience. . . On Sunday we headed to the Twin Cities for a show at the Acadia with Soap and Seconds Before. We met an awesome guitar player, Lonnie Knight, at the Acadia and got CDs from everybody, so we got a much-needed big infusion in our car-tunes from Twin Cities musicians.

Monday was our last day off of the tour and we spent it adventuring around Minneapolis up to the "Yellow Box" in the brand-new Guthrie Theatre where you can see spectacular views of the city as it would be seen through a really big pair of safety glasses. . .
The night before at the Acadia, we met a great professional photographer, Ingrid Werthmann, who agreed to do a photo shoot. We're super-excited to see the shots; she took a few of me doing haute-couture poses just for fun!
Yesterday we spent our night off playing and partying with our friend Bill Hammond, an excellent acoustic musician we visit every time we're in the cities. Today it's off to Madison, WI!

Wednesday was our last day in Colorful Colorado and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! In the evening we played at Road 34 in Fort Collins, so we spent the day taking in the FoCo sights (and brews). The infamous New Belgium Brewery, makers of Fat Tire, has free tours and tastings, so we stopped there first. We got to see inside the huge vats where the grains are soaked, crushed and heated, try some small-batch unreleased micro-brews, and go down the New Belgium slide--unfortunately, the big metal indoor spiral slide ride came after a pretty intense round of tastings. . .

After we left New Belgium, we stopped for a sandwich and headed to the lesser known O'Dells Brewery. There we ran into Dennis the DJ from KRFC who interviewed us the last time we toured through. After some catching up and even more tasty beverages, we decided to take a quick nap before heading over to load in.

Road 34 is always a great stop on tour; we've made some friends that we're happy to see every time we play there. After an all-out double-set show we had to pack up and load out in record time to start the drive to eastern Nebraska and try to beat the storm that was about to dump 12" of snow on Colorado. . .we escaped just in the nick of time!

Yesterday we drove through the snow and fog to Omaha where we played to an enthusiastic crowd at the Hideout with Death to a Taxpayer, Madness Sale, and the Abyss. Today it's backwards a little bit to Lincoln to play at one of our favorites, the Box Awesome. . .

We just got some pictures from our Saturday afternoon hike up past the Flatirons outside of Boulder. The weather was gorgeous and the view from our picnic spot was amazing but hiking at Colorado elevation is so much harder than North Carolina!



On Sunday we went to Avery Brewing Co. to sample the brews and play with our friend T. Mule at their open stage. On the way through Boulder, we saw some pretty interesting protesters. . .only in Boulder!We spent the afternoon at Avery and sampled quite a few different brews while having fun with our impromptu jam session.
Sunday was supposed to be our first day off, but we met Kort McCumber, the winner of the 2008 Flat Rock Music Festival Songwriter's contest (the festival is held just minutes from our home in NC) at the brewery and he invited us to play a set with his band that evening at Mountain Sun in Boulder. We got to play our own set and then sit in with his band for the duration of the evening.
Yesterday, we went up to Sole Sound Recording studio to lay down some tracks on a friend's acoustic project. The studio is outside of Conifer, CO with all-analog equipment and views to die for.
We adventured around the property and saw the old crane from an abandoned granite quarry. We're trying to enjoy all the sunshine and unseasonably warm weather that we can our last few days in the mountains!

We spent our Saturday night in Boulder rocking out at the Laughing Goat on pedestrian-friendly Pearl Street. We were stoked that the place was packed and full of friendly, music-loving folks. Ralf Schuetz was having his art opening on Saturday night as well (you can see some of his rad work on the wall behind us) so it was almost like a multi-media adventure, fueled by coffee and beer. Wonderful.
After the show we headed over to the Outback, the amazing CU hangout, with Mr. and Mrs. Mule and enjoyed the wonderful karaoke stylings of, among others, mullet lady. Sorry we don't have a picture of her and her two-toned doo. . .we shouldn't have left the camera in the car. Maybe next time!

Oh, snap! We had an AWESOME show in Jamestown, CO on Thursday evening... Jamestown is slightly Northwest of Boulder, CO, sits atop some beautiful mountains at 8,600 feet, and has one of the best communities we've ever had the privilege of experiencing. On Friday we were super busy... On top of enjoying the lovely weather and surroundings in CO, we had two shows to play. We were at The Pearl Street Pub in downtown Boulder in the afternoon, rockin and sockin for all those who enjoy strong drink at early hours of the day. After that show, we headed down to Denver for an incredible show at The Meadowlark Lounge. We played with Longest Day of the Year, Danny Shafer from The Unknown Americans, and an awesome group called The Radical Knitting Circle. Click that link!!! Thanks to the Mule, we got some sweet pics from the show... here's some highlights....

and this one here....

and this one, right here.


Still much more to do in the lovely state of CO... We have a few more shows that we're super stoked about and some recording to do in Conifer. Check back for updates!!! PEACE!!!

Today we got our first good glimpse of the mountains, and what a good glimpse it is! The weather is gorgeous today and we're looking forward to driving up into the mountains for a show at Jamestown Merc.
Last night, after a last-minute venue change, we hopped on a bill with three other groups and had a blast at Dulcinea's, enjoying the Colfax Ave. flavor of Denver nightlife. . .

So it happens this way... we arrived in Wichita early on St. Patty's Day to find gorgeous weather and dusty air in our wake. We had the extra time due to some "ill-communication" between an outside promoter and the venue we were supposed to be at in Lawrence on Monday (sorry again to you Lawrence fans that didn't get the word in time). But, putting all this behind us, we had a supper-rockin show in Wichita at famous Kirby's Beer Store on Tuesday night.

The joint was packed and we got to perform with local singer/songwriter, Virginia Williams... very nice. We will be back through our favorite KS destination TWICE this summer (god-willing) and cant' wait for the return. Well, it's on to Colorful Colorado for a week slammed with shows and good cheer. Stay tuned!!

Well, last night in Kansas City, in a honky-tonk roadhouse, Chris finally got his first knuckle sandwich. But he's fine because it actually was a sandwich; a fried bologna sandwich to be exact. . . So, we not only survived Chris' Knuckle Sandwich, but sharing the stage with the Hot Club of Cowtown (Austin, TX) and rocking out at Knucklehead's was, of course, quite fun.

This evening we're headed to the geographical center of the US (or at least, pretty close to it) so we're thinking since we came this far, we might just head for the west coast instead of turning around in Colorado. . . or save that part of the country for this summer. . .

Last night at Donna's Icehouse was a blast, exactly as we remembered it from our last Midwest tour. This time, we were paired up with Donna's world-famous Crabcakes (capitalized on purpose for special emphasis) as you can see from the sign.
It's always great to see some familiar faces and catch up with new friends on tour and last night was no exception. Today we leave the quaint friendliness of the Ozarks for Kansas City. . .

We returned to Memphis last night and played at The Edge, a cool, eccentric venue in Midtown. We were lucky enough to share the stage with a certain DJ Poopy Pants (That was his actual self-given stage name. We are not making this up.) and hang with our pal Jobu Babin. After the show, we went and got a Huey Burger, the best burger in all of Memphis, according to everybody. Boy was it delicious. . .
Unfortunately, we had no Elvis sightings. . .maybe Linn Creek, MO tonight?

Back on the road again! One week off was just enough time to get all the laundry done, eat some real food dinners and stretch a little bit before we got back on the road. We're so glad the weather is starting to inch its way to warmer, although that creates its own set of problems for packing. . . (you've got to bring coats and swimsuits, just in case!)
Last night in Nashville we were fortunate enough to be able to entertain a roomful of songwriters and musicians, including Lola and her duck song. We were stoked that everybody braved the rain and came out. Our car, however, wasn't as impervious to the rain. Somehow, when we got a replacement windshield (our special thanks goes out to that Kansas truck carrying small, bouncy, rocks) they forgot to seal around the top, so now we get to break out the Dunkin Donuts napkins every time it rains. . .

Following a freakin' awesome time in Pittsburgh, PA, we arrived home to take a week long nap. We returned from the Northeast to find the southern region covered in snow. After taking some of the worst weather New England had to offer, the least we'd expect is some unseasonably warm weather. Well, shit happens. Our Northeast Tour was an adventure with overtones of hilarity and awkward social interactions... and, incidentally, great shows. We have come to halftime in this Winter/Spring tour and will be heading back out on Monday, March 9th to destinations west. We're stoked to get back to some of our favorite Midwest and Mountain West venues... St. Patty's Day at Kirby's Beer Store will be one to remember... then again, who will? We will be extremely busy over the next month playing and getting some new 'stuff' on to your computer screen and into you possibly-crappy computer speakers. That's enough work for now, we're on vacation, dammit. Thanks for reading and see you soon!!!!!!!!