Greetings from Hattiesburg, MS. So far today has been filled with on and off rain,
video games (at a free arcade… score!) and a flat tire on the trailer.
Yes, I like to check out bookstores when we travel and I had to check
one out here in Hub Town. As I was driving I looked over and saw the
kid sitting in shotgun in the pickup truck next to me pointing to the
back of the van. Since our trailer in a mini, its very hard to even see
it in the side view mirror, so I never would have seen it if this kid
had not pointed it out to me… well anyway, I pulled over and find that
I have a shredded left trailer tire. After finding that there was no
spare (who carries spares, anyway?) and the wrong size wrench to change
it even if I had the spare, I made the call to the boys back at the
hotel. Two hours later, Clint and Yorg took a cab out to me and we were
able to empty the valuables from the trailer into the van and backed
the trailer up and took off. Oh, and FYI  to
people/bands that may be in the market for a used trailer: avoid a
trailer that has 12 inch wheels. After making a few calls we found that
many stores stopped carrying replacements wheels/tires because trailer
companies have moved to using either 8 or 14 inch tires. Sorry if
you’re still reading this and you are not in the market for used
trailers or not at all interested in what you have read so far. I will
try to move things along now….

The last time we spoke I was in Denver killing a pot of coffee and snacking on Tag
Alongs. Tonight I am carbed out on Lasagna and already drank all the
shitty hotel coffee earlier, so let’s see if I can make this somewhat
interesting. After Denver we hit Steamboat Springs. The drive there was
beautiful, and the as soon as we got to the Old Town Pub we were
received with warm smiles and open menus. After I inhaled my Wrangler
Special (a 16oz. prime rib), a Bloody Mary and potatoes I quickly began
wondering how it would be possible to load in, play my guitar, and
sing. There’s nothing worse when you’re trying to sing to soon after a
meal… it’s an art form to sing while holding back a burp. Anyway, the
show was fantastic. We played strong and the crowd gave us a very
positive reception. It was also during this show that I felt myself
becoming very hot, but in a cold sweat kind of way. Luckily the
adrenaline of playing can bet you through just about anything. I’ll
touch more on that later… it was also during this show that we had the
pleasure of hanging out with Dave and Jen Harlan, good friends of ours
that we met at Summercamp ’08. Thank you so much for your help, kids!
Jen has many talents, but two that she excels at are making an amazing
beef stroganoff, and helping a man when he has the flu. She gave me a
bag full of vitamins, supplements, and tea for the road.

So on to Grand Junction. The flu began to be much more pronounced, so this was the
beginning of the hibernation. The gig in Grand Junction was good and we
ended up meeting a ton of cool people. It was also excellent to find
out during our first set break that there was a substantial bar tab
that was available to us. Double Johnny Walker Black, please sir.
Whiskey and the body flu go together like peas and carrots. Later we
ended up crashing at some new friends place and we watched “Stop Making
Sense” in its entirety.

Boise is next.
The last few times we place Terrapin Station in Boise we ended up
closing the bar early and enjoying and array of libations until the wee
hours of the morning. But this night was different. A large number of
Boise-ites made their way to the Bump show and made us feel very, very
welcome. It was a blast… but my flu came back with vengeance during the
second set.  Bad.  So on
set break I asked the bartended for something that would make me feel
better. This was my introduction to the world of the Hot Toddie. It
helped that it was a very good one (compared to the ones that I would
be having at each club for the next 3 nights)… and extremely large.
Anyway, I made it through the show and we really made some good friends
and sold an impressive amount of merch.

The next morning
was hell. Everything hurt and any movement was absolute pain. I slept
in the back the entire way and thanks to some “cold medicine” from Jay
and Bryce my situation stabilized and I slept for the entire drive to
Moscow. It’s probably better off too… Clint navigated like a pro
through some snow covered passes and narrow, slippery stretches of road
that no one should have to drive a loaded van and trailer through.  John’s
Alley is the big venue in Moscow, ID and it is an interesting mix of
students, music fans, pool sharks, and drunks. The in house sound
engineer, Vertical Dave is a bad ass, and despite being bit on the arm
by an unidentified woman was in great spirits and made sure that my
condition kept under control by hot toddies, Red Bull, and whiskey.
Thank you, Vertical Dave, and Moscow.

Bellingham was
next. What a cool town, and if you look on a map where it is you can
help but whisper under your breath, “Holy shit…”. Yeah, it’s that out
there… virtually Canada. But it was a beautiful venue. The Wild Buffalo
was fantastic, and we got a chance to play with some new friends, the
band Lazy Bones.

Eugene, OR was
next. This was an interesting night with an even more interesting
lineup. It went Bump, then a band called The Bombs from LA, and lastly
another band from Portland called Louie Larue. All I can say is that is
was an interesting, good night.

Portland, OR was
next. Thanks to Nick, E. Treush (Hollywood Story) and Yesta for the
hospitality and great music. The after party was something out of a
movie… Crazy.  What I loved about Portland is
that every person I met was a musician and in at least 4 bands. Anyone
looking to relocate to find a band? Portland could be your answer. 

San Francisco
was a treat. Pat B., our old friend, band mate gave us a proper tour of
the city, as well as a run through Golden Gate Park, which by all
accounts was a fucking trip. The show was fantastic, and it was a very
huge pleasure to be able to have Pat up to help us through a powerful
“Sugaree”, and killed on the hyper, old school fun of “Fat Ass”.  Thanks for spending the evening with us, Pappy.

LA was next.  We
drove from SF through the night and arrived at Brad Etheridge’s at
around 10:30am, where quickly went back to sleep until 3:00pm when we
were awakened by Brad yelling, “Hey fuckers. What do want on your
burgers?” It was probably the only way to properly wake up at that
point, so thanks Brad. Anyway, it was a treat to be able to share the
stage with our old friends The Natives Of The New Dawn. It had been
about a year since we had played together last, so we definitely caught
up. It was also good to see Laurie B., Mike Levanos, Guy and Marc.

Winston’s in
Ocean Beach is always a treat… especially when every time we play there
is a bum fight just outside the venue and we had ringside seats. It
involved an attempted hit and run and a vigilante bum that ran two city
blocks to stop this evil doer and teach him a lesson. Punches were
thrown… though the punches were pretty week, so I really don’t think
anyone was hurt. Thank God, right? Special thanks to Joy and friends
for making it out.

After Ocean
Beach, I had a burrito (which have been culinary staple on this tour
for some reason), saddled up and began driving towards Austin. Leaving
at around 10:30 pm, I made it to somewhere between Tucson and the New
Mexico border around 7:00am where I finally gave up the reigns and
slept beautifully. After waking up at around 4:30pm I quickly realizing
that my teeth were floating, I had Jay pull over to the rest stop
ahead. After finally making the walk from the van to the bathroom, the
first thing I see is a giant sign that says, “Watch For Snakes”. The
two things that I am dying to see first hand is a tornado and a
dangerous snake… well, no snakes this time around. Welcome to Texas,
right? Well, after stopping in beautiful Ozona, TX for the night, we
edged closer to Austin. About 30 minutes into the ride, the power
steering went out and that was that… a shredded serpentine would
sideline team Bump and set us back about three hours, but it gave Yorg,
Dick and I a chance to work on our tan. And work on our tan we did…

The Perfect Van Breakdown

so
much that I am still peeling a week and a half later.  After the repair we made it to Austin and played the Flamingo Cantina.  To have an hour and a half set during SXSW is unheard of, so it was a treat.  The
show went great, and a special hell yeah goes out to Austin’s Moving
Matter who played after us. Our second show was at the Dizzy Rooster on
Wednesday night. Though the sound system was pretty much a joke, we
pulled through with a bare bones rock show featuring more of our high
energy favorites and it was a great night.  Special thanks to Justin Doloski, Greg “Quaff” Williams, Rachel, and everybody else.  It
was also bittersweet to be able see Dan Currie and Matt Van, who were
both there working/playing (respectfully) for the Detroit band the
Deadstring Brothers. Looking back, Austin was definitely a highlight.
There is no doubt about that. Where else can you go and watch music
non-stop from 11am to 2 am straight.  People
watching is a fun side activity… I had to idea that it was possible for
grown men to fit into jeans that were so tight and tapered… it was a
fucking joke.

Next, I would
like to reach out to all college students, party people, music
fans/freaks, and anybody else who is looking to do something fun for
their spring break time. I implore you. Don’t do the stupid-ass Daytona
Beach/Fort Lauderdale wherever you kids go now places.
If you like music, like meeting new people, and like going to the bar,
Austin during SXSW kills any resort bullshit place you could go during
spring break.  I equate SXSW to spring break for
musicians… so all you other people should just come and
join/support/party with the bands from all around the world.

Lake Charles was
next and went very well. For some reason in Lake Charles it’s normal to
order a beer and shotgun said beer with your buddies and bartender. But
after all, it was Clint’s birthday so as far I’m concerned, anything
goes, right?

NOLA was next
fantastic. We did the Bank Street Grille, and we got there just in time
for dinner, which was boiled crawfish, potatoes, onions, mushrooms,
corn, and for dessert steamed pineapple. It’s was a cultural experience
because the proper etiquette was to stand around a table and just grab
as much as you can and eat it right there. I got a personal lesson from
a drunk local who went by “Captain Morgan” on how to properly eat
crawfish. (side note: I later found that “Captain Morgan” was infamous
for knowing when every neighborhood bar had their weekly boil and would
be there all night slamming the beers on special and eating as much
free food as he can). The show went fantastic, and a special treat for
us was that we were able to share the bill with Ann Arbor/Chicago band
Nomo. We also shared the stage with them the next night in Hattiesburg,
MS and the Thirsty Hippo. This venue was one of the coolest we’ve seen
on this tour… a very relaxed, comfortable environment.

So on to Oxford, MS, Auburn, Alabama, then Florida. See you next time.