Day 227 - October 25th 2009
I hear a knock on my door. It’s Brian apparently it’s 10 am and we have an hour to get out of the Super 8 in Romulus Michigan so that we can get on the road and head back to the Keystone State. Today we go home. We get dressed and head over to the van. I’m still sick but I don’t feel nearly as bad as I did yesterday. Perhaps the chills were my body telling me to rest. Rob was sweating his balls off last night he was sure to let me know. We hit the road and started rolling. Knocked up was the first movie on our agenda, quality flick.
I’m less of a tight ass about stops along the way and even about the time we left. I’ve been in knots about making sure we got to the gigs on time. I’ll probably loosen up the next go round now that I know how we roll and what the group dynamic is. We rolled into a Bob Evans and ate some food before continuing the trip. My inability to swallow without pain kept me from eating so I boxed it up for later.
Brian’s road rage reached new heights as a truck drove slow and wouldn’t get over so that he could get by. He picks up his phone and actually calls the “How’s My Driving Number” and speaks with someone telling them that this truck is driving too slow and won’t get over. I’ve never seen anyone actually use those phone number so we had a good laugh. If that wasn’t enough someone with Virginia license plates cut him off and he uttered a word that I‘ve never heard be fore and hope to use everyday for the rest of my life he called Mr. Virginia...a cuntsicle! We hit another rest stop and throw on Tropic Thunder.
As we finish with the movies and throw on some music I look out of my window and I have to say there aren’t many more beautiful sights than this stretch of land in the autumn. All the trees are different colors and the leaves still haven’t fallen off yet. Looks like a Bob Ross Painting. As I stare into space I sort of take stock and evaluate this little mini tour. Now that I’ve taken my band out for a little road trip that included long hours in a car, being on top of each other, hotel rooms, and consecutive shows in different cities, there are things I’ve noticed, learned and will take into account the next time we’re out.
Firstly, I have to plan the route better. I sort of had to take what I could get this time around but next time I’ll probably make so that we don’t have to spend more than four hours in a car and can actually see the cities we’re playing in. The long rides meant that we had to get up early which meant little to no sleep for everybody.
Second, this is my preferred touring situation. It’s not inconceivable that I may be on tour with other bands, singing, playing guitar, or managing but if I had a choice of being on the road with someone it would be with these three guys. Jake, Rob. Brian, and I have a really good personal chemistry it’s almost brotherly. I enjoyed the debates and philosophical conversations, the new words and terms developed while out here. It seems like we’ve bonded and I think it transferred over to our playing this weekend. The machine parts are right and now and it ran beautifully despite the few setbacks we had.
Third, traveling gives me a new perspective on how good the band and I actually are. I often feel like the longevity and consistency that I’ve enjoyed often allows the people here at home to take me for granted. There’s always some cool new band that the Philly faithful try to get behind and jump on the bandwagon, the general feeling that I’m not going anywhere sometimes people are a little more lukewarm than I’d like them to be and it’s easy to get down on yourself. Not to mention Philly has a dearth of Funk/Rock acts these days. For the people we played for this week the sound was something fresh and different.
Fourth, this is a group of people comfortable with gas. I’ve smelled more farts in the past few days then I ever did in the van with Camaro, many of them were my own.
Number five, Microtels are the best of the three we stayed in.
Six and most importantly, now I know that this current Boy Wonder lineup can dot he whole touring thing. If something were to happen where we got on the road opening for someone or I got a deal etc. These guys are tough enough to withstand the pounding that can sometimes be associated with living this kind of life. There’s a big difference between a two month tour and 5 days out but I think if something were to happen we could really do the damned thang.
We’ll get the ALCS on the radio and listen to that until we get home. Drop Rob off and unload his stuff, Drop Jake off and then I get to see my house again for the first time in a few days. I can’t believe it’s only been like 4/5 days. Seemed a lot longer than that. I had an awesome time with some awesome people, can’t wait until we get a chance to do this again.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 227
Day 226 - October 24th 2009
Day 226 - October 24th 2009
I wake up in Minneapolis I think I’ve slept for like 4 hours…maybe 8 this trip. This is by far the most brutal tour route I’ve ever been on. I’m coughing already, and my mucus is a dark green color mixed with blood…sinus infection, not good. I’m miserable but I need to get us on the road so that we can get to Detroit, the last site on this mini tour. We have the sneaky suspicion that last night’s show would be the best of the three. Minneapolis showed us a real good time, and we had the best out of town reception there I think we’ve ever had.
We manage to get out of the hotel and into the car. We throw on some movies to pass the timebut most of us are in a daze. Only Brian’s got the ware withal to do anything at present moment which is why he’s driving. I’ve been very impressed with him on this trip. I think he’d make a good tour manager for us, for anyone in particular. He’s taken good care of us and his road rage is 100 kinds of hilarious.
I talk to Sean (Bang Camaro Vocalist) briefly on Facebook I get some encouraging words from him I also had a quick convo with Mayte (Cutest Bang Camaro fan) it’s hard to be out here and not think of them. I guess you’ll never forget your first tour. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to do any of the 3 shows left on the calendar for this year. I may try to make it up to Boston though.
As we drive to Detroit one thing is glaringly apparent. I’m sick and I’m getting worse. As we stop at a rest stop in Michigan I’m literally shivering once we get inside. I’m feeling my head and I’m burning up. So that’s twice on the road and I’ve been sick both times a streak that I would like to not continue from this point on. I sleep most of the ride curled up under my leather jacket. I’m drugged up mostly trying to dull the pain,
We get to the hotel in Romulus Michigan I can’t find my phone but that’s not as important to me as hot shower for my aching body. I watch cops as I wait for Rob to get out of the shower, cops is one of my favorite shows. When he gets out I grab my shower, I get dressed and head over to the Lager house.
Driving through Detroit we’re a bit nervous. Aside from the casinos which shone brightly throughout the city, Detroit looks a lot like Thunderdome. You don’t really know what might happen to you out here. We pull up to the Lager house and I go inside. It was a pretty cool little spot. The Layout was similar to The Fire back at home, the bar in one room with the stage in another. Tonight we’re opening for the science fair who are doing their EP Release party tonight which means we likely won’t be selling CD’s tonight.
We load in as I try to search for my phone. Good news was I found my phone, bad news was I locked the keys in the car. Of course I’m freaking out. I call triple a, but our coverage doesn’t cover anything outside of PA so I have to call Dad. Of course he has a laugh over my plight, he calls Allstate and they tell him they’ll be there in 35 minutes. Brian takes my phone and will take care of them when they arrive.
The first act Brian Callhoun had finished his set and it was time for us to go on. I’m delirious at this point. But we look good with out matching shirts and ties. .I figure what happened with the car nothing else could possibly go wrong. Well when we jumped into Superhero my guitar and Jake’s Bass came crashing together.
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Wasted
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Leavin
Singing and playing at the same time was particularly challenging tonight. I’ve plaed these songs a billion times but it can still be an issue. With the fever I often would drift off when I wasn’t singing, I forgot some parts and some chords, I don’t think the audience noticed it though. I felt like the crowd was into it not as much as they were last night, but that sort of frenzy is hard to match. There were a lot of black folks there and I got a lot of compliments from them after the show telling them to let me know when we were coming back. I even met someone from The Detroit Free press who asked to be added to the mailing list. Could be a good thing.
I remember being pulled aside by a few older gentlemen the owner definitely liked us
“We don’t get many neo soul acts with psychedelic guitars in here, never seen anything like it, we’d love to have you back sometime.”
I don’t even pay attention to the genre classifications people give me anymore, it used to bother mebut now-a-days I figure people just need to put you wherever they think they would find you in the record store so I take all these things as compliments. It didn’t stop there Another gentlemen said something to me that almost made me choke.
“Look I’m going to be honest with you, I come here every week to see bands and I’ve never seen anything like what I saw tonight, I was a bit luke warm on some of the stuff but I saw more than a few flashes of greatness from you and your band tonight, keep going, we’ll be watching you.”
Is greatness reachable? Which parts were great and how can I hold on to those and extrapolate on them so that we can be great for 40 minutes, an hour, two hours. Would we have been great if I were healthy tonight? I will tie myself in knots over this for…forever probably lol.
The Science Fair killed it. Sort of a mix between Incubus and Maroon 5, The bassist was black which explained all the brothers and sisters in the crowd
We hung around for some free barbeque and then went back to the hotel. I shivered as I put my PJ’s on and turned the heat on full blast and went to bed. We’ll all likely get a full nights sleep tonight. Rob’s gonna be sweating his balls off tonight.
Day 226 - October 24th 2009
I wake up in Minneapolis I think I’ve slept for like 4 hours…maybe 8 this trip. This is by far the most brutal tour route I’ve ever been on. I’m coughing already, and my mucus is a dark green color mixed with blood…sinus infection, not good. I’m miserable but I need to get us on the road so that we can get to Detroit, the last site on this mini tour. We have the sneaky suspicion that last night’s show would be the best of the three. Minneapolis showed us a real good time, and we had the best out of town reception there I think we’ve ever had.
We manage to get out of the hotel and into the car. We throw on some movies to pass the timebut most of us are in a daze. Only Brian’s got the ware withal to do anything at present moment which is why he’s driving. I’ve been very impressed with him on this trip. I think he’d make a good tour manager for us, for anyone in particular. He’s taken good care of us and his road rage is 100 kinds of hilarious.
I talk to Sean (Bang Camaro Vocalist) briefly on Facebook I get some encouraging words from him I also had a quick convo with Mayte (Cutest Bang Camaro fan) it’s hard to be out here and not think of them. I guess you’ll never forget your first tour. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to do any of the 3 shows left on the calendar for this year. I may try to make it up to Boston though.
As we drive to Detroit one thing is glaringly apparent. I’m sick and I’m getting worse. As we stop at a rest stop in Michigan I’m literally shivering once we get inside. I’m feeling my head and I’m burning up. So that’s twice on the road and I’ve been sick both times a streak that I would like to not continue from this point on. I sleep most of the ride curled up under my leather jacket. I’m drugged up mostly trying to dull the pain,
We get to the hotel in Romulus Michigan I can’t find my phone but that’s not as important to me as hot shower for my aching body. I watch cops as I wait for Rob to get out of the shower, cops is one of my favorite shows. When he gets out I grab my shower, I get dressed and head over to the Lager house.
Driving through Detroit we’re a bit nervous. Aside from the casinos which shone brightly throughout the city, Detroit looks a lot like Thunderdome. You don’t really know what might happen to you out here. We pull up to the Lager house and I go inside. It was a pretty cool little spot. The Layout was similar to The Fire back at home, the bar in one room with the stage in another. Tonight we’re opening for the science fair who are doing their EP Release party tonight which means we likely won’t be selling CD’s tonight.
We load in as I try to search for my phone. Good news was I found my phone, bad news was I locked the keys in the car. Of course I’m freaking out. I call triple a, but our coverage doesn’t cover anything outside of PA so I have to call Dad. Of course he has a laugh over my plight, he calls Allstate and they tell him they’ll be there in 35 minutes. Brian takes my phone and will take care of them when they arrive.
The first act Brian Callhoun had finished his set and it was time for us to go on. I’m delirious at this point. But we look good with out matching shirts and ties. .I figure what happened with the car nothing else could possibly go wrong. Well when we jumped into Superhero my guitar and Jake’s Bass came crashing together.
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Wasted
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Leavin
Singing and playing at the same time was particularly challenging tonight. I’ve plaed these songs a billion times but it can still be an issue. With the fever I often would drift off when I wasn’t singing, I forgot some parts and some chords, I don’t think the audience noticed it though. I felt like the crowd was into it not as much as they were last night, but that sort of frenzy is hard to match. There were a lot of black folks there and I got a lot of compliments from them after the show telling them to let me know when we were coming back. I even met someone from The Detroit Free press who asked to be added to the mailing list. Could be a good thing.
I remember being pulled aside by a few older gentlemen the owner definitely liked us
“We don’t get many neo soul acts with psychedelic guitars in here, never seen anything like it, we’d love to have you back sometime.”
I don’t even pay attention to the genre classifications people give me anymore, it used to bother mebut now-a-days I figure people just need to put you wherever they think they would find you in the record store so I take all these things as compliments. It didn’t stop there Another gentlemen said something to me that almost made me choke.
“Look I’m going to be honest with you, I come here every week to see bands and I’ve never seen anything like what I saw tonight, I was a bit luke warm on some of the stuff but I saw more than a few flashes of greatness from you and your band tonight, keep going, we’ll be watching you.”
Is greatness reachable? Which parts were great and how can I hold on to those and extrapolate on them so that we can be great for 40 minutes, an hour, two hours. Would we have been great if I were healthy tonight? I will tie myself in knots over this for…forever probably lol.
The Science Fair killed it. Sort of a mix between Incubus and Maroon 5, The bassist was black which explained all the brothers and sisters in the crowd
We hung around for some free barbeque and then went back to the hotel. I shivered as I put my PJ’s on and turned the heat on full blast and went to bed. We’ll all likely get a full nights sleep tonight. Rob’s gonna be sweating his balls off tonight.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 226
Day 225 - October 23rd 2009
There are a few habits I’ve developed since becoming a musician that goes out on the road.
1) Get up early so that you can get that first shower
2) Go to sleep in the van shortly after it pulls off
I woke up in the knights in in Indianapolis with these things in mind but as I got dressed and opened the door I saw that it was raining cats and dogs….great. It’s 6 am and I’m trying to call Brian and Jake to get them up so that we can get to Minneapolis in a decent amount of time. I wanted to avoid traffic and all that, get to the hotel, and lay back before having to get to the gig which wasn’t too far away from the venue itself. We left in the rain about an hour later than I wanted to. I try not to be a drill sergeant about it, but I know that we need to leave at a certain time to get there at a certain time.
There aren’t many more beautiful sights than the sun rising over the Midwestern landscape, it’s the America from the movies. The drive would be nine hours. Movies like Zach and Miri and Dazed and Confused would help pass the time, oh not to mention all the rian that fell from the sky as we passed through Illinois, which would quickly turn into snow once we hit Wisconsin. My sinuses are acting up when I spit out the post nasal drip it’s half thick green/yellow mucus, half blood, I’ve had sinus infections before but it always seems like I get them worse than other people. My throat’s mad ore which doesn’t bode well for tonight. We marveled at the fact that it was snowing now as we scream outside “It’s October!” Tom Tom steered us wrong somewhere in the middle of Chicago but once we got back on track we got there at a reasonable time.
We pull into the Bloomington Microtel and I go into the room and everything is where I remember it from Iowa including the mattress in the window seal. We had a little while in the hotel before we needed to go over. We piled int eh car and stopped at a walmart so that Rob could get a rug for his drums, Brue (Grey Matador) had already allowed us the use of his but I guess we don’t know what’s going to happen in Detroit. After that we hustle to get over there.
We roll up on Sauce, Spirits and Soundbar at around 8, 8:30. As I enter the venue I can’t help but see a Bong Hits for Jesus poster in the Window, they were here at this very bar last night. Seems like a lot of Philly bands are migrating towards that area of the country. Probably cause it’s awesome. I can say one thing about Minneapolis right off the bat…the women here are mad sexy. Not sure what it is but they know how to work what they have. A single man would have a wide array of beautiful women to choose from…if he could stand the cold weather.
As we finish loading in I can’t help but feel nervous, because for me this is THE GIG. The other two shows on this mini tour were basically built around me and the guys playing in Minneapolis. Ever since I was here with Camaro and met some of my great friends/fans at the show I wanted to come back and show them what I really can do. Thanks to my good man Brue we were able to make it happen. I see Lori and Traci and Kibra and all the people they brought. This might be the first time I’ve gone somewhere with the band we had a decent draw, something hat we may be able to build off of. We’re sharing the bill with some great Twin Cities talent so I want to make sure that we can play well here and generate some buzz.
They showed us the green room and the steps that lead to nowhere in the basement of the club, it was good to be able to show Jake and Rob what my actual touring experience was like and what it should be like, Indy although it was an awesome show it wasn’t a great example of that. The place had water, PBR, and other stuff waiting for us in there. I was glad I had someplace to put my change of clothes.
Obergaramu, the opening bands drummer were late, and I was concerned what was actually gonna happen with the show. Thankfully they and Grey Matador offered to cut their sets short so that we can play a full set. Again these Minnesota folks are going above and beyond for us, something we really appreciate. I feel better about the fact that we actually had quite a few people there and were bringing something to the table. Once Obergaramu was done we set up. They key was to move fast so that we didn’t cut into anyone’s time. I threw my white jacket on after a quick line check and we were ready to go. We’d be tuning to e flat to help out my voice.
Set List
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Wasted
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Leavin
After we were done with (Oh) I Wish I Loves You I was feeling super comfortable. I took my jacket off and the guys and I really dug into the songs. The people loved us it seemed. We had a very receptive, enthusiastic crowd, who’s energy I fed off of and tried my best to give back to them. I saw people lining up to buy CD’s I mean it was truly an amazing thing. As we moved to Feels So Good I was fearless, jumping down to the floor so that I could be closer to the crowd when I played my big solo. People were cheering extremely loudly as I played the last bit with my teeth. I’m talking to the crowd, playing around with them, taking them where I want them to go. We sealed the deal with Leavin and that my friends was it. E the best show. I was especially proud of the way Jake and Rob played they’ve been with me long enough that they can give me exactly what I need when I’m playing and singing. They throw enough new stuff in there to keep me on my toes.
Grey Matador is an amazing band, them along with Minneapolis should write a book about how to treat a band when they come to your hometown. Like I said above and beyond. Outside of Philly this may be the best overall show we’ve ever played. All the starts lined up pretty perfectly and gave us a really kick ass show. Some of the matador fans voiced their displeasure about us not playing any Prince Songs, but I promised them next time when my voice is in better shape we’d do at least one. Is this the peak of our tour? Maybe. Then again Detroit could be even better, we’ll just have to see.
I hit the bed as early as possible, knowing we have a looooong drive tomorrow.
There are a few habits I’ve developed since becoming a musician that goes out on the road.
1) Get up early so that you can get that first shower
2) Go to sleep in the van shortly after it pulls off
I woke up in the knights in in Indianapolis with these things in mind but as I got dressed and opened the door I saw that it was raining cats and dogs….great. It’s 6 am and I’m trying to call Brian and Jake to get them up so that we can get to Minneapolis in a decent amount of time. I wanted to avoid traffic and all that, get to the hotel, and lay back before having to get to the gig which wasn’t too far away from the venue itself. We left in the rain about an hour later than I wanted to. I try not to be a drill sergeant about it, but I know that we need to leave at a certain time to get there at a certain time.
There aren’t many more beautiful sights than the sun rising over the Midwestern landscape, it’s the America from the movies. The drive would be nine hours. Movies like Zach and Miri and Dazed and Confused would help pass the time, oh not to mention all the rian that fell from the sky as we passed through Illinois, which would quickly turn into snow once we hit Wisconsin. My sinuses are acting up when I spit out the post nasal drip it’s half thick green/yellow mucus, half blood, I’ve had sinus infections before but it always seems like I get them worse than other people. My throat’s mad ore which doesn’t bode well for tonight. We marveled at the fact that it was snowing now as we scream outside “It’s October!” Tom Tom steered us wrong somewhere in the middle of Chicago but once we got back on track we got there at a reasonable time.
We pull into the Bloomington Microtel and I go into the room and everything is where I remember it from Iowa including the mattress in the window seal. We had a little while in the hotel before we needed to go over. We piled int eh car and stopped at a walmart so that Rob could get a rug for his drums, Brue (Grey Matador) had already allowed us the use of his but I guess we don’t know what’s going to happen in Detroit. After that we hustle to get over there.
We roll up on Sauce, Spirits and Soundbar at around 8, 8:30. As I enter the venue I can’t help but see a Bong Hits for Jesus poster in the Window, they were here at this very bar last night. Seems like a lot of Philly bands are migrating towards that area of the country. Probably cause it’s awesome. I can say one thing about Minneapolis right off the bat…the women here are mad sexy. Not sure what it is but they know how to work what they have. A single man would have a wide array of beautiful women to choose from…if he could stand the cold weather.
As we finish loading in I can’t help but feel nervous, because for me this is THE GIG. The other two shows on this mini tour were basically built around me and the guys playing in Minneapolis. Ever since I was here with Camaro and met some of my great friends/fans at the show I wanted to come back and show them what I really can do. Thanks to my good man Brue we were able to make it happen. I see Lori and Traci and Kibra and all the people they brought. This might be the first time I’ve gone somewhere with the band we had a decent draw, something hat we may be able to build off of. We’re sharing the bill with some great Twin Cities talent so I want to make sure that we can play well here and generate some buzz.
They showed us the green room and the steps that lead to nowhere in the basement of the club, it was good to be able to show Jake and Rob what my actual touring experience was like and what it should be like, Indy although it was an awesome show it wasn’t a great example of that. The place had water, PBR, and other stuff waiting for us in there. I was glad I had someplace to put my change of clothes.
Obergaramu, the opening bands drummer were late, and I was concerned what was actually gonna happen with the show. Thankfully they and Grey Matador offered to cut their sets short so that we can play a full set. Again these Minnesota folks are going above and beyond for us, something we really appreciate. I feel better about the fact that we actually had quite a few people there and were bringing something to the table. Once Obergaramu was done we set up. They key was to move fast so that we didn’t cut into anyone’s time. I threw my white jacket on after a quick line check and we were ready to go. We’d be tuning to e flat to help out my voice.
Set List
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Wasted
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Leavin
After we were done with (Oh) I Wish I Loves You I was feeling super comfortable. I took my jacket off and the guys and I really dug into the songs. The people loved us it seemed. We had a very receptive, enthusiastic crowd, who’s energy I fed off of and tried my best to give back to them. I saw people lining up to buy CD’s I mean it was truly an amazing thing. As we moved to Feels So Good I was fearless, jumping down to the floor so that I could be closer to the crowd when I played my big solo. People were cheering extremely loudly as I played the last bit with my teeth. I’m talking to the crowd, playing around with them, taking them where I want them to go. We sealed the deal with Leavin and that my friends was it. E the best show. I was especially proud of the way Jake and Rob played they’ve been with me long enough that they can give me exactly what I need when I’m playing and singing. They throw enough new stuff in there to keep me on my toes.
Grey Matador is an amazing band, them along with Minneapolis should write a book about how to treat a band when they come to your hometown. Like I said above and beyond. Outside of Philly this may be the best overall show we’ve ever played. All the starts lined up pretty perfectly and gave us a really kick ass show. Some of the matador fans voiced their displeasure about us not playing any Prince Songs, but I promised them next time when my voice is in better shape we’d do at least one. Is this the peak of our tour? Maybe. Then again Detroit could be even better, we’ll just have to see.
I hit the bed as early as possible, knowing we have a looooong drive tomorrow.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 225
Day 224 - October 22nd 2009
The Sun rises on the open road. Brian’s driving, I’m in the front seat, Jake’s looking straight ahead Rob’s sleeping. There’s always a feeling when I’m looking outside of a window watching the road pass by that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. It never takes long for me to realize that I like it out here we’re in a van going to a show, I can’t think of anything cooler than that. Maybe I’m built for this, looking back over these 200+ days I realize that I’ve spent quite a few of them outside of Philadelphia performing. We talk about The Phillies’ NLCS victory and their (seemingly) impending meeting with The New York Yankees. Jake tells me that there were riot police outside of his job preventing him from going downtown. We’ve been driving all night, so we stop off at a bob Evan’s, grab breakfast and keep going.
I have one main objective with this mini tour…to generate interest in Boy Wonder in this region of the country I understand that these things won’t happen overnight and that one has to keep at it in order to achieve any success, but if we can get the right person/people to feel us it could be a start, I don’t care if we only get one name on the mailing list, sell one CD, get one pat on the back, it’s gotta start somewhere. But first we got to get to the hotel.
We arrive around two for check in as me and Brian walk inside to grab the rooms. We get in and settle in our rooms waiting to figure out what the next move’s going to be. I call to find out our time slots been changed to 11:30 and then she asks how much time we can fill, out of reflex I say that we can play for a while so we end up with a 90 minute set, but that’s several hours away, next call goes into my cousin betty, apparently I have relatives here and they’ve already been told to come to the show, she tells me about Monument Circle so we’re gonna go there to kill some time.
As we arrive we marvel at the differences between here an Philadelphia, it’s cleaner for one, the pace is slower, people are more laid back (even the two homeless guys I saw weren’t really all that pushy) there were a lot of bar/restaurants in this section of the city (as opposed to the straight up bar/bars in Philly) and that Philadelphia has better looking girls per square foot. Jake wants pizza so he stops inside of a spot as the rest of us explore, we happen upon a sweet looking BBQ spot so we plan to hunker down and realize we should go grab Jake, Jake has no phone and I immediately start to freak out. I treat every place I go with a band like Mexico, everyone needs to stay together or else something bad happens, I know I’m a tight ass but it just makes things easier especially when people don’t have phones. We at some BBQ and checked out the sports bar, which had the most awesome Dyson hand dryers I’ve ever seen.
We walked around downtown for a while until it was time to get to Lizards. Tom Tom got us there but it didn’t tell us it was behind the actual place with the address. We circled many times before arriving at the venue. As we walked in it was something out of a movie, all the redneck stereotypes were there, trucker and NASCAR hats, mullets, people in sweat pants, Only Miller Lite on Tap, even a pregnant bartender. They certainly were more of an older crowd. They seemed to be staring at me as if I were an alien, I’m wondering what exactly I’m walking into at the moment. Brue (from Grey Matador who helped us book the gig) and Liz (the owner and booker at Lizards) wouldn’t have me performing somewhere that would potentially be hostile, even violent would they? I doubt it, but until something happens here either way to ease it, I’m probably going to be tense. Then I hear something over the loud speaker
I’ll take you to the candy shop
I’ll let you lick the lollipop
Go Head Girl Don’t You Stop
Keep Going Till You Hit The Spot
I never thought a 50 cent record would ever ease my mind, but when I saw the guy in the Jeff Gordon hat dancing in his seat at the bar I realized that I wasn’t in any real dangerying out . One of the disadvantages of growing up in the north is that you don’t really run across anyone from the more red parts of the map, the more rural areas of south or the Midwest unless you have the opportunity to get out. All you know is what you see on TV, Bill Maher’s comments, the folks on Springer, etc. so when you do run across them you assume that they’re going to lynch your black ass as you walk in the door, when more often than not they’re just good down home, no nonsense folks that have more in common with Black Folk than one might realize.
I sit back and relax as The Wil Woodrow project starts setting up. Wil seems like a cool ass dude, he doesn’t say too much but from what I hear him say it sounds like music is his life. I turn to see a cute girl behind the drum kit, striking eyes, legs for days, tough as nails from the looks of her, this is Liz, drummer for Wil Woodrow, owner of the bar, impressive…seeing as though she doesn’t look any older than me, I need to be doing more with my life…lol. I shake her hand and thank her for having us she‘s very warm, making me feel even better about being here tonight. I get out of their way as they launch into their set.
Theirs is a unique sound, sure it has elements of funk and rock, blues and hip hop, but the way it was set up was quite interesting. Wil’s bass is really the lead instrument with the drums locking in and the guitar player adding top and staying out of the way. I very much liked Wil’s energy and passion and Liz smoking a cig and laying the beat down on the drums at the same time is right on my top ten lists of sexiest things I’ve ever seen.
As they are finishing the doors swing open and a bunch of black folks in church clothes walk inside of the bar, they have to be my distant relatives. It was good to see betty whom I probably haven’t seen since I was 9 or 10. It was very good to see them and it was awesome of them to sit the whole time.
Wil was done and it was time for us to get goin. We set up and got it in
Superhero
(Oh) I wish I loved You
The Way You make Me Feel
Always Giving Me The Blues
How Can This Be Love
Electric Love
Body
Feels So Good
Wasted
Covered in Rain
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Walking on the Moon
Destiny
As we started the strangest thing happened, instead of taking a beer bottle to the face…people loved it. They were dancing and grooving, one girl was even shaking it directly in front of me, before her boyfriend grabbed her as hard and fast as he could. I had to really work the stage because of the awkward place it was in the room and just as we were about to launch into the more rock parts of our set Jakes Low E string broke. Luckily Wil had an extra one and I decided to go nice and easy for the remainder of the set. Thigns were going wrong, my guitar amp was waaay too loud, and there were some small mistakes early on but these folks didn’t care, they loved it. Few people bought CD’s so I signed him, one guy seemed really fixated on Rob so he was talking to him a lot really fast.
Liz seemed to really like us as well and wants us to come back on a better night with better crowds and what not. I’d love to have them at the Split sometime if they could make the trip. At least I know whenever we’re here we have at least one place to play. Wil even offered to put us up and take care of us. These guys were really awesome, whenever you are in a seemingly strange place it’s great when people are warm and friendly, especially in this business.
I leave the club like we just pulled off a bank heist, that went better than any of us could’ve ever expected. We get back to the hotel and I think about tomorrow. I can tell I’m getting sick but I think the band’ll be super tight and it’ll be a better show tomorrow than it was tonight…Minneapolis here we come.
The Sun rises on the open road. Brian’s driving, I’m in the front seat, Jake’s looking straight ahead Rob’s sleeping. There’s always a feeling when I’m looking outside of a window watching the road pass by that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. It never takes long for me to realize that I like it out here we’re in a van going to a show, I can’t think of anything cooler than that. Maybe I’m built for this, looking back over these 200+ days I realize that I’ve spent quite a few of them outside of Philadelphia performing. We talk about The Phillies’ NLCS victory and their (seemingly) impending meeting with The New York Yankees. Jake tells me that there were riot police outside of his job preventing him from going downtown. We’ve been driving all night, so we stop off at a bob Evan’s, grab breakfast and keep going.
I have one main objective with this mini tour…to generate interest in Boy Wonder in this region of the country I understand that these things won’t happen overnight and that one has to keep at it in order to achieve any success, but if we can get the right person/people to feel us it could be a start, I don’t care if we only get one name on the mailing list, sell one CD, get one pat on the back, it’s gotta start somewhere. But first we got to get to the hotel.
We arrive around two for check in as me and Brian walk inside to grab the rooms. We get in and settle in our rooms waiting to figure out what the next move’s going to be. I call to find out our time slots been changed to 11:30 and then she asks how much time we can fill, out of reflex I say that we can play for a while so we end up with a 90 minute set, but that’s several hours away, next call goes into my cousin betty, apparently I have relatives here and they’ve already been told to come to the show, she tells me about Monument Circle so we’re gonna go there to kill some time.
As we arrive we marvel at the differences between here an Philadelphia, it’s cleaner for one, the pace is slower, people are more laid back (even the two homeless guys I saw weren’t really all that pushy) there were a lot of bar/restaurants in this section of the city (as opposed to the straight up bar/bars in Philly) and that Philadelphia has better looking girls per square foot. Jake wants pizza so he stops inside of a spot as the rest of us explore, we happen upon a sweet looking BBQ spot so we plan to hunker down and realize we should go grab Jake, Jake has no phone and I immediately start to freak out. I treat every place I go with a band like Mexico, everyone needs to stay together or else something bad happens, I know I’m a tight ass but it just makes things easier especially when people don’t have phones. We at some BBQ and checked out the sports bar, which had the most awesome Dyson hand dryers I’ve ever seen.
We walked around downtown for a while until it was time to get to Lizards. Tom Tom got us there but it didn’t tell us it was behind the actual place with the address. We circled many times before arriving at the venue. As we walked in it was something out of a movie, all the redneck stereotypes were there, trucker and NASCAR hats, mullets, people in sweat pants, Only Miller Lite on Tap, even a pregnant bartender. They certainly were more of an older crowd. They seemed to be staring at me as if I were an alien, I’m wondering what exactly I’m walking into at the moment. Brue (from Grey Matador who helped us book the gig) and Liz (the owner and booker at Lizards) wouldn’t have me performing somewhere that would potentially be hostile, even violent would they? I doubt it, but until something happens here either way to ease it, I’m probably going to be tense. Then I hear something over the loud speaker
I’ll take you to the candy shop
I’ll let you lick the lollipop
Go Head Girl Don’t You Stop
Keep Going Till You Hit The Spot
I never thought a 50 cent record would ever ease my mind, but when I saw the guy in the Jeff Gordon hat dancing in his seat at the bar I realized that I wasn’t in any real dangerying out . One of the disadvantages of growing up in the north is that you don’t really run across anyone from the more red parts of the map, the more rural areas of south or the Midwest unless you have the opportunity to get out. All you know is what you see on TV, Bill Maher’s comments, the folks on Springer, etc. so when you do run across them you assume that they’re going to lynch your black ass as you walk in the door, when more often than not they’re just good down home, no nonsense folks that have more in common with Black Folk than one might realize.
I sit back and relax as The Wil Woodrow project starts setting up. Wil seems like a cool ass dude, he doesn’t say too much but from what I hear him say it sounds like music is his life. I turn to see a cute girl behind the drum kit, striking eyes, legs for days, tough as nails from the looks of her, this is Liz, drummer for Wil Woodrow, owner of the bar, impressive…seeing as though she doesn’t look any older than me, I need to be doing more with my life…lol. I shake her hand and thank her for having us she‘s very warm, making me feel even better about being here tonight. I get out of their way as they launch into their set.
Theirs is a unique sound, sure it has elements of funk and rock, blues and hip hop, but the way it was set up was quite interesting. Wil’s bass is really the lead instrument with the drums locking in and the guitar player adding top and staying out of the way. I very much liked Wil’s energy and passion and Liz smoking a cig and laying the beat down on the drums at the same time is right on my top ten lists of sexiest things I’ve ever seen.
As they are finishing the doors swing open and a bunch of black folks in church clothes walk inside of the bar, they have to be my distant relatives. It was good to see betty whom I probably haven’t seen since I was 9 or 10. It was very good to see them and it was awesome of them to sit the whole time.
Wil was done and it was time for us to get goin. We set up and got it in
Superhero
(Oh) I wish I loved You
The Way You make Me Feel
Always Giving Me The Blues
How Can This Be Love
Electric Love
Body
Feels So Good
Wasted
Covered in Rain
(I Think We Should) Breakup
Walking on the Moon
Destiny
As we started the strangest thing happened, instead of taking a beer bottle to the face…people loved it. They were dancing and grooving, one girl was even shaking it directly in front of me, before her boyfriend grabbed her as hard and fast as he could. I had to really work the stage because of the awkward place it was in the room and just as we were about to launch into the more rock parts of our set Jakes Low E string broke. Luckily Wil had an extra one and I decided to go nice and easy for the remainder of the set. Thigns were going wrong, my guitar amp was waaay too loud, and there were some small mistakes early on but these folks didn’t care, they loved it. Few people bought CD’s so I signed him, one guy seemed really fixated on Rob so he was talking to him a lot really fast.
Liz seemed to really like us as well and wants us to come back on a better night with better crowds and what not. I’d love to have them at the Split sometime if they could make the trip. At least I know whenever we’re here we have at least one place to play. Wil even offered to put us up and take care of us. These guys were really awesome, whenever you are in a seemingly strange place it’s great when people are warm and friendly, especially in this business.
I leave the club like we just pulled off a bank heist, that went better than any of us could’ve ever expected. We get back to the hotel and I think about tomorrow. I can tell I’m getting sick but I think the band’ll be super tight and it’ll be a better show tomorrow than it was tonight…Minneapolis here we come.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 224
Day 223 - October 21st 2009
Ugh!
I wait till the last minute to do everything but I have a checklist of things that need to get done before I leave
Gear
Clothes
Toiletries
New Jacket
New Sneakers
Itineraries
New AC Converter for the Laptop
DVD’s
I wanted to switch my phone off so that I could get everything done but the well wishers would’ve found a way through. It’s my own fault had I not been so tired after electric six I would have packed my bag last night. My dad had housework for me to do that would likely not get done. But I would try my best.
First things first were the directions, after the Tom Tom debacle at Dewey Beach I wanted hard copy directions to make sure he was leading us in the right direction. I even put the daily forecast on top of the page. I attached it to a clipboard, it looks official. I spoke with Alex (Bang Camaro Guitarist) who told me to keep all my receipts, I remember sitting with him looking at spreadsheets in Boston with him going “This is How this works” I often wonder how long it took those guys to figure out I had my own ambitions.
Second thing was the suitcase. I grab a much smaller suitcase than the world famous Roxanne, and I know I can fit four days worth of clothes into it. I am successful, mostly hoodies and warm clothes considering that the weather forecasts all point to the weather being a dick this weekend. My mom got home at 4:30 and made dinner so she dad and I could eat together before I left. Pot roast, brown rice, broccoli, hell yeah.
Third my mom took me to Best Buy to get a car adapter for the laptop, Modell’s for some new kicks (I had my last pair since the day I left for the Bang Camaro Tour and they were pretty chewed up) and to Burlington for a white suit jacket that will compliment my Minneapolis outfit. I plan on looking good that night.
Fourthly I had to pack the car, but the car wasn’t there so I had to put all the stuff by the door so I could head to Lickety Split.
The Phillies are on, and two of the acts have blown off the show, something that I simply can not stand. Even if you call or email and say “I’m not playing the gig cause the Phillies are on” I’d rather that than you just blow off the show. I have to admit with this news I was a bit concerned about the night considering the first band committed the double sin; not only did they not bring anyone out to see them they cleared the room of the existing crowd, mainly because people wanted to watch the game and weren’t so concerned about hearing the music.
It was a good thing for us Shining TV Screen did a great job with the draw, if I could ever manage to get two or three good drawing bands on a Wednesday we could bring it back to where it was this summer. Meron followed and played really well, even though his crowd hasn’t shown up strong yet there are still uses for him in the grand scheme of things, mainly to entertain a crowd that might already be there. He makes music that you can get high to, which works with just about any kind of band I’d have in there. Before Meron was done the Phillies were National League Champions for the second year in a row, I was waiting for the natives to start tearing up the city again.
Damien Anthony also showed up big with the draw for the open jam. That thing has the potential to be really special if we can keep the momentum going. The place was packed and they were still partying when I went ot meet up with Rob and Brian.
The car was there packed up and ready to go. We were ready to go. We picked up Jake and hit the road towards Indianapolis. Finally the journey begins, it’s not a long tour by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a nice test run to see what happens when we do some real extensive touring. I will finally take what I learned from Camaro, Leslie, and Electric Six and apply it here, we’re not either of those bands and will hopefully find our own rhythm out here.
With the laptop here Jake breaks out the DVD’s and we watch Ghostbusters, I fall asleep. I wake up at a rest stop that looks exactly like the one in Allentown. I then realize that it’s some alternate universe rest stop, it had a couple of different stores inside.
Death to Smoochy played on the laptop as I nodded off for good, with so many of my dreams coming true lately I might have to start dreaming about Unicorns
Ugh!
I wait till the last minute to do everything but I have a checklist of things that need to get done before I leave
Gear
Clothes
Toiletries
New Jacket
New Sneakers
Itineraries
New AC Converter for the Laptop
DVD’s
I wanted to switch my phone off so that I could get everything done but the well wishers would’ve found a way through. It’s my own fault had I not been so tired after electric six I would have packed my bag last night. My dad had housework for me to do that would likely not get done. But I would try my best.
First things first were the directions, after the Tom Tom debacle at Dewey Beach I wanted hard copy directions to make sure he was leading us in the right direction. I even put the daily forecast on top of the page. I attached it to a clipboard, it looks official. I spoke with Alex (Bang Camaro Guitarist) who told me to keep all my receipts, I remember sitting with him looking at spreadsheets in Boston with him going “This is How this works” I often wonder how long it took those guys to figure out I had my own ambitions.
Second thing was the suitcase. I grab a much smaller suitcase than the world famous Roxanne, and I know I can fit four days worth of clothes into it. I am successful, mostly hoodies and warm clothes considering that the weather forecasts all point to the weather being a dick this weekend. My mom got home at 4:30 and made dinner so she dad and I could eat together before I left. Pot roast, brown rice, broccoli, hell yeah.
Third my mom took me to Best Buy to get a car adapter for the laptop, Modell’s for some new kicks (I had my last pair since the day I left for the Bang Camaro Tour and they were pretty chewed up) and to Burlington for a white suit jacket that will compliment my Minneapolis outfit. I plan on looking good that night.
Fourthly I had to pack the car, but the car wasn’t there so I had to put all the stuff by the door so I could head to Lickety Split.
The Phillies are on, and two of the acts have blown off the show, something that I simply can not stand. Even if you call or email and say “I’m not playing the gig cause the Phillies are on” I’d rather that than you just blow off the show. I have to admit with this news I was a bit concerned about the night considering the first band committed the double sin; not only did they not bring anyone out to see them they cleared the room of the existing crowd, mainly because people wanted to watch the game and weren’t so concerned about hearing the music.
It was a good thing for us Shining TV Screen did a great job with the draw, if I could ever manage to get two or three good drawing bands on a Wednesday we could bring it back to where it was this summer. Meron followed and played really well, even though his crowd hasn’t shown up strong yet there are still uses for him in the grand scheme of things, mainly to entertain a crowd that might already be there. He makes music that you can get high to, which works with just about any kind of band I’d have in there. Before Meron was done the Phillies were National League Champions for the second year in a row, I was waiting for the natives to start tearing up the city again.
Damien Anthony also showed up big with the draw for the open jam. That thing has the potential to be really special if we can keep the momentum going. The place was packed and they were still partying when I went ot meet up with Rob and Brian.
The car was there packed up and ready to go. We were ready to go. We picked up Jake and hit the road towards Indianapolis. Finally the journey begins, it’s not a long tour by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a nice test run to see what happens when we do some real extensive touring. I will finally take what I learned from Camaro, Leslie, and Electric Six and apply it here, we’re not either of those bands and will hopefully find our own rhythm out here.
With the laptop here Jake breaks out the DVD’s and we watch Ghostbusters, I fall asleep. I wake up at a rest stop that looks exactly like the one in Allentown. I then realize that it’s some alternate universe rest stop, it had a couple of different stores inside.
Death to Smoochy played on the laptop as I nodded off for good, with so many of my dreams coming true lately I might have to start dreaming about Unicorns
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 223
Day 222 - October 20th 2009
With my lesson cancelled my Tuesday was mostly spent doing layouts for the tour itinerary, printing out directions and the like and figuring out what I need along with getting psyched for the Electric Six show. I did some work on the new tune and decided that I would hit the Tritone to try it out before meeting up with Casey to go to the show.
I snuck onto the list and played the song with Kelvin’s Telecaster. The song seemed to come to life and breathe more when I played it that way so I’m looking forward to showing it to the band. I left the Tritone in time enough to meet Casey.
We rolled into Johnny Brenda’s again and I see Emily sitting by the merch table, it was like old times. It’s funny how before I leave for my first Boy Wonder mini tour I’ve seen everyone that taught me everything I know about being on the road, Bang Camaro (last Thursday) and Electric Six (tonight) we all still talk and they know I’m hitting the road, they ask questions, they’re still teaching me stuff.
I run into two people that I met the last time I saw Electric Six, they buy me drinks and ask about Bang Camaro and I have no answers for them. I’d rather be talking about what I’m doing but I don’t mind it, there are people out there that really love that band, it’s a shame they haven’t been able to play Philadelphia more often I think they probably played well here last time and probably would again. Electric Six took the stage and it was time to watch them rock.
The New Stuff sounds awesome, so incredibly funky and rawkin, the hits sound as solid as ever, to the point that some idiot decides to start a mosh pit by the stage. They slammed into me on more than one occasion to the point where I had to scream “If another muthafucka slams into me we’re gonna have problems!” They kept it in another area. Angry black man voice still works.
I went into the green room after the show, they said that although they won’t be there Saturday night they would tell all their peeps that I was playing the Lager house in Detroit.
Home now, so much to do to get ready for tomorrow’s trip. Not to mention the fact that the Phillies can win the NLCS tomorrow, I wonder how the game’s gonna affect the show at Lickety.
With my lesson cancelled my Tuesday was mostly spent doing layouts for the tour itinerary, printing out directions and the like and figuring out what I need along with getting psyched for the Electric Six show. I did some work on the new tune and decided that I would hit the Tritone to try it out before meeting up with Casey to go to the show.
I snuck onto the list and played the song with Kelvin’s Telecaster. The song seemed to come to life and breathe more when I played it that way so I’m looking forward to showing it to the band. I left the Tritone in time enough to meet Casey.
We rolled into Johnny Brenda’s again and I see Emily sitting by the merch table, it was like old times. It’s funny how before I leave for my first Boy Wonder mini tour I’ve seen everyone that taught me everything I know about being on the road, Bang Camaro (last Thursday) and Electric Six (tonight) we all still talk and they know I’m hitting the road, they ask questions, they’re still teaching me stuff.
I run into two people that I met the last time I saw Electric Six, they buy me drinks and ask about Bang Camaro and I have no answers for them. I’d rather be talking about what I’m doing but I don’t mind it, there are people out there that really love that band, it’s a shame they haven’t been able to play Philadelphia more often I think they probably played well here last time and probably would again. Electric Six took the stage and it was time to watch them rock.
The New Stuff sounds awesome, so incredibly funky and rawkin, the hits sound as solid as ever, to the point that some idiot decides to start a mosh pit by the stage. They slammed into me on more than one occasion to the point where I had to scream “If another muthafucka slams into me we’re gonna have problems!” They kept it in another area. Angry black man voice still works.
I went into the green room after the show, they said that although they won’t be there Saturday night they would tell all their peeps that I was playing the Lager house in Detroit.
Home now, so much to do to get ready for tomorrow’s trip. Not to mention the fact that the Phillies can win the NLCS tomorrow, I wonder how the game’s gonna affect the show at Lickety.
Boy Wonder: Professional Musician 222
Day 221 - October 19th 2009
Today is my little cousin Danielle’s birthday, so I wanted to give a shout out to her.
I walk into Philly Rising and immediately see business happening. Marc is there with the new marketing person and Neil I’m assuming discussing re-upping for next year. There’s an energy in the room with the line looking pretty deep and more diverse than last weeks hip hop fest which is good, hopefully me being at some other mics around town will help let people know that we’re still here. Like I’ve said before it’s like McDonalds, sure everyone knows we’re there but it’s important that we remain out in the forefront of everybody’s mind.
I walked into the offices to run off the copies of the list and I‘m pulled into the office and apparently World Café Live feels the same way as I do, I have plenty of ideas that we could do so we discussed them. It’s important we stay a step ahead of the competition and I have quite a few ideas as to how to make that happen.
The line was even longer when I re-emerged to do the sign-ups I was pretty giddy all night and I felt like I was really in a solid groove. We even had some comedians thrown into the mix. Our winners Atlanta Bred Huston West and New jersey band 61 North will round out the Monthly competition for October. I can’t believe the year is almost over, it’s crazy, soon I’ll be doing another yearly competition and hopefully returning for my third year at Philly Rising.
Casey and I are gonna catch Electric Six tomorrow
Today is my little cousin Danielle’s birthday, so I wanted to give a shout out to her.
I walk into Philly Rising and immediately see business happening. Marc is there with the new marketing person and Neil I’m assuming discussing re-upping for next year. There’s an energy in the room with the line looking pretty deep and more diverse than last weeks hip hop fest which is good, hopefully me being at some other mics around town will help let people know that we’re still here. Like I’ve said before it’s like McDonalds, sure everyone knows we’re there but it’s important that we remain out in the forefront of everybody’s mind.
I walked into the offices to run off the copies of the list and I‘m pulled into the office and apparently World Café Live feels the same way as I do, I have plenty of ideas that we could do so we discussed them. It’s important we stay a step ahead of the competition and I have quite a few ideas as to how to make that happen.
The line was even longer when I re-emerged to do the sign-ups I was pretty giddy all night and I felt like I was really in a solid groove. We even had some comedians thrown into the mix. Our winners Atlanta Bred Huston West and New jersey band 61 North will round out the Monthly competition for October. I can’t believe the year is almost over, it’s crazy, soon I’ll be doing another yearly competition and hopefully returning for my third year at Philly Rising.
Casey and I are gonna catch Electric Six tomorrow
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