The best line up I've had the honor of being a part of. Ever.
I opened (my good friend/Feb tour-mate Justin Bennett accompanied me on guitar and added some sweet harmony), then The Beautiful Clarks captivated everyone as all 4 of them sat around one condenser mic. Then Karli played a heart wrenching, weep inducing, joy inspiring set (per usual) with her guitar pro bro, Zac, good friend Caroline Fowler singing and adding the perfect amount of glockenspiel (played with Zac's pipe as she forgot the mallets) and bad ass pedal steel player Scott Ellis. Pickwick ended the evening by breaking our hearts and rocking our faces off at the same time. Yeah, I said it.
April 5th, 2008 - Portland, OR
Home town. Cake.
Mississippi Pizza Pub was packed with familiar and not so familiar faces. Ali Marcus shared the evening with us and we filled the room with love and sounds.
I got spoiled by having my full acoustic band there. Todd Bayles, Justin Bennett, Karlee Griffiths (cello, guitar, fiddle) blow me away every time we play together.
Good times.
April 5th
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April 7th - San Francisco
Have you ever played music in a cafe/laundromat? Well, I can now say that I have. The Brainwash Cafe.
Killer stir fry, not so killer mic stands.. but a super cool place in general.
We met some awesome San Fran peeps and then I almost lost my laptop. Thank the good Lord, I recovered it before the end of the night. We hit up the Hotel Utah and Karli sang my favorite song of her's at the open mic. We also enjoyed the vocal stylings of many of San Fran's um "finest"...
April 8th, 2008
No show today. San Fran was cold and windy and beautiful and full of life and culture. We walked up hill and down and I smoked too many cigarettes. We ate amazing chocolate cake and drank red wine to celebrate Karli's 22nd birthday.
We walked through China Town. All the smells and sounds were intense. I was so fascinated by all the people around me. Talking and living a much different life than I am. They don't care about skinny jeans or hip new hair cuts or the Jack Kerouac book I read the first chapter of in a book store today. They work unsexy jobs to live and provide for their families. They stand out on the sidewalk unloading crates of little shrimp. They buy and sell fresh veggies and fish and smile at each other when they talk. I love them. For reals.
We're staying with my friend Julia that I haven't seen in two years. Her 7 month old baby is beautiful and perfect. Her hospitality has blown us away. I called to make sure she had a cork screw when I bought the wine this evening and when we got back to her quiet house (after her family had gone to bed), we found 4 wine glasses and 4 chocolates sitting out for us. That's love, man.
:o)
Now i'm sitting at her dining room table while Karli uploads videos she took today.
April 7th
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The ATM was a nice touch, don't you think?
Its bedtime... well passed it, in fact.
More to come.
April 10th - Modesto, CA
April 10th
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April 11th - Newport Beach, CA
(4/12 8:15am)
The ocean is crashing.
Im in a bunk in a house of 9 surfer boys.
Last night is still fresh in my mind.
Pieces of conversations are floating around in there.
A few hours of Chad and Elissa will hold me over until July.
How my heart danced to see their faces!
I hadn't played a house show.
These were good people to "first time" it with.
A house on the beach, good friends, music and wine.
I could get used to this.
April 14th - Las Vegas, NV
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
We left the boys and the beach and went East.
Vegas is one big trashy strip mall. But the people we met made up for that.
We crashed with the duo Curse Words are Verbs. Two of the most animated, passionate people I've ever met. Joel and Brenna. Intriguing, kind, genuine and generous. We met them through Joel's cousin Lindsey (a friend of a friend), who is a doll and one of those few people that I feel I've known for years even though I only spent a few hours with her.
April 14th
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April 15th, 2008 - Torrey, UT
Small towns are the best to play in. Its true. We got a warm welcome in Torrey. David Williams, a folk musician who spends much of his time in the beautiful high deserts of Utah, greeted us with a smile and one of the most magnificent beards I've seen in real life. We played to an attentive audience and one rather boisterous fellow by the name of Dexter who had had one too many beers. We couldn't stay too annoyed with him because his interjections were generally compliments to us. Haha. Oh, Dexter.
April 15th
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We also met Wendy Ohlwiler, a beautiful, gentle, fellow folkster who was moved by our music and invited us to coffee the next morning. We shared a few stories, traded CDs and ate some tasty bread and jam with our coffee.
The places we go, the people we meet, the moments we share.
This is the good stuff. The hardy stuff.
April 16th, 2008 - Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City is beautiful. Surrounded by snowy mountains, glowing in the evening; the old buildings, breathtaking.
We played Nobrow, a hip coffeehouse downtown and met some cool Salt Lake kids there. Some of Karli and Zac's friends from Band of Annuals came to the show and hung out with us before and after. Really great guys that took us to Slow Train, a killer record store where I bought the Bon Iver record I've been hearing great things about. Karli said I couldn't be her friend if I didn't like it so I prayed that it would blow my mind...
Thank the Good Lord the album is gorgeous. I'm excited to become more familiar with it. Whew!
:o)
April 16th
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