2005-07-11 - 4:05 p.m.
It’s been quite awhile! Where does the time go? We’ve been home from the Spring tour and on about things at home. I’ve done more fishing this year than in any year in recent memory. I’ve learned a bunch and had a great time doing it.
So as we’re now already out for our Summer Tour I ‘spose it’s only right I tie things up a bit with the Springy one. So here are the things that struck me most...
The Breeze Nightclub at The Tahoe Biltmore, Crystal Bay, NV.
I don’t know why but we played with particular abandon at this show. An abundance of quality conversations of the musical kind. It would not surprise me if more than a couple of tunes from this night make it on the upcoming live record. Not much else sticks out except that it was still cold as all fuck up there. At the end of the night my friend Michelle Reed asked Andy and I if we’d stop by the school she taught at up in Donner Pass the next morning and do a little assembly type thing for the kids. It was agreed and bright and early the following day her husband Chip came ‘round the hotel to fetch us up to the school about 30 minutes or so away. It was just a little building with snow still up on and all around it. We were given the quick tour and before long there we were in the gym with the whole of the bloody school population in front of us and me with just one cup of coffee in me!
Andy and I took turns explaining the instruments we played. At one point Andy asked if anyone knew what year the modern guitar was first used. A little boy with a big cowboy hat waved his hand wildly and when chosen put his hand to his chin, deep in thought and said, “ It’s either 10 years before or 10 years after 1927”. He was so serious! As it turned out he was right as the modern guitar as we now know it was developed by C.F. Martin in 1920! The kids all had a howl when I went through my repertoire of sound effects on the fiddle. I made it sound like a creaky door, a ghost and a person laughing. I thought I’d made a blunder when after I’d told them that the bow was made from horse hair I asked if anyone wanted to touch it and they all bloody wanted to! I got around to half of them when we had to move on for time sake. We finished up and after a bunch of kids who didn’t get a chance to touch my bow came up to touch it. Who knew it would be such a hit? It was real blast and the most fun thing I did for the whole tour!
The Palms at the Winters Opera House, Winters, CA
Winters is an old time California farming town. After sound check I took a walk around town. We drove through miles of blooming orange and lemon trees on the way into town and now the soft breeze was scented by the blossoming groves that surround the town. The golden glow of the dying day and the warm perfumed air was intoxicating. The show was great. I love this little opera house but a walk around the unique town of Winters is what I’ll remember most.
Chico Women's Club, Chico, CA
Downtown Chico was filled with happy people. The streets were closed off and the town was having a party! People were strolling the lanes checking out the different venders and watching the street performers. I got in the swing of it and had a couple of the best tamales I’ve ever had from a stand on the street. The women's club was a neat little venue. Papa Phil and Stacey did up some food for us in the kitchen in the back. They’ve been keeping us well fed on this tour with great veggie spaghetti and some of the best garlic bread ever made! Did I mention the potato leek soup?
The Independent, San Francisco, CA
As I’ve said many times before, I love this town. The whole crew at the Independent are some of the nicest and most professional people we’ve ever worked with. Our buddy Vince Herman opened both shows. The crowds are great for these shows with Saturday being a sell out. Our friend Phil Lesh came down and sat in on Saturday. It was great! We got together before the set and talked it out. We did “Seven Story Mountain”, “Friend Of The Devil”, “Terrapin Station” and “Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad” with Phil. It felt strange to be yelling out chords to him at the end of “Seven Story”. It’s just not something I would have imagined doing six months ago. It was great to play the jam on that tune with him. He’s an incredibly sympathetic player who embraces the concept of musical conversation. Vince joined us for “Goin’ Down The Road Feelin’ Bad”. I had a blast singing the last verse. I love to sing that kind of shit.
Old Settlers Music Festival, Driftwood, TX
This was a disappointment. We got stuck off on a smaller stage, when we’ve always done the main stage before. They turned the lights out on stage before we were finished loading off it so we had to finish our load out with flashlights. We’ve always had a great time before. Maybe it was just an off year.
Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
This was a great show at a great theater. It easily makes the short list for nicest small theater in the country. They treated us fantastic and the sound in the hall was pristine.
Merlefest
The grandaddy of roots festivals lived up to it’s rep. It was our second time there and it was fabulous. Well, the only non-fabulous thing was having our hotel be in Boone. Boone’s a nice college town but it’s a 45 minute drive to the festival site. One of the highlights of the weekend was the outreach program they have set up so artists can play shows for the local public schools in the surrounding communities. The school gets to choose from a wish list of artists and Wilkes Middle School picked us! They had our name up on the sign in front and on banners hung around the gym we played in. We even got to eat pizza in the cafeteria. It wasn’t square like when I was a kid but it was pretty good.
I had a great time playing and wandering around seeing the other stuff. The Chieftains were great as was the Bluegrass Boys reunion but the act that really blew me away was Rodney Crowell. I’m a old fan from back when he was in Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band. He completely rocked the place. He had help from his great band that included Will Kimbrough on guitar. Will used to have a great band called the Biscuits that were from Nashville. They made one great eponymously titled album for John Prine’s Oh Boy label back in the early 90’s.
Well it was a great trip. But I was glad to get home and see my wife, hang out with my cats and do some fishing. That’s all for now. More soon.
