4/29/09 Work Play, Birmingham, AL

We arrived in Birmingham in the early morning, and I finally got into my hotel room around 9:30am, hoping to continue my slumber. Fate had other things in mind, though, as about once per hour, there was a knock at my door, followed by the opening of the door as much as the chain lock would allow. On the 3rd or 4th time this happened, instead of ignoring it, I dragged myself out of bed, opened the door a crack and yelled "Can I help you!?" In my foggy state of mind, I learned that it was the manager of the hotel, and he needed to get into my room to access a wireless router to fix the internet for the entire hotel. First of all, who was the genius that made the decision to put an essential piece of technology equipment inside a guest room? Second of all, how many times of attempting to open a chain-locked door to a dark room does it take for a person to deduce that the room is occupied by someone sleeping? I offered the hotel manager a piece of my mind, with a side of expletives, topped off with a door slam.

I spent the afternoon in my hotel room catching up on computer stuff, and then later met up with my friend Val for dinner before the show. The show was a co-bill with Soulive, so we arrived in time to see most of their set. In addition to the usual Soulive trio that I was used to, they also had 2 horns and Nigel Hall on vocals (who I had played with at Bear Creek Fest last fall...that dude rips!!). Another unexpected surprise was finding that Soulive's road manager was Tony Hume, the artist relations guy from Bear Creek and one of the nicest cats I've met in a long time. We had a nice little reunion!

The Crazy Engine show was probably the roughest of the tour in terms of both sound and crowd. We had zero soundcheck, so we basically got up there flying blind. I'm sure Brian did his usual great job with the house mix, but we had no monitor engineer and thus no easy means of dialing in good stage sound, so it was hard to play comfortably with the distractions of the sound. The crowd was good for the most part, but a few drunk Southern yahoos were acting up a bit and causing trouble. My favorite part of the set was seeing little Charlie get in the face of a dude twice his size who had just sloshed beer all over the stage about a foot from Steve's guitars. Go Charlie!

Post-show, we headed back to the hotel, and now we're on the way to NOLA...woohoo!!

4/28/09 Georgia Theater, Athens, GA

The day started off great, with the other 2 members of FGC, Adam and Mattias, arriving in the early afternoon. We had a nice little reunion and then headed off in our stylin’ rental car to Athens.

The Georgia Theater was a pretty cool room, though a little rougher around the edges than I was expecting. It did boast the hugest ceiling fan I have ever seen, aptly branded “Big Ass Fan.” I gave FGC the tour of the bus and rounds of introductions to the band members, and then became detained with our rehearsal. We worked on “Don’t Let Go” and ran through a couple other tunes. The room had pretty decent sound, so I was looking forward to the show that night.

After rehearsal, my bandmates and I ate at a local diner recommended by Steve, with a very funny sign on the door that I couldn’t resist getting a picture of. During the outing, I pet 3 awesome dogs, bringing my new total to 12!

I made it back to the venue to catch the last half of the opener's set, Zach Deputy, who was great! The Crazy Engine hit the stage right on time according to our itinerary (I think, a first on this tour!), and we played a pretty rockin' show. I was pleased to be playing two sets full of my personal favorite tunes of the repertoire, in honor of my FGC bandmates attending the show. Melvin did not disappoint with his "Stop That Train" solo, which I've been gushing about, and Johnny was on fire for the entire show. Steve of course caused plenty of drool from Adam (FGC guitarist) with his usual pristine tone and licks.

After the show, I hung out a bit more with FGC before the bus rolled out to Birmingham. All in all, probably one of my favorite days of the tour thus far!

4/27/09 Day Off

My day off began on quite the early side, but for good reason. Rather than ride the bus all day from Tampa to Atlanta, I decided last minute to take a flight, courtesy of my friend Margie who works for Delta (whom you “met” in the 4/18 posting about the BB King’s show). $30 out of my pocket and a 1 hour flight was a nice trade for the day long bus ride, and also got me to Atlanta earlier to hang out with Jordan from FGC who was coming in early for the Athens show the next day.

Jordan and I hit up a downtown restaurant for dinner, then drinks on the patio of a Mexican restaurant, and then...drum roll please...a MILKSHAKE at the Hard Rock Café. Finally!!

The day capped off with an awesome slumber at the Wyndham downtown Atlanta, my first good night’s sleep in about a week!

4/26/09 Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, FL

We rolled into Tampa around 8am, and since our hotel rooms weren't ready yet, the bus hit up a Walmart where those who were crazy enough to be awake did some shopping. I half slept in my bunk until 10am when my hotel room became available (thanks to Charlie for hooking me up with the first room!!), and then continued my slumber in a real bed until soundcheck time.

The venue was a bit like "Gilligan's Island" as Steve had warned, but it was an interesting change from the run-of-the-mill venues we had been playing on the tour. It was outdoors, but luckily it was a beautiful sunny afternoon and not too hot. Soundcheck was pretty minimal since production was running late, and while we waited for showtime, we dined on some very mediocre food in the venue's restaurant. I do not recommend the grilled cheese! Kimock fans Pam, Andy, Alan, and Cindy joined us for the grub, so at least the company was good!

The first set was a bit shaky, since I think we were all a bit dazed from a poor night's sleep, and the show's early start of 5:30pm certainly didn't help either! We all woke up a bit for the second set, and it was quite the marathon, clocking in at exactly 2 hours. We closed the set with "It's Your Thing," and I did my signature rock star jump, with the additional excitement of being able to jump off the drum riser, adding a good foot or so to my leap. I need to remember to stretch first next time!

The show ended early, and the group sans The Girls (but plus our bus driver!) hit up the Perkins next to our hotel for some dinner. My bad milkshake luck continued, as I soon learned that the Perkin's milkshake machine was broken (are you kidding me?!?!). For those not following along with the previous blog entries, this was failed attempt #3 at getting a milkshake on this tour...I am doomed! (Charlie snapped this candid shot of me lamenting over lack of milkshake). We all enjoyed our food and some silly antics with various jelly packets and creamers, and then hit the hotel for the night.

4/25/09 Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Click here to stream free audio of the show!


My second day in Fort Lauderdale began with a lunch at Cheesecake Factory with Zach (he had the salad, of course), and a quick errand run to Walmart, where Zach bought a gay hat and I lamented over the disappearance of the women's graphic tee shelf. WTF??

I arrived at the venue for soundcheck/rehearsal and was pleased to meet the famous Billy Goodman, who was opening the show that night. Billy has an uncanny resemblance to Steve in both looks, actions, and demeanor, and was as sweet as they come.

We got up on stage to do a quick run-through of some tunes with Billy, and I immediately noticed that my prized polaroid of Steve giving the finger, taken by Johnny the night before and which graced my amp for the previous show and provided much inspiration, was missing! Billy was so taken by it that he stole it, but later offered top dollar to legally gain its possession. The exchange was made, but he did allow a picture of the picture before assuming custody, so this is all that remains of the iconic polaroid.

Billy kicked off the show with a short duo set with Steve, and then Melvin, Johnny, and I joined in for "Barbed Wire" and "Johnny Anonymous." It was nice to play some pretty straight up pop/folk tunes and not have to worry about creating moments of improvisational brilliance for a change. Billy writes some great tunes!

The Crazy Engine took the stage shortly thereafter. I don't think the crowd was as kickin' as the previous night, but hands-down the band played a much tighter show. First set highlights included "Brother Mike" and "Slow Down", with Billy Goodman sitting in on both. The second set featured the most smokin' "Merle's Boogie" we've ever played, with Steve shredding his axe into oblivion.

After the show, the bus headed off to Tampa, and I enjoyed a latenight hang with some of the guys, acquiring "TMI" (Too Much Information) about Charlie:

1. He wears tighty-whities
2. His ipod is graced with such quality artists as The Partridge Family, Shania Twain, and Kelly Clarkson
3. He once retaliated against a very nasty hotel by spreading a jar of mayonnaise between the mattresses


After one too many mom jokes, we all hit the hay while the bus trekked on to Tampa.

4/24/09 Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Click here to stream free audio of the show!

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale around 1pm after driving all night from South Carolina. I did some sleepy math that 8 hours of sleeping on the bus barely amounted to even half that of actual sleep, so I was glad to grab a nap at the hotel before soundcheck.

The venue was probably the most impressive yet of the tour. Very nice stage and soundsystem, and cool layout with sizeable dance floor and 2 balconies around the perimeter. I was worried about the sound due to the size of the venue and the shiny wooden floor of the stage, but Brian got everything dialed in nicely, and I found the sound on stage to be quite good.

After soundcheck, I had some dinner with hardcore FGC fan, Zach, who was pumped to have any member of FGC in his home state. Oddly enough, it seems that big boy Zach has "switched teams" in the dietary department, going from Midwest-style hearty steak and potatoes to strictly salads. Quite an interesting dinner witnessing Zach dive into a bowlful of greens!

The show went off well, and while the crowd seemed kind of far away due to the high stage, I think it was one of our largest crowds yet on this tour, and they were dancing and enthusiastic. We didn't stretch out too much in the jam department at this show, with the exception of "Ice Cream," which went some cool places. "Tangled Hangers" had some interesting turns, but never really took off the way it did on the 4/20 Annapolis show. Second set's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" got the crowd engaged and Melvin and The Girls worked 'em pretty good.

After the show, I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel, but as luck would have it, was not able to fall asleep as quickly as I wanted. Oh well, at least I will be nice and tired for my overnight drive to Tampa tonight.

4/23/09 Pour House, Charleston, SC

Click here to stream free audio of the show!

After catching some sleep at the hotel, I grabbed some breakfast at a nearby restaurant and then headed over to the venue. The Pour House was basically a large bar, but had a decent stage and soundsystem, as well as a very cool outdoor patio area with a second stage. The outdoor area was especially great because it afforded me the opportunity to double my dog-pet count, as there were plenty of dogs milling around while their owners enjoyed some drinks in the nice weather. I had played at this venue's prior location with FGC and was pleased to be recognized by the staff.

We had the usual soundcheck rehearsal, going over Johnny's tune and a couple other things, and then dined on some Cuban food from next door. The Cuban version of a grilled cheese wasn't entirely exciting, but the fried plantains on the side were quite good.

The show began to a rather empty house, but within the first minute, everyone from the outdoor patio came streaming into the room. The sound was pretty good on stage, so we had some cool interactive jams, particularly "It's Up To You," which somehow launched into a heavy metalish groove for a few minutes.

We also finally caught on video the coolest drum thing ever, which Johnny has been doing for the past couple shows. Before we start the tune "Crazy Engine," Johnny proceeds to drench his snare drum with water, producing a mega-splash effect when we launch into the tune. These "hydro-technics" are easily the coolest thing I have ever seen a drummer do. Check out the video, courtesy of Charlie (who will smack me if I don't credit him.)



After the show, I hung out with some drunk fans while the crew packed the trailer. We set off on the 9+ hour drive to Florida, but about 10 minutes into the drive, our bus driver decided he was hungry and wanted to stop at Waffle House. Apparently, he didn't have time to eat during his 18 hours of downtime since leaving the bus that morning. Completely understandable. ;) I opted against Waffle House since they didn't have my elusive milkshake and watched the usual 3am Family Guys on the bus.

We finally set off close to 4am, and rolled into Ft. Lauderdale around 1pm. I slept most of the way, but was the usual unrestful type, so I was happy to get to our hotel for a quick nap before heading back to the venue for soundcheck.

4/22/09 Visulite Theater, Charlotte, NC

Click here to stream free audio of the show!

We rolled out of Greensboro around noon, and I napped in my bunk through most of the short drive and load-in into the Visulite Theater. The venue was smaller than I was expecting, but this was fine with me, as the bigger the room gets, the tougher it is to dial in good sound on stage.

During our soundcheck/rehearsal, we worked on one of Johnny's tunes, "To The West Goodbye," that's on his band's new album. (Check 'em out: New Madrid Faults) This tune has a different sound than the rest of the material we've been doing, so I think it will add a nice element to the shows.

The show was pretty rockin'. The first set had a nice "Ice Cream" as well as the debut of Johnny's new tune, which went over quite well. The second set opened with an interesting combo of "Thing One > Long Form Part 4 > Thing One," which we basically executed according to plan. Later in the set, we had a very adventurous "Footprints" that went to some cool places.

I learned two things about Steve backstage at this show. One: The man does a pretty flawless Donald Duck impression. Two: He owns one of the silliest looking hoodies I've ever seen!

After the show, we set off to drive to Charleston SC. After a couple episodes of Family Guy, we stopped at a truck stop to fuel up and wash the bus. While the driver took care of business, the few of us that were awake amused ourselves in the truck stop convenience store, laughing over some tacky t-shirts, stuffed mechanical dogs, and crazy sunflower seed flavors like whiskey-soaked and caffeine-infused. (Chris bought some of the latter.) I had a craving for a chocolate milkshake and went into the diner to order one, but apparently none of the late-night staff knew how to prepare one as illustrated in Charlie's cell-phone photo of the mess created upon their attempt.

We arrived in Charleston around 7am, and being the only one awake when the bus stopped, I headed off to one of the highly coveted day rooms to catch some zzz's and a shower.

4/21/09 Greensboro, NC - Day Off!!

My day off was fairly uneventful, as it should be. We had arrived at the hotel around 7:30am that morning, so I was able to cash in on that elusive continental breakfast before hitting the sack until about 2pm. It was a confusing weather day, with sun one minute and rain the next, so I decided against venturing outside for the afternoon and instead lounged around the hotel and did a quick work-out in the fitness center. I did catch sight of a pretty sweet rainbow, though my cheap cell phone camera doesn't really do it justice!

Charlie and I hit up a local Japanese restaurant for dinner. Charlie was his usual embarrassing self, asking the hostess for the most romantic table, telling the hibachi chef it was my birthday (it wasn't), and threatening to propose to me in front of the entire restaurant. Keep in mind that this slimeball (term used affectionately, of course) is already engaged.

After dinner, I did some laundry at the hotel and amused myself with American Idol and other trashy TV shows. Sleep didn't come too easily since I had woken up so late that day, but at the very least, I was appreciating the stationary bed, as the next 2 nights will be spent on the bus. Joy joy.

The next 5 day run starts in Charlotte, where I'm currently typing this blog entry from the skanky backstage area. Looks to be a cool venue though, so hopefully I will have good reports in tomorrow's wrap up. Thanks for reading!

4/20/09 Ram's Head, Annapolis, MD

Click here to stream free audio of the show!

We woke up to a rather dreary and rainy day in Virginia. Charlie had sneakily scored us a late checkout of the hotel by dropping the manager's name to the hotel's night clerk when we checked in late the night before, so I was happy to get a decent night's sleep.

We made the short drive over to the Ram's Head in Annapolis. It seemed like a quaint little town, but it was too rainy to do much exploring, so I just camped out at a table in the venue with my laptop while the crew set up the stage.

This was another seated venue like the Fairfield show. While I usually prefer a crowd that is up and dancing, I'm kind of warming up to the seated venues, because you get the crowd engaged in more of a "jazz club" type of way.

We had a substantial soundcheck, which we have renamed "Rehearsal" on the itineraries, working on a few new tunes including a silly post-show bus sing along from the night before. We'll see what happens with that one!

Dinner was served at the venue, and once again I continued to eat very well on this trip with a tasty veggie burrito as my meal of choice.

The house got fairly full by the time we started, and we opened with an appropriate jazzy number called "Soul Roach." Highlight from the first set was "Tangled Hangers" which had a very open and conversational jam and pushed some boundaries of what we've normally been doing. Second set featured a new tune, Charles Mingus' "Better Get Hit in Your Soul," a jazz blues in 3/4 with a very catchy melody. Johnny played a very tasteful drum solo on this one!

The show wrapped up on the early side, and then we hit the bus for a 6 hour drive to Greensboro, NC for a day off. After a few episodes of "Family Guy," I hit the bunk and crashed the rest of the way to NC. I think I'm getting better at this sleeping-on-the-bus thing!

4/19/09 State Theatre, Falls Church, VA

We had to hit the road to Falls Church at 9:30am, so I basically rolled out of bed at the hotel right into my bunk on the bus, with a quick stop at the hotel's free continental breakfast...an occasion that I am usually never awake for so I try to take advantage of it when I do happen to be awake.

The trip to Falls Church was quicker than we expected, and I spent most of it in a half-slumber in my bunk. When we arrived, I walked around the town a bit with Charlie, stopping at CVS and a Chinese place, with my 4th dog pet of the trip on the way.

While awaiting soundcheck, I grabbed a shower in the venue's green room, and was faced with the daunting decision of which venue-provided towel was the least disgusting option to dry off with....yikes.

At soundcheck, we worked really hard on the actual stage sound, trying to use as little monitors as possible so we could all be in a similar sonic space on stage. I had a good balance of the other musicians and was not experiencing any of the venue's notorious "slapback" echo from the back wall, but the sound was slightly wimpy with not a lot of bottom end. We checked out a new reggae-ish tune called "Premature" (which we later performed that night, prematurely, pardon the pun. It didn't totally suck, but could have benefitted from a bit more rehearsal time.)

After soundcheck, I had dinner at an Italian place down the block with my parents, sister, and a few of my sister's friends, who had all driven down from Harrisburg and Philly.

The first set of the show was a little tough for me, since the set was mainly comprised of tunes that the band had either never or rarely performed live. The second set was a little more locked, and we closed with a raging version of "Down By the Riverside" with Melvin taking the lead on getting the band and crowd fired up.

After the show, I got to hang out with Ted, an old friend from college, and then the band crashed at a nearby hotel.

Btw, a new addition to the blog is the inclusion of free streaming audio from the shows, which will be posted after the fact if/when it becomes available. A few recent additions include 4/18/09 NYC, 4/16/09 Burlington, 4/4/09 Eugene, 4/2/09 Bend, and 3/26/09 Crystal Bay. Jump to the blog postings from that day to click the audio link and listen while you read!

4/18/09 BB King's, New York, NY

Click here to stream free audio of the show!

We set off from Fairfield at the totally reasonable hour of noon and headed into NYC. We arrived into the clusterf*ck that is Times Square, and while the crew loaded in, I set off to find myself some New York pizza....of course preceded by plenty of whining that I was hungry and wanted some pizza. It was a nice day and the streets were bustling with tourists, but I weaved my way through the madness and found a family-owned pizza joint just around the corner and dropped $3 on a slice.

I had plenty of time to kill before soundcheck, but I had enough of the busy city streets with my pizza run and decided to just chill at BB's until go time.

Soundcheck was brief but entertaining, with Steve's 5-year-old son, Skyler, joining in the jams with a shaker and some killer dance moves. Watch out for this kid; he's gonna be the most famous Kimock yet!

We had dinner at BB's, and I got an insane amount of mac 'n' cheese, sauteed veggies, and a baked potato. Doctor Lora was on hand with Chocolate Pomegranates, so I was happy and fed.

The show was a marathon 2+ hour set with no break. We played a pretty cool "It's Up to You" and a cookin' "Hillbillies on PCP." We walked off stage not planning on doing an encore but the crowd wouldn't let up. The final test was throwing Steve's hat out onstage from backstage, and the crowd went wild, so we returned to the stage with "Slow Down" and then called it a night.

After the show, I got to hang out with Margie, my old college roommate, and to meet her new boyfriend, Dennis. Both were sufficiently toasted from several buckets of Coors, and we had a good time catching up.

Loading out was insane as Times Square at 11pm on a Saturday night was even crazier than in the afternoon. Although I could barely even tell that it was nighttime as the lights from the buildings cast an eerie daytime-ish glow over the entire block.

The bus finally rolled out and we trekked our way back to the Comfort Inn in Bethlehem to crash for the night.

4/17/09 Fairfield Theater Company, Fairfield, CT

Click here to stream free audio of the show!


We drove overnight from VT and arrived in Fairfield around 8am on Friday. I caught a few hours of sleep on the bus, but was so thankful to get to the hotel and sleep in a real (and stationary) bed for a good six hours before heading over to soundcheck.

The venue was small and had kind of a jazz club meets high school auditorium vibe. It was all seating with no dance floor, so I was wondering what kind of reaction to expect from the crowd, who is usually up and dancing for our shows.
The best part about the venue was the fact that Boyz II Men has a show there next month, so it was a real honor to play on the same stage as my favorite crooners from the 90's, who I can't believe are still touring.

After soundcheck, Kimock fan and local restaurant proprietor, Dave, took Johnny and me to his restaurant, Chef's Table. I got an amazing burrito (Thanks Dave!!), and got to pet a really cute Golden Retriever on the way back (Note: updated dog count = 3!!).



The show went really well. The crowd, despite being seated, was engaged and enthusiastic. Steve had a lot more smiles than the previous night, and Johnny was raging on the kit. We had some memorable versions of "Ice Cream" and "Footprints", which somehow started out in 4/4 and ended in 3/4. The Girls got the crowd up in their seats for the last tune ("It's Your Thing") and I capped it off with a rock star jump at the end.

4/16/09 Higher Ground, Burlington, VT

Click here to stream free audio of the show!

While awaiting soundcheck, dinner was served in the greenroom...an awesome buffet of salad, rice pilaf, a portabella cheesy thing, some broccoli and a couple meaty choices that I didn't care about. The food was amazing!

After soundcheck, I got to hang out a bit with my cousin Kim who lives in Burlington and came out for the show. Over some casual introductory conversation with Steve in the green room, we both learned that Steve was a legitimate shepherd for over 5 years of his life. A freakin' shepherd, seriously.

The show went well, but the crowd was a bit different than the West Coast division...a bit more low key. Charlie wrote the set tonight and did a good job varying it up with some different tunes. We debuted a few new ones, including "Why Can't We Be Friends," "Long Form Part 4," and a really pretty "Stella Blue."

After the show, I chatted with some fans and got to pet two super cute dogs that were running around the parking lot. (For those who want to keep score along with me, to the left, I'll be tallying up all the dogs I get to pet on this trip!)

The bus was leaving after the show for our show tomorrow in Connecticut, so we all piled on after the fairly quick gear load-out, thanks to the crew and stagehands. The Girls were quick to break out the wine and got nice and tipsy, but almost everyone crashed pretty early, leaving me with my blog and some DirecTV with spotty reception, though I still managed to watch most of an episode of the Dog Whisperer without too many interruptions.

Off to my bunk...see you in Connecticut!

"The bus came by, and I got on. That's when it all began."

"The bus came by, and I got on. That's when it all began." - Grateful Dead

I woke up today at the ungodly hour of 7am to depart from Pennsylvania for the first show of the tour in Burlington VT. I dragged myself out of bed and looked out the window of my hotel room to find the sweet tour bus in the parking lot. I was running on just a few hours of sleep, but jumped into gear to go check out my new digs.



The bus is cozy and cushy, with a lounge and kitchen in the front, bunks in the middle, and a smaller lounge in the back. My first task was choosing my bunk, which is a serious decision for such a prissy sleeper like me. I grabbed a top bunk, later to be changed to a different top bunk after tossing and turning through Melvin's snoring across from me for the first few hours of the ride. (Thanks Chris!) While a slight upgrade in comfort from the back bench seat in the FGC van, the bunk is nonetheless a bit claustrophic and is a lot more wiggly of a ride than the van. But I managed to score a few hours of much needed sleep.

We arrived at the venue 8 hours later, where I currently await soundcheck while the crew sets up all the gear. Steve just brought me some kick-ass Baklava so now my hands are too sticky to type any more. Stay tuned for reports on the show a little bit later tonight.

Welcome to my blog!

Hello all! I decided to start a blog on my recent and upcoming tours with Steve Kimock Crazy Engine, so that my friends, family, and anyone else who may care can see what I'm up to on my travels. And I guess even if no one cares, at least it's mildly entertaining to ME, so there. :-P

Below is a recap of my West coast tour a couple weeks ago. I wrote it all in one blast on the plane ride home to Chicago and posted it below in daily chunks. I hope to offer real-time daily updates on the upcoming East coast tour, which starts in a few days.

Any suggestions, comments, requests, etc....feel free to send 'em my way.

See you on the road!!

4/6/09 Heading home to Chicago!

We left Chico for San Francisco, dropping off the Girls to meet their hubbies north of the city. Charlie and I had plenty of time to kill before our flights, so we hit up a Verizon store since Charlie had geniusly smashed his phone in the hatchback of our car when loading up at the hotel that morning. All went well, and I’m on the flight home spread out in my own row as I type this blog. Stay tuned for attempted daily updates from the east coast tour, starting April 16!!

4/5/09 Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Chico, CA

This was a pretty cool venue. It was AT the brewery itself, and they had a viewing room for the huge vats where they make the beer. The music room was fairly large, with kind of a fancy shmacy atmosphere. We had zero soundcheck whatsoever since the crew was a bit late with their arrival, and it was an early start (7:30) with doors at 5pm. A bit unnerving since I was using an amp provided by the venue and had no time to check it out. Brian got things fairly dialed in during the first song and we all survived, though Melvin was suffering pretty bad with a terrible in-ear mix. He still wailed, though!

The show was sold out, but you wouldn’t have guessed it since the room could have accommodated about twice the people in there. It seemed that they just sold enough tickets to fill the actual tables and chairs in the back, but most people ended up on the dance floor anyway. It was a fun show, with a marathon 2+ hour set, with lots of stage time for The Girls.



I got to enjoy some chat time with fans after the show, including not one, but TWO, dog-pettings of Scorpio, a black lab guide dog, and Rider, a spaniel/husky-looking mix.

Our usually punctual ride back to the hotel was lagging due to Charlie dealing with the final merch settling, but we didn’t mind since the show ended rather early at 10pm. It was fun to stay late enough to actually witness the gear load-out, which I had missed at every other load-out on the tour. Mind you, I still did not HELP with the load!

4/4/09 McDonald Theater, Eugene, OR

Click here to stream free audio of the show!

We scored a 1pm checkout from our Portland hotel, and I chilled in the lobby while the rest of my car stuffed face at Denny’s across the street. The drive to Eugene was short, and we went straight to the venue since our hotel was out of town on the way to the next show. The venue was another big and intimidating room, and I was back to using a different rented Ampeg head. I thought the sound on stage was better than Portland, though.

After soundcheck, I ate at a Japanese restaurant down the street, with Jay Haser, a bass buddy from MI who I hadn’t seen since 2003 I think. Oregon was certainly THE state for seeing old friends, and Jay was totally “rad” all around. That’s his catch word, and I’m determined to work it into my vocabulary. Anyway, the restaurant had this rad electronic toilet with all kinds of buttons to blast your ass with liquids or air or whatever suits your fancy. I won’t tell you what suited mine. Speaking of toilets, check out the funny sign posted in the bathroom in the backstage greenroom!



Before the show, Steve asked Johnny and me to take a few more chances with the jams. I think that may have slightly upset the comfortable groove we had settled into over the past few shows, so the improv sections were a bit more unsteady than I would have liked. But we learned from it, and I think it will help us continue to develop as a rhythm section. We did have some cool moments in “Footprints” that resulted from Steve’s suggestions. Another highlight was Steve sporting a WWJD shirt for the entire second set of the show, and that was very cool! Hoping it will boost sales!



After the show, we drove an hour to our hotel and fell down for 6 hours before an early start to Chico the next day.

4/3/09 Aladdin Theater, Portland, OR

We didn’t have to get too early of a start to Portland, but the drive still seemed to take forever, with the usual many stops and a roundabout route to avoid roads closed due to snow, but it was a pretty drive. We arrived in Portland to find that our soundcheck was pushed back even more than its usual delay so I had a few moments to catch my breath at the hotel.

The venue was very impressive and a definite step up from the previous few nights, but its bigness made for a slightly boomy sound on stage, which is never good for bass. We were a bit rushed for time after soundcheck, so I ate a light dinner of a cheese sandwich and cereal in the green room, and got to hang a bit with another old friend, Steve, who I hadn’t seen for about 8 years and was in town for the show.

The show went fairly well, but the bigness of sound made it a bit frustrating to be connected and adventurous with the improvised sections.



I did one of my signature ending jumps at the end of the show, and during the usual end-of-show introductions, Steve announced: “On electric bass and leaps....Janis Wallin.” The crowd went crazy! I better work on my moves for the upcoming shows!

After the show, I was absolutely starving, so one of my local musician buddies, Asher, took Steve and me to a latenight diner. They ordered the vegan falafel sandwich (adding bacon…blasphemy!) and I opted for a souped up grilled cheese sandwich before recalling that I had already had several incarnations of bread and cheese that day (leftover pizza for breakfast, cold cheese sandwich for dinner). Oh well, it was good and I enjoyed hanging with Steve and Asher.

Thanks to Joe Malnar for the photo!

4/2/09 Domino Room, Bend, OR

Click here to stream free audio from the show!

We hit the road at a god-awful 10am, and proceeded on the 7 hour drive to Bend, Oregon. It was not fun whatsoever, but a very pretty drive, and Charlie did a decent job dealing with my neuroses as we drove through a few snowy spots. My main freak-out of the day was not the snow, but the fact that I had left my hat at the venue the night before. I lamented about it all day long, but when I arrived at the venue, my hat was waiting for me on my amp, rescued by Chris the night before. Thanks Chris!!

The venue was interesting. One half of it was a huge rollerskating rink, and the other half was the venue. Neither half was heated so they had space heaters blasting everywhere.

The highlight of Bend was meeting up with my friend Kevin who I hadn’t seen or had any contact with in about 12 years. We found each other on Facebook within the past 6 months or so, and I was ecstatic to be playing in his hometown. Another sweet dog sighting as he and his wife, Darcy, brought along their adorable puppy. We grabbed some dinner at a local pizza place and quickly caught up on each other’s lives.

The show was packed and went well. I saw a fan in the crowd sporting a WWJD shirt, so that was fun. And once again, Johnny was continuing to own on the drums, and we had some fun improv jams. We opened with “Thing One,” and when we returned to the head at the end, I looked up and both Steve and Melvin were looking at me and smiling. The looks lingered so long that I quickly became paranoid that I was playing the wrong thing and looked down at my hands several times to make sure I was on the right frets, all the while looking back up and still seeing both of them smiling at me. Apparently, they were just digging the moment!

After the show, I hit a latenight diner with Kevin and Darcy and got to enjoy some more quality time. Again, I appreciated that I could split right after the show and not have to deal with any of the load-out.

4/1/09 Red Fox Tavern, Eureka, CA

Another two night run at the same venue, which meant lots of relaxation at the hotel on Day 2. In the afternoon, I hit up a health food store with Chris and Charlie and grabbed some interesting snacks, but for the most part was cooped up at the hotel working on my computer. We had a fairly substantial rehearsal at the venue in the late afternoon, working out some new tunes and trying to get the monitors a little better. After soundcheck, I went to grab some Japanese takeout with The Girls, which ended up taking for-fucking-ever, so my pre-show meal was a bit rushed. ("While We Wait For Japanese Food"???)

The show was another relaxed one, and we had some more cool jams. We pulled out a new one called "Soul Roach," a fairly standard bluesy type tune that's a lot of fun to play. We ended the 2nd set a bit early due to the next day's early start and long drive. At this point, I started to really appreciate the fact that I could basically walk off stage and get a ride to the hotel almost instantly, without having to do a single bit of teardown. Thanks to the crew!!