2001-04-12 - 3:41 p.m.
Hey, Here's the stuff i wrote on Matt's computer while riding on our dear bus.
Wednesday April 4, 2001
I have walking pneumonia. Joy. Perfect way to start off a tour. Django and Brent are jamming in the back of the bus, Christina is driving and Johnny Paycheck is playing on the jambox. Stan was asleep within ten minutes of climbing on the bus. Boom boom, out go the lights. We’re on our way out west. Tonight we play in San Angelo, Tx. While I was writing that last sentence I looked up and noticed that we were crossing the Llano bridge. I screamed “Hey are we in Llano?”
“Yeah,” Christina shouted back.
“Let’s go to Cooper’s!”
I gotta tell you about Cooper’s BBQ. I’ve had dry rub in Memphis, brisket in Kansas City, sausage in Lockhardt and chopped beef in San Antonio but nowhere in the world have I had anything as good as Cooper’s in Llano, Tx. You walk up to the pit and pick your meat right off of the grill, brisket, sausage, ribs, goat, sirloin, pork chops, all grilled to perfection. The damn pork chops are as thick as my thumb is long. All served with a delicious thin, tangy vinegar based sauce. We stopped and chowed down. It’s heaven, I feel so much better. Now we’re listening to Louvin Bros. Hurray! The wild flowers are in full bloom. Bluebonnets all over the side of the highway. Spring is a great time to travel. In the pines, in the pines where the sun never shines and you shiver when the cold winds blow. “Knoxville Girl” is on, did I ever tell you my whole thing about murder ballads? Ok, here it is in a nutshell. A lot of gangsta rap has the same sensibilities, morals and values as old country murder ballads. Yes friends you can find the same themes in Getto Boys as you can in Porter Waggoner, NWA and Johnny Paycheck, it’s a beautiful thing. I wrote a piece once for Billboard Magazine about the emergence of swing, lounge and old country. You can find it if you do a Wammo search, I think it’s called “Mutant Music is the New Alternative” I don’t know, I didn’t title the damn thing, I also didn’t put in all the goofy punctuation. The head of my old record label did that. Boo. That guy and I could just never see eye to eye. Jeez, the crap I went through making “Fat Headed Stranger”, I tell ya. If anyone finds that piece put the address on the guest book and I’ll put a link to it up. Or have I already done that? God, I don’t know, I’m not online right now and besides, I have walking pneumonia!
Thursday April 5, 2001
The gig last night went pretty well. Killer club, The Steel Penny. They have a whole set of guest bedrooms in the back of the club for the bands, plus a shower with clean towels, a TV, fridge, pretty much all you need. The only other club I’ve ever seen with a setup like that was in Gronigen, way the hell over there in Holland. I had to run off stage and cough my brains out during the first set. We cut a bunch of my tunes out. I had to lie down. Walking pneumonia is so much fun. Anyway, we ate at a greasy spoon this morning and started our 400 plus mile drive from San Angelo to El Paso. Now Christina, Stan and Django are crashed, Matt’s up front listening to tunes, Mikey’s driving, Brent is in the back, playing guitar. Now Django is gonna take over driving, Lord help us all. His attention span is shorter than mine.
Hi, back to the present. I'm Goleta, Ca. We had fun yesterday in LA, except that we got totally ripped off by the club. We were paid a mere pittance compared to the crowd that came out to see us. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. We got to hang out with my friend, Kent. He produced my "Too Much Light In This Bar" video (by the way, I should put that up on the net somewhere). We did some Hollywood business, hopefully it will pan out. Other than that, things are pretty good. I feel better. I haven't had a smoke since the Sunday before we left and I'm sporting a serious Trainspotting jones. Ach, mine head is spinning.
