2002-07-29 - 9:27 p.m.
A long time ago, I started a palm pilot tour diary. I just found my first entries. So, here they are.
Jan, 28th 2002
On the road again with the Spankers. There's always a new guy on every tour, this time the new guy just happens to be Guy Forsyth. Guy and I dreamed up this band togethwr. It's great to have him back. Beepbeep I'm writing on the Palm Vx and keyboard I got for Christmas. Just another slave to science. We're driving through west Texas, big sky country. The moon is a full fat yellow lazy horizon tick. The highway once again rumbles its constant hum. Tuscon, here we come.
Jan 30
Just had breakfast at our favorite diner inTuscon. On the way to Flagstaff. Last night's gig went well, especially for the first gig of the tour. Guy played really well, it's great to have him back. He definitely ups the energy anti. Flagstaff is always fun, then it's on to Phoenix - which can be hit or miss.
Christina's driving, Guy's in the back, reading his paper, the rest of the guys are following in the other van. I would really like to work on some new marterial. It's times like this when I miss the bus. Man, that old bus was a serious pain in the ass at times but it was great for working on new songs. I could just grab Brent or Christina and go to the back to show them what I'd been working on.
2/1/02
On the road to LA. Last night's gig in Phoenix rocked pretty fucking hard. Things are really coming together with Guy. It feels like the old days, the Out House days. I gave myself a good talking to about trying to keep my ego in check (a mammoth job by the way). Guy can really command the spotlight and the trick is to relish his musical talent and still be confident of my own. I have to admit that I felt pretty insecure about my harmonica playing when the Spankers first started. I had put the harp down for a few years before the band started, only playing it once in a while. ßack in my college days I was the resident badass but when you stop playing, your licks get stale. Guy's chops were frightening and inspiring at the same time. But now I feel like I can stand toe to toe with him. Our styles are different, he comes from a more Little Walter/Sonny Boy Williamson school, whereas my big influence is Sonny Terry. We compliment each other well and our harp rumble each night is based on collaboration rather than competition. It's one of my favorite parts of the show.
Tonight we'll see a lot of friends, Dr. Demento is coming, as well as John Hawkes, who plays the driver on Faster Than The Speed Of Suck. My buddy Kent Adamson, who produced my Too Much Light video is giving my wild ass friend, Kat a ride to the show. They've never met and because of me, they'll be hangin' out. I love it when shit like that happens. Bringing people together, I am the ambassador of party central.
2/02/2002 I am sitting at a wedding, waiting to play. It's that odd period between the actual ceremony and showtime. All of the guests are chatting away happily, some will come up and ask the same old questions, "What kind of music do you play? Do you know this song? What kind of guitar is that?" Questions I loathe answering. The worst part of it is, you can't smart off or be cynical. You have to paste a cheesy smile on your face and be polite. It's not like going to a show where your fans know what to expect. But as soon as you start playing eueryone starts to chill and haue fun.
2/4/02
On my way to San Fransisco. My throat is ragged, trying not to smoke. It's tough, brother.
2/6/02
Well now, I'm chilling in San Jose. This is kind of a slow day. San Fran went well. I got to see Frank Orrall of Poi Dog Pondering fame. He's an old pal. He was with John Nelson, my old drummer for Clang. He later became Poi Dog's percussionist. It was great to see them both.
OLYMPIA
Yesterday was the first day off of the tour. A bunch of us went to the Experience Music Project. I saw the guitar Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock. For some reason, I almost burst into tears when I saw it. They also had one of his journals, open to My Oh My Sweet Angel.. His handwriting was surprisingly feminine. Lots of loops and curls, very psychedelic.
Valentine's Day
We're driving through Washington, my God is it beautiful. Snow on rolling hills and mountains. The highway winds and grinds through a land that seems impassable. Todays drive will be a bitch. At least 14 hours until we can't stand it anymore, then pull in to a motel,crash, get up and drive the rest of the way to Denver. Fun, fun,fun.
2/15/02
Last night was a scary ride. I drove the last shft. Christina and Guy were crashed and the roads were icy in spots. I kept thinking back to the time Graham, Jacob and I threesixtied the van off of I-20 in the snow. Scary. This van is a lot more squirrelly than that one was. It was quite an ordeal.
Just woke up from a nap. Had a hard time sleeping last night. The thing is, i have tinitus, a constant ringing in my ears. (I've probably mentioned this before.) It all stems back from my rock days. Anyway, I have to sleep with the TV`on. It's the only thing that keeps the high pitched squealing in my head from waking me up. Well, no one else in the band wants to sleep with the TV on. Mikey used to room with me because it didn't bother him. Now he's gone. Christina tried valiantly to put up with the TV but last night she told me that she just couldn't take it anymore, so I turned the thing off. I woke up six times during the night. She suggested that I might have to start paying for my own room. Man, I'd never make any money on tour if that went down. I gotta figure something out. I've tried putting a discman on repeat but i always lose the headphones when I toss and turn. Then I wake up to the squeal. It really sucks and I don't know what to do except try to get as much sleep as I can and then nap in the van. Of course that means I'd be shirking my driving responsibilities. It's a total fuckjob, I tell ya.
Later, I'm sitting in a shitty dive in Denver. This place belongs in a Bukowski book. This is where we're playing. Jeez, this place is a bit of a let down compared to the other rooms we've been playing. Not that it's automatically gonna be a shitty gig or anything, we have a lot of fans in this town. Speaking of which, a woman named Sarah, who I had a drink with the last time we were here, just gave me an erotic present (she works in the sex toy industry) I can't wait to take it home and try it out. Now Tom Waits just started pouring out of the jukebox. See? Things are looking up already.
2/16/02
Well guess what, the gig last night kinda sucked. When I say kinda, I mean just that. It wasn't all bad. When you play a shitty little dive like that, (the kind of bar I like to hang out in) you must sometimes deal with people in an intimate atmosphere, who have no interest in your show. They're there to drink, talk and usea band as background music. Well that's just dandy for bands that use amplification and play so loud that people have to scream at each other to be heard. But the spankers are a band that demands audience attention. We have the balls to play our music raw and unaided by microphones. There is not another band like us and if we used amplification, we'd be just another bunch of musicians seperating themselves from their audience with volume. Fuck that. It's funny, some towns get it. Some don't. Seattle got it, Eugene didn't. San Fransisco - yes. Denver - no.
