At this point, I really have no excuse. I’ve left you on the edge of your seats for weeks now, and your fingernails are probably chewed to bits. Really the only way to punish me would be to discontinue reading my blog, but then, that would really only be punishing yourself, don’t you think?

At a day show in Columbia, SC on the 23rd, Kasey and Chip played with Bess Rogers and Leila Broussard, two female singer/songwriters on tour together from New York and California, and each accompanied by a piano player from Portland. I liked the venue; a narrow, poorly lit basement with art slung on the walls and christmas lights framing the stage. I used to think that an eight dollar cover charge would be enough to convince a person that they’re paying to listen to live music, but at this show I was, alas, shown the light: people love to hear the sound of their own voices so much, that nothing, not even money, will stand in the way of achieving this feat. An interesting show, to say the least, followed by a long night of driving to Chip’s hometown of Raleigh, NC.

The following day, Kasey and i treated ourselves to a movie at what appeared to be an independent theater. I say this because the prices were excruciatingly reasonable. We saw Greenberg, starring Ben Stiller, and sort of liked it. It’s always tough to form a positive opinion about a movie that’s obviously trying to be weird, but Ben Stiller was great in a serious role (believe me?) and the sets were beautiful. You can definitely wait to see it on DVD, though.

That night, Kasey and Chip played at a venue owned by one of Chip’s close friends, and I was told there was a great turn out, though I was unable to attend and see for myself. So far on the trip, I have missed more shows than I am proud to admit, though through no fault of my own. My birthday is “just around the corner”, as my dad has reminded me, though it won’t be here soon enough to admit me in to the many bars left on the tour’s schedule.

On the 25th, the guys had an afternoon show at Sadlack’s , located right across from the North Carolina State University campus, which was gorgeous. It impressed me so much, in fact, that I wondered if some students were shallow enough to attend the college based on its looks. I might’ve.

We drove to Winston-Salem that night for a show at The Garage. Kasey had a few friends who came out, and the general turn out was great. People came up to buy merchandise between sets and asked to borrow markers for Kasey’s autograph. That has been one of the coolest parts of the tour so far for me.

It looked like a great town from what we saw, and Chip told us that the last time he’d played a show in Winston-Salem, none of the buildings surrounding the venue had even existed. On the drive back to Raleigh, we were unable to take the exit we needed due to road construction. Since that night, we have been absolutely defenseless against road construction and its partner in crime, terrible traffic, all along the east coast and across the Midwest.

We drove in to Washington, D.C. at around 4pm the next day and parked the car in an underground lot that looked similar to every other lot within its 20-block radius. This would be important information after we’d been walking around in the rain for two hours, were hungry and needed to get to the venue. It was near I St. and Connecticut. Remember that for us, okay?

Our first stop was the White House, which I’m embarrassed to admit was surprisingly small to me since I’d been under the impression that the president lived in the Capitol building my whole life. Not my top moment, folks.

Our next stop was the Washington Monument. I was noticing how many people were jogging through the area when it began sprinkling outside. As we made our way to the base of the monument in search of a bathroom, it was drizzling out, and Chip, Kasey and I were collectively dressed in two sweatshirts and one pair of flip flops. After locating necessary shelter, I took it upon myself to purchase three ponchos from a gift shop at the monument. Needless to say, we. Looked. Awesome.

We rustled (literally) our way over to the Lincoln Memorial and walked toward it alongside the man-made pond. Inhabited by many creatures, the pond had been assumed a home to a few different families of ducks and their ducklings. One family in particular caught my attention as I was sauntering down the pond nearby their clan. The family had begun moving toward the edge of the pond, in my direction, only a few feet away from where I had just been. I turned to watch as mother, and then father ducks hopped up on to the cement pathway and began waddling toward the grassy lawn. The ducklings all huddled around each other in a frantic manner, as they could no longer see their parents nor any possible way to achieve this comfort again. But what was this? A broken stone where the concrete met had created a sort of cheat for these little ducks, so desperate for the attention of their now missing parents. The first duck tried, but could not reach. The next duck tried, but lost his balance. The third duck tried, and disappeared from his brothers and sisters, then hobbled toward his expressionless parents. Each duck hopped up after what seemed like futile attempts until there were only two left behind in the water. I turned around and saw that Kasey had wandered up the pond without me, but I couldn’t leave yet. There were only two ducks left! They tried and tried again at the crack in the stone, but to no avail. They swam furiously along the wall of the pond to find a way, any way, to reach the top. They swam toward me, and then stopped. They swam back to the crack. They swam to me. I had to go. I never did see what happened to the last two ducks, though I hoped for the best.

Watching this interaction caused me to grin, to feel peaceful, and then to compare its circumstances to my own life. I looked around and felt graced to be on such an adventure, to have my health (not for long, however, since the combination of bare feet and exposure to rain really does lead to a common cold), and to have so much ahead of me to learn. While not knowing what may be on the side opposite my own pond wall, I have a support system in my life that encourages me to forge ahead and at least bluff bravery. I want to take this small moment in time to give special thanks to every person in my life that encourages and believes in me. You know who you are, and you’re great.

The Lincoln Memorial itself was also smaller than I had expected, though I suppose I have only ever seen it against the backdrop of too many children’s movies. I will say that I blessed the rain for this experience, though, since each of the hundreds of tourists surrounding us had umbrellas in different colors and created and image in my mind I doubt I’ll forget. Had it not been raining, I’d have a visual for you as well, but your imagination will have to do for you since my Canon is not waterproof. One of my favorite things to do is people-watch, and I’ve learned through my travels to read a few different expressions. One that is not hard to make sense of is an eager expression on a person’s face, camera in hand but tongue caught in throat. “Would you like me to take a picture for you?” is my favorite question to ask when I’m traveling. Even though I’ll never see this person again, and they’ll never remember who took the photo, the look of relief on their face and the smile they hold while I push down the shutter is a guilty pleasure of mine that I fear I’ll never be rid of. After taking pictures of a few strangers against Lincoln’s great statue, we meandered our way to the Vietnam War Memorial.

As the rain let up, something heavier replaced it. First, we passed by a book of names, sheltered from the rain and weather in laminated form and protected underneath a plate of glass with room enough for your hands to fit and turn the pages. The names in the book were the ones we’d see on the wall, as we walked down and then up again next to a stretch of wet marble slabs bearing the memory of the men lost in the Vietnam War.

Now we’re ready to get back to the car. We’re hungry, we’re wet, we’re tired, and we need to be somewhere. But where did we park the car? We walked back through the area of downtown belonging to the campus of George Washington University, and our ponchos implied that we weren’t heading to class. But our confused faces were what implied that we didn’t know where the car was. Through the cigar-tainted air, we made our way around hundreds of businessmen and women and eventually sighed relief when we located the garage at I St. and Connecticut. Thanks for remembering.

Dinner at Whole Foods was shared quietly in a booth before we drove to The Red and The Black, a venue conveniently located in the middle of a block that was entirely blocked off for construction. I dropped the guys off (since even they got carded) and headed to Chinatown, a part of D.C. where even the Subway sign was in Chinese. I had to buy some time, so I spent it on How to Train Your Dragon. Yes, again, folks. If you haven’t made the time yet to see it, you don’t know what you’re missing. Kids movies are hardly for kids anymore.

We spent the night in Baltimore, MD in a Holiday Inn Express that was located inside of an old bank building. The architecture in the main lobby indicated this fact to be true, and so did the plumbing. Just as we were getting in to bed, I made the mistake of assuming that Baltimore must be a safe city since it’s located so close to the Capitol, and admitting this assumption to Kasey. Silly me though, since according to Kasey it has also been known as Bodymore, Murderland. Sleep tight?

The next afternoon (I’ve been in the habit of skipping mornings when possible), Kasey took me to an edge of town on the water. First we got coffee, then walked around, checked out a comic book shop, took pictures of the Broadway Market, and spotted a hotdog joint. It beckoned me, what can I say?

After hotdogs, we were on a mission. Kasey’s friend David, who we had dinner with in Seattle at the beginning of the tour, had a friend in Baltimore that owned a pie shop called Dangerously Delicious. Though its website advertised many different flavors, only a few were available by slice upon our visit. I will say that I was disappointed in learning this, though not so disappointed about what happened shortly afterwards. Insert your imagination here.

Kasey has a lot of connections, it turns out, and Chip and I were able to benefit from one of them that evening. He knows a beat writer for the New York Yankees, who happened to be in town playing the Orioles since they happened to be meeting the president the day before since they happened to win the World Series last year. And his friend happened to be able to get us some pretty okay seats at this very decent stadium. Besides searching for a pretzel for 25 minutes, the freezing temperature outside, the Yankee’s loss that night and leaving the game early, the game was perfect. Kasey took this great photo from our great seats and then we headed to the Golden West for a show with Peter Schmader, whom I would soon learn was one of the nicest human beings alive.

We arrived a little after nine and were immediately introduced to Peter, who would be opening for Chip and Kasey. While we waited for a couple to finish their dinner on what would be the stage for the show, Peter told us about himself and what it meant to him for Kasey to be playing a show that night. While I won’t divulge personal details, I will say that it had been a while since Peter had played, and though nervous and out of practice, he played magnificently. Accompanied by a second man on a second yellow electric guitar, Peter sang a handful of cover tunes in a gruff and modest voice and to the total satisfaction of his audience. It was a great venue, and a great pleasure to meet Peter.

The next day was my day. This was the day I had been looking forward to for a majority of the trip. I began by sending a text message to my family, warning that if they heard from a hospital about heart attack I’d just suffered, that it was okay, and that I was happy. We were heading to Philadelphia, PA, home of the Philly cheese steak sandwich.

While in Hot Springs, AR, Kasey and I watched a television program on the travel channel that hosted the 101 best places to eat in America. Tied for the same spot, I learned that Pat’s and Geno’s were two competing businesses located right across the street from each other in South Philly, and apparently they both had the best Philly cheese steak sandwich. I would test this, I decided. And test this I did. I bought a sandwich from Pat’s, and Kasey hid around the corner with my sandwich as I ran across the street to Geno’s and repeated the transaction. “One Philly cheese steak with onions, please,” I would request of who I assumed were Pat and Geno, and each in response “Here you go, sweetheart.” Eat your heart out.

After a thorough analysis of each sandwich, I decided that indeed, they did deserve the same recognition. While Pat’s cheese was more to my liking, I determined that the longer it was taking me to eat the sandwiches, the better Geno’s was lasting. I couldn’t finish the sandwiches for fear that I would keel over and die, but die I might has well have because those sandwiches really hit the spot.

We dropped Chip off at the train station so he could meet his lady friend Kori, and parked the car near the venue that night, The Tin Angel. We walked around the neighborhood and saw the Liberty Bell, Kasey had a slice of pizza from a brick oven pizzeria, and we headed in to the venue. Still feeling undernourished and with time to spare before the show, Kasey and I walked ourselves right in to a date. We had dinner at the restaurant below the venue, and Kasey ordered chicken potpie while I dared to try the chilled strawberry ginger soup. Despite having eaten not long ago, our dinner was amazing, and the date was nice, too.

Kasey and Chip each played a forty-five minute set, I sold a few CDs, and we headed to New York.

The morning of the 29th, we woke up, had breakfast and headed out to the Museum of Natural History. After fighting our way in to one too many kid-crowded elevators and seeing all that we came to see, we headed in to Central Park only to head right back out again toward Grimaldi’s Pizza in Brooklyn. I won’t say that the waft of the freshly baked pizza is what drew us there, since it was too far away for that to be physically possible, but it might as well have been.

A line forms on the sidewalk outside of the restaurant that is intended only to seat 50 and yet has 75 crammed inside. A man appears at the door to the restaurant long enough to call out a number also indicated on his fingers, and then shuffles the corresponding number of people from the line inside. He’s gone. Again he appears, and this process repeats itself three more times until we are the people shuffled inside by the man. Seated next to people on either side, Kasey and I feel inclined to figure out what we want quickly so that we too can be eating what everyone around us is so obviously enjoying. First though, two cokes. Kasey is sitting across from me and in front of tubs of freshly sliced vegetables in front of men twirling pizza dough. The lines for the bathroom stretch around the corner and toward our table, and people are shouting. Each of the four people sitting beside us is using their cell phones, and it’s obvious that the rest of our fellow diners are tourists or on their lunch breaks. Our pizza comes minutes after we’ve ordered it, and disappears even quicker. Thin, Italian-style crust and freshly melted mozzarella encompass salty olives, fresh mushrooms and curled pepperoni. The Italian waiters are rushing around us in a flurry as a calzone is delivered to our most immediate neighbors and the last drops of our cokes vanish like our pizza.

Outside of Grimaldi’s and underneath the Brooklyn Bridge, I hailed my first cab. While to some this may seem like a silly ritual, it was a great achievement to me; one that would mark the beginning of my newfound love for New York City. “Corner of 11th and Bleecker,” I said, instructing the man to take us to Magnolia Bakery.

Kasey and I squeezed our way in to and out of the crowded bakery with two cupcakes each. We spotted a bench at a park across the street and between what pigeons left behind, shamefully stuffed our faces with the frosted treats.

Walking down Bleecker Street is tough to do if your intention is not to spend money or eat food. We happened across a bakery that had strawberry rhubarb chess pie sitting in the window and mocking us in our cupcake-stuffed state. We walked past Bleecker Street Pizza whose aroma tickled the hairs in our noses as we trudged on, unable to think of eating another slice of, well, anything. How could we even look at food, you’re probably wondering. I’ll let you know when I’ve figured it out.

A mere two days later we needed to feed our baseball addiction, and so the Yankee Stadium called our names and we listened. We arrived late and the Yankees were losing to the White Sox by three runs. Around the sixth inning, however, they had caught up and were leading with one run. When they gave it up in the very next inning, we decided to cut our losses and head back to the hotel just in time to get stuck in a subway car. After a delayed trip back to the hotel, we cleaned up and headed out to Kasey’s show. First though, we were going to eat at Five Napkin Burger.

En route to the restaurant and six blocks from our destination, our cab was stopped behind ten or so cars that were blocked from entering the intersection at West 45th St. and 7th by two police officers on horseback. Kasey paid the cabbie and we decided to walk from there. As we approached the intersection and fought our way through the crowd, we overheard one of the police officers saying, “keep moving people, you don’t want to be around when this car explodes.” Kasey and I looked at each other and made confused faces but we had somewhere to be, so we just kept walking. It wasn’t until after we got back to the hotel room that night that Kasey’s friend Josh had sent a message telling him to turn on the news that we learned that there were actually explosive devices in the car and had it been properly detonated, there would have been casualties.

Though burger is in the name, I had eaten at this restaurant before and knew for a fact that their five napkin dog was the best hot dog I’d ever had. Since I knew of places in the NW where I could get a good burger, I ordered the hot dog again. There was a bit of a mix up in the ordering process, so the toppings came on the side. This was easily amended, however. By my appetite.

Eric “Roscoe” Ambel produced three of Kasey’s albums, and owns the bar that he and Chip and Roscoe played at that night, The Lakeside Lounge. Before heading to the bar though, we stopped at Roscoe’s so he and Kasey could practice a couple of songs before the show. In October 2009, Kasey, Chip and Roscoe played a show together with a stand-in drummer and bass guitar player and took turns alternating songs. It went well, since they had practiced, so they thought they’d try it again tonight. Though the venue was small, the crowd was not, and even unrehearsed sounded great. The guys played a full set, took off their instruments and began to put them away, but the crowd insisted that they keep playing. One more song was all they cranked out, but it had a lot more to do with noise control than anything else. I’d never seen Kasey play with a band before, and it was a lot of fun to watch. They sounded great together, and my ears were ringing when they were done.

Outside after the show, I met Justin Townes Earle and his fiancé, who came out to see Kasey play.

Albany was our stop the next night, and Kasey and Chip’s last show together. The venue, Valentine’s, was located right next to a Laundromat. Little do you know, I’d been waiting for this moment the whole trip. It’s the littlest things in life that can really take a load off. 85 pound loads for just eight dollars!

The following day, Kasey had canceled a show in Pittsburgh, and so we drove first to Niagara Falls, and then to Erie, PA to stay in a hotel on the lake. It was a nice day off.

I’m only a couple of days behind now, but my next post will be more prompt. Or it won’t. But if you’ve read this far, you’re probably hooked by now, no matter what. Am I right?

Still living vicariously through my travel log while you push the paper? Come one, come all, and join me in my reflection of gluttonous adventure. More about food per your request…

All Good Cafe in Dallas, TX was the venue on April 15th. We arrived at our hotel mid-afternoon and were engulfed mid-lobby by balloons. The Sheraton in Dallas was hosting a balloon convention, if you’ve ever heard of such a thing. I wish I’d taken a picture for you, but I don’t really. It was as hectic as it sounds.

We had dinner with Chip and Isaac at the venue, which is known for great comfort food. Chip ordered chicken-fried chicken and mashed potatoes with NO GRAVY(!), but his order was overridden in the kitchen and brought out drenched in the stuff. It was funny enough to last us until warm apple pie and vanilla ice cream. There was nothing funny about that.

(Paper cranes and butterflies were hung from the ceiling as wedding decorations, and then left up afterward because they were so cool. What do you think, Devlin?)

Photo by Kasey Anderson

It was another three-man show accompanied by a respectful audience, including my beloved cousin Madeleine. I hadn’t seen Madeleine in several years, and she brought a friend and did what she always does best: made me laugh. Thank you so much to Madge for coming. It was so good to see you.

We drove in to Memphis, TN early Saturday afternoon from Hot Springs, AR. It was International Record Store Day, so we stopped by a couple of record shops before celebrating International Eat Too Much Good Food in Memphis Day. We stopped in at Central BBQ just long enough to destroy a pork sandwich, a beef sandwich, and a side of macaroni. My theory is, the faker the cheese looks, the better the mac will be. I’ve put this theory to the test, and my theory is right.

Another theory is that the longer you wait for your food, the better it will be. This theory was put to the test and proven when we hit Gus’s Fried Chicken directly afterward. A spicy, crispy crust and tender, juicy chicken arrived in a take out bag a mere thirty minutes after we placed the order for it. Worth the wait? Why yes, yes it was.

The following morning, Kasey and I drove to Sun Studio where Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash recorded albums. We didn’t take the tour, but we did buy the garb that would make anyone think we did.

We headed over to Beale St. after that and did the tourist thing real quick before Chip joined us and we hit the road for Nashville. For those of you just joining the blog and those of you who were unaware, Chip Robinson will be in the car and hotels with us for the next two weeks of the tour.

Photo by Kasey Anderson

Photo by Kasey Anderson

Nashville was uneventful for me, since I stayed behind from another show. Not to worry, though, since Knoxville was awesome.

We drove in to Knoxville early on the 19th so Kasey and Chip could play a radio show for WDVX Blue Plate Special with Carrie Rodriguez, who I’m told is a “real live badass.” Check her out.

While the guys did the radio show, I walked around downtown Knoxville and stopped in to a printing press called Yee-Haw. There were a ton of cool posters for sale and on the walls and the ceiling, so I asked if I could take pictures. I was told that I could even walk around in the back if I wanted to, and I did want to. So I wandered in to the back and saw where all of the paper and supplies were kept neatly in shelves and on racks, among all of the back stock and yet-to-be-made new posters and cards. Below are some pictures from the tour I took myself on.

After overstaying my welcome at the printing press, Kasey, Chip and I headed to The Tomato Head, a restaurant in Market Square. But this wasn’t just a restaurant. This was an incredible eating event! I had pepperoni rolls, made with pizza dough and served with marinara sauce. A slice of cheese pizza on the side. Kasey and Chip had sandwiches, and Kasey’s came with bean sprouts. Bean sprouts! What a classy joint! After stuffing ourselves, we stopped three doors down at the Preservation Pub to check out the venue for the show. What a sweet surprise we found in the window:

Kasey and Chip waiting to play their sets at Preservation Pub:

The show in Macon was canceled due to a break in at the venue, so we drove straight to Decatur and hung out in the hotel for the night. If you haven’t seen Fantastic Mr. Fox yet, see it.

Today Kasey had an interview at Paste Magazine and I started my day by driving around a couple of neighborhoods in Decatur. The neighborhoods are shaded by litters of hundred-year-old trees, and houses whose lawns require hiking boots just to reach them. That may be an exaggeration, but you get the idea. I decided to punch a destination in to the GPS and the address was for the Dekalb County Farmer’s Market. Thanks a lot, GPS. Really.
Upon turning in to the parking lot, there’s a sign on the side of the building that says “World Market”. This was no exaggeration. When I walked in (an indoor farmer’s market, have you ever heard of such a thing?), my heart broke.
“No Photography” read across a sign in big, red letters.

Laid out in front of me were rows upon rows of fresh produce, sitting under flags from hundreds of different countries. Outlining the store were shelves reaching beyond reach, of organic food products from all over the world. I grabbed a few of our favorite European food products before heading to the far right side of the market, where an entire wall was dedicated to spices and herbs in bulk. It was wonderful. I meandered my way through carrots and apples, jackfruits and pomellos, picked up a quart of (unpasteurized!) tangerine juice, and made my way to the baked goods. Samples were given out, Costco style, but I ignored them and moved on to greater things. Oh! Greater things! Live lobster surrounded by case display upon case display of any kind of fish you could name! I couldn’t take the time to check facts like that, since I was whisked in to the land (yes, it probably did qualify as a piece of property by itself) of meats and cheeses and other dairy products, including Holland-style whole chocolate milk, a temptation that was resisted because tangerine juice had already won my heart.

Getting out of there was tough, but it had to be done because Kasey was finished with his interview and Decatur is near un-walkable, similar to the meat and cheese section of the farmer’s market. It was an almost victory, since I could only leave with non-perishables, but an almost victory nonetheless.

Kasey and Chip played at a great venue called Eddie’s Attic located in downtown. When we arrived, the band Down The Line was sound-checking. A band composed of four men, each with long (some kempt, others unkempt) hair in varying colors, and each playing different instruments. One guy was playing a c/b/ongo, one played an acoustic guitar, one alternated between a hollow-body Martin and a bass guitar, and one alternated between a mandolin and a fiddle and threw in a couple of different harmonicas during the same song. It was one of the most confusing things I’ve ever heard in my life. The instrumental parts sounded great, and then their songs would begin and I would completely lose my mind. It sounded like a Disney movie had given a boy-band instruments and asked them to sing the songs for a movie about Jack Johnson making a soundtrack for the Curious George movie. It was a disaster, and for this reason, I couldn’t look away. The music had so much potential, and it didn’t. You’ll really do yourself a service (or at least be able to understand what I mean) by checking it out. Down The Line is from Chicago, and will be on tour until they get beat up in a bar.

Kasey and Chip played great sets, and Chip broke a string mid-song but ended it gracefully and with an a cappella tune which the audience loved. The venue (Eddie’s Attic) was excessively great to us. Next time you’re in Georgia, make a trip to Decatur if possible. That and Knoxville have been some of my favorites.

Well, folks, unfortunately I’ve updated the trip to the point where I’m in my pajamas in a hotel room, more ready to turn the light off and crawl in to bed than you are to turn Down The Line off of your computer speakers since I know you’ve got it open in another window and can’t figure out how you feel about what’s happening to your brain right now. In the meantime,

We hit the Jiffy Lube in Prescott Valley on our way out of town and hung out in the Safeway Starbucks for two hours while the car was having the time of its life. I only say the car was having the time of its life because I would rather have the human equivalent of my tires rotated than sit at a sticky table in an over-crowded Starway ever again. Or Safebucks? Let’s go with the hybrid theme on this post.

So, ten hours in a car is as far as we could make it without killing each other, but not before I received my first-ever speeding ticket. A rite of passage, as Kasey called it. And not ten minutes before receiving the ticket, I had made mention of how lucky we would be to get stopped so close to Juarez. It’s the most alive I’ve ever felt!

We stayed the night in Van Horn, TX, and left early the next morning for San Antonio where my family would be waiting.

We pulled up to the venue around five and were greeted by my mom and uncle David, who had snagged the table closest to the microphone that Kasey would be singing in to. Not long after, my aunt Lawaine and uncle Bob showed up with another David, my godfather (who will henceforth be referred to as Dewey). Kasey went on at 6, and we all ordered hamburgers branded with “Sam’s” and watched as Kasey entertained a patio full of people and the sun went down behind the venue.

After the show we headed back to Dewey’s house and stayed up a lot later than we should have. We all sat on the back patio of the house and talked about camping trips my parents and aunts and uncles and friends used to take us on when we (my sisters and cousins) were kids. We talked about and listened to Joni Mitchell, ate birdman toast (with nine different seeds in it!) late at night, and opened two of the last bottles of wine Dewey had procured from WTSO.com before Texas banned shipments from this website.

The next morning, we ate blueberry-and-maple-syrup-stuffed sausage, eggs with salsa and toast, and Kasey played guitar with Bob and Dewey before we set out to Houston. Thank you to David and Denise for hosting and feeding us, and thank you to Bob and Lawaine for coming all the way from Victoria to grace us with your presence. It was a true delight to see you all.

Houston was fabulous. We arrived a little after one, stopped briefly at my aunt Ann and uncle Paige’s house and headed straight to the Astros game. They played the Phillies and lost their sixth consecutive game; a record for the Astros during opening week. It was a great game for me though, as we sat behind home plate in the shade and had delicious hot dogs with frozen lemonade. In the middle of summer, according to my mom, the stadium closes the roof and cranks up the AC to make watching (and probably playing) the game bearable. Can you imagine the bill?!

Shortly after a full hour had gone by since eating a hot dog, we were sitting in Luling City Market eating brisket and sausage drenched in BBQ sauce on wonder bread. My mom’s friend Stephanie had joined us from Victoria for this event, and for Kasey’s show that night at The Listening Room at Nia Moves. Soon after finishing dinner and catching Phil Mickelson win the golf tournament, my excitement had distracted me long enough that we left the restaurant without my camera! All was not lost, though, since we went back and retrieved it.

The show was interesting that night, since it was held in a dance studio and three musicians stood on “stage” together and alternated songs. It was interesting as well since it was mostly my family, and we had to take our shoes off. Kasey played with Isaac Hoskins and Chip Robinson that night, in socks. It was a great show. Thank you to Ann and Paige for hosting us, and for providing the audience.

The morning of the 12th, Kasey headed out of town early and my mom and David and I stayed behind to eat (Kolachies and James Coney Island) and shop for beads (my mom is making the jewelry for my sister Devlin’s wedding!). We made it to Austin after four, and Kasey took me to the Hotel San Jose; otherwise known as the coolest hotel ever.

Gravel walkways surrounded by ivy-covered buildings led us to our second story room that overlooked the hotel’s restaurant and pool. What the room looked out on could have mattered less, since the room itself was so cool that all we did was talk about how cool the room was. High ceilings and filled with light, the hotel room was outfitted with modern furniture and offered TOMS for sale right in the room. We ate Mexican food a block away, and played skee ball before watching Kasey play another show with Isaac and Chip. My friend Kate and her boyfriend, who I worked with in Germany, came out to the show and hung out for a little while. It was great to see them!

The next morning, Kasey went out with a friend and my mom and David and I had breakfast together at Magnolia Cafe, where our waitress told us the line usually extends out the door and sometimes people wait an hour and a half just to eat there. After breakfast, we parted ways and headed to Denton. Thank you so much to my mom and David for joining us on this leg of the tour. Your support, flexibility and generosity were appreciated more than I can express.

On the next blog: Dallas, TX; Hot Springs, AR; Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, TN. Stay tuned for more updates on our eating and shopping adventures.
This post’s poll:
What would you like to see more/less of? Feel free to comment your answers.

I had never been to LA before Sunday, April 4th. We drove in to the 498 square mile city, and I marveled at the enormity of the buildings and the span of traffic. Never before had I seen so many vanity plates. Kasey had spotted Francis McDormand and Joel Coen last time he was in LA, so while he drove, I searched for famous people. We saw the guy that plays Ellen Page’s fling in “Whip It!” while we were getting coffee at Intelligentsia. It really felt like a victory to me.

Photo by Kasey Anderson

While driving in to LA, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 shook Baja, CA. While we didn’t feel the reverberations, the rest of LA did, and we paid for it while we climbed the nine flights of stairs to our hotel room since the elevators were still in shock. I stayed behind from Kasey’s show that night and caught some of a black and white film that was being projected on to the roof of the adjacent building that night.

On the 5th, we headed to Santa Barbara to play a show at Muddy Waters Café. The drive was beautiful, and my friend Greg and Kasey’s friends Travis and Meghan were all able to make it to the show and hang out afterwards. My friend Greg was on my Birthright trip to Israel during the summer of 2008, and since then Kasey and I have been fortunate to see him in Germany while we lived there, and now in California, too. Kasey’s friends Travis and Meghan are currently living in LA and were able to drive out to Santa Barbara to hang out since I was unable to meet them the previous night. After Kasey’s set, we all headed back to our hotel room and hung out ‘til all hours telling ghost stories and sharing jokes and a few series of unfortunate events. Fun fact: If you leave a contact lens in your eye overnight and even one tiny bacterium gets trapped between your contact and your eye, it will literally eat away at your retina. Cool, huh? Greg will tell you otherwise.
It was a really fun night. Thanks to Travis, Meghan and Greg for spending time with us.

If you ask me, any time you get to sit down in a restaurant and drench pancakes in syrup is an indication that you’re going to have a good day. So April 6th was a good day. Before hitting the road for San Diego, Kasey conducted an experiment in which the conclusion was this: if there’s a CD hitting stores on a certain day, just get it with your morning cup of Starbucks. Even names like Jakob Dylan and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings will show up in that little tin display right by the register.

We stopped the car along the highway to take a walk along the beach before we really got on the road to San Diego.

Photo by Kasey Anderson

San Diego seemed like an unpretentious city upon driving in, and I will still give it that. However, when you’re in a city whose blocks alternate club-life and homeless sleep-overs, it’s tough to get a true feel for where you should be. Kasey played a show that night that I was unable to attend due to my youth. But we did take a cool photo of this sign on our way to the Soda Bar for his show:

The Angels played the Twins the following night in Anaheim, and we were sitting among 41,533 other people to witness it. Shortly before the game, I had my septum pierced, and we ate tacos at Loteria. One was delicious; the other was quick and painless. You decide.

Photo by Kasey Anderson

Photo by Kasey Anderson

Prescott, AZ is one of the sweetest towns I’ve ever seen. We drove in on the 8th to get to a turkey and harvati sandwich on a croissant, coconut macaroons from Grama’s Bakery* and then napped the afternoon away before Kasey’s show at the Raven Café. He played after Laura Meyer, who is from New York and has been on tour since September. She was awesome. Check her out.

*Grama was actually very sweet, despite the threat she posted on the wall.

This photo was taken in the back part of the Raven Cafe:

Photo by Kasey Anderson

Before heading out of town the next morning, we stopped by Grama’s again and picked up a couple more coconut macaroons and an antique shop to purchase this sweet gem:

Photo by Kasey Anderson

This was our twelve-hour drive day.

I’ll keep you on the edge of your seat until next time:
Tonight was a night to remember. Tomorrow will be a day to never forget!
Good stories and more, next time.

I made a promise I could not keep. And yet, I’m working it out in my mind that you aren’t too concerned about it. It has been a torturous past three days for you, no doubt, as my whereabouts and whatabouts have been left entirely up to your imagination! Well here here, and there there. Let’s settle this, shall we?

San Francisco was our destination on April 1st (make no mistake that we left tire marks on our way out of Reno). We drove in to the city in the early afternoon, checked in to our hotel and made a quick and much needed stop for coffee at Blue Bottle.

After that, shopping commenced. We hit Haight/Ashbury, a famous shopping district in SF, and came through with new albums from Amoeba Records, including Best of Warren Zevon, one of Roky Erickson’s, and Sam Cooke’s The Man Who Invented Soul, to name a few. We made it in to downtown (for more shopping) shortly after that before heading to Kasey’s show at The Union Room at Biscuits and Blues.

On April 2nd, we drove to Mountain View, CA for a show Kasey played at his friends Lacey and Jason’s house. Lacey hid lottery-ticket-filled Easter eggs all around their house, and Jason built a fire out on their back patio to attract the guests out into the cold. Kasey played an hour-long set to another respectful and inquisitive audience that asked about, among other things, his relationship with his harmonica.
Kasey described their courtship romantically, dating back to his early teens when they first started seeing each other, then they split for a few years when he got together with his band, and met up and began flirting again when he and his band split up. At first they were monogamous, he’d said, then B flat had started looking good, and F, too.. He became a regular polygamist of the harmonican persuasion. And bravo.
Thank you, Lacey and Jason, for hosting a gracious audience.

The afternoon of April 3rd was spent driving in to San Luis Obispo, CA, and walking around the downtown area in a leisurely daze. Well, for me anyway. Kasey did a radio interview for SLO’s NPR radio station, and met up with me afterward to escort me to dinner at Guiseppi’s (upon my sister’s suggestion). We didn’t have high expectations, but we did have low blood sugar and could have eaten probably anything anyone put in front of us. Fortunately for us, the waiter brought a basket of freshly baked bread and a combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic and grated parmesan for our dipping pleasure. And dip we did! Until our caprese salad and eggplant parmesan showed up to tide us over until the margherita pizza and butternut squash stuffed pasta graced us with their plated presence. We stuffed ourselves silly, and then headed to Kasey’s show at the Steynberg Gallery.

Kasey played another acoustic show to an intimate audience, which included two covers: Tonight Will Be Fine by Leonard Cohen, and Hold On by Tom Waits.
Almost immediately after the show, we made time to see Clash of The Titans, which, while entertaining, I do not recommend you see.

Well that’s all for now. Stay tuned for more intermittent updates as we venture through California and make our way to the beautiful south known to some as the country of Texas.

I am taking the suggestion of many and trying my hand at this blogging craze that seems to be so popular among the young kids these days. I have yet to establish a style of writing (or photography for that matter) for which to follow, so I hope the journey you join me on is not too bumpy, but just bumpy enough. This is my first attempt at expressing thoughts and sharing opinions openly on a public webpage, but if you know me, or have even only met me a few times, you’ll be familiar with my ability to shove foot-in-mouth at even the most inappropriate of times, so the blog shouldn’t be too hard to get used to. Kasey has set this blog up for me, and I have chosen a theme that should make it fairly easy for you to catch up on past posts, should say, you have other things to do than sit around waiting for my next post. Let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see more or less of, I am open to all suggestions. I hope this will be an enjoyable experience for those of you I had to leave behind for these two months, and for those of you I don’t see often enough. Enjoy!

Since I am either extremely familiar with those of you who will be reading this or estranged and potentially don’t know who you are, I’ll catch you up on some things that will be included in this blog: Until recently, Kasey and I had been living together in Germany. I worked for an American hotel in Bavaria, and he worked from “home”, an apartment we inhabited at the base of the Alps in a tourist-infested ski-town. While there, Kasey started his own record label, Red River Records, on which he recently released (February 16, 2010) his latest album Nowhere Nights. Since coming home in February, Kasey has been on a short tour through California, played SXSW, and we are now on the road for his two month long CD release tour. I will be selling the merchandise, taking photos, and helping with those twelve hour drives. The tour spans far and wide across the nation, as he’ll be playing 60+ shows in a little over 60 days. We’ll be making a loop around the country, so if you check out his website and find a city that you have relatives or friends in, make sure to mention his tour. We’ll likely spend a lot more time in the car than any of you care to consider, but Kasey’s wonderful mom sent us on the road with a cooler and groceries, and we’ll be staying with friends and family along the way. A car full of CD’s we’ll be sick of in no time and gear that will wear down the car tires, our two-month journey begins…

The tour officially started in Bellingham, WA six nights ago at the Green Frog Tavern. Along the way there, Kasey and I stopped at a camera shop in Seattle and picked up the camera that will accompany us on this tour, and be to blame for the horrifically (amateur) beautiful shots I’ll post for your viewing pleasure.

The Green Frog was a tavern like any other; mounds of peanut shells lined the bar’s floor, and neon lights flashed behind Kasey as he played a two hour set and people just kept coming in. I imagine because he lived there for eight years and has established a distaste for noisy audiences, that his ideal audience comes from Bellingham, and therefore explains why his show-goers came out on the 25th: to listen. My first night behind the viewfinder of the new camera was a new perspective on Kasey’s performance. Things were blurry, things were bright, and yet the audience and I were captured by something we’d all seen so many times before and yet couldn’t get enough of. Kasey’s music was better than ever, with a new take on Nowhere Nights and All Lit Up, but he’d say otherwise of his performance that night. After the show we were introduced to Jared, who was new in town, and who stopped in with enough time to hear the music, buy a CD, and freestyle-rap us out of the venue. If only we had exit music each time we left a building. Great first night.

Our second night was spent in Ballard, a suburb of Seattle, WA since 1907, when it was no longer considered its own city. We ate dinner with Kasey’s friends at the Hi-Life; an historic firehouse turned delicious restaurant, then headed to Conor Byrne. Kasey headlined a show and played with Ali Marcus and the band Crying Shame. The place was pretty packed; at one point I had to give up my seat and watch Kasey play from the side of the stage – something I would do any time at any show. It always amazes me when I’m in the way at one of Kasey’s shows, because it means there are more people there than there’s room for. Movin’ on up.

The 27th was spent driving back down to Portland and finishing up last minute packing before heading out to Mississippi Pizza for Kasey’s six o clock show. Prior to the six o clock show, there’s a kid’s jamboree, whatever that is, which evidently involves every household in Portland greater than three kids. There were kids running all over the place, climbing under chairs, and making a lot of noise; something Kasey was able to ignore as he went on stage and gave a great performance. Donations were made that night in place of a no-charge cover, and showed that even in the middle of a recession, people support the things that still make them happy. Kasey played This Old Town for my sister Leah, who was unable to attend the show. He also played requested tunes for family friends, and his re-arranged Nowhere Nights and All Lit Up to perfection. Thank you to my family and friends that were able to spend my last night in town supporting Kasey’s show, and thank you to Kasey’s friends and family, if you are reading this.

May 28th Kasey played a show in Eugene at Sam Bond’s Garage for an impressively attentive audience. The venue was reasonably sized, and yet packed, all the way to the back (well, front) door. He reminisced a little, and shared with the audience an experience he’d had at the Green Frog several years ago: after every song he’d finished playing, one guy in the audience would point at him with both index fingers and say the word “appreciation”. He used this story as an experiment, and asked the audience, if they felt appreciation for what they’d just seen, to do this gesture in honor of this experience instead of applause. He played a song, a long one, and by the end, only a few people had remembered what they were supposed to do and the rest just clapped. One guy in the audience insisted that Kasey give them another chance to get it right, which Kasey laughed about and continued playing. Another guy asked if he could play the tambourine while Kasey played. The audience was engaged again.

After the show, a man came up and purchased a copy of Nowhere Nights on CD. Moments later he came back, chuckled, and admitted that he was embarrassed: “I was going to go home and make a copy of this for my son. That’s not right.” He slapped ten dollars down on the table and took another copy.

Zoe Muth and The Lost High Rollers played after Kasey, and blew me away. A true country sound with a female lead vocalist on acoustic, a bass guitar, drums, a pedal steel player and a mandolin(ist?) player. I highly recommend this band if you like a nice contrast between sweet love ballads and great dance tunes.

May 29th was our day off and therefore date night. We stayed in Redding and had dinner and then saw How To Train Your Dragon in 3D. See. This. Movie.

The following day was spent in Chico, CA awaiting Kasey’s show at Empire Coffee, located inside of an old train car. This show was uneventful, but Kasey played acoustically (without speakers) and I got a few cool pictures.

Last night Kasey played in Reno, NV at a house show. Now, I will admit, I was imagining a gruesome ending of my young life in someone’s basement when Kasey told me he was playing at a house show. But that was before I knew people could be as wonderful as Tim Wainer.

He contacted Kasey a few weeks ago noting an open space on his tour calendar, and invited him out to Reno where he guaranteed a respectful audience and merchandise purchasers. Deliver he did. Tim had invited close to thirty people over to his house to see Kasey perform, and they all sat quietly in the living room the entire time. The only sound besides Kasey’s music that echoed in that room was the shutter on my camera. Everyone was impressed, and several people bought records after the show. If only all of Kasey’s shows could be in the comfort of some dude’s living room.

Well, I’ve finally finished the first post of my tour blog. I can guarantee that the rest of the posts will not be this long, but that they will be more frequent and up to date. I hope we can stick to this, you and I.