Tuesday, October 20, 2009

neon wake 1

I left Austin with many tasks half-finished, but I guess they didn't need finishing cuz I'm days into this mess and no problems have arisen thus far. At least, no problems relating to my unfinished tasks.

I'd decided to tour alone just because I really really enjoy alone time and long drives. Plus in order to make the music work alone, I knew I would have to innovate somehow, create something new. So the tour was a deadline for me, a call to action.

I created a 34 minute long super8 film with songs spread throughout. It's worked fairly well thus far.

Thanks thus far to Cley and Ryan Chavez and the Young Mammals in Houston. They let us on the bill at Mango's. Did I mention that's the best venue name ever? I actually ordered a salad from there. Imagine ordering a salad at Emo's. Probably served in an ash tray.

We were originally scheduled to play the aftershow for Widespread Panic, but it fell through in a bizarre twist of fate and bad vibes. So as not to continue the cycle, I will refrain from disclosing details, but let's just say nobody left Last Concert Cafe happy. In the end, it all worked out, so who cares.

Next day I continued on solo, drove all day to New Orleans. Ate a shrimp po-boy. Fried clumps covered in mayo in a massive white bread roll. Richard Simmons is rolling in his grave. Wait, is Richard Simmons dead? I guess he just stopped making info-mercials.

Played a show to a mostly confused crowd at Circle Bar. I was not sure how well it would go over, considering they were jamming Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" when I walked in. Not to mention how drunk everyone is in New Orleans. There was this dude at the end of the bar at Buster's (where I ordered my po-boy) who was falling off his stool and yelling obscenities at the bartender. The bartender was coughing something nasty. All in all, a pleasant dining experience.

Back at the Circle Bar, I played with Bionica, a jazz fusion group with very good musicians but perhaps something of a mismatch with my tunes. Who knows. They were very nice and we talked for a bit afterwards. I had planned on driving on up into Mississippi to camp on Pontchatrain, but a few nice folks offered me their couch and I gladly accepted and when they made me an amazing fresh mozzarella and pesto sandwich later, I accepted that too.

Woke next morning at 7am and hit the road with no haste. 14 hour drive to Lexington, KY. I drank 2 coffees, 2 red bulls, and 3 all natural energy drinks. Arrived in Lexington feeling dead and mostly confused. But played a killer show with City Center at an art gallery. Many people bought merch, many people had awesome compliments. At this moment I knew that this tour, with its unorthodox multi-media approach, was working and would only get better.

Have taken a few photos but I do not have a digital. Will try to pick up a cheap one to upload some photos. Thanks for reading.

3 comments:

Elizabeth A said...

Thanks for writing, Bill! How about bringing the show to CA sometime?

kellyjeancox said...

Love your blog Bill! Keep it up! And I agree with Elizabeth on playing in Cali!! Loved to see that you used the pictures I took!

PAUL SISLER said...

elizabeth: booking west coast january tour now. full-band.